This is the informal research journal of J. Kim, Engineering and Biology student at the Empire State Institute of Science and Technology. In case of the destruction of any documentation, research, or memories of any of the following events, I will keep multiple copies of this journal as well as upload it to an external source. Under the encouragement of my advisor, I decided to take a gap year for country-wide study, particularly in the state of Delmarva, which carries a mostly untouched topic for researchers in my particular field: mineral-based life.
A few years ago, I caught wind of an old conspiracy website based in Delmarva called Keep Beach City Weird. It seemed innocuous at first, containing rambling, poorly written articles on so-called "Rock People" and "Diamond Authorities" running the economy, but then I noticed the photos on the site: photos of regular people alongside alien-like inhabitants of various body types, colors, and proportions, each one possessing a gemstone or similar mineral on some part of their body. I assumed that the photos were doctored due to their low resolution until about three months ago. I was looking through social media accounts, and I found that these people really existed, mostly based in Beach City, Delmarva. According to many of these profiles, they call themselves "Gems." After weeks of attempted contact, I finally got in touch with a Gem who answered a few basic questions.
Her name was Nephrite, and she belongs to an alien species known as "Gem", a mineral-based life form that consists of a core-like stone surrounded by a body made up of hardened light. Their individual names typically come from the types of stones that they possess. By biological standards, they are genderless. However, they tend to go by female pronouns in similar fashion to ships. This particular nephrite seemed more alien-like than the rest of her species, possessing bug-like features and, as far as her pictures were concerned, a standing position similar to a theropod dinosaur, with her arms tilted forward and double-jointed legs without proper heels.
Since the original meeting, I spent the net few weeks making living arrangements for my time in Beach City. My uncle gave me his old RV, which I fixed up and rigged with a mobile router, my laptop, and a wireless printer that doubles as a fax machine. The nearest hardware store to the place is quite far away, so anything I might need has to be bought in bulk. Luckily, there seem to be many open spots for part-time employment, which allows me time to work on my notes and compile a proper research paper. I'll be entering Beach City tomorrow to rent out a parking space from a man named "Greg Universe." It's quite an odd name. I should ask him about that.
Author's Note
Hello, I'm Mastercrazybird: aspiring writer. As Steven Universe finished its final season, I held many questions covering the open ends that the show left. However, when doing research, I realized that a lot of these questions had answers that were implicitly made. Unfortunately, I feel like they were a bit vague, so I wanted to elaborate on both those questions and the future of the world of Steven. If you look at my page, you'll see that this is my first fanfiction, and I would love some future criticism on structure, grammar, spelling, enjoyability, pacing, and general writing. Hit me hard with what you got. Just no death threats, please.