my take on younger steven meeting older steven! poor kid really needed to hear this back then

I firmly believe Bismuth was singing “Who We Are” to all of us!! also drew this as a reminder for my sib!

Crystal Gems throwing each other around

The Return and Jailbreak (March 12, 2015) | Reunited (July 6, 2018)

This episode touched on something I’ve been concerned about - and I’m not yet 100% on which stance it’s actually taking. For a whole host of reasons I really don’t want Steven to be “the leader of the Crystal Gems” - only more so after the Pink Diamond reveal. What he is, and what I think he should be, is the Team Diplomat, the Friend, the Heart, always there willing to extend a hand and listen, and always bringing the hopeful outlook. That’s what he’s good at, and what he strives to do - though of course this ties into a lot of the stuff Amethyst went into in her ep, and tell me about your feeeeeeelings.

Bismuth says the CGs don’t want her back on the team (also can we talk about how much Bismuth CARES? I love her so much, big and warm and sensitive treasure that she is) because she attacked “their leader” - and she clarifies she doesn’t mean Rose. Steven denies being the leader, even though he is the one that’s, as Bismuth says, “making them believe in the future”, even in the face of all of Rose’s lies (literally) tearing them apart. And I’m not a fan of Steven just automatically having to be the one to fix everything Because Protagonist so I liked how they took the time to make the point that the fight had been between Bismuth and Steven, and so she and Steven could and should work it out without the other CGs necessarily being involved (though I very much do appreciate that Sapphire apologises to Bismuth in the end anyway, because honestly, concern for Steven or no, that bubbling was just not ok).

And of course later we have that exchange:

A long time ago, back around… early season 2 maybe, I remember there was meta about how the CGs with Steven were becoming less of a team (and former army) and more of a family. I can roll with that.

Now that the secret’s out

I want there to be an episode with the “Two-Timer Date” Trope where Rose/Pink has to be at a Chrystal Gem event AND a Diamond event at the same time and runs around between the two frantically shape-shifting

Bismuth Week Day Four: In Battle

Since I can’t make the post I wanted for today, I’ll leave you with some of my headcanons about Bismuth in battle.

Rose Quartz stars as herself in: Rose Quartz and the Crystal Gems! Another new print I will have for Tekko that is now available in store~ 

lapis is probably going to leave

@thelightwithinthedark said:

i think lapis is leaving the barn. it’s been foreshadowed for a very long time, and this was never a mutually happy arrangement. it was her and the crystal gems trying to coexist, and it mainly worked because they were always avoiding a core issue: they’re determined to defend earth. lapis is not.

the ‘table’ is earth. and that… never changed. remember, this was long after steven tried to show her the beauty of earth by way of uh… leaf. and cities.

of course that wasn’t going to be enough.

lapis tried to be positive, because it’s steven, and he’s her friend! she wants him to see her best, and she knows he’s the reason the other crystal gems let an old enemy live on earth, despite trying to kill humans (and their boy).

she feels guilty for hew own actions, but after her breakdown, she’s gone back to avoiding all these things. she doesn’t really want to be on thin ice with these people when she has nowhere else to go.

that’s why people often remark that she seems ‘out of character’ when talking to steven - she’s actively trying to be the beach summer fun buddy.

but things aren’t so peachy. there are too many reasons she hates the earth, too many tensions between her and the crystal gems, too many things lapis avoids talking about (connie, steven, jasper, greg, the crystal gems as a whole)… it was only a matter of time before the fragile truce was challenged. 

the other CGs don’t have much nice to say about her either.

pearl was nothing short of scornful of lapis in ocean gem, and that never really changed. she’s only tolerating her, even in gem harvest. lapis feels the same, judging by their history and the malice in her voice when suggesting peridot be ‘the pearl’ when pretending to be crystal gems. 

garnet seems to have sympathy for how long she stayed in a toxic fusion, but even that was with the careful neutrality of “yikes. those two are really bad for each other”. 

the benefit of pretending everything’s fine was that lapis was left alone, and for the crystal gems, that this very powerful gem didn’t give them any trouble. but... with the diamonds taking their anger out of earth, that peace is in question.

lapis looks out for lapis - that’s always been a part of her. she cares for her friends, but she’s also determined to live. despite her guilt, she can still be calculating, vicious and desperate to keep the status quos that benefit her. when those status quos are no longer possible, she fights, freezes… or flees.

in other words… the crystal gems will fight for earth. lapis doesn’t want to.

judging by the lighting, the storyboarding, their eye-contact and the angles… we already have lapis’ response:

and so, lapis’ peaceful barn life, where she never has to deal with more severe consequences, and yet also where she has to forevermore pretend she’s fine staying on earth with these people… is coming to an end.

sometimes, things change. and sometimes, albeit difficult… it’s for the better.

Headcanon that Crystal Gems don’t use their facet/cut identifiers, so they use pitch and tone to distinguish among gems of the same kind. When names are called out across the camp it sounds like singing, and each gem knows when she is being sought out.