Alright, folks. I know I haven’t been as active as I’ve promised. Truth is, especially since Steven Universe has become so monstrously popular, it’s hard to hold up a blog devoted to pushing theories that I haven’t seen anywhere else, since I tend to see most decent theories everywhere at this point. Perhaps it’s time for a rethinking of that premise, but I still don’t think my work would be anything other than redundant if all I ever did was parrot and repost already-popular theories. That, and tumblr’s frequent technical errors and hurtles on my end, can be very disheartening.
That said, today I have something a little out of the ordinary for you all. Rather than a “theory” in the strictest sense-- taking an educated guess at the intentions of the showrunners-- this is going to be a bit of a diversion into self-indulgent territory, to inspire me to at least contribute something after all these months.
I’ve always been very fond of science fiction, especially the creative field of speculative biology-- the hypothesizing of organisms as they might exist in ecosystems alternate to our own. As such, I’ve decided to write a speculative look at the Gem Homeworld, and a sort of hypothetical natural history of how a group of entities like Gems could arise in our own universe.
If that’s not what you’re here for, then keep on scrolling. If that sounds interesting to you, though, please enjoy.
Our journey begins in a young Milky Way galaxy, approximately 10 billion years ago. A brown dwarf-- a supermassive gas giant, far heavier than our solar system’s Jupiter-- sits with a collection of moons in a multiple-star system, far nearer to the galactic core than the Earth. This planet and its satellites are constantly bathed in cosmic radiation from the core, and swing along a haphazard path around one of many suns. Complex organic molecules like DNA are incapable of forming life as we know it here, due to the incredible hostility of the cosmic environment; however, life as we don’t know it might have a better chance.
One of this brown dwarf’s moons, which we’ll call Domus, is a volatile incubator of mineral compounds. Due to tidal friction, Domus is highly geologically active, warped into a near-ovoid shape from the constant kneading and pulling of the brown dwarf’s gravitational field; its atmosphere is primarily xenon, neon and argon, and very thin, being all but sloughed away by radiation. This churning chemical factory is excellent for producing mineral vapors, which form over time into complex, exotic crystals, far beyond anything here in our solar system.
At a glance, one might have thought these crystals, though beautiful, were merely lifeless stone. This, however, is not the entirety of the truth. As it happens, the laws of physics-- and even the laws of evolution-- apply everywhere, and began making their marks on Domus.
The processes involved were fairly simple, at first. Some crystalline structures would form in advantageous ways, proliferating with simple reactions to the presence of heat or light, perhaps expanding or shattering to spread themselves further out under the proper conditions. This became more complex, however, as these crystalline structures began arranging themselves to move, at first by expansion and contraction along a plane, or by catching the planet’s very meager winds, but later on developing complex, mineraloid locomotors. These are what I’ll call “Mineral Bodied Domoids,” or MBDs. A modern example of one of these creatures would be the crystal shrimp, a large segmented creature that feeds on mineral deposits. Over billions of years, this group could diversify from simple, urchin-like ancestors to acid-spitting predators that break down other MBDs for nourishment (like a purely mineral version of a centipeetle), thermophilic “fish” that live in lava pockets, or mineraloid “plants” at Domus’ near-airless poles that feed on ionic currents by keeping half their bodies in frigid shade and the other half in blazing sunlight.
While these MBDs were developing, however, a second group of beings had branched off and began to proliferate. These crystal-creatures were notable in that they had developed simple “eyes” which could detect some wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation. Over time, these light-sensing organisms developed body parts which could focus light and direct it at one another in simple sequences, in order to lay the foundations of very simple communication. Though small, these light-users developed colonial habits, some varieties latching together to accomplish tasks while others simply honed their communication skills. Eventually, they developed mechanisms similar to brains, which could store a memory of the light-sequences communicated to them; this process became more and more complex over eons, until these once-simple creatures could process information on a molecular level. Simply put, what were once conveniently-arranged stones had become quantum computers.
This is where the second group of Domus’ life derived from. Some of these extremely prolific crystal-computers developed the ability to harden and manipulate light, by exchanging its properties on a quantum level. At first, this hard light was only used for delicate manipulation and fine sensing, but the trait was so successful that it became more and more robust. These were the Light Bodied Domoids, the LBDs. While comprised largely of cnidarian-like creatures, forming reefs of stone-and-light corals across the planet, the dominant group derived from one whose crystalline bodies atrophied entirely, until only the quantum-computing “gem brain” was left supported by a body of hard light.
This variety is what we know simply as the Gems. Entities of extraordinary power, Gems are eusocial and colonial, forming societies based on strict castes and hierarchy. Their quantum capacities are far beyond anything a human-- and even a majority of Gems-- can grasp, and is easily mistaken for magic. They quickly expanded to fill their entire solar system, and constructed large, slower-than-light ships to travel from one world to another.
Eventually, the Gems developed the capacity to open and sustain wormholes. With them, they could jump-- albeit blindly-- between solar systems to expand their influence and reproduce exponentially. By complete chance, around 11,000 years ago, one such wormhole led to a mild, backwater system, far from the Galactic Core; there, bathing in the sallow light of a yellow dwarf star, was a small watery planet called Earth.
A stupid thought came to me while re watching back to the moon.
Pink Diamond’s mural is drastically different from the murals of the other three diamonds.
White, yellow and Blue all have an ethereal floating stance.Â
Pink’s mural is standing almost as if she’s freshly bursting out of the ground. To me it looks like a mural of a newly emerged diamond.
Stewing on that thought I wondered where she was and what she was doing as her “sisters” gained control of so many planets. Then the thought hit me. What if the Earth was truly hers. Diamonds are quite large and are supposed to have a lot of power. A planet that had enough life to bring a diamond to life might truly be rare. A planet that was lush with life to the extreme and have vast resources would be needed.
Considering the size and power of a diamond I can imagine it would create quite the impressive emergence hole on the planet they were born on. Now where on Earth has there been a enormous change in geography that is missing?
Making earth the place of a diamond’s possible birth and death.
Mir mine (occasionally known as the Naval of the Earth), the second largest excavated hole in the world, which produced 10,000,000 carats of diamonds per year in it’s hayday. This thing is so huge the airflow can sucks in helicopters. And were is it located?
Sorry it's been so long, but I'm back with a small theory. I was talking with my friend about Yellowtail and Onion (and Sour Cream, as of "Drop Beat Dad") and their strange affectation. Namely, how all their dialogue is some variation of "wah wah wah." Then, I remembered that there's an accent in real life which, to an untrained ear, actually sounds very similar. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=su_wmFZ66l0 (Sorry I couldn't insert a link into the text; I'm on my phone and don't know how) This is the accent of Smith Islanders, a population that has been isolated for centuries. The strangest coincidence? They live off the coast of Maryland, the exact region that Steven Universe is meant to take place in. I think that Yellow Tail, being a fisherman, could come from a similarly isolated island with its own strong accent. Onion, being by far the youngest resident of Beach City, likely has no peers to develop a native accent from, and as such picked up his father's, who it was shown he likes to spend time with.
What if Steven has to enter a gems mind through his dream walk ability and help uncorrupt the gem from the inside like fix it's coding, metaphorically and maybe even literal coding seeing as he's learning gem language
Why do you think blue diamond and her gems cover their eyes? Does it matter? Does it mean something?
Aesthetically, having the eyes covered often gives an impression of mystery to the viewer. This is because the eyes play a large part in displaying emotion. Since Blue Diamond and the members of her court are meant to seem generally detached or even unfeeling, concealing their eyes contributes to this air of emotional detachment.
I know that when 2 or more of the same gems fuse, they just turn into a larger version of themselves but with more gemstones. But what would happen if the Diamonds fused? Would their fusion of another Diamond look different because all three Diamonds don't look like?
Well, I believe Ian J.Q. recently said that if all three of the Pearls we’ve seen fused, we’d get a bigger Pearl with a mixed color scheme. So, with that said...probably like a bigger Diamond with a mixed color scheme. I know the Diamonds are a little more varied than their Pearls are, but they’re still pretty similar in terms of variety, power and role.
Who's your favorite character? Why? I know this isn't a real question but I just wanna know.
Probably Connie.
EDIT: Sorry, I didn’t completely answer this question. She’s probably my favorite because I can relate to her. To a certain extent, I can also relate to Ronaldo...but he isn’t as developed of a character (and can be pretty grating), so for that reason I prefer Connie.
I doubt it. Presumably, they’re a shade of green like the rest of her. The visor makes it hard to be 100% sure, but that’s my guess, given how palettes tend to be for other Gems.
I really think it was not ur intention but yo it's important to recognize than even though gems have no sex/gender, Ruby and Sapphire's relationship is quite clearly coded as a homosexual relationship, both because of the reaction caused on others and the female coding of gems in general. No need to answer this but I do believe it is important to reiterate something that was quite clearly the writers' intention.
I appreciate it, and obviously I wasn’t trying to belittle the writers’ intentions or the significance of the characters in that respect. However, members of the crew, including Rebecca Sugar herself, have also said on multiple occasions that “gems are gems” in terms of sex, gender and sexuality;  their relationships are meant for the audience’s interpretation, and do not exist solidly in the context of the show as one identity or another. The point has always been that love itself is what’s important, not the form it takes-- or, as the adage goes, “love is love.”
I know that you said I didn’t have to reply, but I thought it important to let everyone understand my meaning. If you think of Ruby and Sapphire as a same-sex couple, my point is not to say that you’re wrong to do that. The question as I interpreted it was “Are Ruby and Sapphire in love, and therefore gay?” and I answered with “Gems don’t really have sexual orientations within the context of the show, therefore the best I can say without injecting my own bias is that they are, in fact, in a romantic relationship.”
Sorry if you've ever answered something like this but what do you think about lion? Any theories about him?
For as long as Lion’s been around, he hasn’t really had very much screen time, so it’s really hard for me to say much about him. He certainly has some impressive warping abilities, from what we’ve most recently seen, but that could be a plot lubricant just as easily as it’s actually significant.
Ruby and sapphire are gay right? Like they're in love?
Ruby and Sapphire are in a romantic relationship, yes. Personally, I tend not to label Gem characters with human sexual orientations, because Gems have neither a sex nor a gender on any biological or psychological level. In fact, the closest thing Gems really have to that is their species-- in other words, the actual type of gemstone that they derive from. The core of Ruby and Sapphire’s relationship is that, while it’s a strong taboo in Gem society for two different species of Gem to fuse, they found that they compliment one another because of their differences as individuals.
Maybe one reason cross gem fusion is taboo is because rare gems possess powers that aren't available to others. So, by fusing, rare gems can create strong and powerful gems. I don't know, what do you think?
In my opinion, different-gem fusion is taboo because it creates agency in the two or more Gems who fuse. All “basic” (i.e. non-fused or single-gem-type fused) Gems are created with a specific intention in mind; a dual- or poly-gem-type fusion has no intrinsic purpose, and as such any fusions of that distinction can determine a purpose for themselves. This severely undermines the structure of Gem society, and as an extension, undermines the Diamond Authority itself. If you were a Diamond, you would have a large investment in dissuading Gems from fusing outside of their own gem type.
Been thinking for a while about how Rose Quartz’s Rebellion finally concluded, and after this week’s Steven Bomb, I figured I’d share what I’ve worked out so far. As far as I saw, nothing in the five episodes this week contradicted this, and there were a couple of things that made the theory even more solidified for me.
The first information we get on how the Rebellion ended is in “Rose’s Scabbard” in the strawberry fields, when Pearl states that a great battle was fought and won on that spot 5000 years ago. After a short conversation involving Lion, they continue with this:
Garnet: No, you don’t. Countless Gems were broken here. It was a maelstrom of destruction and death.
(Pearl jumps in front of Garnet.)
Pearl: But we won! Your mother led us to glorious victory! The odds were against us, and our hearts were uncertain. *lays scabbard on her chest dramatically* But we chose to fight alongside Rose, and here we made our stand against our Homeworld!
This is crucial, because it sets up everyone’s assumption that Rose Quartz’s rebellion was successful and the rebels won the battle.
But what if they didn’t actually win? What if both sides lost?
We’ve seen over and over how Pearl will put her own spin on past events in order to give them meaning. For example when she convinces herself that she was Rose’s only true confidante. Pearl has already acknowledged that she feels all those gem lives lost in battle were worth it for the sake of victory. It just comes down to what is or isn’t victory. There is already the insinuation in Serious Steven that the battle of strawberries was a bloodbath, with losses on both sides. As yet, we don’t know how complete those losses were. I propose that those losses were near-total.
This seems confirmed to me by the sheer surprise that Peridot shows when confronted by the Crystal Gems for the first time. In fact, look at their dialogue at that moment (”Marble Madness”):Â
Peridot: There are still gems on this planet?!
Pearl: that’s right! We’re the Crystal Gems. We’re STILL ALIVE and we’re still the guardians of this planet and all its living creatures!Â
Peridot: But the records show gems were wiped out on this planet!
Why would Peridot be surprised by surviving rebel gems on Earth if 1. gems are ageless and 2. there was any indication that rebel gems survived. I think the answer is that the Diamond Authority had no idea any rebels were still alive on Earth. Doesn’t sound like much of a victory to me.
Here’s the line that solidified it for me, from “The Return”. Greg says the following to Steven in the van:Â
Greg: In the end, your mother could only save a handful of her closest friends. If it weren’t for her shield, man, I don’t know.”
Greg insinuates a bit here that Rose was saving the gems she cared about most, but what if he meant the gems that were literally standing right next to her? Also, if Rose was only able to save a few of her closest friends, presumably by using her shield, how in the world did the Rebellion win? By pushing away the Diamond Authority off of Earth, but doing so in a way that led to the loss of almost ALL rebel gems, as well as a ton of homeworld gems as well. Crucially, this was done in a way in which Rose was able to save gems involved, but limited by the size of her shield on how many she could save. Absolutely all of these factors could be fulfilled in the normal course of battle, but if I think about it, the simplest way to meet all of that is a bomb. A giant bomb.
I would guess that Rose’s rebels were either winning the battle, or just evenly matched enough to make the Diamond Authority walk away from the planet. But of course the Diamond Authority doesn’t just walk away from something like a gem rebellion. I think they bombarded the battlefield with some kind of explosives, which destroyed both homeworld and rebel gem alike. Confronted with such an onslaught, all Rose could do would be to save the gems standing at her side.
This was my running theory going into this week’s Steven Bomb. And guess what was showed during the week? A map of Earth. Including what can only be described as a giant “hole” in Russia.Â
The Crewniverse (at least in the few posts I’ve read) have tried to pass this off as part of the general shifting of tectonics/alternate timeline that is SU. I’m fine with that when it comes to Latin America not being the right shape, or Florida being missing, but it seriously looks like someone dropped a giant bomb right in the middle of the Russian landmass. That’s not drifting.
We know that after the rebellion, the Diamond Authority came back to Earth and assembled the Cluster from rebellion gem shards (“This is what happened to all of the ones we couldn’t find. This is punishment for the rebellion!”), but I would argue that this could’ve happened without any cognizance that their bomb didn’t work. Indeed, in the few times we see them get close to interacting, Garnet always makes sure that the whole team is hidden from view.
That’s my theory. I acknowledge that it is fairly “headcanon” at times, and I apologize for the lack of screenshots. Maybe someone can repost it with screenshots included later. I just felt like I had to say something after seeing that map.
I think this theory has a good deal of merit to it. The Crystal Gems’ rebellion and war with Homeworld (or wars, depending on which theorist you ask) most certainly ended in a Pyrrhic victory; proportionately, it’s apparent that the Crystal Gems’ numbers were absolutely devastated compared to the Gem empire, which is still alive and well.
Could that massive crater in northern Asia be where Rose and the other Crystal Gems made their final stand? Possibly. In fact, an attack that devastating-- potentially made by a certain enraged Diamond with a wounded reputation-- could have resulted in the Diamond Authority declaring them dead. This is especially true if summoned weapons were uncommon at the time, as I suggested in a recent post; no one would expect any survivors from any explosion that made a crater like that, and none of them could have known just how strong Rose’s shield was.
With that said, it would also explain the Cluster. Let’s say that crater was made by Yellow Diamond, hoping to blitzkrieg the CGs with as much firepower as possible. If Rose, Pearl, Garnet and (possibly but not likely) Amethyst retreated, then the Diamond forces could plant the Cluster (and do what they wanted with the shards of the dead Gems) and leave, assured that the planet would be torn apart in due time, whether or not the bomb in question was 100% effective.
EDIT: User allhailonion reminded me that the shooting stars are a likely candidate for the explosives that put the hole in Russia.
Why was there an atmosphere on the moon base tho? Why did the diamonds need it if they dont breathe?
When you talk, sound waves travel through the air and enter your ears. Without air, there is no sound. In order to talk to one another, the gems would need an atmosphere of some kind in order to speak to each other.
If gems are not fighting against the masculine metals why Homeworld created Cluster?Peridot said that this is "ultimate secret weapon"
There are many reasons to create weapons; the Cluster could be a simple means of enforcing the Diamond Authority’s power among their other Gems, for all we know. Given that the Diamonds had both soldiers and advisers prior to the rebellion on Earth, we do know that they have fought before; but whether that fighting was against their own or against a foreign threat, we’ve had no indication. Either way, the existence of a Gem-controlled weapon to dissuade attackers is never a bad thing.
What I’ve said in the past is that it seems a bit reflexive to say “there are Gems that look like women, therefore there should be Metals that look like men.” We’ve seen a bubbled sample of what appears to be the metal bismuth in Lion’s mane, and that’s the total extent of our evidence for the theory; I would hardly say that’s enough to make the leap that there is some race of metal-based beings which operate on the exact same principles as Gems but instead just appear male. Going by Occam’s Razor, I would have to guess that “Bismuth” (given that the thing in Lion’s mane is in fact bismuth) is another form of Gem technology.
Do you have any theories from Stevens birthday! episode? I tried thinking of some but all didn't make sense.
I was discussing the subject of how Steven ages with my friend last night. We came to the conclusion that, by the time he reached an age where some amount of introspection starts to occur (8, 9, 10, what could be called his “juvenile” years, though Greg somewhat inaccurately calls it “adolescent”), his development went from being biological to being primarily psychological in nature. In other words, once he solidified a greater sense of self, his growth stagnated.
The reason for this, we thought, is because Steven for a long time thought of himself as a child. He had a lot of reasons to; he was being introduced into the new and very unfamiliar world of the Gems, he was much younger than almost everyone he interacted with, and, despite his outward enthusiasm, a lot more uncertainty faced him, which he had really never been presented with before.Â
What’s more, the way he feels about Connie may have also stunted him over the past two or three years that we have been following him. He thinks of Connie in many ways as his superior; to him, she should be President. He feels that she’s smarter than him, that she’s more mature than him, to such an extent that he overlooks the ways in which he overshadows her, in his people skills, leadership, and in the responsibilities he’s shouldered while Connie remains shy, anxious and more or less babied by her parents. That’s not to say Connie hasn’t developed greatly as a character, just that Steven might sell himself short in the maturity department.
In the end, I proposed that Steven’s physical development will rely on paradigm shifts. He’ll have to mature emotionally and mentally by realizing that many people around him really do depend on him, be it his father, the Gems or Connie.
These internal shifts will likely be spurred on by large events in his life; a new victory, or a new threat.
Do you think every Gem on Homeworld has a role/job? Besides Pearls, Peridot's, Rubies and Sapphires. Like, Quartz Gems are made to be warriors, like Rose and Jasper. We already know that Diamonds are the superior Gems, Pearls are servants, and Peridots are mechanics. What do you think about the other Gem roles?
Gems are made rather than born; from what little information I can gather about the Diamonds, I would say that they’re unlikely to create anything without very specific intentions for them, be they a powerful warrior like a Quartz or a prescient adviser like Sapphire.
It seems, at this point, that the only one we don’t have an explicitly-stated use for is Lapis. I’ve given my proposal before-- that she was created as a sort of “terraformer” to move the oceans of planets, maybe even created specifically to help with the colonization of Earth-- but I can’t be completely certain.
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