idk how much you know abt pearls, but an extra rundown just in case? gems are artificially designed/created, so they all exist to serve a purpose. (eg, all peridots are technicians, any gems in the quartz subheading (amethyst, jasper, etc.) are meant to be strong and powerful soldiers.) pearls are created as status symbols: you purchase one so that it can stand around, look pretty, and hold your things. it's like saying, i am rich and important enough to have a gorgeous, pointless servant. (1/2)
(2/2) in the context of tftbl, rhys as a pearl fits with his fancy aesthetic, plus it's vaguely mentioned that the nicer dressed they are, the richer the person who bought them. (cough, those tails, cough.) that said, pearls themselves are looked down upon as helpless and kind of useless (the one in su gets underestimated, and her individuality & power is terrifying). jack would get elevated for having a pearl; rhys himself would get bossed around and generally ignored by, for example, vasquez.
(3/2) extra followup? peridots are ranked only barely higher than pearls, because they're weak and unimportant, but they still serve a purpose. (which, of course, prompts talking about the nature of an object or person's aesthetic function) but the point is that in the su thing you reblogged, vaughn and rhys are comparable socially, though vaughn might actually OUTRANK rhys. [sorry for huge rant, i find gem culture & worldbuilding fascinating, & it was really well applied in that au]
Haha I knew the Pearl stuff, it seems. Which is shocking considering I can’t watch SU. But the worldbuilding does seem pretty cool, ngl.
