#Shattered quartz/steven

[bixels]

vague-posting about this here cuz i don't feel comfortable yapping about my su takes on twitter, but after everything that's happened the most interesting thing about the su fandom to me is that so many are 100% there for applying the "everyone can change and deserves a second chance" message to everyone, even the diamonds. except for one ☝️ she doesn't count. cuz she's dead.

[sublime-msc-duo]

"alfie, i know a ritual that could get you out of here. Just follow me."

Name: Steven 'stevie' burton

Age: 18

Species: human

Likes: sea creatures, starfox, shiny things

Dislikes: the dark, spiders, walruses

A late member of the children of artemis cult, Steven was no stranger to eavesdropping on admin meetings, learning about a ritual that could free a member's soul known as the "odin's eye ritual". He and his best friend, aflac would often wander down the communes halls and chat about anything that came to one of their minds during their downtime. Until a thought that aflac had been bottling up for months came to life, asking Steven if he ever wanted to be the cult. Steven, knowing the odin's eye ritual, decided to use it now.

[normalpillsaddict]

the first time we lost someone

[rosenotactuallyquartz]

my last order to you as a diamond

“no one can ever find out we did this. i never want to look back. so, for my last order to you as a diamond, please, let’s never speak of this again. no one can know.” — pink diamond, a single pale rose

“pink diamond is so sure that she's powerless, but she's actually profoundly powerful, so much so that she devastates people's lives without understanding it because she thinks she has no real power or sway.” —rebecca sugar, end of an era

even if you understand rose, pink can still be difficult to understand. she faces unimaginable punishments if she doesn’t follow the twisted rules of homeworld. but there’s hidden details that reveal her genuine self. the pebbles, the gems who are considered the most inferior, know her as the one gem who would thank them. she’s so excited when she can play with other gems like equals and she’s not getting “that dumb salute.” white gives pink a colony just to prove that she will fail, but the moment pink discovers the harm that her colony is doing to life on earth, she immediately wants to stop her colony and fight to protect them.

much like steven in gem glow when he finds out he has a shield, pink can’t be aware of her powers, she can’t understand them, until she sees them in action.

and rose… never sees the power behind her orders as a diamond in action.

pink’s intentions when she gave the order

—> context: pink is escaping to begin a life with the person she’s falling in love with, so they can be their true selves, be free of homeworld’s rules (one of the main ones is giving orders & following them), & continue their rebellion.

—> “no one can ever find out we did this”: i see this as reassurance-seeking, as she would be incredibly scared in this situation. the other diamonds make her feel as if they wouldn’t care if she’s shattered. however, if she’s caught faking it, the punishment is unimaginable. white threatened to “take her pearl away” whenever pink disappointed her, so she was always scared for pearl, too. while pearl is the first person who has made rose feel completely loved & safe, reassurance is needed regardless. pausing to remind pearl not to tell anyone is actually expected given pink’s trauma & the situation.

—> “i never want to look back”: they love everything about each other as individuals & they particularly love all the things they weren’t allowed to be on homeworld. rose fell for pearl’s boldness, how fiercely opinionated she is; pearl fell in love with rose’s softness, the way that she thinks all life is precious. rose is expressing that she wants to truly move on from this old world so that they can embrace being who they truly are—and having the dynamic that they want, one that reflects how they feel about each other.

—> “my last order”: we know that she has a tendency to speak very passionately with symbolism during emotional moments (i.e., tape in lion 3). pink states that it’s officially her last order, symbolizing the end of their old lives that they both despised. she hated giving orders as much as she hated the salute. it’s also an official promise that she will never give orders ever again. partially because she sympathizes with pearl’s particular homeworld trauma, partially because of her tendency to blame herself for things. and really, it’s simply a relief for both of them.

rose’s guilt

after giving pearl the order, pink looks at pearl with so much care, respect, and admiration in her eyes. she’s so grateful… and so oblivious. she simply feels reassured after the person she trusts the most promises to keep the secret. besides, it doesn’t feel like too much to ask because she knows that pearl doesn’t want to tell anyone. that would put them both in danger.

at the same time, her eyes look sad. even without knowing the impact of her order, she feels guilty that pearl is keeping so many of her secrets. it’s related to lots of other issues that they have, such as pearl being self sacrificing during the war. pearl’s the only one who truly knows exactly what she needs protection from and how much danger she would be in if she poofed. rose also feels lots of self hatred & pain & she can never hide this from pearl the way she hides it from others, because pearl knows so much, including traumas. she knew her when she was very naive, belittled, vulnerable, facing ongoing abuse. rose fears that she is causing pearl distress due to the mere fact that she is the only one who knows all these distressing things about her.

with that sort of guilt, it would just be out of character for pink to give this order if she knew of the power behind it.

steven

pearl never tried to tell anyone the secret until the diamonds put steven in danger. she never needed to tell anyone. the diamonds were never a threat for the thousands of years that she was with rose. this also says a lot about the reasons behind rose’s death. people who hate rose often say that she died to “leave steven with her problems,” but the topic of the diamonds never even needed to come up for thousands of years.

pearl seems surprised when she realizes she physically can’t say anything. still, she seems to find a way rather quickly when she knows for sure that she needs to tell him. pearl is an intelligent & strong-willed character; these traits get overlooked because she’s emotional and passionate about her sincere, intense love. even the day of, she tries to verbally tell him, proving just how unknown this power was.

things changed throughout the years

pearl grows in many ways while rose is alive, and this growth starts as early as the now we’re only falling apart timeline. early on in the relationship, pearl fought with rose when she didn’t agree with her.

around the same timeframe as the final order, pearl stands her ground when rose tells her that she doesn’t have to stay and fight with her. she argues, “but i want to!” and rose refers to her as my pearl. as individuals and as a relationship they attract gems who also want to rebel against homeworld’s society. this reenactment of one of their biggest arguments ever shows pearl disagreeing with her, expressing why she feels differently, and she even shouts at one point.

also, notice how most of the issues in their relationship happen when they’re fresh out of homeworld. they make progress then, and in we need to talk pearl is very sure of herself and loves showing off how much rose feels for her. rose notices this growth and it’s reassuring for her. issues come up before rose dies & losing rose definitely brought up old wounds. but they seemed to have little to no issues in the thousands of years between the war and the 90s. pearl hated being bossed around, this was comforting for rose… and it made it hard for her to ever imagine the impact that order had on her.

the end + a note about pearl

“her impulse control is pretty poor. she doesn't really think about when another person, you know, when she's putting another person in danger.” —rebecca sugar, the art of steven universe

“rose wanted to give everybody the kind of environment she didn’t have, but everything about her is about who she didn’t want to be.” —rebecca sugar says goodbye to steven universe

besides everything that the creators mentioned, johnston stated that the power behind her orders only apply to her assigned pearl on homeworld. also, stating something without being pink diamond & saying it’s an order will not have this effect (so, on a positive note, it’s important to remember that pearl’s love for rose and everything she does on earth are not orders she’s following. this is the only time they’ve had this issue). in now we’re only falling apart, pearl was portrayed as being very good at her job, working diligently and doing everything she was expected to do up until the rebellion when she had the opportunity to be who she wanted to be. and rose was herself too. given how complicated this is, it was difficult for rose to figure out the power behind these orders.

anyway, considering the intentions she has when she starts her life on earth, rose’s flaws as she gives this order would never be: wanting power over pearl, manipulation, and quite literally using their original and forced homeworld dynamic to get what she wants.

(i also don’t think pearl would love her so much if this was the case. she fell in love with rose for opposite traits such as her soft heart & how she felt about all life + the world.)

instead, the flaws are: obliviousness, naivety, & maybe even impulsiveness because that’s an ongoing flaw that rose has throughout the series. she often says and does things quickly and without too much thought, especially in difficult situations and when she feels strongly about something. due to that constant fight-or-flight she’s used to being in, she doesn’t think things through and has trouble moving at a slower pace, thinking before speaking & acting, reflecting.

but even then, she wouldn’t say this, even impulsively, if she knew the truth. it’s ironic and unfair to both of them, as the order silencing pearl symbolizes everything that pearl + rose were rebelling against. but it’s clear that rose didn’t know the effect of it. this is a negative aspect of their relationship, yes, but the intentions behind it definitely change how the relationship looks as a whole. it’s sad, but it’s not malicious.

i think pearl is the strongest character in the show. time and time again, she shows that she is her own person with unique strengths, makes progress even following setbacks due to trauma, and she proves everyone on homeworld (who think pearls are things, with irrelevant feelings who can’t fight and are made to serve) wrong. she is outspoken, courageous, smart. she hated serving but she has a selfless & caring personality, so instead she becomes this incredible (and sometimes intimidating) sword fighter who protects the one she loves—so strongly that many misunderstand it. and here’s the thing: as much as rose would feel terrible if she knew about all of this, pearl's ability to defy an order that contained powers she had no idea existed is one of the many reasons rose would be proud of her if she could see her.

[floorworm]

The colonization of earth and it's consequences

[rabbiteartrans]

Shadow the Hedgehog is a pretty messy dub overall i think, BUT....

Those last like 30 seconds of the opening piano of 'Never Turn Back' and Shadow saying "maybe Maria wasn't all she was cracked up to be"?

Peak fucking cinema. Genuinely gets me emotional even a year later despite it having almost no connection to the rest of the dub at all.

Ryan's such a genuinely great Shadow VA

[beau-rebloga-coisas]

I am rewatching SU and damnit. Rose Quartz's character is so well constructed from the begining. You start thinking on her as this perfect being. She used to cure other with her tears! She freed Planet Earth. She loved Steven even without knowing him.

Then you start to discover not so great things about her. Then it straight up, every bad thing happening to Steven is a result of her past mistakes. She shattered Pink Diamond. She started a war. She treated Pearl like a toy. Then all of Steven's misfortunes are a result of her poor behavior.

And still, she's such an interesting character. She was born into the highest chaste of a society where you're born to be a tool, not an individual. She had tantrums because she was raised by tyrants that kept throwing bigger tantrums and throwing her inside a jail cell, alone for stars know how long. She did the only thing she could for Planet earth and this costed the lives of all her friends aside from Pearl and Garnet. She poofed Bismuth for being too radical and later used her idea. She tried her best and even like that her best wasn't enough. When she thought everything could work out and grew as a person in response to Greg, she wanted to create life, unfortunately everything blew up in Steven's face. She just wanted a child that could grow and change. She just wanted peace with her found family. Was she even bisexual. Anyways, I love Rose Quartz.

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

If it's not a spoiler, what would you say is WD!Rose's biggest weakness/flaw?

I would hope that her biggest flaws haven't really changed from the original show. It's not like she acquired some new ones just because Steven's there. At her core, her motivations and fears are still the same.

Largely, it's her self-hatred and self-doubt.

Rose Quartz has always been defined by her dislike of herself. It's in the lyrics of the end song. It's practically telegraphed at every episode she shows up in.

Rose Quartz popped out of the ground, was immediately defined by who she was (supposed to be) and then was pretty much immediately reprimanded by the other diamonds for acting out in any way that didn't fit their 'standards'.

Then she went to Earth, realized their standards were shite, and tried desperately to become someone else - while never believing that she could ACTUALLY change and grow to be someone new. To the very end, she thought that she was fooling the others, even as she tried to protect them.

Her entire arc is about desperately trying to be herself, and failing at every step of the way because she fundamentally doesn't believe she's capable of change. She looks in the mirror and she sees in past tense.

Rose, here, is faced with something she has been running after her whole life:

Living proof of how a Diamond could be Not A Diamond in a way that isn't deceiving anyone. In a way that is purely, entirely, fundamentally, changing who they are.

Rose adores Steven at this point in the story, as much as she is terrified of him and all he represents.

His ability to forget who he is supposed to be.

His potential for change, and growth beyond his programming.

And the looming threat of that all being just another lie, or a temporary fix that will shatter her hopes of ever becoming like him.

Of course... she doesn't know about his dreams, nor his internal struggles. But that's gonna be its own story. :)

[rosaq]

When I think of Pink and Rose, I always sort of thought of her as a cautionary tale about what can happen when you have really dangerously low self esteem. And also the environment that can create that situation and the toxicity that can emerge from that environment.

—Rebecca Sugar, Q&A The Art of Steven Universe

[Image description] Five gifs of Steven Universe scenes lined up one after another.

The first gif is a close-up of Rose Quartz’s face from the episode “Now We are Only Falling Apart”. She seems sorrowful and her eyes glisten as she speaks. The yellow subtitles say: “When I think of Pink and Rose,”

The second gif shows Pink Diamond’s profile side with her head down. It’s the from episode “Can’t Go Back”. Only her dark outline is visible against a very light background; there are no details, she’s merely a shadow. She raises her head and opens her mouth to say something, looking up to Blue Diamond. Blue is out of frame. She immediately interrupts Pink by lifting her much larger hand in front of Pink’s face, which is the only visible part of Blue’s body (her hand is twice as big as Pink’s face). Pink pauses and lowers her head again, looking down at the ground. The yellow subtitles say: “I always sort of thought of her as a cautionary tale”

The third gif is from “Change Your Mind”. It shows Pink Diamond looking up to someone who’s beyond the frame. She’s in the tower the Diamonds would lock her in when they wanted to punish her. Her facial expression is sad, regretful. She lowers her head and closes her eyes. A single tear falls from her right eye. She opens her eyes again, looking down at the ground. The subtitles say: “about what can happen when you have really dangerously low self esteem.”

The fourth gif shows Stevonnie dressed in Pink Diamond’s clothes in the episode “Together Alone”. One of Yellow Diamond’s hand hold them by the middle of their body, lifting them up from the ground and taking them out of frame. The frame goes black and then the shape of light pouring out of a opening door is visible on the ground. Stevonnie is brusquely thrown on said ground. The subtitles say: “And also the environment that can create that situation”

The fifth gif starts with a close-up of Stevonnie’s hand in the “Jungle Moon” flashback. There is a mirror in front of them and their reflection shows Pink Diamond instead of Stevonnie. Their hand is clenched in fist as it trembles. Then the frames pulls out to show Pink’s reflection in the mirror in its entirety; at first, her face is shadowed. She pulls her arm back and punches the mirror, shattering her own reflection. Her face becomes visible: her teeth is bared in a snarl and her brows are furrowed in anger. It’s an ugly, raw expression. The subtitles say: “and the toxicity that can emerge from that environment.” [End ID]

[faelapis]

i feel like i'm in at a lonely table for one here... but i don't want any SU continuity to be a prequel. and i think some people who want a prequel, haven't really thought through what that would look like.

either a war prequel or a rose quartz prequel would end up as a huge downer. the steven/post-steven era is the only one that has any HOPE for the vast majority of the characters.

idk. i feel like if you really want flashbacks, there's nothing STOPPING a post-SU future series (whether an anthology series or a new main character) from having flashbacks. maybe pearl's the main character for an episode, and its mostly her telling old war stories. maybe bismuth and garnet finally have that beta raid flashback.

but if you set it in the past, definitively, then its going to be a bummer. because all the characters end up corrupted, shattered, deeply traumatized, or fleeing to homeworld. nobody feels like a winner right after the war. not a single character.

most gems are only beginning to heal from it now.

SU, thematically, has always focused on the possibility of hope and change. that's only possible in the future, not the past.

you want lore? you can have that in an anthology or post-future series. there is nothing stopping peridot or the diamonds from having a "explaining gem origins and religion" ep. you want action sequences? again, pearl can narrative war flashbacks, or we can even set an anthology episode in the past proper. or have a new conflict!

personally, i don't see a reason to set it only in the past. that's just an unnecessary limit on the stories you're able to tell.

[foone]

Hey boss. Sorry, I'm not gonna make it to standup today, something came up. Yeah, I found the crystal. It was in a cave in the middle of a desert somewhere in Arizona, and as soon as I fell into it I knew what I'd found. The darkness of the stuffy air unsee the earth suddenly faded as it floated off the ground and everything was lit with a faint yet still somehow still blinding blue light. Yeah, I'm gonna merge with it. I'll be torn apart, but not dying like I was still made of flesh, but more like a caterpillar making a cocoon. After some unknown days or weeks or years merged with the crystal, it'll shatter, the pieces fading into inert quartz, and only I will remain. Not human anymore, but something greater. No, I don't think I'll be able to fix the downloads page while I'm in the crystal, you'll have to reassign that jira ticket to Steven or Ali instead. I'll let you know if when I get out of the crystal, yeah. Yep, I already marked the time off on the shared Google calendar. Thanks, I'll talk to you later. Oh and can you tell Janice I won't be able to make it to the company lunch next Friday? Thanks.

[sublime-msc-duo]

Aflac and steven were wandering down the halls of the children of artemis commune like always, gossiping about things like always when steven dropped a bombshell of a question in a whisper

"so, uh, alfie,...have you ever considered leaving the commune?"

"what??!...now that you mention it...yea...i am now"

"well...i know how to get us out of here. Its a ritual. Odin's eye or whatever. It can free ones soul from the cult in exchange for something... I didn't catch that last part"

"soo...wanna do it?"

"y'sure? I-i heard that ritual is dangerous!"

"it'll be a-ok! It's not that bad, right?"

[thornedwitch-art]

When she came back, after the "shattering".

[ALT: Rose Quartz and Pearl from Steven Universe hugging on their knees behind a bush as war wages on behind them.]

[rosenotactuallyquartz]

"Pearl is Alfred if Alfred was in love with Batman. It’s very important to note that we’re talking about Batman here, NOT Bruce Wayne. She loves BATMAN." — rebecca sugar

what do you think about pearl loving only rose quartz and not pink diamond? I love pearlrose but I think their relationship kind of reinforced rose's self hatred. rose needed to accept pink diamond and her past to accept herself but her fantasy with pearl denied pink diamond's relation to rose.

which also makes me think that rose loved pearl *more* than pearl loved her because she always fully loved and accepted pearl. of course, that's not pearl's fault because she couldn't have a relationship with a diamond who owned her; separating the diamond and the quartz was what made her relationship with rose possible and far healthier than it could've been. so their situation is pretty tragic.

(i’m new to tumblr, so this will be the answer to my first ask, which is exciting. anyway.)

i’ve always seen that quote as being a more positive statement about pearl and rose’s relationship !

it clarifies that pearl never loved rose because of reasons that are related to the pearl-diamond dynamic in horrific homeworld. that’s a common misconception about pearl’s love for rose.

the fact that she fell in love with her when she became rose shows that her love was never mere admiration, devotion, following. it went against homeworld; her love was genuine and real. deep, nurturing, empathetic. she loved rose like one would love a person.

(i want to give a heads up because there are going to be some mentions of abuse & of course rose’s self hatred)

pink diamond hated being a diamond, and she was not like the others. she was in a lot of pain. she was naive, very much a kid compared to the other diamonds. pink was abused, in many different ways. pearl witnessed a lot of this, as she was living with her. she recalled certain times when pink was belittled; she was terrified when steven was left alone with white diamond for about five minutes; she often assumed white caused the harm anytime a gem from homeworld was injured.

pearl said that rose was never happy as pink diamond. they never got the opportunity to connect and get to know each other, and they were both very afraid. the homeworld environment made it impossible for pearl to really fall in love with pink. unless it wasn’t genuine, but i’m actually very grateful for this quote, because it shows that it was.

she never fell in love with pink, but she liked her and cared for her. if she hated pink and loved rose, then i’d understand if that made rose dislike herself more.

the first time she pictured rose, she simply pictured a version of pink who was disguised, yes, but still herself, just more happy and free.

pearl started to fall in love with that individual because this was the only time they could really connect: after escaping from the homeworld society that they both hated.

now we’re only falling apart, their first day on earth, was likely the very first time rose was able to hug her. pearl watched her be herself for the very first time. she watched her play with flowers and chase butterflies and she looked incredibly happy. instead of just looking at her the way that she would look at a diamond, she could actually look at her and perceive her as being endearing. she loved getting to know her as an individual, she loved seeing a soft and genuine side of her that only came out when she felt safe. and rose never felt safe in homeworld.

she also learned how much rose cared for all beings. not just other gems, but humans, too ! she was never one to follow the beliefs of homeworld.

then, they both agreed to escape. rose knew pearl cared for her and pink (especially with pearl crying when they faked the shattering), it’s just homeworld’s system that she hates.

but it was still a tragedy, i agree with that.

white diamond demonstrated how much she damaged rose in change your mind. when she thought she was speaking to pink, she said:

“Please stop helping them. You'll only make things worse. That's what you do. I make things better.”

“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.”

she was most likely spoken to like this for thousands of years, along with things like being locked in a dark room. sugar also said that she only got a colony because white wanted to prove that pink would fail. she controls gems, even blue & yellow, while she points out their flaws in front of everyone and laughs at them.

so this is how i think rose’s self hatred was reinforced: during the war, countless gems (many being her friends) were shattered and corrupted despite the fact that the rebellion happened because she wanted to protect life on earth. she was one of the only survivors, which gave her a lot of guilt. she never healed from the abuse trauma, especially because it was ongoing. she lived in fear that the diamonds would find her one day, but simultaneously, she lived in guilt because no one but pearl knew about this part of herself that she kept secret. eventually, it all became too much.

i think white’s words replayed in her head often. this is why we see her with the ear-covering gesture in change your mind; it makes sense because white evidently said things like, “you’re bad,” “don’t try to help, it will only cause more damage,” “no one needs you.” after trying to heal others, the war and guilt added to her trauma, with a final conclusion of, “i feel like a failure, white diamond is right, i only make things worse, they would be better off without me.”

pearl told rose that she was important, she lived with her while she was a diamond and then throughout her entire lifetime as rose. she saw warmth and comfort when she looked at her despite knowing about so many aspects that rose was ashamed of.

personally, i don’t think pearl ever contributed to rose’s self hatred. no one knew rose as well as pearl did. this means that, if anything, her self hatred was likely reinforced by the fact that so many of her close friends didn’t know her the way she knew them. which isn’t their fault at all, of course ! rose carried so much guilt, and pearl could protect her from the diamonds and the war but she could never protect her from herself.

she felt very cared for… but her self hatred was so terrible that she didn’t feel deserving of all that love. especially, as sugar said, she thought pearl and so many others were so much better than her.

& feeling so much pain all the time, rose was… isolated. she couldn’t tell anyone else about her terrible and destructive thoughts because they wouldn’t understand unless she told them a secret that she didn’t want to tell.

but pearl would be able to understand it/recognize it without rose saying anything, because she knew her so well.

as for your last paragraph, i don’t think rose loved pearl more than pearl loved her. but i also don’t think pearl loved rose more, either !

pearl fully loved pink/rose, it’s why she kept living with her and wanting to be with her despite knowing about nearly everything she was ashamed of, it’s why she defended her and protected her. she just happened to be in love with her when she could really be in love with her.

they were both extremely attached to each other. fans tend to focus on pearl’s attachment because of the steven universe timeline, which happens to fall right where her early (for gems) grief happens. their attachments both make sense.

pearl witnessed how she was treated by the other diamonds, feared that rose would be caught, feared that rose would die in the war, worried about rose’s constant pain following it. she was very protective of her but rose still died… without proper closure or understanding, without a human lifespan so now she’ll be on earth forever without her. of course she became fixated on it. and keeping such a big secret like that made it more difficult. no one could really understand why she was feeling that pain, and some unfortunately assumed it was because she’s a pearl. which is really really sad because their whole dynamic was about going against homeworld.

meanwhile, rose’s attachment came from the fact that pearl was very much… home to her, which was big for her—she never felt at home with the diamond authority, and her home on earth became home because she was living with pearl. their fusion was an extremely significant way for them to officially reject every possible mindset that homeworld could give them. a fusion of two different gems, a diamond and a pearl. pearl helped her build friendships with others, too, which i think is symbolized by the obsidian fusion. first she trusts pearl with her light, and then they both joined the others.

during homeworld & trauma, pink and rose were never in a place where love could grow properly. new, safer environments change so much.

that’s my interpretation of the relationship/sugar’s quote !!

thank you again for the ask 🩷🩷

[patukkaas]

Could you do a Blue Diamond x Red Diamond (fem reader! or GN!) where red is passionate about life on earth?

▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎

Thank you for the request

Unfortunately you didn't specify if you wanted a oneshot or headcanons so I'll do headcanons.

I have horrible writers block so this turned out so bad and short I'm really sorry.

Blue Diamond x Red Diamond! Reader

Warnings: None

▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎

▪︎ You were obviously hiding it from the diamonds that you even somewhat liked Pink's colony.

▪︎ But being as close as you were with Blue, you had accidently slipped it while talking to her.

▪︎ She wasn't suprised but neither was she expecting it.

▪︎ You didn't want to go through with the colony.

▪︎ But it wasn't like anybody would listen so you kept it secret.

▪︎ You prayed the other Diamonds would listen to Pink's whining about not wanting to go through with the colony.

▪︎ While Pink was begging to you, Yellow and Blue, Blue kept glancing at you knowing you didn't want to go through with the colony either.

▪︎ But, you had to teach Pink to go through with what she's started and theres nothing else to that.

▪︎ But after Pink's shattering, Blue was devastated and you had to be there to comfort her.

▪︎ But you were, relieved? That earth was saved, even if Pink had gotten shattered in the process. You knew she wanted earth to be saved, her wish would be completed by Rose Quartz.

▪︎ Blue also knew that you weren't as devastated as her. And she knew you were relieved.

▪︎ When the diamonds wanted to blast every gem off earth, you didn't want to participate in the blasting.

▪︎ After it was revealed that Rose Quartz was Pink diamond and Rose Quartz had a 'son', you were extra relieved knowing Earth was alright and Pink Diamond was too, but just in another form.

▪︎ After Pink's son wanted to stay back on earth, needless to say you were honestly proud of him. ▪︎ having studied earth's life and then trying to teach it to blue

▪︎ You knew what son, mother, father and the earthly terms meant so you had no trouble adjusting to him.

▪︎ You knew Steven wasn't Pink Diamond, but Steven had his mother's spirit.

▪︎ And when you, Yellow, Blue and White took in Spinel in "replace" for Steven, you and Blue acted as if you were parents to her, together ofcourse.

▪︎ Not having earthly realitionship statuses, you liked Blue and Blue liked you. And that way it was, and because of Steven and the earth, White and Yellow didn't judge you and Blue for it.

[picturejasper20]

Bismuth is an interesting character to talk about because, in spite of her having just few appearances in the show, she is almost treated with the same importance that characters like Peridot and Lapis Lazuli have, who show up from the first season and their arcs are spread out through the series.

I believe this comes from how key her introduction episode is, as it mark a ¨before and after¨ in the series, when Steven and the audience begins to learn more about the dark secrets that Rose Quartz kept and how her image of ¨perfect hero¨ for Steven and others starts to break down.

Bismuth is described as the ¨biggest Crystal Gem¨, in the sense she was very passionate about the cause and she was pretty well loved and respected in her team. She seemed to be one of the closest Rose's friends along with Garnet and Pearl back during the Gem War.

It is unknown how Bismuth met Rose Quartz and decided to join the Crystal Gems but based on her dialogue we can get an idea that she was moved by Rose Quartz's ideas and later became part of the movement.

¨And she asked me what I wanted to build, and I'd never heard that before. And Gems never hear they can be anything other than what they are, but Rose opened our eyes.¨

So Bismuth was sent to Earth and when she met Rose Quartz who was ¨just another Quartz soldier¨, she was asked what things she was interested in building. I assumed that Bismuth was taken out by this and over time started to question what she wanted to do and be.

Based on Unleash the Light, Bismuths as gems appear to have an overall sentiment that they aren't respected for their work and they are overlooked. They seem to be gems that are more likely to rebel or demand proper respect than other type of gems- at least based on the game events. I think Bismuth shared a similar feeling as well that made her become a Crystal Gem not so long after meeting Rose.

The other idea that got her was that she could be something different- she didn't have to only build what the Diamonds told her. She could try building her own things! So she choose to use her own skills to create and make weapons for other gems in the war.

Bismuth really looked up to Rose- she adored her- so much that she built a statue dedicated to her. She believed in everything that Rose said and she was willing to do anything for her.

This passion and idolization ended up backfiring on Rose Quartz in a way, as her constant words about how terrible Pink Diamond was had a clear effect on Bismuth, thus making her a fanatic Crystal Gem- someone who considered taking some more extreme measures than the ones Rose had been applying so far.

Rose have indirectly created her own enemies, if it could be put in that way.

One day Bismuth comes up with a weapon- which looks more like a torture device than something to be used on battle- and shows it to Rose. She believes that this could change the outcome of the war and maybe lead them to victory. She shows how it works, probably shattering some statue to prove her point.

Then, for one reason or another, Rose didn't seem to be fond of this idea that Bismuth had- perhaps because she didn't want to be shattered herself or she didn't want that for the other Diamonds, maybe she was scared of this being used in more innocent gems or she didn't want to be like the Diamonds. Whatever was the reason, Rose decided to hide the Breaking Point and poof Bismuth, hiding her inside Lion's mane at some point.

She never told to Pearl and Garnet what happened to Bismuth- not even centuries after the Gem War ended. Probably because she wanted to keep the idea of Pink Diamond's shattering being faked since she previously rejected the breaking point? Maybe it was out of fear of not knowing how Pearl and Garnet would react?

What it is sad is how Bismuth still kept talking good of Rose after being freed by Steven. She went on for a while like she hadn't been betrayed by one of her best friends until she has that fight with Steven near the end of the episode- for what was a misunderstanding and her being too confused at believing that Steven was Rose Quartz for a moment.

After coming back in ¨Made of Honor¨ having some chats with Steven about what happened and learning that Rose was Pink Diamond, Bismuth changed the way she refer herself to Rose. Based on the interactions she has with Steven, she appears to have changed her admiration for Rose Quartz to looking up to Steven now. She tells to Steven about how he has been able to bring the whole team together and how they are more following him rather than Rose Quartz.

In the time skip both in the movie and Steven Universe Future she is seen helping in Little Homeworld, building it or talking to other gems. There isn't much comment on how she feels about Rose in the scenes she shows up, but the overall feeling is that she is still a Crystal Gem because of her friends and Steven and not so much for Rose. It is unknown if she hates Rose- or if it is more of feeling mixed about her. I want to think it is more the latter, as she still kept talking good about her to Steven on ¨Bismuth¨.

Bismuth and Rose Quartz's relationship is a very sad one. Bismuth was betrayed by someone she really looked up to and was close friends with ( and very likely had romantic feelings for) for reasons that not even Rose herself understood. Fortunately Steven freed her and decided to give her the chance that Rose Quartz didn't after she got bubbled. She remains part of the Crystal gems, but more for herself and her friends than for the gem she once idolized.