#toonsnooper

I mentioned this previously, but for those not in 'the know' all the gem placements in my AU have meanings behind them. Generally for this, I use Toonsnooper's videos on youtube as basic guidelines. Quoting him, "chest gems symbolise emotional depth, intuition and raw personal expression", all of which can be found in abundance with Pearl. She is unapologetically herself, and embraces her placement with this attitude.

Similarly to Yellow Pearl in the OG series, Pearl would have started off when she was first given to Blue attempting to pretend that she had no thoughts and feelings. What I mean by this is that she would adhere to her role as a pearl due to her obsession with rules and standards. Going to Earth not only changed Blue, but also Pearl. On Earth, she found herself and let go of the limits of what a pearl was 'meant' to be. She was loud mouthed, rude and this was absolutely empowering for her. Resisting one's nature in relation to their placement they were born with makes a gem miserable, so finally alloweing herself to be the ever impulsive Pearl she is was essential to her growth. Making decisions with her 'heart' instead of her 'head' benefits Pearl greatly as when she doesn't listen to her gem, she tends to fixate too much on rigidity, not taking into account how fluid rules can actually be.

These same emotions that help drive her decisions also can overwhelm her entirely though. Its was causes her to lash out at those around her, to scare away all of Lapis' potential partners. She cannot think logically in situations that cause her feel negative emotions and that instructs how she goes about her life. Pearl never takes a breather, she never steps back from whats aggrivating her. Instead, she charges ahead, and often gets herself in trouble due to this with those around her. Pearl's emotions are rooted in her pride, which is why she is such a confrontational gem. In a world without Lapis and Steven in her place, she is powered by her negative emotions. She yells at Garnet and ignores Coral's orders, never stopping and thinking about how they too are grieving as she is too overwhelmed by hers. Only when she stopped distancing herself from the other Crystal Gems (both physically and emotionally) could she reach stability, as while allowing her grief to control her, she stiffled all her other emotions in the process.