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brooklynboysficrecs · 4 years

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Ria’s Top 10 Shrinkyclinks Fics

I will admit this isn’t my preferred AU -- I won’t immediately jump on a fic just because it’s pre-serum Steve and WS Bucky. I gotta like the plot, or the premise, or be really, really intrigued by the tags, but to be fair, that’s how I am with everything that isn’t Modern Bucky and Cap Steve, so. That being said, I have read some truly fantastic shrinkyclinks stories, and I do very much love Steven “Fight Me” Rogers at his scrappiest. And these fics also tend to feature protective!Bucky which is another personal favorite of mine. Oh, but also: shrinkyclinks generally refers to pre-serum Steve with actual Winter Soldier Bucky, but a lot of people use the tag just to imply body types, and when they say WS Bucky they mean he’s all huge and muscled and sometimes has a metal arm, though that isn’t required. That’s the definition I’m going with as well, so hopefully nothing’s confusing!

1. If Wishing Made It So by leveragehunters. Before I get into anything about the actual fic, let me say this: leveragehunters is probably my favorite stucky writer. Like, hands-down, I read almost everything they write, and they’re big into fantasy stories, which is a great bonus for me personally. So, so, so many good shrinkyclinks fics by them (Even Underneath the Waves, a mermaid AU that features equal amounts of pre- and post-serum Steve, and A-mage-ing Grace with mage Steve are two of my other favorites, and they would’ve been on the list, but I try not to put more than one story per author, ya know? And IWMIS kinda wins out above the others for me, so). This story features jinn!Bucky who finds himself in the baffled hands of Steve Rogers, who is perfectly prickly and stubborn and good. Bucky’s got a terrible past with humans in general (and Hydra in particular, what a shocker) that he and Steve have to overcome as their relationship progresses, but that progression is frankly beautiful to watch unfold. I come back to this story time and time again because of how much I love these versions of Steve and Bucky getting to know one another, learning to trust each other, supporting each other through the worst the world has to throw at them. Plus, there’s a few more stories in this series if you get as hooked as I am, which is always great!!

2. Roots Have Grown by AustinB. I remember reading this and just... completely feeling what Bucky is going through. Not everything -- he’s an agoraphobic veteran, and I can’t relate to either of those, really, but he’s so... awkward about his crush on Steve. And that’s -- that’s relatable to me. But it’s precious, really, how he tries to help Steve even though he’s afraid to actually meet him initially; he becomes Steve’s sort of... anonymous benefactor? Guardian angel with money? Like, it’s definitely a sugar daddy type deal originally but I doubt Bucky would describe it like that. I don’t know, it’s cute, though, and I loved seeing Bucky opening up to Steve as they became closer.

3. Through The Woods by VenusMonstrosa, alby_mangroves. Okay, hear me out: werewolves. I fucking love werewolves in fiction; I mean, not really the romance novels you’ll see in the grocery store, but. Werewolf mythology is one of my favorite things, so seeing it in fanfiction almost always manages to lure me in. And I was so not disappointed with this story! Steve’s living alone in a cabin in the woods, which of course sounds like the opening to a horror movie, but here it leads to love. Werewolf Bucky is both charming and terrifying, to a degree, he’s a wolf, but he and Steve are fantastic together. This is another story that goes in on the trust aspect of their relationship and I for one am a big fan of that. There’s some violence, minor character death and the like, but it’s definitely not undeserved so. If you can handle that (and the sex, because there is sex in this) then I highly recommend this one!

4. The Joy of Little Things by obsessivereader, Sealcat. And so we move from werewolves to dragons. Yup. Dragons. Another of my beloved mythical creatures that I obsessed over when I was kid. Bucky’s capable of shifting into a human in this, but primarily he’s a big ol’ dragon that surprisingly doesn’t want to eat the scrawny sacrifice from the local village. Steve ends up working for Bucky, instead, and from there hilarity ensues. Steve’s obviously wary of Bucky, but Bucky isn’t at all what he’d been expecting, and they grow closer the longer Steve’s staying in Bucky’s caves. There are a couple of stories with Dragon!Bucky, but this is my personal favorite; it’s cute and heart-warming and, well. I just really like it.

5. I Just Want to Love You in My Own Language by agetwellcard, inediblesushi. So this one has Cap!Bucky (Bucky!Cap?) but again, sometimes it’s more about how Bucky looks rather than his role as the Winter Soldier. Anyway, I remember my biggest take away from this story was how adorable Bucky was in his quest to win the affections of sassy Nurse Steve, who patches him up after missions and is probably playing hard to get. Bucky uses terrible pick-up lines, absolutely awful, and he is completely unashamed of that fact. Which is, as I said, adorable. Steve, initially, does not agree with my assessment, but he gets there eventually. After some requisite drama, of course.

6. Tint & Shade by forestofbabel. Oh, god, this one hurt me, I remember that pretty clearly. Bucky is the Winter Soldier in this, and Steve is a 21st century art therapist who just so happens to resemble his late grandfather, Captain Joseph Rogers, who fought in -- you guessed it -- WWII. Like I said in the intro, if I really like the premise of something I’ll usually read it regardless of the configuration of pre-/post-serum Steve and pre-serum/WS Bucky, and this was definitely one of the fics I got into for that reason. Having actual WS Bucky interact with a modern pre-serum Steve is always interesting, given how much they don’t have in common, generally (there isn’t even really the veteran status that modern Bucky sometimes has in fics), and it’s a journey to see how and why they connect. Having Steve resemble his WWII era grandfather caught my attention, and the fic itself made me grateful that I decided to go for it in the first place. This is another one where is trust is key to their relationship, considering the mental/emotional state Bucky is in at the beginning. Very good story overall!

7. Fourth Floor by dirtybinary, mithborien, picoalloe. So dirtybinary has written some amazing stucky fics, which is why I was so excited when I saw this being posted initially (a few years ago, but still). There’s magic! Mystery! Suspense! Some NatSharon! Looking this over, I’m wondering if I should’ve saved it for the Urban Fantasy list I wanna do (and If Wishing Made It So, if I’m being honest) but I do like it for the shrinkyclinks list. The writing is great, the characterization of Steve and Bucky is great, and like, they live in what is essentially a magical apartment complex, so what’s better than that?

8. my heart tells me you are lonely, too by FanGirling. Alright, so I read this one as it was being published, and the slow burn about killed me. You know, in a good way, though. Bucky lives in Steve and his mother’s apartment building, trying to figure out where to go with his life now that he’s broken free of Hydra and gotten his autonomy back. He’s obviously wary, skittish, but he takes a liking to Sarah Rogers when she reaches out to befriend him, surprised anyone wants to be near him let alone take the time to get to know him. Steve... is not so easily sold on Bucky. And I’m not gonna spoil anything here, but the shit these two go through is intense, and I cried a lot during this fic, sometimes out of frustration because they’re both ridiculous about their feelings (of course Bucky’s fears are valid, the man has been through literal hell, but also I was internally screaming a little as Bucky continually talked himself out of getting closer to Steve.) I wanted to wrap the both of them in about thirty blankets for pretty much the entire length of the fic. God. They’re just -- they’re so incredibly sweet in this one, once they work past their issues (Bucky and Steve are both more than a little messed up from their respective circumstances, but they make it work). Mind the tags on this one, also, especially because there is a chapter that deals with attempted sexual assault against Steve (obviously not with Bucky!), but Bucky handles the situation before anything truly nasty happens, that I can promise.

9. Local Raccoon Befriends Angry Chihuahua by charlesdk. This is yet another author I really love; they have a fantastic farmer!Steve/Modern!WS!Bucky story that I love to bits, as well as other great fics. But anyway, this one. The title sold me the second I saw it, honestly, I can’t even pretend that wasn’t the deciding factor in me reading this. I don’t think I can really do any better than the summary in explaining why I recommend it; feisty tiny Steve and lovestruck grumpy Bucky are a winning combination in my book. This one does feature the boys dealing with homophobia and ableism, though I can’t recall how severe it is. So I’d just mind the tags, and if you’re alright with them, thoroughly enjoy this story.

10. The Road to Hell is Paved with Tony’s Good Intentions by pinlilli. Bucky as a mail-order Russian bride. That’s the detail that pretty much demanded I click on this fic, and oh my god, it was even better than I ever could’ve expected. Tony, in a bid to help Steve get over his awful ex-boyfriend (fuck Brock Rumlow in every universe, honestly), literally orders him a husband -- in the form of beefy James Barnes, who is a fucking gem and I will not hear one bad word against him. He does chores, it’s lovely and adorable, and you will definitely fall just as hard as Steve does. There’s some canon-typical violence in this one that relates to James’ past, but nothing super graphic as far as I remember. Again, Rumlow is a dick and should be treated as such, but he’s hardly the most important part of this fic and I urge everyone to take a look at it if they’re as intrigued by Bucky being a mail-order husband as I was.

#stucky #stevebucky #steve rogers #bucky barnes #captain america #winter soldier #chris evans #sebastian stan #fic rec #shrinkyclinks #top 10

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ihaveatheoryonthat · 4 years

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(Cleaning out my drafts, and found a series of posts on this subject, so I’m going to publish them all in a batch. Please keep in mind that they’re from before SUF aired)

Humoring the idea of a gem AU, because of course I am.

Setting and basic plot are the same, the only difference is that gems exist-- not in great number, but they aren’t horribly rare either. They’re also on their own side of the organic/robot debacle, since they aren’t technically either.

Gem choices are half based on attributes, half based on visuals. Same goes for placement.

Ratchet/Tiger’s Eye: the site I was using linked it to protection, creativity and balance, which seems appropriate, even if the last one is something he has to work on. Obviously it has a gold/brown color scheme, stripes and is cat-related.

Overcooked, gem on his left palm, from a kindergarten in the Polaris galaxy. Wields a wrench. Has a decent handle on shapeshifting/has claws and will use them. Extremely fast and surefooted.

I’m thinking since tiger’s eye is technically a quartz, the caste may be field mechanics or something designed with combat in mind.

He emerged pretty messed up, and had no idea what he was supposed to look like or even really what he was. The first person he met was Kaden, on the run from Tachyon, and he helped hide him during an initial sweep. He wanted to help him get off-planet by shapeshifting and causing confusion, but Kaden refused, knowing what would happen to him if he was caught. Even after that plan got shot down, he still wanted to help somehow, and Kaden had to destabilize him before he could do something stupid.

It’s worth pointing out that, even though he’s pretty good at shapeshifting, a) this was a first attempt with any of his abilities and b) being a defect warped the likeness. There was certainly a resemblance, but up close, it wouldn’t fool anyone.

When he finally reformed, he was in a completely different galaxy with no idea what just happened. He adopted the lombax form permanently, took to wearing gloves and started using a proper name as rising tensions between organics, robots and gems took hold of Solana’s social climate.

Clank/Optical Calcite: I liked the emphasis on clarity and energy, and the transparency/white fit really well imo. I wanted something just a little different from other types of the same stone, for plot reasons, and this just clicked.

Extremely overcooked, even moreso than Ratchet. His gem would be on his forehead, but the way things turned out, it’s on his antennae. Technically from Solana. He can scan/see through machines, and has a chameleon/camo effect. Eventually, his weapon is the time bombs.

The kindergarten he emerged from was repurposed as the Blarg robot factory, and not knowing better, he just wandered in and assumed he looked like one of the robots. Being so small, there’s not much of a resemblance, but an attempt was made. He befriended the AI, and was eager to help her stop Drek, but couldn’t do that on his own. Crashed/poofed on Veldin and was found by Ratchet.

The kindergarten he was from wasn’t actually creating Calcites, and how/why he came from there is a complete mystery. Another mystery is the optical effect his gem exhibits; it’s flat-out unnatural, and no amount of research has turned up anything quite like it among other gems.

Bonus fact: because his gem is on his antenna/looks like something any robot might have, people tend to assume he is a robot. The only person who hasn’t made that assumption is Ratchet who a) is also a gem and b) found him before he reformed, which really made it obvious.

Since gems don’t work 100% the same way, I think their fusion could potentially be Hiddenite, for its association with unconditional love, hope and gratitude. I’m also sorely tempted to make it Cat’s Eye Hiddenite, just to bring the cat association and weird optical effects back around. Failing that, they’d be Cat’s Eye Golden Beryl (confidence, willpower, empathy).

As up in the air as I am about what the gem would be, I do know this much:

Small for a fusion. Given his off-color components, it’s not surprising.

The would-be forehead gem is on his forehead. Thanks, Clank.

Half well-intentioned cloud cuckoolander, half legitimately-brilliant mad scientist. Cycles between intense curiosity, extreme introspection, enthusiastic infodumping and building/creating.

Has been known to write/sketch out blueprints, equations, etc. during his thoughtful moments. They’re a nightmare to interpret.

His later formations are extremely stable. It would take a dedicated tool to tear him apart if he wasn’t willing to separate.

That being said, earlier on, he was liable to split whenever his components had contrasting opinions on something.

Likewise, his components’ love and respect for one another contribute to his unwavering confidence in himself and his abilities.

Personally offended by misplaced self-importance. Guess why.

Comes off as a little distant and isn’t immediately friendly. It takes some time for him to warm up to most people, but he does come around.

Genuinely wants what’s best for people, and to help reach that goal. Just has weird ideas about what that means/how to get there.

Is incredibly adept at fighting with just his hands.

Can definitely use the wrench and time bombs, and possibly combine them into something akin to the Chronoscepter.

Depending on where I go with this, it might also have elements of the Praetorian omniwrench, but we’ll see.

Rarely formed specifically for combat. Since we’re still playing with the universe that spawned the RYNO, fusing only helps so much; a lot of the time, they’d be better off as two individuals cooperating in a fight.

I like the idea that he can teleport using a Portal-style mechanic.

Between this and the inherited agility and time bombs, you’re never gonna catch this fool.

Well post-canon, he may be something approaching a permafusion.

Would absolutely deliver the line “We’ll always be twice the gem that you are.” I don’t know who he could possibly say it to, but oh boy, he would.

I also think it would be fun for Qwark to be a half-gem organic. So far, I like Uvarovite for him (abundance, self-confidence, expression). It’s very green.

#ihaveatheoryonthat R&C #au #gem au

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shinneth · 4 years

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Gem Ascension Tropes (Steven-specific: I - P)

Primary General Post ★ Full Article ★ Primary Peri Post ★ Primary Steven Post

I Miss Mom: Per canon, but only alluded to in GA during Chapter 8 of Act III.

Innocence Lost: Already a major component of Steven’s canon character development; the GA continuity naturally ramps this up to extreme levels as the horrors of reality Steven experiences first-hand get worse and worse. Within Act I alone, he’s witnessing the death of other gems (and Diamonds) while being unable to do anything about it. Then, he’s being forced to abandon Peridot on Homeworld (at first under the impression that she’s being left to die); this nearly renders Steven jaded shell of his former self, but the remaining Crystal Gems manage to snap him out of it by the end of Act II. This experience triggered Steven’s inherited Diamond powers to start going rogue and evolve in a manner beyond his control as well. While the events of Act III bring Peridot back to him, Steven laments being unable to save White Diamond from herself, though it certainly wasn’t from his lack of trying. However, Steven is now forced to grow up in light of the state of his world after the main series: with Homeworld and the Diamond Authority gone forever, Era 3 truly starts now on a clean slate – all Homeworld gems are now refugees living on Earth, and they need guidance in order to be able to move forward and live for themselves. Steven and Peridot are the only Diamonds left in existence now, so while Steven tries his best to cling to his childlike charm, positive outlook, and pacifistic ideals in spite of everything that happened, he’s definitely become much more hardened to the aspects of life that threaten his beliefs.

Insulted Awake: How Steven is brought out of his 20-hour Angst Coma in Chapter 7 of Act II; Pearl plays a recording of Peridot insulting Steven repeatedly to startle him badly enough to wake up.

Intimate Healing: How Steven and Peridot end up having their First Kiss. In the interest of healing Peridot’s widespread injuries that Steven simply doesn’t have enough Super Spit for treating her in one session, Peridot proposes donating her own saliva to mix in with Steven’s. Should her own saliva adopt the healing factor through Steven’s, they’ll have enough to completely heal her injuries… but in order to do this, they’ll need to kiss. Thankfully, it works out.

Involuntary Shapeshifting: Ends up partially like this while he’s Blinded by Rage in Chapter 4 of Act III. In Chapter 6, White Diamond forcibly completes the transformation, forcing Steven to shift into Pink Diamond 2.0. While he can easily return to his original form, he ends up shifting into Pink 2.0 a few times before GA ends, and at least one of those times was involuntary.

It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: Per canon, though now Steven has a buddy in Peridot who’s going through the exact same issues as of GA Act III; she has it just as bad as Steven. While the story tends to focus more on Peridot’s struggles in this (mostly due to Steven’s already being portrayed heavily in canon), she isn’t suffering alone; Steven often isn’t far away or far behind if Peridot’s having a rough time with her ascended role in life. While Steven has shown to be at peace with his destiny as much as one can be in his situation, it’s apparent how overwhelming his responsibilities become in the Post-GA era as time goes by.

Journey to the Center of the Mind: Steven embarks on this during Chapter 4 of Act III into Peridot’s mind in hopes of undoing the damage done by White Diamond. He succeeds in fixing Peridot’s problem, but comes out of the journey with major mental problems of his own.

Kind Restraints: In Chapter 4 of Act III, Peridot (as Chartreuse Diamond) forces him to the floor and ties down his limbs to keep him there until she can figure out how to calm Steven down. At this point, Steven is very much Not Himself and acting more like a rabid wild animal than a person, so it’s all very justified.

Last of His Kind: Subverted, as Peridot’s ascension has since made her a Diamond, meaning she and Steven are the final two known living Diamonds in the universe. However, as far as natural, pure Diamonds go, Steven himself is most definitely the last one standing after Act III.

Living Lie Detector: While Steven can’t read minds with his enhanced powers (which he gains late in Act II), he can passively read anyone’s feelings whether they’re said or unsaid. Since most liars aren’t adept enough to purge the truth they’re trying to hide from their emotions while openly lying about it, Steven can very easily tell not only when someone’s not being honest, but also whether or not they’re bluffing.

Love Revelation Epiphany: It’s vague as to when this specifically happens, as Steven says in Chapter 5 of Act I that he’s at least thought about feeling this way for Peridot in the past. While he willingly kisses her in this moment, Steven seems to be taking it in stride more like a Puppy Love scenario. However, he doesn’t hesitate to kiss Peridot of his own volition a few chapters later (even giving her an “I Love You” that’s an intentional callback to their platonic moment in Gem Drill with a clear implication they’ve had a Relationship Upgrade). It’s arguable that Steven doesn’t officially reach this point until Chapter 8 of Act II, after he realizes beyond a shadow of a doubt the level of Peridot’s devotion for him after watching her Video Will. This causes him to act more like someone who’s just realized how deeply they love someone in return, as he tries to go to Homeworld alone because he can’t bear the thought of Peridot being put through torture, despite even him acknowledging that trying to go back for her immediately by himself is a terrible idea.

The Medic: Whenever he isn’t kidnapped or incapacitated, Steven will be there to heal any wound. He’s responsible for restoring a very battered Peridot back to full health (as well as repairing her fractured mind in Act III) and quickly healing Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst after they sustained heavy damage as Alexandrite before getting captured again. He even heals White Diamond’s wounds and rejuvenates her as a parting gift when she’s finally defeated.

Mind Rape: An unfortunate victim of this, getting it second-hand from reading Peridot’s memories. Specifically, the scene of Peridot being Tricked to Death and ending up with a Slashed Throat (even though it’s fake and he was told as much before seeing it) constantly replays in his head the moment he first sees it. Steven can’t make it stop and he can’t block it out, which quickly induces Sanity Slippage, until he’s eventually Blinded by Rage.

Mindlink Mates: Getting there with Peridot as of My Time is Now. A simple make-out session becomes something deeper as Steven’s able to pick up on what Peridot is picturing in her mind. Most of it is stuff he’s already seen before when he last journeyed to the center of her mind. However, once Steven is deeply rooted into Peridot’s memories, a new curiosity of his is imagined… and Peridot picks up on it, knowing it didn’t come from her. Given Peridot’s very limited empath capabilities, it’s not expected the couple will be consistently adept like this, but this moment proved it was at least possible. In just a little over a year’s time, Our Tomorrow shows Steven and Peridot able to combine their individual takes on the same dream they’ve often had to create a fully-developed, clearly-defined complete version of said dream. They’re even in tune with each other well enough to create something strongly resembling a photograph from their combined dream; with this, they not only have physical proof of their great leap in progress in this trope, but have a much stronger long-term goal they can always look to for strength when times get tough.

Morality Pet: He’s everybody’s morality pet, per canon. Still, most notably Peridot’s in GA… the runner-up is probably himself, surprisingly.

Mr. Exposition: Acts as this during Chapter 8 of Act II, even Lampshaded by Amethyst.

Nice Guy: Of course he is, per canon.

Official Couple: With Peridot, as of Chapter 5 of Act III.

On Three: How Steven and Peridot prepare for their first kiss.

O.O.C. is Serious Business: After Peridot gives Lapis an Armor-Piercing Slap (and being way out of line in doing so), Steven kicks her head from behind to make a very stubborn, desperate, and delusional Peridot face reality after it becomes apparent that no words or gentle gestures can get through to her. Before this, he speaks very coldly to Peridot to shut down her protests and stop wasting what little time Pumpkin has left to live on nonsense and instead use that time to say goodbye. Despite his good intentions, Steven hates doing every bit of this and apologizes for his actions and behavior almost right away when he next speaks to Peridot.

Pacifism Backfire: A major ongoing problem that Steven is called out on more than once in the series. The main issue being that Steven’s insistence on granting mercy to an enemy actively trying to kill them is putting the lives of all the Crystal Gems at risk in doing so.

Partial Transformation: After being triggered by being forced to see Peridot’s Gory Discretion Shot on loop for a long period of time, Steven starts to physically morph; following his Plot-Relevant Age-Up, pink accents start to appear on his body, but don’t completely overtake him. This form has no name, but is basically an incomplete transitional state. Steven ends up in this form only twice before White Diamond gets her hands on him and forces him to fully awaken into his Super-Powered Alter Ego, Pink Diamond 2.0.

Percussive Prevention: Steven forces himself to resort to this for a raging, hysterical Peridot who is needlessly taking out her anger on Lapis when she should be using that time to say goodbye to Pumpkin, who’s minutes way from dying from her injuries. He already tried to settle her down with gentle words, but Peridot proved to be inconsolable. Now that she’s hurting his friends while Pumpkin has a very short time left, Steven resorts to superkicking Peridot’s head from behind, sending her falling to the ground. He forcefully drags her over to Pumpkin, admonishing Peridot for her actions and demanding her to say her goodbyes to Pumpkin while she still has the chance, even resorting to guilt-tripping by referencing how he never got to say goodbye to his mother to make sure Peridot would finally understand what she needs to do. While this finally gets Peridot to sober up, she doesn’t get more than a few words out before Pumpkin passes away… meaning Steven did this for nothing (or simply took too long to suck it up and do this to Peridot earlier). He’s very quick to apologize for his actions the next time he speaks to Peridot.

Plot-Relevant Age-Up: When he experiences Sanity Slippage (more details on that below), Steven’s body matures to match his chronological age. Since this was brought on by his primal human urges, this ends up being a permanent change.

The Pollyanna: Per canon, though after Act I, Steven stumbles a lot in maintaining this trope. He’s prone to periods of depression, but often will spontaneously come out of them without needing help and is quick to move on to other matters. His persisting sleep-inducing depression in Act II is the only time he requires outside help in the form of a combined effort from his friends. Seriously compromised after Chapter 4 of Act III, but by the end of GA, Steven still pushes through his obstacles with all the optimism and enthusiasm he can muster.

Positive Friend Influence: Per canon; this trait shines the brightest by far when Steven is with Peridot in the GA continuity. To a lesser degree, Steven continues to be one for the rest of his friends, but there are occasions where his influence is outright resisted (most notably, White Diamond). However, his persistence can be credited to how the Crystal Gems managed to survive past the main series; had Steven not given Peridot some intensive Epiphany Therapy during the climax of Act III, everyone would have died off with Homeworld.

Power Incontinence: Comes up in the advent of his Partial Transformation that was triggered from the mental anguish he suffered while repairing Peridot’s fractured mind in Chapter 4 of Act III. Steven himself was unresponsive and consumed with an unstoppable rage while a war was waged in his own mind over a certain moral dilemma. He was eventually calmed, but it briefly came back a couple of chapters later (though he was much more in control of himself this time). Thankfully, the second spell was short-lived, but Steven’s behavior for that time was very much deplorable and unlike him, that he still has a hard time living it down even in the present day.

Promoted to Love Interest: After Peridot confesses her feelings in Chapter 5 of Act I.

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shinneth · 4 years

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Gem Ascension Tropes (White Diamond-specific: K - P)

Primary General Post ♦ Full Article ♦ Primary Peri Post ♦ Primary WD Post

Karma Houdini: Pretty much everyone except Steven is fully aware she is this no matter how decisively she’s been defeated. When Steven spares her with an Energy Donation, she proves this when she retaliates with that very energy.

Killed Off For Real: White shattered into a ring of dust moments before Homeworld followed suit. She ain’t coming back from that.

Know-Nothing Know-It-All: For being the Diamond of Omniscience, White has one hell of a selective memory and for the most part all but disregards Steven and Peridot’s identities and lives on Earth. She is solely focused on who they are as Diamonds; White speaks as if they never had lives or a purpose elsewhere. This behavior works to the Crystal Gems’ benefit on more than one occasion throughout Act III. Literally, the only time White seems to have any kind of awareness of Steven and Peridot’s Earth lives is when she’s part of the Celadon Diamond fusion.

Lack of Empathy: A bit of a given when one considers the countless amounts of lives she’s ruined at best (outright ended at worst) even before the events of GA. Not to mention the fact that White makes it very clear that she doesn’t see herself at fault for anything that ever went wrong with Homeworld and isn’t sorry for a single crime she commits. Losing Pink Diamond is probably the closest White ever came to averting this trope, but that was also largely her fault (that she, shockingly, refuses to own up to). Pink’s spirit outright admits she’s the only soft spot White has that the Crystal Gems could exploit to appeal to her alleged “better nature” … but given the lives she’d shatter before reality finally makes her face the music, it really isn’t worth the effort.

Last-Second Chance: After Steven grants White an Energy Donation at her request before leaving, she’s extremely offended by how neutral he’s behaving around her. She’s also not taking Peridot’s mellowed down stance on her well, either, given everything she put these two through, and by extension, all their friends and everyone she ruled over. To be treated like she’s irrelevant is far worse than being reviled, as it makes her feel insignificant despite being who she is. Despite Steven’s good intentions, White sees this as a Cruel Mercy. So, against all rational thought, she attempts to throw a last fatal parting shot In the Back at the Crystal Gems before Peridot nearly turns it into a Backstab Backfire (which she only defies at the last second after the sheer satisfaction of terrifying White is far more rewarding than simply taking her life).

Let’s See YOU Do Better!: Literally the only somewhat-valid ammunition White Diamond has against the Crystal Gems towards the end of Act III is her speculation on whether or not they can do a better job at handling an entire empire than her. The Crystal Gems maintain their positive outlook on how life will play out from here on out, but every single one of them has at least some degree of concern on how they’re going to handle adapting millions of confused and terrified Homeworld gems to Earth, as well as how to handle the issue of the colonies inevitably falling apart unless they get involved. The only thing that’s certain at this point is that the Crystal Gems won’t be following White Diamond’s example.

Light/Bright is Not Good: She is a Complete Monster, and also the lightest, whitest, and brightest of the entire cast by far.

Logical Weakness: Since White Diamond’s powers of omniscience largely rely on her ability to Body Surf through the bodies of gems she hijacks with her pallification, it stands to reason that White is screwed and practically blind if she is in a situation where there are no gems for her to use as puppets. In Act III, Pearl manages to create a vaccine that grants gems immunity to her influence (though it can’t cure gems that are already infected). By Chapter 5, all of the living Homeworld gems – regardless of their health – were migrated to Earth courtesy of Steven and Peridot. By Chapter 7, Garnet and Moonstone dispatch all of White Diamond’s proxies after the real White fused to become Celadon Diamond. This left White with no means of observing the world through her subjects’ eyes, and the Crystal Gems were immune to her influence. White also could no longer hide behind a mass of clones; she had to confront the Crystal Gems directly from that point onward.

Mad Scientist: She, Yellow, and Blue were behind the development of all Unwitting Test Subjects prior to Peridot. The reason, at least as far as White is concerned, is little more than For Science (and whether or not diamond dust is a viable component to add to injector fluid to better a gem’s inherent skill). This trope’s more of a thing for Peridot’s case specifically, since she’s the only test subject who got an extra element in Yellow Diamond’s shard thrown into what made her; White’s rationale for this was to see not only if she could grow a new Diamond from another gem, but to see if a gem from the bottom of the caste system can rise all the way to the top through this experiment. Surprisingly, White ended up being successful on both points.

Manipulative Bastard: Might as well be White’s middle name. She pulls a very long and elaborate game with Peridot to wear down her defenses, then at the right moment, targets Peridot’s weakness for Steven to overcome the Determinator. From that point onwards, Peridot becomes very easy to manipulate over to her side. Although it isn’t long before Peridot (as Chartreuse Diamond) pulls a Heel-Face Turn, all White Diamond has to do is trap her again along with her friends and then make Peridot’s resolve crumble with a single Armor-Piercing Question about her inability to fuse (with some heavy implication that her very influence is hazardous to Steven’s health). With that, White is able to force Peridot into a fusion to form Celadon Diamond, and as a bonus, has Peridot as a permanent hostage.

Master of Illusion: Conjures an illusion of Steven that even bears his voice with the sole purpose of distracting Peridot long enough for her to lose in the ongoing struggle to keep her neck from getting lacerated. She ripped it straight from Peridot’s own mind, as a bonus.

Meaningful Title: The Diamond of Omniscience; as a serial Body Snatcher, she can oversee everything going on in Homeworld without ever having to leave her palace.

The Mentor: Makes herself out to be one for Peridot in Act III when she ascends and becomes Chartreuse Diamond, but it’s all an act to keep Peridot Properly Paranoid about using her new powers too much.

Mike Nelson, Destroyer of Worlds: White really didn’t think through her rebooting-Homeworld plan very well. She obviously had no plans for precautions on how to protect her own subjects from the planet’s inevitable destruction, let alone the infrastructure of the metropolis or even herself. Arguably, White might have survived such an event in peak condition, but there was no evidence whatsoever that she had any plans for damage control or any form of a Plan B if this process didn’t work the way she intended it to. Ironically, Homeworld did end up getting reborn, albeit through natural means – in other words, it’ll be millions of years before the new Homeworld would even be inhabitable. It also happened without any input from White whatsoever, and frankly couldn’t have worked out with her as an element even if she did live to see it.

Mind Hive: Utilizes proxies to resemble identical copies of herself via Clone by Conversion of several pallified gems fusing together.

Mind Rape: Resorts to this after accepting that she can’t break Determinator Peridot any other way.

Moral Event Horizon: Objectively, White crossed this a loooong time ago; she’s every bit as responsible (if not more so) for countless acts of global genocide and everything else inherent with being the ruler of a densely-populated planet where Individuality is Illegal and life can be forfeit merely on a whim. In terms of Gem Ascension, well… the easy answer would be the moment she (as Celadon Diamond) blew up the Crystal Gems’ spaceship, resulting in the attempted murder of Greg and actual murder of Pumpkin in Chapter 7 of Act III. But honestly, her very first heinous action of killing Blue Diamond in Chapter 6 of Act I could count, too. Then there’s the slew of atrocities White’s committed between these two moments…

Narcissist: No matter how often she screws up, White Diamond will never admit to being anything less than perfect. Even when it’s painfully obvious how ignorant and delusional she is late in Act III, at no point does White even show the slightest hint of self-awareness of her own insanity and ineptitude. She blames Homeworld’s crapsack state on everyone else, which is why she wants to form the Diamond of Miracles to reboot the planet back to its previously-perceived “perfect” form it once was thousands of years ago.

Never My Fault: Homeworld is dying because of her by Act III. It was already merely a shell of its former self prior to GA, but that was also largely due to White Diamond’s carelessness. Still, despite being shown all the evidence that points to her as the cause, she will point fingers at literally everyone else to blame for the state of Homeworld before ever considering her own responsibility.

No One Sees the Boss: Downplayed in that White Diamond has clearly been seen in canon by several of the main characters before GA even starts, but it’s made clear in Chapter 6 of Act I that this is actually a very big deal. Historically, White Diamond almost never shows herself, and Peridot confirms that it’s actually taboo to even talk about White, or even namedrop her. This has been the case not only in modern times, but even Lapis and Bismuth can’t recollect anything about White Diamond when they lived on Homeworld many thousands of years ago as well. As GA progresses, the trope becomes averted, as White is pretty much forced to step out from the shadows to address her subjects in order to fill in for Yellow and Blue Diamond after killing them both in Act I.

No Sympathy: Surprising, isn’t it? The self-centered, morally-bankrupt, and single-minded main villain of the main story doesn’t give two hoots how much others around her suffer as a consequence of her actions. Most of the time, White is shown not acknowledging someone’s turmoil at all, even when it’s shoved right in front of her face.

Not So Omniscient After All: With Steven and Peridot sending away all remaining gems on Homeworld to Earth, then later Garnet and Moonstone destroying all of her remaining proxies, White Diamond no longer has the means to be anywhere and everywhere. She can’t exactly be a Body Snatcher (nor a Body Surfer) if there are no bodies left for her to hijack. She can’t even use the Crystal Gems for that purpose, as by that point they’ve all been immunized to her pallification.

The Omniscient: Official title is the Diamond of Omniscience.

The Perfectionist: Per canon, but subverted and deconstructed in the GA continuity. Much as White strives for perfection, even within Act I it’s apparent how unhinged and imperfect White truly is through her actions and judgment. She honestly does more damage to herself and her plans than the Crystal Gems do. At no point does she consider herself responsible for driving Homeworld so far into the ground that it can no longer sustain itself; all White cares about is creating a miracle to reboot the planet to its former “perfect” glory, so that she can continue pretending she runs a flawless empire.

Possessing a Dead Body: While pallification technically doesn’t fully kill a gem, they’re little more than a vegetable after the fact, whether they’re directly being controlled by White or not. Played a little more straight with the White Diamond proxies, which are made up of several pallified gems forcibly fused together to take on her appearance and likeness; White directly controls those more so than the standard pallified gem, and Chapter 7 of Act III proves the gems who make up these proxies are impossible to save; even poofing a proxy will automatically shatter every gem in that “fusion”. The fact that they weren’t transported to Earth with the other Homeworld gems by Steven and Peridot (who even rescued standard pallified gems) is also indicative that they are well beyond saving, and therefore the proxies are little more than several dead gems melded together.

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