#steven x gem ships

[octoling-wearing-gauges]

best pals on an adventure :)

[rosenotactuallyquartz]

Any headcanons on why Rose's Rainbow Quartz looks the way that she does?

pearl + rose = rainbow quartz

(& what she tells us about their relationship)

here’s what storyboarder katie mitroff said about their fusion in we need to talk:

“I LOVE these two so I was absolutely ecstatic to draw this scene. I remember being really pressed to pack all of their passion and Pearl’s smugness into one moment that lasts the length of a guitar solo… and their fusion that’s just an embodiment of that into one giant, shamelessly beautiful dancer!”

fusion is the ultimate connection between gems and the personification of a gem relationship. it’s important to note that pearl and rose had a stable fusion, which tells us that they were in perfect sync physically, emotionally, & mentally. had they been too flustered, confused, not connecting well for whatever reason in we need to talk, their fusion would not have worked that way.

their dance signifies a strong emotional, romantic, sensual, and emotional relationship. it becomes someone who is unique, strong, & vibrant.

boldness

everything about rainbow’s disposition, body language, & appearance is bold.

her boldness represents just how passionate pearl and rose’s relationship is, and she’s also a reminder of how their love started. together, they rebelled against homeworld, a place where diamonds and pearls are not considered equals. love between pearls and diamonds was unheard of and considered wrong. during the rebellion, when pearl and rose began to feel for one another, a ruby-sapphire fusion resonated with rose. she wanted to fight for the beauty of these relationships, and fight against those who perceived certain gems as inferior & relationships between “inferior” and “superior” gems as gross.

despite how not allowed their relationship was in homeworld, rose still looked pearl in the eyes when she confessed her feelings & replied with, “please, don’t ever stop!”

rainbow demonstrated everything they fought for in the rebellion, her boldness representing that they were never afraid to love each other despite the homeworld’s disapproval.

her stability and her boldness also shows just how sure they were. neither of them ever thought like homeworld did, not even a bit. this relationship would never be easy, and there was a lot of danger around them, but they were courageous and loved each other shamelessly, because they knew their love was beautiful.

but that’s not all:

“Rose falls in love with Pearl’s surprising boldness that comes out of left field.” — end of an era, page 86

rose’s consistent love for pearl is so intense yet such a second nature to her, such a part of her, that one of her favourite things about pearl shines through rainbow quartz.

pastel pink, blue, ??? more on her appearance

rainbow does not look or act more like pearl or rose. rose does not overpower pearl, or vice-versa. for example, her hair is long and large like rose’s hair, but the tips of her hair and the color are very similar to pearl’s hair.

her exact colour palette is not quite known due to the tinted lighting of the music video. whether this be the creators’ intentions or not, i like to think that her unknown colour palette represents something about their relationship, too. pearl has early memories of rose when she would juggle, scribble drawings, struggle to control a spaceship, spend ages outside with her little playmate. their closeness lasted so long that not even their best friends could possibly know everything about their dynamic. no one knows about all the memories they share, simply because it would take a ridiculously long time for them to tell all these stories.

however, what we do know is that pearl and rose’s pastel colours really seem to show—lots of light pinks and blues. her movements are incredibly gentle and graceful. there’s a softness to her, despite how bold she is. i think this symbolizes the softness of their relationship, the comfort and sweetness. their fusion was initially thought of after they witnessed love. as a result of this, they also met garnet, someone who would be very important to them. their best friend, and together, they learned about and experienced all types of love.

her design is very 1980s, as this was reflecting the era. her dance skills reflect pearl and rose’s dispositions. pearl is very graceful, and her movements often resemble a ballerina’s. when she attempted to teach steven about his powers, she brought up creating his own dance. this is a pearl thing, not because she’s a pearl, but because she’s herself. it’s a part of her, and rose always encourages her to be herself. so, of course this part of pearl is shown in rainbow quartz. her dance moves also suggest a sensuality, and she shows this shamelessly. many other gems are more private about this sort of thing if this is something they’re interested in, but it appears that both pearl and rose were comfortable with being rather open about this aspect of their relationship at the time. not so much that it was uncomfortable for anyone, more in a flirtatious, implied sense. so, we have a dancer who is sensual like both of them, but she also has pearl’s type of gracefulness and rose’s type of playfulness.

name & crystal

there’s also symbolism behind her name, rainbow. i know what you’re thinking, sapphic relationship and the rainbow flag. it’s funny, and it’s very true. but it’s not just this; throughout history (even around the time of their first fusion), the rainbow has been a symbol of hope. after a dark and gloomy rainfall, there’s a beautiful rainbow. after pearl makes pink disappear, rose reforms, and as sugar says, “the dust clears, revealing an endless honeymoon” (end of an era timeline). after the war, pearl + rose live together for thousands of years. heck, after centuries of being traumatized by homeworld, both together and in separate ways, they share a love that goes against homeworld’s rules, norms, and beliefs. a fusion is a relationship personified, and everything about pearl and rose’s love signifies something warm in the midst of something cold and dark.

i could have a whole post about crystal properties and how they relate to the characters’ personalities. but i’ll touch on this a little bit for rainbow. rainbow quartz is a stone that reflects every colour of the rainbow. how interesting, because white diamond stated, “as for me, i’m certain I don't need you. after all, i’m every color of the light! but you're a part of me… the part i always have to repress” in change your mind, when she spoke to steven, whom she believed was rose. “white believes that because her gem channels white light, she is essentially a gem light form all the time” (end of an era, 116). pearl and rose both know rose is a diamond, yet as a fusion, they are rainbow quartz. i believe this represents comfort, acceptance, trust, healing. we all know that rose was in a lot of pain, and no one could have changed that. she was deeply ashamed of herself, but a very important aspect of her relationship with pearl is that pearl knew. rose told her every secret she could say, pearl was aware that she was pink diamond, and she was aware of the abuse she experienced. she even saw some of it, as confirmed in now we’re only falling apart as well as pearl’s behavior when white diamond is brought up. rainbow suggests that pearl wanted to help rose heal from her abuse trauma. when she was with pearl, rose was able to feel better about herself & white’s voice in her mind quieted down a bit, even if it never completely disappeared. quartz suggests that pearl loved rose as rose and not as a diamond, and rose still felt comfortable as a quartz, as her new self, around someone who knew the individual she used to be. however, please note that things are not all good. it’s incredibly apparent, just how much pearl wanted to protect and heal rose. it’s partially why she became so fixated after losing her, it’s why she struggles to think about herself. in my opinion, pearl’s feelings for rose are a lot like the song two by sleeping at last: “no, i don't want to talk about myself; tell me where it hurts. i just want to build you up, build you up, until you're good as new and maybe one day I will get around to fixing myself, too.”

the rainbow quartz crystal is soothing, healing, and it radiates positive energy. this reminds me of the time pearl and rose explored earth. it was their first good day, their first safe environment, and they spent that day together. it boosts creativity and clarity, which reminds me of their personalities. rose is very playful with childlike wonder, and this gives her a brilliant imagination. she daydreams a lot, so much that it makes her withdrawn, so much that it can be distressing sometimes. pearl is logical and she was able to take rose’s rambles and jumbled up thoughts and say, “that’s a brilliant idea, here’s how we’re going to do it!” this is why they worked so well together, pearl being rose’s second in command. after the war, they had many successful missions alongside garnet who’s wise and balanced with a lot of leadership qualities, and amethyst who provides a different perspective and is also creative with lots of positivity.

voice

there was this time when we were all very sad about the fact that we never heard rainbow’s voice. in the music video, she obviously couldn’t talk, then they let each other go after the song was over. i think this represents that, while they liked to show off certain aspects of their relationship, they also kept a lot of things private. they didn’t want to share many things and so much of their emotional relationship happened behind closed doors apart from obvious things they kept private.

rose also sounds different in now we’re only falling apart. in we need to talk, greg the babysitter, straight to video, buddy’s book… her voice is much softer. her laugh is much softer. when she was alone with pearl, she spoke loudly and rambled more and allowed herself to speak excitedly. i don’t think rose likes the sound of her voice. i think it’s an insecurity because she knows she’s quite childish sometimes but she wants to be different and she was supposed to be a leader on earth, but she questions if she even sounds like one. she permanently reformed as rose, but she could never change her voice, so it reminds her of pink. her scream once cracked the walls, signifying her pain and everything she’s trying not to be.

but in flashbacks from pearl’s perspective, we see a side of rose that really reminds us of steven! pearl highlights her awkward rambles, her loud and childlike exclaims that she has when she’s excited. pearl loved when rose was like this, she clearly seemed to think it was adorable. this helped rose relax more, but i like to imagine rainbow’s silence being a symbol of the fact that every time rose softened her voice or had an act that was not quite genuine, pearl would notice. she encouraged her to be herself, and the gems loved when she was as playful and genuine as ame is, but there’s still a lot that she’s hiding; still so much she’s ashamed of. it also symbolizes rose’s constant fear of hurting pearl, her guilt of hurting individuals from her past (even with her voice—her scream—itself). when they were together, rose was undoubtedly quite genuine but she definitely still had this fear of saying or doing something wrong and accidentally hurting pearl. sugar said, on page 95 of end of an era, that rose could never trust herself. although she could relax more around pearl, she had such low self esteem that she could never trust herself around anyone, as she feared she would hurt them. with this specific analysis and interpretation, the symbolism is even present in the episode’s title, we need to talk.

that being said, this is just symbolism and remember that rainbow’s actual voice could sound nothing like rose or pearl. a fusion is a completely new individual. we don’t get to hear rainbow’s voice, so we can only headcanon.

concept sketches of rainbow quartz by rebecca sugar and katie mitroff

to conclude…

so, rainbow’s appearance and disposition says so much about pearl and rose’s relationship. however, there is not a lot of information provided, but there’s so much symbolism. as for the section with my headcanons… there’s a bit of information that led me to believe them, but some are simply based on her energy and demeanor.

i love her. rest in peace, rainbow quartz

[sheshkastudios]

:]

Ruby and Sapphire❤️💙

[dcschart]

oooh would you be interested in drawing jaspearl (jasper x pearl)? all good if not, but they are a favourite rarepair!!

JasPearl,,,, I never draw them but GOD,,,,,,, they live in my brain,,, they still live it there

[tranny-lord]

Ok, hear me out, Idv Modern AU but Norton Campbell is obssesed with Steven Universe and has a 500 dollar four foot tall Spinel plushie.

[your-sweetest-nightmares-blog]

My first self ship art! Ft. Spinel from Steven Universe.

[redrrrre]

PLEASE SOMEONE GIVE ME STEVEN UNIVERSE FIC RECS

Give me your favorites and i will draw you a quick headshot of your favorite character please i need more steven univetse fanfiction please please

[rapunzelcrossoverqueen]

Ok hear me

[d0rky-0utfits]

I be shipping any characters in Steven universe if I'ma be honest

[voidlesscreator]

Core Fusion AU

The people that live in the Infinite Realms are able to fuse like gems in Steven Universe. Why you may ask? It's because their body is made up of ectoplasm that comes from their core, which is very similar to how a gem's form is made up of light and comes from their gem itself.

Fusions occur when two or more ghosts share a similar strong emotion or obsession, such as protection, love or hate. The fusion is a state where the occupants share thoughts and work together to operate a single body, so a lot of trust needs to be present or a singular goal in both minds.

Core Fusions also merge unique powers together to strengthen or link them together more.

Due to this, core fusions are typically seen as a way to show trust in any form or bond between ghosts, and as a way to strengthen forces and power.

Danny is probably able to fuse with ghosts and humans but was never told that it was possible for him bc he's half-human.

Now, this could work for both Dp x Dc and Dp x BNHA.

Dp x Dc

Danny can fuse with people who have been touched by death or have been dead and came back (like Jason).

The fusion would be a physical form that mixes both or more appearances while their cores (pseudo or not) appear as jewellery they wear as the fusion, which changes depending on the fusion.

Since I'm fixated on the dead on main ship right now, let's say that Jason is the one to core fuse with Danny first, and there can be an in depth backstory on how they meet and leads up to the core fusion, and it helps with the pit rage. Danny takes them to either Frostbite or Clockwork to figure out what is going on and they learn about core fusion and how it works.

-possible plot idea ahead-

In Gotham, Red Hood has been MIA for several months from both being a vigilante and a crime boas, and the rest of the batfam are freaking out about it; especially since a new crime boss has come into play going by "The Monarch" or "JD Fent" (The Monarch plays into Danny being either Ghost King or an adjacent role in the Infinite realms, and the JD Fent is a mix of their names bc I think it's cool :D).

Meanwhile, Jason and Danny have been chilling together using core fusion to keep away from the batfam and have been improving Crime Alley with Danny's inherited chaotic mad scientist gene being used to harness ectoplasm as a renewable energy since Gotham has a large quantity of it (bonus points if the ectoplasm can be re-filtered to be safely used again for power).

The GIW or another ghost could show up in Gotham to hunt down JD and the batfam accidentally get captured since a lot of them have died (I think??).

Cue a garnet-style reunion and a "stronger than you" scene before escaping and telling the rest of the batfam the truth.

Dp x BNHA

Similar to the other one, but quirks count as mini-cores and that's how people gain their powers. Quirkless people don't have cores and therefore don't have powers.

Danny could be able to fuse with the previous OFA users and just pull them out of Izuku or they could just fuse by Danny grabbing onto Izuku when using his quirk in a fight.

And I'm just imagining during one of the fights Danny grabs onto Izuku and a flash of light shoots out and once the light clears, Danny is gone and a person with three sets of arms with an appearance similar to Danny's and the other OFA users mixed into one before battling it out with the LOV.

Please let me know if anything doesn't seem like it works! And this prompt is free to use by anyone if they want to! :]

[mahoutoons]

all steven universe ships are valid.. except steven x gem and pearl x men ships if you like those go eat cement.

[rosenotactuallyquartz]

love like you & rose’s love for pearl

i love relating love like you to pearlrose. particularly, from rose’s perspective. here is how i’ve always looked at it.

the war

do it for her + love like you are exactly how pearl and rose felt about each other during the rebellion.

“You have nothing but the way you feel, your strategy and a sword, you just think about the life you'll have together after the war.”

“If I could begin to be half of what you think of me, I could do about anything! I could even learn how to love… like you!” 

“Deep down, you know you weren't built for fighting but that doesn't mean you’re not prepared to try!”

“I always thought I might be bad… now, I’m sure that it’s true ‘cause… I think you’re so good! And I’m nothing like you!”

“And then you do it for her. That's how you know you can win.”

“Look at you go, I just adore you, I wish that I knew what makes you think I’m so special.”

[Image description: Pearl’s blue hologram of Rose is depicted in this image as she reenacts a memory. She wears a dress with a star emblem at the chest, and she looks down, her expression appears to be one of concern. The background is a soft purple.]

a single pale rose

remember the night that they escaped from the other diamonds ?

“When I see the way you act, wondering when I'm coming back, I could do about anything.”

“When I see the way you look, shaken by how long it took, I could do about anything… I could even learn how to love like you.”

to fake pink’s shattering, she obviously vanished for a moment. in a single pale rose, we see a shapeshifted pearl crying and holding the diamond in her hand.

eventually rose came back, then, you know, “endless honeymoon” as rebecca described it. rebecca continues this in the book “end of an era” by adding, “pink is gone and pearl is free to love rose.”

meanwhile, rose saw how much pearl cared about her that night. she admired her so much–her courage, how much she meant to her because she definitely saw someone who was shaken and wondering when she was coming back after she reformed as rose.

[Image Description: this image depicts a pink flower in Pink Diamond’s palm. She wears a pink glove and there is dirt underneath the flower. Pearl’s hand is taking the flower from Pink]

after rose’s death

the final line of the song is: “love ME like you…”

i like to interpret this as the… truth, really. rose loved pearl more than pearl knew. sapphire had to remind her that she swept her off her feet.

rose loved pearl just as intensely, just as strongly and deeply as pearl loves rose.

rose could love pearl the way pearl loves her.

… but she could never love herself.

pearl knew rose the best. she lived with pink and then she lived with rose for the rest of rose’s life.

the only other individual who knows rose entirely like that… is rose herself. and yet, she hated herself.

“Her lack of respect for herself makes it impossible for her to respect everyone closest to her. She reveres them instead, because they are better than she could ever be, and that reverence is so honest and intoxicating that it draws everyone closer to her, without them understanding the deep self-hatred that pull is coming from.” — Rebecca Sugar, End of an Era, page 88.

meanwhile, there’s:

Interviewer: “Pearl obviously has some unrequited love for Rose, you know, and…”

Rebecca: “I don’t know if I would call it unrequited!” — Comic News Insider Episode 679

and there’s:

“Rose falls in love with Pearl's surprising boldness that comes out of left field.” — Steven Universe: End of an Era, Page 86

all of the flashbacks with rose are told to her son from the perspectives of others. they were either from the perspectives of people who didn’t know pearl or pearl / rose very well. sometimes, pearl would tell a story, but the focus was on how much she loved rose. there are also a few times in the show where her friends remind her that rose loved her a lot more than she knew.

if you think about love like you from rose’s perspective, the ending is meaningful.

the story didn’t end because she couldn’t feel the same love for pearl. the story ended because she couldn’t love herself. it was never about choosing anyone, if anything, she chose steven. pearl’s protectiveness, garnet’s wisdom, amethyst’s playfulness, and greg’s kindness made rose believe that her child would grow up in such a wonderful environment and she was “so excited for everyone who’s going to know [her child].” she didn’t realize that her death would hurt people, she thought they would be better off without her. and besides, she didn’t want to live with herself.

pearl barely knew that rose did love like her !! she was in awe of her; she would blush and show vulnerable parts of herself and smile all the time around her.

the problem is, she never loved like pearl in a way that she could see herself through pearl’s eyes. if she could, then maybe she would have been able to love herself.

[Image description: The Crystal Temple, a gray stone statue of a fusion between Pearl, Rose Quartz, Amethyst, and Garnet with long curls and four arms. In front of the statue, at the bottom, is a house. In front of the house is a sandy road leading to a beach, and the background is a soft purple sunset.]

i know that this song isn’t about any character in particular, but it also fits so many characters. i love relating this to many others—ame & the crystal gems, pearl + rose with garnet, sapphire with ruby, and steven with connie. here’s the pearlrose perspective !

[honey-minded-hivemind]

Gem Au where everyone is a Gem except Reader, who is a Half-Gem like Steven.

Maybe they were friends with Reader's human or gem parent, maybe they found them in a dumpster, maybe one of them is Reader's parent (if the human parent was the one who gave birth) .

However they got them, they now have a little baby that they love with everything they are. Even if they don't exactly get why their fragile meat child needs to eat or sleep or why they cant walk and talk as a newborn, they will be their every step of the way.

Or

Maybe Reader is already grown up when they finally meet. Reader knows they're half-Gem but doesn't know anything about that because they were raised by humans, so they continue doing their normal human life of going to work, paying the bills, and doing all of their normal human thing

Meanwhile all the Yans are just horrified because Reader is so FRAGILE, humans can die to almost anything but Reader keeps doing things! And they have so little experience 20 years is nothing to a Gem lifespan. Even the newer Gems like Kurt and Kitty are centuries older than them so Reader clearly needs protection! (Not really, all the yans have done is invaded their house and added the extra responsibility of teaching them Earth and human things)

Hahaha! Okay! Let's mash those two ideas together, @sugar-soda!

Reader is a half human/half gem who is about, say, 16 or 17. They're old enough to know basic safety, how to cook easy meals, how to clean, and has survived mostly with a little help from their human parent. Then they passed away, and Reader ends up in an abandoned gem temple they turn into a home. They add an old couch, whatever blankets they can find or buy, and a fridge that miraculously works. They earn their keep by setting up a market stall to sell odd knick-knacks and rocks and random old gem artifacts in the temple...

Then one day, they meet a few of the platonic yam X-Men gems, who, when Reader sees them, realizes they are not human, while the gems believe Reader is one of them (or a poor, possible force-fused one). They struggle to understand the concept of birth amd parents and death, only for Reader to walk them through it. Slowly, Reader becomes friends with them (or at least the youngest gems) (the teens).

The gems try to be careful with Reader, remembering that humans are rather fragile, squishy, easy to die beings who need constant food and water, each and every day. They ask, almost jokingly, how old Reader is, guessing maybe a few centuries, rather young... And Reader drops on them that they're only 16 or 17... To say the gems are horrified is an understatement.

This poor, defenseless, court-less, Dimaond-less gem, was without any other gems, and has no idea of their society, their culture, or that they even were a gem?! And were essential a GEMLING?! A GEODE?!

Oh no. NononNonONO! They are coming with them back to their mighty, safe, secure, beautiful Homeworld, free from these death traps they call a planet, and are going to learn how to be a gem! They can't leave them like this! They're so new, so naive, they can't even think of themself as a gem-! How could they leave them there to suffer?!

Reader insists they are fine in Earth, and have to block the entrances to the temple so the platonic yans don't break in or catch them while they're asleep. Attempts are certainly made. Until finally, one late night/early morning, Reader goes out, ends up knocked out, and is forcefully adopted by the platonic yans and taken aboard a hand ship or other gem spacecraft, and are held somewhere to be inspected and slowly "unconditioned"...

(Ask questions for this AU, please! And @sugar-soda, surprise, you have helped inspire/make an AU! Now, I need to figure out what gem Reader should be... Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas? I'm open to a few...)

[maybegays-blog]

Welcome to my blog 🙏 🫡

(Edited)

What I WILL write:

Smut

Fluff

Angst

Yandere

X (Fem!) Reader (anything but male)

What I WONT write:

Heavy saw level gore. (It’s hard to write and it makes me a lil sick 😔😵‍💫)

Character x Character (nothin wrong w it, I just personally don’t really like ships)

X Male reader

🍇

Inc3st

If you request something that’s not on here, I will look into. (If I do not respond then I will probably not write)

—

Please specify what you want me to write, I’m not good at coming up with things :(

Also, a small disclaimer. English isn’t my first language.

Masterlist

FUCKERS I WRITE FORRR!!!

Celebrities

La Zarra

Lady Gaga

Charlize Theron

Catherine Zeta-Jones

Gwedoline Christie

Trolls 3

Velvet

Viva

The Conjuring

Lorraine Warren

Wednesday (2022)

Morticia Addams

Larissa Weems

Marilyn Thornhill

The School For Good And Evil

Lady Leonora Lesso

Clarissa Dovey

Black Panther

Queen Ramonda

Shuri Udaku

Riri Williams

Steven Universe

The FEMALE Crystal Gems

The Diamonds

Resident Evil: Village

Lady Dimitrescu

Mother Miranda

Donna Beneviento

Bela Dimitrescu

Cassandra Dimitrescu

Daniela Dimitrescu

Total Drama

Gwen

Leshawna

Heather

Eva

Izzy

Courtney

Bridgette

(Not that far in the show, sorry!😔)

[your-sweetest-nightmares-blog]

I drew this while I was sick. Hooray for the power of love!

[maximwtf]

“Defenselessness”

                                         Peridot  x gem reader

words: 1930

google docs pages: 3

Warnings: None?

opening: You watch Peridot struggle to walk and in general exist without her limb enhancers. In an attempt to make her feel better, you gift her a new pair. 

AN// they/them used! I was legit upset when Peridot never got them back, so I’m fixing that by writing this :”D!

                                  “Defenselessness.”

It had been a while since you joined the crystal gems. It still felt like not all of them trusted you, but at least you had Steven. He seemed to trust you, even without making you prove yourself in some way. Not that the other crystal gems were waiting for you to do something in order to really accept you, but that's what it felt like. 

Recently though, their attention had been on something else. From what you had heard, this ‘thing’ was a homeworld gem, who had been sent here to do something. Mission by mission, you had figured out enough pieces to know that the gem was a Peridot. Funny enough, before you had crashed on earth, one of the gems you had been working with had been a Peridot. 

Before having to come to terms with the fact that you were never going back home, you had been sent on a mission. This mission included a peridot and some amethyst muscle. Your job had been to go and clear the area where Peridot would have been working in, and make sure that no one was going to be there. But as you had begun getting closer to the landing spot, something had gone wrong and the ship crashed down. It didn’t take long for the crystal gems to find out, and before you were able to escape or fight them off, you had been trapped. 

The gems never took you with them on their missions, so just like usually you were left in the house, by yourself. There was not much for you to do during these times. Eating food seemed disgusting, and so did the other human activities. This time though, not a lot of time passed before the warp pad lit up, bringing light to all the dark corners of the room. The crystal gems appeared on it, soon all of them spreading around the house. “We caught her!” Steven yelled, running towards you. “Yeaah, she had weird bits attached to her.” Amethyst laughed while digging through the cabinets. “Weird bits? Did she have limb enhancers on?” You asked curiously, tilting your head. “I guess that’s what those were.” The amethyst replied, showing something down her mouth. Could have it been the same one you were teamed up with? “So it was an era 2 gem. They were given to those who lacked power, like the era 2 peridots who were made for quantity not quality.” You spoke mostly to yourself, but loud enough that anyone interested would hear. “Where is she now?” You then asked, looking up from the floor. “Bubbled.” Garnet replied quickly, which you replied to by slowly nodding. 

If this Peridot had been sent here to take samples from the kindergartens, there was a high chance that this was the same Peridot that you had briefly befriended. Not that you deeply cared for her, but knowing that she was bubbled and without her limb enhancers felt wrong. What if she ever got out? She would have no way of defending herself, if she could even walk without them. You shook those thoughts out of your head. Even if you wanted to check if it was the same gem, you couldn’t. One wrong move would end you up in a bubble like hers as well. Being the newest member meant that you didn’t have space to step out of line, not that you even knew where the bubbled gems were being held. No one had told you, and you doubted anyone would even if you asked them. 

It was the night of the same day. Because you didn’t have a room, you’d just lay on the couch with your eyes closed. Steven says that that’s not how sleeping works, but you bet ‘real sleeping’ would feel the same. It was only when the gems started to move again, that you opened your eyes for a moment. They had gathered around the kitchen countertop to talk, mostly ignoring you. You gave them the same treatment and closed your eyes again. This time you had to open them back up rather quickly. The door at the back of the building opened up and a peridot ran out, Steven chasing after them. That’s the gem! You sprang up from the couch. To your horror, the crystal gems all pulled out their weapons. You gave a quick look towards the peridot, trying to figure out if it was the same one. Her gem seemed to be in the same place, but that wasn’t enough to determine anything. It was only when she quickly looked at you that you could confirm, it indeed was the same one. She turned to look at you before making a run for it, and as she did, her mouth fell open a little. She recognized you too. But before she was able to shout out anything, she had to lock herself in the bathroom. 

You listened to the gems try to force her out, but knowing the green gem, she wouldn’t come out like that. Especially now that she was scared. You took your chances and climbed to where Steven’s bed was. There you knew you’d find a part of her old limb enhancers. Steven had showed it off to you, still unsure as to why he had kept it. 

You waited for the gems to give up on trying to force the gem out, and once Steven had gone to bed too, you sneaked to the door. “Peridot.” It took her some time to respond, probably shocked to hear your voice. “Traitor! Why are you on their side?!” You then heard. “Can you let me in, so we could talk?” That wasn’t going to be enough to convince her. “I have something in return for your time.” The small leftover of the limb enhancers wasn’t going to be a lot, but it might just make her open the door for you. 

You saw the door creek open, and when her eye spotted the boot of her limb enhancers the green gem grabbed it and left the door open. You stepped in, taking that as a welcome to do so. After turning the lights on, you locked the door to make sure Peridot knew the gems weren’t in on this. “Traitor! You’re the same Y/n that was supposed to be helping me!” The now small gem hissed at you from the corner of the room. “They’re not as bad as they seem. My ship crashed and I lost all contact with the rest of the team.” You mumbled the last part, eyes wandering before they locked on Peridot. She truly was small, it made you giggle. Almost all the era 2 homeworld gems wore limb enhancers, and now seeing one without them made you giggle. “What are you laughing at, traitorous clod?!” The green gem yelled out. “Shh, you’re going to wake up everyone.” You hissed at her, taking better control of yourself to stop the laughter. Peridot shut her mouth, clutching onto the last piece of her old leg. “Look, you can trust Steven. He’ll make sure the gems don’t harm you. But you have to get out of here.” You told her, kneeling down. “And if you don’t want to get along with any of them, I’m here. The crystal gems don’t necessarily like me either. They’re just fine with having me around.” You told her, standing up. “So?” You offered her a hand which she took. You pulled her up and walked the green gem to the door and out from there. 

Some time had passed since then, and a lot of things had happened. Peridot had been accepted to stay with the crystal gems on earth, but you had noticed something. You’d often see the bright green gem run on all fours, and stumble as she tried to walk normally. No one said anything about it and some had even found it funny, but you knew better than that. The poor gem had had the limb enhancers on her whole life, and now that they were taken away from her it was hard for Peridot to exist normally. It must have felt the same if someone took half of your legs away suddenly and made you defenceless, and then laughed at you. 

Watching her try to stay as her normal self was hard, because you could often hear her curse under her breath for having to crawl like an animal. 

You couldn’t bear to watch her have to live like this anymore, there must have been something you could do? And with that in mind, you began to make a plan. There was no way to go back to homeworld and snatch a new pair of limb enhancers, but there was one place on earth that still might have had them stored. 

As the sun began to go down and the crystal gems had started to settle, you headed to the warp pad. Since no one was around, you warped to the spot your ship had crashed in. All the systems were messed up, but the door that led inside the ship still opened, barely. You had to push it a little to get it fully out of the way. No lights were turning on anymore either, but using your gem as a source of light worked just as well. 

You made your way to the back of the ship, and opened one of the ‘doors’ on the sides of the ship. All of the extra supply was stored in these, and if you remembered correctly there had been an extra pair of limb enhancers in one of them. After going through a few of these locker-like storage spaces, the light from your gem lit up exactly what you had been looking for. A brand new pair of limb enhancers. 

With the items in hand you left the abandoned ship and walked back to the warp pad. It took you straight to the house you had left earlier, and where you expected Peridot to be as well. You had told her to meet you there, and after some convincing she had agreed to come. You stumbled a little by the weight in your arms as you walked outside the house where you expected her to be waiting for you. “Peridot!” You called out and she turned towards you. It was dark already, since it had taken longer than you had expected to get the limb enhancers. The sun had set, only the moon shining some light over Beach city. “I got you something!” You smiled. It was only when you were closer to her that she finally realised what you were carrying in your arms. They were all in one pile, so it must have been a little hard to make out what they were. “Are those-” The green gem started, stars slowly forming in her eyes. “New limb enhancers!” You finished her sentence, happily offering them to her. With shaky hands she took them, immediately trying them on. “I had some in the ship I managed to crash.” You laughed silently at your mistake. “Thank you.” Peridot said, looking up at you with tears in her eyes, which she tired to wipe away, but it was no use. They kept appearing back every time. “I couldn’t stand to watch you crawl anymore.” You said, but there was no further reply. Your eyes stayed on her, the green gem now slightly taller than you were. “I’m not cute anymore.” She laughed.