Violet Spinel

Violet Spinel was "born" like every other gem, out of the ground, and filled with a singular purpose. Like (almost) all Spinels, she was made to entertain others, and bring each other laughs, smiles, and joy! A Gem that wasn't feeling happy could result in underperformance, accidents, or something else, and no Gem wanted that!

However, like some other Gems, Violet Spinel's cut was flawed, it was smooth, and not perfect. While by no means enough to brand her as an off color, or warrant her shattering, this lead to her being passed over by any Gem of high enough status to have a Spinel to keep them company, however, her luck turned around, when a Gem with a bold new idea recruited her, they were making a "Lounge", a place where Gems of all cuts and types could relax, kickback, and forget about their days worries before getting back to work for the Diamond Authority! It was all set up and ready to go, it just needed the perfect Spinel to get it started... and so, a deal was struck! Violet Spinel would serve as this "Lounge's" star, she played with a lot of concepts at first to keep them entertained, jokes, performances, even a bit of impersonation here and there, but what Violet found she loved the most was singing!
She loved letting her voice ring out and be clear, to let her "heart" be heard...and it turns out, the Lounge loved her singing too! Every night, more and more Gems came to the lounge just to hear Violet's beautiful voice and lyrics.  She was the Headliner, the star attraction!

For a Spinel like her, there was no greater joy to see a full crowd filled with smiling faces, it made her truly, truly happy.

As time went on, however, frequent customers began to cease their coming to the Lounge. People were still coming, but there were gradually less and less of them... both Spinel and the Owner assumed this was the business with Earth, the Crystal Gem revolt, or whatever it was called, but they didn't think it would  hit them so hard.

Months, years passed, and soon, the number of customers began to lessen into the single digits. They were all either called to Earth to serve, or, even worse, defected to the Crystal Gems, and with less customers, the other Gems felt less inclined to visit.

Until it finally happened, Violet found herself singing to an empty Lounge. No one was there, and the joy she felt for all those years felt like a distant memory. With no customers, the Lounge could no longer function. But where else could she go? No one would want a flawed Spinel like her... especially since her singing couldn't keep people around, it seemed.

The Owner eventually had to sell out the Lounge to another party of Gems, who had other plans on how to use it, and since Violet had no where else to go, she bid farewell to the owner and stayed, deciding to take her chances with the new owners.

They had a bold plan, like the owner before them. In the time after Earth, the Gems would need something more exciting to keep them around, something to hone their minds and also keep them in line, and punish them for their greed. What they had in mind... was a casino. A place where games could be played with wagers of credits, winners could get more than they ever dreamed, and losers would lose more than they could possibly get back, it was ingenious!

At first, Violet didn't quite want to go through with working with something that high stakes... but when the talk of "Entertainment" came up, she jumped at the chance, and offered to sing for the crowds every night. And thankfully, it happened, once more... just once more, the Spinel was allowed to sing to a crowd full of people. After it finished, she saw a few smiling faces, but some seemed to be a bit bored, and others still were leaving... and soon, she was pushed off stage for another.

She tried to explain that it'd been a while since she sang, and hadn't had a chance to update her act, and begged to be the Headliner just once more, and try again, pleading with all her heart, only to have the timing of her act pushed back more and more in favor of "newer" gems  that had better ways to make the crowd really move!

There was simply no place for an outdated Spinel past her prime, it seemed, no matter how many times she asked, she was denied the chance to be on the stage again. She thought of leaving, but where could she go? This was all she knew. And so, she stayed.

At least asking for something to do (Why keep her around to do nothing?) she was moved to... lesser jobs, rolling dice, dealing cards, and... more often than not, throwing out gems who were out of credits, and were getting beligerant, at first, she didn't like getting her hands dirty, but every time she managed to wipe the floor with a cheapskate, for a brief, fleeting moment, the anger and sadness she felt at being thrown off the stage lifted. Probably not healthy, but what else could she do?

One day, she'd had enough, she wanted to get back on the stage, and try one more time at singing, while doing jobs at the Casino was fun, she wanted to be the sparkle in everyone's eyes!
Once more... her boss said no, she was doing just fine enough doing menial labor, and making sure the place ran fine. It was... what came next that wounded her to her core.
"Besides, I don't think anyone ever came for your singing, I think they just liked looking at you and got bored of you. They wouldn't have ran off to Earth if you could sing better! The fact you're better at beating up mooks is proof you had your priorities wrong!"

Violet was shaken to her core, and quietly returned to her room. Was.... was that true? If she sang and performed better, would the Gems have not gone to Earth or defected? Was she only the Headliner through pure luck, was no other Gem capable of performing...? Was her singing... really bad? Did people ever really care about her singing? Doubt and grief shook her to her core. She wasgood  at doing dealing and casino work... and even liked beating gems up, but that couldn't have been her calling was, right? It couldn't be. Was she really better at something any Gem could do than what she was made for...?

But she wasn't perfect... maybe that's why she couldn't keep a crowd going, she was just a flawed and imperfect Spinel who was only good for beating people up and living wildly at the whims of others, huh? That's just how it had to be, right? As the doubt and anger overtook her, she clenched her arm tightly and gripped her teeth. The realization hurt more than any gem destabilizer or weapon could have. That's juat how it was, wasn't it? Flawed and imperfect, can't succeed as a Spinel...
So, as she managed to force a regeneration, her form changed as much as the Lounge had changed to a Casino. And just a bit of a more angry outlook. If she had to do menial work, she might as well look the part.

And that's how it's been for a while, now, Violet Spinel continues to do dealing and various casino work, and feels most alive when beating up Gems that have long overstayed their welcome, even laughing and smiling as they crawl out the front door sometimes, but... deep down, she wonders if her Boss was just making things up, and that her singing really was that good.

More than anything, Spinel would like just one more chance to sing to a Crowd and see smiles all around...

But, for now, she's fine with just making herself smile.