one detail in steven universe i think is super interesting is how characters hardly ever say 'i love you' or even that they're queer, they show it.
it's never explicitly stated that steven and connie are in love or dating, or that stevonnie is nonbinary, we can tell because of how close the two of them always are and from stevonnie's androgynous traits and other characters using the right pronouns for them.
they never use the term 'lesbians' for ruby and sapphire, or pearl and rose, or say they are and were in love, but with how intimate they are with each other and how they talk about being together, it's impossible to miss that they are. and garnet's wedding isn't ever described as a 'lesbian wedding', it's just a wedding, we know the two characters getting married are lesbians.
i'm pretty sure almost all of that was having to get it past cartoon network's bigoted censors, but the way they did it was so clever imo because it avoided the relationship dialogue being on-the-nose and made the storytelling way more compelling while not sacrificing any of the unapologetic queerness
