SU Theory: Abuse and Trauma Cause Corruption, I Gots Proof!
I’m sure the fandom’s worked this out by now, but I here’s some evidence Legs From Here To Homeworld dropped that further solidifies this theory.
When our titular Diamond Trio try to heal Centipeedle back into a Nefrite, we see something veeeerrry interesting;
She’s repeating something over and over again, she can’t stop. Until she finally notices her Diamonds–but she isn’t completely snapped out of it yet. Because of the way she salutes them and immediately states her mission status, she still thinks its 5,000 years ago. She still thinks the war is going on. She’s stuck in a flashback.
That’s a symptom of PTSD. Y’know what’s another symptom of PTSD?
The Thousand Yard Stare, and thanks to this tease of the next episodes, we know White Diamond is absolutely a deep space sociopath, with a capital S.
Now, there’s a reason why trauma destroys a gem’s light projection body; Sense of Self. It’s who you are, who you know yourself to be. Get abused enough and you’ll start to lose that, until it’s completely gone. That’s how you destroy a person. That’s what it means to destroy someone. That’s why corruption distorts their bodies, they’ve lost themselves. They’re stuck in a state of depression, anxiety, panic, etc, which explains Centipeedle’s frantic repetition.
Now I want this fandom to let this sink in; our Empath protagonist Pink Diamond, whom this fandom had so much fun hating just a little while ago for lying about who she was to her loved ones, was up against this.
SHE LIED, FOR A REASON. But I digress;
That’s Pink Pearl. Navel gemstone, checks out. Now each Pearl is made to fit their Diamonds. What did our Pearl tell Steven? That she was given to Pink, that a more sensible Pearl was given to her. That means Pink Pearl must have been just as bratty and defiant as Pink Diamond was, maybe even more.
This is what White Diamond did and still does to Pink’s original Pearl for failing her duties.
White Diamond maintains an air of complete control in public, while in private, takes out all of her anger on Pink Pearl, and it’s starting to take its toll; Pink Pearl is starting to corrupt. That’s why her light projection body is damaged but her gem is still intact.
How much do you wanna bet White does it to Pink Pearl to keep from doing it to Pink Diamond?
I don’t think Steven can talk his way through this. I think White Diamond will corrupt Steven trying to change him back into Pink, not listening to anything he tries to tell her, and Steven will have to learn to overcome abuse and trauma, uncorrupt himself, and then teach all the other gems how to do it.
This is a show about Healing, after all.
