(Tell us all about Pearl culture! We need it!)
bellum. some of these are headcanons that @nacreousknight and I have been squawking at each other about, some of them are things I’ve thought of – but really you have them to blame for even getting my brain into overdrive thinking about this shit in the first place, so 8^) these are all going to definitely be included in my portrayals of my various Pearls
also a lot of these are as they relate to Nacre or my other Pearl OCs because they’ve taken over my blog’s Pearl-essence ( hehehehehe ) and I also don’t wanna step on anyone’s toes if they have different headcanons so–
Pearls are touchy-feely ! with each other at least. most other Gems don’t touch them unless it’s a painful touch, and they’re obviously not allowed to touch anyone else without explicit permission. plus they can’t always speak their minds around everyone even if they’re talking to each other, so a lot of the inter-Pearl communication is touch-based. it’s very noticeable in Nacre because for a Gem who everyone thinks is a stoic, she’s always got that natural urge to touch people in some way.
the Gem language has words for “sister” and “daughter” as concepts – i.e., sister-in-arms, a Gem of the same type as you, are what “sister” is used for, especially if they’re from the same batch or same kindergarten. “daughter” exists mostly among Matrons to refer to the Gems they’ve created, although it might also exist among Gems who have secretly created their own offspring. however, there’s no real word for “mother” ; the closest word the Gems have for that is “Matron”, the Gem who created you, a maternal presence, someone who you hold in utmost reverence. the only Gems that Pearls respect more than Nacre are the Diamonds. some of them don’t even respect their OWNERS as much as they respect Nacre.
Pearls who have shitty owners often fantasize about having Nacre as an owner, don’t you dare @ me on this
there are some Pearls who have developed a sub-dialect of communication that has to do with humming or vocalization ! Fuchsia and Abalone are some of them because the Pearls who communicate this way in addition to touch tend to be bolder personalities.
because they’re formed on super watery planets, Pearls tend to be very good swimmers !!
they like to share their memories if they’ve learned something they consider useful or interesting.
Pearls in general like to experiment with styling their forms, hair, and outfits – especially during Era 3 when they have a lot of freedom to do so. when the opportunity presents itself, they’ll even chatter excitedly to each other about their own opinions for what they think would look good on each other.
some of them can be cutthroat in finding ways to make sure they look better than other Pearls. because they’re at the bottom of the food chain, so to speak, they don’t have many opportunities to better their station. although it’s not overwhelmingly the norm, Pearls have been known to sabotage one another. it’s usually the Pearls whose owners are strict and mistreat them who feel the need to do this ; it comes from a place of “ if she looks worse, then I look better ” and although it’s not VERY common, it can absolutely be vicious.
for Pearls whose owners have more than one Pearl, there’s even more competition. the Diamonds are the ones who approve requests for Pearls, but because requesting a Pearl when you already have one is seen as ungrateful and questioning the Authority’s decisions, it’s not common for a Gem to own two or more Pearls. the Gems who do have more than one Pearl almost certainly had the second / third / etc. given as a gift for exceptional performance rather than requesting her. Pearls who are not their owner’s only Pearl can become true friends, but more often they’ll fall into “frenemy” territory. they’ll be rivals competing to be their owner’s current favorite, especially if their owner is not a kind personality, although their bond as Pearls is strong enough that they typically won’t do anything that would risk a consequence as horrible as the other being shattered.
Nacre’s official title that most other Gems and some Pearls address her by is “Her Iridescence”. otherwise, Pearls call her “My Matron” or “Her Brilliance / Radiance / etc.” or simply address her by name. rarely, some Pearls will address her with an archaic Gem word which translates literally to “Nurturer”.
other Gems’ space inside their gemstone is pretty big, but still limited. Pearls’ gemspace is almost totally unlimited. these bad bitches can fit SO MUCH trauma in them !!!
Pearls as a rule tend to be very tall and wiry. they’re the slimmest, most delicate Gem type, and stand maybe half a foot to a foot shorter than most Quartzes. because of this they have a habit of bending / almost perching to talk to shorter people or simply if they need to do something close to the ground.
if they’re speaking to a Gem who isn’t their owner who is high in status, they may close their eyes as they speak. this is because they’ve developed a superstition that laying eyes on someone in high rank who isn’t their owner is rude and disrespectful, and will bring bad luck on them and / or their owner. some Pearls will close their eyes, some will just avoid eye contact with the other Gem, and some will actually go balls to the wall and face another direction entirely while they speak to the other Gem.
they have a goddess, Ender Pearl, whom they pray to for, most notably, beauty and safety. nearly every Pearl who comes into existence is created believing in her, but whenever a Pearl is mistreated or shattered by an owner, there are waves of lost faith in Ender among the Pearls. if she’s supposed to be watching over them and answering their prayers and protecting them, then why would she allow such things to happen ?
there are Pearls in existence who have completely lost faith for Nacre as well, because of the same reason they lose faith in Ender. ouch.
Nacre’s kindergartens are seen as less successful than other Gems’, producing maybe 75 % of what other Gems produce. it’s not because these lost Pearls never emerge or don’t live long. it’s because Nacre takes defective Pearls and shuttles them off to planets where they can live without worrying. she sometimes does this with other Gem types, if she’s able to do so, but if anyone ever found out, she’d be shattered in a heartbeat. in Era 3, she can now be honest about it, and new kindergartens are going to be difficult to produce ; some Gems don’t believe that someone as unassuming and unobtrusive and nice as Nacre could do something like smuggling defective Gems to other planets. there’s a lot of controversy surrounding it, but the fact is, she DID actually do it.
all Pearls love their mommy don’t @ me on this either
all Pearls are 10000 % babey and if you try to fight me on this one I’ll actually come for ur kneecaps AND ur toes thank u