#i can still wish that steven had healed the corrupted gems like it felt like it was foreshadowed

[captainshyguy]

i do wish that people hadnt been so rabidly critical and vicious towards steven universe back in the day, because now it feels like u cant discuss any parts of the show u didnt like without getting lumped in with those guys lol

[haphazardlyannotated]

Prompt: Consider a vindictive Pearl who guilt trips and trolls the diamonds at every opportunity. She goes on long rants, saying all the things she wishes she could have said in Era 1. She may not be able to stab the diamonds like she wants, but she's gotta avenge Pink (and herself) somehow.

Pearl had spent the first three thousand years of her existence hearing the other Diamonds berate Pink.

The way she ran her colony, how she talked to "lesser" gems, even when she dared to talk- it seemed like there was no aspect of Pink her fellow Diamonds couldn't strenuously disapprove of.

Pearl remembered countless times Pink's shoulders had slumped, her bright eyes dimmed with just a few sharp words, until Rose stood in front of Pearl, telling her that Blue and Yellow had never cared about her with a conviction that wasn't even resigned anymore.

The memories had been burned into Pearl's mind with helpless fury for millenia.

So honestly, when Blue and Yellow Diamond showed up on Earth, nearly killed Steven AGAIN, and then had the audacity to talk about Pink like they hadn't made her life a living hell for as long as Pearl had known her, and when Blue Diamond then grimaced at the moss Rose had once painstakingly tended to and loudly wondered what Pink could have possibly seen in this planet- well, Pearl couldn't be blamed for indulging in just the tiniest crumb of revenge.

"Well, she liked food, for one thing," Pearl said with the perfect, bland smile of a good, subservient pearl. She caught Amethyst's eye and was met with such complete understanding that by all rights they should have formed Opal on the spot. "I'm sure Amethyst will be happy to prepare some for you," Pearl continued, watching Amethyst struggle to contain a giant grin. "She's an expert in human nourishments."

Amethyst's creation was a precarious tower of everything in their fridge, some of it still in the packaging, liberally seasoned with engine oil.

Blue and Yellow Diamond, regretably, ended up deciding they didn't want to connect with Pink's past that badly, but the sheer vindictive delight Pearl felt at their expressions when Amethyst presented her masterwork to them (and then proceeded to swallow it whole when it became clear the Diamonds weren't going to) lasted her the whole day.

_

Pearl had intended for it to be a one off.

It should have been a one off, especially considering how badly they all needed the Diamond's goodwill to have any hope of healing their corrupted friends.

Unfortunately, Pearl had not anticipated how much being a pearl on Homeworld again would grate.

She hadn't been prepared for how angry it would make her to be once again looked at like a mindless possession, a trinket to adorn an owner.

She'd fought for her freedom in the war for hundreds of years, and thousands more in her own mind. She refused to be pushed back into the mold of what Homeworld thought a pearl should be.

She knew better than to make a grand gesture. Not now. Not when the fate of countless gems depended on it.

But she could keep her posture loose where she was expected to stand like a statue, could speak up unprompted, walk in front of ‚her owner‘ rather than behind him.

Most gems probably wouldn’t even notice, let alone know what a rebellion these little gestures were. But they mattered to Pearl, and when Blue and Yellow Pearl’s eyes flickered to her when they shouldn’t (because stars forbid a pearl showed curiosity for anything other than her owner’s amusement!) Pearl knew they at least had noticed.

Watch me, Pearl told them with every time she raised her voice like that, moved her feet just so. I am a pearl and they hold no power over me. They tried to destroy us, but we’re still here and free. You can be, too. They can’t stop us.

Homeworld would never own Pearl again, and if she had anything to say about it, it wouldn’t keep owning anyone else for long either.

_

When it was all over, the Diamonds approached Pearl on the beach in front of the temple.

They tried to seem casual. They failed utterly.

„Hello… Pearl,“ White Diamond greeted her, with an expression like treating Pearl like a person was the most perplexing task she’d ever put her mind to.

Pearl tilted her head a fraction to indicate she was listening. She had no inclination to play the accomodating servant. If White Diamond wanted something from her, she would have to figure out how to ask herself.

In the end it was Blue Diamond who spoke up.

„We know that we failed Pink,“ she began, an admission so utterly unexpected it briefly gave Pearl the sensation of being in the wrong form. „We would like to do better with Steven.“

That too was unexpected. The Diamonds Rose and Pearl had run away from would never have considered even the possibility that they could be flawed, let alone need to do better.

Rose, Pearl thought. Look at this. We changed them. Your son changed them.

Out loud she only said

„That’s nice.“

Yellow Diamond cleared her throat impatiently.

„We were hoping you would have some insights,“ she said.

Once again, Pearl felt like the ground had been pulled away beneath her feet.

If someone, even Garnet, had told her a year ago that the Diamonds would stand in front of her, admitting that what they’d done to Rose had been wrong, asking Pearl for advice - she would have thought it absurd.

The Diamonds she’d known would have sooner shattered their entire courts than admit their own faults. The fact that they were willing to put all of this, everything they had spent millenia trying to embody away for the sake of Rose’s memory and Steven’s future…

Rose had been wrong, too, Pearl realised. The other Diamonds had loved her. They’d done it badly, without ever truly seeing her, but they’d loved her all the same.

And now they wanted to learn to do it right.

Maybe Pearl could forgive them one day. Maybe.

Not today though.

„Well, for one thing,“ Pearl said, „I think Steven enjoys not being locked in an empty room for years on end.“

[suau-raised-by-corrupted-gems]

"I wish... I could know you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Can't have a Steven Universe AU without the one that started it all, now could be? [Well, to be fair, the ones who created her started it all, but you get the gist of it.]

Let's delve in to how she's portrayed here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Being the child of a team leader, he's obviously, he's gonna be hearing a whole lot about her. He hears about her is about how she had lead a rebellion against this Diamond empire in order to protect earth from being "colonized" or in other words, destroyed. She even cried a whole fountain for those who had fallen, and wanted to look for a cure to corruption.

Now don't get him wrong, he was genuinely impressed with the story, and was even honored to have been borne from such a brave soul. Heck, he even found himself to aspiring to be like her.

He just wished his teammates wouldn't loom this over his head so much.

Well, he wished the Pearl wouldn't hang her over his head so much.

Yes, she was the leader, but trying to force that role onto him when he's still grasping Crystal Gem life can be very tiring.

Whenever he'd fuss about going on a mission, or just slacked off in general, the Pearl would always use Rose as an example. She'd say something like "Rose wouldn't want you to--" or "Rose would want you to--" or her personal favorite line "If Rose saw what you were doing-"

Amethyst would try to make Pearl back off with the Rose stuff, but Pearl insisted that she was only using Rose as an example, so he'd follow his destiny better.

However, she only achieved giving Steven the impression that Rose may have been just as, if not more, uptight as the Pearl was. And for that he started to harbor a bit of a distaste for her.

Garnet would always reassure him that she wasn't really like that, but she would've appreciated trying to go on a mission like a Crystal Gem should would.

But then, whenever he went to hangout with Greg, it was a different story entirely. According to him, she was curious, fun-loving and would have likely let him do whatever he wanted, as long as he enjoyed himself.

It was here that Greg made her sound like his mama Fluffy, which gave him a sense of longing.

But, then again, the destiny she had "given" him is anything but enjoyable. Was this truly the life she thought he'd enjoy??

But whenever he brought up these claims to Pearl, either in defense, or just a question in general; She'd just get all uptight and defensive, affirming that she knew Rose better than Greg ever did.

It was at this point, he just didn't know how to see her anymore.

Was she a strict or lenient?

He knew he should trust Greg, own his father but Rose's teammates knew her longer than he did. Or rather the Pearl knew her longer.

Even then, part of him suspects she's withholding more information about her to begin with.

Who was Rose?

Why did she do this?

...Why him?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Despite baring the weight of the expectations she left, he always found himself returning to Rose's fountain to soak his feet, and stare contemplatively at the statue before him.

He felt so conflicted with her. On one hand, he had resented her, or rather, the destiny she had put before him. How could she ever expect a child to live upto her name?

But on the other hand... he couldn't help but long to know her. While he'll always love his mama Fluffy, it was Rose who had been gracious enough to give up her physical form for him to live. And the fact she had created this very fountain to heal others...

He couldn't decide what he thought about her.

Why did she have to be born to someone so... complex?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm... in lion's mane?"

He only discovered lion's mane plain was when he tried to dig himself into lion's mane in an attempt to relive the feeling of security he felt with his mama Fluffy. It was here that he realized that maybe Rose had more to her than even the Gems knew.

He finds the tape and the other stuff, but he doesn't think to tamper with any of it yet.

But he didn't bother to tell the gems about it; he knew they either wouldn't believe him or the Pearl would be upset with him poking around Rose's stuff.

But he knew that eventually he'd need to come clean. After all, Rose was their leader.

It's not like anything bad would happen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the record, I don't think season 1 canon Pearl would stoop low enough to sort of use Rose as a way to get Steven to cooperate, but I've already established that Pearl on this AU's kind of antagonistic.

But yeah, this version of Pearl doesn't hide her salt anymore.

The backgrounds (Rose’s fountain and Lion’s mane dimension) is by Steven Sugar.

[jinxytsl]

Nightmares (Stevinel Story) Steven Universe

For Stevineltober, (I know, it was last month - I’m slow) I decided to merge the two prompts ‘nightmare’ and ‘insecurity’ and I came up with a short story. It will be below the line. A comic will be posted soon after that goes with it.

WARNING: Steven x Spinel themed, angst, slight gore, death, suicide, yelling.

NIGHTMARES

He took a step backwards. The black grass crumbled into ash. Smoke was rising from every crack in the hard ground. Pink acid flowed in streams between the chasms. Unbearable heat rose from the soil. His dry skin was sweating over his bruises and cuts. His jacket was torn and his hands were burnt and bleeding. He had bruises on his face. Tears streamed over his skin. His mouth was bleeding. He couldn’t heal himself.

He had lost.

Gem shards lay under his feet. The shards of his friends and family. They had shattered only minutes earlier. The boy stumbled backwards, his lip trembling, his whole body shaking. He had lost, and he had accepted it.

He stared in sadness up at the top of the Injector. The hour-glass shaped machine was empty. The bio-poison had infected the whole planet. Without his powers, without his friends, he was nothing. He had lost. The planet was dead.

There was only two people left here.

The gem stood on the edge of the Injector, staring back down at the tiny figure. She trembled. Shaky tears rolled down her scarred cheeks. What had she done? Was this really what she wanted? Was all this worth it?

There was no reversing this. The planet that had been protected from danger for thousands of years, was now completely and utterly destroyed in a day. And it was her fault.

Even though they were so far from each other, they knew exactly what each other was thinking. He was devastated beyond repair, but he had accepted his horrific end. She was regretting every action, wishing she had stayed in the Garden, hoping with all her gem that maybe Steven Universe could fix all this. But deep down she knew he wouldn’t survive much longer. She knew she had killed him. She had killed his planet.

He was dying painfully. Spinel couldn’t bear to watch any longer. Why did she do this to him? He didn’t deserve this, did he? He didn’t abandon her. Pink did.

Spinel shook her head. She put her hands together, swelling them up to enormous fists, clenching them tight above her head. Tears dripped down her gritted teeth.

She threw her fists down on the top of the Injector. The impact sent shockwaves through the enormous crystal spaceship, shattering the head and breaking it beyond repair. Steven gasped, stepping backwards when he saw the Injector break.

“No,” He whispered hoarsely, his lip trembling. “Please, no…”

Spinel wept bitterly, wailing in sadness. She lifted her hands again, bringing them down forcefully for a second time. The Injector head shattered more.

“Spinel…” Steven whispered, his voice tight and pained. “Stop… please…”

Peridot had told him earlier that the Injector could explode under pressure. Steven was beginning to believe that Spinel knew that. This was her escape. Where else could she go? Back to the Garden? Homeworld? She didn’t belong anywhere. Steven had only a few seconds to rescue her. He had only a few seconds before he became the only living soul on the planet. And he had only a few minutes of being the only living soul on the planet after that.

“Spinel!” He yelled. But she would never have heard him. She continued to beat her hands on the Injector head, wailing loudly. She felt cold and hollow, despite the sweltering heat rising from the corrupted planet below her. Her pigtails hung low and she shrieked loudly in anger and despair.

The final blow came. The Injector glowed bright white, blinding lights beaming from the cracks in the shattered head. Suddenly, there was an eye-scorching flash, and a deafening explosion.

Spinel’s tear-stained face disappeared in the pink light. The explosion was so forceful, she was in shards before her form had disappeared. The pink mushroom cloud formed suddenly and violently, sending tsunamis of pink acid out into the poisoned oceans. Steven was knocked backwards in the impact, the shockwaves of the explosion shattering glass and felling dead trees.

There was a few minutes of dread-filled silence. Slowly, the pink smoke turned to black ash, and the last of the shockwaves faded out. Steven lay on his back, bleeding and whimpering, the burning ground scorching his skin and his clothes. He slowly sat up, weak and trembling. In his last moments of life, the scarred and insensate boy sat on the planet he had been raised on, surrounded by the dead bodies and souls of his friends and family. His home was gone. His planet was destroyed. After thousands of years of protecting it, it was all gone.

He glanced down. Amongst the ash and burnt soil, he spotted a few pink shards. They had landed after the explosion. The boy crawled forwards on his side, reaching over to pick them up. He held them between his fingers, tears streaming down his face unbearably.

“I guess I can’t save everyone.”

He pulled the shards close to him as he lay backwards on the ash and dust. Pink acid ate away at the soil, burning closer and closer to him.

“Spinel, I’m so sorry. I wish I could have protected you. I wish I could have protected everyone.”

He breathed in hoarsely, only inhaling black dust that clogged his throat. He whimpered, blood trickling down his lips, sweltering pink acid licking at his fingers. He choked, his breathing raspy and uneven. He held Spinel’s shards close to him, coughing and spluttering, blood and tears cooling his scorched skin. He opened his eyes one last time, seeing the ground crack, a wave of pink acid curling above him, ready to swallow his body into its ocean of destruction, melting away his flesh into a pile of burnt bones and a forgotten diamond.

*****

His eyes were wet when he opened them. His pillow was soaked beneath his head. He bit his lip, looking up and glancing out the window. The sky was blue, painted with white clouds, and hanging delicately above a row of green tree-covered hills and a beautiful blue ocean. There was no bio-poison. There was no Injector. No death, no destruction. Only thriving life. Relief flooded into his mind like a waterfall.

Suddenly, he heard static at the end of his bed. He looked over at the maroon TV propped up at the back of his room, and saw a screen of black and white static. ‘No, no no no,’ He thought. ‘I broadcasted that one, didn’t I?’

He looked to his side and his heart missed a beat. There were crinkled sheets where she had been sleeping beside him. Steven gagged, looking around frantically, immediately wondering where she could be. He was usually the one to wake up first.

“Spin– Spinel! Sp–”

The moment he saw her, he was almost paralysed with terror. She was sitting at the end of his bed, her pigtails right down, her body trembling. She was curled tight, whimpering and sobbing to herself. Her eyes were on the TV screen.

“Spinel…” Steven whispered. “Are you…”

“I’m terrible,” Her voice replied, hoarse and nearly incomprehensible. “I’m terrible and you know it.”

“No, no no no no no that wasn’t you,” The boy wept, scrambling out of bed and walking towards her. “That wasn’t you. You would never.”

He reached his arms out to her. Instead of running to him and hugging him tight like she would normally, she rose to her feet and stepped away from him, her eyes wide and filled with sadness.

“But that’s what I was going to do!” Spinel exclaimed. “When I took the rejuvenator and the Injector to Earth – that is EXACTLY what I was going to do! I wanted you to die alone on that barren world! I wanted to kill you so bad but – but I had no right to do it!”

“Spinel please listen,” Steven wailed. “I didn’t mean – I didn’t want to ever think of you that way! I know you’re not a bad person! I know you’d never do that to me, or to anyone or planet! You’ve changed now!”

“But you know I wasn’t before,” The gem spluttered. “That’s why you dreamt about it! That’s why you’re still thinking about it! I could have killed you! I could have killed your planet, and your friends!”

“But you didn’t!” Steven cried, tears streaming down his face. “I never EVER think of you that way! I can’t control my dreams! I – I – I trust you! I care about you! I – I – I love you!”

“I don’t believe you anymore!” Spinel shrieked, her voice uneven and pained. “If you still see me that way when you’re unconscious – you must still think I could hurt you! You know I could!”

Spinel clenched herself tight, shying away from the weeping boy.

“I CAN’T TAKE IT!” She screamed. “I’M EVIL! I CAN NEVER CHANGE! I’VE SCARRED YOU AND I WILL NEVER BE FORGIVEN FOR WHAT I’VE DONE!”

“I DON’T SEE YOU THAT WAY!” Steven howled. “SPINEL, PLEASE! I’M SO SORRY! I LOVE YOU! PLEASE!”

She raced past him, crying openly and bitterly. He ran after her, following her out of the sliding door and up the ramp to the dome. He begged her to stay, repeating bitterly how much he loved her, his head filled with the terror his nightmare had caused both of them. They would never move on from this.

[introvert-celeste]

su prompt: Bismuth trying to come to terms with Rose trying to flee the Diamonds and how this informed Rose's entire military strategy, in that she didn't want ANYONE to get hurt at all and the whole revolution expanded way out of what she might have originally planned?

HI, HELLO. Yes, I FINALLY finished this prompt, and it’s quite a bit longer than I had planned (I was aiming for >1000 words but *shrugs*). I’m not sure if this was exactly what you meant, but I chose to go a more personal route for this. Bismuth is torn by her feelings about Rose, the war, and her own actions and this is her trying to air these feelings out.

Bismuth stood on the warp pad for a moment as the light dissipated around her, determined and nervous in equal measures.

Rose’s fountain stood serenely in the shadows of the surrounding cliffs, silent save for the distant babbling of its healing waters. Under different circumstances, it could have been a peaceful retreat from the trials of daily life; to Bismuth and the countless gems who passed through its arches over the years, however, it was not so simple. This fountain was their saving grace, discussed in hushed whispers during the war lest their enemies learn of its miraculous properties, and in extension the legendary abilities of their leader. It was also a grim reminder, recalling its necessity in the intensifying rebellion. To Bismuth, it was a symbol of her devotion to a gem she thought she knew.

The gems of Little Homeworld scarcely ventured out to the fountain after they were healed of their corruption, treating it with the same respect as a sacred place. Since Steven hit the road, however, this was the only place that gems could reasonably travel to in order to heal any damage to their gemstones. One could find a small group gathered here on any given day, recovering and finding solace in the tranquil setting, but Bismuth was lucky enough to find it completely deserted.

In those three years following the healing, Bismuth had her own reasons for keeping her distance, and they all boiled down to her complicated feelings surrounding Rose. She was not ready to confront them. In the spirit of personal growth, however, she figured it was time to revisit those feelings.

As she walked the path toward one of the fountain’s four star-shaped entrances, she couldn’t help but feel a wave of nostalgia. She recalled the countless rotations she spent in this spot, carefully carving out what she considered one of her greatest works of architecture from mountainous terrain, using nothing but her own two hands.

As the fighting increased between the Crystal Gem rebels and Homeworld’s armies, so too did the casualties, and Bismuth was one of the few gems close enough to Rose to know that it was taking a serious toll on her. She remembered the crowds of rebels who would flock to her after every battle, barely holding themselves together as they waited for her soothing tears and comforting smile. She remembered the moment she realized that Rose was not, in fact, infallible when, after many days of healing, she found that she had no more tears to shed for the gems she could not bring back.

This fountain was one of Bismuth’s many gifts to her idol, her friend. Every stone in this place had been so lovingly crafted; she didn’t even know that it would work, and yet she worked so diligently so that, even in the midst of great tragedy, Rose could still find peace. Indeed, the immense relief on Rose’s face made it all worth it. As she stood at the top of the stairs, gazing at its magnificence, however, she struggled to recall that simple gratification.

Alongside Rose’s tears, Bismuth poured her heart and soul into this fountain, this planet, this cause. She laid her gem on Rose’s anvil because she trusted her. All of the Crystal Gems trusted her, found hope in her presence. Old, bitter tears burned at the corners of her eyes as she gazed at the towering statue before her, its arms outstretched, inviting all who entered the sanctuary into its stony embrace. Even as the artist, she wondered how she could just stand there so serenely, as if she wasn’t playing everyone for a fool. How dare she look so peaceful when her actions were actively hurting her own gems, on both sides of the war?

Rose Quartz. Pink Diamond. How ironic, that Bismuth would spend so much energy fighting against the Diamonds, only to learn that she had idolized one the whole time.

Still, approaching the base of the fountain, she felt some of that old devotion weigh on her, bringing her to her knees before one of the seated statues. She bowed, waited in earnest for Rose’s insistent voice urging her to rise, but it never came. When she raised her head, the statue didn’t so much as regard her, bearing the same impassive expression as its larger sister.

In that moment, she realized that she had never seen Rose with such a tranquil expression. There was always a storm behind her eyes, a storm that Bismuth always mistook as Rose’s inner fighting spirit. Turns out, it was just another façade.

“Been awhile, huh?” She said, her voice cutting through the still air.

The statue was, of course, silent.

Without thinking, Bismuth got up and seated herself beside it. She closed her eyes, feeling the presence of the statue. True to size, it almost felt as if they were here again in this place, sharing a pensive moment before heading back to the battlefield. The moment hurt more than Bismuth could even begin to describe.

There were a million things she wanted to say, so much pain she waited to offload onto this piece of stone, and yet when she opened her mouth to speak, the first thing that came out of her mouth was this:

“I pity you.”

And she felt it in the very core of her gem, at the very depths of her soul, she felt it. She pitied her as much as she pitied herself, and the Crystal Gems, and all the gems who had to fight in this gem-forsaken war. She pitied her with the same intensity that she worshipped the ground beneath her feet, those thousands of years ago. She wanted to hate her, and yet how could she, after she had invested so much of herself in loving her, as a leader, as a friend?

“You were in way over your head, and so was I,” was the next thing she said. “I wanted to fix a system that was too big and broken to fix, and you wanted to hide from it. In the process, we were doing exactly what we were made to do: you led; I followed…until I didn’t.” I guess it makes sense that you poofed me. Discipline for a gem who’s stepped out of line, she continued in her head, unwilling to speak this bitter thought into existence. Instead, she turned away from the statue, unwilling to face it anymore. “Sometimes, I still wish you woulda shattered me back then, so I could hate you properly now.”

Her breath hitched as the tears started to flow. “I wish I could hate you, so I wouldn’t have to think about the terrible things that I’ve done!”

Her voice echoed against the walls and the surrounding cliffs. The rose bushes—her rose bushes—rustled at the disturbance, the first time they acknowledged her presence since she got there. Steven had told her about them once, about how aimless and hostile they became without Rose’s guidance, but they never caused any trouble for as long as Bismuth had known of them. Sure enough, they stopped moving as quickly as they had started, and all was quiet once more.

It was almost a comfort, knowing that a piece of Rose was there, a passive listener to her deepest feelings, one that could easily pass its judgement onto her if it so chose.

“Yellow started healing shattered gems from the war a couple weeks ago. I bet you never expected that.” Bismuth continued evenly, grabbing control of her voice. “Did you know they were still on Earth? Did you know about the Cluster?” She sighed. “I guess it doesn’t matter now, but you were always so concerned about those shards. Crystal gems, Homeworld gems, they were all balled up together and stuffed in the planet’s mantle just so they can blow the planet up thousands of years later. I hope you didn’t know about all that.”

She was beating around the bush, and she knew it. That awful guilt that had been building inside her throughout those two weeks was becoming too much to bear. That was why she came here in the first place: to get this weight off her chest and finally air out that old resentment she still clung to, toward Rose, toward herself, toward the entire system that put them in this situation in the first place.

In her peripheral vision, she caught a glimpse of her reflection on the water, with the statue barely visible beside her. The curls of its hair were crafted so delicately, she could have sworn she saw them bounce in the gentle breeze. A great tangle of emotions moved her to action as she gazed at her face in the pale pink waters, slapping at it angrily.

“I can’t bear to even look ‘em in the eyes!” She sobbed, as a cascade of droplets rained down on the pair and their distorted images in the disturbed pool. “Those healed gems come to Little Homeworld because they don’t know what to do with themselves, and I don’t feel right telling them what to do! I don’t feel right because…”

She turned to the statue, her anguish overflowing.

“Because half the time I’m wondering ‘did I shatter this one?’”

She wanted comfort; she wanted punishment; she wanted something; but the statue was quiet, painfully quiet.

“Yeah, I’ve shattered gems, way more than I’d care to admit. I bet you didn’t know that.” She said it like she had gotten the final word, but she didn’t feel at all triumphant.

In that moment, all Bismuth could think of was Rose’s horrified expression as she showed off the Breaking Point, what it was capable of. She could only imagine how Rose would have reacted to this. Yes, accidents happened and self defense was necessary on the battlefield, but she’d be fooling herself if she thought that that was all she ever shattered a gem for. She knew what she was capable of. She preached about a fair fight, but there were plenty of fights where her first blow was the killing blow. She knew what it felt like to have a gemstone crush against her fist.

“Would you hate me if you knew?”

Although the statue still offered no response, Bismuth already knew the answer to that one. Rose felt many things and did many things—she was many things—but Bismuth knew without a doubt that she didn’t have a hateful photon in her physical form. She may resent her, she may never forgive her, but she would never hate her, or anyone, for that matter.

Bismuth considered herself a proud gem, but she wasn’t too proud to admit that she was wrong. It wasn’t even a matter of right or wrong when it came to the war. There were no winners, only those who came out better off than their opponents. Everyone suffered, one way or another. Bismuth suffered from trauma and guilt, equally; she suffered every time a reconstructed gem soldier regarded her wearily, a gem who had followed orders right to their own demise.

She laid a hand on the statue’s shoulder, drained and defeated. “I don’t forgive you,” she said simply, “but I don’t forgive myself, either.”

They were both desperate to end the fighting, but their desperation only led to greater destruction.

“I hope you would feel the same.”

[fireopal-tash]

How everything started...

If only everybody could see you

Through my eyes

We wouldn't have to worry and leave it all behind

I know it isn't easy but I think we need a brand new start

I'll hold your heart

It was not a good start, nor a bad one. It was not an impulsive moment, much less a thoughtful one.

Spinel spent a week with Steven on Earth, after the Crystal Gems received a message from the Diamonds. Something about a mission, and making peace (peace treaty) with other species. They couldn't take Spinel with them, so they decided that it was best for her to stay on Earth. With Steven. Protected. That was it. Nothing happened, and Spinel returned to Homeworld soon after. Nothing changed... Or so everyone believed.

It wasn't until in Little Homeworld a healed corrupted gem saw them holding hands, laughing and having a good time that things went downhill. They explained they were simply spending some time together, like any friends, but the crystal gems were still upset that the hybrid never told them anything about where he went and with whom. Pearl, specially, freaked out when she saw it was Spinel with whom he was spending time. He couldn't understand why.

Steven was with Connie (it was one of those days when Connie had free time for him), and the boy asked his best friend her opinion about Spinel.

"Steven... I don't think it's a good idea" she started carefully.

"What? Why?" the young hybrid asked without showing his anguish.

"Because she tried to kill you. You and the Crystal Gems" she pointed out "Look, I know you want to help her, but maybe you should let someone else do it" she explained softly.

"No, you don't understand" he shook his head "It's my responsibility. I have to help her. No one else can because... Because no one else can understand her. Only me. And she is not the only gem that tried to kill us, you know? At least she knew it was me, not Pink Diamond"

"She was… trapped, wasn't she? Then Lapis would be the most suitable. Also, she tried to kill you because of your mum" she countered.

"You see!? You don't understand either. Aghhh" he suddenly stood up, anxiety gnawing at his mind "She was abandoned, not trapped. She faithfully waited for my mom for thousands of years!"

"And how about Pearl?" the brunette tried.

Steven groaned, increasingly annoyed that no one could understand him. But that wasn't true, was it? Someone understood him. And that someone was Spinel.. Steven ran away, glowing pink.

"Steven...!" Connie called.

All of my friends and family

Keep saying you're no good

Now that I'm finally happy

Wish that they understood

They may be disapproving

But that ain't tearing us apart

I'll hold your heart

Spinel couldn't meet with Steven after that hasty goodbye. She could still hear the shouting. Such horrible words. She didn't like that one bit. He was her friend, their family. Why were they being so cruel to him? Why wouldn't they let her calm him down.

So what if they were having a good time?

So what if they wanted to be friends?

What difference did it make to them?

What rights did they have to spoil something that was just beginning to flourish?

All those questions were echoing over and over again in her mind, fueling her anger, her contempt for those gems. Towards everyone. But never to Steven. He needed her. And she needed him.

"Spinel, we know that you only wanted to see Steven. We do to. But, surely you understand that it is not right for you to leave without saying a word to us"

Oh, she knew that very well. But it was exactly for that reason that neither of them said anything. They wanted to test their friendship first, before rushing headfirst. They didn't want interference of any kind. It was their life after all.

It was not fair.

Where did everything went so wrong?

Exhausted every option

It's time to run away

Won't even pack a suitcase

I don't need anything

As long as you're besides me

I know that it'll be okay

We'll be okay

Weeks later, after sneaking away from Homeworld again, Spinel managed to speak to Steven, in his room, while everyone else was asleep (or in the case of the gems, in their own room)

"Are you sure?" he asked hesitantly. He was so nervous. What if the gems find out? They would be separated!

Spinel nodded enthusiastically. She had been planning it carefully. Today they were going to leave, they were going to their new home, a home of their own. Far from responsibilities. Away from people who only saw someone else in them. No more Pink Diamond. They were going to be free at last.

"Ok. I trust you. I hope everything works out. How are we going to get there?"

"With Little Homeworld's portal, of course. We will be caught immediately if we use yours. Although, we have to go undercover, just in case" She smirk, satisfied with her plan. She was not stupid, after all. Just a fool.

Steven shared her smile, feeling excited.

Cuz if it's us

Against the world we'll fight it

And win as long as we're united

"Steven?" Pearl called from the bottom of the stairs. Receiving no answer, she went upstairs, determined to wake Steven up. Upon opening the door, however, there was no one in there. Thinking that maybe he would be in the bathroom, she went downstairs again and headed for the other room. She knocked a couple of times. Nobody answered. The fear was taking over the pale gem. Steven was surely fine. These past few weeks he seemed fine, at least. But what if...?

"Steven?" she called again.

"Is he still in the bathroom?" Amethyst said, noticing the other gem in concern.

"I think so... But he would have already answered me" she scowled.

"Maybe he's drowned in the bathtub," joked the purple gem.

"Don't joke about it, Amethyst!"

"Seriously, what's wrong with taking a little more time in the bathroom? Besides, maybe he's still annoyed with us" she said seemingly exasperated.

"Annoyed? Why would he be annoyed with us?" the purple gem rolled her eyes, tired of the tallest blindness.

"Maybe because we are overwhelming? Overprotective? And by "we" I mean you, and maybe Garnet" she finished, with irritation. She really needed to let out everything she thought about this situation.

Take my hand and don't you let it go now

We'll find our way out when we are faced with danger

Steven and Spinel were in the garden. No one was around as expected, but still, they waited holding their breath and their hands. Nothing was happening. The portal didn't activate. They were alone. Together. They smiled widely. And laughed.

And eyes that stares at us in anger

Take my hand and don't you let it go now

"Garnet. Do you know where he...?" Pearl tried to ask the fusion. She was stopped.

"Not now"

"But Garnet!" she complained.

"I said not now. I don't know where he is. I can't even..." She let out a painful cry before a light appeared, separating both gems.

"Oh no. What have we done?" whispered Sapphire, both oh her hands covering her mouth. Her blue orb full of guilt and fear.

We'll find our way out

I'm tired of all the hiding

When the gems told Greg what happened, for the first time ever, he yelled at them. Worse than the time they kidnapped baby Steven in the middle of a snowstorm.

Unspoken secrecy

Cuz nothing's more exciting

When they talked to Lapis, Peridot and Bismuth, they were yelled at again. Never had the crystal gems felt worse than now. They knew it was their fault Steven ran away.

When you're right next to me

I'm captured by the feeling

Connie was the last one to know about their mistake. She just looked at them, disappointed. She waited for Steven. She had faith in him. He would return to her. He always did.

Of when you're wrapped up in my arms

In my arms

Despite all the searching, they never found him. Nothing. No one knew anything about him, nor did he ever came back home.

But one day, they found a little Spinel, far from Homeworld, whistling while looking at some dresses and shorts, shopping apparently.

I don't have all the answers

Not sure what we should do

But it doesn't really matter

I'm so in love with you

As long as you're besides me

I know it'll be okay

We'll be okay

"Our way out" song by Nico Collins

IMPORTANT: Steven and Spinel didn't rushed their decision, but they didn't think it through either. Don't be too harsh on them. They are still young (in fact, worse. Because he is a teenager and Spinel acts like a teenager too, so it was expected xD And Steven almost did the same with Connie, when they were younger)

Another thing. No one thought that Steven was with Spinel because of the time they spent apart, and because they tried to appear like nothing changed. It may sound logic to us, readers, but it's not. That's life without a narrator xD

Also: if it's a ship, or just friends, or family, it depends on the reader~ See them as you want xD I don't care~ xP

People tend to forget the most obvious clues ^w^'

Here a FanArt!

(why I'm always drawing the wrong hand to hold? xD Oh well~)

[su-homebroken-au]

Homebroken Chapter 1

When Steven opened his eyes, he isn't sure what to expect. The first thing that hit him was an extreme grogginess, coupled with a pounding sensation in his head that pulsed throughout his entire body. Next was the sound of voices all around him, some farther and some closer. There was the feeling of uneven ground beneath, and something wet on the side of his head. He felt hands on his body, shaking him. Pleading..

"Steven, Steven?! Wake up! This is no time for a nap!"

Slowly his eyes cracked open, and he's face to face with Lars. He's able to register that Lars' looked extremely panicked, whatever commotion going on was stressing him out. He'd slowly raise a hand, laying it on his head. It was wet, why?

"Lars.." He groaned, his voice feeling extremely hoarse. He felt like it had been rubbed raw with some kind of sandpaper. "What.. What happened? Wh - Where.."

"You went all pink, it was crazy! You were glowing, and you just screamed and the whole place cracked!" His voice was becoming more and more frantic as he glanced around in a panic.

Steven is finally able to register what is going on. He was able to piece together their location from vague memories. Homeworld. In a trial room, a courtroom? Steven can't really tell. He also notices light peeking in through cracks in the ceiling and  he's able to glance at the ground which was also cracked. It was broken a part, some fragments raised higher than others.

With a groan, he sat up. His whole body trembled, a feeling of extreme fatigue over taking his body instantly. He almost fell backwards, but he steadied himself by placing a hand on the ground.

"Look, we gotta get outta here!" Lars began looking around, trying to locate somewhere they could go through to get out. Steven looked around, unable to spot anything but Yellow and Blue arguing.

It was at that moment as he glanced around, that Blue noticed Steven was upright. She audibly gasped, moving closer to him. Her eyes were wide as she examined him, while Yellow watched apprehensively from a distance. It felt odd having her observe him like this, he felt exposed and uncomfortable.

"Pink! Oh, Pink! I can't believe that you're alive!" She sobbed, her tears cascading like waterfalls down her cheeks. Steven's vision became even blurrier as his eyes became wet with her tears. Blue fingers plucked him from the ground, holding him carefully as if he was the most precious thing in the universe. He was sure he heard Lars shout in shock.

Steven rubbed at his eyes, trying to get the tears out of his eyes. He glanced up at her timidly, taking note of her joyful expression. She grinned, bringing him closer and pressing him against her cheek in some form of a hug. He remained still, his head spinning and throbbing. He felt like he was trembling, he probably was.

"Why were you hiding from us? We missed you so much!" Blue shifted so he was sitting in her cupped hands, Yellow coming closer. She'd stare at him with a look that made him feel even more vulnerable. Her eyes narrowed as she knelled beside Blue.

"We thought you were dead, Pink." She stated bluntly, staring directly at him. Steven was sure she was looking through him.

Steven glanced around, taking in more of the scene. Their thrones were cracked, small fragments surrounding it. Blue and Yellow Pearl were glancing at each other, both equally confused. At least she assumed, it was hard to tell what Blue Pearl's expression was.

The Zircons were exchanging equally surprised looks, completely unable to understand how they should proceed.

"I'm not.. Pink." Steven pointed out, but Blue laughed and Yellow just rolled her eyes.

"Of course you are Pink! Who else could have caused this!" Yellow shouted, waving her hand to put emphasis on the statement.

"I - I did this?" There was no way that Steven could have caused this. He wasn't destructive, not at all! His powers healed, not hurt! He couldn't do this! Not at all! There was no way!

"Do you not remember anything, Pink?" While Yellow appeared cross, Blue's features were soft and concerned. She brought her thumb up to push his shirt up, exposing his gem. He shivered a little, managing to scoot away a little. "Your gem is right there Pink. Why do you look like this? Why did you claim to be Rose Quartz?"

"Because I have Rose Quartz's gem!" Steven shouted, clenching his fists. "I'm Steven Universe, and Rose Quartz is my mom so I have to answer for her crimes?"

"Mom?" Blue echoed, puzzled. Meanwhile Yellow rubbed her temple, staring at the ceiling in exasperation.

"You're Pink Diamond. Not whatever a 'Steven Universe' is." She used quotation marks as she spoke, her voice drenched in sarcasm.

"I'm Steven! I have a Rose Quartz gem! I'm half human half gem!" Steven exclaimed, gesturing at himself to emphasis his point. He felt a little frustrated, he was Pink. Pink Diamond was shattered! She was gone!

"Do not argue with us, Pink! You're in a world of trouble!" Yellow hissed, plucking Steven from Blue's hands. He tensed as she stared at him, her eyes narrowed to daggers. "You made all of us look like a bunch of dense rocks! I cannot believe you!"

"I'm not lying!"

"What? You're saying that even though you have Pink's powers, you're not Pink?!" Yellow hissed, and Steven nodded frantically in response. "Of course you're Pink Diamond, no other gem in the galaxy has the same powers as Pink Diamond!"

"Yellow!" Blue scolded, taking Steven from her. His head felt like it was spinning more and more with each pass. He was starting to feel like a toy. "You don't need to be so angry. She's finally back! This is a time for celebration."

Steven gritted his teeth, looking down at Lars. He looked just as confused, and didn't know what to do either. Was there any other way he could show them that Pink was gone? She was dead, Steven was sure of that. That's what the gems had said, but admittedly he didn't know all of the facts.

Maybe he would know if the gems explained everything to him.. Steven wished he asked more questions and insisted more for answers. He didn't want to push them, but maybe he should have been a little more selfish?

"I'm Steven! I'm not Pink!" He insisted. "If you're not going to shatter me, then I need to get Lars and myself home!"

Yellow snorted, rolling her eyes with another sigh. She looked like the conversation exhausted her, but Steven was sure that gems couldn't really get tired. Was she just being over dramatic? Maybe Diamonds were different, or he just was being extremely forgetful again.

"Look, lets send her to her room and get everything figured out from there. We have to contact White too." Yellow stated turning to look at the two Zircons in the room. "Both of you, fetch a couple of guards. We have to escort Pink back to her quarters, and make sure she stays there."

"Yes my diamond!" The two explained in sync, saluting before leaving to perform their duty.

Steven glanced at yellow, then at Blue. She looked nervous at the thought of this 'White' gem, he wondered why. Regardless, he needed to get Lars and get out of here. Somehow.

He shifted, before springing off of Blue's hands. He was able to float safely down, but was quickly scooped up again before he could reach Lars' side. He looked like a nervous wreck, and before he could comfort him he had been whisked away again.

Steven grumbled quietly, glaring at Blue slightly. It didn't seem to faze her, in fact she just sighed.

"Oh Pink, you're going to have to behave okay? I know you want to play with your pet, but you have to see White." She explained softly, rubbing his head with her thumb in what he assumed was a comforting gesture.

"Hey!"

Steven winced at Lars' loud objective, especially as Blue's eyes narrowed in annoyance. She sighed, shaking her head.

"Just send that one back to earth. It's defective, far too loud." She sighed. Steven brightened at the idea.

"Yes! Send him back! Me too! And we can just pretend this never happened!"

"Pink, we can't just continue this stupid little game of yours!" Steven shrunk as Yellow jabbed a finger into his chest. "You have a role to fulfil, you can't just run from your duties! White will decide what in the stars we'll being doing with you and your failed hunk of rock!"

"I'm not Pink!" Steven yelled, standing to rise to his full height, as short and as puny as it is compared to the Diamonds. Regardless, he still tried. Blue seemed to smile at this, the kind of smile you'd give a puppy trying to be a big dog.

"Here are the guards." Steven watched a group of Jaspers entered and saluted them. "Take Pink back to her room, and take that." Yellow pointed at Lars. "Back to earth, we have no use for it."

Steven was placed carefully on the floor, Blue smiled at him before turning to Yellow. They began discussing, he isn't sure what about. He turned to look at Lars, and turned to head over to him. Before he got the chance however, two Jaspers blocked him from proceeding.

"Forgive me, My Diamond." One saluted him as she spoke. She sounded so much like the Jasper he knew, the one that corrupted, that it hurt. "We must take you to your quarters."

"Wait! But I - Hey!" He's lifted, and they begin to walk.

Steven can only see Lars once last time before the cracked doors slam shut.

[shinneth]

SUF as a whole just left me with an empty feeling.

I feel you there, anon. In Dreams aside, I could take or leave the rest of this series (and in most cases, leaning well towards the latter sentiment). 

But I guess that’s to be expected when 90% of SUF focused squarely on Steven’s PTSD and need for therapy and the many, many red flags shown as early on as the beginning that signaled his eventual breakdown to where he ended up in the climax.

Especially with the fanbase itself constantly screeching that Steven needs therapy, Steven has PTSD, Steven’s gonna corrupt, et cetera… like, it was all laid on far too thick. So when we got to Growing Pains, it really didn’t move me like it did so many others because it came off as such a “No shit, Sherlock” moment for me when Priyanka finally addressed the underlying issues the show itself really didn’t even bother trying to be subtle about.

Don’t get me wrong; a lot of people who have suffered (or are presently suffering) from the same problems as Steven irl have been helped a lot by these kinds of episodes, and I do appreciate that.

But from my personal standpoint, yeah… I knew from the start that Steven’s underlying issues alone were not gonna be enough to sustain a full series, and sure enough, it wasn’t. We got to see some bits here and there with the other characters, but we also had a few choice characters be really shitty people in season 5 that never got properly addressed before it concluded, and with the timeskip in SUF, all of that just got handwaved off as “dealt with offscreen”, which is the laziest BS ever. 

And worst of all, at the end, they really didn’t stick the landing well at all. I’ll at least say SUF’s resolution wasn’t the mega levels of offensively terrible as Change Your Mind - but then again, it’s hard to out-do giving totalitarian space dictators with countless lives lost under their watch a fucking FACE-TURN out of nowhere. 

Like, really, the Diamonds’ presence (White especially) in SUF actively made my viewing experience even worse towards the end. Yes, I should be glad they’re establishing that the Diamonds are at least starting to use their powers for good and rebuild some of the lives they ruined.

But, y’know… doesn’t change the fact that they’re all responsible for multiple counts of global genocide. Like, any living creatures native to their colony planets? They’re still fucking gone. And the Diamonds themselves just come off VERY unnatural as “nice” guys - and in many cases, they’re even creepier now than they were as villains. Good god, White’s blubbering in the climax was fucking insufferable, though. 

Partially I think this comes from SU being a “kids show” so there’s this pressing need to end things as cleanly as possible. I’m more miffed that in the end, Steven still got pretty much everything he wanted.

They had some admittedly good set-ups to Steven’s growth, like having him accept that people grow up, change, and move on with their lives. We see the clear evidence that Steven’s got an unhealthy clinginess towards his human friends - and Connie’s no exception. 

And considering they took the time to establish that:

Connie has friends other than Steven. She gets along with them just fine, so it’s not like she’s totally lonely or isolated without him.

Connie is ambitious with many goals and aspirations when it comes to her education and potential career paths. She’s shown to have put a lot of thought into her options and at no point comes off as feeling pressured by her parents or friends into this.

Connie knows she has to work hard and often to achieve her dreams, and despite that rigid lifestyle, it doesn’t seem to bother her in the least. That would imply she really wants to reach these goals she set for herself, whether or not Steven’s in the picture at all.

Connie and Steven’s dynamic is a far cry from how it was when they started out in the original series. You can tell Steven has no clue what Connie’s talking about when it comes to her goals and just plays along, pretending he understands anything coming out of her mouth.

Connie, despite what her speech would lead you to believe, has been every bit as insufferably dense as the gems in SUF when it comes to Steven’s issues. In Bismuth Casual, Steven’s very specifically-worded concerns were misconstrued as a fear of skating (or his inability to, whatever) - and in the end, they just became Stevonnie rather than properly talked things through. You know, something PERIDOT 100% did in the prior episode.

Connie is very firm about wanting to live her life as herself. She’s not against being Stevonnie from time to time, but like hell does she want to be Stevonnie for the long term. 

Connie knows marrying in general at her age is a stupid-stupid-stupid idea, even if it is Steven. And considering her well-established commitment to her studies and reaching her lofty goals, Connie - at least at the time - seemed to know a relationship with anyone just wasn’t in the cards for her at this point in her life. There’s no need to rush that shit, and she won’t compromise her life just to give her needy friend this thing he wants that he doesn’t even fully understand truly is. 

Or, you know… just have Connie backpedal hard on a good chunk of that and date Steven so that he won’t become a monster again. I’m mostly kidding with that - but by kissing his monstrous self and that triggering his restoration, then soon later we see that even though Steven and Connie can only have a long-distance relationship at best, she’s dating him right now anyway even though this needlessly makes her life way more complicated than it needed to be - like seriously, how can I not take that as Canon Connverse being founded on the condition of “Okay, if it’ll keep you from losing your shit, going pink, and turning into a monster, I’ll date you”?!

And in the end it yet again gives Steven more-or-less exactly what he wants, even if it isn’t something he really needs. 

I’m glad Rebecca clarified that Steven would still visit Beach City often, because I had a very hard time buying him just traveling by himself on the road. And maybe it would have worked better if he was just doing it short-term to “find himself” or something along those lines, but nope! They’re basically saying this is what Steven wants to do.

And honestly, even that is dampened with his clearly-stated intention of visiting Connie way more than he intends to visit the gems. Even though Connie’s gonna be busy. With college.

This just… wasn’t a good ending. It had plenty of good moments - his goodbye to Bismuth, Lapis, and Peridot especially was very well-executed and the closest this finale came to drawing out any real emotion out of me. I loved the scene of Steven giving Greg his room; that was adorable. The last meeting with Tsundere Jasper was amusing.

But everything else… ehhh.

I mean, what can we really take from this season that I haven’t already outlined? The biggest takeaways were the plot points everyone saw coming a mile away that weren’t even executed all that well. 

In Dreams, as great at is was, might as well have not even happened - because what really carried over from that episode through to the end? Even though Peridot was the only one who got through to Steven, legitimately comforted him and addressed his fears, and the episode for once ended with Steven being happy with no underlying concerns about his problems - immediately he’s back to being awkward and depressed and frustrated by Bismuth Casual.

And I get that shit like trauma shouldn’t be resolved so easily, but for what In Dreams accomplished, I expected there to at least be a semblance of progress. Steven’s known since that episode he can hang out with Peridot and talk to her about whatever without needing a reason to do it, but he never ever takes her up on that again. 

So again, what was the point? 

You really get the impression that the quality of writing took a backseat just to emphasize the symbolism of an issue people commonly have, but SUF’s execution stretched my suspension of disbelief far beyond its limits. 

And nothing stretched that farther than Connie’s insufferable fucking speech in I Am My Monster; that pretty much completely made In Dreams feel like it never really happened in SUF’s continuity. 

In some ways, I just prefer to believe In Dreams was just a dream itself. An AU offshoot in SUF itself. Considering it’s so ridiculously good compared to the other nineteen episodes and by far the most pure and wholesome, maybe that’s the best way to see it. 

In Dreams was too good for its own series. That’s literally the only thing I personally took from SUF as a whole (at least in terms of lasting impact). 

So yeah, I guess for only one episode of twenty to really hit me in the feels, “empty” is an apt way to describe the series, anon. 

Seriously, if I didn’t have my own massive SU-AU to mess around in and do things properly, this probably would have upset me more. 

Instead, I just chuckle at Rebecca’s Monster Steven and raise her to what I’m putting my version of Steven through in my current story. Where I’m pulling all the stops to make other characters matter even though the stars are undoubtedly Peridot and Steven. 

And I’m actually making actions yield serious, lasting consequences.

(yeah, part of me wishes Jasper wasn’t revived - or alternatively, have Steven accidentally shatter White Diamond instead of Jasper since he came awfully close in canon

or even better, shatter Jasper and revive her, then accidentally shatter White and not be able to revive her since Steven used up ALL that diamond essence on Jasper…

yeah I’m kind of a monster)

Your pain is mutually felt, anon. So I’ll prescribe you endless refills of better-written and better-executed SU fanon to heal the emptiness SUF left inside you.

[c-atm]

I am absolutely floored by the Djinn!Connie AU! Can you tell me more about it? Your content is amazing!

First of All, thank you for the interest, (makes me think my writing worth something and Valid as fuck😁)

Second, this was a spur of a moment thing..but I do have a few things I can say so far.

Setting and Timeline

This is story takes place in Empire city rather Beach City, but it will still incorporate well know BC location ( Big donut, temple, ECT.)

This is a slight retelling of SU ..it follows canon on some terms but mostly it's an original AU.

Story begins with it version of Bubble budies/mirror gem hybrid(The one shot)

The world

The world is a modern world with a Magi-technological underbelly.

While Magic is very much alive, most humans has wrote it off as myth and have forgotten about it and anything involving it. There are some human who know how to use magic as fuel and or energy. Furtherless who know how to use magic in the mythical way.

There are more than gem, human, demon, and Djinn in this au. With the exception of Gem, most disguise themselves as human or like Gems, can pass for human regularly.

There are two types of Corrupted gems. The Beast type (Common,Canon) and The reverted type. The reverted are capable of speech and intelligence but are still prone to destruction.

Species

Humanity: In the past humans were magically attuned just as any other race. They utilized magic in the forms of Spell, conjuring, and such. After the Corruption event, Humans lost their ability to use magic and turned their sights toward industrialization and technological advancement. Still there are humans who have gain magical ability though such things as Martial arts, and technological infusions.

Demons: Nighmarish and twisted Magical beings. While some are naturally born, many of them were gentle and kind beings warped through corruption. Their forms varies and not all are malicious.

Arcana: Beings from a different realm that govern the magic of earth, The arcana of magic origin. Immensely powerful The main purpose of the arcana is to keep and preserve the balance and magic of this realm. Felt but never seen, these beings are unable manifest physical form. As such, they passed the responsibility of magic preservation to their descendants, the Genie.

Genie: The descendants of Arcana. These being are in essence a small peice of the the Arcana existence given form on earth. Forever chained to the will of the Arcana, they are benevolent and emotionless beings, only made to be used as tools for the preservation of magic, and grant wishes for them lucky enough to find their lamp or to the Genie themselves, they did so with a smile. That was until the corruption gave birth to the Djinn.

Djinn: The 'corrupted' genie. Genie corruption ran more along the line of humans. The corruption changed the Genie point of view. While they still preserved magic in the world, they were no longer slaves to the arcana. No longer tools to grant the wishes of others. They now craved to experience all life had to offer. Complex emotions like love, hate, jealousy, pride, lust. What it was like to give birth, to die, and to be resurrected, they was able to grow into their own beings fully. This affected their power making it as chaotic as the life they now sought and allowing it to grow continuously.

Because of this, the arcana saw the Djinn as possible threats and in doing so, planned the 'Djinn desolation' event. This event dwindle the numbers of 'living' djinn from a thousand to a mere thirty five. The bodies and lamps of the dead Djinn were destroyed and repurposed to use the Djinn unfathomable power as sources of magic for the planet.

As for the remaining thirty five, They too were sought after for their immense power, but was also feared for it. Unlike the first generation genie, Djinn were actually quite volatile when feel threatened. A one on one fight with a Djinn was/is a foolish endeavor. As time went by the thirty-five vanished Either by being repurposed as sources of magic, finding new lamps and retiring indefinitely or disguising and integrating themselves into other species society. Djinn had all but fell into are myth even among demon, magical creatures and even Gem kind... until Connie's rebirth.

Main characters

The Bonded Duo

Steven Nero Universe

Precocious High school student

Member of the Crescent gems

lives with his father and mother in a city brownstone

has a bedroom in the beach house as well as a 'room's in the temple

Knows of the magical side of life and wishes to explore it.

trains with the Crescent gems

Had exhibited Gem physicality since her was an a toddler( Strenth, speed, endurance, reflexes, agility and self healing)

Martial-pacifist

Gem hybrid (Had a hard imprint or birthmark, instead of a full gem)

Retroactively Immortal since bonding (Life-linking) with Connie, becoming her Lamp.

is infactuted and slightly physically affectionate Connie

"FEED ME MUSIC"

Connie Sheva Maheswaran

Has died twice, repurposed once

19 years of age (as of Second death/rebirth)

GLUTTON FOR KNOWLEDGE

Very protective of Steven, Greg, and Garnet

Wanderlust loner, tends to go off on her own at times(Usually when her emotions get the best of her, arguements with Steven )

Flighty, Free-spirited, and Flirty.

Curious about the modern world, both the industrial and magical. Always up to explore it Usually with Steven, Garnet and/or Amethyst.

Holds no grudge against Amethyst for her part in her repurposing.

Holds a slight grudge for Black and Pearl for killing and repurposing her.

Infactuted and physically affectionate with Steven, her 'precious' bonded.

Given Steven immortality as well as access to her powers, ever since making him her 'lamp'

Kahanni of the Maheswaran Blood.

Has an azure lion familiar.

Crescent gems

Black Diamond/Onyx Universe

Creator the Crescent gems. led the war against Homeworld for earth independence as black diamond, she renounced her status after the corruption event. She took on the name of one of her old friends; Onyx, after another event lead to her self-dissipation.

Fell in love with earth, its supernatural magic and it creatures especially Humanity and genies. Post Corruption that love is crippled with hidden guilt and pity.

Regrets what her race and 'estranged ' Family had done to earth.

Regrets her part in Kahanni death and repurposing (Sef-dissipation)

is less involved in corrupted gem missions, but more involved in 'non-human' issues and conflicts.

Loves her husband, son, and Crescent gems.

Mama bear!

Most earthly Crescent gem.

Semi-active Crescent gem.

Pearl

Older than Black

was considered defective for cracking a quartz and overloading SHELL

escaped to earth before Black

was once a protector of a small sect of non-violent magical beings.

Fought Black a few times before joining the war

Joins the war and the Crescent gems, a quater into it, convinced by Amethyst

Got Black together with Greg, Is Steven's offical God mother.

Sees Black as a younger sibling and mentee, as opposed to a leader.

Is wary of Connie, and harbors some guilt.

Respect humanity for its advancement in technology and industrialization, but is wary of the speed of it.

Amethyst

Current leader of the Crescent gems

oldest gem on earth

Small for an Amethyst ( 4'9)

started the Crescent gems with Black

First gem to cross fuse, was partnered with black

Black and Pearls first fusion partner.

Steven's auntie and primary mentor

most human gem( appearance, attitude, personality, mannerisms,ect)

Gets along well with Connie.

Pearl's Primary fusion partner

Didn't know she helped repurposed Kahanni.

Garnet

Components both came out shortly after the war on another colony.

First permafusion

Found their way to earth, discovered by Amethyst and Duruga

Youngest crescent gem, before Steven. views him as a younger brother

Wisest gem

Chill gem

Most adventurous gem.

Didn't know about Kahanni death and repurposing

Not always together (they prefer dates as both an individual and a couple)

Looked up to a certain Djinn

approves of Connie and Steven relationship.

Greg Universe

Inactive Crescent gem

Human Crescent gem

DJ at a local radio station and part time producer

Knows about the magical side of earth

loves his family ( Including the CG and Connie)

giver of advice, shoulder to cry on.

Voice of reason, keeps his family for getting ahead if themselves

Music man

Heart of the family

[opalgelance]

thoughts on steven universe future

td;lr overall opinion: steven universe future is better than most of the original steven universe, especially seasons 3-5, but there are still some real iffy plotlines in future

i hate that the diamonds were redeemed but at the same time, the happy clouds blue and yellow putting gems back together scenes were so pure

it simultaneously warms my heart and infuriates me 

but we finally got a blue diamond song, god i love her voice

EDIT: also steven basically tortured white diamond and nearly killed her and it was pretty disturbing bc steven is 1. in a really bad mental state, like way darker than i thought they’d show him go, since this is technically a kids show and 2. was also kind of trying to hurt himself, which both hit me really hard bc i had similar periods of blazing anger, wanting to self harm and harm others that i felt had wronged me when i was a teenager, but its also what white deserves

ncsndlljklkcndkls i want to enjoy this show so bad but,,, steven having ptsd makes him a violent douche??? diamonds killed who knows how many gems in their reign and never really felt bad about it in original su but now they’re supportive life coaches??? no thank you

on more positive notes, i loved how priyanka described mental health and how she treated steven throughout the entire check up, she was so nonconfrontational and whenever he felt stressed she deescalated the situation,,, it was so good

the animation is the best its been since season 2. the poses are clean, very well drawn, and on model. there are more action scenes than like 90% of steven universe and they’re animated way better, like theres actual fighting and motion asjksacbcbj no one is stiffly posed, no one has strange proportions, no one is drastically changing sizes in between shots (well besides steven in growing pains onward but when he does change size its supposed to be like that lol)

i liked seeing the real roses but didnt love it? i wish we saw more of the roses designs up close, and i wish they fit a little more with the other quartzes? it might be just because its era 3, but the roses were all way more unique than jaspers and amethysts generally seem to be. i like that they were more unique designs and had different personalities, but surely the diamonds wouldnt have tolerated that back in era 1 or even era 2, had the rose quartzes not been bubbled? also i get that they’re reminiscent of pink bc she created them, but hippie and superfan were so naive, more so than other quartzes. if each quartz group was slightly different, it would make a little more sense tbh like if quartzes were the entire gem army, but each group was slightly different. i always liked the idea that rose quartzes were either the defense or the healers of the gem army.

little homeschool and guidance were fun and genuinely enjoyable, considering not a whole ton happens in them. i wish townie episodes had been more like them. like you could replace the gems with random humans, but it would still be a fun episode? idk, maybe involving the humans in gem stuff wouldve made better townie episodes, like lars and the cool kids. it wouldve probably helped steven feel more “human” too, if the human and gem worlds collided a bit more in the series.

bluebird was... an ok episode, but im not sure how well it will fit into what i feel like the end will be, where every episode of future featured someone steven helped or affected in some way, and they all come together to help steven when he corrupts. or rather, i guess if bluebird did say something, it would feel more hollow bc steven didnt help them lol the gems and universes were just friendly to them, and thats it. it wasnt as bad as a very special episode (my least favorite episode of future), but it felt like a townie episode with no townies LOL at least we got a new fusion i guess

a very special episode was just,,, infuriating. there was that weird football scene where they just like,,, talk about screen resolution for a minute then play the full commercial for little homeworld we just saw last episode???? i did genuinely enjoy the rainbow scenes, but it just built up to not nothing. oh no, it was something alright. the whole episode was just future vision and then theres like a minute long psa??? it felt like that wacky randomness that would have happened in like, ok ko, teen titans go, or clarence jaskjcbkcjbskb

mr universe is tied with dear old dad episode as my least favorite greg episode. i get how both of them feel. greg wanted to tell steven about how he escaped from his miserable childhood and remade who he was, no longer a demayo but a universe. the problem imo was that greg became way too absorbed in the past. it reminds me a bit of s1 pearl, how she’d proudly recount gem battles and basked in the glory of fighting for their freedom, but she struggled when she had to recount the more unsavory parts of war. and that really affected amethyst, since she didnt fight in the glorified war pearl told her and steven about. amethyst was the byproduct of one of the bad parts of the war, and that became part of her identity, until on the run, where pearl finally realized that she needed to tell amethyst that she wasnt bad. amethyst’s creation may have fractionally hurt the earth, but that wasnt her fault. it wasnt her fault that she emerged too late to fight either. and it wasnt her fault that she existed. sounds familiar to to stevens rant in the van. 

steven didnt ask to be made. he didnt ask to be the half gem half human son of a diamond. but he grew up being told about how great his mom was, and that while no one would ever say it, she was gone because of him. to create steven, rose had to die. it was roses decision, but as the product of that decision, steven feels responsible. not only that, but being told constantly about his amazing mother, steven felt like he had to live up to her, had to be like her, had to replace her in the gems and greg’s lives. throughout the series, steven is constantly either trying to be like his mother, until he realizes its ok to be himself. but then the question is posed; is steven even himself? or is he still part of rose? and once he finds out that he’s steven, and has always been steven, he’s still reeling from the realization that his mother was pink diamond. and that really shows in future, where steven is becoming like pink. at first he doesnt even know, because besides the jungle moon dream, him and the audience never knew about this side of pink. this angry, short tempered, diamond who lashes out mostly physically. and unlike before, no one’s telling steven about pink (besides pink pearl) hes finding out firsthand, and this pink mode is basically being forced on him by his gem. steven has little to no control over this form. hes not trying to live up to his mother, or wondering if he is her, like before. now, he’s losing control to whatever programming is in his gem.

but back to mr universe. in the van, greg is going on and on about how lucky steven is, and how free steven is, but how can either of them compare their lives to each other? the similarities just arent there. steven is right, greg and pink were “raised” in very similar “households”. both had their wishes and desires suppressed by controlling, abusive parents. we know pink was abused mentally, verbally and physically (being physically dragged away from the screen by yellow in jungle moon, stevonnie being grabbed and thrown into the time out cell by yellow, when she still thought steven was pink), but greg at the very least was mentally assaulted. but they diverge from here. as greg said, he thought disco was back. rose started a war. you cant compare them any further. 

but at the same time, steven was raised completely differently. he was raised in a home with love and freedom, but he was also not given the opportunity to be a normal kid. theres a difference being forcing your kid to do something and not giving them the chance to try something. steven was never given the option to go to school (well in the comics he was but i guess thats not canon now since it seems like steven wishes he went to school?) he was never given the option to live in a house, or go to the mall with friends. the only other kids he knew were the boardwalk kids, but even then, he doesnt seem very close with them. for such an outgoing, friendly kid, steven wasnt given many opportunities to make friends. steven’s upbringing was very relaxed, yes, but it was too relaxed. he needed more structure, and more importantly, more humanity. i always thought it was weird, how little steven seems to have interacted with humans before connie, considering that his mother so desperately wanted steven to experience being human. yes the show is about gems, (and yes, i dont like most townie episodes), but steven was never shown doing a lot of “human” kid things inbetween episodes. the episode never started with him coming home from a friends house, he hardly ever spent time with friends other than connie in little scenes. like he was never called for a mission while playing cards with peedee, or coming home after an after school activity. any scenes like that were either just steven by himself, or with greg, and occasionally connie. but connie is a new addition to his life. how many years has he been doing fun stuff with only his dad for company, or by himself? yknow, “non traditional” childhoods and living situations are becoming more and more common in media, rather than the “two parents in a suburb house” thing, but steven’s life is beyond any unusual childhood any other kid would have. i mean he’s never even been to the doctor! which is probably for several reasons, like the fact that he apparently doesnt have a ssn, he can heal himself, has a damn gemstone in his stomach, and is half alien. but still, thats not something he has in common with other kids. no matter how much love and freedom he was given, steven was raised as an outcast.

i agree with the notion that both greg and steven were both right and wrong in mr universe. i guess they both have that in common with rose lol 

greg should have read the room better, realized that his pep talk wasnt the support and apology steven needed to hear. but steven shouldnt have acted out in the way he did. i get that’s the “theme” of steven’s spiral, maybe for the younger audience to better understand how steven is acting? but crashing his dad’s van that gregs been living in for like 20 years? fucking SHATTERING jasper? that’s going way too far to prove a point. it would have been better to maybe mirror story for steven, where marty and greg are arguing, marty is watching the road and they narrowly avoid hitting a car. but crashing the car could have been pretty serious, especially for greg. now jasper, that episode shouldnt have been approved. steven should not have shattered jasper. he fucking killed her. rose/pink didnt even shatter anyone. and if it wasnt for steven getting another superpower out of nowhere, jasper would have stayed that way. he should have just cracked her gem, poofing her in the process. the rest of the episode wouldve played out exactly the same.

anyways ive been writing this for like 2 hours but i feel better letting it all out. if you enjoy future keep enjoying it! it’s definitely more like a B+ compared to season 3-5′s general C-/D+. but please take into consideration future has some themes that people personally relate to, like mental health, and that you shouldnt shit on someone elses opinions that are based on their own personal experiences. especially if you dont have mental health issues, dont keep pushing your opinion and telling people that personally relate to future’s themes that they’re wrong? thats fucked up man

[jerusalemstraycat]

Post-Finale Thoughts (very long post)

Here is a comprehensive and possibly unnecessary summary of my feelings and opinions about the SU:F finale. I’ve been procrastinating (lol what else is new) so it’s a week later than I would have liked, but at least my thoughts have had a chance to fester a bit. Anyway.

I was a bit iffy about the way it went at first, but it grew on me. There are several glaring issues, as there always are, but overall it was a great note to end on. What an amazing sendoff for one of the most iconic shows of the decade.

Part of the reason the finale felt so weird to me on my first watch-through is probably the fact that I started with Everything’s Fine, having watched Homeworld Bound when it was released early.

Homeworld Bound was a great episode overall and set things up very nicely for the rest of the finale, and not having that bookend made the last three episodes feel odd and disjointed. The power of watching a show in the way it was meant to be watched, I guess.

I am SO relieved to see that Spinel’s new living arrangements are working out, you have no idea. That was my main concern with the end of the movie.

It was neat seeing the Diamonds find new applications for their powers, but Yellow’s ability to fix shattered gems with tweezers and healing static didn’t sit right with me. It makes Jasper’s shattering seemingly irrelevant and lowers the stakes way too much. How can it be that reversing corruption is harder than literally bringing back the dead? (Pink Zombie powers notwithstanding - it’s probably different with organic creatures.)

THAT SCENE WITH WHITE THO. Good lord. When Fragments first aired a common complaint was that it felt jarring, like it didn’t really belong in the series. However, the possession scene somehow fit right in while still being just as terrifying. I don’t really have much to say about it in the way of interpretation that hasn’t been said already, but I do want to point out how cool it was that Zach could sound like two entirely different people in that scene. He HAS the range.

Everything’s Fine was also good, though I feel it could have been re-timed.

The first half of the episode was excruciating to watch. Not quite as bad as Together Forever, but it went on for far too long and simply belabored its point.

Maybe it’s all the half-corrupted Steven fanart I’ve become very attached to, or my low tolerance for secondhand embarrassment, but I really feel the episode would have benefited from devoting more time to the breakdown/transformation scene at the end and making it more gradual.

But hey, I’m not going to complain about what we got, because that ending was phenomenal. The slow descent into madness, the whole impostor syndrome thing that is all too real for me, the expressions??? The exploding into monster form at the end??? I loved it.

I Am My Monster is easily my least favorite episode of the finale, and probably of the second half of SU:F in general.

The only good parts were the scenes with Connie, and of course the ending (which was probably my favorite part of the finale). The rest felt so sparse and empty, which was even more of a letdown considering the potential it had. That time could have been used in so many interesting ways, but it wasn’t.

I would have loved something from Steven’s perspective, some mindscape stuff, internal monologue (or even dialogue), clarification of what the heck was going on, closure concerning Steven’s nature as a half-Diamond, something! But no, we had to settle for a lackluster kaiju fight and clumsily executed group hug.

Don’t get me wrong, everything happened that needed to happen, and strangely enough nothing felt rushed, but...I’m not satisfied with the way it went down.

As much as I grumble about this episode, I did love how Connie was the one to give him the “healing kiss” (such a sweet scene ;_; ) BUT that didn’t change the fact that the “power of love” thing they were going for was a familial love, not romantic. Infinite thanks for not going the romantic route.

The Future was what really saved the finale for me after the disappointment of IAMM.

I don’t actually mind the timeskip, though I do wonder how in the heck Steven managed to recover from everything. I’m just glad my boy’s okay, and I don’t think I could have emotionally handled seeing what happened in the intervening months.

And I love how understated everything was - he’s not dramatically turning his back on his home, he’s moving out like a normal person, keeping in touch with his loved ones. He’s in a relationship with Connie, he’s got a therapist, and Jasper’s at Little Homeschool. No need to make a big deal out of any of it.

I really feel what Rebecca said about this episode - it’s an ending where Steven, always forced into the limelight, gets to live his life with some privacy.

Parting thoughts:

I’m perfectly fine with the chest in Lion’s mane remaining a mystery, as a metaphor for the secrets of OG SU being revealed. I’m NOT fine with Rose’s portrait remaining in there forever, because it seemed to me at the end of Rose Buds that it was just continuing to repress Steven’s feelings toward Rose and putting off dealing with them.

Speaking of which, we spent all this time watching Steven trying to reconnect with his humanity but NOT reconciling it with his Diamond side. I wish we could have had some scenes where he internalizes that having the powers of a Diamond does not make him a bad person.

I do appreciate that Rose/Pink was barely brought up at all, since the main conflict was no longer related to her. That had been dealt with in the first half of the series, and bringing her in in the finale would not have been appropriate.

Zach Callison Broke Into My House And Smashed A Barrel Over My Head Killing Me Instantly. Seriously, I’ve been watching SU since season 2, and it’s been such a ride hearing him grow as an actor over the course of the series, and you can tell he really put everything into SU:F.

Of course everyone’s obsessing over Zach’s performance but I would also like to commend the whole cast, who did a superb job of bringing the characters to life (particularly Deedee Magno Hall, Shelby Rabara, and Michaela Dietz. Pearl, Peridot, and Amethyst really made the series for me).

I don’t really cry over shows (though Storm in the Room came close) but rewatching the end of CYM after finishing the finale simply ended me. Remember when it seemed like a nice happy wrapping-everything-up kind of ending? Lol.

If you read the whole thing, I applaud your tenacity. Send me your own thoughts, agree, disagree, whatever. Actually please disagree, I would love to hear other takes.

[kittyprincessofcats]

Thoughts on SU - Change Your Mind (4/4)

- That entire part with the screen being split in two because we’re seeing things from the perspective of both Stevens is amazing.

- “SHE’S GONE!” This was the best part of the episode, hands down. This entire scene and its message were absolute perfection. Steven is not his mother, he’s truly his own person, his gem belongs him and no one else, he needs both his gem-side and his human-side to survive, and Rose/Pink is not secretly alive inside his gem - she’s dead and gone and never coming back. 10/10.

- Connie carrying Human!Steven, White yelling “I only want you to be yourself!” (did someone call for a trans metaphor?), Gem!Steven being able to withstand White’s power beam because no power in the world can stop someone from being themselves (at least that’s how I understood it), the two Stevens hugging and reuiniting, Steven saying “I’ve always been me”, White throwing a temper tantrum and Steven and Connie just laughing about it... GOD, this whole scene is PERFECT. This really is the only part of the episode that I can wholeheartedly say I loved.

- “I am a child. What’s your excuse?” Okay, on the one hand that was a savage burn and I love it. But how does White Diamond even know what a child is? Gems don’t age, so why would “acting like a child” be the first insult she goes to?

- Did you see Peridot climbing on top of Amethyst right away? Because I sure did. #AmedotLives. And Pearl jumping into Bismuth’s arms? Yeah, that was nice.

- “Welcome back.” I mean, this line in itself is sweet, but I hate how we never see Pink Pearl again after this. I mean, what happened to her after this? Does she even remember anything? Does she know who Steven is? And why didn’t Steven and the Crystal Gems take her to Earth with them? She’s not in the ending scenes, so I’m assuming they didn’t. Did they just leave her there with White, who mind-controlled and abused her for thousands of years? Did they just leave her there as White’s property, as a slave to her abuser? This is my main problem with this episode: In “Together Alone” Steven promised his friends he’d fix everything about homeworld, but now he’s not fixing anything! It looks like he’s just saying “Welcome back, now have fun being a slave again, bye.” Which is probably not how the writers intended it, but by not giving us any resolution on what happens to Pink Pearl after this, it’s the impression we’re left with. It wouldn’t have been hard to give Steven a line where he tells White she won’t get to hurt Pink Pearl anymore and that he’s taking her to Earth with him. They could have included her in the healing fountain montage, with the fountain healing her eye. Instead we got no resolution and are left with the impression that she’s traumatised and alone on homeworld, while still being White Diamond’s slave. But hey, at least the Diamonds are a happy family now, yay.

- Wait, so blusing counts as being “off-color”? In that case, wouldn’t every gem we’ve ever met be considered off-color? Every single one?

- “I’m supposed to be flawless.” SAYS WHO? WHO TOLD YOU THAT? WHO CREATED YOU? First Yellow and Blue say they’re under so much pressure from White and they’re only killing people for White. Now White’s saying she’s “supposed to be flawless”... but WHO told her that? I feel like this show’s trying so hard to shift the blame away from everyone that we’re left with a void of “but who did that?”. A message about how everyone is good and no one is truly evil doesn’t work in a universe that has introduced so many evil concepts to us. It makes it look like evil things just happen for no reason. But the Pearls didn’t enslave themselves. The Cluster didn’t create itself. The Off-Colors didn’t start persecuting themselves. Thousands of plantets didn’t conquer themselves. The Diamonds did those things and they should be held accountable. And no, this is not about me wanting Steven to “solve things with violence”. I just want him to actually address these injustices. It’s possible to be a pacifist without turning a blind eye to things that are morally wrong.

- Needless to say, White’s redemption makes even less sense that Blue’s or Yellow’s. She was set up as the big bad of this show, this very episode did such a good job at portaying her as evil and twisted, only to backpeddal into “She just wanted everything to be perfect” at the last minute. Are people really not seeing why I’m unhappy with this? It’s like taking Voldemort from Harry Potter and redeeming him in the last book because “He only wanted the wizarding world to be perfect”. It’s a disservice to White as a villain, and considering all the themes of oppression in this show it sends a really disturbing message.

- Steven and Greg’s reunion was sweet.

- Lars’ and his crew showing up in the end feels lame. I wish they’d served more of a purpose in this story than just “showing up in the end”.

- “We finally made it! No more running, no more hiding, no more Diamond Authority!” ... “Well, we’re cracked.” This line was played for laughs, but I just really didn’t find it funny, I found it awful. These gems have been hiding from the Diamonds their entire lives. They don’t know any other life than running and living in fear. They don’t know homeworld as anything but caves underground where you have to hide because you’re wrong and will be killed for exisiting if you’re discovered. The Diamonds are the reason their lives were like that and the reason they felt so much shame and self-hatred that they didn’t even know what a compliment was. And then they finally get away from that life, finally manage to make the long and hard journey to a planet where they’re promised a life in safety and freedom, Lars sweetly says “Welcome home” when they arrive... only for them to suddenly be face to face with three Diamonds. There’s nothing even remotely funny about that. And if he didn’t still need the Diamonds to heal the corrupted gems, I would have wanted Steven to turn to the Diamonds right then and there, and tell them to leave and never come back to this planet again. Because the Off-Colors deserve a safe home where they’ll never have to face the Diamonds or be scared ever again. And I still wish he’d have told them just that after they healed the corrupted gems.

- “Off-Colors, meet the Diamonds. Diamonds, meet the Off-Colors.” Steven honey, I know you’re trying, but NO. Believe me, the Off-Colors know who the Diamonds are and they shouldn’t have to get to know them or give them a chance. They ran away from them for a reason and it’s not your place to tell them otherwise. And the Diamonds know who the Off-Colors are, too. Well, not this specific group, but you know. And I strongly disagree with the idea that the Diamonds “just need time to get to know the Off-Colors”. They’ve had time. They’ve had 5750 years (and 8 months) since Garnet first formed. And they spent that time murdering off-color gems. The idea that bigoted people just need to get to know someone from an oppressed minority and they’ll change their mind isn’t bad, but it doesn’t work when these characters are the reason that minority is oppressed in the first place. These aren’t some random homeworld gems who’ve never had to question their beliefs before. These are the Diamonds - they’ve been shattering these gems for thousands of years. (And now they actually have the nerve to look offended when Padparadscha is scared of them? REALLY?)

- “Padparadscha, it’s okay.” SHUT UP LARS, YOU DON’T KNOW THAT! You’ve only been on homeworld for a few hours! Who are you to know if it’s okay?

- I like the new version of “We are the Crystal Gems”, but I hate how during the line “Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl and Steven” it’s showing the Diamonds with Steven instead. That’s kind of the theme for the whole episode. I wanted Steven and the Crystal Gems, and got “Steven and the Diamonds” instead.

- That moment of Pearl and Garnet crying as the corrupted gems are being healed and then hugging each other? #blessed

- How’s Jasper the only one that almost starts to fight after being uncorrupted? These gems were all on opposite sides of a war? I mean, okay, maybe at first they’re just happy about being healed, but isn’t this going to lead to conflicts later? And since many of the were former Crystal Gems, why aren’t they a bit freaked out about the Diamonds being there?

- So the Diamonds leave, but what does that mean? This leaves so many questions unanswered! 1) Are they just going back to conquering worlds and commiting genocides? 2) Are they going to change homeworld society now? Will they set their Pearls free? Will they stop shattering gems? (I kinda doubt it, since Steven never told them to do any of that. Also, I don’t want change to come from the Diamonds. In real life, change never comes from the oppressor. It comes from the oppressed fighting for their rights. I don’t want the Diamonds to just see the error of their ways and let gems be themselves. I wanted to see the gems of homeworld standing up for their rights and fighting for them. And the only homeworld gem we’ve seen do that was Jade. What happened to her, by the way? Another question this episode just leaves unanswered.) 3) Are the Diamonds going to be regular visitors on earth now? Should the Off-Colors look for another planet to live peacefully on? Does Steven care more about his new happy dictator-family coming to visit than the trauma of the gems they’ve hurt? 4) Are the Diamonds ever going to face any consequences for what they’ve done? Are they at least going to spend time in prison for every gem they shattered and tortured or nah?

- And that’s my main problem with this episode. It painted the Diamonds as nothing more than an abusive family, and ignored all the other WAY WORSE things they’ve done. It’s a good message about families, but it feels out of place in this setting. If this was where they were going to go with the Diamonds, they should never have made them this evil in the first place.

[astudyinsarcasm9]

Battle of Heart and Mind - Review - Beware of Spoilers

Before I dive into the review I just want to make a list of things that were left unanswered, just to get it out of the way. Here it is: 

- How did White Diamond know that PD was Rose? It was never explained. 

- How did White know what a child is. 

- How did White know what a mom is. Blue and Yellow had no idea what a mom was or even what a child is. Why would White know? 

- Who made White or how was White formed? And if she was the first gem in existence how did she know what was she supposed to be?

Feel free to add more. 

I’ll split the review into parts so it’ll be easy to follow. 

Part 1: Blue helping Steven and her and Yellow fighting. 

While I liked the tender moment between Blue and Steven and the fact that she helped me I still think her giving in happened a tad too quick. All Steven had to do was point out how she locked PD in the same prison. he was in and how she must have cried so many times because of how Blue treated her. I understand the guilt Blue feels and because of that her change of heart seems a bit more believable. 

Next. And I can’t believe I’m saying this but how did no one notice that Yellow was sitting in a room full of bubbled forced fusions: 

That is incredibly messed up. And I am willing to bet that those were all experiments that went wrong and they were bubbled to study them on how to possibly make the cluster? Could be. Either way it was so so wrong. 

The fight between Yellow and Blue was nice albeit short. I would’ve like to see Blue poof, just for a bit, just so we can learn a bit more about Diamonds. She could have reformed quickly afterwards. Anyway, Steven managed to stop them fighting and Yellow agreed to help him escape. But during the fight Blue said something that I think is very important: 

”She was suffering in silence for ages, just like our gems, just like me”. This line is the ONLY reference we get to the fact that Homeworld gems are oppressed and unhappy. No one mentions it again. And I get it there wasn’t time but at least show the Homeworld gems reacting to the battle, to what was happening. The world felt so empty without them. 

Anyway, after White gets in the way of Steven leaving Blue and Yellow’s ships return and we see Bismuth, Period and Lapis are piloting them. 

And let me just say that Lapis and Peridot’s new forms are really nice. Peridot is so cute. I only wish she would have done something with her hair, but I guess that’s just how Peridots look. 

I kinda like how Lapis doesn’t have an obvious star on her outfit.  She is a CG but she’s not fully there yet. I guess the half star counts too. 

After this, there comes another important line that I think deserves some talking about: 

”No, I won’t go. Pink Diamond ran away from you. Rose Quartz, my mom, she started a war with you. But I don’t wanna run, I don’t wanna fight, I just want to talk”. 

It’s a really...interesting line if you think about it. It shows how PD, RQ and Steven differ and how each had a different perspective about things. And again it shows how Steven is just a pacifist who wants to talk things out. I suppose it s only fair because at that point a battle with White would’ve meant doom but then again, at least try. Sometimes talking is not enough, that’s just how life works. 

The special goes on to say how Steven and the Diamonds have to fix their broken family and Connie even steps in and says how her mom use to enforce a lot of rules on her which made her feel miserable. But that once she told her mum how she felt things got better. 

That’s all cute and sweet but...we’re talking about a race of beings that conquer worlds and commit genocide like it’s nothing. And White doesn’t just make rules for the Diamonds, she makes rules for everyone, and if anyone disobeys them she outright shatters or posses them. I’m pretty sure Connie’s mom would just ground her and that would be all. I mean one can not just put a ”=” between these two instances and call it a day. 

Anyway, Blue and Yellow’s decide to talk to White about how they feel and Blue has this to say about it:

”White, we used to be close, don’t you remember? Pink would make us laugh, all those silly things she did for no reason. But there was a reason: she wanted us to be happy together, but we weren’t and we’re still not. I know my purpose is not to be happy but I find it harder and harder to enforce your rules when they make me miserable, when they make us all miserable”. 

Btw, Yellow’s speech was so corny. I get that she was terrified of White but it sounded so weird. 

I could have gotten 100% behind Blue on this if it weren’t for the fact that...we were never shown that enforcing White’s rules made them miserable. All we saw is them doing their jobs as Diamonds and showing no remorse for it. Blue wanted to shatter Ruby. Yellow is willing to poof or shatter anyone that doesn’t fit in. We were never shown them having a moment, after, let’s say, ordering a gem to be shattered. Maybe it could’ve worked. To show them torn apart by their roles as Diamonds. But nope, none of that. 

And sure they were close and Pink made them laugh but in the grand scheme of things they were still dictators, they were still shattering gems, conquering planets and so on. And even if they were happy together Im pretty sure that White would’ve wanted them to keep Homeworld as it is. 

Part 2: Steven’s fusions and getting into White’s head. 

Steven’s fusions were so cool. My favorite was Rainbow Quartz 2.0

I like to think it’s a male gem even though they’re genderless. But just because Steven is involved. Anyone is free to see them as they want. It’s still a really nice fusion. 

I liked Sunstone too but her design was so-so. But that wasn’t the problem for me, the problem was breaking the fourth wall. It took away from the tension and the seriousness of the moment. 

And that’s another problem of this special: it juggles with the tone. Sometimes it’s dead serious, sometimes it is over the top silly. It wants to be both but the two don’t exactly mix well. It reminds me of Disney’s Hercules where they did just that and the result was just a mush of silly and serious. 

Keeping the tone consistent would have been a big plus. Not make it totally grim but just let the serious moments feel serious and urgent. 

I think my favorite part of the special is when Steven is in White’s head/room. It was intense, it was serious, it was dark and most of all there were stakes. 

Obsidian was wicked cool. Though I thought she’d look slightly different than the temple because Rose was involved in the fusion. Steven was. 

Just one question: What was White waiting for while the gems were dancing to fuse into Obsidian? 

Part 3 - Removing Steven’s gem aka the best part of the special with the best animation. 

I loved, loved, loved this part. Everything was perfect. 

The animation? Top notch. The music? There was music when the gem was removed - Great. The atmosphere? Great. 

What I loved most was that PD/Rose did not reform. Everyone speculated for so long as to what would happen in a scenario like this and now we have our answer. It’s a confusing one but a beautiful one nonetheless. 

Steven is not his mom at all. He is the literal fusion of PD and Greg. I viewed that scene as White ripping off PD’s genes from Steven and Steven falling apart because he was left with the Greg part of him. PD is gone because she literally fused her genes with Greg and passed her gem entirely to Steven. She made sure she was gone and she practically delivered and empty gem for him to make his own. It wasn’t PD or Rose powering Steven it was Steven powering Steven.

Brilliant. 

Part 4: White and her realisation that she herself is off-color. 

The animation on White was fantastic I need to say that. I liked that she was proven wrong, that she saw with her own eyes that Steven was Steven and that PD was gone forever. It turned her world upside down, sure but it told us that she is not all knowing as she wanted to be seen. 

I can’t say I liker her sudden change of heart. 

People who abuse and who are as toxic as she is will not just change because they are told that their ways are bad. Sure some of you might say she still seemed reluctant when she was on Earth. She seemed but the fact that she so quickly accepted to go on Earth and fix the corrupted gems, shows that she got  over it quickly.  

It is nice to see her facial expressions while on Earth and I get they were trying to show us how she is not comfortable with what is happening but come on, what dictator turned around so quickly?

Though, White being off-color was brilliant. 

Part 5: Healing the corrupted gems 

I was so happy to know we were gonna see the corrupted gems be healed. 

But then I was so angry that it was just a montage. I mean it’s better than nothing but we waited for so many seasons for this. I understand there was a lack of time - 44 minutes - when they marketed it as an hour special - but come on. 

I wanted to see Centy interact with Steven. I wanted Jasper to talk and find out about PD not just to see her all flustered after seeing everyone around her. We can assume Amethyst told her very briefly what was going on but still. 

I felt cheated out. 

Also, Lars was back and while the off-colors delivered my favorite joke from the special I feel it wasn’t worth their showing up. It was rushed as hell. And it felt awkward as the Diamonds were just standing there assisting to this little human reunion. 

All in all it wasn’t bad but it was, as with all big SU episodes, incredibly rushed. The story is there, the characters are there but it was all cheapened by the terrible pacing and by the fact that, at the end of the day, Blue and Yellow were absolved of all their wrong doings because they were doing all those things to please White. 

Again, I feel the need to reference ATLA and how there Zuko’s family, a royal family, which the Diamonds can be inferred also are, was also broken and messed up but the show acknowledged that it was a family beyond repair, that it was too toxic to even go there and that while YES they did have happy times, as Zuko tells us they had, even in those happy times Ozai was still the toxic person we know and they were still part of a system which oppressed the Fire Nation people. The fact that they were family and that they had happy times did not take away from the important aspect of Ozai being a dictator. Also, Azula was also doing all the terrible things she did to please Ozai yet the show doesn’t excuse her but it tells us it was messed up. 

Why is SU excusing the diamonds? 

[thekitsune]

The Psychic and The Crystal Gems Chapter 5

And I finally post the new chapter! Dun dun duuunnnn… Anyway, I split this chapter into two parts so expect Part 2 to come out later. Enjoy!

Mob yawned as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. It was a rather tiring morning. From Amethyst body slamming him after Pearl had asked her to wake him for breakfast to Steven rushing him so they could head over to the Big Donut. Apparently, Steven had wanted to stock up on some kind of treat that he was rather fond of...if the constant singing of its theme on the way to the shop was any hint. Mob tried to listen to the enthusiastic boy, but he was much too tired to listen.

He had awoken at 4:30 AM and left the Beach House to go and meet up with Kiki. After an hour of jogging and Body Improvement exercises, Kiki helped Mob back to the Beach House and wished him well before heading to Fish Stew Pizza to begin her shift. Mob had quickly passed back out on the couch. That is why he was still so tired.

"Mob? Hey Mob! Are you listening?" Steven questioned his friend who just nodded his head absentmindedly. Steven sighed at this before noticing a gleam coming from something on Mob's chest. "Hey Mob...what is that on your chest?" Steven asked Mob who looked over at him with a blank look before looking down. It seemed to take a bit for Mob to realize that he had the object on; because, he was silent for another minute before finally speaking up.

"Oh...it's the gem I found in the forest yesterday," Mob answered as he went to rub his eyes again only to flinch as Steven let out a shocked scream. Looking back at the shorter boy, Mob blinked a couple of times before quietly questioning him, "Yes?"

"You found a gem?! Like another gem like the Crystal Gems! Where?! Who is it?!" Steven began asking Mob while reaching out to touch the gem. Mob stepped back though to widen the distance between the two as he wanted to keep his personal space. He really did not like to let people in it unless they were close. Nothing against Steven...he just hasn't known him long enough to feel comfortable with him getting so close...

Looking down at the gem that had replaced the top button on his school uniform, Mob let out a quiet sigh as he felt a calming aura coming from it. Glancing back at the curious Steven, Mob finally answered his question, "According to Garnet-san, this is a Galaxite gem." Steven's eyes widened at the name as he has never seen or heard of the gem before.

"Wow...wait, why do you have the gem on your school uniform top? Wouldn't it be better if Garnet, Amethyst, or Pearl had it?" Steven asked Mob who just shrugged slightly in response. He was not completely sure why Garnet asked Mob to keep the gem safe and sound, but he did not really mind. He was not sure why, but it felt like the gem was helping keep his powers under control. In fact the building pressure of his emotions that he had felt over the last few days had been soothed after he placed the gem on his uniform top.

The pressure had decreased to a certain extent, but he had still felt some of it still there. Waiting for a chance to burst to the surface. Maybe it was the crack on the gem that kept it from completely soothing his bursting emotions. He was not sure, but what he did know was that this gem had some kind of power that was similar to his own. And if there are evil spirits running around in this new world now...then he had to keep them from getting Galaxite.

"Garnet-san told me that Galaxite was having trouble reforming herself because of the crack on her as well as something else. She was not completely sure on what the other thing was, but she knew it was important to her healing process. So until she can figure it out, she wanted me to take care of Galaxite," Mob explained as he gently placed his hand on the gem before looking up and continuing the trek to the donut shop that Steven wanted to go to.

"Wha-wait! Mob! Don't leave me behind! I want to know more! Come on!" Steven shouted to Mob who just continued walking until he spotted the large donut that sat on top of the store. Steven seemed to have spotted it as well since he let out a yell of excitement as he rushed forward, thankfully forgetting their recent topic of conversation.

Mob saw Steven throw the door open and run in causing him to tilt his head to the side slightly in confusion. What kind of treat was this delicious? Deciding to see for himself, he followed after Steven only to pause as he heard a loud scream. Blinking, he opened the door and headed in. Looking around, he spotted a devastated Steven sobbing in front of a refrigerator. Looking over at the girl behind the cash register, the two glanced back at Steven before looking back at each other and shrugging.

A taller teen walked out with a box that he sat on the counter and began to open only to stop as Steven suddenly ran over to him and hugged him from behind. "Lars please tell me this is a dream! This can't be happening!" Steven begged the apparently named Lars who quickly got Steven to let go with a slightly annoyed look on his face.

"Get off me man! I'm stocking here," Lars told Steven as he walked past him and Mob to go and place the box's contents on the shelves. Steven fell to the floor on his face sadly while Mob just stared down at him in confusion.

"How great is this Cookie Cat treat?" Mob quietly thought as he stared down at the depressed boy. The cashier leaned over and tried to console Steven which just caused Steven to complain about the idea that the company would stop making the snack.

"Tough luck, I guess they couldn't compete with Lion Lickers," Lars stated as he moved to another shelf to continue stocking. The girl frowned in the boy's direction before leaning back over to pat the upset Steven's back. Mob smiled slightly at this. She seemed nice. Apparently he caught her attention though as she looked up at him.

"Oh hello, I forgot to introduce myself. You're new here right?" she asked Mob who nodded his head in response, "I'm Sadie Miller, the cashier and that is Lars Barriga, the stocker and sometimes cashier." Sadie held out her hand to Mob who looked down at it before smiling slightly and shaking her hand.

"...Kageyama, Shigeo. You can call me Mob though," Mob bowed after releasing her hand and introducing himself. She blinked at this before laughing lightly. Mob flinched lightly before returning to his previous standing position.

His uncertain stare must have caught her attention as she quickly began waving her hands in front of her face. "Sorry sorry, I'm not laughing at you. It's just I forgot how polite Japanese people are. We haven't had someone from Japan in town in a long time. So your bowing caught me offguard for a moment," Sadie quickly explained which calmed Mob down.

Their attention was drawn back to Steven as his sobbing got even louder than it was before. Apparently, he had moved back to the empty refrigerator that held the snacks in them while they were talking since he was now hugging it like his life depending on it. Sadie just sighed as she rested her cheek on her hand and smiled lightly.

"Would you like to take the fridge back home with you?" Sadie asked him which earned her a quiet 'Yes please.' Mob looked back at Steven and saw him sniffling as he unplugged the fridge and lifted it off the table it was sitting on. He proceeded to watch in quiet shock as he lifted it and put it on his back. It seemed that Steven was rather strong. The Body Improvement Club would be proud to see someone as young as Steven have such great strength.

"Hey Mob are you okay?" Sadie asked Mob who's head was lowered slightly while looking at the floor sadly.

Steven was younger than him, but even he was stronger than Mob.

"...yeah," Mob replied as he let out a small sigh.

Beach House

"Hm hm hm..." Mob followed after Steven who was happily humming the tune from earlier as they headed back to the Beach House. Steven had wanted to rush back so he could place the refrigerator in a safe place. Although, if Mob could recall correctly, didn't the Crystal Gems fight those creatures around the shack often? Oh well...

As Steven was about to open the front door, Mob felt something from inside. An energy similar to the Crystal Gems. After almost a week of living with the gems, he has started to pick up on their unique energy signatures. The creatures they fight have similar energies, but they feel...ominous...no, that's not the right word...corrupted? Yes, corrupted. And if he was right, he felt something similar in the shack right now.

"Steven-san, do not open the door...I heard something," Mob fibbed slightly as he pulled Steven back. Before Steven could complain, a crashing sound was heard followed by a creaking sound echoed outside. The next thing both boys knew, a centipede-like creature was thrown out the window and onto the ground. Before it could get back up, a spear followed it out the window and impaled it. Mob flinched at this before sighing slightly when he saw it poof away.

"They are like evil spirits..." Mob whispered to himself to try and stay focused. While he knew that the Crystal Gems were fighting these creatures to keep everyone safe...he would never be a fan of violence...especially if it involved weapons like spears or knives. He heard Steven let out a loud 'Ooo' at the sight of the Crystal Gems fighting the creatures. Looking back over at him, Mob saw him rush forward to enter the beach house.

Before Mob could stop him again, the door flew open and one of the centipede creature let out a screech before shooting acid at the two. Steven quickly rolled out of the way while Mob threw up a shield to block the acid. Thankfully, the rest of the group was too distracted by the other centipede creatures to notice this.

"Yeah!" Mob heard Amethyst shout as her whip came flying into view as it sliced the centipede creature in half and poofed it out of existence. Steven gasped before cheering everyone on while Mob decided to head to the other side of the shack away from the action to stay out of the way. He spotted a centipede creature crawl onto the wall and begin to come his direction, but Pearl quickly jumped in front of Mob and knocked it to the floor with Garnet following up and stomping it away.

Pearl glanced back to make sure Mob was okay before heading back into action. Mob blinked at the sight before sighing and relaxing against the wall. Maybe...he could take this chance to relax. Closing his eyes, he relaxed against the wall and let his mind wander freely while he tried to ignore the sounds of fighting that were in front of him. As he sat there peacefully, he felt the soothing energy coming from the Crystal Gems. As he focused on the energies, he felt a weaker, but still present energy coming from Steven's direction. It was very similar to the Crystal Gems...does Steven also have a gem?

It would make sense considering Steven mentioned that the gems didn't let normal humans stay at the temple. Steven looked like a normal human though. Where did he get this power from?

"No way!" Steven's loud voice cut through Mob's thoughts and pierced his ear drums. Mob gritted his teeth as he covered his ears. Loud noises never were a great thing for him. Looking up, he realized that the creatures were gone and that Steven was hugging a ton of snacks with...stars(?) in his eyes.

Standing onto his feet, he headed over to the couch and collapsed onto it. He really needed to relax. His body was too tired after the work out and impromptu wake-up call. As he closed his eyes and began to drift off, he felt the power from Steven begin to grow as he heard Steven sing the tune of the Cookie Cat treat. Cracking one of his eyes open, Mob watched in fascination as Steven's shirt blew up to reveal a glowing gem in place of a normal person's belly button.

"No way..." Amethyst muttered while Pearl looked at the gem with shock and awe. "Ste-Steven, you're doing it!" Pearl cheered Steven on. Garnet stood to the side watching silently, but Mob could tell that she was a bit surprised.

Mob sighed as the glowing slowly died down. While he was curious, he wasn't going to bother asking Steven about it. It was Steven's life and he was not going to bother him about it. Closing his eyes, he let himself drift off and fall asleep. As he began to dream with a small smile on his face, the Galaxite gem on his uniform top gently glowed before fading.

25%

[afterpinkdiamond]

An Indirect Kiss S1E24

This episode is so sweet and really starts to move the driving plot of the series. Steven is sad and distant as he, Connie, and Lion set up for a picnic by the lighthouse above the temple. Lethargic and disinterested, Connie does her best to get him to talk about what’s going on, asking if he’s okay and why there’s a fence around the cliff. Steven begrudgingly agrees to tell her about the fence. 

The story flashes back as Steven tells about the last week. Amethyst is messing around by the cliff, teasing him to make him think she is going to fall. Steven gets really upset about the idea that she could hurt herself as she does flips and acrobatics to show off. Eventually, a rock on the edge of the cliff comes loose, similarly to how Sugilite was taken down, and Amethyst falls, embarrassed, straight onto a rock. Steven runs down to check on her and she now has a googly eye. Garnet and Pearl rush over. Pearl demands to see Amethyst’s gem, to which Amethyst replies that she’s “fresh” and Garnet forces the issue by restraining Amethyst and moving her shirt away from the now cracked gem. Amethyst says their being rude because she’s fine. Pearl asks how this happens and Steven tells her, causing Pearl to decide to finally put up a fence. 

Steven tries to end the story there, as the story about why they have a fence, but Connie is now concerned about what happened to Amethyst. She presses Steven to finish the story, trying different methods to make him talk. He eventually and reluctantly agrees to tell the rest but only if he can try on her glasses. Connie asks to trade him his juice for his glasses. Steven agrees and warns her that the juice is mostly backwash, key foreshadowing for the episode, and they make the trade. He puts on the glasses and asks how he looks, a refreshing change from the “wow you’re so blind!” that most glasses wearers hear, and Connie replies that she has no idea while squinting at him. Steven continues his story. 

Steven finds the googly eye to be entertaining and asks what’s so bad about Amethyst having fallen since she falls all the time and Pearl explains that it’s bad because Amethyst’s gem is cracked. When Steven asks what they do about that, Pearl gets emotional and says they had Rose. Here it is introduced (and explained as an empathetic emotional power by Garnet) that Rose/Pink has the power to physically heal damaged gemstones. It’s not yet clear whether this is a Pink Diamond exclusive power or a Diamond Authority power. “Legs From Here to Homeworld” it seems that the idea of healing gems is foreign to Yellow and Blue, and yet they are partially able to help reverse corruption. It may be that the other diamonds have never tried to heal broken gems, favoring to weaponize shards in suits of armor like in “Frybo” or defective gems in gem powered machines- like Lapis’ mirror or the obelisk from “Serious Steven”. Regardless, Pink knew that she could and actually did heal cracked gems, and this may be tied to how the Rebellion lasted so long. Damaged troops didn’t need replacing, they just needed healing. The Crystal Gems then also had all the more reason to stay loyal to Rose, seeing how the Diamonds abandoned or imprisoned those loyal to them.  Garnet tells Steven that she believes he has the power to heal gems as well, and Steven goes full magic girl, trying to heal Amethyst but suddenly is unable to cry. He blusters that he’s just too tough and Pearl reminds him about the snakes he was crying about that morning. The Gems decide to go to Rose’s healing spring since Steven isn’t crying healing tears. Meanwhile, Amethyst is now talking backward as the crack worsens.

As they warp to the spring, Pearl is explaining to Steven about the fountain in the center, but they are stopped by brambles overgrowing the entire place. Pearl freaks out in the cutest bit of projection I’ve seen. She is obviously shaken but tells Garnet they can’t let their perceptions of Rose be tainted by some overgrown weeds. She then looks disgustedly at the thorns, calling them “directionless, pathetic, clinging things...” while grabbing on to Garnet and “reassuring” her that everything will be okay. Pearl has a meltdown simultaneous projecting her worry on Garnet who isn’t visibly affected by the brambles and projecting her own insecurities about life without Rose onto the bushes that Rose planted and tended to but let go wild when she made Steven. Pearl tries to hide her panic by looking for a way to the fountain while Steven continues trying to force himself to cry. Amethyst suggests using pain, so Steven tries to prick himself on the thorns, which start to come to life and attack him. Amethyst jumps up and knocks him out of the way, which Pearl scolds her for. Amethyst gets frustrated with being misunderstood and tries to walk away but glitches and walks into a rock, cracking more. Pearl panics and Garnet punches a stone through the brambles. 

I needed that.

The gems get to the fountain, Amethyst now relying on Steven for support while walking. They find that the fountain is not running as it should. Steven sees the statues of Rose and cries out that he’s getting emotional. He tries to cry on Amethyst’s gem- and Steven interjects into his story that he has a headache. Connie demands her glasses back and the end of the story so Steven complies.  Garnet and Pearl go to find out what’s wrong with the fountain leaving Steven to watch Amethyst. He starts talking to the statue about how he doesn’t know how to feel about his mom because everyone knew her except him. He wishes he could be saddened by her old fountain but he’s confused. He wants to grieve the mother he never knew, but because he never knew her he’s not actually saddened by her loss. Here Steven is starting to really express the confusion of identity he feels in relation to Pink. Who she was doesn’t personally affect him, outside of how others, especially the gems, treat him. Self Identity is a huge theme in the show as a whole- nearly every major and minor character undergoes some form of arc about who they are and who they want to be. Many of these arcs begin because of  Pink Diamond’s influence on those around her. I could write a whole post examining the shockwaves Pink had throughout the characters in the show, but at the epicenter is Steven who doesn’t have an emotional connection with Pink, but contains the most integral part of her in his own body. He’s starting to feel the outward effects but doesn’t have the emotional ties to process his identity in relation to her. Connie is very moved by Steven’s plea to his mother and his empathetic desire to be able to help others.

The bushes surrounding the fountain start to attack Steven and the discombobulated Amethyst. Steven runs to find her gem to get it away from the thorns lashing out at the two of them and ends up worsening her crack after bodyslamming her into the dry fountain. He realizes he might actually lose her forever and gets really upset, having messed up every attempt to heal her and making her condition worse almost everytime. She glitches again and speaking forward but slowed down says “Haha you care about me” still trying to tease him as she is about to shatter. Steven starts to cry in earnest and asks to be allowed to be a magic healer. A single teardrop lands on the cracked gemstone- and does nothing. Steven is mad and yells at the Rose Quartz statue when the statue suddenly starts to cry, overflowing the fountain and pushing back the bushes. The bramble bloom into Roses and Steven sees a vision of Rose reaching down to him through the lacrimal fluid. He surfaces and she is just a statue again. Amethyst is healed and Garnet and Pearl reappear. They correct Steven when he claims to have fixed the fountain and Pearl scathingly tells him that he’ll never be magical and the gems never want anything to do with him again. 

Connie interjects that Pearl wouldn’t say that and Steven says that’s how it felt. Connie offers him back his juice box but he doesn’t want it. He explains more about how he feels pressured to be like his mom and his fears that if he never fills her place in the team they’ll stop associating with him. Connie tries to reassure him that would only mean he’d be like her and that he doesn’t need powers to be with her. They share a moment as Connie sips the juice and immediately feels a headache from her glasses. She takes them off and realizes her vision has been corrected to 20/20. Both are in shock and Steven wonders if he healed her. They look to the juice box and Steven realizes he has healing spit. He’s overjoyed with the newfound power and thanks Connie, completely brushing over her turmoil at how to handle this drastic magical change to her life. Steven runs to tell the gems his discovery while Connie decides to hide her fixed eyesight by popping the lenses out of her glasses. Steven discovers his healing ability and completely glosses over the fact that he healed Connie, a completely organic being, instead of a Gem. This is huge, and Lion is the evidence that Pink had some ability to heal organics as well. 

This episode is really cute. Major props to Amethyst for still being completely in character while being completely incomprehensible. Take the time to look at a transcript of the episode, she’s still acting like an edgy older sister the whole time. After Steven’s little monologue to the Rose statue, she tells him to cheer up giving off some real “What’s Your Problem” vibes. The title “An Indirect Kiss” works on two main levels. On the surface level, Steven and Connie sharing spit through the juice box is literally an indirect kiss- they are clearly having a moment where their feelings are bubbling near the surface as Connie reassures Steven that she likes him for who he is and not who everyone thinks he’s supposed to be- which results in her healed eyesight and the discovery of Steven’s newest magical ability. On a second level, getting washed in Rose’s Spring and seeing a vision of her reaching for him is like Steven getting an indirect kiss from his mother, and I conjecture that he didn’t have healing spit until that moment healed a small part of the emotional divide he feels between him and his mom. I always loved the idea of a magic boy with magic spit because its gross but its a perfectly boyish manifestation of a power so heavily feminized. The motherly healing tears of sorrow are transformed into kidlike healing spit. Steven is taking what his mother was and unintentionally making that his own, sometimes improving but at the very least manifesting her powers as his own. He’s still a long way from “Reunited” but he’s starting to internalize the pressure to be Rose and finding his way of being better than Pink could have ever hoped to be. 

tsyhtemA “!yrc ti ekaM ...attog uoY ...nwo sti no yrC ...t'nac ydob ruoy fI !yeH”

[fanofawesomethings]

Unexpected Visitors

Another installment of the adventures of @bixbitesmeepmorps‘ Bixbite and Onyx

If you want a fan fic of your own, message me and I will tell you my prices

Bixbite watched the flowers sway in the wind. The months of snow had gone by as the snow began to melt. Everything was still cold and many days the sky was stone gray but it had been several days since the last snowfall. As much as Bixbite loved seeing the white snow decorate her forest she was even happier to see the earth and the plants that she knew would sprout after the cold months. One such bed of blue orchids sprouted at the foot of the mountain before the soil became rock; as she watched them the shadow of her dangling legs covered them. The wind was especially cold and strong that day and a petal flew off with each gust.

           Carried by the same gust was a new bird that flew into the forest over the winter. Feather a bright orange except for a pink spot on its spine, with a small tan beak, Bixbite encountered the bird perch itself on a branch outside the cave and sing to them sometimes at night. The bird returned and nestled itself in a nest of twigs and leaves across from where Bixbite sat. A long time had passed since she last seen her hawk companion, Beak, and in her lonesomeness to see her bird friend again, Bixbite named the small orange bird Beak as well.

           The bird sang to Bixbite across the way. Amethyst taught her how to make a similar sound—Bixbite called it “birding”—and Bixbite tried to do it as she taught her, pinching her lips and exhaling.

           “PSSSST!” Bixbite blew through perched lips and frightened the tiny bird more than she did whistling to it.

           Suddenly a stronger gust shook the forest. From out of nowhere and catching Bixbite by surprise the wind blew ever leaf on every tree with violent strength. The small Beak was thrown into the tree trunk while the bits of its nest were scattered to the forest floor. Bixbite’s hair blinded her from seeing her bird get hurt, or from seeing that the sky had darkened for a moment. When the winds settled she only saw an empty branch; Beak was gone. She didn’t think much of it other than believing the bird left peacefully.

           Onyx left the cave looking very exhausted. There wasn’t any sun to blind her after a long night and morning in a dark cave yet she rubbed fatigue out of her eyes as she dropped down next to Bixbite. As if by instinct, she threw her arm over Bixbite’s shoulder without even meaning to and Bixbite in returned leaned her head on her partner’s chest. Together they watched the treetops, staring off into space. Bixbite felt her head bob each time Onyx sighed.

           “Are you thinking about Plume again?” Bixbite asked, snuggling her head into Onyx.

           Onyx didn’t answer but Bixbite knew the answer already. There weren’t too many things that could make Onyx sigh so obviously—missing a day of doing anything physical, Bixbite going to visit Wheat Town without her, and whenever she thought of Plume Agate. Of course Onyx would never say it outright, but Bixbite knew the Gem soldier long enough to read her sighs.

           “I’m sorry she’s still…” Bixbite didn’t want to finish the thought.

           “Yeah, me too,” responded Onyx bitterly.

           Since daybreak, Onyx sat and stared at the surface of the amber Gem. More often than naught the temptation to pop the bubble containing her overcame her and Onyx would take a while to talk herself out of the idea. It was the same that morning and her biggest argument in favor of the impulse was the need to see if the corruption had faded like a sickness. Onyx left the cave when she settled the argument.

           “Maybe you should give her Gem to Steven? Every time you wake you see Plume and then you get depressed.” Bixbite would often see the bubbled Gem at times too at the back of the cave and she too would feel low on Onyx’s behalf.

           “No, I can’t. Every time I got poofed in battled, Plume would stay by my side the whole time and wait for me to reform. I have to do the same.”

           The wind picked Bixbite’s hair up into Onyx’s face. Her hair always smelled like the forest trees and flowers and smelling it seemed to put Onyx at ease but not as much as twirling locks of the magenta hair in her finger. Having her hair played with tickled Bixbite. She felt another deep exhale.

           “I wish I could’ve met Plume. I wish I could’ve met your other squad members. All your stories of them—they sound like great Gems,” said Bixbite.

           “Plume would’ve loved you. She always saw the value of a Gem, even if they were Off Color.” Onyx had her smile elevated. “I wish you could’ve seen her stand up to Blue Diamond.”

           “Who’s Blue Diamond?” Bixbite was ignorant of many things of Gem culture, specifically the things that happened on Homeworld.

           Onyx used the tip of her nail to scratch the symbol into the limestone rock. The four Diamond insignia; Bixbite remembered seeing the symbol on the Gem structure and the Gem ship above.

           “She’s one of the four Diamonds that make up the Great Diamond Authority. Blue, Yellow, Pink and White Diamond—my Diamond,” Onyx pointed to each Diamond on the insignia, stopping at the top one. “When the Gem War broke out, we wanted to join the rest of the Gems fighting the Rebels, but we had to ask Blue Diamond for permission. Blue and Yellow hate Off Colors more than any other Diamond; she didn’t want us to go, but Plume stood up to Blue Diamond and convinced her to change her mind.”

           Bixbite smiled. “You got to come to Earth because of Plume. Now I have to thank her.”

           “If you met Plume the first thing she’d do is pick a fight with you. She wouldn’t mean anything bad—it’s just how she says hello.”

           Onyx’s arm went limp on Bixbite’s shoulder. Bixbite noticed immediately and when Onyx realized it herself she quickly retracted her arm and stood up. The black Gem turned away and brushed the tear off her cheek, pretending to do it nonchalantly. But Bixbite could read sadness with Onyx’s back alone.

           “It’s okay to miss her, Onyx,” said Bixbite.

           Onyx leapt from the rocks to the soil and she punched the first tree she saw. The release of her bottled anguish left a crater in the base of a tall tree. It didn’t topple beneath her mighty strength but Bixbite could see if she were to climb that tree it would fall in a second.

           “You know me and my squad went on more missions than I can count. It was probably something like two thousand or something. And after every one we went back to Homeworld expecting a something—even a ‘thank you’ or ‘good job’. And all we got was the same: ‘Off Colors’. Plume gave us all the praise we wanted but Homeworld elites made fun of her for leading us too. She didn’t care what they said, but I did.”

           Onyx balled her fist and she punched the tree again, punching it off the stump as if her hand was an axe.

           “Two thousand missions and we never got anything from the Diamond. Ungrateful tyrants. This is all the War’s fault. All because Pink got shattered the Diamonds attacked the Earth to crush the Rebels. It makes me feel better that Rose Quartz is gone, but I won’t rest until the Diamonds fix what they caused.            

“But I thought they were your leaders,” said Bixbite, naïve.

           “They wanted to use you like weapon, they hated me since I was created, and they caused Plume to be corrupted. I’m not a soldier for them anymore.” Onyx reeled her fist back to slam down on the remaining stump.

           “Golly, are they strong?” Bixbite’s question stopped Onyx before she delivered the punch. She lost the strength to punch the stump.

           Onyx looked troubled and worried, her lips muttering something under her breath. Her Gem shined with the cold sweat running down her smile. The weight of Onyx’s word dropped on her shoulders and she repeated what she had just said. Bixbite saw the effects of her question and she quickly jumped down to Onyx.

           “They are strong. They’re…the strongest beings in the entire universe,” the black Gem panted.

           At the slightest touch from Bixbite Onyx jumped like a skittish cat.

           “You don’t have to go after them. Steven tells me he can heal Gems and he’s practicing really hard to heal even corrupted ones. If we believe in him I just know he’ll help Plume too.”

           “Really?” Onyx inquired.

           Bixbite wrapped her arms around the black Gem’s mighty body as best she could. Her fingers couldn’t interlock completely on the other side but she didn’t mind. Onyx held the tips of Bixbite’s fingers and connected them with her hands. She was still and Bixbite felt a sigh of relief.

           A whistle in the air grew from distant to piercing. The wind threw a strong hand over the forest when the whistling peaked. Bixbite’s hair was blasted all over her face and across Onyx’s back, while Onyx got a face full of her own hair. The trees thrashed to and fro with the spastic winds, and dirt flew everywhere is miniature tornados that blew dust into Onyx’s eyes, beckoning her wrath to resurface.

           “Where the heck did this wind come from!?” Onyx growled, loud because the whistling was deafening as well as annoying.

           “It’s been like this all day!” Bixbite answered.

           “WHAT!?” Onyx didn’t hear her at all.

           “IT’S BEEN LIKE THIS ALL DAY!”

           “OH! SOMETIMES I REALLY HATE THIS PLANET!”

           Bixbite tried to think of something in the wind’s defense but she couldn’t see Onyx through her thrashing hair.

           A tremendously large shadow fell over across the forest and that time Bixbite was able to see it with Onyx. The source was something that hovered above the clouds and it larger than both of them, combined. They heard a sound, the sound of metal grinding together, and then an object broke through the clouds—a small, blue object. It struck the earth with a loud bang and then the floating object above flew away just as the wind assaulted the forest one last time with a fleeting gust. The forest was unnervingly calm as it tried to return to its normal stillness.

           Onyx analyzed the space where the floating object occupied. The force that propelled the object left a clearing in the clouds but it also left a trail behind it.

           “Only a Gem ship can stay still in the air and make a trail like that,” said Onyx with disdain in her voice. She looked off to the distance. “And it brought someone here.”

           “A-Another Gem?” Bixbite didn’t have her interest in meeting new Gems since their last encounter with Alabaster and the other new Gems; she clung to Onyx’s arm.

           “We don’t have any backup from your friends, but it looked like it was only one Gem. Stay close to me, Bix.”

           The two of them walked in between the trees with extra caution. Both kept their eyes wide open for anything the same color blue coming towards them, but the dense forest blocked them until they were drawing close to a clearing in the trees. A quickly fading cloud of smoke floated in the sky, close by—whatever landed, landed in the clearing they were approaching. Bixbite clung tightly to Onyx and she held her partner’s hand firmly as they drew closer. Finally they could see the blue object on the other, but Onyx pushed Bixbite and herself close to the ground.

           The crater where the Gem landed was sizeable and very deep with the powerful impact she left, despite her size and appearance. The Gem in question was thin and tall with hair as blue and curled like ocean waves. Her eyes were wide and bright, and she had golden freckles over her nose. Dirt lightly stained the ends of a dark dress that went down to her knees and was cut open below the neck, showing her teardrop-shaped Gem on her chest.

           “A Lapis Lazuli? Earth has its quota of Lapis already,” Onyx griped in whispers.

           Onyx formed apprehension when the Gem glared at the entire terrain, a menacing glower. The Lapis stood up and took a step forward and nearly fell down if she hadn’t caught herself; Onyx watched carefully. She waved her hand over her blue Gem and the Lapis pulled an orb of water that she configured with her fingers like clay and she made two smaller, flat circles that she held on top of her nose, in front of her eyes. Suddenly the Lapis wasn’t glaring and what’s more her steps become much more stable.  

           The Lapis scratched her head to shake the dirt out of her hair. A bit of it fell around her lips and she curiously licked it up and then spat it out when she regretted the decision.

           “She might be stupid. As long as she doesn’t see us maybe everything will be—” Before Onyx finished her thought, Bixbite slipped past away and burst through the cover before Onyx could stop her.

           “CHEST LAPIS!!” Bixbite squealed.

           The Lapis was startled, throwing her arms up automatically to defend herself. She paused as Bixbite ran to her and then her face lit up as much as Bixbite’s did.

           “BIXBITE!” The Lapis chirped.

           They collided with their arms thrown around the other upon impact. Overjoyed, Bixbite picked the Lapis who was taller than her and twirled her in the air, and then the Lapis did the same to Bixbite. They laughed and they cried; Bixbite cried into her soldier and the blue Gem cried into the top of Bixbite’s hair. The water on her face splashed on top of Bixbite and soaked her hair and the Lapis was glaring once again.

           The change in the Lapis’ expression was drastic and her glare was unsettling while she was staring at Bixbite. It was unsettling enough to alarm the Gem warrior that was watching cautiously. Stirred to go to Bixbite’s aid, Onyx charged out of the brush. Bixbite saw the charging Onyx and the glare on the Lapis and she swiftly put herself in front of Onyx’s path.

           “Onyx, wait! She makes that face because she can’t see!” Bixbite cried.

           The charging bull was stopped by confusion.

           “What?” Onyx inquired.

           The Lapis formed two more flat discs of water over her eyes, which allowed her to see the bigger Gem, and she was startled. Her mouth hung down as she stared from Onyx’s feet to the top of her head and she looked to be too much for the new Gem to handle. The Lapis looked overwhelmed, and a bit nervous.

           “Onyx, this is a friend of mine. I call her Chest Lapis,” Bixbite introduced, pushing her closer to Onyx.

           “I…uh…um…I’m…Lapis Lazuli…Facet 7B, P-Polish 24FL,” the Lapis stumbled.

           “We met during the Gem War when I landed on Earth. She was the one who told me I was a Gem and everything,” said Bixbite.

           “Okay. It’s good to meet you,” responded Onyx, uninterestedly, holding out a hand that scared Chest Lapis who didn’t understand the gesture.

           “You shake her hand with yours, it’s an Earth thing,” whispered Bixbite into her ear.

           Chest Lapis stuck her trembling hand out and Onyx received it, shaking it and the Lapis too when she wasn’t expecting it. As soon as it was over the Lapis grabbed her hand back and inspected it as if there was damage to it. Bixbite hugged the blue Gem again.

           “I missed you so much, Chest Lapis, I can’t believe you’re back! Where were you all this time? Why didn’t you come to visit me?” Bixbite inquired.

           “I did! I looked everywhere for you during the War, but I couldn’t find you. I was so worried about you and then the Evacuation Order was given and I thought—I thought—” The Lapis pulled Bixbite close to her chest, pressing her tightly as she sobbed. “You’re really here.”

           Her friend felt weak to the touch, her whimpers struck Bixbite with grief. Bixbite’s tears were no longer tears of joy. They cried, and Onyx turned away to give them a moment to themselves.

           “When I heard about the War ending—I thought you’d been—I thought you were gone,” sobbed Chest Lapis.

           “I never thought I’d see you again, Chest, I’m so happy you’re back,” smiled Bixbite wiping her tears. “But why did you come back?”

           Chest Lapis took a moment to compose herself. “Oh, I was given a super important mission! My friend wanted me to search the Gem Ship we saw stranded over there and see if there were any stranded Gems on board. Bixbite…is she one of them stranded Gems?”

           “Oh no, this is my dear friend, Onyx, she lives with me in that mountain,” said Bixbite. “The stranded Gems are—” Onyx clapped her hand over Bixbite’s mouth.

           “They were two Peridots and a Pearl, but they used an escape pod to get out off planet. They left the ship hovering over the mountain but it doesn’t work without them,” answered Onyx.

           Bixbite looked to Onyx and Onyx sneakily shook her head to keep her from saying it which she complied but without knowing why.

           “Is that so? Oh dang, I’ll have to catch up with my Agate, she was the one who gave me the order and then we’d meet up,” said Chest Lapis.

           Bixbite turned to Onyx with uncertainty. She had been swept away by the joy of seeing her friend again that she forgot about the dangers of strangers. Onyx didn’t express it but she was nervous as well.

           “H-How many others came with you, Chest?” Bixbite asked.

           Prancing around the clearing like a gentle deer, Chest lapis didn’t seem to hear Bixbite. She heard the rustles of the trees and at the same time she felt the breeze sending her blue skin in a tingle with the cold. Birds chirping in a branch nearby tickled her ear; the Lapis danced with the music she heard. Her feet barely touched the ground, only the tips of her bare toes, her arms waved as delicately as flowers blown by the wind, and she seemed to move in a circle. Bixbite stayed quiet; she hadn’t seen the Lapis’ dance in so many years.

           Sparkles fell on everywhere she went. Water glistening in the dim light was on everywhere her feet touched, coming from her feet and her body like a ribbon. With a twirl of her body, water danced from her Gem, flowed across her body to her back, and then divided into eight separate spears of water that hoisted her off the ground in a grand finale as she waved her arms above her head.

           Bixbite was muted by awe for she had seen something she hadn’t seen before. Onyx quickly forgot the matter at hand because she was stricken by jealously; nothing she ever did garnered the same reaction from Bixbite. Chest Lapis descended to the earth and Bixbite jumped for joy.

           “Chest! You’re still the best dancer I’ve ever seen!” Bixbite cheered, clapping.

           The spears splashed on the grass. Chest Lapis’ face blushed beneath her golden freckles.

           “Thanks, Bixbite,” she sighed.

           “Hey, Lazuli, how many came with you to Earth?” Onyx finally asked remembering the situation.

           The Lapis suddenly became uneasy and nervous.

           “M-Me and my Agate were on a ship together—and we were going to see meet up with the rest after—and they are a lot of Pearls and Peridots.”

           Onyx felt apprehension start to bubble in her stomach.

           “Why exactly did you guys come back here? From everything I’ve seen here this planet isn’t part of Homeworld’s colonization.”

           “Yes—I mean no it’s not—but we were told to come and meet together. I-I don’t know why,” answered Chest Lapis.

           “Does that mean you’re going back to your Agate now?” Bixbite asked and Lapis nodded. “Can’t you stay here for a little bit? I haven’t seen you in so much time I wanted to show you around my forest since you didn’t get to see it last time. Please say you’ll stay for at least a little while.”

           The Lapis appeared to be conflicted, looking over her shoulder in the direction the ship flew in. Her feet started jumping in place with her indecision until she finally exhaled.

           “Sure, I can stay for a little bit,” said Chest Lapis, sounding very unsure in her own words.

           Bixbite squealed with delight and embraced her friend who despite her audible uncertainty smiled that she made her friend happy.

           There wasn’t time for them to visit Wheat Town to show the visiting Gem the wonders of human culture, Bixbite understood but she was still determined to show Chest Lapis all the forest had to offer. Bixbite took the Lapis to some of her favorite places. They watched the tiny stream of trickling water feed into the still pond, they visited the valley where the Gem War was fought in and the Lapis was amazed that there was no hint of the battles left amongst the tall grass in the huge valley, and they scaled the mountainside—as far as Bixbite would allow—and together they stared out in the vast horizon. Chest Lapis saw each wonder with astonishment obvious on her face—her mouth hung down lower with everything she saw.

           Onyx watched the foreign Gem the entire time, convinced there was more to the Lapis that what she saw. The blue Gem showed no signs of hostility towards anything, even the strange things that made Onyx apprehensive when she first came to the forest; rather, the Lapis was enthusiastic to see more things, just as Bixbite is. In the next stop on their tour, Bixbite led Chest Lapis by the hand to their cave; the Lapis skipped merrily beside Bixbite who did the same as they walked. Onyx became less convinced the new Lapis had ulterior motives.

           “This is your base?” The Lapis asked observing the maw of the small cave but not going inside.

           “It’s our home. Well it was mine after you left and when Onyx came it became our home,” said Bixbite.

           “But it looks so dark and small.” Chest Lapis poked her head and immediately withdrew like a turtle.

           “It’s actually really nice inside. Come on, I’ll show you.”

           Bixbite took the Lapis’ hand but she could sense her hesitation to go inside. The darkness inside was too thick for the Lapis to see anything, until an inexplicable magenta glow blinded the side of her eye. Bixbite held her a ball of sparkling aura in between her fingers and the Lapis had a look of befuddlement.

           “Bixbite—? What is—?” She gasped.

           “I got stronger since you left,” said Bixbite with a hint of pride in her voice. She made the light brighter solely to show off.

           Onyx smiled with pride too.

           The inside of the cave may have been illuminated for the Lapis to see but the light didn’t make the small cavern any bigger. They took three steps inside and Lapis saw the end.

           “That over there is where I sleep and over there—” Bixbite began.

           “Sleep?” Chest Lapis repeated.

           “It’s a thing humans do here. You close your eyes and then rest and sometimes you get these weird pictures in your head and you don’t even have to do anything! Oh! That’s where Onyx sleeps.”

           The Lapis saw where Bixbite pointed to but she soon saw more. The orb was hidden behind a rock but the side of it peaked just enough for Chest Lapis to see it and slowly walk to it while Bixbite was talking.

           “And see this? This little rock kept hitting me on the head whenever I woke up so I punched it and it—Chest?”

           Bixbite caught Chest Lapis as she knelt down and held the bubble in her hands. The Plume Agate Gem that floated inside glistened with the magenta glow and the Lapis was mesmerized by the sight of it. Bixbite gasped, and Onyx who stood at the entrance looked back and saw Lapis when it was too late. Onyx stormed into the cave and swiped the bubble away, panting frantically when she grabbed it.

           “Don’t touch that,” said Onyx calmly enough.

           “Oh…ah…I’m…so…” The Lapis froze.

           “Chest—I should’ve told you—” Bixbite scrambled to think.

           “Bixbite, that’s an Agate. Wh-Why do you have her bubbled?” Chest Lapis panicked.

           Bixbite was a cornered animal. The need to keep it a secret like Onyx wanted conflicted with her urge to tell her friend, and the conflict was shoved in front of her face expecting an answer straight away. Onyx had no such conflict; she was on her way to leave the cave with her bubbled friend in her arms, but she was stopped by Bixbite’s eyes near the entrance which begged her to stay and help. Chest Lapis turned between Bixbite and Onyx and Bixbite knew the further they delayed the more Bixbite feared it made them appear suspicious and it caused her dread.

           “Onyx,” Bixbite spoke, frightened.

           She groaned. Onyx caressed the air around the bubble’s circumference, protective of the delicate orb and conflicted. Showing reluctance outright, the black Gem gave her permission.

           “Chest Lapis, can you keep this a secret? Please, as my friend,” begged Bixbite.

           Conflict was then passed onto the Lapis who was left confused by the request. Bixbite opened her eyes wide to show the blue Gem the desperation in her eyes. Tears started to form. Chest Lapis was unexpectedly shaken by the tears on Bixbite, almost to the point of crying as well.

           “O-Okay,” said the Lapis with her eyelids fluttering so she wouldn’t start crying too. Bixbite hugged her friend.

           “That’s Plume Agate, she’s Onyx’s squad leader, but she’s been corrupted so we have to keep her in a bubble,” explained Bixbite.

           Chest Lapis gasped dreadfully. “Corruption?! Such a thing—! B-B-But that’s a punishment only for high level rouge Gems! Why would she be—?”

           “It was the Diamonds’ last attack on the Earth. It was supposed to wipe out the Rebels but all it did was corrupt any Gem on the planet, including Plume,” said Onyx.

           “We’re keeping her in the bubble until we find a way to heal her,” said Bixbite.

           “You’re a Lapis Lazuli, a pretty high member of Blue Diamond’s court—you must’ve heard things about Corruption. Like a way to undo it,” said Onyx.

           “Only rumors. Aquamarines and Agates use Corruption like a threat when the threat of shattering isn’t enough, but no one has ever seen it outright. No one even talked about it until after stories of Rose Quartz made it back to Homeworld.”

           Onyx punched the wall and the entire mountain shook. The frustration swelled up in her eyes and she left the cave, with Plume in her hands. Bixbite sighed sadly.

           “I’m sorry,” said Chest Lapis.

           “It isn’t your fault, Lapis. Onyx really cares about getting her friend back. And I wish I could help her, but this is more than we can do by ourselves,” said Bixbite.

           Chest Lapis pondered it for a moment and then her face brightened when the idea clicked.

           “You can come back to Homeworld with me! You and your…friend. Maybe there you can two can talk to the Diamonds. They wouldn’t let one of their Agates stay Corrupted, they’d have to help.”

           “Homeworld? Me?” Bixbite was blown away until she was at a loss for words. She pictured it in her head, for a brief moment. “Chest, I can’t leave my home. I told you that before when you left.”

           The Lapis pulled her friend close to her chest and wept.

           “The Diamonds attacked the Earth. You could’ve—been—I’m so happy you’re okay after so many years.”

           “I’m happy I got to see you again too, Lapis.”

           “If you won’t come to Homeworld then you can come with me to the rendezvous. I may not know anything about Corruption but there are plenty of Aquamarines and Agates there. A lot of Blue Diamond’s court was asked to come here; maybe one of them knows.”

           “But won’t they get suspicious that a new Gem is with you?” Bixbite asked, on the thought as well.

           “We could tell them you’re on a Scouting mission. A ship comes by here every couple of years to update the Star Maps, we could say you’re on that mission.”

             Bixbite was speechless because she was picturing how it would go. If they were to do what Chest Lapis said she wondered if it could work and she imagined what she would be able to learn—what she’d see on a ship with new Gems. The Lapis giggled because she recognized the look of hunger on Bixbite’s face for adventure.

           “That would be incredible…but Onyx—” Bixbite started towards the entrance when the Lapis grabbed her hand.

           “Bixbite…you’re friend is an Off Color,” said Chest Lapis.

           The magenta Gem was visibly crossed.

           “I didn’t mean it like that! I’m sorry! But the Diamonds don’t send Off Colors on missions as much anymore. It would look suspicious if one just showed up here without a reason. If you want to come, we have to go alone.”

           “But I can’t go without Onyx. I need her.”

           The Lapis held both Bixbite’s hands in a tight grip. She looked deeply into her eyes and Bixbite saw the earnest intent burning like a wildfire in the blue.

“I promise I’ll keep you safe and then I’ll bring you back your forest.”

Bixbite didn’t doubt for a moment her friend would keep a promise she made, but still she was hesitant. Through the entrance she could see Onyx sitting on the edge of the rocks with her head lowered close to the bubble. She looked vulnerable, fragile, and Bixbite’s Gem ached at the sight. Suddenly Onyx took off running into the forest. Bixbite didn’t need to think on it any longer.

“Let’s go.”