Three Camps, Or Alexandrite's Mindset
Alexandrite is the worst.
Well, okay, that’s not exactly her fault. The more gems that fuse together, the less stable their resulting fusion becomes. The fact that Alexandrite is a fusion of four completely different personalities is not in her favor.
That’s one of the biggest problems with Alexandrite, though: she doesn’t really have any personality to speak of. It’s why she falls apart so easily—there is no central hub that her component parts can gather around. One small disagreement between Pearl and Amethyst, and Alexandrite is doomed.
The fact that Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst can’t let go of themselves enough to allow a centralizing personality to form is, admittedly, not Alexandrite’s fault. Fusion is tough magic, and complex fusion is even harder to accomplish. They could have handled that well enough, if skill in magic was all it took. The fact that fusion involves no-holds-barred honesty and full disclosure is what the Crystal Gems trip over.
Garnet knows from her experiences as Sugilite that Amethyst is pretty well convinced Pearl sees her as a big mistake, a shameful reminder of the horror of Earth’s Kindergarten. Amethyst believes that Pearl only tolerates her because Rose liked her—and now, because Garnet said so. Amethyst doesn’t believe she gets any respect from Pearl for how far she’s come, or all the good she has managed to do. Whatever friendship-bonding moments they manage to have, Amethyst always wonders if they’re actually real. So yeah, Amethyst likes riling Pearl up, because when Pearl’s pissed at least she’s being honest.
Likewise, Garnet knows from Sardonyx as well as verbal conversations with Pearl that there are times Pearl can’t get it out of her head that Amethyst is set to drive her insane for the simple vindictiveness of it. She doesn’t know what she’s done to deserve it. Pearl feels a bit victimized, as well as aghast at Amethyst’s ‘animalistic mannerisms’. She feels as if Amethyst doesn’t have any respect for her, her ideas, or her abilities. She also wants to help Amethyst be the best gem she can be, despite the wretched Kindergarten backstory, but her help has spurned far too many times for her to try anymore.
And Garnet, for all that she enjoys a good fist fight with a corrupted gem monster, is downright anti-confrontational in the emotional sphere. Whenever the layers of disrespect and hurt and misunderstandings between Pearl and Amethyst begin to show themselves, Garnet always takes a step back. It’s their problem that only they can overcome, and Garnet meddling with it is only going to make it worse. Within a fusion with both Amethyst and Pearl, Ruby and Sapphire tend to cling to each other just that little bit tighter, because 1) their individual personalities tend to exacerbate whatever issue Pearl and Amethyst are arguing about right now (they’ve tried before, to disastrous results), and 2) it makes them even more grateful for Garnet’s serene self-containment, which in turn has them subconsciously reinforcing her existence as a singularity.
When you take the time to look at it, the reason Alexandrite has no personality of her own makes sense. It also tends to result in two mouths, three sets of arms, more eyes than you can shake a stick at (thank the stars for opaque sunglasses), and three very distinct holdouts within her mind where nobody is willing to put in any more effort than they have already.
Unless, of course, there is a cause to unite them.
For all of her other flaws, Alexandrite is powerful, and she’s wonderfully task oriented.
Once the Crystal Gems, Greg and the Maheswarans realize that Connie and Steven have left the restaurant, it takes less than two minutes for Garnet to see where they will most likely find the children—but if they don’t hurry, they won’t be able to catch up with the bus.
Alexandrite’s long legs make quick work of the distance. “Steven!” she hollers with a voice all her own, aggravation and worry all wrapped up into one.
“You two!” Nobody has to give the explicit command for Alexandrite to snatch up the bus and glare at the children through the emergency exit window. Once she sees that they are safe, the aggravation well and truly takes over. “Come out of that bus this instant!”
For all that Garnet can be scary, and Pearl and be stern, and Amethyst can be—well, Amethyst, none of them could have intimidated the children into cooperation like Alexandrite did with that one line of dialogue.
It doesn’t last long. Almost the instant Steven and Connie’s feet touch ground back at The Crab Shack, Alexandrite falls apart to reveal Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst once more, but she’s served her purpose.
Maybe calling her the worst isn’t fair after all.