Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-5413572-20150517032258

I'll be frank- there's not really a ton in the way of canon (at least that I know of) to support this idea. Once I thought of it, however, I liked it too much to throw it out right away, so I thought I'd get a consensus.

In real life, many organisms (mammals in particular, though another notable example would be ant colonies) exude certain scents in order to attract mates, ward off predators/competitors, mark their territory, transmit information, and other functions. However, Gems of course would not use, or at least not typically use, such a mechanism, as their bodies are merely semi-physical projections. But what if they employed a similar mechanism, but with something other than scent? What if, instead, they give off sound waves to perform the same function?

There's some evidence for this in how, when Steven summoned his shield in "Ocean Gem", it was shown to give off some sort of field that disrupted Lapis' hydrokinesis. In addition to the air rippling, there were also slight reverberations.

What got me thinking about this, however, was Garnet singing "Stronger Than You" in "Jailbreak". From a real-world perspective, this song was of course only there to further the story and spice up the episode, as with all the background music. But from an in-universe perspective, doesn't it seem just slightly odd that Garnet would burst into song in the middle of a fight? Unless, perhaps, it had actual physiological advantages, helping her to better withstand Jasper's attacks while augmenting her own.

But then this got me thinking further. If Gems do give off sound waves and music in the way other organisms give off scent... then what if a lot of the show's background music is, in fact, given off by Gems? For example, when Garnet and Amethyst fuse to form Sugilite in "Coach Steven".

Like I said, a highly unlikely idea with very little actual canon to support it, not to mention it breaks the fourth wall (or kind of does the reverse, actually- "builds" the fourth wall?), but I really do like this idea and I think it could have interesting possibilities and applications.

Thoughts? 