Ok, so it’s been established that our Pearl was a gift to Pink Diamond (Pink) a couple thousands years before she got the earth. And I’ve always wondered if Pink ever had her own pearl and if so what happened to her. But then something occurred to me. What if she ran away and went into hiding with a ruby!!
If I remember correctly Garnet stated Rhodonite was a fusion of a pearl and a ruby. And if you look closely, Rhodonite has a pink pearl gem. Like HOLY CRAP! I can’t believe it didn’t occur to me sooner. If I’m wrong please tell me, I don’t keep up with everything related to Steven Universe.
The only hole I see in this theory is that all the Pearls belonging to
Diamonds (except for our Pearl) has their gem in the same place as the
Diamond they were made for, and the Pearl that makes Rhodonite
seems to be placed on her chest.
Rhodonite mentioned Morganite, which is a gemstone of pink color, who may have been the gem the Pearl who makes Rhodonite was originally made for.
Those are my two cents anyway;) I admit we can’t be sure, what with our Pearl being multi-colored with her gem on her forehead, when from what we’ve learned about Pearls, she should be pink and have her gem on her stomach, so I could be totally wrong too
rose’s backstory isn’t entirely a lie. she did try to plead with a diamond to spare the earth. but it was blue diamond, and she, herself, was pink.
“myBLUE Diamond. it has come to my attention that yourMY colony, earth, bears life. while i know that these organic life forms serve no purpose, i ask that we leave this planet, and spare their lives”.
“you wish to save these life forms at the expense of our own? don’t be absurd!”
pink remembered that exchange. it was when she realized she was on her own.
“rose pink diamond could no longer stand to aid in the destruction of earth. she had no choice. she had to fight”.
“so she decided to make a stand. as someone they couldn’tignore”.
“I was supposed to make her happy I just… never could.”
THIS. THIS. THIS.
This small quote, and that look on Pink Diamond’s face, is just…. it’s so much okay? Pearl was given to Pink Diamond a few thousand years before the colonization, so we can assume that Pink is at least three thousand years, but I would guess she’s older and just didn’t have a Pearl before – like Earth, and like the Zoo, Pearl was given to Pink in order to shut her up because the other Diamonds didn’t want to deal with her.
And all Pink Diamond wanted was someone to talk to. Yes I know we see her throwing that fit in Jungle Moon, but honestly, that’s what children do when they want someone to pay attention to them. She threw a fit at Yellow Diamond, and Yellow Diamond responded by blowing her off.
“But Diamonds aren’t children,” I hear the haters saying. And no, in general, there are no “children” gems. But when you treat someone like a child, they’re going to act like a child. And it’s pretty clear that Pink was treated as a child for most of her life.
And eventually, she’s given this Pearl who she’s told will make her happy, and while Pearl is undeniably adorable and how can you not smile looking at that face, she’s still not what Pink wants. All Pink wants is someone who will talk to her, someone to be her friend. And Pearl is amazing. But her happiness, her answers, they’re all to please Pink. Pearl isn’t there because she wants to be with Pink. She’s there because the other Diamonds ordered her to be.
pearl made a stand against her homeworld. she was thrilled to be in that fight. even thousands of years later, she romanticizes it the same way she romanticizes rose. she hesitated at first, but her freedom matters to her. nowhere is that more obvious than during gem heist and that will be all.
pearl is MISERABLE in her homeworldian role. being ordered around like this disgusts her, annoys her, and humiliates her. she is NOT content with that. the only part she enjoyed about her old life was pink herself, not the job. it is her belief in her own selfless devotion that drove her. all the way up until “do it for her”, she believed unyielding self-sacrifice was a part of being in love.
in other words – she’s in love with pink, and was in love with the idea of being her knight. not the homeworldian hierarchy.
that devotion wasn’t exactly healthy, but that’s something the show is aware of. that’s why there’s so much focus on pearl’s feelings after rose is gone. she has to be her own gem now. as RS has said, she thinks it’s a “horrible message” to little girls that love will validate you, and that it’s okay to depend entirely on one person’s validation. that’s what pearl’s arc is about. it’s about overcoming that… while also acknowledging that both rose and pearl really cared about each other, and rose wanted pearl to be free.
on the contrary, pearl absolutely RELISHES in being able to tell those who would force this role upon her where they can stick it. she is just giddy with power upon confronting holly blue. this is portrayed as, not just healthy, but badass. we also see this in “last one out of beach city” – breaking laws and norms thrills pearl.
the end of rose was notthe end of that. rose encouraged her to be herself, and break free from her role… but for these scenes, we see a pearl who is completely free from rose. that’s when pearl is at her healthiest. her relationship with rose definitely wasn’t as perfect or wholesome as pearl wanted it to be, but she is a rebel. and she loves it. she is unabashedly herself, and shamelessly a fighter, besserwisser, and lawbreaker. with or without rose attached to it.
Pearl was still loyal to her Diamond, sure, but I imagine she would have justified it in another way. Regardless, she still rebelled against her position in homeworld society and clearly relished in proving gems wrong about what Pearls are capable of.
^ yes. but that loyalty wasn’t as servile as people make it out to be, either. she continued to have a “knight” mentality, but there’s more to it than that. pearl not only became genuinely independent, her own person with her own desires, interests and talents, but she also openly questions rose’s decisions. in “story for steven”, she is the polar opposite of servile – she’s outright judgmental of rose and her choice of human mate. if she felt like a servant, she would NEVER have said that. she would NEVER have tried to sabotage it, either.
pearl and rose are complicated people. yes, pearl had a moment of hesitation. it would change everything… but she was genuinely excited for it. that wasn’t just something rose ‘forced’, that was something that caused her to smile and blush in her own excitement.
these aren’t my words, but i believe someone pointed out that when a girl puts a hibiscus flower on the right side of her hair, it’s a symbol of freedom and not being tied down in a relationship. this is pearl embracing that.
it also explains why rose was never comfortable being pearl’s love. she may have loved her in return, but that’s why she didn’t want them to be an item. not with their history.
i’ve also seen people use pearl’s war trauma as a way to justify their interpretation of her as a “servant at heart”, and… folks, it’s such a stretch. she was traumatized by the fact that she LOST EVERYONE. she regretted that faking pink’s death led to mass corruption. not rebelling in the first place.
“PINK DIAMOND LIED TO GET OUT OF HER RESPONSIBILITIES AS A DIAMOND!!“ “SHE’S IRREDEEMABLE FOR THAT!!” “THE EXPERIMENTS, THE CLUSTER, JASPER!!”
ah yes,
And, for my final trick, the biggest issue I’ve seen people have with Pink/Rose is…that. Ugh. Okay… let’s do this.
Pink Diamond did NOT lie to get out of her “responsibilities” as a Diamond.She lied to free herself and her gems from the idea of Pink Diamond.
^
Specifically this one. Yellow and Blue clung to that idea of Pink long after Pink told them that’s not who she is or wanted to be.
and when they didn’t listen, THIS was her answer.
She wanted to give the Earth to the Crystal Gems–Gems who chose to fight with her, not Gems who fraught with her because she was their Diamond and it was their magical destiny.
If the Crystal Gems were not literally fighting Pink Diamond, then they were fighting a figurative Pink Diamond, and because of that, this “lie” changes nothing as far as I’m concerned; Rose is still the cunning sweetheart who fought for Love and Change, and she’s still the foolish child who never quite got empathy, until her time with Greg.
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