#Pearl was white diamonds | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

seldomscilence16 · 1 year ago

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Whumptober day 17:

"You're the lump in my throat and the knot in my chest."

Collar | touch aversion | "Leave me alone."

Fandom: Steven Universe (UA)

Prompts used: vaguely all

So, yes White Diamond and the others were redeemed and stuff yada yada. She was still terrifying, and white diamond Pearl just makes sense to me. So I tried a new take on my usual headcanons.

The collar in this is based on what they use in Wheel of Time (the show I haven't read it, but know they are slightly different). It's honestly pretty similar to White's powers if you dumb it down to what I did.

So TW for torturous devices/Abuse

Not a lot of detail on this one but be safe.

…

"Whoa, there's a lot of junk in here." Amethyst sidesteps a small avalanche of said junk with a raised brow.

"Don't touch anything, we don't know if any of this stuff is dangerous." Garnet adjusts her visor, eyeing the space with caution.

"What is this place anyway?" Steven examines a pile, careful not to touch but curious nonetheless, it was gem stuff after all.

"The warp malfunctioned, this could be anything from forgotten storage to a waste facility." Pearl does her best not to linger on any one item too long, ignoring the swirling feeling in her gut at the familiar objects.

"Oo! I found some jewelry! Garnet can I keep em??" The three gems turn, Steven always managing to find something fun.

Amethyst joins Steven in marveling at the small pile of shiny things, Garnet feels a niggling in her mind, a small recognition but no memory to go with it yet, she turns to Pearl to ask the once Homeworld Gem only to find her frozen. Her stare has yet to leave the pile, posture stiff and eyes wide. Garnet turns back to the pile, trying to figure out what could garner such a reaction, When Steven reaches out for something near the top, Pearl is across the room before Garnet can say anything, tackling the two smaller members of their party as the object in question rolls off the pile.

A circlet of golden material spins and totters to a stop, and Garnet still doesn't quite get it, not until a cuff bracelet at the bottom of the pile catches her notice. She'd seen that before for sure, on Diamonds and high ranking gems as well, the ones who… owned Pearls….

"Are you both alright?" Pearl examines Steven and Amethyst with frazzled movements, moving their heads this way and that.

"We're fine Pearl, what gives?"

"Are you alright Pearl?"

Garnet reaches for the circlet, wondering what about it spooked Pearl,

"Garnet, don't!" She both hears and feels the plea, a part of her warning her just as Pearl does.

Everyone is frozen for a moment, before Pearl inches closer, she pulls her spear from her gem and pokes the circlet until it's buried beneath the pile. Even with it out of sight though, Pearl remains tense, Garnet moves forward slowly,

"Maybe we should try and head back." She suggests, gesturing towards the warp pad.

Pearl seems to be on autopilot now, as she slips under Garnet's hand and towards their transportation, she's removed from the group, quiet as her eyes speak of troubles beyond their understanding. The ride back is tense.

Garnet and Amethyst find Pearl later that night, after Stevens went out with his dad, and hours after their surprise trip. She's sitting in the middle of one of her water levels, staring blankly ahead, she doesn't react to their arrival as they sit behind her on either side.

"Pearl-"

"It's alright Garnet. I… don't want to keep secrets from you guys… but so many years as a pearl… I yell at myself so often you know, those little voices in my head that make it near impossible to speak sometimes, they're the lump in my throat and the knot in my chest, and they look so familiar it hurts."

She closes her eyes, her gem glowing before a projection begins.

"That was no simple piece of jewelry." The circlet and forearm cuff spin above them, "These were tools used to… keep Pearls in line." The image shifts, a basic shape of a pearl is shown, the circlet- no a collar- wraps around the pearls neck, the figure writhes in agony, cries ringing out in the room, Pearl swallows thickly, the collar becoming a chest piece of sorts- and that's why Garnet couldn't recognize it before, she'd only ever seen the activated version, "The Pearl wears the," she clears her throat, word too hard to force past her lips, "while whoever they belong to wears the cuff."

The image shows a glowing chain of light connecting the two pieces, and how the Pearl is seemingly controlled by it.

"But we've seen what you can do Pearl, why don't pearls just kick gem butt?" Amethyst looks physically ill at the images before her.

"It'll be easier to show you I suppose." Her gem shines again and Garnet and Amethyst brace themselves as they are absorbed into the gem.

A giant holographic oyster floats before a single being. It opens in a burst of light, the pearl within projecting its form in a brilliant light show. As the light fades, the Pearl stands with her head bowed, draped in veils of white, the being she stands before bends, showing the great distance between the two, a hand- larger than pearl- reaches forward,

"Who do you serve?" A voice asks, echoing about the room with a fake sort of pleasantry.

"Do… Do I have to serve?" The small gem holds a look of innocence, freshly made and naive of the world.

The hand glows, a golden circlet appears and before the Pearl can react, it snaps around her throat. Her scream is immediate, body convulsing as waves of pain wrack her frame, it spreads to encompass her torso in ornamental gold, a thread of light reaching out for the cuff on the beings forearm.

"Who do you serve?" It's asked in the same tone.

The Pearl gasps out an answer,

"The one and only, iridescent White Diamond."

"Oh! It's a pearl!"

"You idiot, that's White Diamonds Pearl!"

"So? She's not here right now is she?"

Pearl can't stop them from grabbing the cuff, so long as she wears the collar she's unable to even think of touching it. And as she attempts to fight back, well, just the thought of that has agony ripping through her.

"Starlight. I have something for you."

Pearl walks forward, her head is bowed, arms crossed in the Diamond salute, her eyes are devoid of emotion.

"I… I already have a Pearl."

"An inexperienced one I'm afraid. Defective even. I mean really, its been what? A few hundred years? And it still can't complete its duties to you? I've trained this one personally Pink, it'll be perfect for you."

The cuff is held out for Pink to take, and after a moment, she does. White takes her leave and Pearl remains still as she awaits her first commands.

"Well… I'll have to come up with a nickname, so we don't get confused then." Pink Diamond motions to the pink Pearl who had been hidden behind the wall, her eye has a crack through it.

"Pink enjoys her times in the garden, what do you want to do until she gets back?"

"Leave me alone. You'll get in trouble." Pearl remains where Pink left her, half an eye on where the cuff resides inside her vanity, the rest of her attention on the warp.

"Get in trouble? Why?"

Pearl doesn't answer, and when the younger reaches out, Pearl flinches back, waiting for painpainpain.

"I'm… sorry." Pearl doesn't answer.

They're on the battlefield, one of their first, and Pearl is fighting with everything she has. It's strange, that a simple order from Pink allows her this freedom, but she's tense as she waits for the pain to wrack her form again.

Pearl sees Rae, outnumbers and losing, and rushes to the younger pearls side, the fight, gems poofing left and right, when she sees one coming up behind Rae. She doesn't even think, her body moves on its own- but not against her will, this is not an order or an implied one, but her own thought- the ax slices through her form with ease, and she can only hope Rae will be okay.

The gem floats, glowing light showing a formless body, shifts into a silhouette of the Pearl they remember, a few over so slight changes appear, before Pearl herself reforms. She sways, dizzy in a way she can't explain, and lighter too.

"Pearl! Are you alright?" Rae and Pink- Rose- watch her with worried eyes, and she frowns before nodding. She may not feel 100% but she can't let that affect her.

"Pearl," P- Rose, holds out a mirror, Pearl is cautious to take it, but as she finally looks at herself, she begins to understand.

Her throat is free of the collar. It's such a strange sight, in fact, one she'd never actually seen. And her once white attire has taken on COLOR, she… made her own decision. She… didn't hurt because of it.

"You're free." Rae smiles at her, throat never once adorned in gold, and Pearl couldn't tell you what she felt. She didn't think free was quite right, but she wouldn't correct the young gem either.

She looks directly at the two gems that had watched silently, everything else frozen,

"They were created by white. For wayward Pearls, and their masters. I was an example to keep them in line, I only ever saw a few others forced to bear the burden. And it is not one I wished upon anyone…"

The two gasp as they once again look at their Pearl, she looks exhausted, in a way they can't say they'd seen before. Garnet only knew Rebel Pearl, the one who was put together and fierce and loyal. And Amethyst only knew Earth Pearl.

But now… now they know Homeworld Pearl too. What she'd been through, what she'd lost. They understood her on another level, she trusted them enough to share, and they would not betray that.

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artist-issues · 1 year ago

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“At least it's not ferociously attacking God quite as directly as Steven Universe did…”

Not that I’m surprised by this statement, but can you elaborate on this? Kinda intrigued by your thoughts on Steven Universe.

Okie dokie, you’re not the only one who has asked me about this, so I suppose I’ll poke the hornet’s nest. 😅 I haven’t talked about this before because I assumed that everyone who wanted to hear my kinds of opinions on stories wasn’t watching or interested in Steven Universe.

It’s like asking vegetarian if they enjoyed a turkey dinner. The turkey dinner was so obviously not made for vegetarians to enjoy, so why would the vegetarian even bother analyzing the turkey?

But I think if some people are asking me why I think Steven Universe is anti-God (of the Bible) its because maybe they don’t know what the turkey is. Not completely. (Maybe not you, because like you said, you’re not surprised by my comment.) So I’ll explain my thoughts on Steven Universe.

If you’re just following me because you liked some stuff I posted, but didn’t realize that I’m a Bible-believing Christian and don’t want to hear about it, unfollow me now. Because I’m going to talk about some hot button issues here and the trolls will come out.

Steven Universe is really well-done. The jokes are funny, the writing is believable, the characters have great chemistry, great design, the concept is fascinating, the slow build-up and reveal of the plot elements is great. But when you watch the throne room scene in the last episode of Season 5 “Change Your Mind,” it’s alarmingly clear how much the whole show is not just settling for defending and championing the LGBTQ+ worldview—it goes all the way to attacking what Christians believe, on the other side.

Anything that’s pro-LGBTQ+ is doing that by default, but this show goes out of its way to do that.

You have to understand: God created and designed us. Deeper than that; He created and designed romantic relationships, and invented marriage. He didn’t just create love—He is love. So when humans come along and do what we’ve always done since the fall, and say, “I’d rather define what Your thing is and how it works for myself, God,” it’s not only an incredible slap in the face, it’s an attack on God’s actual identity—and it’s destructive for us and the people around us. Like a fish insisting it can breathe oxygen.

But Steven Universe goes beyond that. It knows that the Christian worldview is it’s biggest opposition. It digs right down to the heart of the worldview-battle. LGBTQ+ worldview says, “I should get to love what I want and be who I am, because I’m me. Love is love. (By which I mean, any action or relationship I choose to call love is love, because I’m the one calling it that.)”

Biblical worldview says “No, wait, you shouldn’t base your decisions on you alone; what you want changes day to day, and you’re broken, so you can’t ever be satisfied based on what you want—the Bible says God made you for something, and you rejected that, and it broke you. You’re not how you’re meant to be: even what you want and what you think love is is twisted up and can hurt you and others. But if you submit to God He’ll help you, He’ll fix what’s broken and give you new life by making you how you were supposed to be: He’ll live in you and through you.”

Are we beginning to get the picture?

See, the whole thing with the opposing views between LGBTQ+ and Christian people is as old as time. It’s not a new debate. It’s Satan and Eve in the garden. She says, “This is not how God said things should be,” and Satan says, “Are you sure that’s what He said? He knows if you do this thing, you’ll be like Him. You’ll be god: you’ll get to decide ‘how things should be’ for yourself.”

He lied and said that disobedience would satisfy her. That she knew what her own heart needed better than the God that made it did. That the very act of being imperfect would make her godlike.

And then Steven Universe comes along and says “if every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn’t have hotdogs.”

And has a cast of created being characters who’s imperfections (Garnet’s forbidden “love,” Pearl’s obsession, Amethyst’s insecurity) are supposedly “the best thing about them; what makes them who they are.”

And has a main character who used to be a part of the god-like creator relationship, but used her power to come down to earth and completely change who she is into a fully different person.

And has a godlike Creator character who claims she “doesn’t need” her created beings (just like the God of the Bible) but they all have a little part of their creator in them so she has to repress their imperfections; she holds them all to a standard that’s impossible to reach called “perfection” and punishes them when they don’t meet it even though it hurts them to try; she expects them all to do what they were created by her for; she fixes them when they can’t meet her standard by shining her light through them and making them extensions of their Creator.

And has a main character who argues, fights back, tries to stop her, and is answered with lines that sound surprisingly like what LGBTQ+ people hear when Christians argue with them: “you’re only making things worse; you’re just deceiving yourself; even while you resist it your actual light can’t help shining through,” etc.

White Diamond just wants everything to be perfect. Like her. She just wants her created beings to “be themselves.” But what she means is, be how she created them to be.

And she’s the bad guy. She’s playing God in this show, and Rebecca Sugar is saying, “If God is telling us that can only be happy by being perfect, as He is perfect, and doing what He created us to do, then He’s wrong. Our imperfections are what make us special—unique—individuals—free—and there is nobody who has the right to take that freedom away from us, not even out creator!”

And you know what?

If God were like White Diamond, like Rebecca Sugar believes Him to be, Steven Universe would be right.

But He is NOT.

God is not a dictator who forces us to conform to a standard of perfection and then smashes us when we don’t meet it. He is a King who made us perfect to begin with, and we rejected him, because He allowed us to do that. He knew that true love was love that had to be chosen, and He wanted us to love Him by choice, so he gave us the option. But Rebecca Sugar doesn’t understand—there was never “Choose God or Choose Yourself.” There was only, “Choose God or Choose Nothing.” There was nothing except God. Then He created everything. There is no version of reality where you have something better than God, or even slightly less good but different, to pick. You’re not jumping from one ship into a smaller one, but at least it’s yours—you’re jumping from one ship into a void, and then complaining that there’s no other ship. That’s humans. That’s not God. / White Diamond didn’t make her creations perfect (Amethyst) and she didn’t make them for love. She made them for power. That’s not the God of the Bible.

Even when we did choose to try and love ourselves instead of God, and therefore warped our ability to perfectly love at all, He didn’t smash us. True, everything fell and was cursed, which is exactly what He warned us would happen if we chose it, but it was a natural consequence of breaking ourselves. And then He didn’t leave us that way. He didn’t give up on us. And He certainly didn’t just zap us, snap His fingers, quick-fix it and turn us all into robots who are extensions of Him, who say they love Him but only because it’s His voice puppeting us to say it.

No. He came to us, chose to give up His life at the exact point on the timeline when Romans, masters in the art of slow, humiliating, torturous death, would be the ones to carry out His crucifixion, and saved us Himself. Through the sacrifice of His own life. And even then, we still have a choice. We get to choose to accept that incredible self-sacrifice when we don’t deserve it, and be given new life and a relationship with the Creator who knows us and loves us better than we can love ourselves or receive love from others—OR we can just keep stubbornly insisting that our slavery to the opposite of what God wants is somehow freedom, and our twisted versions of love are genuine, and we’re not broken, and die like that. Die broken creatures who lived their whole lives stomping their feet and screaming “I’m not a creature, I’m a god!”

White Diamond sacrifices nothing, because Rebecca Sugar doesn’t know the God of the Bible. She just knows her idea of Him. She’s never actually gotten to know Him. If she had, she’d learn how silly and twisted her idea is.

Because you know what, yeah, if every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn’t have hot dogs. But people aren’t pork chops. And hot dogs have flavor (not better than pork chops) but they are awful for you.

Christians aren’t perfect cuts of meat with no individuality or flavor. Just because we all know and love the same God doesn’t mean we have no personalities. It just means we don’t think so freaking much about what we are, or who we get to be, or what we like and want. Jeez, what a self-centered, narcissistic, self-obsessed way to live. She plays Steven like he’s this wonder-child, innocent and full of heart, who encourages his friends to love and keep trying. But honestly?

This is very pretty animation but it’s not real. Steven looks happy hugging Steven but self-love doesn’t ultimately get you that.

That’s all based on the premise that what he’s encouraging them to do is actually good, and will make them happy, and will help them love better. And it just won’t. Not in real life. That’s not how any of this works. Self-love is just self-obsession. And that is a sure-fire way to hurt you, and everyone around you.

You’ll never be free by choosing to run to a worse master. You’ll never be satisfied with your crappy attempts at loving yourself, because you were made to be loved flawlessly and forever by someone who is Love Himself.

And choosing to identify with your imperfections doesn’t make you uniquely you. It just makes you exactly like every other human being marching in the same line since the Fall.

White Diamond’s not relational. She’s up high and distant. That’s not God. He made you to be in relationship with Him. He loves you, totally and perfectly, and He proved it by sacrificing for You.

So yeah. That’s the problem with Steven Universe. Come get me, SU fans.

#Steven universe #su #Pearl #amethyst #garnet #Steven universe fans #change your mind #white Diamond #Christianity #Christian’s #asked #answered #thanks #rattling the cage #Rebecca sugar

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