hello! for ur gemspe au, consider pearl being, well, a Golden Pearl that got a taste of freedom and didn't want to give it up. so he fought and he fought and overraction just became a default response for him. platinum being Charoite, an aristocratic gemstone that came to earth supposedly for a short while, then ended up fascinated by its workings and left the gem camp. and tbh im not sure what to do w/ dia yet bc there's no way he's a diamond so
(Okay so my ‘S’ key is broken, so if I miss a plural s or anything, that’s why.)
Thank you for the message, you lovely human person! BTW, sorry if I didn’t really answer the way you wanted.
Okay, so I’ve since begun to dislike Steven Universe and haven’t watched any recent episodes (I stopped around episode 75-76 ish), but I still do enjoy the overall idea, mostly because I love gems and have willingly studied them on my own time since elementary school. I’m also a massive gem nerd, so prepare for a lot of gem facts and science. I’m so sorry for getting all science-y when you didn’t ask for it!
When I initially thought up the AU, I considered Pearl to be a peach-colored Pearl because Palkia’s pearl is pink (so is the pearl on Platinum’s ring), but Pearl himself is more associated with oranges and yellows, so I think peach is good compromise. Pearl belonged to Platinum as less of a servant and more of a bodyguard, assuming that most upperclass-gems own pearls. Though it has been shown that pearls aren’t expected to fight, this puts him out of the ordinary and eventually she starts to see him as her equal once they travel to earth. He did have to do a lot of fighting because, I’m assuming, early on in a pearl’s existence they are trained in servitude. And they were all like, “holy shit, this one sucks,” but Platinum got him anyway. I think pearls are supposed to be either trophies or servants, but I find servants for interesting, simply because pearls are actually very rare gems and most of the pears you can buy are man-made. You know how most pearls that are advertised are perfectly rounded? Pearls actually form lopsided and lumpy – those are natural pearls. Filing them down into a perfect sphere will only reveal the layers that have formed over time. Because man-made pearls are so abundant and, therefore, cheap, I can see pearls in Steven Universe being a cheap source of labor. (How the fuck to pearls grow in Steven Universe? They form in Oysters and Mussels. Are there just giant Oysters on Homeworld? It’s more likely that there are pearl factories...even though there really isn’t a possible way to get a pearl without an oyster. Pearls are considered “Organic Gems” because they aren’t minerals. Some other examples of Organic Gems are Coral, Amber, Jet, and Ivory.) Diamond is his best friend, and Pearl and Platz are the only ones who know his secret (see bellow).
I was also thinking that Platinum would be Poudretteite because it’s pink, which is her associated color, and it’s extremely rare and, therefore, worth a lot of money. I think Charoite is too purple. She is fascinated by humans, but struggles with fitting in. Dia and Pearl have a much easier time understanding Earth culture and acting the part, so it’s funny to watch pretend she knows what she’s doing. They technically never “traveled” to Earth, it was more of a “fiery crash” towards Earth in which the whole team (Red through White) sorta kinda just violently crashed their ship as they tried to escape the war and have been living there since while trying to find a way to fix it.
Diamond was just going to be a Blue Diamond. The diamond on Dialga’s chest plate and Platinum’s ring is blue (which really goes to show how rich she is, those are the most expensive diamond in the world. Research the ‘hope diamond’ and you’ll see what i mean.). Since Diamonds seem to be in charge, like the rulers of the gem world, I thought Diamond could be an “extra” Diamond that grew unnoticed. My reasoning is that Blue Diamonds are some of the rarest diamonds in the world, so they wouldn’t expect one to grow and overlooked him as an Aquamarine (blue diamonds usually have a more metallic silvery hint to them and have that special brand of diamond clarity). Also, I know diamonds and aquamarines form under different circumstances, but it’s a kids cartoon and I can do what I want. The point is that they’re from different families (beryl and diamond) so other gems wouldn’t suspect him. I think most gems would be able to tell a Diamond apart from an Aquamarine…what with living among them for so long, but whaaaaaaatever.
Also, in case you’re curious, Diamond and Platinum fuse to Taafeite, Pearl and Platinum fuse to Morganite, Diamond and Pearl fuse to Charoite (another reason Platinum couldn’t be), and the whole team fuses to Lepidolite. Gosh, I feel like such a hypocrite because I wrote a whole thing about why Ruby and Sapphire should not fuse into Garnet simple because they are from different gemstone families (Rubies and Sapphires are forms of Corundum and Garnets are…well, Garnets. Garnet is a family of gemstone.) and here I am completely ignoring that aspect because I’m too lazy.
