Fanfic / Opal, Sapphire, Ruby, and STEVEN!

Opal, Sapphire, Ruby, and STEVEN! is a Steven Universe Alternate Universe Fic series on Archive of Our Own and fanfiction.net by iamconstantine. The story also has an ask blog on Tumblr. This story takes place in the Opal AU, wherein Opal is the permafusion and Sapphire and Ruby are unfused.

There are currently three installments in the series:

• Opal, Sapphire, Ruby, and STEVEN! (AO3, fanfiction.net)
• Opal, Sapphire, Ruby, and STEVEN!: Twists & Turns (AO3, fanfiction.net)
• Opal, Sapphire, Ruby, and STEVEN!: No Going Back (AO3, fanfiction.net)

The story follows most of the show's plotline, with Steven living with his Gem guardians and attempting to control his Gem powers and having an everyday life in Beach City. Things become more and more tense, however, as Steven discovers more and more about the history of the Crystal Gems and the threat known as Homeworld. Along the way, he learns more about himself, his family, and his elusive mother Rose Quartz. The fic follows the main story beats of the original series, with some tweaks by virtue of the main cast changing.

The original fic was posted in 2016. In March 2021, the series was discontinued, but the fics remain available online.

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Stations of the Canon

• "The Weapon"'s premise is completely different from "Gem Glow". Instead of getting sad that Cookie Cats got discontinued, he shows Sadie and Lars his completed album of G.U.Y.S. trading cards, and later makes cards for Opal, Ruby, and Sapphire.
• "The Backpack" takes place at the Aerial Tower instead of the Sea Spire, and this time, Steven remembers to bring the thing they need... Only for a bird to steal it at the last second, making the tower crash anyway. And because they don't have a raft, it takes them three days to get home, not three hours.
• "The Beach Party" is a mix of "Beach Party" and "Lars and the Cool Kids".
• "The Room" is a mix of "Rose's Room" and "Open Book" (Or what might've happened had Steven waited for Connie).
• "The Spotlight" is basically "Coach Steven", with Ruby taking Pearl's place and Moonstone taking Sugilite's, though instead of wrecking the Communication Hub, they retrieve the Wailing Stone.
• "The Hourglass" is almost like another episode compared to "Steven and the Stevens", with the only similarities being the Hourglass, the time travel, the multiple Stevens, and the Sea Shrine sinking. (The first time around, anyway.)
• The beginning of "The Fountain" is the end of "Serious Steven", with everything after they get home being "An Indirect Kiss". It's also in real time, instead of being a story Steven tells to Connie, which also means that Connie's eyes haven't been healed yet.
• "The Mirror" is mostly the same, minus the fact that Steven finds it in Lion's Mane instead of one of the Gems giving it to him, he and Lapis spend more time together before he sets her free, and that the chapter, like "An Indirect Kiss", is framed as a story Steven tells to Connie.
• "The Ocean" is the counterpart to "Ocean Gem", but instead of driving out to a sea tower created by Lapis, the group rides on a boat to a giant whirlpool she creates. Steven realizes he has healing powers when he and Connie share a drink of water.
• "The Watermelons" is a mix of "House Guest" and "Watermelon Steven". Steven and Greg hanging out leads to the Watermelons' creation, and Greg lies to Steven about his injury not being healed.
• "The Secret" is a mix of "Secret Team" and "Monster Buddy". The Centipeedle breaks free of its Bubble, and Steven, Ruby, and Sapphire work together to keep it a secret from Opal while Steven trains it.
• "The Blog" is based on "Keep Beach City Weird". Steven and the Frymans go on a camping trip together, wherein Ronaldo's obsession with his blog gets in the way.
• "The Families" is mostly the same as "Fusion Cuisine", except the Gems don't fuse into Alexandrite until Steven and Connie try to run away. Also, Steven and Connie try to run away on a rubber raft instead of a bus.
• "The Warp" is a mix of "Warp Tour" and "Marble Madness", but the Kindergarten is introduced, as in "On the Run".
• "The Future" is the counterpart to "Future Vision", with Sapphire in Garnet's role.
• "The Common Soldier" is based on "On the Run", with Ruby taking Amethyst's place, but focuses on discovering something from Ruby's past.
• "The Drive" is based on "Winter Forecast" and "Maximum Capacity" combined with the ending of "The Message".
• "The Invasion" is based on "The Return" with a little bit of "Political Power."
• "The Jailbreak" is mostly the same as "Jail Break", but Amethyst and Pearl have swapped places with Ruby and Sapphire and Lapis is forced to fuse with (and imprisons) Peridot instead of Jasper (though in this case, she convinces Peridot to fuse with her instead of Jasper doing it to her).
• "The Disclosure" is "Full Disclosure", though instead of Steven ignoring Connie, he's more ignoring all the stress and fear the previous events have left him with.
• "The Determined" is a mix of "Sworn to the Sword" and "Reformed", as Opal and Ruby argue about whose training method is better for Connie and Steven. It also ends with Ruby reforming.
• "The Starchild" is Greg's story from "Story for Steven", but Greg meets Rose while he's busking, instead of at a concert.
• "The Shock" is "Keeping It Together", but instead of finding a few minor forced fusions, Opal and Steven find a piece of the Cluster itself.
• "The Dream" involves Steven meeting a still-imprisoned Lapis (and by extension, Peridot) in his dream like he did in "Chille Tid." However, he also meets the new character of Star.
• "The Mistake" is "Call For Help", with Opal as Garnet and Ruby as Pearl. In this episode, Ruby's betrayal of Opal (keeping her stuck in their fusion when she wanted out) is a spur-of-the-moment action instead of a planned scheme. They also run across Jasper, whereas Peridot only appeared in her broadcast.
• "The Day Out" is "Keystone Motel", as Garnet/Opal unfuses while on an outing with Steven.
• "The Investigation" is "Historical Friction". Pearl/Ruby deals with the guilt of what she's done, but instead of helping Steven with a play, Ruby joins Doug and Greg in an impromptu investigation.
• "The Official" is "Onion Friend" in that it deals with Amethyst/Sapphire dealing with her friends' dispute, but plot-wise, there are no similarities.
• "The Ambush" is "Friend Ship", as it involves the Gems finally meeting Jasper/Peridot and Opal and Ruby making ammends. However, instead of Jasper escaping, she kidnaps Steven and takes him away a la the beginning of "Catch and Release."
• The closest counterpart to "The Bubble" is "When it Rains". Jasper and Steven are left alone long enough to (tensely) talk to one another, and Jasper very reluctantly agrees to help the others with the Cluster by the end. The following chapter, "The Reluctant" continues the conflict.
• "The Dare" is essentially "Too Far", with Jasper and Sapphire going on a mission instead of Amethyst, Peridot, and Steven. Instead of Peridot hurting Amethyst's feelings, Jasper and Sapphire make a dare that Jasper can't use her strength and Sapphire can't use her future vision.
• "The Dialogue" is "Back to the Barn", focusing on Ruby and Jasper's silent interactions as opposed to Pearl and Peridot competing with one another.
• The canon episode "The Answer" is split up two ways in the fic—"The Reflection" details Ruby and Sapphire's relationship throughout the years, including their falling out and how they met. However, it's the next chapter, "The Promise" that is most like the original episode, detailing how the permafusion (Opal instead of Garnet) came to be in the first place.
• "The Special Day" combines "Steven's Birthday" and "It Could've Been Great." The chapter takes place on Steven's birthday, but instead of Steven coming to terms with his own maturity, he and Connie try to get Jasper to have fun at his party. The "It Could've Been Great" part comes at the end, as instead of Peridot earning the Crystal Gems' fury by insulting Rose and demeaning her accomplishments, Jasper lays into the Crystal Gems for keeping Steven in the dark about so many things.
• "The Island" is basically "Super Watermelon Island". The Gems go to the island now inhabited by Watermelon Stevens, but instead of the Crystal Gems taking care of Malachite while Steven and Peridot take care of the Cluster, everyone is facing off against the Cluster. Chrysocolla, Malachite's counterpart, makes no appearance. The chapter also entails a little bit of "Message Received" as it deals with the fallout of the Crystal Gems and Jasper's argument in the previous chapter.
• "The Cluster" largely reflects "Gem Drill" as Steven manages to talk to the Cluster via his mental powers. "Super Watermelon Island" also continues as the Gems fight against the Cluster in the real world with the Watermelon Stevens' help.
• "The Stuck" is closest to "Super Watermelon Island", but only in the Crystal Gems having to deal with the fusion made during the Season One finale—Malachite in canon, Chrysocolla in the fic. Instead of a huge kaiju-esque fight between them, the Crystal Gems try to help Chrysocolla unfuse because she can't do so herself.

Tropes Throughout Series

• Action Girl
  • The Gems are the same defenders of Earth as their counterparts in canon.
  • Connie, too, once she starts taking up her swordfighting with Opal. She assists in the battle against Jasper in "The Ambush".
• Adaptational Backstory Change: As this is an AU of the original series, the characters have different backstories than their canon counterparts.
  • In the show, Ruby was a common guard sent on a mission to protect Sapphire while she was on Earth. In the show, Ruby was somehow saved from an extermination by Homeworld to get rid of all Rubies and let their shards possess suits of armor, rather than keep them around and waste resources on more of them.
  • As in canon, Amethyst emerged from the Kindergarten post-War and was later found by the Crystal Gems. However, "The Promise" reveals that Amethyst is also a Gem who "Glitches", meaning her Gem struggles to project her physical form correctly. It grew worse and worse until she wouldn't be able to exist anymore, and Pearl fused with her into Opal so as to avoid that.
  • Opal, by extension. Technically the canon Opal doesn't have a "backstory" to begin with—she's simply the occasional fusion between Amethyst and Pearl. In the fic, Opal has been around for a very long time by virtue of Amethyst's need to stay fused, and is presented with her own struggles of being the leader and still grieving for Rose Quartz's death.
• Adaptational Heroism: In the original series, Jasper remains stubborn in her dislike for the Crystal Gems all the way to the end, only becoming slightly cooperative when she's convinced Steven really is Pink Diamond. Here, though Jasper still refuses to take a side between the Crystal Gems or Homeworld as of the third fic, she strikes up a friendship with Steven and cooperates with the Crystal Gems when the situation calls for it.
• Adaptational Intelligence: Though Jasper is not presented as wholly stupid in the original series, she values strength above all else, and most of her "smarts" are shown through her battle tactics and strategies. Here, Jasper displays knowledge in things like construction and Homeworld laws and regulations. She comes up with the idea of creating a glass surface to refract the tractor beam.
• Adaptational Personality Change: Due to Opal's few (and sometimes, non-speaking) appearances in canon, the only concrete traits canon gives her is that she's kind and rather forgetful. Now that she takes the place of Garnet in this fic, her personality is greatly fleshed out into a brave leader not afraid to let loose and be goofy sometimes.
• Adapted Out: Garnet still exists as the fusion of Sapphire and Ruby, but is no longer a permafusion. Thus far, she has only appeared a few times, whereas she was one of the four main characters in the orignal series.
• All There in the Manual: The ask blog has extra little tidbits and info, like Garnet being one Steven taller then she is in canon, or that the thing in Sapphire's room is a transportation device.
• Alternate Universe Fic: It's an Opal AU fic, where Opal is the Permafusion, not Garnet.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Ruby and Sapphire know just about every way to get on each other's nerves, but they do deeply care about one another. They try to look out for each other's safety, and Sapphire kept the secret revealed in "The Common Soldier" because she didn't want Ruby to be hurt by the truth. By Twists & Turns, the two are not fighting nearly as much and are on much friendlier terms.
• Big Sister Instinct: Sapphire and Ruby are both fiercely protective of Steven, and do not warm easily to those who hurt him. They've both taken hits to protect him in both "The Stoic" and "The Warrior" at the risk of their own safety.
• Bizarre Taste in Food: Opal. Her favorite food is pizza with cinnamon on top.
• Doorstopper: By the time the series had been discontinued, it had already amassed a total of 665,083 words spread out through three installments.
• Forgetful Jones: Opal has a tendency to forget things, even while doing them (ex., pulling on the strings of an apron while wondering where said apron is).
• Fusion Dance: As in canon, the characters dance together to fuse.
• Metaphorgotten: Opal isn't very good at keeping up with metaphors, or what they actually mean. While trying to keep the citizens calm in "The Disclosure", she tells them all that "The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree!"
• Running Gag: Not too often, but variations of "Booby traps? More like... Ruby traps." crop up on occasion.
• The Stoic: Sapphire and Garnet are still as calm and composed as they are in canon. Heck, Chapter 8 is even named "The Stoic".

Tropes in Opal, Sapphire, Ruby, and STEVEN!

• Acting Unnatural: Ruby and Sapphire try to "act natural" so Opal doesn't see the escaped Centipeetle in "The Secret". Ruby fails.
  Ruby: I just thought I'd go out and get some fresh square!
  Opal: You mean 'air'?
  Ruby: HEE HA HEE!
• Analogy Backfire: Steven tries to convince the others that the strange robots they're fighting in "The Warp" must be from Homeworld. Opal tries to dismiss it, saying that without the Homeworld Warp, the things would have to have just fallen from the sky... only for Steven to point out that that could very well be a legitimate theory they can work with.
• And I Must Scream: In "The Stoic", during Sapphire's Brainwashed and Crazy situation, she knew that she was attacking Steven but had no control over her own body.
• Beach Episode: "The Beach Party", wherein the titular party is for Jenny, and Steven, Lars, and the Gems are throwing it for her.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: In "The Room", While Connie and Steven are reenacting "The Blank Tombstone" (Connie's favorite mystery novel) in Rose's Room, the latter wishes that they "could do this forever". Rose's Room is very Literal-Minded, so guess what happens.
• Berserk Button: Moonstone, the Fusion of Opal and Sapphire, is a perfectly sweet mother-like person... until you tell her to unfuse.
• Body Horror:
  • When Steven loses control of his powers in "The Shapeshifter". It's actually kind of worse than "Cat Fingers", as, instead of turning into an amorphous blob of cats, he gets several different body parts from the people he turned into.
  • And when Ruby cracks her gem. Imagine what happened to Amethyst in "An Indirect Kiss", but weirder.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Sapphire, after she got stung by the scorpion monster.
• Broken Bird: "The Lost" proves that Opal fits this role, just not to the extremity of Pearl in canon. She's still very much upset over the loss of Rose, to the point where she spends hours and even days sitting in front of the mirror's image of her.
• The Cameo: The girl Steven and Sapphire save in "The Super Fancy Dinner Party"? Connie.
• Disappointed in You: Opal's response to Steven after he sets Lapis free.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: Opal shows Steven a photo album of the Crystal Gems' time on Earth, but immediately shuts it once she gets to a picture of Pearl and Amethyst.
• Half the Man He Used to Be: What Sapphire's Heroic Sacrifice in "The Regeneration" consists of.
• Harmless Freezing: Ruby during most of the second half of "The Regeneration", after she triggered a booby trap during a mission.
• Has a Type: Ruby and Sapphire joke in "The Starchild" that they can tell Greg is the one Rose likes because he's a musician.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Technically (since Gems can't actually die) Sapphire, during "The Regeneration". She takes a hit for Steven and ends up poofed.
• Last of His Kind: "The Common Soldier" reveals that during the war era, Homeworld concluded that Rubies were not worth the resources spent on them and shattered them so their shards could possess stronger suits of armor. Jasper's thoughts in "The Dialogue" confirm that Rubies haven't been around for five thousand years, turning the once most common Gems extinct save for Ruby herself.
• Mood Whiplash: Everything goes downhill once Opal finds the Mirror. Though considering the story was told by a greatly distraught and discouraged Steven, this was to be expected.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Ruby, after she burns a photo that was taken by Rose.
• Mythology Gag: Sapphire's outfit after she regenerates is almost exactly like her canon outfit, but with half a star on the bottom of her ribbon.
• Not So Stoic: Sapphire is The Stoic of the group, but she, like everyone else, breaks down in "The Thorn". She's also pretty worked up after being Brainwashed and Crazy in "The Stoic".
• Odd Name Out: All of the names Steven gives his time clones follow some kind of pattern, except the 26th one, whose name is Garry.
• Original Character
  • Moonstone, the Fusion of Opal and Sapphire, since said Fusion has not appeared in-canon yet.
  • Chrysocolla, the Fusion of Lapis and Peridot.
• Shout-Out:
  • Steven says "Ravioli! Ravioli! Show me the door-vuoli!" while trying to get the door to appear during "The Room".
  • One of the names Steven comes up with for his time clones is The Flash.
  • Lars asks Jenny, Buck, and Sour Cream if they saw The Revengers.
  • The mirror from "The Lost" is basically The Mirror of Erised from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, with the caveat that it shows what the one looking in has lost, not what they most desire.
• We Used to Be Friends: "The Drive" shows that Greg and Ruby were close friends back in the day, and used to hang out often. Following Rose's passing, however, they drifted away, and Ruby's frustration and sadness about it comes out as anger.

Tropes in Twists & Turns

• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: In the original series, Steven and the Crystal Gems only had a few fairly brief arguments about the things they didn't tell him about Homeworld and the War. In "The Special Day," Steven is furious and betrayed that the Crystal Gems have hidden things from him that, according to Jasper, are tied to his very existence, not just Homeworld at large. For the next three chapters, he and the Crystal Gems are hardly on speaking terms, and by "The Cave," he's staying with Greg for the time being.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: Blue Diamond makes an appearance in the last chapter of Twists & Turns when Jasper, in a scene mirroring Peridot's conversation with Yellow Diamond in "Message Recieved", contacts her over to relay news on the Cluster.
• Adaptational Villainy: Downplayed, as it's a specific instance and the Crystal Gems are still the good guys of the story. In "It Could've Been Great", Peridot insults Rose Quartz and her accomplishment in saving the Earth from Homeworld's tyranny. The Crystal Gems are infuriated, and the episode ends with Steven telling Peridot he's disappointed that she still doesn't get it. In "The Special Day", the situation is flipped. Jasper calls out the Crystal Gems for not telling Steven anything about the Diamonds despite being in a rebellion against them. They are still angry with her for insulting Rose, but Jasper shoots them down for trying to use that as a way to spin the situation on her. At the end, the Crystal Gems are the ones in the wrong, and Steven leaves them like Jasper.
• Alone with the Psycho: "The Bubble" has Steven alone with Jasper—who expressly thinks him to be Rose and wants to kill him—in the Beta Kindergarten. Thankfully, he's saved from being shattered by the Bubble he unintentionally encases her in.
• Animal Motifs: Jasper is likened to a tiger several times, thanks to her orange stripes, yellow eyes, and wild hair. She's even called "Tiger Lady" in "The Special Day."
• Another Dimension: Neither Steven nor any of the Crystal Gems can explain how Star's visitations work. Steven can only reach them when he falls asleep and dreams, but they are capable of pulling him into unconsciousness (albeit they have since promised not to do so anymore). When Steven wants to leave (ie wake up), he goes through a portal of bright light. In "The Special Day", Steven can only say that he thinks there's a difference between him seeing Star and him seeing Chrysocolla.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Jasper makes several in "The Special Day", like asking Steven if his relationship with the Gems would be the same if he wasn't Rose's son. A whole barrage of them comes later, however, after Jasper learns how much the Gems have kept away from Steven.
  "So he's too much of a 'child' to be told this stuff, but not too much of a child to fight monsters that could kill him, or join in on a plan to get rid of an abomination that can destroy an entire planet?"
  "That's your excuse? It was just too hard?"
  "Is someone going to have to die before you go into detail? Two? Three?"
  "You decided to keep all of this from him, because—what, you know better? Of all people, you have the final say-so?"
• Beneath the Mask: Jasper keeps up her absolute hatred of the Crystal Gems and loyalty to Homeworld, and makes it clear several times that she will never truly side with the rebels responsible for a War that shattered millions of Gems. Underneath that, Jasper is more than aware that the world she's so loyal to don't truly care about her, and value her status as a "perfect Quartz" more than anything else. By "The Special Day", she's begun to feel guilty about working for both sides.
• Birthday Episode: "The Special Day" takes place on Steven's birthday, and for the most part is a feel-good chapter where Steven tries to get Jasper to have fun with the Beach Citizens, and Jasper opens up more about her feelings on their situation. Then Steven asks who the Diamonds are, and everything goes downhill.
• A Birthday, Not a Break: "The Special Day" has Steven and the others celebrating his birthday as a rare moment of reprieve and fun in the midst of preparing for the Cluster's emergence. The party goes well until the end, when Jasper blows up at the Crystal Gems for not telling Steven anything about Homeworld, leaving her and the Crystal Gems more at odds than ever and Steven heartbroken for still not being trusted by his family. The very next day, the Cluster begins to emerge.
• Awesome McCoolname: The protagonist of Dissimilar has a boyfriend named Killian Blacksoul. Connie doesn't think much of the book, but she and Steven both agree that it's a cool name.
• Both Sides Have a Point:
  • Ruby and Opal's agreement in "The Determined". Opal's "training" of Connie is so light and slow that she isn't really learning anything, but Ruby's is too much for Steven to keep up with. They agree that they both need to work on their methods.
  • Pearl and Amethyst's fight in "The Day Out", again with the two agreeing on it by the end. Pearl wants to let their fight with Ruby fall to the wayside so they can focus on their more important problems. Amethyst doesn't want to just dismiss their own feelings for convenience. On top of that, Pearl is being condescending to Amethyst during the situation, while Amethyst is being very snappy at her.
• Foreshadowing: Amethyst and Pearl's talk towards the end of "The Day Out" has some vague mentions about why Amethyst "cannot" stay mad at Pearl, that she "wants to be able to be mad at Pearl", etc.. Amethyst grunting in pain leads to them finally making amends and fusing into Opal once more. "The Promise" explains the context for this: Amethyst suffers from "glitching", a defect that causes a Gem to be unable to successfully project their physical form. Fusing with another Gem is the only solution, and going without for so long was causing Amethyst pain.
• Breather Episode: "The Promise" is a break from the ongoing mission to stop the Cluster, with Pearl and Amethyst relaxing with Steven and telling him the story of how Opal came to be.
• Canon Foreigner: Nickel, Chippy Black Nail Polish, P.B., Penny, Quarter, and Jelly are all Ocean Town residents with no counterparts to the original series.
• Character Tics: Sapphire's future vision has become a nervous one by the start of the sequel. Already constantly worried that she won't be able to prevent any and every bad thing that can happen to her friends, the new threat of Homeworld invading at any second has her looking into the future every other second.
• Deadpan Snarker: Jasper has no problem insulting the Crystal Gems with pure, dripping sarcasm.
  "Zero plus zero plus zero plus zero equals zero."
  (After the citizens have stormed away) "I'm in awe of their beauty."
  (after being told the difference between "refract" and "reflect") "Forgive me. Clearly, my vocabulary will doom us all."
• Didn't Think This Through: In "The Starchild", Greg tries to busk outside during the winter. Within a few minutes, his body has gone numb from the cold, and since there's no one walking around, only Rose really hears him.
• Disabled in the Adaptation: In canon, Amethyst emerging so late after the other Gems in the Kindergarten made her much smaller than (and thus not nearly as strong as) other Quartz soldiers. That said, she never had the notion that she was ever "defective at all." In OSRAS, Amethyst suffers from "Glitching", a condition in which a Gem is unable to project its physical form correctly. Amethyst's case is so bad that she must stayed fused with Pearl as a means of maintaining a physical body.
• The First Cut Is the Deepest: Though it hasn't been said point-blank in the story proper, Amethyst does have romantic feelings for Pearl. However, Pearl was still in love with Rose Quartz as she was in canon. Even though her relationship with Amethyst gave her a stronger support system, she still isn't anywhere near ready to pursue a relationship with her.
• Jerkass Has a Point: The argument between the Crystal Gems and Jasper in "The Special Day" disturbs Steven so much because he takes Jasper's side in it. He doesn't know who the Diamonds are, but he knows that they are part of his very existence, and the Crystal Gems decided not to tell him about them because they still aren't uncomfortable telling him everything. Jasper dresses them all down, calling them out on how they'll allow Steven to come on dangerous missions and fight in a potentially deadly war, but won't tell him why. In the same argument, Jasper points out that despite everything she's saying, the Crystal Gems only focus on her insulting Rose Quartz to try and turn her into the bad guy.
• Lampshade Hanging:
  • Ruby and Opal make amends in their argument in "The Determined." Afterwards, they both realize that they've solved a problem without Steven having to intervene.
  • When Ruby says, "At least we still have the ship," after the engine explodes, everyone expectantly looks over at it—Steven explaining to Jasper that it would be ironic if something happened to it right then. Thankfully, nothing does.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Ruby by the end of "The Mistake", when she realizes just what she's done to Opal. The following chapters have her dealing with her overwhelming guilt over the matter.
• New Job Episode: "The Official" has Sapphire taking a job in the local government answering the citizens' complaints. She's only doing it to avoid staying at home, and quits by the episode's end.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Sapphire and Jasper come to this conclusion at the end of "The Dare"—both were/are unloved by Homeworld despite how "valued" they are.
• Original Character
  • Sunstone, the Fusion of Opal and Ruby. In canon, Sunstone is the fusion of Steven and Garnet, but "The Mistake" was published prior to the premiere of "Change Your Mind."
  • Star, the mysterious figure that Steven meets in his dreams.
  • P.B., Nickle, and "Chippy Black Nail Polish" appear in "The Day Out" as Ocean Town counterparts to Buck, Jenny, and Sour Cream.
  • Later, there's Penny, Quarter, and Jelly, the three troublesome kids caught at the end of "The Investigation"—the former two are Nickle's younger siblings, while the latter is P.B.'s little sister.
  • "The Cluster" introduces the fusions between Jasper and the Crystal Gems, which never appear in the series: Pietersite (with Sapphire), Cinnabar (with Ruby), and Ametrine (with Opal). There's also a fusion between all four of them, but the fusion goes unnamed and undescribed since they're only seen from a distance.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Baby Melon is killed in his debut episode in the show, but here he survives and becomes the Leader of the Watermelon Steven tribe.
• Take That!: Dissimilar, a book Connie starts reading, is a parody of teen fantasy novels and some common tropes in them. The protagonist's name is Symphony Ethereal Iridescence, her boyfriend's name is Killian Blacksoul (which Connie and Steven both admit is actually pretty cool), and she's half-vampire, half-fairy, and half-werewolf.
  Connie: That's three halves.
• Tempting Fate: Lampshaded in "The Dialogue", after the engine explodes and erases a tone of the group's effort.
  Ruby: Well, at least we still have the ship.
  Everyone turns towards the ship. Nothing happens.
  Jasper: What?
  Steven: It would just be really ironic if something happened to the ship now. Just making sure.

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