#and the last bit is just... man in bttb peridot couldn't even CONCEIVE of an ownerless pearl

[oathkeeper-of-tarth]

“No one would design a Pearl to have a weapon, would they?”

“They would not. I’ve spent a very long time developing that ability, believe me. It was only supposed to be used to generate tools for my work. I was material weapons only for quite a while — you can't fight a war armed with a letter opener.” She paused, wondering whether to share this. She hadn't talked about it in so long, hadn't really thought about it. It had long since faded into irrelevance and she liked it that way. But it might help Jasper understand. “But you can, for example, stab your former owner and run away in terror of the consequences before the smoke clears.”

“What did she do to you?” Jasper asked, her eyebrows rising.

This was a big part of why she’d stopped talking about it, of course. People expected, even seemed to want to hear of something terrible inflicted on her to justify her actions. Or to make the story more satisfying somehow. If something like that had happened to her, what did they think it was like for her to have to keep describing it? She wasn't about to.

“She did one of the worst possible things. She owned me. She considered it her right to own me and what I thought or felt about it didn't matter. Everything else comes from that. She didn't need to be especially cruel or demanding for it to become unbearable.”

Jasper looked away, her lips moving briefly as if she considered and discarded a response. “Why do you think,” she asked very carefully, “most Pearls don't do that?”

“Prudence. Habitual obedience. Fear. Not just fear of how you would be punished if you were caught, but fear of the huge unimaginable unknown of what you would do and how you would live if you weren't caught.”

— Chapter 18 of Back to Beta by @airyairyquitecontrary

Now this is primarily a Jasperdemption/Cure for Corruption/Quartz Sis-centric ongoing story and you should absolutely take a look at it if any of those things are your jam, but a bit into the fic it just super casually includes a brief segment with… well, I think the most apt way to describe it would be one of my all-time favourite takes on Pearl’s take on her own background and backstory and objectification. This particular quote really stuck with me, and it comes to mind a lot, especially when I see “Good Slaveowner” arguments thrown about.