hi! Do you have any tips for designing a fusion? I rlly like the idea of making a permafusion like garnet but idk how to design fusions. thank you :)
:^) like singular gems, i think fusions need to have a theme that you can design around. it doesnt have to be very obvious or single-minded but it should give you something to work with, especially for permafusions
in the podcast (episode 10) garnet is described as being like ruby and sapphire's child because she has a bit of both of them but is still her own person. how much the fusion embodies the relationship of the gems involved is up to you, since they can be formed out of romantic love, familial love, hate, fear, guilt, vengeance, or pretty much any emotion, as long as the participants are harmonious!
so combine a bit from the component gems and their relationship with one another to figure out a theme to run with. for fusions i would suggest to visually design them (uncoloured) before deciding on a gem type, unless they're a canon pairing. fusions seem to choose their own names & it's not based in any real combination of gemstones. garnet named herself that because she (ruby and/or sapphire) had seen other garnets on homeworld before, but fusions and single gems of the same type can also look different from each other, so you should decide on your own which direction to take.
you should also keep in mind the fusion's own backstory and where they reside! a newly formed fusion living on earth after the dismantling of the gem empire would have far less stress and negative judgement than one who's been hiding in homeworld's kindergardens since era 1. you can incorporate as much personal details from the components as you think fit, like garnet's split-colour pants, or rhodonite's pearl's gloves and rhodonite's ruby's shorts and little boot.
a last note that's still pretty important: extra arms, eyes, and other body parts are not an indication that the relationship that the fusion embodies is unstable or toxic!!! simply do what you feel looks right, or take inspirations from canon fusions, even if they're not the same type. have lots of legs like a caterpillar, multiple torsos, a double-faced head, backwards hands, anything that's cool!!!
