#<- soverign of hurt/comfort fics tbh

[empiressmpheadcanon]

My return as fox anon was not in a blaze of corrupted!Gem glory as I had assumed it would be, but instead my brain taking a discussion on Gem having trauma over sleep potions and turning it into... this

so yeah... I would say to enjoy but that is a relative term so instead try not to cry too hard ig? /hj

ALSO KNOWN AS FOX ANON RAMBLES WAY TOO MUCH ABOUT POTION BOTTLE DESIGN AND SLEEP POTIONS APPARENTLY I AM COMING BACK AFTER WRITING I GOT SO SIDETRACKED LOL

Splash potion bottles are designed very specifically. There's a reason that no reputable merchant will sell or buy them in any other type, quality issues aside. The way they shatter is designed to go downwards and out, keeping the glass close to the ground and away from more sensitive areas. It also shatters into a powder so fine that you won't get chunks of glass in your leg, it'll still hurt like a bitch if you stick your hand into it, but everything about them is designed for maximum safety.

Those regulations don't exist on the black market when you're buying illegal sleep potions.

Sleep potions aren't nice, they're not something you could give to an insomniac or a child who won't settle down. They're sharp and terrifying, and being asleep under them isn't much better.

It's like you're drowning, being pulled under ice cold waves and not being able to break through again, no matter how hard you struggle. But you can't sink to the bottom because your terror is keeping you moving, keeping you kicking for the surface.

But then finally, finally, you manage to break through. You take big gulps of air and relax slightly, floating with the current, until you realise it's taking you over a waterfall. You try to swim away but it's too strong, and you're falling, falling, falling-

And then you wake up.

So yeah, not a pleasant experience. That alone would have been enough to give Gem enough trauma to last a lifetime, but in one particular universe, something plays out differently.

The glass shatters and goes flying, and just before Gem is pulled into unconsciousness she screams, clutching at her face.

And then the world goes dark.

When she wakes again it's to half her face covered with itchy bandages, and it's blocking her vision. She goes to remove them, knowing she'll be able to take much better stock of her surroundings with more than just the one eye, but Sausage yells at her to stop.

He explains that when the bottle shattered glass flew everywhere and... her eye got hit.

He halfheartedly questions her for info on the egg but just lets her and Scott go when she doesn't give up any. He apologises as she walks past.

She doesn't respond.

Scott has to help her leave, as she keeps bumping into things on the way out. She tries to fly home on her own but he firmly tells her no and carries her, knowing that she would crash otherwise. He messages Fwhip once they get to the Cliffs and no words are exchanged between the pair, Fwhip just giving him a nod of thanks before rushing to his sister, not even noticing the rustle of wings as he leaves. He just holds Gem as she cries and tries to comfort her the best he can.

There are a lot of changes, for everyone. Gem has to learn how to move with less depth perception, how to take care of the wound, how to deal with the feeling of the fabric from her eyepatch on her face all the time.

Everyone has to learn how to not approach from her blind side, lest they get attacked by a paranoid Gem, how to make noise when they approach so she knows they're coming.

Sausage, once he's uncorrupted, has to learn how to live with the guilt of what he's done, even if Gem doesn't blame him.

(Fwhip does. The WRA alliance has never been the same since.)

But it's not all bad.

There are the moments when Gem pretends not to notice the hand embroidered eyepatches Fwhip slips in. It would be sweet, if they weren't all Grimlands propaganda. It makes him laugh when she wears them though, so she fixes the patch proclaiming "grimlandz rulez!" on her face with a smile.

There are the moments when Gem truly lets herself relax, not worrying about watching out for her blind side or trying to listen for every little noise. When she's with Fwhip and Pearl, and surprisingly Scott, and she trusts them enough to lower her guard.

It's a struggle, but it is something they all slowly get used to, and everyone supports Gem every step of the way.

SO YEAH UHH BRAIN CAME UP WITH THIS OUT OF FUCKING NOWHERE LMAO

like a third of this is just me rambling about weird technical stuff like sleep potions and how bottles break so just ignore that if you want or something kajshd

ok words are failing me bye now!

-🦊

GAH THIS IS REALLY GOOD AAAAA

sorry im just !!!!! this is just really great

gem w an eye patch, ;-; ,,,, wra brainrot v v strong and sad