Ho Yay / Steven Universe

How to Fuse With Someone, Step 1: Pin them to the wall while they ferociously blush.

Steven Universe is "one of the most unabashedly queer shows on TV", according to The Guardian, and the series has received much critical attention and praise for its hitherto unprecedented degree of LGBT representation. The creator, Rebecca Sugar, explained this as influenced by her own experience as a bisexual woman, and by her desire to allow queer kids to see love stories on TV in which they can recognize themselves.

It's therefore no surprise that there is quite a bit of Ho Yay going on. Because Gems, the "anthropomorphic space rocks" that make up much of the characters of Steven Universe, are not human and have No Biological Sex, the show can perhaps get away with a bit more than a kids' show with human characters could, explaining to moral guardians that the scenes of tenderness between gems are not romantic, no sir, because the concept of sexuality does not apply to Gems. Nonetheless, the Gems are a One-Gender Race that presents as female (using she/her pronouns, etc.), and therefore viewers experience this trope to its fullest extent. So much that the possible pairing clues had to be split into folders.

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Pearl/Amethyst

• Pearl and Amethyst are textbook Belligerent Sexual Tension, with two entire episodes — "Giant Woman" and "Secret Team" — devoted to showing that underneath all the arguing and snark they deeply care for the other. "Giant Woman" in particular makes it sound like they're having relationship troubles, with Steven trying to get them back together.
  • While trying to fuse, Amethyst does the "stanky leg".
  • Their borderline flirting at the start of "Warp Tour", complete with flirty◊ faces◊, with hearts in the background.
  • Their emotionally devastating fight in "On The Run", followed by a tearful making up where Amethyst reveals her deepest insecurities and Pearl reassures Amethyst that she cares for her regardless. It's topped off with the two of them holding hands and passing smiles to each other as they warp back home.
• After breaking the first Plug Robonoid in "Marble Madness", Amethyst tries to give Pearl a hug while covered in goo and even says "I love you!" while chasing her. When Pearl comes back, she even has goo around her mouth, which could imply that Amethyst might have kissed her off-screen.
• In "When it Rains", Amethyst spends most of the attempted interrogation of Peridot leaning on Pearl's butt.
  • And when Pearl moves away, Amethyst moves to continue leaning. Pearl shows no sign of minding, having only moved to speak to Peridot.
• Amethyst gets a lot of this with Pearl in "Back to the Barn", whooping and cheering her on, and even inviting her to go wrestling.
• When they spend the entire episode "Log Date 7-15-2" peacefully together, Pearl almost laughs at one of Amethyst's jokes (that isn't even aimed at her) and makes her own related pun later.
  • The two have friendly chatter, and when they have to carry a heavy object, not only does Pearl nicely ask Amethyst to be careful once she's turned into Purple Puma, Amethyst makes the offer to fuse. They effortlessly fuse with a short and perfectly synchronized dance, something they had only been able to do in absolute emergencies until then.
• In "Back to the Moon", while Amethyst is pretending to be Jasper to fool the Rubies and directing the others onto the Ruby ship she slaps Pearl's ass and Pearl is seen rubbing it as she walks away.
• In "Know Your Fusion," Pearl quickly hugs Amethyst once she and Steven unfuse and gives the highest compliment she can, that Amethyst has been a good influence on Steven.
• In the short "Gem Karaoke", Amethyst hops onto the table to shake her butt in Pearl's face while she's singing. Pearl's startled when she gets on the table, but the booty-shaking makes her smile amusedly.
• In "A Single Pale Rose", Amethyst changes Pearl's phone wallpaper... to a selfie she took.
• In one of Dove's Self-Esteem Project videos starring the Steven Universe cast, we get this lovely song wherein the Crystal Gems are coupled up to sing about how all bodies and minds "deserve to shine". The pairings are Ruby/Sapphire, Steven/Connie...and Pearl/Amethyst. To drive the point home, Pearl tenderly hugs Amethyst from behind at the end after Amethyst assures her that her performance when filming the music video was fine. Granted, they don't fuse like the others do, but it still counts.
• In "Together Alone" Pearl joins Garnet by grabbing Amethyst bridal style and forming Opal.
• In The Movie, during the song “Independent Together,” Pearl and Amethyst share an extremely intimate dance, with some very suspect glances at each other, and fuse for no apparent reason.

Pearl/Garnet

• If Amethyst and Pearl's relationship can possibly be read as two bickering ex-lovers, then Garnet and Pearl's relationship can possibly be interpreted as the Designated Parents to the childish Amethyst and Steven who have an older sister/little brother kind of relationship. With Pearl as the Team Mom to Garnet's Team Dad. They've both been friends for thousands of years, along with Rose Quartz and before they met Amethyst, so they both have a very close friendship/relationship with one another. Close enough that they rarely to almost never argue with each other (save for "Cry for Help"), unlike Amethyst and Pearl who frequently bicker.
• Pearl has an inordinate tendency to twine her arm around Garnet's or casually drape herself against the other Gem, especially in stressful or emotional situations. Notable instances are during "Indirect Kiss" where Pearl and Garnet fixed Rose's healing fountain and rejoins the others like this with pink flowers and petals floating around them. Another notable instance is "Jailbreak" where Lapis and Jasper form Malachite and then drag their new fusion form into the ocean, the first thing Pearl decides to do is to seek comfort from Garnet by looping her arm with her's.
• She tries to convince Garnet not to fuse with Amethyst by insisting Garnet fuses with her instead in "Coach Steven". Then when Garnet starts her dance, Pearl starts blushing furiously and tries to close Steven's eyes as she looks away flustered.
• When the Crystal Gems are trying to teach Steven how to dance in "Alone Together", Garnet and Pearl's example involves an awful lot of twirling, ending with Garnet pinning her partner against the wall, while Pearl blushes furiously. Specifically, their dance begins with Garnet and Pearl interlocking their hands and moving forwards and backwards. Then Garnet twirls Pearl a little and back moving forwards and backwards. Then it leads to Garnet dipping Pearl twice, both of them involving Pearl hooking her leg over Garnet's hips.Then ending with Garnet pushing Pearl up against the wall, pinning her, while Pearl closes her eyes with a blush. As is pictured at the top of the page.
• When Garnet says that she will continue to search for Malachite alone in "Chille Tid", Pearl tries to hold back her by saying "Let me—uh, let us help you!", before blushing.
• When they actually do fuse in "Cry For Help" it's sensual and downright erotic, with both of them dancing seductively with each other. First with Pearl's little ballet spin, dip and bedroom eyes. Then Garnet responds with a little hand dance, dip and bedroom eyes of her own. As they dance towards the middle, Pearl does ballet leap and Garnet does a sexy walk. Which leads to the most suggestive dance between the two of them or any other pair we've seen in the series so far. Ending with a smiling Garnet throwing the also smiling Pearl up into the air and catching into her arms as Sardonyx forms. When they de-fuse later, they're carefully cradling each other while touching foreheads, then they start laughing ecstatically and Garnet happily twirls Pearl around. The second time they fuse, Garnet tells Pearl "I hope you're ready", complete with a 'come here' beckoning gesture, to which Pearl replies "You know I am" with quite the flirtatious tone. Their second time de-fusing, both are seen grinning again as Garnet dips Pearl yet again with them holding hands. The third time they attempt to fuse, before the ending, by at which point it's become near-Fan Disservice, they end up like this. Complete with Pearl's leg once again swung over Garnet's thigh, both are smiling and both are cradling each other's head with their faces mere inches from each other like you'd see in an old Harlequin romance novel cover. Even the music used for the scene is called "Enticement", and the storyboard is done to synch with the Sunmi song "Full Moon", whose lyrics are, well...
  "My dear, when the full moon rises, come see me / Before the night is over, before the sun comes up, hurry / My dear, when the full moon rises, give me your love / Before the night is over, before the sun comes up, come see me
  • At the very end of "Cry for Help", when it's revealed that Pearl was fixing the hub and not Peridot, one of the reasons that Pearl gives for tricking Garnet into fusing with her is that she just has "so much fun being Sardonyx with you (Garnet)" and she "just wanted to share a few more victories with her (Garnet)".
  • Listening to the crowd reaction to their fusion dance makes it a hundred times better. The final part of Pearl and Garnet's suggestive moves before forming Sardonyx results in screaming and cheering.
• In "Friend Ship", Pearl and Garnet tell each other that they both look up to the other sometimes, and Pearl refers to Garnet as a "perfect relationship" (Garnet being a semi-permanent fusion between two Gems who are lovers), and says she wants to be a part of it.
• In "When It Rains", Pearl is clinging onto Garnet's arm during the interrogation scene showing that their relationship has since been mended enough since "Friend Ship" to where Garnet is comfortable letting Pearl hold onto her arm like before.
• In "Back to the Barn", when Peridot and Pearl compete against each other, Garnet is shown cheering for Pearl, again showing that their repaired relationship. And even when Pearl loses to Peridot, Garnet is still proud of Pearl for sticking up for herself against Peridot's repeated remarks about Pearl's status as a servant Gem, and Garnet affectionately puts her hand on top of Pearl's head as they both give each other a warm, affectionate smile.
• In "Restaurant Wars" Steven and the Crystal Gems set up a fake restaurant as part of a plan to get Kofi and Fryman to stop fighting. If you look closely, you'll notice Pearl and Garnet, posing as members of the restaurant staff, are each wearing half of the same suit. For bonus points, Garnet is wearing a smaller version of Sardonyx's orange bow tie.
• In "Know Your Fusion," Garnet's reaction to seeing Smokey Quartz is to pick Pearl up, shake her around excitedly and hug her, while screaming, for about one minute. Then they easily and casually fuse into Sardonyx, and stay that way until the end of the episode.
• "Buddy's Book" shows that during the Beach City colonization era, the Crystal Gems split apart to go adventuring on their own...except Pearl and Garnet, who stick together. Steven envisions them sharing a tandem bicycle during this period.
• In "What's Your Problem?" Pearl tries to cheer up a distraught Sapphire after Ruby heads off on her own to think over a reveal that puts their entire relationship in question, only to quickly drive herself to Inelegant Blubbering over the idea of Garnet being gone forever. In the next episode, it turns out she and Sapphire spent the rest of the day Drowning My Sorrows in tea together.
• In "Change Your Mind", when the corrupted Gems are finally healed, Pearl and Garnet embrace with Tears of Joy.

Amethyst/Peridot

• It's really easy to think that Peridot has a crush on Amethyst as of "Too Far", and it doesn't seem entirely unrequited, either. For starters, there's a moment that Amethyst is laughing at Peridot and Peridot stares at her for a moment before laughing herself. After that, Peridot seems to really want Amethyst to like her, intentionally saying her odd euphemisms to garner a reaction. Heck, when Amethyst walks by, Peridot gets a huge smile on her face! Then there's the moment below involving Peridot saving Amethyst from the drill, and at the end of the episode, she seems flustered when she plays her apology to Amethyst. Afterwards, when Amethyst says she forgives Peridot, Peridot gets a bashful smile on her face.
  • Said apology calls Amethyst "the best Gem here", which is most likely referring to the Gem caste system, but still sounds like shipper bait.
  • There's also the part where she says "I want to understand" (Amethyst's feelings).
  • After saving Amethyst's life, Peridot winds up lying on top of her, the two of them staring into each other's eyes for a good few seconds.
    Peridot: (jumping off Amethyst) It was an accident, I swear!
    Steven: Hey, don't worry about it. We know you didn't mean to start the drill.
    Peridot: Uh, yeah... That was an accident too.
    • It looks even more funny yet flirtatious since Peridot's addition that the drill was "an accident too" makes Amethyst blink in what might either be confusion or a Double Take.
    • Bonus in that when Steven went to stop the drill, Peridot tried to run after him but the leash stopped her, but when the drill was going straight for Amethyst, Peridot immediately got the strength to break the leash so she could save her.
    • Double bonus in that in that scene, Amethyst's shoulder strap ended up slipping, a detail which somehow makes the whole thing "sexier."
    • Triple bonus in that Peridot pushing Amethyst out of the way seems to mimic an early moment between Steven and Connie.
• Peridot is still trying to impress Amethyst in "It Could've Been Great", delivering an adorably forced attempt at a compliment with a huge grin on her face.
  Peridot: Looks like the Beta Kindergarten in Facet Nine. It's the smaller of the two, not nearly as impressive as yours, Amethyst.
  Amethyst: Uh... thanks?
• Even taking into account her attempt at fusing with Garnet, Peridot seems to have developed a closer relationship with Amethyst than any of the other Gems. Amethyst herself, in "Message Received", seems to be the one hurt the most by Peridot's betrayal (excluding Steven), even saying that she's gonna take back her nicknames for the latter Gem, though she is unable to immediately come up with one due to her anger.
• Also in "Log Date 7 15 2", Peridot pretends that she's getting a bag of Chaaaaps off of a high shelf for Amethyst when testing out the stilts Steven made for her. Later, on Amethyst's end, not only does Amethyst briefly shapeshift to look like Peridot, even mimicking her speech patterns, but when Peridot asks Amethyst to turn into a chicken (so Peridot can understand the chicken joke, which she read earlier but didn't get because she had no idea what a chicken was), Amethyst does so.
  Amethyst: I've been practicing my "peri-phrasing". Pretty impressive in my opinion, but it's hard to beat the original.
  Peridot: (Blushing and scratching her chin looking flattered) Heheheh...
• In "Barn Mates," Peridot puts on a very Amethyst-esque delivery to tell Lapis "I got your number," and they have the exact same reaction to the crashed Ruby ship, implying that they've been spending a lot more time together.
• Anyone else notice how quick Amethyst was to defend Peridot with violence in "Hit the Diamond"?
  Peridot: I'm scared!
  Amethyst: (glances over at her before pulling a baseball bat out of Hammerspace) Let's AMBUSH THEM!
• In "Too Short To Ride", there a number of signs, like Peridot blushing when Amethyst and Steven say they want to hang out with her (after she remembers what that means anyway), and Amethyst cheating at the ring toss for her, initiating physical contact like an arm over the shoulder or a playful noogie, asking her what's wrong, and telling Peridot off for putting herself down due to her inability to shapeshift.
  • Amethyst was very reassuring and supportive in a way we seldom ever see from her. When Peridot insulted shapeshifting, she realized she wasn't being truthful about her disdain for it and asked "okay, what's the real reason?" When Peridot claimed to be powerless and useless without technology, Amethyst instantly, adamantly corrected her, saying that Peridot was only focusing on what she can't do and who she could be and that Steven and Amethyst hang out with Peri because they like her and don't care about her having powers; completely opposite from how Amethyst felt about herself in episodes like "On the Run" and "Reformed."
  • Plus, at the beginning of the episode, Steven specifically asks the two of them to come with him to Funland, making him come across a bit like a Shipper on Deck.
• Even before the implied mutual crush in "Too Far," there was a bit of tension in their every interaction. During early episodes, a running gag involved Amethyst tying up Peridot with her whip, and Peridot using the whip to electrify the former. When Peridot calls the heroes "clods" in "Friend Ship", Amethyst picks up the microphone and tells her off, telling her she doesn't like being called a clod, then calling her a clod herself.
  • In "Catch and Release", when Peridot is attempting to escape from the Temple, she at one point runs up the stairs to find.... Amethyst sitting on the bed in the dark, with the light of the window behind her, holding her whip in her hands and wiggling her eyebrows, saying "Hey~" in a singsong voice. Peridot screams and falls back to the bottom floor.
• In "Beta" Peridot is comfortable enough with Amethyst to tease her about her height after she reformed again, and quickly picks up that she's still hurting from her defeat and offers to show her how bad Jasper's kindergarten is to help her deal with it, with No Sense of Personal Space.
  • Peridot also refers to Amethyst by multiple nicknames, something that Amethyst usually does to her.
  • Before this, she attempts to illicit a hug at the start of the episode, and enthusiastically attempts to show Amethyst a multitude of creations she's come up with in the time since they last saw each other. She notably ignores Steven almost completely for most of the episode.
  • For a gem who usually isn't very handsy at all, her method of trying to make Amethyst feel better includes clinging to Ametyhst's biceps to imply that she's impressed by her strength and physique.
  • While Amethyst's bad mood was initiated by her feelings of inadequacy and desire to beat Jasper, she seems to have some amount of disdain for Lapis and perhaps jealousy of her and Peridot's closeness: "Right, 'cause nothing says 'fun' like Lapis," guessing (wrongly) that Peridot and Lapis would drive each other crazy and burn the barn down, and getting progressively more bitter and impatient when viewing the "meep morps" Peridot and Lapis created together. Her anger reaches a boiling point and she storms out of the barn after seeing Peridot and Lapis happily playing instruments together.
• In "Earthlings", after Jasper's corruption spreads over her whole body, Peridot takes her down with a javelin to the chest when Corrupted Jasper charges at Steven and Amethyst. Despite the fact that Amethyst wanting to take down Jasper herself had been a significant arc for the last several episodes, she smiles warmly at Peridot after the latter makes an awkward joke about saving the two of them. Later, the two joke with Steven, the odd rift between them in "Beta" seemingly gone.
• In "Back to the Moon," a Funny Background Event features Peridot and Amethyst standing together behind Lapis as she holds the Ruby Squad captive. When Amethyst gets the idea to pretend to be Jasper, she simply walks away from Peridot, leaving the latter to stand dramatically with her arms outstretched for a full six seconds, looking heartbroken. It's kinda sad, but mostly hilarious.
• In "Kindergarten Kid," when Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl are defeated by the Roadrunner/chicken monster, and Peridot points out their failure snidely, Amethyst blushes with an intensity yet unseen and challenges her to do better. Peridot spends the rest of the episode trying to meet the challenge. At first, Amethyst is appalled that Steven would try to help Peridot in this effort, but it is later revealed that she and the others were watching the episode's events from afar.
• The plot of "Back to the Kindergarten" could be summed up as "Amethyst (with help from Steven) aggressively tries to cheer up Peridot after Lapis runs off with her home and all her stuff."
• "Made of Honor":
  • When Steven and Bismuth look at the others from the house, Peridot is talking to Amethyst◊ while leaning on a chair; both their expressions and body language could be seen as flirtatious. Peridot, evidently distracted, then falls over◊ knocking over the chairs, to Amethyst's amusement.
  • At the end of the episode, Peridot wonders if someone will introduce her to Bismuth. Amethyst tenderly puts an arm around her and suggests they give the others some space to get reacquainted first, with a quite suggestive look.
• "Reunited" shows us Peridot clinging to Amethyst for a lot of the fight with the Diamonds, and then bragging about their fighting skills with one another.
• "Change Your Mind":
  • Peridot's new form has a very Amethyst-inspired theme, complete with boots and stars on her knees. Amethyst's new form, in turn, involves a triangle around her gem.
  • Lapis, Bismuth and Peridot spend a lot of the episode just trying to make it into White's ship, and by the time they get there, the fight is over. While Peridot screams Steven's name, she immediately runs over to Amethyst, who is waving and waiting for her. Peridot, who is not particularly physically affectionate, hugs Amethyst and then climbs on top of her back, both of them giggling all the while.
• In the movie, Peridot takes Amethyst being reset much harder than Pearl and Garnet, saying "I can't stand to see you all vacant and bereft of personality."

Lapis/Peridot

• Meta examples from "Peridot's" twitter (not Lauren Zuke)
  • Peridot can hear the noise from the events of "Beach City Drift" and gets onto the roof of the barn to get a better vantage point. She admires the view from there and takes a photo of the sky that shows Lapis is up on the roof with her.
  • While Lapis is away from the barn in "Alone at Sea", Peridot misses her. After moving a spoon with her mind, she wants to show that to Lapis and compares Lapis to stars (which, given that Peridot uses phrases like "Oh my stars!", indicates she sees Lapis as basically a holy figure).
    • However, after Lapis returned it's apparent that Peridot picked up on how emotionally distressed she was and immediately left out of concern for Lapis.
• In "Back to the Moon" when Amethyst, disguised as Jasper, asks Peridot and Lapis if they would also like to be her prisoners, Peridot grabs Lapis's arm and glares at Amethyst while Lapis declines.
• In "The New Crystal Gems", the petty arguments the two get into bear more than a passing resemblance to those of an old married couple, complete with one partner making the (empty) threat of leaving their significant other ("How dare you! I'm leaving!").
  • Peridot gives an annoyed "Don't you knock?" when Connie walks in on her showing Lapis the bathroom, like someone whose romantic moment was interrupted.
• In "Raising the Barn", Lapis is ready to uproot her's and Peridot's entire lives to avoid the wrath of the Diamonds. At no point does Peridot question or attack her for it, only trying to stall and find reason to stay. She even points out that going somewhere unexciting would be good for Lapis because she's been through a lot and would benefit from the consistency. At this point, Peridot is still willing to go with Lapis even if it does mean leaving Earth and everyone she likes, telling Pumpkin that "Lapis needs us".
  • Noticeably, while Lapis seems to readily understand that Steven would have reservations about leaving Earth, she pretty much takes it as a given that Peridot would be at her side. While it speaks to some of the problems with their relationship, Lapis obviously considers Peridot to be a part of her life.
  • Lapis appears excited to leave the Earth while she still assumes Peridot is coming with her. When Peridot refuses to leave, Lapis's expression and mood darken quickly, indicating that having Peridot come was a large positive to leaving.
• The next time Peridot appears in "Back to the Kindergarten", after having failed to convince Lapis to stay, she's still in Steven's bathroom, and is so depressed that we first see her with her face flat on the floor, barely moving or reacting to Steven and Amethyst, and is notably more abrasive once they get her active again.
  • The whole ordeal is basically highly reminiscent of a divorce or breakup (Lapis leaves and takes their whole house with her, Peridot's left with their dog/child, later on seen to be so heartbroken and unresponsive much like someone reeling from a breakup, and Amethyst basically acting as some sort of rebound).
• In "Can't Go Back", Lapis is revealed to have been watching the Gems via a device on the Moon Base, with special focus on Peridot.
  • Additionally, Lapis's song 'That Distant Shore' can be taken in two different ways, one of them being a love song with, again, special focus on Peridot.
  • Somebody pointed out at the beginning of the episode (Peridot's first appearance since "Back to the Kindergarten"), water is continually dripping on Peridot's head in the bathtub. This is reminiscent of Chinese Water Torture. It may be a reach, but Peridot feels tortured without Lapis there for her.
• "Reunited":
  • When Steven is singing in the beginning of the episode, as he's approaching Peridot, he sings, "But for just one day let's only think about…" He trails off before the word "love" as he sees Peridot, who is staring at the former site of the barn, deep in thought.
  • When Lapis returns, Peridot's reaction is pretty telling. Notably, she’s the first one to run up to Lapis before Steven does. When Steven runs up between them to hug Lapis and interrupts the moment, Peridot looks disappointed.
  • When Peridot is watching Lapis and Steven hug with a fond smile, Amethyst is looking at Peridot◊ with a knowing smirk.
• Lapis and Peridot are the only ones who got poofed in "Reunited", and when Bismuth showed their gems and saying how she will watch over them in "Legs From Here to Homeworld", it seems as if they are Together in Death. Temporary, nonlethal "death", but the parallel is there.
• They were on a ship together in "Change Your Mind". Not only a potential Literal Metaphor, but who knows what happened in there?
• In the movie, when Peridot walks away from Lapis and Bismuth, Lapis can briefly be seen staring at her in an... interesting way.

Lapis/Jasper

• Lapis and Jasper's fusion in "Jail Break" is disturbingly reminiscent of abuse, with the latter physically grabbing her and coercing the former into it, and then the former taking her revenge by dragging them both into the ocean, declaring she won't be anyone's prisoner anymore. The Fusion Dance is total Fan Disservice, a stark contrast to everyone else's.
  Garnet: Yikes. They are really bad for each other.
• A somewhat more light-hearted example is their jeans sketch by Rebecca Sugar. Lapis is trying to take down Jasper while clutching at her shirt and revealing her stomach, and the caption is a quote from Screamin' Jay Hawkins "I Put a Spell on You": I don’t care if you don’t want me, I’m YOURS right now. Below that, Sugar has gleefully added, "Jeans*Malachite!"
• In "Alone at Sea", Jasper's borderline-sadomasochistic behavior brings to mind someone in a mutually bad relationship who became a Stalker with a Crush after it was broken off, desperately trying to reclaim the feeling it brought her.
  Jasper: I can change! You've changed me!
  • The episode also has Lapis expressing that she misses Jasper, and Jasper getting down on one knee and taking Lapis' hand in both of her's while begging her to fuse with her again. Despite Malachite being unhealthy for both of them, the experience warped them both in a way that they don't quite know how to live without the other, though Lapis is in a much better place than Jasper.
• "Beta" has Peridot saying "We don't use the J word so loosely around here" with her tone and in context to Amethyst and Steven is like someone saying "Do NOT mention her ex."
• In "Earthlings" Jasper makes a desperate fusion with a corrupted Gem, which quickly falls apart. As the monster heads for the hills, Jasper completely drops her arrogant warrior persona as she despondently says "Nobody I fuse with ever wants to stay," clearly thinking of Lapis.

Yellow Diamond/Blue Diamond

• In "That Will Be All" Yellow Diamond shows a shockingly vulnerable side to Blue Diamond, with a song that makes it clear she's constantly denying her emotions. Blue responds by tenderly comforting her.
  • In the same episode, Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl have some subtle moments, mostly from the former's side, oddly enough. Examples include Yellow Pearl immediately taking the opportunity to stand next to her blue counterpart and giving her a mischievous glance and later dipping her during the song.
• They're leaning on each other closely when they show up in "The Trial"; it looks very much like both Blue and Yellow giving each other their own gestures of affection.
• As seen in "That Will Be All", "The Trial", and "Legs From Here To Homeworld", Blue and Yellow console one another through touch. They're grounded by the other's physicality, their sense of thereness. Whether they're angry or grieving or filled with awe, Blue and Yellow both want to know that they're not alone—and Yellow especially seems intent, just judging by the way she initiates much of the contact between them—on letting Blue know that she’s not alone.
• They have a brief Like an Old Married Couple moment in "Reunited".
  Yellow: What are you jabbering about?
  Blue: A presence! It feels like-
  Yellow: Please, Blue, you're being hysterical. More so than usual.
• "Legs from Here to Homeworld" shows that Blue and Yellow are clearly close and work to offset each other: Blue tempers Yellow's irritability and encourages patience; Yellow gets Blue to focus and gives her a comforting hand when she's upset after White is brought up.
• The Season 5 Finale "Change Your Mind" really plays up the idea of Yellow and Blue being Pink's parents, with Connie outright comparing their relationship with Pink to her relationship with her parents, and the fight between Yellow and Blue being heavily framed as a fight between parents. Also, part of what ultimately brings Yellow around to helping Steven and the others is her realizing just how much she's hurt Blue, a revelation that leaves Yellow broken and sobbing. Later, White comments that Yellow is "so weak when it comes to Blue".

Other

• Garnet and Amethyst's fusion in "Coach Steven" can best be described as "they sensually wiggle for fifteen seconds before Amethyst dives face-first into Garnet's crotch". Amethyst is really excited once Garnet says they should fuse, almost panting, while Pearl is embarrassed the entire time, blushing and averting her eyes, and tries to block Steven's view of the fusion, as if it's something he isn't meant to see.
• In "Alone Together", both Sadie and Lars are obviously attracted to Stevonnie, blushing and stuttering around them. It isn't clear whether the situation is meant to be Even the Girls Want Her, Even the Guys Want Him, or Everybody Wants the Hermaphrodite, but it still applies.
  • The comic book tie-in series had a story where Kiki tried to get Stevonnie to be her prom date.
• "Cry for Help" is nothing less than a messy love triangle between the Gems. Amethyst is crushed that Garnet doesn't want to fuse with her anymore, visibly jealous over Garnet wanting to fuse with Pearl instead and how happy they are to do so, singing a song about how "Maybe you're better off with her / I think she's better for you". Pearl is so overjoyed she gets to fuse with Garnet she flat out sobs with joy, and is so desperate to have that continue she fixes the hub so Garnet would keep fusing with her. Garnet herself, usually so restrained, clearly loves fusing with Pearl even though she's regretful about not fusing with Amethyst, but once Pearl admits she was using Garnet to feel stronger, Garnet is furious, almost looking like she's going to attack her. Until Amethyst tries to defend Pearl by saying she also feels the same way about fusing with Garnet, which only makes things worse, Garnet is clearly feeling used and betrayed by the both of them.
• Amethyst and Vidalia used to be really close, having fun and going on adventures in the latter's youth, and Amethyst used to model for Vidalia. In "Onion Friend" they confide in each other about things they can't talk to anyone else about, and confess that they each viewed the other as their role model and inspiration for how they wanted to live their life, which is why Vidalia started painting Amethyst again. Amethyst even blushes a lot, like when she's inviting Vidalia to the temple sometime at the end.
• In "Shirt Club", Lars's desire to please Buck seems to veer a bit towards a crush, rather than simply trying to impress the cool kid. In "The Good Lars", Lars becomes very flustered when Buck shows up at the Big Donut.
• In "Back to the Barn" one of the challenges in Pearl and Peridot's competition to decide who should be in charge of creating a device needed to drill into the earth and reach the Cluster is to draw a portrait of Amethyst while she's posing in boy shorts and a sports bra.^{Please note} While the paintings are very... abstract, neither of them seem to have bothered to paint on her clothes.
  • Peridot says that Pearls are only meant to stand around, look nice, and hold things for other Gems. Then she adds that this particular Pearl looks like a "fancy" one, too. While fondling her clothes.
  Peridot: Well, you can belong to me for now.
• In "Hit the Diamond", Ruby literally plays for the other team.
• "Log Date 7-15-2" has Garnet inviting Peridot to fuse. And while she gets flustered and decides against it at the last moment, she's more or less willing to go for it up until then, and Garnet's reaction is exactly the same as if Peridot had decided she wasn't ready for sex - "sure, we can wait until you're really, genuinely ready". They also seem surprisingly close in the beginning and end scenes, with Garnet being able to calm Peridot down with a gentle hand on her shoulder.
  • The way Garnet said "Get ready..." into Peridot's ear all flirtatiously is what caused her to get nervous enough to bail out.
  • In an odd sort of off-screen in-universe example, Peridot also ships two "Camp Pining Hearts" characters named Percy and Pierre.
• The Classroom Gems "Fusion" short ends as such:
  Steven: Yeah, but what's the best reason to Fuse?
  Garnet: Hmm, that's easy. The best reason is... (taking Pearl and Amethyst's hands and twirling them around while the three of them smile, to fuse into Alexandrite, in front of a pink, fuchsia, and blue heart background.)
  Everyone: LOVE!
• In "Message Received", Yellow Diamond's Pearl appears to enjoy a degree of autonomy that's very rare for the type, acting as her owner's secretary rather than just a designer handbag, and Diamond never once chastises her despite how angry she gets. Given the strong implications that the Crystal Gem Pearl was owned by Rose before gaining her current sense of self, it provides quite the food for thought.
• It's a small moment, but the end of "Gem Drill" has Garnet carrying Lapis in a Bridal Carry.
• From "Monster Reunion", Centipeetle and her crew definitely have shades of this, given their mutual Undying Loyalty to each other and the way they cuddle each other when they're reunited.
• It's pretty clear from the beginning that the Rubies admire Jasper enormously, but some of them are hinted at having a...deeper interest. When Doc invites Amethyst-as-Jasper to pilot the Rubies' ship to the moon base, Amethyst has no idea how to work the controls but can't risk blowing her cover, so she invites Doc to sit in her lap and drive for her. Doc blushes visibly, while Eyeball sheds a single tear like someone whose crush just kissed someone else. To drive the point home, Doc later "casually" offers to sit in Jasper's lap again on the ride back to Earth, once again visibly blushing and acting unusually coy.
• Eyeball is very big on being a Jasper Hero-Worshipper in "Back to the Moon", even shedding a tear when the disguised Amethyst says she trusts her to go back and file the report for her and puts her hand on her head.
• Eyeball goes Laughing Mad at the thought of getting her own Pearl for killing Rose Quartz, very much giving the impression that she'd be using a Beautiful Slave Girl for exactly what they're typically portrayed as. It's not helped by the face she pulls at the thought of it, which wouldn't look out of place on a perverted anime character.
• In a rare non-gem, non-lesbian example, Mr. Smiley and Mr. Frowney have a lot of this in their dialogue in "Future Boy Zoltron". Everything they say to or about each other (except the words "comedy" or "act") sounds like two exes talking about their relationship. Literally everything nonverbal about them looks exactly like two exes.
  Mr. Frowney: Did you just come here to laugh at me?
  Mr. Smiley: No! I'm here to tell you that— I wanted it to work, alright? But it wasn't making you happy.
  Mr. Frowney: I just wanted you to take it seriously.
  Mr. Smiley: And I just wanted you to have fun.
  Mr. Frowney: Oh, I guess it was never going to work. [pause] But I really thought we had something.
• Misunderstanding Andy's displeasure over Greg and Rose not being married, Pearl suggests that they all marry each other.
  • In the same episode, there's a very brief mention of "[Aunt Deb] and her partner" getting the RV. While there are several meanings to the word "partner," the context implies a same-sex romantic partner.
• In "Steven's Dream", the way Blue says "Very." when Greg asks if she was close with Pink Diamond has awakened some interest. Though later episodes established their connection was more familial, so this interpretation has died off.
• The captive humans in "The Zoo" are paired off when and to whom their ‘little voices’ pick for them. Faced with the concept of picking their own partners, all of them, regardless of their gender, pick Greg.
  • When the Zoomans get to Earth, one of the men is quite upset to see Greg, acting like they had a nasty breakup.
• Holly Blue basically fangirls over both Blue and Yellow Diamond visiting, saying that she'd never forsake Blue, but if she had been made to serve Yellow, she wouldn't be complaining.
  • In her next appearance in "Rose Buds", she really seems happy at the thought of the Diamonds giving her orders...
• After quitting wrestling in "Tiger Philanthropist", Steven comes back to it specifically because he sees how unhappy it makes Lars and he wants to make Lars happy again.
• Fluorite, a permanent fusion of six Gems, says she'd be willing to take on even more "if we find the right Gem," implying a polyamorous all-female romance.
• Rebecca Sugar's infamous jeans sketch of the two Zircons from "The Trial" is hard not to be seen as anything but at least slightly suggestive.
• The montage of Rose coming to love Earth in "Your Mother and Mine" includes her kissing a human who appears to be a woman.
• Pearl doesn't really understand the context, but she's gotten several women's phone numbers.
• When Bismuth first sees all the bubbled corrupted Gems, she's especially outraged to find a former Crystal Gem named Biggs, declaring that she was "beloved by everyone." Upon freeing Biggs and seeing her corrupted form, Bismuth goes into a Heroic BSoD that nearly gets her killed.
  • When Biggs is purified at the end of "Change Your Mind", Bismuth tackles her into Rose's pool of healing tears, and Bismuth seems to have brought her bubble to Rose's Fountain personally.
• Bismuth catches Garnet's bouquet and clearly doesn't get what it means, though she's chatting with Pearl and Amethyst who are quite excited to see it.
• Steven encourages Yellow and Blue Pearl to develop their own personalities outside service, and while Yellow Pearl is initially disdainful of Blue Pearl liking to draw, she quickly changes her tune upon seeing a flattering picture of herself, and asks for some more in a very suggestive pose.
• After the surprise forming of Stevonnie at the Diamonds' ball, another pair of Homeworld Gems promptly fuse into a Jade who gleefully shouts "I knew I couldn't be the only one!", a line picked up by many viewers as perfectly fitting the feeling of discovering there's an entire community of LGBTQ people ready to accept and help anyone come to terms with their sexuality.
• The uncorrupted Nephrites/Centipeetles are closely grouped together in the pool, and one kissed another on the cheek.
• When the Heaven and Earth Beetles are uncorrupted, one kisses the other on the cheek.
  • In the movie, they're seen holding hands while taking their "afternoon constitutional."
• In "Rose Bud", Carnelian gives a flower to one of the female zoomans, and blushes slightly when she accepts.
• In "Volleyball", Pearl and Volleyball fuse after a heartfelt conversation about moving on from Pink. Their fusion talks to Steven and says "Now they finally get to have each other" about her components. They unfuse holding hands, and as they stand by the ocean, Volleyball leans her head on Pearl's shoulder.
• Unsurprisingly, Aquamarine and Eyeball Ruby have a bit of this (of a more "Unholy Matrimony"-like variety) in "Bluebird", seeing as they fused specifically to get revenge on Steven. When they split, they briefly bicker Like an Old Married Couple over their inability to fuse back into Bluebird Azurite, but then immediately manage to fuse back after happily agreeing that they hate Steven.
  Eyeball: WOWY WOW! He is SO annoying!
  Aquamarine: I hate him SOOO much!
  (Beat. The two look at each other, then happily hold hands.)
  Both: I know! Me too! (promptly fuse again)
• "Why So Blue?" has a pair of Lapis Lazulis who decided to stay a terraforming duo after the Homeworld Empire ended and they had the freedom to do whatever they want. Then they hug when it looks like they're going to be shattered by Crystal Gem Lapis. And after that, one of them is quite taken by Lapis' show of strength and eagerly offers to do whatever she wants, sounding quite a bit like Jasper.
• "In Dreams", Steven's Self-Insert character "Stefan" and Camp Pining Hearts character Rodrigo have some subtext. Once Steven finally manages to make the scene work in his dreams, Rodrigo gushes about how "great" Stefan is when he's all alone, and when he catches Stefan about to kiss his Love Interest Jasmine, Rodrigo's tone of voice sounds more like Stefan is cheating on him, rather than Jasmine.
  Rodrigo: "Stefan, how could you?!"
• The short "Don't Deny It - Defy It" features two young boys professing their desire to get married in the future. While this is just part of the script of the in-universe PSA, their flustered reaction after filming when denying anything happening for real by pointing this out, coupled by Garnet's knowing look as she lowers her visor, implies a genuine attraction between the two young actors.

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