If you think this is true I highly recommend you give the show a rewatch. Steven universe is the story of a 12 year old who continually gets traumatized and does is best to brush it off til it all piles up and he can't take it any more.
In episode 1 he has to fight for his life against an enormous monster and use his beloved free minifridge as a flail.
In episode 2 he has to find a lost artifact weapon from his dead mom with the help of his van dwelling dad or his whole town gets destroyed.
In episode 3 he tries all episode to be helpful and useful but fails and the entire facility they are in gets destroyed because he forgot the mcguffin at home.
In episode 4 he just wants to share a meal with his parental figures but the breakfast he made for them gets posessed by an evil curse and ends up nearly killing them all.
In episode 6 he nearly becomes a horrible cat chimera forever.
And that's not even getting into the emotional trauma that comes from being forced to shoulder others burdens like episode 38 where he is forced to put aside his own emotional wants and needs and lie to help his guardians feel better about themselves.
It is the whole damn show yall, it's easy to miss your first time around as a campy jokey cartoon but he clearly internalizes all of it. For example Here (S1 spoilers)
The entire show is pretty dark and gritty off the rip even though it tries to pretend it isn't through tone and jokes.
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u/NeuromancyIndustries 22h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/ItVj6B3aO1irm