In Korea, the young hybrid Steven Universe and his father, Greg, travel the country in search of answers concerning the Diamond's Palanquin Steven has seen in his dreams. While taking a short break from their trek, the Universes stumble upon a woman who appeared to be drawing pictures and using reference sheets of the father and son. Perturbed by this, Greg hurried his son out of the studio and away from the storyboards.
Outside the studio, Greg and Steven tried to process what they just saw.
"Were those drawings of us? Why were there drawings of us?" asked a slightly freaked out Steven.
"I don't know Shtu Ball. I knew things were different around these parts, but that…well I can't explain something like that," replied the elder Universe.
"I don't mean to be nosy but I can assure you, everyone in that studio is harmless," chimed in a female voice. Greg and Steven turned to see a young woman with glasses and short, curly hair.
"Like I was saying, they're harmless. I'm an artist myself and I often do my work here while I'm studying abroad this semester. These guys just like to draw foreigners as practice for animation. It seems they've taken a shine to you and it's not hard to see why," explained the curly haired woman.
"Practice huh?" Greg said, rubbing his beard thoughtfully. "Then how they'd get those reference sheet thingies?"
"When I say word gets around quick, I'm not exaggerating. All morning my phone has been blowing with posts about a kid with a star living it up with his long haired dad. They had plenty to work with," answered the young woman, showing Steven and Greg the posts in question.
"Hold up, you said something about animation. Does that mean cartoons are made here?" asked a curiosity filled Steven.
"You're right on the money. While the more technical stuff like writing and storyboarding happens in the West, a good chunk of the actual animation is sent overseas. Many of the shows you watch are actually Korean animated."
"Wow," muttered Steven, visibly impressed. "So does that mean The Crying Breakfast Friends are animated right here?"
"Yup, along with a lot of other great shows like Quantum Falls, Nebula vs the Sinister Forces and Squander Over Launder," added the bespectacled woman with a smile.
"Whoa," was all Steven could muster. Greg simply nodded in agreement, equally impressed with this knowledge of animation.
"It really is a fascinating subject. And don't worry; they really are just practicing for the real thing. Man, you should have been there when these three bears found out they were being used for practice…"
Just then, the woman's phone went off. Picking it up, the woman eyes went wide as she read the message.
"Oh man, I forgot to pick up some papers from the copy place! Sorry to cut it short, but I gotta go. Later," the woman exclaimed as she ran off while reading more messages. "Huh, it seems like a show got leaked a month in advance. How irresponsible of the network..."
Greg and Steven waved their goodbyes at the woman and proceeded onwards to their own personal journey. While heading for the Palanquin, a sudden realization hit the duo like a sack of bricks.
"Wait, did she say three bears!?"
Yeah, saw the meta joke in Steven's Dream and decided to expand on it. And yes, the bomb is awesome but I've spoiled enough. January 30 is the magic date.
A big shout out to Exotos135 for inspiration; I was explicitly channeling his humorous one shots when I was writing this.
If you could please leave a review after reading, I'd appreciate it very much.
Side note; Steven sometimes watches leaked episodes of The Crying Breakfast Friends. Even when watching the official release, the shame he feels never goes away.