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”I was wrong about fusion, you made me understand. Malachite was bigger and stronger than both of us. We could fly!”
“It’ll be better this time, I’ve changed! You’ve changed me!”
Hoo-boy, Jasper.
The context of that dialogue is so important.
The “change” was Jasper fighting against the fusion, fighting for her freedom, seeing fusion as power instead of a shameful act.
While the act of fusion cannot be forced, Lapis DID force them to stay together as Malachite: Jasper screamed “NO!” when Lapis was pulling them underwater, and Lapis’ subsequent struggle to keep her subdued in chains, a sentence she meant to carry out forever. It seemed disproportionately cruel, a punishment, where a bubble would have worked. In Chille Tid, Lapis refused Steven’s offer of help. With Alone At Sea, we were given Lapis’ real reasoning for doing all this in the first place. It wasn’t to protect Steven, this episode proved how little a threat Jasper was to Lapis or the Crystal Gems at the end of Jailbreak.
It was to have power over someone else, giving her a sense of control she was denied for thousands of years. For what she suffered from both the Homeworld Gems and the Crystal Gems, for what she suffered in the mirror, she wanted to be in that position of power, and so the cycle continued. I don’t even think it mattered who it was, Jasper was just the opportunity that presented herself first.
And it scares Lapis that she liked the harm she dealt. She shows guilt over it, but that feeling, that need is still there. To deny that she openly admitted she liked hurting Jasper misses out on postive character growth! In her refusal to give into temptation this time, she has hopefully taken a first big step to moving forward.
Jasper hasn’t been given the opportunity for healing. It was really disappointing to see Steven of all people ignore the chance to defuse the situation in the more gentle way we’ve been used to with him. And Jasper is SCARRED now. When we first saw her, yes, she’s an antagonist, but she had agency, confidence, and strength. Now she was on her knees begging to be Malachite again, PROUD she was able to weather the torture she had endured. She wanted to be free when the fusion began, now she just wants it back no matter what it cost her. Knowing Homeworld’s stance on fusion, she is now willing to throw away her loyalty to Homeworld as well.
She didn’t call Lapis a monster to make Lapis look BAD, she meant it as a COMPLIMENT.
Help them BOTH, Steven. They both need it, they need it bad, and like Centipeetle, it’s not something healing spit (or a punch) can do.
So Lapis straight up admitted to LIKING keeping Jasper trapped. She admits and recognized what she did was BAD and terrible. But she liked it?
I’m glad she realizes what she did was horribly toxic. “I was terrible to you, I liked taking everything out on you. I needed to.”
What’s eerie is how Jasper was talking. Like holy Stockholm syndrome. “I’m the only one that can handle your kind of power!.” She was HAPPY she could survive Lapis?? Red flags, bb no. And Jasper WANTS this? The damage is deep on both ends, like we predicted.
Also oh hey look, we were right about Lapis being able to kick Jasper’s ass. 6_9
“First you need a gem
at the core of your being. Then you need a body that can turn into
light. Then you need a partner you can trust with that light.”
Remember how much hate we got after Jailbreak aired, for saying that Lapis did not need to fuse with Jasper to “protect” Steven? I’m glad this also finally put to rest the idea that the initial fusion was forced, too. Just that “no” at the end of Alone At Sea, and look at that–no fusion.
Lapis admitted her role in this tragedy long before fandom at large probably will. 9_6 I really hope that helps her grow past it.
Jasper is going to need more than that to recover, though. Lapis absolutely broke her. Steven really needs to recognize both of them need help. It isn’t always a simple matter of “big picking on small”–and I think that’s a trope that’s needed to be turned on its head for a long time. Leave it to the Crewniverse!
This should go without saying, but someone just liking Jasper is no excuse to harass them. Not even a hour later I’ve been seeing it pop up in several places.
So Lapis straight up admitted to LIKING keeping Jasper trapped. She admits and recognized what she did was BAD and terrible. But she liked it?
I’m glad she realizes what she did was horribly toxic. “I was terrible to you, I liked taking everything out on you. I needed to.”
What’s eerie is how Jasper was talking. Like holy Stockholm syndrome. “I’m the only one that can handle your kind of power!.” She was HAPPY she could survive Lapis?? Red flags, bb no. And Jasper WANTS this? The damage is deep on both ends, like we predicted.
Also oh hey look, we were right about Lapis being able to kick Jasper’s ass. 6_9
tfw Jasper is the only Gem here that didn’t try to kill Steven or destroy Earth (lately)
tfw Jasper coerced Lapis into fusing with her which is a completely unsubtle metaphor for abusive relationships….which is a perfectly good reason for multiple people in the fandom to not want to see more of her…………………………………………………..
Coercion involves using force or threats to make someone do something. Jasper is a huge asshole, but at least recognize the real reasons she’s a huge asshole. She isn’t a beautiful cinnamon roll but she also is not a rapist ffs.
If Malachite wasn’t just an example of what happens when two gems fuse who do not care about each other, only their own personal goals, that sure would make this pic the crew taped on their doors and blogged everywhere pretty awkward:
Jasper-chan~
And would sure make Garnet a victim-blamer: “Yikes. THEY are really bad for EACH OTHER.”
So seriously, she’s a good ANTAGONIST without tacking shit onto her she didn’t even do, and you’re missing out on a lot of really cool character development with Lapis by turning her into a freaking woobie that can’t defend herself. Lapis in most of the episode was in a state of apathy. We know she could have kicked the crystal gem’s butts easily by herself, Jasper wasn’t going to be a physical threat to her at all, especially with the ocean right there. She wanted to give up, be left alone. Complete apathy that even disappointed Steven. Complete apathy that made her turn away and let Peridot fire a laser at him, with not even a word. She tried to help him, yeah, but when things did not go as planned he was on his own.
Speaking of words: “Lapis, listen, fuse with me!”
“How long did they keep you trapped here on this miserable hunk of rock?“ “These gems, they’re traitors to their homeworld. They kept you prisoner. They used you. This is your chance to take revenge! Come on, just say yes.” She didn’t threaten to hurt her. At all. She was trying to sway her against a common enemy. No threat of physical harm, nothing. Not even a “or you’ll be sorry!” You could say pressure but again, not under a threat of violence. Canonly, stated by the creators, FUSIONS CANNOT BE FORCED. Jasper knew she was beaten on her own so she knew fusion, which she hated, was her only chance at completing her mission, and so she grabbed Lapis and ASKED. Asked not with physical threats, but a reminder what the crystals gems did and the planet she wanted to get away from.
Jasper–who lost to Garnet when she had no “fancy tools”–ASKED, and Lapis, a very powerful gem who we KNOW can take on at least three other gems with her own gem broken, agreed and then refused to let Jasper go. When Malacite was being dragged into the ocean, we see Jasper is terrified and thier faces split, with Lapis yelling “I’m done being everyone’s prisoner! Now you’re MY prisoner, and I’m NEVER LETTING YOU GO!” Jasper screamed “NO!” So quick question.
Who asked, who forced?
A bunch of old tired arguments about Jasper have sprout up again, so this need to be said. AGAIN.
And at this point we were right about Lapis anyways.
