Realgar

Realgar is a Gem residing in The Garden on Mars. Like Homeworld Gems of her type, she is a "polisher," which is the Gem equivalent of a beautician. She is a member of Pink Zirconia's Court.

## Appearance

Realgar is a fairly short Gem, being a half a head shorter than the average Pearl. She has a wide head, hourglass curves, thin arms, and large hips and thighs. Her hair is crimson in a short bob, her eyes are golden with visible pupils, her nose is pointed, and she has no visible lips. Her Gemstone is on her chest.

Realgar wears a simple orange minidress with a pink diamond on the belly, broken by a maroon belt. She also wears salmon pink tights and maroon shoes.

## Personality

Realgar, like many other Gems of her type, demonstrates a cheerful and friendly attitude, treating all Gems as her equals regardless of their Homeworld caste. She always had a tendency to chat with her clients, often asking them about their work or recent events in their lives. When her questions are answered, she listens without judgement.

## History

Realgar was made thousands of years before the Rebellion, and lived an uneventful life up until the colonization of Earth. At that time, she was sent to Pink Diamond's outpost to serve as Mars' local polisher. Unfortunately, this outpost was run by a cruel, self-centered overseer, that spared none from her abuse. It was during this time that Realgar discovered her ability to corrode surfaces on contact, but found she couldn't control it; consequently, she was abused further as Morganite saw her leaving corroded handprints and footprints around the outpost.

This all changed near the end of the war, when Pink Zirconia appeared at the outpost. Morganite sucked up to the Zirconia in an attempt to win her favor, but this backfired, leading to the Beryl being bubbled. Many of her victims, Realgar included, thanked Pink Zirconia profusely, with Realgar herself nearly throwing herself into the Cubic Zirconia's arms out of sheer gratitude.

As the war neared its end, Pink Zirconia and her entourage told the outpost of what was happening on Earth. Realgar was horrified at the knowledge of a massive Gem war that Morganite was straight up hiding from them; however, when Mars was abandoned, she found herself content to remain on the red planet forever. She took up her usual job, but instead of just polishing the elite, she would apply her skills to any Gem that wanted it. Because of her friendly and empathetic nature, many Gems started to visit her just to have someone to talk to who would listen to them without judgement, and help them through their problems. Consequently, Realgar became the unofficial therapist of the Garden.

## Abilities

As an Era 1 Gem, Realgar has standard Gem abilities.

### Skillset

* **Scissors Proficiency:** Realgar's summoned weapon is, fittingly, a pair of scissors. Though she could hypothetically use her scissors as an actual weapon, she finds the concept to be silly. Instead, she normally uses them in conjunction with her powers to style other Gems.
* **Fashion Knowledge:** Through experience, Realgar is aware of current fashion trends—at least within the Garden—and offers beauty tips to her clients according to this information.

### Unique Abilities

* **Appearance Modification:** An ability common among her Gem type, Realgar can alter certain aspects of a Gem's physical form, herself included; this effectively acts as a regeneration without the recipient having to retreat to one's Gemstone.
* **Corrosion Induction:** Realgar can corrode various materials just by touching them. However, she doesn't have full control over this power, with it typically only manifesting when Realgar is under stress.

## Relationships

### Morganite

Realgar was one of the many Gems subject to Morganite's abuse, and lived in constant fear of her while the two worked together. She was grateful when the Beryl was bubbled, and has no sympathy for her.

### Pink Zirconia

Realgar feels a sense of gratitude towards Pink Zirconia, as she is the one who bubbled Morganite and effectively freed the outpost from her tyranny. She is aware that the Zirconia is less than stable, but is still willing to talk with her even if she is in a bad mood, as Realgar has proven to be one of the few Gems that can help the Zirconia recover from a fit.

### Roseate Pearl

Realgar feels sorry for Roseate Pearl, knowing through word of mouth of her "curse" and seeing the abuse she suffered from Morganite firsthand. She has tried for millennia to get the Pearl to open up to her, though she has been unsuccessful thus far.

## Trivia

* Realgar is loosely inspired by a beautician M met in real life.
* In real life, realgar was historically used as a cosmetic ingredient before and even after the toxic nature of arsenic was acknowledged. This inspired Realgar's occupation.

## Gemology

Gemstone Information

* Realgar, sometimes called "ruby sulphur" or "ruby of arsenic," is an arsenic sulfide mineral known for the ruby red crystals it can form. It is used as an ore for arsenic.
	+ The word "realgar" is derived from the Arabic "rahj al-gar," translating to "powder of the mine." The term has been used as early as the 1390s, but the mineral itself has been acknowledged since ancient times.
* Realgar is a very unstable mineral; it has a hardness of 1.5 to 2 on the Mohs hardness scale, and is known to disintegrate on prolonged exposure to light, turning into the powdery pararealgar.
* As realgar contains arsenic in its chemical composition, it is toxic. Consequently, it has been used as a poison as early as the 16th century.
* Realgar was also historically used as a whitening agent in fireworks, a depilatory in leather making, a paint pigment, a beauty product, and, ironically, an ingredient in medicine.
* Realgar bears many similarities to orpiment, another arsenic sulfide mineral used for many of the same purposes as realgar due to their similar chemical composition.
* Shockingly, despite its thoroughly documented toxicity, some use realgar as a healing crystal.
	+ Metaphysically, realgar is associated with illumination of the subconscious, emotional healing, and mental acuity.