We'll always save the day! @a-second-chance-su-au - Tumblr Blog

Jul 9, 2022

Final Post.

You read the title. I won't be continuing A Second Chance anymore. Below the cut, I explain what the plot was gonna be.

I plan on stepping away from SU as a whole now. The only thing I want to finish is Half a Puppet, which you can read on AO3. ((This is absolutely my. best work, I am super proud of it. Pearl's chapter is my magnum opus at the moment. If anything, please go read that lol.))

Thank you everyone for supporting the blog. This was fun, and it got me though COVID and a lot of 2021. I love you all a lot.

I am still active on Tumblr. I am hyperfixated on Cuphead right now, and run the @cuphead-contract-au blog. I am also working on an original project I eventually want to make into a real animated TV show called Follychromatic. You can follow my journey there. @follychromatic.

Thank you all for everything.

Basically, her thing with Connie was because Rose and Greg had been the same right before Greg made Rose go away. She doesn't want the same to happen to Steven.

Pink yelled at her and banished her. This is why she hates Pink, but loves Rose. She joined the rebellion because of that. Reread the intro bit, Rose knew what she had to do.

Spinel would learn to grow more mature and compassionate about the people around her. She would learn what a healthy relationship looks like and strive to have that with everyone. She makes up with Connie, and they become good friends.

In Future, she winds up teaching the gems how to play games. Her sole episode would be about trying to get Steven to relax, similar to Snow Day but not a replacement. It would happen closer to Mr Universe, maybe before the trip but after Steven realizes he has trauma. She'd see how down he is and try to take his mind off of things, which we realize does not work.

Stop there if you would like. Below is a long, long, LONG post, full of the ENTIRE timeline all the up through Season 4. This is copy+pasted from the google doc I had, and incomplete.

...

The full, uncut timeline, following Spinel on her journey! Everything from just single scenes in already-existent episodes all the way to fresh, new content, in chronological order, with all the important stuff, including notes on important visuals and metaphors/symbolism! Timeline starts when Spinel is first created.

17,000 Years Ago

Spinel emerges from her kindergarten.

It was on the planet above the Garden, with the large heart-shaped hole in it

She emerged as her Homeworld-designed self, and immediately recognized Pink and hugged her. Volleyball was present for it.

Pink managed to sneak Volleyball to a couple of playtimes between her and Spinel. The trio was happy, but Spinel never paid much attention to the pearl.

8,000 Years Ago

Volley’s eye cracks.

Pink had been throwing a tantrum at the time and her scream hurt her eye physically

Pink didn’t know about her healing powers before this point, so had no way of fixing it.

She rushed to the other Diamonds, asking if they knew a way to heal her

The Diamonds take Volley away and Pink swears to get better.

Instead of helping, the Diamonds saw that, despite the fact that they GAVE PINK A FRIEND, she still saw her Pearl as one and took her away

This was the moment Pink swore she wouldn’t throw a tantrum again (but note: growth isn’t linear, and yes, she DOES throw a few more first, but that’s later).

A rift is drawn between her and Spinel

Pink likes being equal to others around her, and that was the relationship she had with Volleyball. They were equals in friendship.

That was the only relationship she had like that, so when Volley got taken away, it devastated her

Spinel was created for the sole purpose of serving Pink Diamond, and her friendship is one-way to the point that she doesn’t want Pink to be on equal ground with her. She’s perfectly fine being beneath her, which Pink is highly uncomfortable with.

This is when she started getting annoyed with Spinel, and mostly started going to her to get away from the palace instead of just to play.

Pink starts becoming more mature.

In her quest to A) stop being childish, and thus B) get a colony, Pink knew she needed to grow up. So she began acting more like Yellow and Blue wanted her to.

She wasn’t happy, however, and came to the garden to let loose. She could be as childish as she wanted there.

7,500 Years Ago

Pink is gifted our Pearl

However, she is still throwing tantrums, and at one point, she hurts Pearl during one, causing her to get rejuvenated. Not gonna keep making you Pearls just to get them taken away, Pink.

This causes Pink to never want to use that blasted devise again. She wasn’t aware that it completely reset a gem, just that it erased certain behaviors and memories.

Our Pearl is programmed for no funny business, creating another one-sided relationship that Pink doesn’t want any part of.

Spinel and Pearl met only a few times before the thing happens, but enough that Pearl knows who she is and can remember her later.

6,000 Years Ago (000)

Spinel is left in the Garden

It’s finally paying off. The Diamonds see Pink as one of them (only took 2,000 years, haha!). She’s given Earth as a colony.

However, because the Garden is her place to let loose, she gets extremely annoyed at Spinel for jumping around her like she does. She’s worried they might take her colony away again.

She didn’t mean to forget about her. The way she was always punished was that she was locked in the tower. How is this any different?

Spinel is NOT going to mess this up for her.

Pink comes to Earth

Colonization begins in the Prime Kindergarten

5,850 years ago: (150)

The Amethysts emerge

Pink goes down to Earth with Pearl

They keep sneaking off for about two months before Pink really realizes what it’s doing to the planet

Pink starts trying to persuade the Diamonds to leave the planet alone.

At first, they don’t take her seriously, but when she keeps asking, they start to get annoyed with her. They threaten that this is her colony, she wants it, so if she ever wants to have another, she is to shut it.

Blue is much harsher during this time, and Yellow is a bit softer. Just a tiny bit, though. (Grief changes the both of them)

Coral and Amber approach Spinel and ask her if she wants to play with them. She says no, that she’s already playing with Pink. They insist, having seen that Pink probably isn’t coming back any time soon, but again, Spinel says that Pink wants her to stay still. So that’s what she’s gonna do. The duo retreat into maintaining the garden, but their own worry starts to make the garden run rampant.

5,825 years ago (175)

Blue starts the human zoo

Pink tries to show her life and say that she wants to preserve it.

Blue just kinda rolls her eyes and goes “okay fine” and the zoo is built.

5,800 years ago: (200)

Pink gives up trying to persuade them

Though not entirely, as she does bring it up sometimes.

The Gem War begins

Pink starts leading a double life

5,750 years ago: (250)

Garnet meets Rose and Pearl

Pink starts fighting for gems

Now recruits newly-emerged gems into her army

Rose starts spreading her message

Pink starts to become more isolated, starting rumors about herself

5,650 years ago: (350)

Beta Kindergarten gems are commissioned per Yellow’s request

Rose’s army is now a genuine threat

Homeworld gems start to hear her message and switch, or fear her, depending on what they hear

5,600 years ago: (400)

Coral and Amber try again to get Spinel to move, but she insists that she’s okay where she is.

5,500 years ago (500)

Jasper and the other Betas emerge

There is a massive battle at the Beta Kindergarten as Jasper starts her path of destruction

Word of it gets to Rose, but she’s too late to get there. Jasper took out almost all the Crystal Gems stationed at the Beta Kindergarten.

5,400 years ago: (600)

Eyeball arrives on the battlefield with seven other Rubies, responsible for aiding Pink Diamond as extra muscle around her area

Pink likes to keep her Rubies as far from her as possible, just from the discomfort they bring (and because they make it hard for her to sneak off)

5,375 years ago (625)

Rose and Pearl come across a human child all alone

This reminds Rose of Spinel

She gets her and brings her to Earth

Spinel stood in the garden for about 625 years

Coral and Amber are left behind without a second thought

Two years later, Pink banishes her

Spinel becomes a Crystal Gem

5,300 years ago (700)

The whole thing with Bismuth goes down

Rose doesn’t have Lion by this time, so she stores the bubble away in Bismuth’s forge instead

Spinel is devastated, but not enough to poof herself.

She knew Bismuth for about 75 years.

5,250 years ago (750)

Spinel and Eyeball meet on the battlefield, though nothing too interesting happens. Eyeball gets her pinned at one point, which is really hard to do, but it ultimately ends in a draw

5,200 years ago (800)

Spinel meets Jasper on the battlefield, resulting in a showdown. Spinel is terrified of Jasper’s power and strength, and runs from her. There’s a chase as she and some of her close friends flee.

She makes a huge choice and decides that they can’t run forever, and to save her friends, she turns to face Jasper herself.

The two fight, with Spinel actually doing okay, but she winds up getting poofed

She would have been shattered, but 7TH and 7TP rush in. One throws her gem to the bushes while they fight, resulting in getting poofed. Jasper decides to keep them for information, and can’t find Spinel’s gem.

Spinel reforms and rushes off to the CG base in tears, only to learn that her friends sacrificed themselves to save her.

She swears that she will get them back, and she and Jasper shall meet again.

5,150 years ago (850)

Pink “shatters”

Spinel feels grief even though she knows well that Pink abused her. Pearl has a talk with her about the whole thing, and Spinel feels better, knowing there’s someone else who misses her too. (BUT REMEMEBER THE GAG ORDER)

Immediately, the Homeworld gems start a plan to shatter every Crystal Gem, with new intel from a rebel on a potential place their base may be.

A huge battle takes place, drawing all gems on Earth to it

Yellow comes down in a ship and starts work on the Cluster, heading to the Prime Kindergarten to issue the experiments immediately, while there are no witnesses

Blue follows her, and the two have a confrontation with each other

Yellow wins the argument, and Blue reluctantly agrees, leaving in her ship after grabbing a few more humans for the zoo (to remember her by)

The Crystal Gems are victorious

5,100 years ago (900)

The Cluster’s plantation is completed

Yellow slips back off the planet under the cover of night

5,000 years ago (1,000)

The Homeworld gems flee

Premature celebration happens

Spinel was hugging Pearl in joy when Rose grabbed Pearl, saving Spinel from the attack too

The Diamond Attack blasts the Earth and corrupts the gems

The war is over… for now.

4,500 years ago (1,500)

Amethyst emerges

1975

Greg is born

1997

Greg meets Rose Quartz (22 years old)

2001

Steven is born

Rose “dies”

This is the event that drives a rift between Spinel and Amethyst. Spinel was greedy for all of Rose’s attention there at the end, but her respect for Pearl and for Garnet as leader allowed them to get close to her. However, she literally pushed Amethyst away during that time, and because of that, Amethyst’s time with Rose was reduced from what it could have been. From then on, Amethyst holds a grudge against Spinel, and she retaliates since trying to make it up to the little Quartz failed.

2009

Steven (8) moves in with the gems

August 15, 2013

Steven turns 12 years old, the age he is at the start of the show

SEASON 1

Spinel’s arc starts in “Bubble Buddies,” in which Spinel is jealous of Connie

Man of the Mountain

Spinel feels she and Steven are drifting apart, and decides to try and get close to him again. They play in her room in the Temple, sending Steven off on a quest as a knight (which can be played on when Connie steps into that role irl). During it, things go too far and she has to rescue Steven. They had fun, though, and he confirms for her that they’re still close.

Giant Woman

Not worthy to make an entire ep out of, but basically, Spinel CAN go with Garnet to get the Earth Beetle. Spinel can swim in lava, just not for as long as Garnet can. She’s meant to be backup.

So Close

After “Giant Woman,” Steven stages another adventure to try and get Amethyst and Spinel to fuse, too, just like what happened with Pearl and Amethyst, but spoiler alert, it doesn’t happen. Instead, we learn that their arguments started when Steven was born, which kinda begins his self-blame and awareness of his family’s tensions even more so than “Giant Woman,” wherein he was mostly focused on himself rather than his family getting along. “Emotional hell” episode.

Steven the Sword-Fighter

Spinel grabs Pearl’s gem before it hits the ground with her elastic abilities, and basically stands vigil by it while waiting for her to reform. She sasses Holo-Pearl, insulting her, and in this scenario, Spinel is the one to accidentally start a fight with the thing. Steven, not wanting another family member to get hurt because of it, tries to help out and ultimately defeats the hologram. Spinel remained by Pearl’s gem the whole time, though attacked from a distance. Once Pearl reforms, Spinel hugs her and doesn’t stop until sometime after the star has crossed the screen and ended the episode.

This Just In

Just a fun one. :)

Parody of Scooby-Doo! Spinel starts narrating everything and breaking the fourth wall while she does it, too, creating drama (and giving a reason for the title to be just that).

Mirror Gem

Spinel walks in on Steven setting up a school and gawks, asking why he would want to do that? She went to school back in the 1930’s and it was terrible. When Pearl suggests the mirror, Spinel is just as in awe of it as Steven, showing that she doesn’t know what it is. She is with the two of them all day, and is delighted to find a friend in the “defective” mirror. When Steven wants to tell the gems, Spinel insists that it’s a bad idea, but poor Season 1 Steven doesn’t pick up on her nervousness and tells them anyway. As things tense, Spinel runs to Pearl, trying to tell her that it’s okay, the mirror isn’t a threat, but all this does is separate her from Steven when Garnet tries to take the mirror from him. He runs out alone, and all the gems run out to try and find him. Same plays out as he sets Lapis free. She then yells at the OG3 for knowing she was in there, but not letting her go. She offers Steven and Spinel to go “home” with her, which Spinel knows what she means and refuses. She offers instead to have Lapis stay on Earth, where they’re safe from Homeworld’s cruelty. Lapis refuses, tells them both not to trust the OG3, and walks into the ocean. Spinel is hurt that they didn’t mention Lapis to her, but doesn’t say anything (for fear of what happened between her and Pink).

Secret Team

As Steven, Pearl, and Amethyst run around the Temple fixing their mistakes, Steven stumbles across Spinel. She asks what he’s doing, to which Steven responds “nothing!” and keeps searching. Spins is suspicious, but again, says nothing. She hears Garnet’s speech at the end, though, and realizes that they were keeping secrets from her again.

Left Behind

Spinel calls everyone together, and says she knows everyone is keeping stuff from her. She inquires what that might be, and when no one speaks up, decides to create her own. She enlists Steven’s help, and together, they start creating secrets to keep from the gems. It escalates until it’s just Amethyst, though (as Garnet has future vision and Spinel just can’t do that to Pearl), and Amethyst is aware of it. She calls Spinel out, the others telling her that she has to stop, and she confesses that she feels betrayed because of the whole Lapis thing, then the Secret Team thing. Garnet tells her in her most gentle voice that Spinel couldn’t handle that kind of information, to which Spinel realizes that they don’t trust her. She runs off. Garnet tells Steven she’ll bounce back and get over it, but he follows her anyway. He finds her, just in time to hear her sing about feeling left out in the group. He walks up to her and tells her he feels the same way, and that if she wants to be with them, she’s just gotta try harder. That’s what he does. Spinel agrees, and the ep ends on a bittersweet note.

Fusion Cuisine

Zoisite is teased, as when Steven tries to bring his whole family, that means Spinel too, but because of Amethyst’s and Spinel’s tense relationship, the fusion fails. Instead, she’s left behind again (as Connie mentioned nothing about a sister…), and Alexandrite goes instead. Then it plays out the same way.

Warp Tour

In a bout of pure betrayal Spinel ultimately sides with the Gems instead of Steven, singling him out from the group. She agrees Steven is being silly. However, she stays with him as he stays up, trying to get him to take his mind off stuff. He refuses, and she gives up, heading back into the Temple. If he wants to play, he’s welcome to. Just give a knock. Then it plays out the same way.

The Test

Spinel’s room features a few funky, funny, not-quite booby traps. A cage comes down and nearly traps him (though like the spikes in Garnet’s room, would stop before it actually hit or trapped him), he has to jump around on a few platforms out of the reach of what looks like octopus tentacles, and then he lands in a ball pit after jumping off the platform. Finally, it’s a riddle to guess which door was correct, to which there are three doors, meaning three answers. Each door leads out, but Spinel makes it seem like there’s a pitfall trap in front of each to make it matter. Steven gets the answer right (the answer being a rabbit), and moves on to Garnet’s room. During the gem’s talk, Spinel insists that giving him an actual win would be a lot better, but Pearl states instead that this would work the same way. As long as he can do this, it’ll raise his confidence. Spinel agrees with Amethyst’s assessment of “we’re bad at this,” and the conversation goes the same way, as does the episode.

The Mountain Spire

After the episode “Horror Club,” Garnet discovers that due to two simultaneously occurring “earthquakes,” two Gem structures are bound to collapse. She and Amethyst take one, Pearl and Spinel take the other. Steven insists on coming along, and Garnet allows it. While walking, we see bird and rabbit imagery, as Steven goes on about how the last two times they were on an adventure like this, Opal happened! The other time, though, Amethyst and Spinel fought. But if Opal happened, then there was a chance something could happen this time, too, right? They arrive at a tall structure with pieces falling collapsing more by the second; the Mountain Spire. They have to replace to Sun Goddess statue, which was already up there. Steven’s now getting some flashbacks to a different adventure he was on, and now is determined to make sure he doesn’t mess this one up, too! Not a second time!

Spinel repeatedly runs ahead, appearing to be playing, when in actuality, she’s clearing the coast for Steven and Pearl. She constantly looks for Pearl’s approval. Pearl gets progressively more annoyed. Finally, she confronts Spinel about her behavior, stating that she doesn’t like the clinginess she’s been showing. It looks like it’ll escalate, but Spinel doesn’t try to argue with Pearl at all. She admits that she’s attached to her, maybe more than she should be, but that’s because she respects her. When Spinel was lost, who picked her up and showed her a home with the Crystal Gems? Pearl. She had always believed in Spinel, and Spinel just feels good being around her and being there for her. Pearl says she had no idea, and admits that she maybe has been a bit harsh on her lately, and they both come to peaceful understanding without Steven’s help. (Note: Spinel and Pearl are both lesser gems, and they can connect using that, too. Try to hint at that if possible.)

Climax: the statue has fallen, and the top of the spire is collapsing. The statue is about to fall through the floor (with many many many holes in it), and Spinel can’t reach that far without getting a bit wobbly, so she doesn’t want to risk reaching for it and causing it to fall. They need to be more careful. Spinel and Pearl fuse into Lepidolite. She is agile, stretchy, careful, and self-sacrificial to a fault. She leaps in, bouncing across the room and grabbing the statue before anything can happen to it. Then, the ground shakes again and the floor beneath Steven caves, causing him to fall. She catches him, but only just. She is stretched too far now (as her stretchiness isn’t as much as Spins on her own), and has to make a choice. A vacuum just like the one around the Sea Spire sucks Steven down, making her lose her grip on him, and she makes the decision to go for him rather than the building. She pulls, tossing him up and onto safe land, then falls. She tosses the statue back up to him, and he has to put it back. Once he has, the spire fixes itself, and Lepidolite is saved. She brings Steven down to her level (since they’re going down now), and jokes about the place being a fixer-upper, before unfusing. The three gems head back, mission successful.

Garnet and Amethyst were also able to fix their building, but their victory is short lived as Steven starts gushing about the fusion he saw. Pearl and Spinel smile at each other. Together, they are pretty great, huh?

Frienemies

After “Maximum Capacity.” Another episode to progress Spinel’s relationships with Connie and Amethyst. Connie comes over for the day, and Spinel insists that she hang out with them, too. Everything Connie does is “wrong,” and she leaves in a huff. When Steven offers to play video games with Spinel and Amethyst, the two start bickering with each other. A few days later, Connie comes back over and Steven tries to push Spinel away, but the gem refuses to leave the two alone. Connie confronts her, asking what he problem is. Connie has never done anything to Spinel before, right? We find out that Spinel has made it her mission to be Steven’s best friend, since that was Rose’s final request of her before she died, and both Amethyst and Connie are “getting in the way.” Connie sees through it and notes Spinel’s jealousy, insisting that he is still his own person, too. Spinel tries to retaliate, but Steven stands up for himself, saying anyone can be his friend and Spinel cannot decide that for him. If he’s Spinel’s best friend, cool, but he’s allowed to hang out with other people, too! Spinel is shocked into silence for a moment. All three others come to comfort her, empathizing about wanting a friend (Connie) and missing Rose (Amethyst). When Connie leaves, Spinel gives her an apology and asks if they’re on stable ground. Connie doesn’t know, but it’s a start. She leaves. Spinel smiles and hugs Steven, insisting she’ll try to do better.

The Return

Jasper and Spinel recognise each other. Spinel shakes with rage. Jasper says she’d be interested in taking Spins on again, just for the challenge, but Garnet jumps in before Spinel can answer, demanding Jasper leave this planet. Things mostly play out the same, except when Garnet gets poofed, Spinel acts immediately. She creates the illusion of a battlefield, masking her approach as she attacks from behind. Jasper, however, expects this, and catches her, throwing her into Pearl and Amethyst as they run closer. Jasper then grabs Steven and knocks him out, ending the episode. Jailbreak plays out the same way.

SEASON 2

Crossover Calamity

This would replace the Uncle Grandpa episode! It’s a goofy, non-canon ep in which Spinel and Amethyst visit different SU AUs together, all while fighting.

Starts off with Spinel raiding Amethyst’s room for her timepiece, since she got to keep it in “Steven and the Stevens”. She needs it for a game she’s playing. Amethyst catches her and the two fight over it. It winds up transporting them across dimensions instead of though time, and they wind up in a Steven Universe x Undertale crossover. They meet Steven and Frisk, and when Steven wonders what Amethyst is doing here and doesn’t recognise Spinel, it’s clear they’re not in the same timeline. They have to work together to get back, since the timepiece is cracked.

Next, they visit Bendy and the Ink Machine (since there is officially a crossover with that one now). They walk in on Bendy singing “Welcome Home”, and get attacked by the Ink Demon. They teleport away right as he’s about to catch them, transporting to an equally dangerous situation in a different AU. They run, going through a few more AUs until they wind up in canon SU, during “Other Friends.” They watch Spinel poof the gems, then leave, traumatized.

They end up in front of the Spinel House, where Spinel is instantly drawn to. Henry Stickmin reference! Her options are: Knock, Amethyst, Break In, Remove Layer, or Request Entry.

Knock: Is the correct answer. Spinel knocks on the door and is let in

Amethyst: Reference to Charles! Ames runs off-screen, shapeshifts into a helicopter, and crashes into the building. Fail line: Amethyst, flying in! :D ...You were expecting this, weren’t you?

Break In: Amethyst and Spinel concoct an elaborate plan to break in. It goes successfully, until they land in the middle of the room from crawling through the vents. The Spinels think they’re getting robbed and attack. Fail line: Everyone knows gravity only exists in cartoons when it’s least convenient, c’mon now.

Remove Layer: Animation/drawing joke. A tab is brought up showing all the layers in Ibis Paint, and the layer with the House is turned off. The spinels all stare at Star, and it end in a fail just like that. Fail line: You were supposed to get INTO the house, not make it disappear completely!

Request Entry: Meta joke! I suddenly show up out of nowhere and get pushed into the building to meet the directors and request that Spinel get added to the house. But my social anxiety to talk to them ruins this and I walk back out. Fail line: This is why people typically approach me first.

Back to business. Once Spinel has knocked and is let in, she meets the Spinels! It’s Spinel Hell for Amethyst, and she wants to get out of there as fast as possible. Joke about how the House is a place for Spinels to get away from the cruelty of their actual AU existence, and then ask if Star wants to join. She says no. Spinel asks if it’s possible to repair the timepiece, to which Rejuvenated or Spinny just slaps some duct tape on it and calls it good, sending Star!Spinel and Amethyst back on their way. It works, and they end up back on the beach. Spinel thanks the stars that’s over, and starts to walk off with the timepiece, ready to continue her game. But then Amethyst fights her for it, and they start crashing through several AUs, probably at dramatic/important parts and completely interrupting everything. Their final stand would be in either SU canon or breaking the fourth wall entirely and they exist on Tumblr or other social media accounts. They have a talk while fighting/playing keep-away, and reconcile. They teleport one final time and end back up on the beach. Amethyst decides it’s whatever and lets Spinel play with it, but she gives it back, claiming to not want it anymore. The two wind up dumping it in the ocean.

And that is why Spinel looks like a wreck. She smiles proudly at Steven as she finishes telling her story. He believes her until Garnet warps back in, asking her how training with Amethyst went after Ames threw her in the sea with her whip. Spinel groans, insisting Garnet ruined the mood. But then we go into the ocean, only to see that the dimension piece is actually there, at the bottom of the sea…

Optional: Spinel pulls a Genie and pulls up the bottom of the page, saying “Made you look!” Then the credits would roll with all the AUs present/used in the story.

AUs: SU x UT, SU x BATIM, HTTYM, I Am My Diamond, SU-Revived, The Spinel House, lab-raised-steven, White Diamond Steven AU, (maybe Gone Wrong? But make it more like a joke than anything serious,) Starhair!Spinel, being-monster-au, su-rogue, restore-the-universe, CHITSU, irl, silent films, SU x GF, SU x TOH, that one gif of Spinel doing the Distraction Dance, Perfect Steven, SU Rewritten, Spinel Goes to Homeworld (“I can’t believe I’m talkin’ ta my reflection-“), Corrupted Spinel, SU x Epic Mickey, plus any and all

M E M E S. Also, potentially foreshadow as much as you want.

wow that was a lot lmao

Sworn to the Sword

Spinel teases Connie about wanting to train, but in a more light-hearted way that before. She is serious as she tries to warn Connie about Pearl’s teachings, insisting that Pearl could go extreme sometimes, but Connie ignores her, insisting it’ll be okay. The rest of the episode plays out the same, except when Spinel finds out Connie fell for Connie’s teachings, she remarks that she tried to tell her, earning her a glare from Steven. “Just sayin’,” she says, shrugging, but her concern is evident. Rest of the ep is the same.

We Need to Talk

Spinel was doing the filming on the tape Greg and the band was recording, and her cinematography (due to her stretchy limbs) is amazing. She gets along with Greg very well, and thinks he and Rose are cute together. She does join Pearl in teasing him, but her teasing is much more light-hearted than Pearl’s salty, “you’re just a phase” teasing. She is Rose’s best friend, and she doesn’t think Greg can change that. At the end of the episode, though, she is fearful that she was wrong, and Rose and Greg might be closer than any of the other gems to her. She and Pearl share a fearful glance.

Time and Place

The gems are on a mission to recover an object somewhere inside a volcano. Spinel goofs off with Steven, and Garnet commands them to stop. This place is dangerous. Steven stops, but Spinel persists, continuing to make faces and perform silly stunts to try and get him to smile. She does a dramatic flip into a stalactite, bouncing off of it and landing in front of Steven with a “tadaa!” The stalactite cracks and falls, blocking the corruption they’re trying to get to away and nearly getting everyone else hurt or poofed. Spinel herself falls into the lava, but climbs back out perfectly fine. Garnet benches her, insisting that she be more responsible and serious, comparing her to Steven and driving a rift between them unintentionally. Afterwards, Spinel tries to show responsibility as things run awry in the house- the house gets messy and she cleans it, the fridge stops running and she plugs it in, the heater was working in overdrive so she shuts it off. It comes to a climax as a corrupted gem, the same one they were after in the volcano, suddenly warps into the house and wreaks havoc. It’s revealed she caused everything, and after the gem is dealt with, Spinel apologizes, saying that hey, at least she dug the guy out of the rock fall! Garnet doesn’t unbench her, though, and insists that she needs to show real responsibility and start taking things seriously. Steven comes over to comfort her, saying that there is a time and a place for this kind of behavior, and the volcano wasn’t it. She nods, accepting that.

Chille Tid

Spinel is still benched, and so was waiting for everyone at the beach house. She stays behind for the slumber party, though Amethyst and Steven have to team up to make sure she doesn’t go in the Temple. This is because, when Spinel starts dreaming, her illusion powers kick in and she starts showing what she’s dreaming. Tonight, she dreams of playing with Rose and Steven both inside her garden (foreshadowing the Rose/Pink reveal). This provides a bit of backstory for her, too. She’s awoken as Rose wilts away like an actual rose, and Steven vanishes. Her feet are wrapped in roots, and she sits up quickly only to see that the others had been watching.

She’s ecstatic to learn that Lapis is okay.

Amends

The gems leave for a mission, but Steven stays behind with the still-benched Spinel. He plans a full day of fun for the two of them! Later, they bump into Greg, who is just off of another hard day of work at the car wash, being kept on his toes recently. To relax, they decide to jam out together. At one point, Steven would ask how often Rose joined him (knowing that she’s sung with him at least once) and what she played. Greg responds, saying that she would play and sing with him often. Spinel interjects, commenting that the more she hung out with him, the less she was there for everyone else, and the more lonely Spinel got. She realizes she said that out loud, and dives head-first into apologies, throwing back to some of the things she said in Man of the Mountain (“don’t hate me” and “It won’t happen again” etc). Both Greg and Steven calm her down and ask what brought that on. We now find out that Spinel was abandoned a LOT in the past, but with the CGs, she felt better, but then Greg came along and she started feeling that way again. She hates being alone. She likes him, though, so she never said anything. She tries so hard not to blame Greg- he didn’t know. She never told him, or anyone, since that wasn’t a very nice thing to do and friends are nice to their friends (she’s actually scared of being screamed at like with what happened with Pink). Please don’t hate her? Greg insists that no, he doesn’t, and that he’s sorry he didn’t realize. She’s sorry, too. Steven speaks up, stating that it was really brave of Spinel to tell them that, and to overcome her fear of them thinking less of her or something. He’s proud of her. She smiles at that.

The next day, Greg wakes up late (like, it’s NOON levels of late). He rushes outside to see Spinel doing his job for him at the car wash, and doing it quite well! Steven is there helping her. When asked what’s going on, Spinel states that she still felt bad for what happened yesterday and wanted to do something nice for Greg, so she took over the car wash for the day! She turned off his alarm so he could get some rest, and has been doing a good lot of the washing. She also gave the van itself a wash, and cleaned all the brushes inside. Greg, in awe, thanks her a lot and gives her a hug. He makes an offhand comment about her showing initiative like that, and how that responsibility was something he never expected from her. Garnet agrees, walking up behind them. Upon seeing the maroon gem, Spinel apologizes again for the volcano incident, and promises to do better. Garnet, having seen that Spinel is capable of taking control and responsibility, unbenches her. Spinel doesn’t stop helping Greg, though, and at the end of the day, they all get ice cream together. Fin.

Too Far

Peridot doesn’t know what to make of Spinel, not having ever even heard of her before. We find out she’s one-of-a-kind, built to be a best friend! She likes to be friends with everyone! Peridot states that she and Amethyst don’t get along, causing the pink gem to blush and run off.

Too Close (NEW FORM)

Spinel now tries to be Amethyst’s Best Friend, along with LITERALLY EVERYONE ELSE where she can! It gets toxic quickly, and she more or less becomes Amethyst’s more-annoying personal Pearl for the day. Peridot is quick to point this out. Amethyst confronts her about it, and they have one last fight before Spinel finally starts to learn that you don’t have to give your everything in order to be a good friend (and stop pampering them GEEZ). That’s unhealthy. It’s obsessive. It can smother people! She needs to find a better balance! Spinel states that if she doesn’t give everything, then she feels like she’s lacking on her end, that she isn’t doing enough. If she isn’t by her friend’s side all the time, who’s to say they won’t get mad at her, or leave her? Steven points out how exhausted Spinel has become while taking care of everyone so obsessively. Amethyst agrees, stating that she cannot run herself ragged trying to do everything all at once. She insists that she’s okay, that she can keep going. She was built to be a friend, and she’s been slacking on her end. She’s not gonna stop until everyone around her is happy! She’ll prove it! She then runs away to make the Best Day Ever for everyone, but Amethyst chases her down, now determined to make her see sense. She tackles the other gem, telling her that if she truly wanted to be someone’s friend, she needed to calm down, back off, and respect their wishes to have her leave people alone! Spinel poofs, mostly from exhaustion, but also because she’s getting Pink Diamond flashbacks.

When she reforms, she walks up to Amethyst and apologizes. If being a friend means leaving people alone, then that was something she was going to have to work on. Being a friend isn’t gonna be easy, but she can try. Just let her know whenever they need her to leave? Amethyst says she’ll do so, and the two hug it out. While doing so, Spinel asks if they can start over, and try being friends again. Amethyst agrees, saying it’s worth a shot.

SEASON 3

Super Watermelon Island

With Spinel and Amethyst finally getting along, Zoisite can now be formed! The battle with Malachite still happens, but now featuring Spinel’s illusion powers and Lepidolite’s feather duster (for cartoony hyjinx).

Barn Mates

At the end of the episode, Spinel is super happy to finally see Lapis again, but surprising everyone, she doesn’t leap into Lapis’ arms or anything. She instead extends a hand to shake.

Hit the Diamond

Spinel plays referee and pitcher. While doing the lineup, she announces that her name is Sarah, or would Sandy be better? She’s shushed. Later, there’s a throw-away line about how if the CGs don’t win this match, she, Sandy, is quitting. She knows what’s gonna happen and isn’t gonna stick around to witness it. Someone smacks her for breaking the fourth wall.

Too Short to Ride

Spinel stretches out without shapeshifting, which makes Peridot even more upset that she can’t do it. During the shapeshifting part, Spinel becomes a dog and a rabbit, playing a game of chase with Amethyst.

Trapped

After “The New Lars”. The hunt for Jasper continues, but Spinel and Steven take a break to go visit Peridot and Lapis. Steven and Peri hang out for a while before realizing that Spinel and Lapis are gone. They go looking for them, discovering them atop the silo. They’re laughing. Spinel apologizes for the whole mirror thing, saying that she knows what it’s like to be trapped and abandoned for years, too. Lapis says that it wasn’t her fault, it was Homeworld’s. Spinel says she knows that feel, having been the playmate of her old owner before she got left behind like a broken toy. She insists that Lapis had it worse, though, since she was forced to stay in one spot whereas Spinel chose to stay there, forever… Lapis tells her not to compare what they went through. They’re both hurt, and they can connect over it. That’s what’s important, not who had it worse. Spinel gives her a side hug, saying that she’s really glad Lapis is here. Steven and Peri decide to give them some privacy and leave, the other pair being none the wiser they were ever there.

Days pass, and the hunt continues. Pearl asks Steven if he’s seen Spinel, to which he says no. Garnet states that they need to find her and she warps them to the barn. There, Spinel and Lapis are continuing to hang out. Pearl is the first to scold, demanding to know where Spinel has been when they’re trying to find Jasper? Peridot hears this and tries to get Pearl to stop talking, but she doesn’t. That rogue gem is only going to cause trouble! Spinel feels awful, starting to apologize, but Lapis cuts her off. She insists that Spinel is always being left behind anyway, and has to constantly wear a smile to keep morale up, which makes her feel trapped, but here, she doesn’t have to do that! She’s free! She doesn’t have to be anyone’s friend here. So back off and leave her alone! Steven asks timidly if that’s true, to which Spinel nods.

She explains that she’s been trying to keep her distance, like Amethyst asked her to, but she feels like she isn’t being a good friend and is slacking off. That makes her stressed, because she knows her friends don’t want her around, so she kept coming here. She doesn’t have to be friends with Lapis or Peridot- that expectation was never there with them. She’s free to just relax here and get her mind off stuff. She didn’t mean to stay away for so long, but she thought no one wanted her there unless they had work for her to do. How can you be a friend if you stayed away? She had no idea, and it was so, so confusing. Spinel says that she was made to be a best friend to one person, and when that person sent her away, she felt lost. The same thing was happening again, and she didn’t know what to do. f

Lapis explains that she used to be a terriformer, shaping planets for her superiors forever and she wasn’t happy. But now, she feels much more free. Playing mediator, Steven builds on that, and explains that she shouldn’t have to feel like she needs to be friends with everyone. That’s an impossible task. If she needs to force it, then it isn’t friendship, and instead, is more just servitude. Lapis and Pearl both agree. Be friends with who you want. Who do you want to be friends with? Spinel thinks, hesitant to say her answer in fear she’ll make people angry, but everyone insists they won’t be. She says she wants to be friends with Steven, Amethyst, and Lapis for sure. She looks up to Pearl and Garnet, and they’re always gonna be family, and they can stay that way. For now. Everyone (sans Peri) hugs her, proud of her, before Peridot interrupts and announces that if she wants to be friends with Lapis, they’d have to fight over it. It looks like Spinel might fall back on old habits for a second before Peridot laughs, saying she was joking. There’s enough Lapis for both of them. Lapis, embarrassed, flies off. The ep ends as Spinel and Peridot look at each other in confusion, wondering what they said.

Together Again (formerly called “Camping”)

After “Restaurant Wars”. Spinel decides to take her friends camping! Lapis was “busy,” so it was just Amethyst and Steven with her. While out, they discover a corrupted gem, a quartz of some kind. She is a powerhouse and overruns everyone, then won’t leave them alone. The monster is big, and the group is in the mountains, so they slip into a small cave in the mountains where the beast can’t get them. As it walks away, Spinel sees the gem, located on its shoulder- it has a scratch in it. It’s 7TP. Her eyes flash in recognition, and she then tries to take it herself. She winds up pinned beneath the amethyst’s paw. She confesses that she knew the gem from the war, and it was one of her best friends. On the battlefield, the fight that occurred just before everyone was corrupted, 7TP got a scratch across her gem, not deep enough to count as a crack, but deep enough to be recognizable. They have to bubble her, quick! Steven and Amethyst get 7TP off Spinel and fighting ensues, but Spinel can’t bring herself to hurt her old friend now that she can put a face to the monster. Amethyst and Steven can’t take her alone, and at one point Amethyst is thrown down next to Spinel. The two agree that this isn’t working, and they fuse.

Lavender Alexite is a smaller, squishier version of Sugallite, now with 85% less visible muscle! Amethyst’s determination combines with Spinel’s frustration, and both of them together are able to bring the fusion down with their grappling hook-like weapon, tying her up and Lavender herself finishing the corruption off. Spinel bubbles her after Steven heals her, sending her off. Unprompted, she explains that when her old owner decided to get rid of her, 7TP was by her side. She’s been by Spinel’s side for so long. Refueled determination to heal corruption.

Note: Maybe mention 7TH at some point?

Monster Reunion

Spinel is shocked that the corruption could be healed as she was, but gives Steven space to be with Neph. At the end, she asks Steven if she could do that again, to which Garnet says no.

Healing Haze

Spinel goes up to Steven in the middle of the night to wake him up. She tells him that Garnet and the rest of the Gems are out on a mission trying to find Jasper, and they think that she’s exploring the desert. She drags him into the Bubble Room, brings down 7TP, and unbubbled her. Steven, having had no say in this (and was half-asleep until just now), freaks out. As 7TP is reforming, Spinel tells him to heal her before she wrecks the place and they both get in trouble! He does, slapping on some healing spit, and 7TP half uncorrupts. Spinel cautiously approaches, asking if the gem remembers her. She shapeshifts back into her War design, to which the gem now recognizes her. Spinel starts calling her Violet. Violet starts to freak out, realizing she’s been corrupted, and rushes to look at her reflection. She’s shocked and dazed. Spinel calms her down enough to switch the topic over to Steven, gesturing for him to come on over. She introduces them to each other, and tells Violet that things will be okay now. However, just like with Nephrite, Violet eventually recorrupts. Spinel bubbles her again, then thanks Steven, giving him a crushing hug.

The next night, she asks the same thing from him. Seeing Spinel so happy the previous night makes Steven more willing to let the gem out this time, though he still isn’t completely onboard. But, they have fun anyway, until Violet recorrupts again.

They do this again and again, with Steven’s unease growing more and more. This feels wrong, and he tells Connie as much on the phone. Connie tells him that he needs to get Spinel to stop. They bubble those gems for a reason- so they don’t suffer. By letting her out, having her back for a while, only to have her become a monster again, over and over and over… that can’t be good for poor 7TP. What if that has some kind of long-term effects? They need to stop. Besides, getting poofed so many times must hurt, even if Violet does just accept it when the time comes. Steven agrees, and when Spinel inevitably comes up to him the next night, he tells her all that. Spinel is devastated, and tells him to go back to sleep.

He wakes up to Spinel yelling. He looks over and sees 7TP running out of the Temple, fully corrupted, with Spinel tearing after her from behind, waving a cloth. Steven asks what in blazes she’s doing, to which she replies that she took some of his spit while he was sleeping and put it on this here very cloth and she put that on the gem and it didn’t work! She’s still corrupted! Steven gets understandably upset, and now the goal becomes catching Violet, and fast!

They wind up bringing her in through music, with Spinel singing a lullaby to her (a nod to Blue Order). Steven can now heal her, but since she’s already formed, it doesn’t do anything. She’s aware enough to have a conversation with now that she’s calm, though (maybe?) and Spinel apologizes for everything. They poof and bubble her again, for good this time.

When the other gems get back in the morning, they ask what happened to the house. Spinel owns up to her mistakes, and accepts the fact that they’re gonna bench her again. Garnet tells her no- Spinel understood what she did was wrong and learned her lesson. 7TP will be better off in the bubble, for now. Spinel asks about, since Garnet has future vision, why didn’t she stop her from unbubbling Violet so many times? Garnet states simply that Spinel was going to learn her lesson, and this was the only way that she’d truly understand. Just words weren’t gonna work.

Catching Up

After “Alone at Sea,” Spinel decides to do something fun with Lapis just like they did with Peridot. Shorty Squad Assemble, now featuring Spinel and Lapis! They decide to spend a day wherever Lapis wanted to be, which for now, was the barn. Understandable.

Next step, make Lapis a bootleg Funland! They all set up a bunch of fun activities around the barn, including a ring toss, a bean bag toss, a dance floor (with a radio), and water balloons! There’s also a game of baseball if people wanna play.

It’s a cute ep that is filled with fluff until, after a while, Lapis keeps zoning out. Steven, Peri, and Spins all try to keep her distracted, but Amethyst is the one who eventually steps up and tells Lapis to just spit it out. Lapis explains that Jasper has been on her mind, and she appreciates what everyone is doing for her- it has truly been fun- but it’s not working. Everything that happened on the boat is fresh in her mind, and she honestly just wants to be alone while she processes everything. Sorry for being a downer. She flies back into the barn.

Spinel and Steven go after her, though Amethyst and Peridot agree it’s best to leave her alone. The two find her on the top floor, and inch closer. Spinel tells her that she shouldn’t be alone to think about this kind of thing- being alone sucks. They both should know that by now. Steven asks if she wants to talk about it. Lapis says no. She appreciates the sentiment, really, but she needs to figure things out alone. They don’t know what it’s like to battle Jasper constantly, how tiring being stuck with her is. Spinel pipes up, saying that although that’s true, she does know what it’s like to fight Jasper. It was 5,300 years ago. They met on the battlefield, and she nearly got shattered that day. She recounts the story. She never had someone to talk to about it, and she thought that she couldn’t, since she was supposed to be everyone’s friend, their relief. But that’s not how it works. Right? It goes both ways? So don’t be silent.

Lapis says that she just doesn’t want to talk about it. There are things that happened down there that she doesn’t really want anyone to know about, and she wants to keep it down. Though, again, she really appreciates the sentiment. Steven and Spinel leave, then meet up with the guys down below.

They play baseball for a while, two on two, before someone hits the ball super far away. Lapis comes back with it, saying she’ll talk when she’s ready, but for now, let’s just have fun. Ends on a lighter note.

Bismuth

Spinel is almost as happy to see Bis as Pearl! Almost. Her weapon upgrade is a serrated blade. While sparring, Spinel turns on the illusion powers, then bounces around her like a ping pong ball. She attacks from behind, but Bismuth, expecting this, catches her. She shoves Spinel away, making room for Pearl to then come in! The rest is the same. Spinel clings to Pearl when Bis is bubbled away.

SEASON 4

Know Your Fusion

Garnet + Spinel fusion as well? Just for a moment? Pearl could take Sardonyx’s place while she’s gone. Spins would likely point out that she’s never fused with Garnet before, and since we’re meetin’ new fusions anyways, could it be cool to add one more to the roster?

Think more about the idea before declaring it canon. Don’t take away from characters, remember? This might not fit into 11 minutes, or maybe make it double length? Two parter? Think about it.

Return to Mask Island

After “Future Boy Zoltron”, Spinel tells Steven she’s convinced Lapis to hang out with them for a day! Steven decides to take the party to Mask Island, since it’s such a pretty place and would be good for unwinding. Lapis is nervous, since the last time she was here, she was Malachite. Whoops. Steven and Spinel both insist this will be good for her, since she wants to get over her past trauma of being fused with Jasper, and balancing some good memories into the mix of bad will do her some good! Amethyst agrees, so Lapis gives in. Steven tells her that fusion feels amazing, but only with the right people. They make camp, and montage of them having fun and unwinding. Show something slinking in the water.

Eventually, Steven breaks out the s’mores supplies. He and Amethyst really start talking, and they don’t really notice when Lapis and Spinel get up. They run out of crackers, and Amethyst volunteers to get more, only to then notice that half their party is gone. Steven will find them, and Ames runs off.

Four Gems and a Baby

Steven was intended to be Spinel’s new Best Friend so she thinks of him as a fellow Spinel playing a game with them at the moment. Like Ames said, being a baby was fun, so this must be going somewhere. Rose said he was gonna be a friend. So that’s what he was.

Gem Heist

Spinel becomes mute: the misadventure/near shattering :)

That Will Be All

She’s FIIIIIIINE…

Ruby Round-Up

Mission: Find and Locate All Ruby Guards

After “Storm in the Room.” Everyone heads back out into space to see if we can’t find the Rubies. We are able to find Army, Leggy, and Doc before Doc calls the cops on us and a Homeworld ship shows up. We find out more about Gem technology, namely that you can only go a straight line while using the gravity engine, so in theory, the other ship can track them. They need a safe place to hide. Spinel takes over the controls, and she takes them to the solar system with the Garden in it.

The whole time, Army and Doc don’t make it easy to escape. They keep making this harder for them to drive, having broken many parts of the ship in an effort to get it to stall, and the other gems have to leave Spins alone to drive while they make sure the three Rubies don’t cause any more trouble.

They hide the ship behind one of the smaller planets/moons floating there, shutting off the engine to help prevent being tracked/seen. The other ship zips right on past, missing them entierly. They power the ship back on, and land on the centerpiece.

The episode ends with everyone stepping out, and Spinel introducing them to the Garden.

Right Where You Left It

We visit one of the gem’s childhood homes…

Spinel takes on the grand tour of the garden, hoping to find parts and pieces to fix up the Roaming Eye. The three Rubies are put in time-out. We see the inside of the room, where Pink’s Biopoison Injector awaits, along with a line of rejuvenators. We also meet the cautious Coral and the untrustful Amber. Coral is in charge of all the plants, whereas Amber is in charge of making sure the buildings don’t collapse, but they only are supposed to be at work when they’re called. No one has called for thousands of years, and they’re too scared to go investigate. Spinel left a while ago, too, giving them zero reason to go out there. If an elite saw them, they could risk being shattered since no one wants them anymore. Where do useless gems go?

The two wind up telling them about the biopoison, and how it was made just for this garden when Pink finally decided she was done with it forever. The rejuvenators were meant to reset a gem, but Pink decommissioned them after a single use. Yellow has more.

They ask Spinel if she’s back to stay, also where is Pink Diamond? This is where we find out Spins and Pearl belonged to Pink. She’s gone, Spins says, and no, she’s not staying here. Do they want to go with them to Earth? After some thought Coral and Amber decide no- the threat of shattering is really scary, and they can’t fight back. They don’t even have gem weapons. Spinel tells them that she didn’t either, until her friend made her one! She pulls out her scythe. They could come along, too. The Earth is a beautiful place. They agree reluctantly, but then state that they don’t want to be a part of anything; if Earth is a place to be free, then they want to explore, maybe fix up or tidy up some Gem ruins there. Fighting is not an option, and they’re tired of staying in one spot.

The others agree, and Spinel apologizes for not paying them more attention when they were here together. She has a history of only focusing on what she wants to focus on, and ignores everything else. All is forgiven, and it’s back to Earth we go now that the ship is prepared.

The three Rubies manage to escape and warp back to Homeworld...

Making Up

Time to be frens with Connie. Finally. Took ya long enough.

and this is where it stops lmao. cliffhanger.