So–I just spent the last hour getting inspired and writing A Thing, a proto-script for a comic Thing.

It’s…sort of a follow-up to Mr. Greg, meant to answer the “what now” question for how Greg and Pearl are going to help each other heal. The song is Hallelujah (this link leads to the version of the song I had on repeat while writing this) which I re-listened to in honor of the songwriter passing away last week, and I realized it was a perfect mourning song for Rose–but from a mixed perspective of both Greg and Pearl. This is a first draft, and not all the associated actions are mapped out for the intro or the song itself, but it’s a good start and I want feedback and I’m really proud of it AND IT’S UNDER THE CUT PLEASE TAKE A LOOK

[Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst, Steven, Connie are all inside, making cookies; Amethyst and Connie chase Pearl outside with hands covered in cookie dough, where after slamming the door behind her she sees Greg, sitting on the sand, legs crossed, guitar on his lap, staring out to sea.]

[Pearl goes down and sits next to him. They’re silent for a moment, and then she speaks.]

PEARL: Thank you. For…what happened in the city.

GREG: No, thank Steven. I wouldn’t have been brave enough myself.

[Both remain silent. Pearl looks down, then says]

PEARL: Would he see it that way?

[Greg smiles.]

GREG: There’s not a day goes by I’m not thankful for that kid.

[Pearl wraps her arms around herself.]

PEARL: Not a day, no.

[Greg’s smile disappears]

GREG: …Yeah.

[Both are silent, looking out to sea.]

PEARL: How do you manage?

GREG: Day to day. Different things. Mostly I do the same thing you do.

PEARL: What’s that?

GREG: Sing.

PEARL: I don’t sing that much!

[montage of Pearl singing at various times, including: while cooking for Steven, while lecturing Amethyst, while working alongside a very exasperated Peridot]

[Pearl and Greg look at each other, then both burst out laughing]

GREG: [wiping away tears] Oh, oh wow. But…seriously. I’d never heard you sing about her before, though.

PEARL: I…never?

GREG: Not once.

[Pearl looks out to the ocean]

PEARL: …I don’t know where to start.

GREG: I didn’t either, at first. I’d been writing songs my whole life and I still didn’t. I’m working on one right now, but…it’s not finished.

[Silence. Pearl doesn’t really understand.]

GREG: Want to help me finish it?

PEARL: Oh. Oh! I…

[Pearl clenches her fists in her lap, then continues.]

PEARL: Yes.

PEARL: Please.





[Greg starts singing.]

GREG: Well I’ve heard there was a secret chord, that David played and it pleased the Lord…But you don’t really care for music, do ya?

GREG: Well, it goes like this:

GREG [playing each in turn]: The fourth,

GREG: the fifth,

GREG: the minor fall, and the major lift…

GREG [viewed from the far side of Pearl, with her head in frame, looking towards him, while he’s singing]: The baffled king composing Hallelujah…





[Pearl’s face, still looking at him]

GREG: Hallelujah…

[Pearl, looking down]

GREG: Hallelujah…

[both of them from the chest down]

GREG: Hallelujah…

GREG: Hallelujah…





[behind them, facing out to sea]

GREG: Well your faith was strong, but you needed proof; you saw her bathing on the roof, and her beauty…and the moonlight…overthrew ya…





[Greg stops singing, but not playing. Stays silent a moment, then speaks]

GREG: That’s, uh…





[Pearl is looking down, sad, then begins to sing herself]

PEARL [from nose down, eyes in shadow]: She tied you to the kitchen chair, and she broke your throne, and she brushed your hair…

PEARL [same view as “the baffled king” line, but with Pearl looking out to sea and Greg looking sideways at her]: And from your lips, she drew the Hallelujah…





PEARL [focus on her from the front, looking up wistfully]: Hallelujah…

PEARL [same view but of Greg, looking to his right at off-panel Pearl]: Hallelujah…

PEARL [view of the two from Steven’s front porch, from behind Garnet, who is leaning on the railing watching]: Hallelujah…Hallelujah…





[Pearl pauses, unsure of how to go on]





GREG: Oh, my friend, I’ve been here before; I’ve seen this room, and I’ve walked this floor…You know, I used to live alone before I knew her.

GREG [looking to the left, at the stone hand in the sand]: And I’ve seen her flag on the marble arch,

GREG [looking back at Pearl]: And love is not a victory march–

GREG: It’s a cold–

PEARL: –and it’s a broken–

BOTH: Hallelujah…





BOTH [looking up]: Hallelujah…

BOTH [from behind, looking up at the moon]: Hallelujah…

BOTH [eyes closed, facing up and leaning slightly towards each other]: Hallelujah…Hallelujah…





PEARL: There was a time when you let me know, what was really going on below…

PEARL: But you never really showed that to me, did ya…

PEARL [looking down and to the right, shoulders sagging]: But remember when you moved–

PEARL [close-up of her hand as she brings her fist to her chest]: –in here–

PEARL [from the front, looking up]: –and I never doubted the thousand years…

PEARL [view from Greg’s side, with him looking at her, with her looking up]: Where every breath we drew…was Hallelujah…





BOTH [looking up, from behind]: Hallelujah…

BOTH [view of the sky, and of a rose-shaped cloud]: Hallelujah…

BOTH [view from the porch again, with Garnet facing the camera, holding Amethyst and a tearful Connie by the scruff of their necks, about to go back inside]: Hallelujah…Hallelujah…





GREG: Maybe there’s a God above, but all I’ve ever learned from love–

GREG: –was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya…





PEARL: And it’s not a cry that you hear at night, it’s not somebody who’s seen the light;

PEARL: It’s a cold–

GREG: –and it’s a broken–

BOTH: –Hallelujah…





BOTH:

[close shot of the two of them from the front]: Hallelujah, Hallelujah…

[wide shot of them and the beach]: Hallelujah, Hallelujah…

[close-up of the front of the house, with Steven inside, hands against the window, looking out]: Hallelujah, Hallelujah…

[inside, Steven turning away and taking a step away from the window, sad eyes, small smile on his face]: Hallelujah, Hallelujah…

[the temple statue and the crested hill]: Hallelujah, Hallelujah…

[the night sky, and that rose-shaped cloud]: Hallelujah…

[the cloud drifts apart]: Hallelujah…