so, like pretty much the entire SU fandom, I’ve gotten just a little bit obsessed with speculating about Pink Diamond. Ideas about her potential design have been just floating together in my mind for forever, but yesterday they all coalesced into something… beautiful. No, it’s not art cuz’ I don’t art, but follow my thought process here and you might see…

(BIG steven universe spoilers for stevenbomb 5! Support the show! SUPPORT IT!)

Pink Diamond is still a mystery, but we know or can extrapolate things about her from the show. In order of most certain to least certain, we know that Pink was…

1. Pink

…yes, indeed. We’ve seen two Diamonds in the ‘flesh’ so far, and both of them have had designs made of all different shades of their namesake color, except for Blue’s white hair. Therefore it’s pretty safe to assume that her design would consist of different shades of pink, possibly including some red or white.

2. Nobility

The Diamonds are essentially royalty in the Gem Empire, being the highest ranked of all and de facto rulers. Pink was no exception; we’ve already learned that she was supposed to become the ruler of a colonized Earth. Her design should reflect her nobility in some way.

3. Surrounded by floral motifs

People associated floral/sakura motifs with Pink before, but in stevenbomb 5, floral imagery has been confirmed for Pink Diamond. Pink five-petaled flowers are on and around her palanquin, and doors in her zoo have a sakura-like symbol on them, although in-universe they probably represent hollyhocks. Fun fact: Sakura flowers can be used to symbolize mortality and early death because they last for such a short time.

4. Was Betrayed and Killed at a Young Age

We learned in Back to the Moon and Bubbled that Pink Diamond was shattered (a.k.a. murdered) by Rose Quartz, one of her soldiers, as part of the Crystal Gem’s rebellion. There’s still a lot we don’t know about the circumstances surrounding this shattering, but Eyeball, Jasper, the Diamond Authority, and the Crystal Gems themselves are all pretty sure that that’s what happened.

Because Pink only has one planet (Earth) depicted in her mural, many fans thought this meant she was a young Diamond, while others thought that just meant she wasn’t as into colonization as the rest of the Diamonds. In Gem Heist, however, Holly Blue Agate seems to confirm the first idea with a throwaway line:

“It’s tragic that Pink Diamond’s existence in this universe ended up being so finite, but what a selfless act for Blue Diamond to spend her own time and energy preserving this place in Pink Diamond’s memory.”



5. A Passionate Fighter

This is our first extrapolation, but I think it’s a solid one. The Diamonds seem to have roles, colors, and personality traits in common with gems in their own courts. Yellow has a strong bureaucratic, scientific ‘don’t get upset get results’ vibe going on, and Peridot, a yellow-green former follower, is also strongly associated with science and technology. Blue is calm, cold, fatalistic, and depressed, and Sapphire and Lapis each have at least one of these traits.



What kind of gems were in Pink Diamond’s court? Jasper, Eyeball Ruby, Rose Quartz herself, and most likely the Famethyst. What do Jaspers, Rubies, Rose Quartz and Amethysts have in common? They’re all highly passionate and great fighters. Jaspers are also known for being very loyal, according to Peridot.

Does this conflict with the pink and floral? Heck no, because a) Steven Universe spits right in the face of your gender roles, and b) pink didn’t become widely regarded as a color for little girls until about the 1950s. In the 1900s and earlier, blue was considered the ultimate feminine color because it was pretty, and calming, and peaceful, and strongly associated with the Virgin Mary. Pink was considered masculine because it was a shade of red, and red is for blood and war and fire and the flush of your cheeks when you become consumed with righteous fury.

“There has been a great diversity of opinion on the subject, but the generally accepted rule is pink for the boy and blue for the girl. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger colour, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl.” - Ladie’s Home Journal, 1918



And on the topic, she was probably also:

6. Tomboyish

This gels nicely with the pink-was-once-masculine thing, and I think it would be great if the Diamond that was all covered in pink and flowers were also a huge tomboy. But I mostly get this idea from her mural. White and Yellow, in this mural, either have skirts or just have their legs together. And when we first see Yellow, she is in fact wearing a very long coat. Blue is DEFINITELY in a skirt, and posed in a ladylike way - she’s even holding it out like she’s dancing at Prince Charming’s ball.

Pink, on the other hand, is definitely NOT in a skirt. Her legs are completely distinct in her leaping, energetic pose. Her hair is also pretty short and a bit wild.



Even her pose is tomboyish! She looks like she’s ready to destroy you on the basketball court.

7. A Sweetheart

There’s no way to really prove this unless we get a flashback or something, but this can be extrapolated from her gem placement. Rose Quartz, Steven, and Navy Ruby all have/had gems on their belly, and furthermore, they’re all total cinnamon buns!

If we apply this to Pink as well, her idea of making a human zoo comes off as more compassionate that cruel. She was probably trying to strike a compromise with Rose Quartz! It’s just too bad that gems as a whole don’t really *get* human beings, or else she would have realized how cruel it actually was.

Does Pink being a cinnamon bun mean she was secretly pro-earth the whole time and faked her death to save it? …Not necessarily. Going with the nobility / loyalty angle from earlier, it would be strange for her to completely forsake the needs of her empire to take care of some plants and animals, even if she had some reservations about the whole thing. It would be even weirder for a “sweet” gem to emotionally wreck her own sisters on purpose.

…

So why did I go off on this tangent? So you all could share in the most wonderful revelation I’ve ever had regarding this show.

A tomboyish character drowning in pink and flowers?

A noble, kindhearted fighter who fights for what she loves and is loyal to, despite her personal reservations?

Gets betrayed and stabbed by someone she thought was close to her?

Don’t you see? Don’t you REALIZE??

IT’S OUR LORD AND SAVIOR UTENA TENJOU

(take my revolutionnnn ~)