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andrewmoocow · 11 months

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Little Homeworld Life chapter 23: Eye of the Beholder (originally posted on May 29, 2023)

AN: Took me a long while, but Squaridot has her own episode at long last! Unfortunately, it'll be one of the last two fun slice of life episodes we'll get, the second being the one after this, before we move onto the finale of Little Homeworld and inevitably, the start of this universe's 12-chapter grand finale "Steven Universe Snake Eyes". Yeah, if Ronaldo's outburst last episode was any indication, combined with the final scene of the last episode of Black Pearl Brigade, we shall finally meet the Snake People, or Sneople, face to face. However, what I have planned has yet to come. In the meantime, have some Peridot-brand shenanigans in probably a much shorter chapter than usual.

Synopsis: Squaridot learns about meep morps from Peridot.

Cast:

Shelby Rabara as Squaridot, Peridot

Jennifer Paz as Lapis, Laz, Zuli

Gal Gadot as Desert Glass

Noël Wells as Black Rutile

Amy Sedaris as Teal Zircon

Estelle as Garnet

Michaela Dietz as Amethyst

Deedee Magno-Hall as Pearl, The Black Pearl Brigade, Yellow Pearl

Kimberly Brooks as Jasper, Superfan Rose, Hippie Rose, Shy Rose, Carnelian, Skinny Jasper

Lauren Ash as White Topaz

Casey Lee Williams as Cat's Eye

Christine Pedi as Holly Blue Agate

Hayley Kiyoko as Morganite

Christine Baranski as Hessonite

Featuring Nolan North as Ross Roberts

"Howdy folks, my name is Ross Roberts, and welcome to this week's installment of The Wonders of Creativity." A painter in a ridiculously huge afro said in an incredibly soothing voice to his viewers at home. Viewers like Squaridot, for example, who was watching the program very intently. "For this episode, we're going to paint a nice little picture of a cozy cabin in the woods. That's right." The host began his demonstration by showing off each of his paints as he stuck his brush in them. "Now then, we're just going to start with a little Virtuous Viridian for the grass. Can't have a forest without grass."

"Fascinating." Squaridot muttered in wonder as Ross Roberts continued painting his forest scene and giving instructions overly relaxingly.

"I do declare; we're making some good progress so far." Ross stated after he finished painting the grass, some happy little trees, and the beginnings of a bright sun in the sky." He then dabbed his brush in some blue, which he dubbed Blue Angels. "Now then, let's add some Blue Angels into the mix to form a clear summer sky." Unfortunately, Ross lost his grip and accidentally spilled his entire pallet onto his canvas, much to Squaridot's shock and dismay. "Whoo, that did not go the way I wanted it to!" he exclaimed at his own clumsiness before turning to his viewer with a shrug. "But that's okay. Oftentimes in art, you make mistakes, but they can also be opportunities to learn. I may not have gotten the painting I wanted, but I can still make something new out of it."

"Like what?" Squaridot asked Ross, even though he could not answer, before he pulled out a paintball gun from off-screen and fired it at his canvas, stunning Squaridot as the canvas was utterly pelted with paintballs. "WOW!"

"There now, that ain't so bad." Ross declared serenely. "Now then, I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today, folks. So from all of us here, I'd like to wish you a happy painting; God bless us, everyone, and remember, hugs, not drugs." The program then ended, leaving Squaridot amazed at how Ross Roberts was so calm the entire episode.

"That was so interesting!" Squaridot gasped to herself. "I never realized how you can do literally anything with art! I must tell somebody about this." Luckily, she knew exactly who to tell about her experience.

"Not bad, you guys." Lapis complimented her sculpting students' work elsewhere in Little Homeworld. "Hey, if you want, you can submit your work to a meep morp show we're putting on later today."

"Excellent." Black Rutile declared while creating a sculpture of herself from clay. "I've been constantly pondering building a statue to myself in honor of how amazing I am, and I must display it for all to see."

"Boy, you're as conceited as ever." Peridot stuck her tongue out at Black Rutile before seeing Squaridot rush up to her. "Oh, Squaridot, good day to you."

"Peridot, I come to tell you something that I really want to do!" Squaridot exclaimed eagerly. "I want to do some art!"

"Oh, took you long enough!" Peridot laughed heartily at her squarer counterpart. "Though Lapis and I prefer to call them meep morps, we're okay if you insist on calling it art."

"Good to see a fellow artist among us," Lapis added. "What made you want to pursue it, Square?"

"I was just binging episodes upon episodes of Ross Roberts' The Wonders of Creativity," Squaridot answered. "I've just been suckered into how soothing the host's voice was."

"Yeah, that is definitely a big draw of the program," Peridot stated with a hand on Squaridot's shoulder. "But on a related subject, let's talk about all the different kinds of meep morps you can do! For example, Lapis teaches sculpting, but there's also painting, drawing, literature, photography, and music. Or you can do what we do and throw random things together to make something new."

"Hey, that reminds me," Squaridot replied. "what made you two pursue art, and why do you call it meep morps?"

"Well, I chose to call them meep morps because I thought it would be funny," Lapis revealed. "I mean, just those words together kept making me laugh, and it just stuck."

"As for how we got into artwork, that's quite a tale," Peridot added. "You see, it all started when we were making ourselves home at the barn."

"Well, Lapis, how are you doing remaking this old barn?" Peridot asked Lapis while the two were busy remodeling the barn to fit their needs. Earlier that day, Lapis had tossed a truck into the wall above the big doors as a way of venting her frustrations with Jasper, and that gave Peridot the idea to spruce up the place instead of leaving it to be devoured by the numerous termites lurking there.

"Coming along nicely," Lapis replied while lifting up the silo with a pair of water arms and positioning it at the side of the barn. "You're good to go now!"

"Excellent!" Peridot declared before she welded the silo into the wall with her tools. "That should do the trick; the barn's exterior has officially been overhauled. Now what to do about the inside?"

"Not sure if we really need a fridge or heating or something," Lapis observed the current status of their pet project. "What do you think?"

"I don't know; maybe some art could do," Peridot suggested before pulling out her tablet and looking up art pieces online. "Unfortunately, a lot of these seem ridiculously expensive. I mean, this old Japanese painting of an orange fire ninja fighting a blue ice ninja is worth $1,081,992! Do you know how much that's worth in Minerals?!"

"Beats me; I was never really up to date on the Gem economy." Lapis shrugged while Peridot crunched the Gem equivalent of such a price.

"About 89,1006 minerals!" Peridot yelled in response and shoved her tablet in Lapis's face. "We don't have that kind of money!"

"So, are you suggesting we make some ourselves?" Lapis suggested. "What ideas do you have?"

"I'm glad you asked." Peridot proclaimed as she looked around the farm. "There's just so much we can do with all this old junk lying around. Plus, it could be a good, and less dangerous, way of coping with stress."

"Yeah, I like the sound of that meep morp." Lapis agreed before she started laughing. "Oh my stars, why did I think that?!" she chuckled. "It's just such a funny word!"

"That did sound pretty funny!" Peridot added while rolling on the grass in amusement. "Why don't we start calling out art pieces meep morps?!"

"Yeah, great idea!" Lapis continued laughing before she realized what she and Peridot just did. "Wait, what?"

Back in the present and later in the day, Squaridot had begun work on her own meep morp to enter into the art show with help from Peridot, Lapis, Laz, and Zuli. For her first attempt, she had constructed a perfect replica of her old Attack Pod from back when she was a servant of Hessonite. "Well, what do you think? Not bad for my first attempt, huh?"

"Yeah, not half bad," Peridot responded while knocking on the replica Attack Pod. "It looks almost like the real thing!"

"That's because it is!" Squaridot proclaimed. "Well, partially the real thing. Do you know that whole Ship of Theseus thing? Well, I basically took what I could find of the original Attack Pod and replaced everything that was broken! In a way, I basically rebuilt it."

"Yeah, but how much of the original is still left, I wonder?" Zuli asked quizzically.

"Let's not get too deep into this." Laz stopped Zuli's philosophizing in its tracks before she knocked on the statue. "You sure this isn't going to turn on at any moment and go on a rampage?"

"Oh nonsense, I took very special precautions to ensure such a thing won't happen!" Squaridot exclaimed nervously before the machine suddenly activated. "Oh no."

"TARGET CONFIRMED; INITIATE ASSAULT." The Attack Pod droned as it fired away at its surroundings, causing nearby Gems to panic while Squaridot awkwardly shuffled away.

"No, wait, come back!" Peridot yelled as she chased after the Attack Pod.

"Wait here, Squaridot, we'll handle this," Lapis said as she flew up and followed Peridot to stop the Pod.

"So, very special precaution, eh?" Laz smirked at a very nervous Squaridot.

"I'm so sorry for all of this." Squaridot meekly apologized.

"Don't worry, squirt," Zuli cheered Squaridot up. "Hopefully, we can find some other form of art that won't start destroying everything in sight!"

Once Peridot and Lapis stopped the rampaging Attack Pod, they returned to training Squaridot in the ways of meep morps. This time, they sat her in front of an easel with a set of paints. "Okay, so what do you want me to do now?" Squaridot asked.

"Anything, ah doy!" Lapis advised Squaridot. "That's the beauty of painting; you can basically do whatever you want. Then again, the same goes for all kinds of art."

"Anything I want, huh? Then anything you shall get!" Squaridot declared as she got to work on her painting. When she finished, however, Peridot and the Lapides quickly noticed how familiar the smiling woman she painted was. "How do you like it?"

"Hate to break it to you, but that's already been done." Laz gave her critiques.

"But on the plus side, I love how you perfectly recreated it." Zuli added politely.

"Wait, you mean to tell me someone already painted this?!" Squaridot complained before she threw her finished painting away and started anew. "I must find something else to paint, something way more original!"

"Don't get so discouraged; you'll find your footing." Peridot calmed Squaridot's nerves before discovering that the other Peridot had now completed a painting of a human man with two pairs of his arms and legs superimposed on him and spread apart. "See, you're getting good at it!"

"Actually, I'm pretty sure I've seen that one before too," Lapis added while resisting the urge to laugh at the nude man Squaridot just created. "Try another!"

"Will do!" Squaridot declared before painting what looked like a massive tidal wave looming over three boats in a storm. "No!" she complained before throwing it away and painting what looked like a beautiful starry night. "No!"

"What are they doing?" Jasper muttered as she and White Topaz watched Squaridot paint the day away.

"Looks like Squaridot is painting." White Topaz observed. "Should we go help her? She's looking really distressed."

"Naw, this is something she has to do herself." Jasper coldly replied before walking away from her girlfriend. "Come on, Paz, let's check up on the rest of the entrants."

For what felt like hours, Squaridot accidentally recreated famous paintings only to throw them out and start again. Feeling increasingly discouraged, she eventually gave up and threw her pallet on the canvas.

"Hey, this looks good!" Lapis pointed out.

"No, this is exactly what Ross Roberts did!" Squaridot complained before throwing that canvas away as well. "What else can we do?"

Another kind of meep-morping that Squaridot attempted was sculpting, and she had Lapis and Peridot serve as her models. She hoped beyond belief that things would go right this time, that the Attack Pod wouldn't show up again, or she'd end up ripping off some other famous artwork.

"Good, good," Squaridot muttered to herself while looking over at Lapis posing with Peridot on her lap. "Not bad so far. Ooh, this is looking fantastic!"

"Maybe this won't fail this time," Laz said hopefully as Squaridot finished her sculpture and presented it to her models.

"How does it look?" Squaridot asked eagerly while presenting her finished product to the two Gems.

"Hey, not bad!" Lapis complimented Squaridot's sculpture, relieved that nothing will go wrong for once. "I really like how you captured Peridot's energy here."

"Oh, finally!" Squaridot sighed in relief when she realized something. "But I think it could be better."

"Oh lord, it's good enough!" Laz snapped at Squaridot's negative self-talk. "You did good enough!"

"Hey Laz, calm down!" Zuli tried to settle Laz's anger. "Though really, it's not like you're going to accidentally drop it on the ground and ruin it."

"Well, I am far more careful than that," Squaridot said while gently putting the sculpture down, only to step on it accidentally. "Great." She muttered disdainfully before walking away. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to deal with artist's block now."

"Squaridot, wait!" Peridot yelled and chased after the other Peridot. "You can't just give up that easily!"

"I'm not giving up; I just need new ideas!" Squaridot clarified and took a deep breath. "Would you like to know what I was doing after you saved me from the ship?"

"I don't know. What?" Peridot asked.

"I joined Black Rutile," Squaridot answered, much to Peridot's surprise. "No, it's not what you think! I was only with her for a few months before Hessonite found me! Let me explain. Initiate super wavy flashback effect!"

Almost immediately after being saved by the Crystal Gems from Hessonite's warship and being brought up to speed on Era 3, Squaridot was scooped up by Morganite during the early stages of the Rutile Rebels' formation to hopefully indoctrinate another victim of the Crystal Gems' oppression into their cause.

During their time together, Morganite helped Squaridot develop and master her ferrokinetic abilities, and they built many of Black Rutile's war machines and technology together, such as surveillance drones, dropships, and weapons of mass destruction. However, Squaridot felt that Black Rutile wasn't really fighting for the good of all Gems; she was just an angry bigot who refused to let go of her past.

"How has your training been progressing, 4E3M-7ZY?" Morganite asked Squaridot one evening while the Peridot was in the middle of meditation. "I hope you've been keeping up on your education."

"I'm doing well, Morganite," Squaridot answered. "Black Rutile's nuclear fusion device is almost done; we must make some final touches. Once it's done, we can finally use it to force the Decapodians into servitude."

"Excellent work, Peridot," Morganite said with a smile and a pat on Squaridot's head. "I knew we could put your genius to good use." Suddenly, security alarms began going off, signifying that an intruder may have entered the facility. "What's going on?"

"Morganite, we have a break-in!" a Ruby soldier declared from the other side of the room. "That Hessonite just laid siege to our base and is taking down every Gem in sight!"

"Her again?!" Morganite growled before she turned to Squaridot. "You stay here; I'll deal with her!"

"That won't be necessary, Morganite," Hessonite said as she suddenly appeared behind the renegade designer and prepared to strike. Still, Morganite thought fast and made Hessonite's sword collide with her Rejuvenator. "Stop what you're doing right now, and come quietly!"

"Never; she has come too far to give up now!" Morganite retorted before turning back to Squaridot. "What are you waiting for, Peridot? Leave now!"

"Wait, Peridot?!" Hessonite exclaimed. "Which Peridot?"

"Peridot Facet-4E3M Cut-7ZY." Squaridot reintroduced herself to Hessonite. "Fancy seeing you again, Hessonite. How have you been doing?"

"Ever since I helped Steven stop Demantoid and Pyrope, a lot of vigilante work fighting rebel Gems," Hessonite stated before knocking the Rejuvenator out of Morganite's hand. "Morganite was but one of the Gems I've been tracking down."

"Don't think about taking her away from me!" Morganite said while backflipping away. "This Peridot is but one of the innocent Gems that I saved from being brainwashed by the Crystal Gems, and I won't let you capture another!"

"I was not brainwashed!" Squaridot exclaimed. "They simply offered me a new life, and I simply turned it down for now."

"Well, what do you say, Peridot," Hessonite replied. "still willing to accept a second chance?"

"Don't listen to her; it's a trap!" Morganite begged Squaridot. "Just go away so Hessonite and I can talk one-to-one." She then pointed at Hessonite. "Just you and me and my GUARDS!" At Morganite's command, an army of Jasper and Amethyst guards burst into Morganite's chamber to assist their boss against the intruder. "Seize the traitor to the old ways!"

"One Morganite and nineteen Quartzes against little old me sounds like pretty bad odds," Hessonite observed just as Squaridot walked up beside her, wielding a pipe.

"Yeah, for them." Squaridot declared as the two charged into battle against the guards. "And by the way, call me Squaridot."

"If you say so," Hessonite replied.

"So, after defeating the guards and escaping, Hessonite decided to take me in as one of her sidekicks." Squaridot finished explaining her flashback to Peridot. "As you can observe, I didn't stick around long enough to absorb Black Rutile's manifesto, which leads us to today."

"Now, what does that have to do with our current situation?" Peridot asked. "And why didn't I hear about this before now, and yet this is being treated like this has always happened?"

"What I'm trying to say is that just like how Hessonite gave me a new approach, I need a new approach again right now," Squaridot said before a familiar voice began echoing through her mind.

"Oftentimes in art, you make mistakes, but they can also be opportunities to learn. I may not have gotten the painting I wanted, but I can still make something new out of it." Squaridot imagined a floating Ross Roberts head appearing on her shoulder, repeating the lesson he learned from his painting mistake before slowly fading away. "Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes, mistakes…."

"Wait a second, that's it!" Squaridot proclaimed excitedly. "I made so many mistakes today, but what if I can do something with all those mistakes?!"

"That's a stellar idea!" Peridot replied. "Where did you get that idea?"

"Just some voices in my head reminding me of what I heard earlier," Squaridot answered. "Been happening a lot lately."

"That's what we call using your head, Squaridot." A wrinkly green face with a male voice in Squaridot's head agreed.

"You have a good idea there." Another green face with a female voice added.

"WESLEY." A strange robotic voice declared.

Later that day, the art show had finally begun with Gems from all over Little Homeworld coming over to display the meep morps they spent that day creating, ranging from paintings to statues, photographs, and more; everybody had a method of art that they wanted to show off.

"And here we have this magnanimous statue dedicated to me." Black Rutile explained the bronze statue of herself holding one hand out while the other was holding the hand of Aquamarine as the two stood on top of Steven's dead body. "I consider this a monument to the idea of perseverance and how in the face of seemingly impossible odds, truth, justice, and a better tomorrow will always find a way."

"Oh, that's nothing; witness my statue!" Desert Glass proclaimed while making her sand sculpture of herself animate itself through her movements. "Try and beat that."

"Guys, this doesn't need to be a competition." Chest Rose said while she, Navy Rose, and Shoulder Rose demonstrated their meep morp, which was made up of various objects, all stuck together to make a collage. "I gathered up all the materials."

"So that's what happened to the trash bags!" Amethyst exclaimed, pointing out some of the items used for the Roses' piece.

"As for our piece, we'd like to show off pictures of all our previous adventures," Nacre said before she and the Black Pearl Brigade presented photos of their bounty-hunting adventures, ranging from their showdown with Mr. Manco on Sergione-29, meeting Sylvia Spectre, vacationing on Kyukanza, and many more.

"We truly had some glorious adventures." Braids declared.

"Some you may not have even heard of before, like this one," Cap added before presenting a picture of an adventure to the planet Yorha. "Sculder felt really at home here, but he had to choose between living among his fellow machines or sticking with us."

"But eventually, after we convinced the Yorhans to get off their shiny metal asses and help stop Andesine, they realized that Sculder's real home was on the Servant," Pony stated while the Pearls' robot companion Sculder gave a thumbs up.

"I simply painted this picture of a number 2 pencil for my artwork." Teal Zircon said before pulling a tarp off her painting of a pencil and holding a pencil in her hands to compare. "I don't know why I painted this, but it helped me remember that the most important thing in life is to use a number 2 pencil." She then angrily growled, "Number 2!"

"That is certainly a unique idea for art." Garnet raised an eyebrow. "Pearls, what did you do?"

"Our piece was far more refined than all of this!" Yellow Pearl boasted as she, Blue Pearl, and Volleyball presented a tribute to the struggles Pearls faced in the old days. "We dub this piece Little Rebellions. Carnelian and her Jasper friend helped us with this one."

"Thanks for giving us credit!" Skinny Jasper exclaimed as she and Carnelian clapped.

"Woo, go, Pearls!" Carnelian whooped.

"And finally, let's see what Squaridot did." White Topaz stated while turning to Squaridot, who replied by pulling off a tarp revealing an amalgamation of all her attempts at art thus far. Her paintings now decorated the arms and legs of the subdued Attack Pod, and at the top was her destroyed sculpture of Peridot & Lapis. "Ooh, this looks neat! What do you call this one?"

"I call my piece "Mistakes," after an epiphany I had from my continued attempts at meep morps." Squaridot explained. "I got it from an episode of The Wonders of Creativity with Ross Roberts, and he made a mistake just like me when making meep morps, but he could take it in stride because he says they can also be opportunities to learn. I may not have gotten the painting I wanted, but I can still make something new out of it."

"That is really profound." IQ gasped in awe as everybody started clapping.

"Not bad little Peridot, not bad at all." Tails agreed with IQ.

"Please, Holly, and could do better than that." Cat's Eye confidently stated.

"Don't get too cocky, Cat." Holly Blue advised.

"We're so proud of you." Peridot and the three Lapises said in unison.

As Squaridot began taking a bow for her efforts, she noticed Morganite standing among the applauding Gems, who then gave her an approving nod. The two may have parted ways, but Squaridot still saw that Morganite held some respect for her.

But hidden in the crowd, Black Rutile used the applause to further her devious plots. A quick trip with the Warp Pad allowed her to steal some Gem shards left over from the Diamonds' dismantling of the Cluster and the various Cluster experiments. In particular, Black Rutile got her hands on the fragments of a Phoenix Lapis Lazuli, an Emerald, two Citrines, and a Demantoid, which she knew would be perfect for adding to her forces and satisfying the needs of one of her subordinates.

I told you this would be shorter than usual. I mean, it's probably a given since the final two chapters of the series will probably be far longer. But on another subject, next chapter will be the last fun one before we get into the more serious stuff because we'll be heading to the Olympics! Well, not really the Olympics, those are far later in real life, these are basically the Olympics at home. I'm getting ahead of myself, see you next week.

#steven universe #steven universe future #fanfiction #steven universe alternate future #little homeworld life #squaridot #peridot #lapis lazuli #mean lapis #nice lapis

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