“It’s almost like… if MC Bear Bear didn’t tear the fabric of his arm, but the fabric of his mind”
When you stop to think about it, corruption is the perfect way to show this.
First let’s start with a Gem’s projection. To make it simple, their Gem is their physical body. Their hardware so to speak.
And a Gem’s projection is based on the software, not the hardware. It’ the way they interact with the universe around them. And it is, more or less, a design of their own choosing- within the limits of their own color palette and abilities. A literal reflection of who they are how they see themselves. And when they are in a state of psychological turmoil, that reflection can become compromised.
We’ve seen it before:
In Reformed, we see Amethyst facing her self esteem issues. The more she tries to be what she thinks everyone else wants her to be, the more unstable her projection becomes. That may have been partially from trying to reform so quickly so many times in a row, but the more frustrated she becomes, the worse it gets. It’s not until she takes her time to reform and tries to accept who she is that stabilizes.
We even see it in Garnet. In order for a fusion - any fusion- to stay stable (i.e. maintain a stable projection) they have to work together. Garnet is the literal physical embodiment of Ruby and Sapphire’s relationship. When something happens that shakes them enough and they can’t see eye to eye, the stability they find together is compromised. We saw it it in Keystone Motel and the literally titled Keeping It Together. It’s not until they work together again that she can regain stability to be continuous conversation between the two of them that creates her.
And then there’s corruption.
We have the terrifying fact that the Diamonds have a capability/weapon that is specifically designed to destroy a Gem’s mind.Their physical body, their actual Gem, is unaffected. Normal healing won’t work because physically there is nothing wrong with them. Hardware verses software, so to speak. It doesn’t mean that there isn’t something very, very wrong. It also doesn’t mean that they’re irreparably broken. Who they are hasn’t changed, but trying to break through the corrupted software to function normally may be all but impossible. We still don’t know if Centipeetle will ever be healed completely, but maybe she doesn’t have to be. It may be all about finding herself and her own brand of stability and happiness. Maybe that’s with her own fellow corrupted Centipeetles, we just don’t know yet.
What I do know is that this is probably one of the best metaphors for mental illness that I have ever seen. The difference between being cracked (physical injury) and corrupted (mental illness) is made obvious. Steven’s healing powers don’t work because physically there’s nothing wrong. It doesn’t matter how many band aids you stick on someone’s cut, it won’t cure their depression.
And that is the kind of representation I am 100% here for.
