Gemâs bodies are holographic illusions, projected from their gemstones.
Gems can shapeshift into a wide variety of forms including animalistic forms, but the âdefaultâ forms of non-corrupted gems is apparently always humanoid, even for Homeworld gems.
When a gemâs physical form is sufficiently injured or disrupted, they retreat into their gemstone to recuperate. (Pearl, Ruby, Sapphire, all corrupted gems)
When a gemâs hologram body, regenerates, there are two phases: first is the formation of a featureless, segmented âdollâ or âmannequinâ that acts as the base for the humanoid form (Pearl, Lapis, Centipeedle); second is the formation of individual identifiers such as hair, facial features, and clothing (Pearl, Lapis), which may change after an individual regenerates (Pearl)
Most gems on earth have turned into non-humanoid monsters and animals, as a result of âcorruption.â
When a gemâs gemstone is cracked, this results in anywhere from mild visual abnormality and partial loss of magical abilities (Lapis) to severe disruption of the humanoid form and its basic capacities (Amethyst)
We have not seem any monstrous/corrupted gems with cracked gemstones, and Rose was able to heal cracked gems but not corrupted ones. This suggests that the cracks and corruptions are separate, distinct conditions.
There have been some hints that Gem magic is vaguely computer-like. Letâs run with that.
Gemstone cracks are analogous to scratched CDâs. An external injury that erases or scrambles data in a haphazard manner. A scratch on a CD can cause a skip or two in one song (Lapis) or it can make the whole CD basically unplayable (Amethyst), but it canât turn âYellow Submarineâ into âCruel Angelâs Thesisâ.
But there are ways to corrupt digital information that donât involve physically damaging the hardware. Like viruses. A CD scratch canât overwrite a fileâs data to give it a different function in a coherent manner, like replacing the data for [Yellow_Submarine.mp3] with [cruelangelsthesis.mp3]. But a virus can.
In particular, I think gem corruption might be comparable to a boot sector virus. A boot sector virus takes advantage of code that automatically runs when a computer is turned on, so that it becomes impossible for the machine to avoid running the virus.
When centipeedle was regenerating, they started with a featureless humanoid mannequin, just like Pearl and Lapis Lazuli. But the centipeedle didnât develop any clothes or facial features, and instead went directly from a featureless humanoid to a monster. While changing from a featureless humanoid to a monster, the centipeedle was able to adjust her form in response to steven, but she wasnât able to stop being a centipeedle.
So. A gem is âkilled.â They recuperate within their gem for a while until they feel ready. DEFAULT_SHAPE_FRAME is run. In normal circumstances, DEFINE_DETAILS would run immediately afterwards, allowing a gem to customize their regenerated form. However, the corruption âvirusâ interjects, causing SHAPESHIFT.EXE to run before DEFINE_DETAILS, an exploit that locks the corrupted gem into a non-humanoid default form. The âvirusâ also prevents SHAPESHIFT.EXE from being run after the default form has solidified, giving the affected gem no chance to temporarily turn back into a person.Aaaaand I have no good way to end this speculation. UmâŠmaybe in a few months I can post a better version, with pictures, but I just wanted to get this theory Iâve had for months off of my chest.
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