#kidna funny i got the idea for this theory from the 'x died and was replaced by a lookalike' meme on twitter

[iapislazuli]

how aquamarines and lapis lazulis might be related: a theory

so, if youve been following me for a while, you probably know that lapis lazuli is my favorite steven universe character (heck, considering my url, im guessing even people who DONT know me can figure that out) 

being someone who cares WAY too much about lapis, i couldn’t help but notice that yeah, alright, there are a LOT of similarities between her and aquamarine. and these similarities seem to go deeper than appearance, too! so im thinking theres no way these two gem types ARENT related. since (as im writing this) its 5:30 AM and i have nothing better to do, lets talk about some THEORIES, under a cut of course. 

at first, lapis lazulis similarities to aquamarine confused me. there is no reason for these two gems to be so similar. why? because in steven universe, they take their gem facts VERY seriously. gem characters who are this similar in appearance (I.E. jasper and amethyst), in addition to having some related in-universe role, usually also have some correlation in real-life, such as jaspers and amethysts both being quartzes IRL and both being super-soldiers in the show.

lapis lazuli is a semiprecious metamorphic rock, composed mostly of lazurite, lazulite, pyrite, and calcite. aquamarine is a blue variation of beryl, with a composition mostly of beryllium aluminum cyclosilicate. so in other words, not at ALL like lapis lazuli. so it makes no sense, right? aside from color, these two stones are nothing alike, so their counterpart gem characters shouldn’t be so similar.

BUT THEN, i realized something. and this is where we get into the theories.

PART 1: Aquamarine is an Era 2 Gem

you might remember in “Too Short To Ride”, we learned that peridot is an era 2 gem, meaning she is newer than the crystal gems. going off of what is stated in other episodes, its safe to assume that era 2 started sometime after the crystal gem rebellion. 

pearl knows about topazes and aquamarines, which means they have been around since era 1, but i think the two we know (and love?) are era 2 variants of them. 

era 2 gems don’t care about the rebellion, the crystal gems, or anything related to that. this is likely due to the fact that none of them were present for it, so it lacks personal value to them. you can tell this by comparing jasper’s reaction to seeing stevens shield (which very clearly has rose’s symbol on it) to aquamarine’s reaction: 

jasper, a known era 1 gem and participant in the war, is shocked, immediately recognizing the symbol for whose it is and what it stands for. aquamarine doesn’t mention the shield at all, merely acting annoyed that steven is trying to interfere with her mission (*cough* a lot like some OTHER era 2 gem we know). lack of reaction from topaz (who for sure saw the shield multiple times) can lead us to assume she is era 2 as well.

seems to be that era 2 gems are small. okay, topaz is pretty big, but shes a fusion AND (probably) a soldier, so she gets exempt from this rule due to having probable cause for being big. there is a reason for this, leading to the next part.

PART 2: Homeworld is Running Out of Resources

this one is more (as peridot would say) objective fact than theory, since its outright stated, but bear with me here. homeworld is running out of resources to make gems. which means it makes sense that era 2 gems, on average, are smaller than era 1 gems. additionally, it also gives reasoning for any gem who doesn’t have reason to be big (such as soldiers or bodyguards, like topaz) to be made small, to save those precious resources.

peridot, who is an era 2 gem, is hilariously short (the same size as a “defective” era 1 gem, amethyst), but has technological enhancements to make her appear to be average gem height, as well as help her perform her role of technician. this furthers the idea that aquamarine is an era 2 gem: man she is absolutely TINY. and you wanna know what ELSE she has?

BOOM. tractor beam wand. tiny size and a technological enhancement to help her perform her role, she seems for sure to be a product of era 2′s lack of resources. speaking of which, what IS her role? we know she is a high-ranking gem (her attitude, outfit, and seemingly personal connection with the diamonds certainly gives her this impression), but what on earth is she meant to do? a look at lapis lazulis might help answer this question... 

Part 3: Lapis Lazulis are Probably Really Wasteful to Resources

as mentioned before, the stone lapis lazuli itself has a hopelessly complex composition: it takes FOUR different minerals (each of which could probably be considered their own gem) just to make this dang thing. 

Peridot’s monologue in “Too Short To Ride” implies that gems with powers are taxing on resources to make. this would explain why era 1 gems seem to have a whole pantheon of superpowers, while era 2 gems get just one or two if they’re lucky. so, what we’re getting from this is stronger / more powers = takes a lot of resources to make. 

lapis lazulis, as stated in the diamonds’ song in “That Will Be All” are terraformers. this means, a single lapis lazuli has enough hydrokinetic power to reshape entire worlds, because that’s their role in gem society. lapis’ debut in mirror/ocean gem sure seems to support this, she forms the entire ocean into a space elevator, with a cracked gem. if we go based on the more powers = more expensive idea, then lapis lazulis would for sure cost more than a pretty penny’s worth of resources to make for this reason alone (not even factoring other lapis abilities, like the memories and the water wings).

judging that in “The Answer”, we see what appears to be our very own lapis in Blue Diamond’s court, possibly with other lapises, we can figure that lapis lazulis’ tremendous powers rank them pretty high in the homeworld hierarchy. maybe to keep them complacent, so they wont use their terraforming power against the diamonds? who knows.... 

Part 4: Okay, but what does all this mean?

so, to recap: we know that both aquamarine and lapis lazuli are high ranking blue gems with water wings, close connections to the diamonds, and a deceivingly innocent or dainty appearance. one gem type has only thus far shown era 1 variants, and is decidedly wasteful to resources that started to run out in era 2. the other gem type, or at least the era 2 variation of them we are familiar with, is more economic to produce, and has a technological enhancement that allows them to easily lift and move large objects.

lift and move extremely large objects, you say? like, objects up to the size of a five-gem fusion? you know, like, a task you would probably need to carry out while reshaping a planet to fit the will of the diamonds? but this power isnt built in to your being, so it could easily be revoked in the case of disobedience? all wrapped up in a tiny, resource-efficient package? 

oh yeah, thats what i mean by all this: there are no era 2 lapis lazulis, they got axed from the kindergartens at the end of era 1 for being wasteful and their role is instead filled by the repurposed era 2 aquamarines. 

there are still probably a good handful of lapises and era 1 aquamarines around, of course, and the similarities between these two, if any, are yet to be seen. i might be totally wrong about this since aquamarine is such a new character (and lapis is still pretty mysterious despite being one of the first introduced gems), but whatever the case may be, im excited to hopefully learn more about gems and homeworld in the upcoming Wanted event!