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shinneth · 4 years ago

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Spill the tea on Stevinel (just because I saw one for conniverse) And yes, I'm not on Anonymous. Because I'm a proud stevinel shipper and no one's going to stop me from loving it, also your blog is cool

And you know what? That’s the right attitude to have! People should be free to express what they ship without shielding themselves with anonymity. I don’t blame the people that do these days - antis are fucking dangerous people - but goddamn, people. It’s fiction.

So I commend you for shipping Stevinel openly and proudly! Hard to believe it’s actually considered a bold and brave move just to be open and honest about harmless preferences these days.

That said, I’m sorry it took so long to get to this. I felt you deserved an epic, given how unexpectedly successful my tirade on why Connverse is a shit ship with an undeserved golden reputation was...

But the truth is, even though I’m very much a Stevinel shipper, it’s definitely not my OTP.

And it’s very tricky for me to figure out how to spill the tea on Stevinel in a way that’s distinct from me doing the same with Stevidot.

Because, well, let’s face it: these two ships, beyond being very similar in nature, have also endured identical hardships from the fandom.

All the death threats Stevinel fans get from the raging antis for daring to ship something so “problematic/immoral/wrong/not Connverse”?

Stevidot fans have been treated that exact same way for years. And still are. For the exact same reasons.

Both Stevinel and Stevidot shippers are valid, but the fandom constantly turns a blind eye to Rebecca Sugar’s husband who also worked on the show outright saying gem x human ships are FAIR GAME.

And also turn a blind eye to the recent interview where Sugar herself stated that the gems are more like AI - a conclusion I and many others deduced ages ago just by how gems are portrayed in the show.

But by god, they’ll hang on Matt Burnett’s word that “grown gems” are a thing even though canon itself explicitly states that GEMS DON’T GROW.

Just like how despite Maya Petersen outright admitting that Aroace!Peridot is just her headcanon, people treat it like the fucking gospel now.

(no offense to anyone who’s committed to that particular headcanon - I just don’t really see it with Peridot in particular and it’s really fucking stupid to claim it’s 100% canon when the source herself explicitly said it wasn’t)

Well, it’s canon that Spinel kissed Steven and he didn’t turn into dust. And Steven was already well on his way down the path of self-destruction at this point in time; he would’ve gone monster whether this happened or not.

Also, how often does a character get the “heart eyes” expression for just a platonic love?

If there was ever a scene where Connie or Steven had heart eyes, no doubt most of the pricks would scream “YES!!!! UNDENIABLE PROOF THAT THEY’RE IN LOVE!!!”

But when it’s Spinel, suddenly it doesn’t count? Really?

How convenient.

There’s also the stupid idiots who saw the conceptual development of Spinel in that movie artbook and saw some vague color keys during a conceptual stage and claimed that Spinel was “family” to Steven - which of course must mean “related” and therefore must make Stevinel an incestuous relationship!

Which is bull. Also shit. It’s already common knowledge that gems don’t work that way. She was the designated playmate for Steven’s mother. Nothing more.

Of course, most gems who come in Steven’s orbit end up being sort of a family to him.

But everyone seems to have this impression that a gem being part of Steven’s family means they become additional surrogate mom figures.

And yeah no, that’s dumb and wrong. Garnet and Pearl are really the only ones I’d consider actual “mom figures”. Amethyst’s more of a big sister. Everyone else can vary depending on perspective, but I’ve never seen any of the other gems as anything close to a motherly figure for Steven. Any time I see shit about Lapis or Peridot being regarded as “gem moms” to Steven, I laugh my ass off. They are so not moms or any kind of authoritative figure for Steven. Bismuth at best is more of the fun-loving aunt.

There are more roles in a family than just a paternal/maternal substitute. In fact, I believe Steven has considered Connie to be part of his family well before they hooked up in canon.

(as a side-note, I love how people who are allegedly SO squicked out by age gap ships totally pardon Connverse - you guys realize Connie was 14 in Future, right? Possibly 15 depending on the time scale? There’s gonna be a point in the relative near future where Steven is 18 and Connie isn’t - why don’t I hear you assholes angst about that “atrocity”, huh?)

I honestly do consider the CG B-Team as part of Steven’s family, but more in a loose sense. But by that same token, I consider Connie as part of the family in a similar manner.

Especially since Spinel was shoved off to live with the Diamonds after the movie - and the Diamonds themselves have a very fucked-up relationship among themselves to the point where I honestly hesitate to put a familial label on it at all - it’s extra stupid to try and paint Stevinel as something with incestuous overtones when it clearly doesn’t.

Spinel does happen to be a perfect representative of how full of shit antis are about age gaps, though.

While Peridot’s age has always been left vague, we know she can’t be 5K or older due to being an Era 2 gem. Due to her utter lack of knowledge of Era 1 events (or being completely sold on the Diamonds’ propaganda) and her general inexperience with her own equipment - as well as her ability to quickly adapt to Earth - I always headcanoned Peridot as being especially young. Like, younger-than-Steven young.

Mostly because Peri’s attitude reeks of Gen Z - also because it’d be nice for a change to have a gem who isn’t thousands of years old like literally every other noteworthy gem in the show. We need a representative of gemkind who hasn’t been around for ages.

Of course, Spinel’s backstory proves that even if they went the boring route and made Peridot thousands of years old just like everybody else, it wouldn’t really mean much of anything. She’d be no less of a valid romantic option for Steven regardless of age.

Spinel is several thousands of years old, and the movie explicitly shows us what exactly that amounts to for a gem.

As I mentioned earlier, Sugar sees the gems more like AI. Spinel remaining in one spot for several millennnia, not moving an inch, not speaking to anyone, not seeing anything other than a gradually-deteriorating garden... yeah, and somehow, despite all that, Spinel’s still very childlike per her design. She had literally no room to mature or accrue life experience: Pink Diamond basically hit the pause button on her entire life.

Even though she’s several thousands of years old, through no fault of her own, Spinel’s mindset remained unchanged. It wasn’t until Steven inadvertently came into her life that she became twisted - understandably so after finally realizing she’d been abandoned by Pink.

But she still didn’t completely lose her true self. Spinel realized on her own that Steven didn’t deserve to suffer just because his mom was a negligent asshole. She also came to understand on her own that unlike Pink, Steven truly cared for her no matter what shit she threw his way.

Steven could give Spinel the care and attention she always deserved; something Pink totally denied her while deceiving her into wasting away with her abandoned playground. He could be the one to give Spinel the love she always deserved but was either denied or manipulated into believing she got.

Honestly, this is more than enough to warrant building something more between these two.

The age gap is irrelevant. The two have chemistry. They aren’t related.

(and honestly, this is fiction - these details are largely irrelevant in fiction anyway. I’m only bringing it up because it doesn’t take much research to find that every label the antis put on Stevinel is complete inaccurate Diamond propaganda bullshit)

Stevinel is FINE. Let people ship it if they want to!

Um... is that good enough?

Honestly, I’m not gonna lie: Stevinel’s pretty goddamned popular; so much that I’m a bit jealous of it. I enjoy the ship a lot, but I’ve been keeping it at arms-length all this time. I’m looking forward to when I can write my own brand of Stevinel interaction when I get to introduce her in my series, but that’s still a while to go.

Also, there’s almost zero Peridot/Spinel material, let alone my Peridot/Steven/Spinel OT3. And Stevidot material is still hard to come by; I’m noticing Stevinel’s still quite a bit easier to find by comparison.

So in a way, I feel many other unpopular ships deserve some tea-spilling sooner than Stevinel because Stevinel at least still has a sizable fanbase. Same can’t really be said for a lot of similar ships here...

A lot of this can apply to other Steven x gem ships, honestly.

But I guess I haven’t been showing Stevinel much proper love due to my devotion to my superior SU-AU. I can only hope I can soon reach a point where I can have GA Spinel react to Steven, since their dynamic will be significantly different.

(and then one day I’ll finally make the Peridot/Steven/Spinel OT3 fic!!)

Until then, I can only hope I did Stevinel some justice here!

#answered asks #ryan-spinel #stevinel #stevidot #steven universe #spinel #su spinel #shipping #spill the tea #peridot #su peridot

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maine-writes · 4 years ago

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Vonvon's Time Vacation: Part III, Winter Wonderland

Every travel brochure that features a beautiful hotel in the midst of an idyllic alpine paradise always like to emphasize the majesty of the great outdoors, the serenity of being far away from the chaos of metropolis, but all without leaving behind the conveniences and modernizations of today. Imagine taking a vacation in a tropical paradise, ostensibly to live the "island way", but with high-speed internet, cable, and a nearby familiar fast-food joint or coffee shop.

But always seem to fail to mention very obvious limitations and risks.

Such as weather.

Or the ever so rare "Trapped in a the middle of nowhere with a madman" situation that only really applies to hotels in the middle of nowhere and Airbnb.

Vonvon hurriedly scurried down a twisting hallway, flanked by storage cages made of slats of wood, locked by simply latches and a padlock. Their shoes squeaked on the cold concrete floors as they clumsily ran, occasionally glancing back down toward the other end of the hall. The grey lights of the hall flickered and buzzed, some dying entirely.

"Oh, Vonvoooonnn..." hissed a low, raspy voice. "Where are youuu?"

The child ducked around a corner, their back against the wood, clasping their mouth shut with their hand as they struggled to catch their breath. In their eyes, the dim glimmer of absolute fear.

As they peeked around the corner, peering down the hall, they saw a form slither out from the edge of the far turn.

It was a googly-eyed sock puppet, a demented smile scribbled on with red marker.

"I see you Vonnie," said the puppet, "You can't hide from me. I can hear your breath. I can smell your fear."

Vonvon scrambled to get away, running deeper into the darkest bowels of the basement. But how did they end up in this situation? How did a crazed killer get into the hotel?

It was around three in the afternoon, everyone had returned to a banquet room adjacent to the ballroom, where a staff of servers worked tirelessly to deliver their meals to them. Tonight, they were served a plate of beef bourguignon on top of garlic mashed potatoes. For dessert, they had an eggy flan with a topping of sweet, sticky caramel. Interestingly, the staff were rather short, a squat team of mostly identical looking oddballs who all seemed to be a bit dim. One notable server wore an eyepatch.

Vonvon looked around at all the empty tables, realizing that their party were the only guests in that evening. A troubling revelation when vacation.

They were just about halfway through their dessert when the lights suddenly died, only the dim afternoon light from the windows illuminating the room.

"I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen." Said the tall front desk agent as she walked through the door. "It seems the storm has knocked out our electricity. We have a backup generator on standby, but until main power is back online, we will have to limit electrical use."

With a groan, Vonvon's party dragged their feet back to their rooms.

Vonvon flipped through the channels in their room's television set, all with the same program: static.

"Von, they said we need to limit electric use." Connie said, turning off the TV. "I'd rather not lose power to the lights early. Or heat."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Vonvon groaned. "Some vacation this is turning out to be."

"I'm sure they'll get the power back on soon."

Then there was a knock at the door. It was Sour Cream, peeking his head in.

"Hey, you guys seen my brother?"

Another instance of Onion wandering off to stave off the boredom. Another problem to add onto the load. To help in the search, Buck, Sadie, Jenny, and Lars joined him, and now to see if either Connie or Vonvon were up for it.

"We'll stay with Steven." Connie said, "Where is he?"

"He's in his room." Jenny replied, "I think he's a bit down."

"Ok, good luck guys."

As the group went down the hall, ready for the arduous task of searching for Onion, Connie and Vonvon gathered some blankets and pillows to take to Steven's room.

"You really think a pillow fort will cheer him up?" Vonvon inquired, a stack of pillows in hand.

"Are you kidding?" Connie laughed, "He'll love it!"

"Anything to get his mind off of it, huh?"

But as Connie raised her hand to knock, the door slowly creaked open, revealing a darkness within, illuminated by the flickering light of the TV set.

"Steven?" Connie said, finding no sign of him anywhere. "We brought pillows and blankets, thought we'd make a fort."

But the only thing in the room was a sock puppet, googly-eyes glued on, lying in front of the TV.

"Ok, this is weird." Vonvon said.

"Yeah, you stay here. I'll go find him."

Vonvon was now alone in a cold, dark room, accompanied only by a sock puppet. Nothing good can come of this.

Creeped out by the noise of the static, they turned off the TV and reached for the light switch. But when the lights flipped on, they were not greeted by a warm glow, but by sinister, blood-red light. They looked around the room in horror as they saw the mad rabblings of a crazed psychopath scribbed on the walls, revealed by the crimson glow.

No play makes a boy bored.

Written again and again and again and again and again and again on every surface, on the mirror, on the painting, on the mattress, and spiraling on the ceiling.

As Vonvon recoiled in horror, they looked at the TV, realizing that the sock puppet that was once there, was there no longer.

"Vonvon..." hissed a voice in the walls. "Want to play a game?"

And that's how they ended up in the basement, running for their life.

"Ok, obviously Dad is stressed out." Vonvon said to themself, "Maybe he just needs a hug."

"Vonnie..." said the sinister sock. "I plan to get under your skin..."

"No hug, no hug!"

Then they came upon a fork in the hall, one leading to darkness, the other to a doorway. They chose to risk it with the door.

As they slammed the door behind them, they turned to find themself trapped in the laundry room. On the far wall, there were large machines, baskets of linen and uniforms, and a cart of cleaning supplies. Above it were a series of windows, but too small for them to crawl through.

"Vonnieeeeee..."

Vonvon pressed their ear against the wooden door, listening as heavy footsteps drifted away. A sigh of relief escaped their lungs.

Then came a loud bang against the door, shaking its hinges, and Vonvon's sigh turned into a scream.

Then came another, and another, with each strike, the child screamed in fear.

"This door's pretty solid." panted the madman, gasping for air.

"I think it's oak." Vonvon sobbed.

"Then I guess I'll just have to huff and puff on this one then."

Vonvon could hear their pursuer take a step back, winding up for a mighty swing. They withdrew from the door as an axehead chopped through the wood, screaming in terror.

Peering in through the door was the puppet, an axe beside it.

"HERE'S COOKY!"

The child backed up toward the washing machines, pulling down tables and throwing baskets of clothes and fabrics on the floor in a vain attempt to make some sort of barrier or obstruction.

They then looked up at the windows, seeing the Garnet lookalike talking on a cellphone.

"Garnet!" Vonvon screamed, "Help me! Help me!"

But all she did, seeing the child waving their arms in distress, was wave back with a smile and return to her call.

Then Vonvon remembered that they had a cellphone.

"Right, stupid scared brain!"

They quickly went through their contacts, finding Pearl's cellphone number and called.

"Pearl's phone, Garnet speaking." responded a familiar voice.

"Garnet!" Vonvon screamed, "Get down here! Your disguises suck and Dad's gone berserk! Why'd you build a whole fountain with badly disguised statues?!"

"We're in the Caribbean." Garnet stated to Vonvon's disbelief. "We thought since you guys are on vacation, we should go on one too. Amethyst rode a shark."

Vonvon looked up through the window, watching the Garnet lookalike finish up her call before walking off.

"Tell Steven we said hi." Said Garnet, Lapis and Peridot laughing loudly in the background. "And don't forget, little kids shouldn't play in laundry rooms. There are exactly 47 ways to die in those rooms."

"Yeah, and I'm in Number 47!" Vonvon yelled into the phone, "Killed by crazed Dad!"

"Vonvon, don't be silly." Garnet said. "47 is Killed by Angry Ghost. Crazed Dad is number 4."

Then she hung up.

Out of options and out of luck, Vonvon threw their phone aside, brandishing a nearby brush as a weapon.

"Back off!" Vonvon yelled, failing to be intimidating, "I have a deadly brush!"

With one final push, the door came crashing down, splintering as it hit the concrete floor. Standing in the doorway was Vonvon's relentless pursuer; Onion, the sock puppet in hand.

"ONION!!!"

"He's such a handful sometimes, isn't he?" Jenny said. "Wandering off like that."

"Sour Cream thought he went to the maze out there and got lost." Buck added, pointing at a shivering Sour Cream wrapped in bundles of blankets, his feet soaking in a bucket of warm water. "Took hours for us to find him."

"Why didn't you come to the pool?" Steven asked, "One of the staff came by after you left and said they were going to keep it heated for us if we wanted to use it."

"Hey, I want to go to the pool." Sadie said.

"That sounds like a fun time." Lars agreed, "I think we can get bathing suits through my head if Lion's with the Gems."

Vonvon was tired. They sipped quietly at a juicebox, reflecting on the traumatic events that transpired. To think, this is what Onion was like as a child. The mild mannered young man they know in the future is the exact opposite of this strange boy.

"So Vonvon," Connie began, "What do you want to do now?"

The child thought about it, not for long though. There was one thing on their mind since the time they thought they were going to die.

"Think the kitchen can make me a burger?"

@artsycooky13

#the end of our strange story #steven universe #vonvon #fanfiction

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andrewmoocow · 4 years ago

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Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 4: Bluebird (originally published on December 28, 2020)

Author's note: We're at the halfway point of Part 1 here, two antagonists return for vengeance on Steven, but is there more to this than just screwing with him? We'll just have to wait and see!

Synopsis: A pair of old foes return, and Steven learns that he can't change everyone.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Steven

Estelle as Garnet

Michaela Dietz as Amethyst

Deedee Magno-Hall as Pearl

Larissa Gallagher as Bluebird Azurite

Della Saba as Aquamarine

Charlyne Yi as Eyeball

Shelby Rabara as Peridot

Jennifer Paz as Lapis Lazuli

Uzo Aduba as Bismuth

Tom Scharpling as Greg

Michelle Maryk as Larimar

Kimberly Brooks as Cherry Quartz

Martha Higerada as Topaz

Ted Leo as Steg

"Hello there, all you Gems out there in the universe!" Steven announced as he warped into Little Homeworld as part of a commercial for Little Homeschool. "Has this new era for our universe gotten you all lost and confused? Well, come on down to Little Homeschool!"

"Are you used to destroying things?" Steven continued speaking as he walked in on Lapis making a sculpture, and Lapis just turned her head to him. "Then try learning to be constructive instead!"

Next, Steven stood with Peridot in a cornfield. "Are you used to plotting? Then come tend to this big plot of land!"

Finally, the camera closed in on Steven's face. "Feeling lost without the Diamonds telling you what to do?" he asked as the camera zoomed out to show him doing a yoga pose with Garnet. "Then we can help you find your inner center!"

As the ad concluded, Steven posed with Peridot, Little Larimar, and Angel Aura Quartz at Little Homeworld. "Everyone deserves an opportunity to grow, so come on down to Little Homeschool today!" he exclaimed. "And cut! Thanks for helping out everyone."

"I'm an actor." Larimar said.

"I'll get home and get some editing done." Steven said, preparing to walk away with the camera when Peridot stepped up from behind. "Anything you need now, Peri?"

"Steven, you smell good." Peridot innocently complimented Steven with two thumbs up, much to his confusion.

"I'm sorry, what?" Steven asked the green Gem.

"That's what your back told me to do." Peridot explained before she took a crudely written note with that exact message off Steven's back. "See, you wrote this yourself!"

"No, I didn't." Steven claimed as he took a sip from a box, but realized too late what he was drinking. "Tomato soup?!" he gagged.

"I thought you loved that stuff!" Peridot assumed.

"Yeah but, where did my juice go?" Steven wondered. Suddenly, a roll of toilet paper rolled away from the Dondai Supremo, and it was covered in more rolls. "Oh no!" Steven yelled in surprise. "The Dondai's been….covered in toilet paper?"

The mystery prankster was nowhere to be seen, with only their cheeky laughter as a calling card.

"Okay, whoever's pranking me, you got a really weird idea of how to do it!" Steven called out for his new opponent. "Where did they even get this much toilet paper?"

A little while later, Steven drove his now toilet paper-free car back home, where he noticed the front porch all decorated and music coming from inside.

"Another welcome party?" Steven muttered while noticing the welcome banner above his front door. "Oh, a new Gem must've come!"

As Steven walked inside, another banner saying 'Welcome Bluebird' hung over him and a piñata in his image were not too far away. Speaking with Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl was an unknown Gem with a burgundy bowl-cut, four legs, a pair of wings, and a suit jacket that was red on one side & blue on the other.

"Oh, hello Steven, our new friend here really wants to meet you." Pearl greeted Steven.

"Yeah, come over here and introduce yourself!" Amethyst added.

"Welcome to Earth." Steven greeted the new Gem politely. "My name's-"

"Of course I know who you are. Everyone does!" the new Gem interrupted him in a Cockney accent as she turned around to reveal that she was a fusion and had both her components' gems on her face. But they were two Gems that Steven recognized a little too well. In place of the fusion's left eye was a Ruby, and beneath it was an Aquamarine. "The old Gem savior himself, Steven Universe. Bluebird Azurite at your service." she declared before hugging him. "Come on now, give us a hug!"

"Cute." Garnet grinned.

"Oh, you like food, yes?" Bluebird asked a very unnerved Steven.

"Uh, yeah?" Steven replied sheepishly.

"Well sit tight then, I'll be right back!" Bluebird said before she flew away.

"What?!" Steven yelled.

"Yeah, she's just got here and already knows what she wants to do in life." Topaz said as she appeared next to Steven. "Isn't that great?"

"Don't you find this weird that the Gem who treated you like trash is suddenly all nice now?" Steven asked the big yellow fusion. "Why are you so chill?!"

"That was the past, Steven." Topaz assured Steven. "This is now, all thanks to you."

Just then, Bluebird returned to Steven with a plate of food. However, all of them were known to cause allergic reactions in people, as he observed.

"What's all this?" Steven asked.

"Why, it's food, of course!" Bluebird said as she presented the platter. "Clams, peanut butter, with a side of grass! Go on, try it."

"Yeah, don't wanna keep her waiting." Amethyst convinced Steven to try the dish.

"S-sure, I'll just dip this here." Steven reluctantly obliged, and took a bite of the grass. "Mmm!"

"Is it good?" Bluebird asked him.

"Yeah, I love it!" Steven fibbed in an attempt to keep their guest happy.

"Brilliant." Bluebird added with a cheeky grin.

"Can I see you guys in the bathroom?" Steven asked the Crystal Gems.

Greg was busy combing his hair in the bathroom when his son knocked on the door.

"Dad, it's Steven." Steven called for his dad. "We're gonna need you to let us in, emergency meeting."

After Greg let his son and friends in, Steven sat the Gems down to tell them what he thought of Bluebird. "Gems, I don't want to alarm you, but I think Bluebird may be a fusion of Aquamarine and Eyeball!"

"Uh, duh!" Amethyst exclaimed.

"It was incredibly obvious." Garnet added.

"Well, why are you guys so blasé about this?" Steven asked his guardians. "Did you suddenly forget when Aquamarine & Topaz came down to capture all my friends, and I had to surrender myself to save them? Or what about when Eyeball tried to kill me when we were stuck in space together? She also ratted me out during my trial!"

"Like Topaz said, that was then, and this is now." Pearl calmly assured him. "Besides, aren't you contradicting yourself a bit right now? I mean-"

"But I'm pretty sure they pranked me earlier at Little Homeworld." Steven explained. "They put a sign on my back saying I smelled good, switched my drink with tomato soup, and covered my car with neatly-stacked toilet paper."

"None of that seems particularly malicious," Garnet said. "Heck, Amethyst probably did one of those things at some point."

"It's true!" Amethyst responded. "There was this one time before you were born where Rose and I threw toilet paper all over town because Greg told us about it!"

"Besides, don't you like tomato soup?" Greg asked his son.

"Yeah, but don't you find it weird that she knew where I lived?" Steven asked.

"Steven, you've literally invited all problematic Gems across the universe to come to Earth and learn a better way of living." Pearl bluntly said.

"Listen Schtu-ball, if you don't like this new Gem, that's perfectly okay." Greg stated. "Just don't be so upfront about it and hurt her feelings."

"No, you're right guys." Steven agreed. "Everyone deserves a second chance."

"But if she really is more than she seems," Garnet declared. "we'll come in and squash her!"

"Thanks Garnet." Steven smiled at his favorite fusion before returning to the living room.

As Steven walked out of the bathroom, while the other Gems and Greg poked their heads outside, he found Bluebird chatting it up with Topaz by the couch. "Hey Bluebird!"

"Oh, hello Steven!" Bluebird cheerfully greeted him. "I was just reconnecting with an old chum and thought 'Hey, I should've given him something to wash all that food down with!' Want a drink?" she asked, offering him a soda.

"I'd love one." Steven accepted Bluebird's offer. "Y'know, maybe you two have changed." Just as Steven opened the can, soda squirted back in his face.

"Oh my, how did that happen?" Bluebird cheekily asked.

"YOU obviously shook it!" Steven accused the fusion of his old foes, when Garnet cleared her throat behind him.

"Chance to change." Garnet told Steven.

"You obviously shook it," Steven grumpily corrected himself. "By accident."

A while later, the party was over and everyone had left the beach house. As Steven walked downstairs to the living room, he discovered Bluebird holding a knife while Pearl was looking for something in the fridge.

"Pearl, watch out!" Steven cautioned Pearl. "Bluebird's got a knife!"

"Of course I did." Bluebird menacingly answered, but then immediately changed her tune. "Because I wanted to help cut this cake Pearl made for you!"

"Surprise!" Pearl exclaimed, presenting a cake with vanilla frosting that she got out of the fridge. On top of the cake was Steven's portrait, but his facial features were replaced with a butt. "Bluebird chose the design for me. You like it?"

Steven glared suspiciously at Bluebird as he stuck his finger in the cake, and licked the frosting off it.

Later on at Little Homeworld, Steven walked around to collect his thoughts when he discovered Bluebird grabbing Garnet and putting her in a wrestling hold. "Oh no, someone help! Bluebird's got Garnet!" he shrieked. "You let Garnet go this instant!"

"Don't fret Steven." Garnet calmed Steven's nerves as she was let go. "Bluebird was helping me do some stretches before I could teach her some yoga."

"Always important to stretch." The other fusion informed, eliciting an angry moan from Steven.

Back at home; Steven was angrily eating some Chaaaaps when he felt something that wasn't a chip inside the bag in his lap. In the bag, Steven discovered a poorly-drawn purple sketch of him with stink-lines surrounding him. "Ugh."

"What's up dude?" Amethyst asked him.

"Bluebird's really getting to me!" Steven complained as he showed the drawing to Amethyst. "I mean, look at this terrible drawing of me!"

"Steven, I-" Amethyst recognized the drawing as Steven scooped out more of them from his jacket.

"All of these too!" Steven cut Amethyst off. "I've been finding these awful scribbles all over!"

"Steven, these were all my drawings of you!" Amethyst began sobbing, and she ran away in tears.

"Amethyst, I'm sorry!" Steven tried apologizing to his Gem sister when Bluebird walked into the house.

"Aw, dry those tears, love, and tell me what's wrong." Bluebird comforted the bawling Quartz.

"Steven killed my art career before I could even get it off the ground!" Amethyst cried while Bluebird picked up her drawings.

"I don't know what art is," Bluebird said as she examined Amethyst's art. "but these are really good! They do need a little work, but I can help."

"Awww, thanks Bluebird!" Amethyst immediately cheered up. "In fact, I'm gonna do some more art right now! Wanna come?"

"Lead the way Amethyst!" Bluebird agreed, and the two left the house while Steven dropped his bag of Chaaaaps to the floor and angrily crushed it flat.

"Come on you flying rat; you can't be far." Steven growled as he searched Beach City for Bluebird, looking for something that would expose her components for being more than they seem, when he came across his father's car wash. "Oh, hey Dad!"

"AAAAAH!" Greg screamed from his Mister Universe van, catching Steven off-guard as he raced to the van.

"Dad, are you okay?!" Steven cried, finding the source of Greg's screaming to be him and Bluebird watching movies together.

"Hey Steven." Greg calmly greeted him. "I was just showing Bluebird my old-timey sci-fi horror flick collection."

"It's hilarious how poorly made they are!" Bluebird cackled at the flick she was currently watching. "Some of these 'special effects,' as he calls them, are so old-fashioned!"

"So what's going on, son?" Greg asked Steven, who forced a fake smile on his face. "And what's with your face? You're kind of creeping me out."

"I'm fine, Dad." Steven assured him as he walked away with creepy fake smile and all. "Everything's fine."

"And to make matters worse, they think those two have changed even after all the horrible things they did to us!" Steven later vented his feelings on Bluebird to Peridot, Lapis, and Bismuth at Little Homeworld. "Please, you guys, I need someone to be on my side for once!"

"Oh, we're on your side Steven." Lapis assured her half-human pal, much to his relief. "After what Navy pulled, I don't really trust those Rubies all that much, especially her and Eyeball! Those other three working for the mayor, they're just meh."

"I don't trust Aquamarine either." Peridot added. "That blue runt's high and mighty attitude just keeps rubbing me incorrectly!"

"Don't you also hate Aquamarine because it's basically because of her we separated for a bit?" Lapis asked Peridot, who was just silent as she nervously looked away. "It's okay, you can open up to me."

"No way, she's not that petty!" Peridot said as she tried to hide her distress. Despite what the little Gem was saying, her body language told a whole different story.

"I just find Bluebird really creepy." Bismuth stated. "There's just something about that voice combined with her facial expressions that really give me chills."

Just then, a very loud clanging came straight from Bismuth's forge, and Cherry Quartz rushed out to see the four. "Bismuth, it's your forge! Someone's made a huge mess of the place!"

"Oh no!" Bismuth cried as she rushed to her forge to discover that the whole floor was now covered in all the weapons she helped build. "How could this have happened?! I was so careful to organize everything today!"

"Maybe Bluebird didn't like that you called her creepy." Peridot guessed.

"Well, I know something I hope they really won't like." Bismuth growled with determination. "Of course those little runts realize, this means war!"

Later that day, Bluebird had returned to Little Homeworld and was currently being given a tour of the town by Lapis, yet the fusion was unaware she was being led into a trap.

"Y'know, I'm feeling pretty parched." Lapis remarked sneakily. "You want a drink too?"

"Golly, I thought Gems didn't need sustenance." Bluebird wondered aloud.

"They don't really need to, but some Gems on Earth just like to eat." Lapis answered as they walked up to a conspicuous cooler filled with soft drinks. "Now then, which would you like? We got soda, OJ, purple stuff, two kinds of this other type of orange juice."

"I'll have the purple stuff!" Bluebird cheerily answered. Lapis took a purple soda can from the cooler and gave it a good shake, giggling all the way, before handing it to Bluebird and then turning away from her while plugging her ears.

After a few seconds, nothing happened, and Bluebird didn't drink the purple stuff. "Where's the kaboom?" Lapis wondered as she turned back to Bluebird. "There was supposed to be a big carbonated kaboom!"

"Oh, there seems to be something wrong." Bluebird observed the can slyly before handing it back to the terraformer. "Do you think you can help?"

But as Lapis realized, Bluebird didn't even open the can at all. "What the?!" she stuttered while taking the can from the small fusion. "You didn't even open-" When Lapis opened the can of purple stuff herself; she got a face full of the drink squirting directly in her face instead. As Bluebird laughed heartily, Lapis angrily crushed the can and glared back as Bluebird flew away.

"I already tried that trick Lazuli!" Bluebird cackled. "Try something original next time!"

Lapis's eye began to twitch as she dropped the can to the ground, fighting the urge to just launch Bluebird into space with a water fist.

"This is something humans like to do with their disposal units." Peridot explained to Bluebird as they stood by a metal trashcan atop the hill where the lighthouse sat. "You just insert yourself into the unit and just roll it down this hill. Now then, would you like to go first?"

"No, maybe you should go first." Bluebird suggested while offering Peridot a pair of rather unusual looking gloves from one of her gemstones. "And take these too. Safety first!"

"Where did you get these gloves?" Peridot asked as she put the gloves on. "They seem like old Homeworld equipment."

"Just found them lying around one day, nothing too important." Bluebird fibbed just as Peridot entered the trashcan. "Okay, are you ready chum?"

"Let 'er rip!" Peridot yelled from within the can before Bluebird kicked it, and it rolled down the hill with Peridot inside it. "ISN'T THIS FUN BLUEBIRD?!"

"Oh yes, plenty of fun." Bluebird snickered and walked away backwards from where the trashcan once stood.

"Wait, where are you going?" Peridot called as the can continued rolling. She tried to stop it with her ferrokinesis, but they didn't seem to work. "My stars, these old gloves are nullifying my powers!" she realized, and turned her attention to Bluebird in anger. "I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS YOU CLO-"

However, Peridot couldn't finish when the can finally collided with a wall, and her head poked out in a daze. "You're despicable." She hissed hatefully while stars danced around her head.

"Well, guess it's all up to me now." Bismuth declared to herself with Lapis and Peridot's failures to prank Bluebird. She now stood alone at the Warp Pad at the center of Little Homeworld where the barn once stood, in front of a mixer filled with lava. "She ain't ever gonna know what hit her."

"Who isn't going to know what hit her?" Bluebird asked rhetorically before she poured the lava in the mixer on Bismuth, though Bismuth barely felt a thing.

"You know this literally does nothing to Bismuths, right?" Bismuth asked as Bluebird took her leave.

"What happened to you guys?" Steven asked the soaked Lapis, dizzy Peridot, and mildly irritated Bismuth as they reported back to him on their efforts in the prank war.

"Bluebird saw my prank coming since she already tried it herself." Lapis answered.

"My mental powers were nullified by these old Homeworld gloves." Peridot added as she presented the gloves. "I think I'll keep them for further study."

"I barely got to do anything before Bluebird turned my own prank against me!" Bismuth whined in defeat.

"Oh, come now, put a smile on your face." Bluebird said as she landed behind the four. Peridot, Lapis, and Bismuth turned around to see the little fusion before them, and immediately dropped to their knees with hands out and heads bowed. "Now, what's all this for?"

"We now recognize you as a superior prankster." Lapis declared.

"And now we must grovel in your presence!" Peridot theatrically added.

"We shall concede from this prank war, in recognition of the superior tricker." Bismuth stated.

"Guys, you can't just give up this easily!" Steven yelled angrily before he noticed his body taking on a slight pink hue. "That's four times now." He said to himself. "This can't be healthy."

"Oh, well, thank you all for the compliments!" Bluebird thanked the other three Gems. "Hopefully we can get up to more mischief together someday!"

As Bluebird flew away, Steven stomped to the Warp Pad and used it to return home with barely a word.

"Steven wait, we're sorry!" Peridot cried as Steven vanished from Little Homeworld.

"He's right. We gave up a little too easily." Lapis agreed with her Beach Summer Fun Buddy. "Maybe we should go apologize to him in the morning. You wanna come with Bismuth?"

"Sorry, I got a whole day of cleaning up the forge ahead of me." Bismuth rejected the chance. "But be sure to tell me if things turn out okay."

The next morning, Steven woke up in his room, the events of yesterday still fresh in his mind. From Bluebird's arrival, to almost no one believing him when he claimed that she was up to no good, and finally the help of the B-team proving pretty much useless, it was a very hectic day for him.

When Steven went downstairs to the bathroom, he discovered Bluebird's gemstones drawn on his face in the mirror. "Oh, haha." He muttered. "Very funny Bluebird."

Just then, the Warp Pad activated, followed by the sound of tires screeching. As Steven rushed out of the bathroom, he found Greg's van somehow in his living room, a trail of tire tracks left behind in its wake. "How did the van?" Steven asked himself in sheer confusion. "Oh, gotcha. I guess Bluebird and Dad must be having a ball." Just then, he heard someone cry out. "I guess they're watching another of his horror movies. I'm sure everything's fine."

Greg's cries for help proved otherwise, and Steven bolted outside to search for his human father. "It's okay Steven. Bluebird is cool." Steven assured himself. "Dad?"

"Up here son!" Greg screamed as Bluebird dangled him by the ankle on the roof.

"Are those screams of fun?!" Steven called.

"No they ain't!" Greg exclaimed. "Please help me, you were right!"

"An era ago, there were two Gems worshipped on Homeworld for their attempts on the life of their greatest traitor!" Bluebird declared. "But when he brainwashed everyone into worshipping him, those two were cast out and now have come to Earth for revenge!"

As Bluebird leaped into the air, she began to unfuse. "And now he shall rue the day he ever crossed-" To cap off her speech, Bluebird's components finally revealed herself.

"Aquamarine!"

"And Ruby!"

Steven and Greg didn't have anything to say to the two old foes.

"Well, it's us!" Aquamarine cried impatiently.

"Yeah, it was us all along, and no one ever knew!" Eyeball added.

"I always knew. Everybody knew." Steven replied. "You were really poor at hiding it."

"Well if you knew, why was everyone so nice to us?!" Eyeball yelled.

"Because we're nice!" Steven argued. "Something you don't know about!"

"Nice people, my facet!" Eyeball shouted. "You left me to rot in space!"

"And it's because of you that I'm a disgrace to our kind!" Aquamarine agreed. "Ugh, enough of this!" she groaned angrily before grabbing Greg again, this time by the hair, while Eyeball pulled her chisel from her gem.

"Hey, careful with my dad!" Steven cautioned the pair of angry Gems as he summoned his shield. "If this is another one of your pranks, then I'm not laughing, so you better cut it out!"

"That was just something to soften you up." Eyeball declared menacingly. "Now, the real torture begins!"

"We learned so much about you and your life Steven," Aquamarine taunted. "especially how you love My-Dad so much! But if you want him alive, you'll have to agree to our demands. Like destroying your home!"

"Yeah!" Eyeball added.

"Bubbling your friends and handing them over to us!" Aquamarine continued.

"YEAH!" Eyeball began getting more sadistically pumped up.

"And burning that silly Little Homeworld to ashes!" the little blue Gem stated.

"DO IT!" Eyeball shouted.

While Aquamarine and Eyeball were threatening Greg's life, they were caught off-guard by a few water droplets from above, coming from Lapis's wings as she and Peridot flew to see Steven.

"Oh crack, those two." Eyeball growled at the barn-mates while Lapis touched down to where Steven was standing.

"Hey Steven, we wanted to stop by because we didn't get a chance to apologize for yester-" Lapis began explaining to Steven, but immediately got distracted by the current situation. "Um, did we miss something?"

"It's Aquamarine and Eyeball!" Steven panicked. "They're out for revenge and they want me to do horrible things or else Dad gets killed!"

"Of course you'd sink that low, you filthy outcasts!" Peridot snarled at the other short Gems. "First, you took Steven away Aquamarine, and that led to some of the worst days of my life! Now, I'm gonna make you pay dearly!"

"Oh, here are some friends you can poof boy." Aquamarine told Steven. "Go on, listen to us for once."

"Never!" Steven rejected.

"Then My-Dad gets it!" Aquamarine threatened, but Eyeball was a little confused.

"Gets what?" the Ruby asked quizzically.

"Gets it!" Aquamarine scolded her partner. "It's like in those movies he showed us."

"Oh right!" Eyeball realized with a malicious laugh, and prepared to kill their human captive. However, Greg wasn't going to take this lying down.

"That's enough!" Greg yelled as he snatched Eyeball's chisel from her hand and used it to free himself by cutting his hair short, causing him to fall from Aquamarine's grasp.

"No!" Steven yelled.

"I got you!" Lapis exclaimed, summoning forth a water hand to catch Mr. Universe with. "Are you alright?"

"Just bereft of my glorious locks." Greg said mournfully when Aquamarine dropped the remainder of his hair next to him. "Oh my baby!" he cried before rushing to comfort the clump of hair.

"How could you let this happen, you meager soldier?!" Aquamarine yelled at Eyeball.

"You were distracting me!" Eyeball argued.

"I was directing you, My-Dad just caught us by surprise!" Aquamarine talked back.

As Steven, Peridot and Lapis watched the two enemy Gems bicker, Steven turned to his mourning dad. "Father, get inside."

"I'm sorry, Steven." Greg said boldly. "But after how they dangled me off the roof and made me lose my hair, I want in!" Just then, he got an idea. "In fact."

After whispering something into his son's ear, Greg fist bumped Steven, and it caused the two to glow right before everyone else's eyes. And as a result, the father and son fusion Steg was reborn, this time with a mullet in addition to his massive pompadour.

"He can fuse with humans?!" Aquamarine shrieked in surprise. "We were never told this!"

"Oh my stars!" Lapis and Peridot gasped in unison.

"This one goes out to all awesome hair across the stars." Steg boomed while summoning a double-necked guitar that he began playing. "I call this one, 'We Ain't Gonna Let You Get Away With This!'"

"Three against two?" Eyeball said nervously. "Y'know, I think maybe it's time we-" She was cut off by Steg braining her with his guitar while he turned pink.

"If you're saying we should run or surrender, you are sorely mistaken!" Aquamarine yelled while dodging attacks from Lapis. "They fused just now, somehow, so we must fuse in order to win!"

"Fine, whatever." Eyeball groaned as she noticed Peridot scampering into the house and racing back out with a kitchen knife to match the Ruby's chisel.

Eyeball raced away from the green Gem in fright and grabbed onto the fleeing Aquamarine's hand in an attempt to fuse, but it was cut short by the combined forces of their disharmony and Steg throwing Steven's shield between them that sent them flying face-first into the sand.

"What was that?" Eyeball asked.

"That was bad form you corun-dummy!" Aquamarine insulted. "Try again!"

The two of them attempted to fuse again, and again, and again, but every time resulted in failure. "That's it!" Eyeball yelled. "I've had it with you!"

"Tsk tsk tsk." Steg tutted smugly as he returned to his normal self and approached the arguing duo. "You guys only fused to get revenge on me, didn't you?"

"Yes, that's exactly it!" Aquamarine replied. "The only problem is she's too much of a moron to keep us together!"

"Me the moron?!" Eyeball shouted. "You're way too much of a bossy-boots!"

"If that's the reason, then I can see why you can't keep it together." Lapis stated from experience.

"What are you three talking about?!" Aquamarine asked scornfully.

"There are so many other reasons to fuse." Steg explained. "Like friendship, responsibility, maybe even love."

"Imagine how much better your lives would be if you fused to support each other instead of wanting to ruin someone's life." Peridot agreed with the massive fusion.

"She's right." Steg continued. "Your life would be filled with so much love and joy and friendship and warmth and-"

"Yes yes, blah blah blah!" Aquamarine rudely cut Steg off. "Ugh, love is so annoying!"

"I hate it as much as I hate Steven!" Eyeball agreed, but then the two realized something they had in common.

"Yeah, me too!" Aquamarine and Eyeball declared to each other as they fused back into Bluebird, much to Steg's irritation.

"This is bad comedy." Steg facepalmed as Bluebird triumphantly returned.

"Ah-ha, back in business!" Bluebird announced before summoning a cutlass made out of ice to attack Steg with, but he blocked the sword with his shield.

"En garde!" Bluebird cackled with a swing of her sword, spawning ice projectiles that turned into smaller cutlasses landing on the ground.

"Steven, why is the van inside the house?" Pearl asked while she, Garnet, and Amethyst emerged from the beach house as the fusion fight went on.

"Whatever Greg did, can you tell him to stop?" Amethyst asked before she let out a loud scream at what they were seeing. "Hey, is that Steg?!"

"We can explain everything, honest!" Peridot tried to apologize for everything that's happened.

"No need." Garnet boomed stoically while glaring daggers at Bluebird, continuing to swipe at Steg's shield.

"DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!" Bluebird shrieked violently when she noticed a certain group of three angry Gems. "Oh, if it isn't my favorite trio!" she exclaimed while innocently hiding her cutlass behind her back.

The Crystal Gems responded by fusing together into a very grouchy Alexandrite who towered over Bluebird Azurite and raised one hand forward.

"Oh no." the rogue fusion whimpered before she was squashed flat by Alexandrite. As Alexandrite un-fused back into Garnet, Amethyst & Pearl, Steven & Greg un-fused and gazed at the groaning Aquamarine & Ruby.

"Are you two okay?" Steven asked while Greg raced to collect his cut hair.

"Oh no, we have been defeated!" Aquamarine theatrically declared. "Now we'll be forcibly indoctrinated into your lifestyle like every Gem before us!"

"Yep." Eyeball replied as she rubbed her head.

"I've completely learned my lesson." Aquamarine stated. "I'm sorry Steven. Please accept my apology so that we may become defenseless pacifists just like you." When she extended a hand to Steven, Steven brought his out too, expecting to give her a handshake, but she childishly snatched her gloved hand away. "GOTCHA!"

"Don't you run away you runts!" Peridot yelled while Aquamarine took Eyeball's hand and they flew away.

"You rebels may have gotten us this time, but we'll be out there!" Aquamarine declared haughtily.

"Hating you!" her Ruby partner added.

"Forever!" Aquamarine concluded as they flew far away from the Gems, presumably never to be seen for a long time.

"You smell!" Eyeball jeered as loud as she could.

"Think we'll really see them again?" Lapis wondered.

"Who knows Lapis?" Garnet replied. "But if they pull off what they did just now, we'll be there."

"I guess there are Gems out there who still hate your guts." Amethyst contemplated.

"Well, I'm not the only one they wanted to hurt." Steven replied while looking at Greg, sitting by the ocean with his hair in his arms. "I'm really sorry, Dad." Steven apologized to his father while sitting by him. "I never should've given Bluebird a chance."

"I love how you believe in everyone." Greg sighed to his son while drying his tears. "You stuck to your principles, and that made me proud. But sometimes, some people don't want to change."

"Yeah." Steven sighed as well, before Greg let his hair drift in the water.

"See you around, old friend." Greg bid farewell to his locks. "You're finally free."

Later that day, Aquamarine and Eyeball continued giggling as they found somewhere safe to hide in the woods close to Beach City.

"You have to admit, it was hilarious how that My-Dad was so attached to his hair." Eyeball admitted to her blue cohort.

"I mean, it's just hair!" Aquamarine agreed. "But enough about mocking others' misfortune, give me the communicator."

"You got it." Eyeball obeyed and began searching around her person for what her new friend requested. "Uh, where is it again?"

"In your gem you dolt!" Aquamarine yelled.

"Oh, right." Eyeball realized, pulling a black, octahedral object from her gemstone and handing it to Aquamarine. After Aquamarine gave it a few turns, the object slowly rose above the two and transformed into a screen displaying a coded message.

"Your clarity, we have garnered some minor success on our espionage mission." Aquamarine announced to the screen while positing her arms in a rectangular salute. "Though our cover was blown, we now know that he can somehow perform fusion with humans. Tell us, do you have any further orders?"

The screen replied by giving a coded message to Aquamarine that Eyeball couldn't understand. "Uh, what's it saying?" Eyeball asked.

"It's saying we must return to headquarters and await further instructions." Aquamarine translated the message. "A craft is being sent to our current location to bring us back."

As Aquamarine declared, a small, orb-like white space pod with a single red window at the entrance instantly warped to Earth via lightspeed and opened its door for the two Gems to board.

"Haha, just you wait Steven!" Eyeball shouted to the sky. "Your precious little family will soon be done for!"

The two little Gems cackled evilly as they entered the pod, and it blasted off back into space. But they didn't realize that a certain orange Gem was watching close by, and had a disgruntled look on her face all the while.

And so ends Bluebird. Fun fact, Steg was completely last minute as I thought it would be cool if he fought Aquamarine and Eyeball. Speaking of which, if you couldn't tell by now, Aquamarine & Eyeball will have a much bigger role than in Regular Future going forward as they now answer directly to our mystery villain from Cracks and Buds. So first we had Holly Blue Agate, and now these two? What could this ne'er-do-well have planned with these old villains? We'll just have to wait and see. Speaking of which, I should really get back to a certain other Steven Universe fanfiction.

#steven universe #steven universe future #fanfiction #steven universe alternate future #steven quartz universe #garnet #amethyst #pearl #bluebird azurite #eyeball ruby #aquamarine #lapis lazuli #peridot #bismuth #greg universe #steg

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starlightrevolution · 3 years ago

Text

The Enlightened One

Connie’s first instinct upon waking up was opening her eyes. Her vision was blurry and spinning. She blinked for a few seconds and shook her head, as her vision became clear. She looked at the stone ceiling, before trying to get up, only to feel a sharp pain spreading all over her body. She fell back to the bed, before looking around to see Jeff and Patricia laying on beds around hers, along with a fourth empty bed, which was not made, as if someone had just gotten out of it.

“Ugh!” Connie whispered, before she looked down to see her body was filled with bandages that covered her wounds. She once again looked at the others, to see bandages also covered their bodies, including Jeff’s eyes. She had almost forgotten it. Jeff had sacrificed his eyes to save his siblings. “Siblings…”

“She woke up!” Connie heard, before she looked at a nearby door, to see it opening and Daniel carefully coming into the room. Connie once again tried to get up, once again feeling the sharp pain, before she managed to seat on the bed. “Don’t overdo it! We just fought four Silver Saints! I was barely able to stand up myself when I first woke up!”

“What happened?”

“After we fought that Specter, the Virgo Gold Saint appeared and teleported us here.” Daniel explained. “This is a place named Jamiel, in between China and India.”

“China and India?” Connie asked in surprise. “We were in the middle of the South Pacific! Are we just going to be tossed around the globe today?”

Connie bought her hand to her forehead in pain.

“Calm down! We’re all still hurt!”

“How long was I out?” Connie asked.

“Three hours.” Daniel explained, as he helped Connie settle down. “We’re expecting everyone to recover so we can go back to the Sanctuary.”

“That thing the Specter said… about us being siblings…” Connie whispered. “Was it true?”

“Yes.” They heard, before they turned to the door, to see a small woman in a Gold Cloth entering the room, maintaining her eyes closed. “There is no doubt about it. Your fates are linked, and always have been ever since you were born.”

“You’re the Virgo Gold Saint?” Connie asked, as she managed to get up from the bed, almost falling to the ground as Daniel tried to catch her, but she signed for him to stop as she managed to keep her balance.

“My name is Virgo Peridot. I was watching your battle against the Silver Saints.” Peridot explained in a calm voice.

“Then why didn’t you help us before?” Connie asked.

“If you weren’t able to fight on your own, you wouldn’t be worthy of my time.” Peridot explained in a calm voice.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Connie asked in annoyance, as she felt a sharp pain in her chest and fell to her knees, Daniel running in to help her.

“Go back to bed before you hurt yourself even more.” Peridot declared, as she turned away and began walking towards the door. “I’ll be out here if you need anything.”

“Connie, are you okay?” Daniel asked.

“We are siblings…” Connie whispered. “I never knew I even had siblings…”

“I never imagined it.” The two heard, before they turned to see their sister had woken up.

“Patricia!” Daniel commented, as Connie got back to her feet.

“My mother never told me anything about my father. Whenever I asked it, she’d always try to change the subject.” Patricia commented as she opened her eyes, not trying to get up. “I always thought he had died before I was born, but it seems like he just abandoned us and ran off to have a bunch of other kids.”

“Welcome to the club.” Connie joked as she sat on her bed.

“I guess none of us has any idea who our father is.” Daniel commented.

“Does he have any other kid we don’t know about?” Connie wondered.

“Daniel said he had a brother, didn’t he?” They heard, before they turned to see Jeff speaking, the bandages still covering his eyes.

“Yes. His name is Orpheus.” Daniel explained. “He’s my… I mean, our brother. We grew up in an orphanage, but we ended up being separated when he went to the Sanctuary to become a Saint, and then he disappeared. I thought that if I became a Saint, I would end up finding him, but I’m not having any luck so far.”

“Do you think he died?” Patricia asked, as she managed to seat on her bed. She looked around to see her hijab had been placed next to her in bed. She reached for it and prepared to put it on, only to stop in realization and put it back down. Everyone in that room was part of her family. “Hundreds of people arrive at the Sanctuary trying to become Saints, but by the end of the day, there are only 88 of us. Many people die during the training, or end up being while fighting for their Cloth.”

“No. My brother would never fail at something like this.” Daniel explained. “He was always stronger than me. If I was able to get a Cloth, I have no doubt that he also got one. I am sure he is somewhere out there. I just have to find him.”

“So, there is at least one of us lost out there, and we have no clue as to who our father might be.” Jeff commented. “Quite a tricky situation to be, especially while in the middle of a Holy War. We were fighting together, without even knowing we share the same blood.”

“Honestly, after the fights we’ve been through, we should worry less about the blood inside of us and more about the blood we lost, don’t you think?” Connie asked in a joking tone as she scratched the back of her head. Daniel laughed for a second, while Jeff and Patricia merely smirked.

“It generally takes about a week for the volume of blood to be renewed.” Patricia commented. “We’re Saints, so our Cosmo will speed up the recovery process. Our blood should be fully renewed by the end of the day or so. Tomorrow, most of our blood will have been fully replaced.”

“I guess from now on we’ll know where our blood came from.” Daniel commented, as the others smiled.

Virgo Peridot stood behind the door, carefully listening to their conversation, before she calmly walked away.

===============================================

Heinstein Castle, Germany:

Steven laid peacefully under the covers on his bed, his eyes closed as he listened to the calm melody coming from outside his room, before he suddenly opened his eyes.

“Connie… you’re back…” Steven declared as a gentle smile formed on his face.

===============================================

Jamiel, Between India and China:

Peridot walked away from the room where the Bronze Saints were talking, before gently opening another door and entering the living room of the tower. She gently sat right in the middle of the room, taking a meditative position, as the gentle breeze from the outside came in from the open door, as Peridot breathed in the pure air of the top of the tallest mountain on Earth, not bothered by the faint smell of the dead coming from the bodies on the large and sharp spikes at the bottom of the cliff right in front of the tower, with the only way to go in or out of the tower being a narrow pathway of stone that linked it to the rest of the mountain. Jamiel truly was a place that you’re meant to teleport into.

“Peridot.” She heard, before a tall figure approached her. “Did the Bronze Saints wake up?”

Peridot nodded calmly.

“What did you make of them?”

“They’re emotive. There is a heat about them. They are very human.” Peridot explained. “I can feel so much doubt and pain within their hearts. And beneath everything…”

Peridot breathed in carefully, before breathing out.

“Hope.” Peridot whispered. “Hidden under the layers of despair, their hearts are truly filled with hope.”

The figure nodded, before staring out the window, as yet another gentle breeze entered the stone tower. The figure stared at the sky for a few moments.

“That violent Cosmo…”

“Specters.” Peridot commented. “They’ve finally found our location.”

“I’ll go deal with them.”

“No.” Peridot declared, as she got up from her meditation position and began walking out of the tower, her eyes still constantly closed as she let out a calm smile. “Those enemies are here because of me. I wouldn’t be a very good guest if I made you fight them, would I?”

===============================================

“There they are!” One of the Specters declared, as they saw the tower in the distance, and began running through the stone pathway. “Those insignificant Silver Saints couldn’t do the job! The one who will defeat them will be I, Gorgon Ox, the Terrestrial Star of Race!”

“No! It will be I!” Declared one of the other two Specters that ran alongside Ox. “Dullahan Cube, the Terrestrial Star of Shadow!”

“You idiots!” Declared the third Specter, as the three ran towards the tower at full speed. “It is obvious that their killer will be I, Elf Miles, the Terrestrial Star of Deprecation!”

“Look! Here we are!” Ox declared as they finally reached the end of the pathway and began running towards the tower, only for their eyes to widen in surprise. “What?”

The three looked around in confusion, unable to find the tower anywhere, before they turned around, and their eyes widened in shock, as they saw the tower was on the other side of the pathway, and realized they were standing on the exact same spot they were before they began to run towards the tower. It was as if they had not moved an inch.

“What happened?” Cube asked in surprise. “How can this be?”

“Why are we back here?” Ox asked. “We ran for less than a minute, yet I feel as if we’ve been running for hours! What is the meaning of this?”

“Look!” Miles yelled as he pointed upwards, and all of the Specters looked up, to see they were now standing right on the palm of a gigantic Buddha.

“What just happened?” Cube demanded in confusion.

“From our perspective, we’ve been moving forwards...” Ox declared. “But in reality, we’ve just been running in circles in Buddha’s hand, like flies flying around a lamp!”

“Flies? Oh, please.” They heard a booming voice, as the illusion of Buddha disappeared, and they looked up to see Peridot now levitating in the place of the Buddha, hoovering in the air in a meditation position. “Even the souls of flies are more valuable than yours.”

“So, you’re the one who’s been tricking us!” Ox declared furiously. “You’re the one who defeated Papillon!”

“You Specters don’t have any manners, I see.” Peridot commented with her eyes closed. “I let you out of Buddha’s hand, and this is how you thank me?”

“Shut your mouth! We don’t care if you’re Bronze or Gold! We were sent here to kill those Bronze Saints, and we will do it, even if we have to kill you!” Ox declared, as the three Specters leaped towards Peridot. “Eye of Charge!”

“Blood Spray!” Cube declared as he attacked.

“Earthquake Mixer!” Miles declared as he attacked.

“Khan.” Peridot whispered, not bothering to leave her meditation position, as a powerful circular shield formed around her body. The three Specters struck it, their attacks having no effect on the Gold Saint’s body.

“What? She blocked all of our attacks at once?” Ox yelled in surprise.

“Do you really think those strikes powered only by rage will have any effect upon me?” Peridot asked in a calm and peaceful voice. “May your ashes scatter and get lost across the universe. Tenma Kofuku!”

Peridot put her hands together, before opening them to reveal a massive amount of Cosmo contained between her palms in the shape of a miniature nebula, which suddenly expanded and engulfed the Specters, sending the three flying away as large pieces of their Surplices were reduced to ashes.

“Pathetic.” Peridot whispered, as the Specters hit the ground.

“Damn you…” Ox complained, as the Specters managed to get back up after some difficulty. “How can someone be this powerful?”

“You think that was powerful?” Peridot asked. “What you’ve just witnessed is nothing but a small demonstration of my Cosmo.”

“Just who the hell are you?” Cube demanded angrily.

“Those who cling to notions such as 'I am' wander the world offending others.” Peridot declared.

“That makes no sense!” Ox yelled, as they once again leaped and attacked, which Peridot completely ignored as she sat in the middle of her shield.

“I already told you. Your ridiculous strikes without any power do not work on me.” Peridot explained in a calm voice, as the three specters suddenly froze in midair, completely paralyzed as if time had stopped.

“What did she just do?” Miles declared, as he suddenly felt his arm burning. “What is going on? It’s like my fist is about to melt!”

“Your fist presents no threat to me, so I will pierce through your Surplice and then through your skin.” Peridot declared, as the gauntlet of Miles’ Surplice exploded around his fist, and his skin suddenly lit up on fire as he screamed in pain. “After that I will smash through your muscles and finally crush your bones, and you won’t have a fist anymore.”

“Stop! It hurts!” Miles screamed in desperation.

“Since you asked nicely.” Peridot commented, as she casually waved her hand in the air, and the three Specters suddenly flew towards the ground with incredible speeds, creating massive craters as they landed.

“She’s making complete fools out of us!” Cube yelled, before they once again leaped.

“Eye of Charge!”

“Blood Spray!”

“Earthquake Mixer!”

Their attacks flew towards Peridot, once again stopping in midair, as if some sort of air pressure prevented them from touching Peridot.

“Impossible!” Ox yelled in shock. “Even when she doesn’t have that shield around her, we still can’t attack!”

“If you will surrender for so little, then the reasons for why you fight are equally insignificant.” Peridot whispered. “Maybe I can’t hope to find any meaning inside a depthless existence such as yours.”

Peridot waved her hand, and the attack of the three Specters suddenly flew back towards them, striking them directly as their helmets flew right out of their heads and were reduced to ashes, before the three once again fell to the ground.

“I will offer you one last prayer, before sending you off to the peaceful sleep of death.” Peridot declared. “Tenm–”

Before Peridot could finish, Ox jumped up from the ground and threw a punch, striking Peridot right on the face, making a small scratch appear on her cheek, which began bleeding slightly. One drop of Peridot’s blood fell from her chin and hit the ground.

“I got one!” Ox declared, barely being able to stand up as the other two got back to their feet with some difficulties. “You’re not invincible after all!”

“How disappointing.” Peridot commented. “I let my guard down on purpose just to give you a chance to show me how strong you are, and a small scratch is all your Cosmo could muster.”

“What? On purpose?” Ox asked in surprise, as his eyes widened when he realized the small scratch that he had made on Peridot’s face had vanished in the blink of an eye.

“Your divine punishment has arrived.” Peridot declared. “Look down upon your feet and realize that you are already in hell.”

The three Specters looked downwards, before their eyes widened and they screamed in shock, as they saw themselves now standing in a massive ocean of blood, reaching up to their knees. They looked around, and to every direction there was nothing but an endless red ocean, with no land to be seen.

“This is my blood.” Peridot declared. “The blood from the wound that your fist caused.”

“That’s impossible!” Ox declared, as the red ocean suddenly began to raise, and they found themselves unable to swim, as if some powerful invisible force was pulling them downwards. “Such a small wound could never have sprouted this much blood!”

“Your souls will now be consumed by the hellish flames and reduced to ashes.” Peridot declared. “But there is still a way to save yourselves.”

“What?” The Specters asked in unison.

“Kneel until your heads touch the floor and worship me forever.” Peridot declared. “If you do that, then maybe, just maybe, I might spare you.”

“You want us to worship you as God?” Cube asked, as the three continued to be consumed by the blood.

“You fool! We only worship one God, and that is Lord Hades!” Ox declared in fury.

Peridot gently raised her hands, and the expressions on the faces of the three Specters suddenly changed into nothing but pure and utter terror.

“I feel my Cosmo becoming weaker by the second!” Miles declared. “It’s like my very soul is shrinking in fear!”

“I feel the need to retreat, but…” Cube declared. “I can’t move! I am frozen in terror!”

“What is going on?” Ox asked in desperation. “It’s like all of the sudden we became helpless frogs being swallowed by a gigantic snake!”

“Six Samsāras.” Peridot declared. “Rikudō Rinne.”

The eyes of the Specters widened, as they felt themselves disappearing into nothingness and flying towards strange realms.

“What are you doing?” Ox asked in desperation as Peridot sent them flying through the realms of reality.

“The World of Hell.” Peridot declared as the three Specters flied over an endless hell. “This is the place where humans go after death to pay for the evil they’ve committed in life. Rivers of magma, mountains of needles, the air is nothing but ashes. There is nothing in this reality except for eternal torment.”

“The World of the Starving Spirits.” Peridot declared as the three Specters flew over a world of horrific spirits in eternal misery. “This is the destiny of those who lived in greed. In this world you will be reborn as a skeleton spirit with a swollen belly, who will spend day after day helplessly devouring everything you find in your path, even human flesh, yet nothing will ever satisfy your endless hunger.”

“The World of the Beasts.” Peridot declared, as the three Specters flew over and endless sea of terrifying gigantic monsters. “This is the world of eternal suffering where those who lived by following their instincts are reborn in the form of an animal. You will forever live as a savage beast and fight for dominance, in this world that follows only the law of the survival of the strongest.”

“The World of the Ashura.” Peridot declared, as the three Specters flew over a world that was nothing but an endless battlefield of fire and blood. “In this world there is only rage and endless battles. Here you will fight forever against an infinite number of enemies without ever being able to rest or stop.”

“The next one is the world that fools such as you tend to prefer.” Peridot explained, as the three Specters flew over a familiar world. “The World of the Humans. Whoever is reborn in this world is stuck in the excruciating suffering that is being a human. Sorrow, joy, wrath, and laughter. This is an unstable world, where the distinction between ‘good’ and ‘evil’ does not exist.”

“The World of Paradise.” Peridot explained, as the three Specters flew over a world filled with light. “Not even Gods are above the circle of rebirth. Some say this is the only world in which one can truly find joy. This is the most dangerous world of them all. Even a single impure thought is all it takes for you to fall directly to hell.”

“Stop! Please!” Ox yelled as he tried to close his eyes. “Make it stop!”

“This is the cosmic Russian roulette. I will force a reincarnation by briefly ending your lives and throwing your souls into one of the six worlds at random.” Peridot declared, as the bodies of the three Specters were completely obliterated, and their souls randomly flew towards the six worlds. “The wheel of life turns once again.”

===============================================

“It is over.” The figure declared, as three of the beads of the rosary in her hands turned black, symbolizing the end of the lives of the three Specters. She looked over, to see Peridot meditating on the other side of the stone pathway leading to the tower. “The most powerful among all twelve Gold Saints. Virgo Peridot, the one who is closest to God. She is enlightened. She is the Buddha.”

“Jeff, wait!” The figure heard Connie’s voice, before she turned to see the four siblings coming out of the room, Patricia now wearing her hijab and Jeff having removed the bandages that covered his non-functioning eyes. “Don’t just go walking around! You can’t see!”

“I felt a powerful Cosmo coming from out here…” Jeff declared.

“This is Jamiel?” Patricia asked as she looked around. “I wonder, for what reason did Virgo bring us to this place?”

“Because of me, I believe.” The figure declared as she took a few steps towards the four.

“Who are you? A Specter?” Connie asked as she raised her fists, before she felt a sharp pain in her muscles. “Ugh! We’re not fully recovered yet!”

“Connie, calm down!” Daniel warned. “This is–”

“I am the keeper of the stone tower. The ancient alchemist.” The tall figure declared. “I am Yellow Diamond.”

“You said alchemist?” Jeff asked in surprise.

“Yes.” Yellow Diamond declared, before she turned and began walking towards another door, which lead to a nearby room. “Now come with me.”

“Where to?” Connie asked.

“To see your Cloths.” Yellow explained.

===============================================

“Our Cloths!” Connie declared in surprise, as they entered the room, to see their Cloths lined up, all of them in their statue forms. They were all filled with cracks and with missing parts, seeming like they were about to fall apart at any second. “They’re ruined!”

“During our fight against the Silver Saints, our Cloths received massive damage.” Jeff declared, opening his eyes to reveal they had blank irises and no pupils. “My Dragon Shield, for example, was broken to pieces. If I were to use it right now, I’d probably only be able to access about one tenth of the shield’s power.”

“My master Garnet told me that there are only 88 Cloths, each of them entirely unique.” Patricia declared, as she looked upon her destroyed Cygnus Cloth. “They cannot be replaced. Now that our Cloths have been destroyed, we will never be able to get new Cloths.”

“It is true that those Cloths can never be replaced, which is why you are lucky to have an alchemist as skilled as me.” Yellow Diamond declared, as they all turned to her, and she approached the Cloths. “Using my alchemy, I can restore those Cloths.”

“Restore them?” Patricia asked. “I’ve never heard that it was possible to fix Cloths after they are broken.”

“One important thing that you must remember is that the Cloths we Saints use are more than just body armor. Those Cloths are living beings, just as you and I.” Yellow Diamond explained. “When a Cloth takes minor damage, it is possible for them to restore themselves over time. Just as a broken bone will eventually heal itself, and become even stronger than it was before, so will the Cloths increase in power when they heal.”

“The damage that our Cloths took isn’t minor.” Patricia commented.

“You are correct, which is why those Cloths will not heal by themselves. Those Cloths aren’t just damaged, they are dead.” Yellow Diamond declared as she closed her eyes. “In order to restore them, we need two things. The first one is a skilled alchemist.”

“I guess we got that one covered, hm?” Connie commented with a smile, as she took a few steps towards Yellow Diamond.

“The second thing…” Yellow Diamond commented, before she opened her eyes and stared towards the Bronze Saints. “Are your lives.”

The four suddenly stopped and stared at Yellow Diamond in surprise.

“The only way I can restore those Cloths is by taking your lives. There is no other way.” Yellow explained. “Of course, I am not going to take your lives against your will. Do you accept?”

Daniel and Patricia stared at Yellow in surprise, while Jeff lowered his head for a second, and Connie stared at Yellow with an angry expression. Yellow Diamond looked at them in silence for some moments, before one of them suddenly took a few steps forwards.

“Daniel!” Connie called.

“If I die bringing this Cloth back to life, I won’t be able to wear it, but I know a new Andromeda Saint will be born in the next generation to replace me.” Daniel declared, as he looked down his broken Andromeda Cloth. “If I try to continue fighting this war without my Cloth, I will die regardless. Might as well have my death mean something.”

“Daniel…” Jeff commented, as the other three took a step closer to their brother, but did not approach any further.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Yellow Diamond asked. Daniel thought for a few seconds, before nodding. “Very well… die.”

The three screamed in shock, as Yellow Diamond reached for Daniel’s head and ripped it off without any difficulty, the sound of Daniel’s neck being torn echoed through the room alongside a metallic stink, before she held Daniel’s decapitated head over the Andromeda Cloth, and Daniel’s thick dark blood fell on top of the Cloth, soaking it with the red liquid.

“So…” Yellow Diamond whispered, as she turned to the other Bronze Saints. “Does anyone else want to go next?”

===============================================

Heinstein Castle, Germany:

Steven opened his eyes in surprise, before he looked around to see he was in his large and dark room in the castle. Steven had been having those strange dreams ever since he became Hades. Did he still not have full control over his powers? He was the reincarnation of a God, yet his body was still human after all. Steven got up from the bed and reached for his pink jacket, putting it on, before putting on his sandals and making his way towards the door. He heard music, as he left his room to see Pandora playing a large harp in the room right outside his own.

“Lord Hades.” Pandora commented as she turned to Steven. “You’ve awakened.”

Steven looked around the large main room of the castle, with the walls being dark and circular, made of bricks, and the ceiling being made of glass, with the realistic drawing of several angels singing on it. In the exact center of the room, a large black sword was stuck to the ground, like Excalibur in the stone, waiting for its worthy wielder. Steven carefully approached the sword, and gently held the handle.

“Have you had any news of Minus?” Steven asked, as he looked up at the full moon.

“No, my Lord.” Pandora answered. “But I am sure that at this point she must already have killed many of the–”

“She’s dead.” Steven declared calmly, as Pandora stared at him with a surprised expression. Steven looked at the sword. That weapon belonged to the God of the Underworld. Nobody else could wield it. Even if the entire universe were to come together and try to pull the sword out of that stone, they would not be able to, unless Hades was among them. “Where is Kagaho?”

“Kagaho? You mean the Bennu Specter, my Lord?” Pandora asked. “I haven’t seen him ever since the reunion. To you want me to send a group to go search for him?”

“That won’t be necessary. Kagaho always does whatever he wants by the end of the day.” Steven declared, as he took in a deep breath. “Minos… how could one of the Three Underworld Judges be defeated like that?”

Pandora stared at Steven for a few seconds, an excruciating silence taking over the room.

“If we want something done right, we’ll have to do it ourselves.” Steven declared, breaking the silence.

“My Lord… you mean that…”

Steven gently pulled the sword, removing it from the ground as the moonlight was covered by dark clouds that formed above them, and the sound of thunder echoed through the castle. Steven turned to Pandora, holding the sword in his hands.

“We are going to the Sanctuary.”

To be continued.

Author’s note: We are finally reaching a point in the story that I’ve been wanting to get to for a while now. This was a quick but important chapter. We got a showcase of the powers of Virgo Peridot, we finally met Yellow Diamond, and Hades is finally making his move. The Holy War now approaches its darkest hour. What did you all think of this chapter? Any favorite scene? Any criticism? Any comment is welcome, and it helps me stay motivated to write more. Thank you for reading.

Cloth designs:

Ox wears the Gorgon Surplice, that looks like this:

Cube wears the Dullahan Surplice, that looks like this:

Miles wears the Elf Surplice, that looks like this:

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neopinkdiamond · 5 years ago

Note

what gave you the inspiration/ideas for this au?

Ooh! I’m super glad that you asked!

(I’ll be putting this under a read-more, I’ll will be getting long-winded)

One rather big push actually came from somewhere rather unexpected.

(I’ll explain)

The original idea was actually born from another AU that I never published or wrote about anywhere around 2016 or so (just a little bit before the Human Zoo arc.) General idea was a future AU starring an adult Steven searching for the missing Crystal Gems in a bit of a Space Opera setting. Was meant to evoke a lot of Cowboy BeBop, Outlaw Star or Firefly kind of feel.

It was pretty nuts! Steven had a robot arm. Connie was a bounty hunting cyborg. Peridot wore an Elvis outfit. Everybody thought Pearl was dead and then it turns out she wasn’t.

(If anybody’s interested, I can just slap all my old art and notes up on my main tumblr @sharkman-jhones)

Anyway, prolly one of my favorite things to happen in media is for a character to meet a future or alternate self. So I brainstormed ideas of Steven meeting this older self and Ego Trip, an animated movie where that exact thing happens, came to mind (along with a number of changes to make the story self contained.) Time came to brainstorm Old Steven and there was an evil version and a kindly little old man version I thought “…what if kindly little old Steven’s hiding a True Form?” (It was very video game-y, think a secret boss) and the words “Neo Pink Diamond” jumped into my brain.

By this point, Legs from Here to Homeworld was a thing…Probably. I don’t have set time frames. I know I was still working on the space opera versions around late 2017 through most of 2018 but after a few years of sitting on it all, I couldn’t work on how to keep the original AU compliant with canon anymore…but I still had the Neo Pink Diamond idea, and plenty of plot scraps that could be retooled and recycled.

Around the summer of 2019, I was kinda tired of having all these long-form ideas for AU/fanfic of various shows that I never shared online. I’ve drafted or drawn AU ideas for Inuyasha, Splatoon, Undertale, Avatar: the Last Airbender (I had a very short-lived comic called Avatar: Singularity that I stopped working on when I wasn’t getting any response on it and was too undisciplined and brain-goblin’d to make the time for.) I wanted at least one of them to, y’know, have something to show for itself.

It just so happened that @abel-quartz (who is practically my co-author on all of this) opened up for commissions around that time, so I commissioned a standalone story for it. I wrote up a general outline covering the themes I wanted, wrote up a timeline/history and things that I for sure wanted to happen and let him loose on it all. (Speaking of, if you haven’t read The Life, Death, and Life of Steven Universe, I recommend doing so. It’s the spiritual predecessor/pilot for this AU and what shaped this first chapter of the comic.)

Working on it with him was pretty great and I got all jazzed up to do more with it. I ended up putting together a story outline for the next few chapters of the comic. Thumbnailed and sketched the first pages. Started uploading in February and the rest has been history.

As for what’s shaping/inspiring me now? Lot of sci-fi in general. I’ve been a big 40k fan for a while (we’re not going super grimdark, don’t worry.) Loved the original Mass Effect games, as well as the Phantasy Star series. Dark Run by Mike Brooks was a good book and though it applied more to a rag-tag crew of space drifters, a lot of the political intrigue really appealed to me when it came to ideas for this AU. I kinda want to read more of the classic sci-fi like Dune or to watch tv/movies that’s more Star Trek style fare. Flying around in a big ship exploring space with a crew (…you know…for reasons.)

#steven universe #neo pink diamond au #neo pink diamond #q and a

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ceo-of-spinelxjasper · 5 years ago

Text

Why I think Spinel could be the key to Jasper’s redemption.

An essay under the cut.

Okay, so if I’m wrong, then just consider this whole post an AU.

I actually have been trying not to post this anywhere because i thought posting my theories/headcanons would jinx everything.

But now I don’t care because...AU.

But anyways, ON TO THE ANALYSIS!

So, many people have already been speculating that Spinel and Jasper are going to have a fight in SUFuture.

Which would be hecking EPIC!

Like, Spinel is an incredibly great fighter with her elasticity powers and is very strong as seen in the movie. Able to lift large chunks of earth and hurl them, can make a fist so huge and deliver the punch with so much force that it breaks the giant gem on top of the injector, and yeet Steven above the clouds. (as well as spring herself that high too.)

And we have seen Jasper’s strength in the show. We know she’s strong, she’s a perfect quartz soldier, the best thing to ever come out of Pink Diamond’s failed colony.

Speaking of that, Let’s address Jasper.

It has been confirmed by Rebecca that despite the status Jasper had on Homeworld, she still hated herself.

She was called the ‘Kindergarden Quartz That Could’ and stuff like that. She took out dozens of Crystal Gems during the war. So she was very popular on Homeworld and highly valued.

So much so, that they sent a team to find her. They didn’t care about the Lapis Lazuli (which i think are also gems of high status going off of their dresses and the fact they they are made for terraforming planets)

They also didn’t care about the Peridot that called Yellow Diamond a clod and betrayed her species to help the enemy. You’d think they’d want to take her back and punish her or shatter her but nope. They only cared about Jasper.

Despite her status, Jasper hates herself. Hates that she is from a failed colony, from a beta kindergarden, from a stupid planet like Earth, and hates that even after all her fighting, she was unable to protect her Diamond.

Not to mention, she might hate herself a little more now because now, she looks wrong with her corruption spots and horns, and she was trying to kill her Diamond the whole time she was attacking Steven. She probably feels like an idiot for not being able to figure it all out. (but no one could have known) Of course, going off of the image of her in the intro, I think her current mindset is: “Pink sucks! Rose sucks! And Steven sucks!”

Now, let’s take a look at another gem who hates herself.

Spinel.

In the movie, it is obvious that Spinel hates herself. Its mostly her appearance she seems to hate, but i think its safe to say she hates herself for her actions as well.

In the movie, she says all sorts of things like: “wont they all be not exactly incredibly thrilled to see me like this?”

“don’t act like you want me here!”

“you expect me to believe you want me, LIKE THIS?!”

“when you change you change for the better, when i change, i change for the worst!”

“I used to be not good enough! Just not good enough for pink! and now? I’m not good at all!!”

“yeah but..they’ve never seen me like this..”

and in the Drift Away song, she sings:

“isn’t that lovely, isn’t that cool? And isn’t that cruel? And aren’t I a fool to have..happily listened, happy to stay, happily watching her drift away.”

Not only does Spinel hate her appearance, but she also hates herself because she thinks she was such an idiot to never realize that Pink was never coming back for her.

She also probably hates herself for never realizing she was annoying Pink. Had she known, she probably would have tried to change herself for her. Its clear that she would have done anything for Pink (i mean, she stood in a garden for 6,000 years under the impression that her Diamond just wanted to play a game.)

But its not her fault. She was literally created to be childish, naive and trusting.

Even after she was redeemed, She didn’t want to be around Steven because, although they were now friends, Spinel still didn’t want to start with him, feeling she had messed up with him so badly she didn’t deserve to hang around him while she healed and learned to love again. She wanted start over fresh with somebody who she didn’t mess up with yet. Even though Steven clearly cared for her to some extent and wanted her to be happy.

Now Spinel lives with the Diamonds. I have no idea how the Diamonds will treat her or if she will be truly happy with them (since SUFuture has yet to air as of this post) but judging by the shot in the intro with Spinel just chillin’ on Yellow’s shoulder, she’s probably fine.

But i feel like she’d still hate herself despite being surrounded and loved by all her new friends.

Just like Jasper hates herself despite being perfect and her status and how so many things were not even her fault.

i guess my theroy/headcanon is, maybe somehow Spinel and Jasper end up fighting (like idk Spinel just joins the fight for peace or whatever)

Maybe Steven is there too.

But it’s Spinel who really gets through to her, in the only language that Jasper can truly understand.

The language of fighting.

Eventually, Spinel is able to get through to Jasper, maybe not exactly winning the physical battle, but not really losing either.

Jasper thinks it’s impossible for her to have a normal life after all she’s done, all she’s been through, and attacking Steven the way she has.

And Spinel relates. She’s been through the same things. They’ve been through the exact same things.

Wronged by Pink and traumatized by her selfish actions.

Attacking Steven with intent to murder and knowing it was wrong even after learning Steven was not Pink and had nothing to do with her mistakes.

The constant self hatred. Unable to see how anyone, especially Steven, could ever forgive them or care about them.

Not to mention, Jasper says:

“No one I fuse with, ever wants to stay...”

Yes, Jasper says that at a time where she only wants to fuse for power, and doesn’t realize the reason gems didn’t stay fused with her is because she was toxic and forceful.

But what if that line can still apply to her. What if she is thinking no one would want to be with her (friend or romantically) because of who she used to be.

Not to mention, just because she is good now, doesn’t mean she will be a perfect cinnamon roll, she’ll still have an aggressive personality. And she will think she will be unlikable, especially since nobody can understand her.

But Spinel can understand. She can understand everything.

Ol’ Spinel who’s just found the perfect new friend.

Her new best friend, Jasper.

Again, this was made before SUFuture and this was made assuming Jasper is even getting redeemed at all and assuming Steven will have little to no involvement in that redemption.

so if im wrong, just consider all of this an AU.

#spinel #spinel su #spinel steven universe #jasper #jasper su #jasper steven universe #steven universe #steven universe the movie #steven universe future #steven universe theory #spinel x jasper #jasper x spinel #i know there are hardly any people shipping them but wtf is the ship name?#spinsper?#jasnel?

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dansiere · 5 years ago

Text

— BASICS.

▸ IS YOUR MUSE TALL / SHORT / AVERAGE ? Pearl stands at 5′10″ (178 cm) which renders her rather tall whenever compared to most women/humans in general. However, compared to most Gems she seems of average height. After all, she is easily dwarfed by Gems that stand higher in Homeworld’s hierarchy such as quartzes, jaspers, agates, bismuth, or, most strikingly diamonds. There are some exceptions, however. Pearl (i.e) towers over most peridots, lapis, sapphires, larimar and rubies.

▸ ARE THEY OKAY WITH THEIR HEIGHT ? She is not necessarily bothered by it but isn’t too fond of it either. Pearl is rather self-conscious about her appearance, given how much of it is linked to her status as former servant. The underlying discomfort notwithstanding; similar to her age, her height is but a number to her.

▸ WHAT’S THEIR HAIR LIKE ? Predominantly peach in colour, it can be considered orange from time to time [you may call her a ginger]. It’s relatively short & cut in a pixie cut at the front while styled up in the back. It reaches slightly beneath chin-length when wet but usually keeps its form due to well, Gem magic. Pearl used to wear a messier version of her standard hairstyle in her “youth”; indeed, during the war, she proudly donned a more “wild” look to complement her status as a renegade, whereas her hairstyle during her days spent in servitude featured a ‘rosebud’ kind of cut. Shortly after Rose’s death & Steven’s birth, Pearl eventually donned a very tidy & clean-cut look [for reasons that I will elude on further below]; no hair is allowed to pop out of its place. -- her hair itself is surprisingly soft & fluffy to the touch.

▸ DO THEY SPEND A LOT OF TIME ON THEIR HAIR / GROOMING ? Sadly, yes. She does not need to tend to her form per se but does so anyway in order to keep up a flawless & orderly appearance at any given time. -- however, ever since CYM, Pearl has gradually become more laid-back again & thus donned a messier hairstyle more reminiscent of the one worn during the war.

▸ DOES YOUR MUSE CARE ABOUT THEIR APPEARANCE / WHAT OTHERS THINK ? Absolutely, yes. While she will never admit it, Pearl is very, very self-conscious out of various reasons (one being her abysmal self-esteem). Never one to bring up physical attributes (why, in theory, she does not necessarily believe that she has much to offer in that regard. Her body is a hardlight projection & she perceives it as such), she is nonetheless hyperaware of what exactly her appearance entails. Pearls are designed to look "pretty” & are EASILY recognized based on their lanky & delicate built (i.e their noses, slim & rather ‘androgynous’ physique, posture, voice, & even more ‘individual’ traits such as hairstyle or the colour of their clothes). Needless to say, the fact that she possesses the physical traits of a pearl will always mark her as something or someone ‘special’ in a negative sense; more an object than a person, to be exact. Due to that, she has been changing her form quite often in the past, always trying her utmost to go against any classically pearl-esque trait.

— PREFERENCES.

▸ INDOORS OR OUTDOORS ? both ▸ RAIN OR SUNSHINE ? sunshine, though she is fascinated by Earth’s weather in general. ▸ FOREST OR BEACH ? again, both even though she has a preference for the beach due to basically having lived right next to one for approx. 5000 years. ▸ PRECIOUS METALS OR GEMS ? ... hm. Swords. ▸ FLOWERS OR PERFUMES ? flowers by a long shot. ▸ PERSONALITY OR APPEARANCE ? personality; though admittedly, she developed quite the type regarding appearance. It is canon that most of her ‘flings’ resembled Rose. ▸ BEING ALONE OR BEING IN A CROWD ? being in a crowd; she feels at unease in both cases but loneliness is something she is absolutely terrified of (she is prone to self-isolation during or after a breakdown, however: partially out of the desire to punish herself); Pearl is someone who needs people around her, preferably two. She may retreat to her room rather often or like to sit outside on her own but she only feels truly at ease whenever Garnet, Rose / Steven & Amethyst are in her proximity. ▸ ORDER OR ANARCHY ? order, without a doubt. Her younger self was certainly more fond of anarchy, however. It is also important to state that she sometimes WISHES she could simply solve her problems in a duel again; after all, to her, as a fan of logic, fighting is less stressful than dealing with her emotions. ▸ PAINFUL TRUTHS OR WHITE LIES ? white lies., without a doubt. Pearl is an excellent liar; not necessarily by choice but... well. She is fairly good at twisting words. ▸ SCIENCE OR MAGIC ? science. ▸ PEACE OR CONFLICT ? another quite difficult choice; while she fights for peace, conflict is where she thrives. It is one of those ironic cases in which a person defines or rather defined herself by participating in a war & for Pearl the war was ... well, detrimental to her identity. She romanticizes it to NO END. ▸ NIGHT OR DAY ? both; it does not make much of a difference to her in the end. She might prefer night time simply because she loves to stargaze but well. She is fond of the sun too. ▸ DUSK OR DAWN ? dawn; Pearl loves watching the sun rise. ▸ WARMTH OR COLD ? again, it makes no difference. Pearl cannot feel either. ▸ MANY ACQUAINTANCES OR A FEW CLOSE FRIENDS ? few close friends; as I stated earlier, she needs people around her because she cannot really be alone. That urge notwithstanding, Pearl is a very introverted person who struggles with social norms; in fact, she often forces herself to socialize to a ridiculous degree. In SU:Future, she is constantly trying to meet new people that are capable of a) giving her the validation she requires, b) still fill the hole that Rose left & c) to distract herself from whatever uncomfortable thoughts are on her mind post-CYM. Her prime focus remains the Crystal Gems, but it is safe to say that she is lowkey trying to emulate an environment she revelled in during war times; she likes to be admired by people since it gives her confidence & stability. -- there is a reason why she calls her human acquaintances “her fanclub”. ▸ READING OR PLAYING A GAME ? reading; she loves games that include strategic thinking or logic in general, however. Or anything that allows her to ramble on & on about topics of interest.

— QUESTIONNAIRE.

▸ WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR MUSE’S BAD HABITS ? She is a nervous wreck; a mess. Pearl’s biggest issue is her inability to let go of the past or deal with her emotions in a healthy way. Her tons of personal growth notwithstanding, she is fond of white lies & emotional self-destruction. While she is usually selfless by nature, most of her rather reckless actions have proven to be quite damaging to those around her (i.e. Garnet, Amethyst, Steven & even herself). Pearl is furthermore emotionally unstable & spins out of control hard & fast, is prone to extreme jealousy, possessiveness & obsession may it be with Rose or details/symmetry, what if’s & cleanliness as such. Pearl is quick to judge, over-protective, terribly patronizing at times (even though she does not mean to be), incredibly controlling & just “does too much” whenever pushed. She is also fond of blaming herself in quite the fatal way & lives “inside her head” way too much. Low-self esteem & lack of confidence leads to her lashing out rather than handling situations in a calm manner; while appearing steady & being quite the strategist, she can turn into a bundle of nerves within a second, usually yielding to hysteria & knee-jerk reactions that do more harm than good. -- she means well & she is a very loving/caring person who has her heart in the right place but sometimes she just... messes up. After all, she never truly had the time to deal with her own myriad of trauma & it shows.

▸ HAS YOUR MUSE LOST ANYONE CLOSE TO THEM ? HOW HAS IT AFFECTED THEM ? Yes, her partner/lover Rose Quartz. It is a loss that is still haunting her 16 years after the other’s death; needless to say, she did not handle it well at all. While she knew that Rose would die to give birth to Steven (mainly due to her having been told in advance / her suspecting so after Rose fell in love with Greg), Pearl held on to the thought of her ‘changing her mind’ until the very end. When the time came, Pearl utterly collapsed. She spent the first few months in utter self-isolation (either sitting next to Rose’s statue at the fountain or in her room, laying on her back & staring at the wall / ceiling or knees to her chest), barely speaking to anyone; the very mention of Rose or Steven made her burst into tears. It went so far that she... basically tried to shatter herself after around six months. Pearl was, however, stopped by Garnet who showed herl a future in which Steven would come to grow & live alongside them, just how Rose had wanted it to be. Pearl still poofed herself but emerged later with a changed form, apologizing for her behaviour & swearing to never try something that selfish ever again.

Her newfound hope notwithstanding; coercing herself to function normally (after just a year) despite her looming agony put a serious strain on her & most of her already damaged relationships to the other two remaining Crystal Gems. She stopped confiding in Garnet, & her relationship to Amethyst broke apart; she was moody, screamed at the others, ran away, lost focus during missions which eventually endangered the life of her comrades & her own. She got poofed several times & as a consequence took longer to regenerate up until the point were she got more & more lethargic, volatile & eventually depressed with no drive, trying her utmost to function via hyperfixating on Steven. Additionally, she (i.e) developed a neurosis & a serious obsession with cleanliness & details as a consequence, busying herself with her role as Steven’s caretaker & housekeeping duties, with Garnet serving as her rock in her weakest & most volatile moments. -- she eventually managed to make the conscious decision to move on around Steven’s 15th birthday & has been working on herself ever since. Needless to say, it is a slow progress.

▸ WHAT ARE SOME FOND MEMORIES YOUR MUSE HAS ? Most of Pearl’s happy memories pivot around pretty much everything that happened during the Gem War, with a heavy focus on whatever Rose & her did together. -- one of the most striking experiences she told Steven about was the discovery of the Lunar Blossom Grove that ended with her & Rose “dancing all night” in a pause between several battles, or the time she sat on top of a cliff above Strawberry Fields, where Rose & her made the promise to stay on Earth & spend their future together. Other happy memories include heroic battles alongside Garnet & Bismuth, fusions between her & Rose or discovering Earth’s beauty. She has thousands of memories that go into the same direction which she will fondly talk about whenever asked.

▸ IS IT EASY FOR YOUR MUSE TO KILL ? Yes. She is a veteran who fought in a thousand-year war for Earth’s independence. She shattered & poofed various Gems; efficient, precise & took no risks.

▸ WHAT’S IT LIKE WHEN YOUR MUSE BREAKS DOWN ? Oh, it’s ugly. She gets very emotional (hysterical, almost); a lot of tears, a lot of balled fists & screaming. In the worst cases, she gets aggressive, vocal, & even physical from time to time. She will punch walls, shatter objects, run her hands through her hair. She will lash out, say things that HURT & won’t apologize either. Most part of the time, Pearl runs off whenever it is too much. When alone, she will usually collapse & cry until she can’t no more. After that follows a period of her staying silent for hours. -- sometimes she calms down & pretends nothing ever happened or tries to make up for her actions by doing favours for those she has hurt.

▸ IS YOUR MUSE CAPABLE OF TRUSTING SOMEONE WITH THEIR LIFE ?

Partially yes, partially no. Pearl does not value her life as much as she should. The only person she ever blindly trusted was Rose & even that came around to bite her in the end. She trusts Garnet to always have her back & watch over her, while she herself considers Steven & Amethyst people she ought to protect. -- however, Pearl is the type to willingly throw herself off a cliff almost immediately if it will spare someone she loves from an untimely end.

▸ WHAT’S YOUR MUSE LIKE WHEN THEY’RE IN LOVE ? Pearl is an extremely romantic person; usually very physical & devoted, she will go miles for her s.o (imagine every romance movie cliche ever & you may get a good idea of how she will behave). Rather old fashioned, she is the kind of person that writes love letters or poetry; the kind that takes her s.o. to secluded places to spend the night with dancing under the stars, bring flowers or wine & simply take the time to make her s.o. feel loved. She is passionate through & through; her love is the yearning kind, extremely loyal, thoughtful, and all-consuming. Why, if Pearl falls for someone, she falls very, very hard.

tagged by : @foxcharmed, expect a letter from my lawyer soon. This meme came for me. tagging : @reantte, @huntershowl, @kissafist, @ndeavor, @spiraledheart, @spnel, @carvedbones, @handspoken, & @enshijou.

#[[ hoooo boy this got long #it also took me a month I believe fwuhgezfwg EITHER WAY #I could go into even more detail but I just wanted to finish this thing eventually. This contains a LOT of my own headcanons ofc based #on canon lore. No I do not take criticism wefhwezfg NOPE ]]#vii. 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲.#tw // long text #tw // very long text #honestly I am sorry hhh

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peri-2f5l-5xg · 4 years ago

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What blob thing? Peridot didn’t get the chance to finish that thought.

The little technician’s tablet clattered to the floor, a sharp yelp escaping her lips as something lashed around her middle abruptly, lifting her into the air. “WH-- HEY--” Her struggle didn’t last long; all at once she froze, face-to-face with none other than Lapis Lazuli herself. The gem had come down from the second floor, descending the ladder behind Peridot while she was preoccupied.

Normally, Peridot would’ve laughed this off, maybe called her a clod and demanded to be put down. This was her best friend! A dork who prided herself in ‘whispering to frogs’ and parroting bits of Camp Pining Hearts dialogue and still didn’t quite get the concept of money. Lapis was ridiculous, and silly, and sometimes incredibly sweet... And against all odds, there was no denying that the pair of polar opposites had forged an incredibly strong bond.

But in that moment Lapis was staring at a total stranger, and Peridot felt the disconnect immediately. Her friend had no idea who she was, or what she was doing lurking around the pair’s house. And why should she? Peridot didn’t exactly look like herself right now. The cold judgment in Lapis’s eyes sent chills straight down her spine.

It was just like that first day at the barn, only even worse.

The last time Peridot felt this mortally terrified, she’d been facing down a timeline devouring eldritch nightmare... Not her own roommate.

An unfamiliar pounding beat in her ears; was that her heart? Were hearts supposed to be audible? Stars, she felt like her breath was caught in her throat, but there was nothing actually obstructing the former gem’s airways. Her chest was so tight, as though the visceral sense of fear had clamped around her abdomen like a metal vice.

Every tiny animal instinct in her body was screaming at her to run, hide, escape, but that wasn’t much of an option at the moment.

The gold-streaked gem was glaring at her grimly, expression charged with a vague sense of annoyance and contempt. Three of her wings had curled around from the left, wrapping around Peridot’s middle and holding her aloft; her limbs dangled helplessly, entirely out of reach of the floor. She kicked a few times furiously, but to no avail. Lapis’s expression didn’t change at all.

“Are you done? I could put you in a timeout bubble until you cool off, but I hear humans need air.” Peridot immediately stiffened.

“Yes, I’m ‘done,’” she replied meekly, struggling to find the right words. This definitely had to look pretty bad. As far as Lapis knew, the terrified human was a home invader at best. Gems didn’t just turn into humans, this was entirely unprecedented-- and she didn’t even have an explanation for it! Stars, what was she going to do?! Peridot was pretty sure Lapis wouldn’t actually hurt her on purpose, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t by accident.

Wow, it was weird actually being nervous about those violent jokes that the duo had previously tossed around like they were nothing. They were just jokes, right? Peridot suddenly wasn’t as sure of that as she’d have liked.

“Good.” Lapis scrutinized her a moment, eyes scanning over her as the blue gem picked up on a few details in sequence... Then focused very specifically on the necklace, or rather, on its crystalline adornment. Her gaze darkened, and Peridot felt that fear grip her all the more tightly as she realized this looked even worse than she’d initially thought.

Oh stars. She thinks that’s my gem. It looks just like it.

“What,” demanded the figure coldly, “Is that?” One sharp claw pointed straight to it, and the water tendrils around Peridot’s middle tightened abruptly-- she gasped in alarm, grabbing at them with her hands. It did no good, her fingers sliding through the liquid uselessly. Peridot was yanked closer, one of Lapis’s hands reaching out and grabbing onto the necklace to get a better look.

There was a long, uncomfortable silence; she had just enough space to breathe, but not very deeply. Mostly it just hurt, her ribs tightly compressed under the heavy pressure. Is she actually going to crush me?! I can’t believe I’ve only been a human for 15 minutes and I’m already going to--

“You have a really weird sense of humor.” The necklace slid from Lapis’s grasp, and the tendrils loosened. She immediately took deep gulps of fresh oxygen into her lungs, already feeling a bit better. The air definitely helped clear her head slightly, allowing for a few coherent thoughts to take form.

... Humor? What’s she talking about..?

“Just-- let me down--!” It wasn’t the most eloquent reaction, but at this point Peridot wasn’t sure she could formulate anything better. “This isn’t what it looks like!” Lapis raised one eyebrow, clearly unimpressed.

“Then what is it? Because right now, I think I’ve captured a member of Peridot’s weird fanclub that came in here looking for a keepsake. I guess you really do exist.” Peridot stared. That... Was not the conclusion she’d been expecting. Maybe the necklace wasn’t as exact as she’d thought; it wasn’t like Peridot could actually study the shape of her own gem while she was poofed. She might have laughed if this wasn’t such a tense situation.

At the very least, the ridiculousness did manage to calm her nerves a bit.

“Well,” she decided finally with just the smallest hint of smugness, “I guess that’s technically correct, I’m a very big fan of myself.” Lapis stared at her even more intensely; Peridot hadn’t even known that was possible. Maybe that had been a bit too bold. Suddenly she felt like a scared rabbit, wanting to just shrink and disappear down a hole.

“... What.” She could practically see the gears turning in her roommate’s head; this was probably at least the third tensest silence of Peridot’s existence, and she really wasn’t enjoying it.

Then finally it broke with a surprising sound. Snort. Suddenly Lapis was laughing, and although the water holding Peridot aloft didn’t release her, she did notice herself being lowered to the floor. She couldn’t have been more confused, did that actually work? It sort of seemed that way, though the gem-turned-human had a feeling it wasn’t quite that simple.

“Okay,” Lapis stated finally, “Either you’re some sort of weird human alternate, or that was the best Peridot impression I’ve ever heard.”

On second thought, that was actually a pretty reasonable conclusion.

“Nyeheh,” she chuckled nervously, “Close. It’s...” Peridot paused, suddenly not sure how she’d even explain this. “It’s just me, Peridot, but somehow I’ve been transformed into a human. It doesn’t make any sense to me, either.” Judging by he look on Lapis’s face, that apparently wasn’t very convincing... Her green eyes scanned over the area; was there anything she could use to prove it? Wait, my tablet! She instinctively attempted to draw it to her hand, but to no avail; her hand lifted, but the device gave no response. No metal powers. Right. Ugh.

“... Very funny. Now, what’s the real story? That’s impossible.” Lapis was waiting, but the look on her face wasn’t patient. Peridot cleared her throat; stars why was this so hard? She could hardly remember a time when Lapis was actually scary to her. It was like the technician was facing her own newfound mortality.

“Okay,” she decided finally, “Just... Try the tablet. They can sort it out, probably. You can use my account, just make sure to introduce yourself so they know who’s speaking.” The hydrokinetic gem followed her gaze to the tablet, frowning. Finally she strode over, scooping the device up and taking a seat on the hammock nearby.

The water bindings finally withdrew, releasing Peridot entirely. “I’ll try it, but don’t go anywhere.” Peridot nodded anxiously and seated herself on the bench nearby. Lapis promptly started tapping away on the screen, scrolling through posts and starting to type up one of her own.

Now Peridot just had to wait. Hopefully this wouldn’t end with being chucked into the ocean; she was suddenly very aware of her inability to swim.

#ACTION POST #ooc #m!a; demoted to mortal #haha... whoops.#DRABBLE

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cheetahsprints · 5 years ago

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Today’s Fill: Free Day

May 1st Prompt Fill - Domestic

May 2nd Prompt Fill - Road Trip/Vacations

[This is a continuation]

“Wait! Stop!”

“Dude, why are we parking here?”

Being on the road has been as wonderful as it has been frustrating. She had to take the wheel at some point for the distraction. If she’s focused on driving, she won’t think about Pearl as much. Meanwhile, Pearl made it slightly easier by having her nose in her cellphone. She’s gotten really attached to that thing. She and Peridot have discussed pulling an intervention. If anyone could pull Pearl out of a technology based funk, it would be her.

Amethyst’s current issue is being alone with Pearl. She’s well aware she’s made a perfect opportunity to make a move - in fact, it’s basically a hidden motive behind this whole idea. Yet, she felt up Pearl’s hand once and hasn’t done anything else!

Does anyone else she knows get this irritated with themselves?

Pearl murmurs, “A Superquest is about to start. It’s the Pirate Ship course! You know, from the movie, Golf Quest Negative?”

“...What?”

Gems have the inherent ability to understand every language when spoken, as well as to speak it themselves. Idioms can get lost in translation, though. At the moment, Amethyst feels like she somehow doesn’t comprehend a single word Pearl just uttered.

“It’s a Puttitan.”

“Pearl, you’ve really lost me here, like more than usual. Is that a nerd thing?”

“I can’t believe you, you of all people! You play Steven’s Golf Quest Mini games, but you’ve never watched the animated show?”

“Can’t say I know what that is.”

Pearl shakes her head. Her disappointed look is incongruous with the triviality of the situation - they’re talking about a cartoon. “Well, this is a spinoff game on my phone, Golf Quest Mini Cart.”

“Sounds nerdy.”

Pearl scoffs, “What is with you and putting down things by calling them nerd-like? How is that even an insult?”

“It’s not. It’s adorable. I couldn’t pull it off,” Amethyst answers matter-of-factly. However, she has taken to staring at the window, unwilling to meet Pearl’s eyes. “Do you need help with your nerd thing?”

“Hmm. Nope. Oh hey! This must be a hotspot, that’s good. Four other players are already signed in. Which club should I use? Ah - I know! Perfect.”

Amethyst silently watches Pearl as she’s enthralled with whatever is going on with her phone. For her to be excited about something she probably would’ve torn into two years ago, it’s incredible. She’s happy and joyous over little things - also she’s already not moping as much about Steven. Not that Amethyst has room to talk. She’s upset in her own, less noticeable way. Amethyst laments though - what does Pearl need with her? She doesn’t need a romantic relationship to be complete, and she’s realized that now. Amethyst isn’t sure whether she’ll want to visit that track again, even if it’ll be… well, Amethyst tells herself it would be better.

That she would treat her better. A part of her worries she would ruin everything the moment she had what she wanted, somehow. She’s been her own worst enemy in the past. She follows at a distance as Pearl exits the car.

She excitedly waves to a human on a park bench who happens to look up from their phone at the exact moment. She shows her phone, and the human shows theirs with a matching set of animated images on the screen. Amethyst can’t make heads or tails, though she can see clearly how it’s related to Golf Quest Mini. She shifts into a dog and plops on the grass as Pearl does her thing - this must be something that can be done from a distance because there are only two other people visible where Pearl mentioned four.

Some passersby give Amethyst head scratches. A while later, Pearl seems like the puppy as she bounds toward Amethyst, wildly waving her phone. All she’s missing is the perked ears and wagging tail. She smiles at the mental image. She could probably convince Pearl to turn into a dog at some point during the trip.

“I did it, I did it! I now have access to the course in my course log!”

She has no clue what that means, but she knows gamer talk when she hears it. “That’s awesome Pearl, congrats!”

They rush into the car and set off again, Pearl at the wheel as she seems satisfied to take a break from her game. Amethyst taps her fingers on her leg. She wants to rip off this figurative band-aid, even if she’s starting small.

“Have you ever thought about um… getting out there again? You… seemed interested in that pink-haired girl then I haven’t heard anything about it.”

Pearl glances at her, then she has to look for a turn off.

Amethyst hastens to say, “Not that it’s any of my business!”

“I don’t mind talking about it,” Pearl replies, “I’ve been on a few dates actually. They didn’t end up going anywhere. I had some - other things on my mind.”

“Oh.”

Amethyst doesn’t know how to continue from there without getting too obvious. Pearl isn’t that fragile, but she would prefer to be on the side of caution and ease into it. She chuckles. How they have changed so much.

“What’s humorous?”

“Just thinking about… how far we’ve come. How far I’ve come. Thinking things through instead of just bolting in headfirst consequences aside.”

“Mhm. I'm very proud of us, and of you.”

Amethyst flushes at that. “Thanks.”

[To be continued]

#pearlmethyst #pearlmethyst week #su #suf #steven universe #steven universe future #su fic

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shinneth · 5 years ago

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what I learned from Steven Universe: The Movie

... in relation to my own continuity, anyway.

I made the right call not redeeming White Diamond.

She legit creeped me out in the movie even more than she did in CYM. Same goes for Yellow and Blue to a lesser degree. Technically, I did redeem Blue, but... if you’ve read my stuff, you all know what that amounted to.

tl;dr: Nice Diamonds creeped me the fuck out and not in a good way. Speaking of, what a fine job they did making Pink Diamond even more of a bitch, right? :P

Spinel is precious and hell YES I am going to write her one day.

Ever since I saw her design, I knew I was going to find a way to have her face off with Chartreuse Diamond in some way. Now that we know her full story, it’s stupid easy to bring her into the GAverse.

I’m gonna have to get through the Gypsum stuff first, but I can very quickly set up a premise for how GA Spinel will become a thing.

See, I love Amethyst and I feel bad that she’s not really had much time to shine in the GA continuity (I think her role in late Act II and her epic comic relief in Act III is where she peaked). So one short story I’ve wanted to do is one where Peridot spends some time with her and studies Amethyst’s emergence point to determine her exact birthday.

In the GAverse, Peridot was privy to the details of her own emergence; it just took forever converting Homeworld time to Earth time to figure out the Earth equivalent of her own birthday (which, as I’ve said, is August 27th). Since Homeworld is fucking gone, Amethyst is really the only character left that has a hole left to study on that kind of thing (I mean, there’s also Jasper, but those of you who read This is Who I Am know why GA Jasper is a touchy subject).

On the plus side, since Amethyst was born on Earth, Peridot can bypass that stupid-ass time conversion. On the other hand, Peridot has to carefully apply the Gregorian calendar to a time before it was even implemented, so it’ll still be something of a chore, but one she’s happy to do for Amethyst.

(it should go without saying that Amethyst is getting a February birthday)

While doing this, Amethyst is going to talk to Peridot about the issue with the colonies and their inevitable collapse via civil disorder thanks to Homeworld no longer existing. She knows this is a lower-priority thing because they need to figure out how they’re going to run Era 3 on their own planet before worrying about the colonies (and also figure out how to play the diplomacy card right, lest they piss off said colonies and they come to invade Earth in retaliation), but Amethyst still can’t help but worry about the Famethyst stationed at Pink’s Human Zoo.

Peridot will eventually be swayed to consider going there first, and going much sooner than originally planned. Some of the CGs have actually been to this place, they’ll know who to expect there, and it isn’t truly a “colony”, so after Gypsum is dealt with, there’s gonna be some plans to visit the zoo soon after.

So, how does Spinel fit into all this?

Either on their way there or on their way back home, they’ll find Pink Diamond’s garden on accident. I’m not 100% sure how to go about it since this is naturally a fresh idea, but I’m thinking Spinel might find out about Homeworld’s destruction sooner than she finds out the truth about Pink in canon. She might be generally bored and lonely enough to spot the spaceship and send out some kind of flare/signal to draw their attention, either for the sake of company or in hopes of getting answers.

I’m also not sure what design she should take on when she’s first encountered...

So, naturally the CGs are a little apprehensive to take a chance on this, though Pearl might vouch for the curiosity of the younguns since she does know Spinel. It could be seen as an opportunity for Peridot and Steven to practice diplomacy as their Diamond personas.

Likely, it’ll at first just be Chartreuse Diamond and Pink Diamond 2.0 going in. Chartreuse has teleportation that can get them out quick if things go south, after all.

So I imagine Spinel’s going to meet Steven and Peridot looking like this....

... and naturally be confused.

And most likely will not like what she sees.

Since Steven and Peridot have such a nice, playful relationship to begin with...

And it doesn’t help that Chartreuse has a VERY similar hairstyle that can EASILY make Spinel interpret her as a “playmate replacement”...

... plus, at this point, since Peridot and Steven’s Diamond alter egos are the only Diamonds left in all existence which just makes the exclusivity burn that much more....

... and I’ll admit I do find Steven/Spinel very cute as a ship.

So naturally, I need Steven being fought over by two immature twin-tailed cinnamon rolls. I’ll probably fucking draw that.

I highly doubt she’ll have the means to do what she did in the movie for GA verse, but I’ll figure something out down the road.

After all, this is all new ideas and stuff. Movie just aired last night, after all!

Steg and Spinel were the best parts of the movie. Fuck yes I must have Steg in GA, too.

Well, I made Greg more relevant in GA way more than canon did in CYM, so I think it’s my duty to make Steg a reality. I’ve grown to enjoy writing Greg, anyway. I just need to find a way to fit him into something. He may be a Crystal Gem in GA’s continuity, but he’s still just a support character in the end. Steg will help move him on up.

I did this epic trio first and did it better.

Really was a bit underwhelmed with how much time these three got in the movie, but I’m not all that surprised. Also, I guess it’s evident in canon that Bismuth leads this division rather than Peridot. I mean, she is a solid #2 in GAverse and maybe would have been the real deal had it not been for the unique circumstances... still. Hoping these three are done justice in season 6.

Peri, your Fourth Wall is showing.

That was like my favorite line (outside of Greg and Bismuth NEARLY saying shit, lol).

That said, I’m hoping that’s not all what she amounts to in the future. I’d complain there wasn’t enough Peridot in the movie, but let’s be real: I’d complain about that even if she was in every scene of the movie.

And that’s all I’ve got to say for now, I think!

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andrewmoocow · 4 years ago

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Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 12: Eye in the Sky (originally published April 5, 2021)

AN: Now here's a chapter I'm sure you all will find interesting. Out of everything I've heard people declare to be super underutilized in Steven Universe Future, a lot of them say Nephrite shouldn't have been borderline erased from existence. Okay, I'm being a little dramatic there, but you get my point. In fact, none of the other corrupted Gems get anything important to do after Guidance. Well, I plan on changing that right now!

Synopsis: Nephrite needs help coping with corruption trauma, so Steven sets up a therapy group for formerly corrupted Gems.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Steven

Aparna Nancherla as Nephrite, Nephrite's crew

Shelby Rabara as Peridot

Amy Sedaris as Teal Zircon

Kimberly Brooks as Cherry Quartz

Jennifer Paz as Lapis Lazuli, Zuli

Featuring Auli'I Cravalho as Orange Spodumene

Kimiko Glenn as Blue Chalcedony

Tara Platt as Heaven and Earth Beetles

Tara Strong as Grossular Diopside

Phillipa Soo as Chrysocolla

Anika Noni Rose as Watermelon Tourmaline

And Aimee Carrero as Moonstone

Steven took a deep breath in as his Dondai Supremo wheeled into Little Homeworld while "I'm Looking Forward" played on his radio. "It's just a quick visit, Steven." He muttered to himself. "No need to get so uncomfortable, everyone is just fine."

As Steven stepped out of his car and looked around the Gem village, he found many of its residents minding their business. In particular, he found Cherry Quartz at Lapis's sculpturing class, partnered up with Zuli for an assignment.

"Oh, hey Steven." Cherry greeted Steven and motioned him over to check out the clay pumpkin she and Zuli were working on. "Lapis gave us an assignment to mold a vegetable out of clay, so Zuli and I chose a pumpkin. You like what we got so far?"

"Actually, I think pumpkins are fruits." Steven stated while observing the in-progress gourd model.

"Are you sure?" Zuli wondered, picking up the sculpture she and the Quartz were making. "Then why are they put next to carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, and other foods?"

"That's a pretty loaded question," Lapis said as she turned to the quizzical trio. "Pumpkins do have seeds inside of them like a fruit, but the nutrition is when they're most like-"

"Hi, Steven!" Nephrite interrupted Lapis to greet Steven.

"Hi there Nephrite, been a while since we talked." Steven said to Nephrite. "How are things with you and your crew?"

"Everything's been going good." Nephrite answered while stretching her arms. "Hey, sorry to interrupt you guys, but I came here because I got a little problem in Peridot's class."

"Oh, anything to help you guys." Steven stated, and then he turned to Lapis's students. "Sorry to leave so soon, but I got other things to do."

"It's alright Steven, I think we can manage." Cherry Quartz said before getting back to the pumpkin.

"Alright Nephrite, what are we dealing with?" Steven asked the former Centipeedle mother as they walked over to the greenhouse.

Inside the greenhouse, a small group of Gems was huddled around Peridot as she info-dumped about azaleas.

"Although the azalea is very beautiful, it can be very dangerous to humans as well." Peridot explained to her pupils. "The leaves and nectar contain grayanotoxins that can mix with honey to create mad honey, hello Steven, and can cause many symptoms, particularly those related to the heart."

As Peridot continued rambling, Nephrite brought Steven over to a sunflower in a pot that had a little bug-like creature skittering around the soil and stem. "See, that's what I'm talking about." Nephrite said. "Is this little bug bad for my sunflower in any way?"

Steven examined the critter as Nephrite held the pot to his face, allowing him a better look at it. "No, it's nothing to be scared of." He assured Nephrite. "And that's not a bug, it's an anthropod. A centipede to be exact."

Although Steven meant well, the reveal of the creature's name brought chills down Nephrite's spine. She began breathing rapidly, trembling uncontrollably as she dropped the flowerpot in fright and finally, letting out a loud shriek as she dropped to her knees, catching the attention of the rest of the class.

"Is something the matter?" Peridot asked gently while trying to console the formerly corrupted Gem.

"I was just telling her about the little guy that crawled into his sunflower, and then she started having a panic attack!" Steven exclaimed, almost just as lost as everyone else is.

"Maybe she doesn't like that thing." Teal Zircon guessed when she spotted the offending centipede and let it crawl onto her hand. "Aw, look at the little guy. Hey, Steven, you said it was a centipede, ri-"

"DON'T!" Nephrite yelled at TZ. "Don't ever say that word again!"

"Teal, can you stop being so insensitive towards others?" Steven scolded the Zircon.

"Sorry Steven, this was kinda my fault." Teal said remorsefully. "Hey, no hard feelings Nephrite?"

However, Nephrite was still too panicked to respond. She had gone from screaming like crazy to cradling her legs to her chest in front of the other Gems though, but Steven still felt worried for the one-eyed green Gem.

"You are aware that she was a corrupted Gem much like all of you, correct?" Steven said to the other Gems in the class, and they silently nodded before Steven turned to TZ.

"Nephrite, in particular, felt really lost when the Diamonds corrupted most of the Gems unlucky enough to remain on Earth, since she was separated from her crew." He explained. "Thankfully, I was able to reunite them all, but was unable to heal them until I got help from the Diamonds." That was when he got an idea. "That's it!"

"Thank you all for coming!" Steven announced to a group of formerly corrupted Gems sitting in a circle of folding chairs. "Now, it's come to my attention that at least one of you is still reeling from having been corrupted for thousands of years. This is a term I call PCSD, or post-corruption stress disorder." He began explaining. "It's kinda like PTSD, but I'm sure you get why it's so different."

Teal Zircon raised her hand, wanting to ask a question.

"Yes TZ?" Steven asked.

"So, where did you get the idea from exactly?" TZ asked Steven. "I mean, you could've just had a one-to-one sesh with Nephrite and you'd kinda get the same effect."

"Well, there are groups like this on TV shows I've heard of." Steven answered. "One guy would sit down with other people suffering the same problem as him, and they'd all take turns telling their stories in the hopes that they would get help. Now, anyone want to go first?"

"Us, us!" the Heaven Beetle exclaimed. "Hello, we're the Heaven and Earth Beetles."

"And we were corrupted." The Earth Beetle added.

"Hi, Heaven and Earth Beetles." The other ex-monsters greeted monotonously.

"See, you're already getting the hang of it!" Steven exclaimed happily. "Now, tell us your story you two."

"Unlike all of you guys, I think our corruption ran the deepest." The Heaven Beetle declared sadly.

"I'm pretty sure we even forgot what kinds of Gems we were." The Earth Beetle added before she took a look at her gem. "I mean, we certainly aren't Diamonds, but what could we be?"

"I think I may have a decent idea of what you could be." Teal Zircon answered before she used her monocle to project a holographic image of Gems that looked similar to the Beetles. "I think you might be Cubic Zirconias. You may be little, but you got a big influence over Homeworld."

"Though I'm curious," Steven responded. "why exactly did you ditch those guys for us when you live such a charmed life?"

"Well, those charmed lives were so drab." The Earth Beetle said. "Would it be oh so wrong to have a little excitement in your lives?"

"That is a good point." TZ muttered, prompting the other Gems seated to applaud the pair of Cubic Zirconias for opening up.

"Thanks you two for coming clean." Steven thanked the tiny twosome. "Now, who wants to go next?"

"I'll go." Orange Spodumene replied as she stood up. "Hello everyone, I'm Orange Spodumene and I was corrupted."

"Hi Orange Spodumene." The Gems greeted Orange Spodumene.

"Back in the old days, I went on many deep-sea adventures to collect life forms in places that no other Gem would dare to go!" Orange Spodumene began telling her story. "You all should've been there, the ocean life was beautiful. One of my favorite adventures was when I collected coral so that there'd be room for this Sea Shrine where tons of time things are stored. I'd be so happy to show you all my collection someday!"

"I never knew you were so into coral." Steven said to the deep sea Gem.

"I don't think you ever asked." Orange Spodumene replied before she continued. "Anyways, I didn't get the message to flee back to Homeworld and hid in the ocean when they pointed right at Earth. I thought that I would be safe from the Diamonds since the ocean is so dark and they couldn't see me, but I thought wrong. For the next couple thousand years, I just kept roaming around the ocean floor until I found Steven and then got bubbled."

"I'll go now." Watermelon Tourmaline said as she got up from her seat. "Hey, I'm Watermelon Tourmaline, and I was corrupted."

"Hi Watermelon Tourmaline." The other Gems said just as monotonously as before.

"Now, you may be wondering, weren't you a single Gem once upon a time? Why are you a fusion all of the sudden?" Watermelon Tourmaline asked rhetorically. "Well, I'm a different Watermelon Tourmaline than the one the Crystal Gems beat. I still find it super weird that there's two of me, but we learned to get along and even smash watermelons from time to time."

"Hey." The other Watermelon Tourmaline waved from her chair.

"Anyways, my components were brought together because Homeworld believed that fusing two Gems of the same type would give them an edge on the battlefield." The primary Watermelon Tourmaline continued speaking. "However, all they got was a big bouncy ball, so they just tossed me out. Didn't stop me from "bouncing back" though!"

The Gems began laughing at the Tourmaline's pun before Chrysocolla stood up. But even among the chucking, Nephrite refused to speak up.

"Hello, I am Chrysocolla." Chrysocolla introduced herself. "And I was corrupted."

"Hi, Chrysocolla."

"I once used my whips to uproot trees, but when I was that silly Slinker, I used them to be a real pain in the neck for the Crystal Gems." Chrysocolla explained. "But now, I can use my powers to not annoy others, but instead just have fun with them."

"Anything else you'd like to share with the group?" Steven asked Chrysocolla.

"I also have a bit of a fondness for history too." The former Slinker answered. "Particularly that one guy. What was his name again, Anderson Harold? Alexei Hammer?"

"You're probably thinking of Alexander Hamilton." Steven chuckled. "Hey Nephrite, you want to go next?" Nephrite just curled up on her chair and shook her head, much to Steven's disappointment. "Never mind." He muttered. "Uh, Grossular Diopside, how about you?"

"Gladly!" the little Gem exclaimed and stood up on her chair. "Hi, I'm Grossular Diopside, and I was corrupted!"

"Hi, Grossular Diopside."

"I had just emerged in the Alpha Kindergarten when the corrupting light hit, and I just wandered around with no idea what to do." Grossular explained. "But now that I'm here, I don't care what I was originally made for! All I want to do now is just enjoy life here on Earth."

"Hello, I am Blue Chalcedony." Blue Chalcedony said robotically. "And I was corrupted."

"Hi, Blue Chalcedony."

"I was heavily involved with helping to create new Kindergartens with my drills." Blue Chalcedony said, turning her hand into a drill as an example. "My drills were top of the line, so much that they impossibly kick reason to the curb, which was why Rose recruited me into the Crystal Gems."

"Howdy, I'm Moonstone." Moonstone said last. "And I was corrupted."

"Hi, Moonstone."

"My type of Gem was specifically made for stealth operations." Moonstone revealed. "Heck, we even got more than one weapon for the jobs we got!" As a demonstration, Moonstone began altering various parts of her body into various tools she would've used for her infiltration missions, to everyone's amazement. All except one.

"Hey, I don't think Nephrite over there has said anything yet." Moonstone realized as she gazed at the one-eyed Gem, who shifted uncomfortably in her seat before sadly getting up.

"I'm sorry." Nephrite apologized and began to leave. "I can see you all moved on, but I just can't."

"Nephrite, wait!" Steven cried as she ran after her before turning back to the group. "Uh, you guys go on without us!"

As Steven left, Snowflake Obsidian and Larimar turned to Teal Zircon, who was all too eager to tell her story. "Howdy, I'm Teal Zircon, and I was corrupted!"

"Hi, Teal Zircon."

Nephrite strolled sadly back to where it all began at Peridot's greenhouse and gazed down at the flowerpot she had dropped to the ground earlier that day. As it turned out, the centipede that started this whole mess was still there, and she wasn't happy to see it. "This is all your fault." She said angrily to the anthropod and raised a foot, ready to squish it, when someone stopped her in her tracks.

"Nephy!" Steven exclaimed, racing up to Nephrite and hugging her while shooing the centipede away. "I only wanted to help you! But why did you just run away like that?"

"Steven, I'm thankful for the kindness," Nephrite replied. "but sometimes, there are things you can never recover from in seconds flat. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, kinda." Steven admitted. "If it makes you feel any better, I brought along some friends who could help you."

"Captain?" another Nephrite asked for her leader as she and six other Nephrites entered the greenhouse with concern.

"We heard what happened from Steven." Another one of the Nephrites revealed. "How come you never told us about this PC-whatever you were suffering from?"

"Well for one, Steven just made that term up." Nephrite answered. "And second of all, he set up this support group for other corrupted Gems, but I just couldn't bring myself to talk about my experiences no matter how much the other members of the group wanted me to."

"Well don't worry cap, we were here for you back in the Rebellion and we'll be sticking by you now!" a third Nephrite cheered, bringing a smile to their leader's face as she shed a few tears of joy.

"Thanks you guys." Nephrite said as she joined her teammates in a big group hug. "I think I'm ready now."

"That's the spirit." Steven declared and he took Nephrite's hand and led her out of the greenhouse. "Come on, let's get going. I don't know how long TZ can keep talking."

"And that was the story of how I realized Jasper would soon become my best friend!" Teal Zircon finished a story for her fellow Gems, and there was much clapping as Steven returned with the Nephrites alongside him. "Oh hey Steven, hey Nephrite! You guys should've seen it, I was telling them all about that fight with Jasper and-"

"I think that's enough TZ." Steven chuckled. "After all, Nephrite's finally ready to talk."

"Oh yeah, I'd love to hear your story." Teal said happily. "No hard feelings about that centipede Nephy?"

"Water under the bridge." Nephrite sighed wistfully. "But still, it pays to be a bit more sensitive of others." With that, she took her seat again and finally began to speak for the other formerly corrupted Gems. "Hello, my name's Nephrite, and I was corrupted."

"Hi, Nephrite."

Nephrite turned to Steven and her fellow Nephrites, who watched on happily. "My crew and I were sent down to Earth to fight for Homeworld in the Gem War. We fought with all our might, but when we were called back home because the Diamonds were about to launch their final attack, our team got separated. I was so scared about what was going on, but then we all got turned into monsters."

The other Gems gasped as Nephrite continued. "When I first met Steven, it wasn't on the best of terms. I think he threw some kind of container at me to poof me."

"That's true." Steven revealed jokingly.

"Anyways, the next times we met were a lot friendlier." Nephrite's story became on its way to a happy ending. "The third time around, he even almost healed me! But it didn't last long, though because of that, I was able to reunite with my crew. They were waiting for me in our old ship this whole time, and I'm pretty sure you know the rest."

The rest of the group aww'd while Nephrite sat down, and she gave her thanks to Steven with an earnest smile. Steven returned it in kind.

Sorry this chapter was a bit short compared to the rest, but I feel I did what I wanted to do. And speaking of which, next chapter we move onto Bismuth Casual, which will feature the grand return of a certain "mystery girl" that fans have been begging to see again.

#steven universe #steven universe future #fanfiction #steven universe alternate future #steven quartz universe #nephrite #teal zircon #orange spodumene #blue chalcedony #heaven and earth beetles #grossular diopside #chrysocolla #watermelon tourmaline #moonstone

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futile-latty · 5 years ago

Text

Never Leave These Eyes (Part 1)

Music.

It was a word so short, yet held many different meanings. Music could be soft and sweet, music could be loud and hard, maybe even both. Music wasn’t just something people listened to, it was a belief collected together to create something catchy and interesting. Of course, no one really notices the complexity and intensity of music. The lyrics that send shivers down people’s spines are overlooked, the interesting noises that spark new creative flows are too.

However, no one understood music more than Peridot Redwood.

Named after a gemstone, Peridot was a rather interesting piece of humanity. Short, messy and triangular blonde hair laid upon a short body (4’7) equipped with lime green eyes, fair skin and curves: her appearance caught anyone’s eye. However, what truly gets people thinking about Peridot was her personality. A perfectionist at heart with ambitions so impossible you’d call her crazy if you ever met her. Who wouldn’t? She was just a rambling, complex brat with a mighty ego. But then again, she had the one thing keeping her going. Her passion, her love, her life was all for the thing she adored the most. And that was music.

Unfortunately, today was not the best day for Peridot. More importantly, London was not the best place for Peridot. Coming from St Austell, a small town in the south west of Britain, she wasn't used to huge crowds with a heavily diverse population. Back in her home, she was used to people looking the same. Pale skin, brunette or blonde hair and bodies just as tall as her. Now, there were people from all different shapes and sizes. Well, if she was moving in, she had to get used to it.

She was newly crowned as an adult a few weeks before, finally reaching the age of 18. Now that the celebration was over, a new wave of hellfire had to flood her soul and burn her back into depression. University. After this, she could go back home, and live out her life peacefully and the exact way she wanted it to. She wanted to be a musician. Bassist, drummer, guitarist, vocalist; she didn’t care what she was gonna be, considering all the instruments she played anyways! She just wanted to play what she wanted to play. However terrible this part of Britain was, it was going to help her life substantially.

Deciding to dress up casually, she put on a white, unzipped hoodie with navy blue jeans and a red shirt. Outside the university were thousands of students, all cramming through the gates and into the main building to sign up for clubs, retrieve their room keys and numbers, and say goodbye to their parents. Waiting in the car by herself, she envied the kids with parents that actually cared. Her mother wouldn’t come even if she tried to convince her, and her dad… Her dad isn’t to be talked about.

Having saved up after retrieving her full license, she bought a small black Vauxhall Corsa to get her from A to B. She never used it much, only really using it for long distance journeys, like this one. However, it seemed broken and thrashed compared to some of the other cars in the parking space. A red Ferrari with wide lights that just screamed “Buy me! Buy me!” to anyone that came across it. Of course, coming out of it was a posh, short girl with a dress so tight Peridot feared for her life. The girl, unlike Peridot, seemed rather excited about heading into what should be the worst few years of her life. Right behind her was a businessman, with slicked back brunette hair and a tall - definitely 6 feet - body that made Peridot seem like an elf. Looking back at the entrance, she decided now was the time to get off her ass and face this new challenge in her life.

As she opened her car door and took a deep breath, she remembered what she was told by her friends.

“Don’t give up, Peri. We’ll believe in you, no matter what.”

Their belief would fuel her.

____________________________________________________________________

Oh god, the stress was astounding. Voices - SO many FUCKING VOICES - and bright lights to light up the already well-lit hallway. She could barely hear the introducer talk to her and pass her key. How tall were people in London? Was she just an oompa-loompa?! If it weren’t for coffee, she would be so dead. The dark, bitter taste soothed her body: it was as if some sort of rich liquid was hugging and relieving her body from the pain from the past hour. But then she had to put the cup down and mess her feelings up.

The apartment complex she was staying in was the lowest quality of them all, with scratched oak floorboards and random holes at the bottom of the walls (probably from rats). There were two bedrooms, one bathroom with a single shower, toilet and sink, one living room with an already working TV and a kitchen right next to the living room. It wasn’t perfect, but it was affordable, and that’s what matters. Two bedrooms… That meant she had a roommate. Someone who, for the rest of her time here, she was going to be with. God, she hoped for a nerd like her. Someone who rambled on about Camp Pining Hearts and complained about Bethesda’s lack of new quality games. Someone she could relate with. In fact, the person she related to the most had just sent her a message, causing her to immediately open her phone.

“Peri!” Her phone rang, reminding Peridot of who she was talking to.

“Hey Amethyst.” She smiled, thankful that her best friend had remembered to contact her in this desperate time of need.

“So, how’s Uni so far?”

“Horrid. And I haven’t even had my first lesson yet.”

Amethyst chuckled at that, releasing that adorable snort she always executed so cutely when she laughed.

“Hah! Wait, when do your lessons start?”

“In 2 days, on Thursday.” Peridot grunted, deciding to move from her current position to the bedroom. On the way, she tripped on one of her two suitcases, landing face first on the bed. Her already messy blonde hair only worsened. She turned to meet the phone, and got a good look at Amethyst’s new makeover. Brown skin, purple eyes and dyed white hair. Amethyst was nearly the same height as Peridot, however, she was much thicker and attractive than the other slim girl.

“Alright then. Looks like you’ve got your hands full at the minute, so I’m gonna leave you to unpack. Sorry for the short little call. Bye!” She waved, before hanging the call up.

“A-Amethyst, wait!” Peridot shouted, before realising she was too late. Immediately, she grunted and slammed her fist on the comfortable single bed, leaving a mark from the impact. Once again, her joy was gutted like a fish. Could anything good happen to cheer her spirits? Oh, wait a minute, what was she thinking? She had something good right underneath her!

Jumping off the bed, she immediately grabbed one of her jet black suitcases and ripped it open, revealing a stash of the things that matter most to her:

Her books, the ones she hadn’t read yet

Her PlayStation, something especially close to her

The musical instruments she had promised to master: A keyboard, disassembled drum kit, acoustic guitar and bass guitar.

She didn’t have the time for the drum kit, however, she could try and tune her guitar. She picked up the large wooden structure and let her fingers strum the 6 strings, telling her which notes were out of place. After some loud strumming, she switched to a chord. Then another. And then another. The chords fused with each other perfectly, creating a smooth yet melancholy tune for her, and only her, to enjoy.

In fact, it was so immersive, she never realised that the apartment door had opened.

A body monolithic compared to Peridot came through the door, revealing her black “Avenged Sevenfold” hoodie and blue sweatpants. Very short blue hair covered up the new woman’s eyes, but that didn’t stop Peridot from looking closer at her face. She stopped playing as she focused more on the girl’s body, ‘She’s… Stunning’ she thought, not noticing the girl’s glare headed straight her way. Panicking, she hid away her guitar and stood up, walking up to the entrance of the home.

What could she say? Peridot was never very good at socialising, which is why her struggle was so prominent in this situation. ‘For fuck sake, just speak before she thinks you’re a weirdo!’ She shouted at herself in her head, finally deciding to spill something out.

“Peridot.” She exclaimed, putting out her hand for the girl to shake. “My name’s Peridot, and I’m gonna be your new roommate for as long as we’re here. It’s nice to meet you.” She added, rather monotonously.

“Lapis.” The other girl quietly let out, taking Peridot’s hand before walking away to the other closed bedroom, suitcases being dragged behind her. Peridot stood still for a few moments, not expecting the woman to release such a condescending glare at her. She wanted more information - no, she needed it. Not only was this new ‘Lapis’ an absolute stunner, she was strangely shy and blunt. The lack of clarity of this new girl was astounding, and it filled Peridot with dread. What if she was sharing an apartment with her, only to find out she’s crazy, or weird, or all of the above! But then again, she didn’t seem like the most sociable person. Maybe that was just her personality, and Peridot was looking too far into it. She decided to take action, walking to Lapis’ room.

She looked into the open door, seeing the blue-haired beauty bend down to unpack her things onto the bed. Very dark clothes, Peridot noted. She fake-coughed, capturing the much taller woman’s attention.

“Do you need help with anything?” She asked, her lips trying to smile and failing. Lapis only shook her head, showing signs that maybe she just wanted to be left alone. Not wanting any of that, she stepped closer into the room, causing Lapis to jump slightly and turn around to face the shorter blonde.

“Listen, I don’t need your help with anything, okay?” She angrily yet quietly told the now guilty nerd beneath her. “I know you’re trying to make friends, and that’s fine, but I never really wanted a roommate. So, please, if you could just refrain from talking to me, that would be great.” She huffed, arms crossed and shoes impatiently tapping on the floor. Peridot gulped, intimidated, then nodded, turning so she could walk away. Lapis turned around, getting back to what she was doing previously.

Peridot just felt terrible. She was acting clingy to a stranger. A fucking stranger. If the loud, violent voices didn’t make her feel bad, this certainly did. The mysterious Lapis now haunted her, and apparently was leaving her too, since she was walking to the door. Just before witnessing the exit, Peridot spotted what seemed to be a pained expression on her roommate’s face. The door slammed shut as Peridot laid back into the bed, hearing the footsteps slowly fade. She wanted to get things right, she wanted redemption.

No matter what, Peridot Redwood was going to find and eliminate the problem with Lapis.

#lapidot #lapisxperidot #stevenuniverse #fanfiction #gimmeprompts

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