#gem 10

And I just couldn’t help but be reminded of Corayne.

She really is such a well written protagonist and the fact that RB is inspired by LOTR just makes this that much better.

She is certainly special and brave and a lot depended on her…. but she depended on those around her just as much. She truly couldn’t have done any of it without them, the lovely Companions; all the bickering, frustration and physical aggression included.

The journey they experience has an obvious relation to LOTR, but what really hit home for me was of course, Corayne closing the Spindle. The chaos, the exhaustion, the desperation, seeing how hard the people around her fought to keep her alive, literally tossing her around like a football, to get her to their goal.

I got bored during the road trip so here're a few coloured doodles I did in the car!

~Aqua

P.s. Currently in a hotel so WiFi!!! :D

Nephrite (Bad Ben) belongs to @iaconic

oh yeah! i still have the first one i did from a couple years before they reformed, though I do wanna make a design for their normal homeworld before Blue Diamond accidentally poofed since this one was back when I had the AU set for them just downloading gem DNA before I just went and made it just a straight up AU asjkdfhalsd 

So far, I’ve only had it be that Moonstone has reformed (three times now), but I do wanna do some redesigns (so really just making reforms) for the other Ben gems! Nephrite never actually reforms (he’s an incredibly skilled fighter, and has never been poofed before), Mad has reformed once (this was after Moonstone had to reform on Earth because he lost his SHIT when Moonstone got poofed), so he’s the second to have to reform in this group. Fluorite reforms much later, probably when the Diamonds come to Earth because he was keeping Moonstone from getting poofed in battle. 

They do! It’s part of why fusing can be so difficult for Moonstone to even START the fusion dance. Either they’re pegged with an onslaught of emotions, or since fusion is about joining together, the other gem (or gems) in question will be attacked with that huge wave of negative emotions. There’s a very fine line that has to be passed- essentially a level of mental strength the participating gem has. The emotions come at them as a burst, and if they can handle the initial blow, the fusion can continue.

The Fusion typically can then have more control over the transfer of emotions, ie: they can control if they WANT to transfer emotions by touch. Moon can’t do that on their own, but in a fusion, they absolutely can.

Which is why Moon is on such a fence with fusion. They don’t like causing that level of stress on any gem, much less their team, but they also know once they get INTO the fusion, they will NOT want to get out. They like being able to control their empathetic powers, and not having to worry about absorbing emotions when all they did was put a hand on their teammate’s shoulder.

So far, they’ve only fused with those on their team, minus Spinel (Eon). I’ve drawn Sunstone, which is Moonstone and Fire Agate’s fusion. This one’s probably their second favorite fusion to use, if only because they’re alright with Fire Agate’s presence, and Fire Agate has a soft spot for Moonstone on the team.

Nuummite is definitely their favorite because they get along the best with Dark Fluorite (Benzarro), and this’ll be explained more in another ask I need to answer, but the two have a mutual thing they do where Dark Fluorite will let Moon transfer some of the negative emotions that are eating at their mind to Dark Fluorite. Obviously Moon helps when Dark Fluorite is suffering too much, but yeah they got this little symbiosis thing going.

Nephrite’s fusion is...difficult. Nephrite cares about his teammates, but isn’t affectionate ( at least, likely to get visibly concerned for the ) until they’re stranded on Earth. They get along, but just to work with one another. Nephrite rarely uses Moon’s ability to transfer his negative emotions out of him, and only uses it mostly get get himself LESS angry at Fire Agate or at the Crystal Gems. He bottles up sadness, which is actually a BAD thing to do when you wanna fuse with Moon. You HAVE to be open about how you’re feeling, or Moon won’t be ready to handle the OTHER emotions that end up absorbed when either does his thing or if  you’re fusing with him. 

They can! It just has to be allowed by the other gem! Moon can’t willing transfer their own emotions OUT of them without express permission. It’s like how fusion has to be agreed upon by all parties (unless you’re Eudialyte, but that’s a WHOLE other thing).

Though the only other gem who really allows that, in the beginning anyway, is Dark Fluorite. He’s had his own shit handed to him, and I’ll talk about his back story another day (just know it’s sad- maybe not AS sad but just a whole lotta he don’t deserve the shit he gets), and Moon has done so much to help him during the worst parts of his life. 

He was the first one who actually helped Moon find out this part of their abilities. Moon had no idea they could transfer their OWN emotions to others. It takes a bit more concentration on their part, and Dark Fluorite had to keep reassuring Moon it was okay (especially since the first time Dark Fluorite just cried a while fuck ton). Moon ALMOST transferred it back to themselves, but Dark Fluorite refused.

Quick doodle I did while I was out today!

~Aqua