Picture this: what if instead of taking Pearl with her for colonization of Earth and forming of the Crystal Gems, Pink Diamond brought Spinel? How different would the Crystal Gems be? What does the plot look like?
Switcheroo AU is a fan webcomic of Steven Universe by Sai Scribbles
and can be read on Tapas Media here.
Switcharoo AU provides examples of:
- Adaptational Badass: In cannon, Spinel was only able to beat the Crystal gems and Steven due to them being "rusty" and with the help of a rejuvenator, then lost once they adapted. Here, she was tough enough to take on Jasper and Bismuth on separate occasions, with the quartz commenting she was a monster during the gem war.
- Age-Gap Romance: Kiki notes that Spinel seems a lot younger than the massive Jasper. However, as Spinel nervously comments, Spinel is the older one by over 3000 years. Much to Kiki's shock.
- "I am over 3000 years older than her. Is that strange?"
- All Amazons Want Hercules: In "Jaspinel", it's after Spinel literally punches Jasper through a mountain does she start reciprocating her attraction.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Spinel is just as much of a goofball as ever, but as shown in her fights with Jasper, she's no slouch when it comes to battle.
- Black Comedy: In "Star Sapphire", the titular gem reveals that Spinel dropped Steven as a baby.Greg: WHAT!?
Spinel: I caught him! - The Cameo: Eyeball Ruby makes an appearance in "Backstories - Bonus Track" on a hologram breaking the news of Pink Diamond's shattering.
- Cooldown Hug: Garnet gives Spinel one after the latter trips over some vines that had grown at Rose's Fountain.
- Conspicuous Gloves: Discussed and mocked in "Washing Up (Guest Comic)". Steven sees that Spinel washes dishes with dishwashing gloves over the pink gloves she always wears, something that confuses and frustrates him and Connie like crazy to no end.
- Extendo Boxing Glove: Spessartine's (Spinel and Garnet's fusion) weapon is a spring-loaded fist coming out of her shoulder.
- Expy: Ronaldo sees a monster in the trees called "Slendergal" and posts pictures on his blog about her. Really it's just Spinel trolling him.
- Failed Attempt at Drama: When Pearl transitions back to her evil look in "Gem Rotation", she explains that she rotated her gem and that it's super deep. Since her gem is symmetrical vertically and horizontally, Steven completely misses it.
- For Want Of A Nail: The premise of the comic is "what would things be like if Pearl and Spinel swapped places?"
- Has a Type: A recurring element of the comic is Spinel and Japser's infatuation with each other, with various implications that she may have done something with Amethyst and gives an I'm Taking Her Home with Me! look when she sees the Famethyst. This implies that Spinel has an attraction to Quartzes in general.
- Locked Out of the Loop: It's confirmed in "Backstories" that Spinel was still in the garden during Pink Diamond's supposed shattering and an earlier comic reveals she has never met Bismuth either - strongly implying that she isn't aware of Rose Quartz's true identity.
- Metal Slime: Spinel seems to be a rare type of gem on Homeworld. Peridot and Bismuth don't know what gem she is (though Bismuth recognizes her as an elite gem-type) and Jasper only knows her as "Rose's Monster."
- Ninja: Spinel and Amethyst's fusion — Lolite — has the visual cues of a kunoichi, wielding a chain-scythe and wearing fish-net stockings.
- Other Me Annoys Me: In "Extras", the canon Pearl finds Switcharoo Pearl unnerving. Averted with the Spinels, who get along just fine.
- Percussive Shutdown: In "Jailbreak", Spinel's method of getting Peridot's ship to turn around is by stomping on the control panel.Amethyst: We're gonna die.
- Really Gets Around: It's implied that Spinel has had a very productive love-life during her time on Earth.
- In "The Floozy Saga", Spinel gets offended at the idea of being called a "floozy", but it's pointed out that she doesn't deny it.
- In "Last One Out of Beach City (Tapas Exclusive)", Spinel and Amy have been to various humans parties they can't tell out loud until Steven is older.
- In "The Floozy Saga
- Send in the Clones: This version of Pearl weaponizes her holopearls in combat.
- Stupid Sexy Flanders: In "Bispearl", Bismuth finds Pearl's evil look attractive.
- Trauma Button: It's implied that being left behind in the garden still happened in some form for Spinel. Because of this, she has a strong aversion to plants. This ranges from a general dislike of flowers to nearly having a panic attack when she trips over roots near Rose's Fountain.
- Troll: Spinel likes enabling Ronaldo's paranoia by pretending to be a cryptid stalking him.
