Happy Gemsonaween everyone! Boltwoodite went to a pumpkin patch with her human friends. The plan was to take some pumpkins home to carve, but she got very excited and cut one open right in the field. Bolt is very proud of her discovery, but the farmer feels otherwise. Let’s just say that Bolt and her friends are… no longer welcome there… lol.
Meet Boltwoodite!
Gemstone: Boltwoodite
Nicknames: Bolt, Woody
Pronouns: She/Her
Weapon: Knife
Ability: ?
Gem Shape and Placement: faceted diamond on her left forearm; has small cracks that only cause a minor wrinkling effect in her physical form
Personality: dedicated, good at observation and analysis, adventurous, oddball, youthful spirit, acts before thinking, always looking to instill lessons into others, can be extremely fierce and unforgiving during battle, carries a lot of guilt and regret- but hides it away craftily
Backstory:
(TW: trauma, abuse of power, death, unhealthy coping mechanisms)
Boltwoodite was born right around the time that Homeworld had officially established itself as stable and self-sufficient. The flourishing colony instilled faith into the gems that the Diamonds could lead them to a successful society. The gems were loyal to their rulers and worked hard to prove their dedication. Boltwoodite grew up wishing to prove her worth to her higher-ups.
Boltwoodite was created to work as a scout for viable land for gem propagation under Yellow Diamond’s rule. Bolt had a natural aptitude for her job and could easily identify what types of terrain were suitable for different gemstones. She wasn’t afraid to buckle down and vocalize her opinions to get the rewards that she felt she deserved. The cut-throat nature of her job made Bolt wary of her fellow gems, however. She was constantly on-guard out of fear of others attempting to tarnish her reputation with lies and foul play.
Bolt eventually did manage to make one friend. A Zincite in her force stood up for Bolt when she was being accused of stealing another peer’s notes. Bolt and Zin became the closest pair in their work force afterword. They communicated and collaborated together seamlessly on their assignments. They joked around and would tease each other playfully. Zin would eventually call Boltwoodite “Woody” and be the only gem allowed to do so.
Over time, both gems found that they were in love with each other, but they never confessed. Homeworld’s standing on love between different gems made them keep these feelings a secret from the other. They both assumed that the other gem would be disgusted by these emotions. Boltwoodite began to physically feel pain because she was so in love with Zin, but she knew she had to keep it to herself.
Their relationship drastically changed when Zin was able to get the supervisor position that both she and Bolt had worked tirelessly to earn. Zin began to take advantage of her position to get favors out of Bolt. She became hostile over small inconveniences and wouldn’t shy away from scolding and embarrassing Bolt in front of others. Bolt had never seen Zin act this way before.
As Zin’s behavior became worse, Bolt felt something else was suspicious. Zin was suddenly great at multitasking and calculations, skills that she had never accelerated at before. After much snooping and asking around, Bolt found out a secret. There were lower ranked gems that were helping Zin in exchange for favors. Bolt was so angered by this discovery and by the horrible ways her crush had been treating her that she immediately went to the Agate supervisors about it. They took this problem directly to Yellow Diamond when they investigated the evidence that Bolt had presented.
Yellow Diamond summoned Bolt and Zin to her court. Their Diamond announced that she already had a clear punishment in mind for Zin. Bolt was satisfied to see her friend finally get called out on her problematic behavior. However, Yellow Diamond declared that the punishment was to shatter Zin for putting Yellow’s reputation in jeopardy with this scandal. Bolt was forced to watch her friend be executed in front of her eyes. Yellow explained that Bolt must know that she too could be disposed of just as easily if she followed Zin’s footsteps.
Bolt was so traumatized by the incident that she shut down completely. She couldn’t work. She could hear her friend screaming for mercy and forgiveness over and over in her head. The last word Zin had said before being shattered was Bolt’s nickname. Bolt had only wanted Zin to lose the position she was in. Bolt eventually retreated her physical form into her gemstone out of immense guilt and grief.
Bolt didn’t know what happened or how much time had passed, but she was eventually forced out of her gemstone. She was told by her supervisors that if she didn’t get herself together and work, she would be shattered and replaced easily. She tried to transfer to another facility to escape the place where her crush had died, but there was no need for a gem in her ranking elsewhere. Bolt returned to her work, but developed unhealthy coping mechanisms to deal with her pain. She dissociated often and overworked herself as a distraction.
As time passed, Bolt took more notice to the rebellions that were occurring throughout Homeworld. With each one, Bolt became more distasteful and distant from her love for her planet. She was angry with how her life had turned out. After centuries of pouring her passion into her home, she was only rewarded with trauma and painful memories. She had witnessed her fellow gems cut corners and lie to prevent being shattered. Bolt could not support a place that drove her peers to be dishonest and violent.
When the news of Pink Diamond’s death rang throughout Homeworld, Bolt chose this moment to escape to Earth. She planned to fight in the Gem War and survive so that she could live freely. She managed to get a hold of a space craft and travel to Earth. Upon landing, Bolt immediately went in search of allies. She became a brilliant fighter. She was ruthless, taking out all of her grief on Homeworld gems by shattering them. She had no mercy for those who aligned themselves with the Diamonds.
Towards the end of the war, Bolt was poofed and placed in a chamber that prevented even the strongest gems from reforming. Having earned a reputation now for her brutal fighting, she was to be taken back to Homeworld for punishment. However, the Diamonds unleashed their attack onto Earth, corrupting her captors. The chamber fell onto the ground where it eventually became buried under dirt and foliage.
Centuries later, the chamber was uprooted when the ground was being prepared for a housing development. A group of preteens came to check out the work site, finding the chamber in the garbage pile with other scrap materials. They opened it out of curiosity, finding Bolt’s gem tucked inside. It had the smallest of cracks and chips from being jostled around since she was first placed inside, but Bolt managed to reform anyway.
Bolt immediately sprung into battle position. This scared the preteens greatly. Bolt suddenly realized that she was no longer on the battle field upon seeing these children. She apologized greatly and the preteens immediately started to ask her a multitude of questions about who she was and where she had come from. For hours, the group took turns sharing stories and learning about both gem and human history and culture. Bolt learned that Earth was not the same as it was when she was last awake.
The preteens would come and visit Bolt almost every week, making her become fascinated with how Earth had changed since she was poofed. She wanted to explore every part of this now foreign world. Over time, she became a parental figure to the group all throughout middle school to college. She taught them self defense and valuable life lessons from her mistakes. She began to dress like humans and follow the teen fashion trends as the kids grew up.
However, even as Bolt found the freedom and self expression she had always wanted, she couldn’t handle her grief and guilt well. She still searched for any type of distraction until the point of obsession. She’d try to redirect the focus away from her depression whenever a group member asked her what was wrong. It wasn’t until the group was in college when she finally revealed her past with Zin and shattering Homeworld gems. The group comforted her greatly, reminding her that she was part of a system that had forced her to survive, conform, and remain paranoid of everyone around her. Zin too was probably trying to survive and keep her position, being influenced by her supervisors to be demeaning to lower ranking gems.
After the group finished college, Bolt now spends her time traveling between their new homes. She updates each of them on how she and the rest of the group are doing. Bolt tries to forgive herself more and more with time, but she still struggles with the idea of being able to have this chance to be herself while other gems that she has shattered and Zin cannot. She slowly heals from these wounds and uses them to help prevent the same mistakes from happening to her friends. She loves her adopted family dearly and how they have shown her that life can be full of love, trust, and vulnerability.
