Steven Universe

But it didn't cause any problem, so even if they were a bit out of sync, I don't think you can call Rainbow Quartz a "bad" fusion. And that was also one instance. Rainbow Quartz and Malachite are entirely different animals.

I never said they were bad they just aren't as well synchronized. I mean they are basically the lowest you can get on the instability spectrum. It didn't cause problems obviously but there have been more complete fusions.

Like imagine it's a scale where 0 is like the absolute middle and we go 10 for most complete fusion and -10 for least, Rainbow Quartz in that particular instance would barely eek past -1. On a good day Opal is a solid zero because it doesn't take much to tear that apart but when they're focused, they're one.

Garnet is pretty much a solid ten at all times and scales down during moments of internal conflict. Sugilite is pretty high on that end too as is Sardonyx.

Alexandrite is pretty much constantly sliding up and down the negative end and was only on the positive side of the scale when Steven needed to be found.

I'm not sure how you can say Rainbow Quartz was the bare minimum, when again, we saw no problems at all. To mean what you're saying implies they were just hanging on by a thread (like Malachite) but nothing we saw of that short display really generates that.

I mean, I think what you're trying to say is "some gems are better at fusion, better with certain other gems, and mood influences how well gems fuse at the moment", which we already knew.

edited 28th Aug '15 6:04:54 PM by LSBK

Sardonyx actually had eye dissonance going on too

Nope, not seeing it. I watched it a few times to be sure, and there is definitively nothing of sort there, as far I can tell. You can see the eyes open in just three distinct moments, and at no point Pearl's eyes are distinctly spiteful. At teh first two, they are just fully open. The third time is fully open as well and the only difference is that you can see the eyebrows clearly closing in a bit. Still, not particularly spiteful, specially when compared to every other interaction Pearl had with Greg in that episode. In every other time, Pearl's eyes are distictly half closed most of the time, and only fully open when she is surprised.

No, I think people are just seeing what they want to see. Pearl fused with Rose to spite on Greg, but I don't think Rainbow Quartz felt the same way.

In Sardonyx case, it is actually very obvious. The eyes actually do move independently from each other. No sign of either pair symbolizing each half, though.

edited 28th Aug '15 6:59:42 PM by Heatth

The thing is that Rainbow Quartz is Pearl. And also Rose. Being together. Fused and such. She is both of them equally. She had to, in some respect, feel the same way because even before she was fused, a (literal) part of her was feeling that way.

I mean, I don't have a dog in this race, but. I just don't like the idea of treating fusions as entirely different people than the ones making them up.

Well they are, or at least, they aren't just the gems that make them up. The show has been pretty clear on that.

I mean, fusions are probably influenced by the fusees emotions and such but they don't just get all of their current thoughts and memories at the time of fusion, I don't think they do anyway.

edited 28th Aug '15 7:20:59 PM by LSBK

Exactly. Fusions are not that clear cut. Pearl wanted to spite Greg, Rose wanted to impress him. Rainbow Quartz? It is not necessarily both. It could, possibly, be neither even (though I doubt, given she did keep her eyes on him). She never voiced her feelings, though, and I don't feel her actions were clear enough. The point is, just because Pearl felt some way, it doesn't mean (half of)Rainbow felt the same.

One thing we can tell, though, is that if Rainbow felt conflicted, it wasn't that bad. As LSBK pointed out, the fusion was perfectly stable. A far cry from Garnet after Sardonyx or Opal whenever.

edited 28th Aug '15 7:28:08 PM by Heatth

See, I never said otherwise. Garnet outright says she's more than the sum of her parts. But it's important to remember, I think, that they are still made up of those people. Garnet isn't "just Garnet," she is Ruby, she is Sapphire, and she is Garnet. But, y'know, Ruby and Sapphire are still there.

Of course. But that doesn't mean every action Garnet do is a perfect reflection of Ruby and Sapphire individually. And it doesn't mean that every time the two disagree on something, Garnet will act like two people. As I said, even if we know Pearl was trying to spite Greg, it doesn't mean Rainbow Quartz was trying to do the same.

Yeah, but they only really seem to come to the surface in moments of extreme, internal conflict. That probably goes for all fusions.

I wonder if we'll ever see the fusions of Rose and Amethyst, and Rose and Garnet.

edited 28th Aug '15 7:32:44 PM by LSBK

I think the giant woman who rescued Captain Dewey might've been Rose and Garnet's fusion.

Something else I'm really curious about is Ruby and Sapphire's love for Steven. We know they love him as individuals but I'm curious where that love comes from. Is it they love him as Garnet so they love him even while separated, or that even while fused they feel like they've got to know him as their own people. Or is it a combination of both?

That sounds like a "who came first, the chicken or the egg?" kind of question.

They already met him when he was a baby.

Well, Greg knows of them already. And as we've seen, emotional turmoil can cause Garnet to split up... Hmm, what massive emotional blow could have caused them to split up, that probably also came about after Steven came into existence?

I think it is a combination of the two, yeah. Garnet is the two of them, after all. Both Ruby and Sapphire spent practically Steven's whole life with him.

I will say though, that although Ruby and Sapphire know Steven, the opposite is not quite true. Steven barely met them both, so he doesn't know them all that well. They get to experience the world as Garnet, but the world doesn't really get to experience them.

PS:It is possible they already met him individually when he was a baby, but I don't think it is too relevant.

edited 28th Aug '15 9:30:03 PM by Heatth

Well, when a fusion unfuses, the component gems would remember everything that the fusion remembered, and memories have feelings attached to them. Ruby and Sapphire remember seeing Steven through Garnet's eyes, and those memories would have a lot of love in them. We know that Ruby and Sapphire are both very caring, loving people in their own right, so it's no surprise that they would love Steven as much individually as they do together.

That said, they would experience and react to Steven differently as individuals than they did as Garnet- a joke that Garnet would smile at might upset Ruby or get only indifference from Sapphire, but their love would be constant in spite of these misunderstandings.

I think generally speaking, fusions are at their strongest when the component gems are acting on a unified goal. Rainbow Quartz's one appearance can be seen as fairly well unified (though not 100%) if you vaguely define her goal as "Show off in front of Greg" (It's worth noting that two slightly separate goals going in could become one upon fusion).

Sardonyx's first appearance had a unified goal, which became less so upon subsequent fusions due to Pearl's ulterior motive. Most of Opal's appearances show a unity of purpose, but it quickly breaks down once the goal is achieved. Then we have instances like Sugilite, where the fusion develops her own goals, which may be different to what the individual gems wanted (or could be a reflection of a subconscious desire of one or more component gems).

In fact, Sugilite raises a lot of questions about fusions having an awareness of themselves as a being in their own right. She seems to want to protect her own existence, rather than ceasing to be once her job is done. Life as a fusion is incredibly fleeting under most circumstances.

edited 28th Aug '15 10:16:36 PM by PapercutChainsaw

It's true that gems can remember their fusions' memories and fusions can remember their gems' memories, but gems can't remember the memories of the gems they fused with. And yes...very fleeting.

This is at your door, wut u do?

Unless the fusion recalls a specific memory from one of the component gems. After de-fusion, the other gem/s would presumably remember it, but possibly not in the same way as if it were their own memory.

Which is why Garnet wasn't aware of Pearl fixing the tower- Sardonyx never called upon that knowledge, even though she theoretically had it.

Yeah, I think that's because although Sardonyx had a clear purpose and motive in mind, Garnet can't tell the reason for Pearl's motivations as Sardonyx. It was formed to break the hub, and that's what she did. The why wasn't, however.

Not to mention, she was different than Sugilite, where she actively split apart after her purpose was done, with no hard feelings.

It was implied the only reason Sugilite was like that was because Garnet and Amethyst were fused for too long and not that it's just something Sugilite always does.

I mean, when they formed her again to break the tower the final time they didn't have that problem. Issues like that would probably come up with most fusions, even if they all might not get violent about it like Sugilite did.

edited 29th Aug '15 10:24:01 AM by LSBK

Not really. Pearl and Garnet make it sound like Sugilite has always been hard to control even if they aren't fused for too long.

And, remember they stayed fused together for too long because Sugilite went wild from the beginning, and broke the warp pad.

The reason she was easier to control in Cry For Help is probably the mood they were in when they were formed. Amethyst was more melancholy, than excited, and Garnet was having a moment of Tranquil Fury.

edited 29th Aug '15 10:34:44 AM by xanderiskander

Pearl specifically says "You've been fused for too long, you're losing yourselves!" so I'm going with this not normally happening. Sugilite always being a bit wild isn't the same thing as her always refusing to split apart. If it was they wouldn't have even tried it. And again, they fused again to destroy the tow and then apparently unfused without any problem.

Time was clearly a factor. The reason why they fused together for so long doesn't really matter.

edited 29th Aug '15 10:37:14 AM by LSBK

And Pearl says Sugilite can be "unstable" just before they combine the first time. Garnet says they can be "rash" and "reckless" and "can get carried away". So it's not just about the time factor. It's about how their personalities effect the fusion too. The extended time they were fused just made it more difficult for them to separate, which made things worse.

edited 29th Aug '15 10:40:18 AM by xanderiskander