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i-respect-me-blog · 6 years

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The Diamonds as Diamonds

“Change Your Mind” was brilliant to me. The fusions, the lessons, everything was just so beautiful and I am still in shock. One thing that has always entranced me about the show are the gems themselves, and Homeworld’s hierarchy. Looking at the Diamonds as well, diamonds helped me to better understand White’s breakdown and (rather quick) turn around to help Steven.

First thing that got me thinking about the stones as actual stones themselves, was a line from Yellow.

“We Diamonds are hard, but we’re also brittle.” (Might not be exact quote)

This is true! On the Mohs hardness scale, a diamond is ranked a 10 (the strongest possible) and is even 40 times harder than the next level, a 9. But what does it mean? Hardness is essentially, the strength of the bonds between atoms in a crystal, and is demonstrated through what materials the crystal can scratch. The only thing that can scratch a diamond is another diamond. However, a diamond does not rank that well on the toughness scale, meaning that a diamond can easily crack if dropped.

This is a beautiful way to demonstrate the Diamond’s strength. Every Diamond has incredible powers that are vastly greater than that of any other gem. The Diamonds can withstand blows from gems with relative ease, however; when Yellow attacks Blue, Blue is in incredible pain. Only a Diamond can scratch another Diamond. But, they are still imperfect. They cry, they laugh, they love and they feel pain. They are not as tough as they seem.

Now, onto White Diamond.

Diamonds are ranked through four categories (also known as the 4 C’s): Carat, Cut, Clarity, and Color.

Carat refers to the weight of the diamond, not the size. The heavier the diamond, the larger it is, and therefore much more expensive. We only see the top of Blue’s and Yellow’s gem, but they do appear to be smaller than White’s and Steven’s. This might be why White and Steven have more powers than Blue and Yellow, and also why White and Steven appear to be on a more equal playing field.

Cut refers to the actual physical cut of the stone and is considered the most important C of all. The cut influences the stone’s fire, sparkle, and brilliance. I say stone because cut applies to diamond’s and all other gemstones as well. We’ve already seen the cut of stones discussed throughout this show in the Kindergartens. A gem can be too shallow, or too deep.

Steven’s gem appears to be too deep, while White’s fits the ideal description much better.

Since we can’t see Blue’s or Yellow’s full stone, I’m not sure about their cuts, but perhaps theirs are too shallow.

Clarity is another important C. Every diamond can have natural blemishes, or characteristics, that make the stone unique. Before we send any diamond jewelry off for repair, we even map out these characteristics to ensure the stone we get back is the one we send off. While we can not say for sure if the Diamonds have any inclusions, I think it is fair to say that White would be labeled as F (Flawess).

Color is perhaps the best indicator we have on the show of the Diamond’s differences, since their freaking names are based off their colors. According to Kay Jewlers, “fancy color diamonds aside, the best, most beautiful color for a diamond is no color at all.”

White represents a perfect diamond. Ideal cut, good carat weight, great clarity, and she is colorless. She is white light. She is the gold standard for all gems. Who made her? Well heck if I know. But that’s not important (at the moment). What is important is this:

White begins to show color. This is where everything goes crazy. She loses her composure. She loses control. She shows her imperfections.

White is not perfect. She is not all knowing, nor is she all powerful, as seen through Gem!Steven being able to easily deflect her attacks. White is not perfect, but she has been holding herself to an impossible grading scale. This does not wash away all the horrible things she has done, but I do think it helps to show why she decides to help Steven and the Crystal Gems.

“If I’m not perfect, who am I?”

White wants to be better, and she wants to love herself, imperfections and all. She doesn’t magically become the ultra good space goddess by the end of the episode. She is hesitant and confused throughout the corruption healing scene. I think she has a long way to go, but it is a start.

#steven universe #su #white diamond #pink diamond #blue diamond #yellow diamond #diamond #change your mind #battle of heart and mind

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