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Mar. 11th, 2024 12:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
leejooheonSo I was watching a video responding to Lily Orchard's god awful Steven Universe criticism and they talked quite a bit about Lapis's character arc. I haven't watched Steven Universe in a few years (although I do want to revisit it at some point) but I do have a few thoughts about this.
I think Lapis is a really complicated character and I honestly have weird feelings about how she's written. There's some debate about who is the abuser in her situation with Jasper and I think the topic is approached with very little nuance.
Jasper imprisoned Lapis, something which was incredibly traumatic for her, and in retaliation Lapis chose to imprison Jasper back. It's a situation where Lapis chooses to hurt someone back as a way to process her trauma, and in doing so traumatizes the other person.
You can make the argument that she was also doing so to protect Steven, but this falls flat for me because Lapis is one of the more powerful gems in the show. She was right next to the ocean and could have easily fought Jasper without breaking a sweat, so acting like imprisoning her was about anything else but getting control back and retaliating against someone who she was hurt by doesn't make sense to me.
Ultimately, when they get separated, Lapis does realize that they are bad for each other. Jasper gets high on the power she feels when fused with Lapis, even at the cost of her freedom. Meanwhile Lapis gets to feel like she's in control of something for once in her life. But this is horrible for the both of them, so when Jasper wants to fuse back, Lapis refuses, and this is the right decision.
Where I get conflicted is where people try to act like Jasper was the more abusive one. She was the one who took advantage of Lapis first, and she was absolutely in the wrong for that, Jasper is a horrible person (and also my favorite gem, because I like my characters to be awful as people <3), however I do think the brutality of being forcefully imprisoned is another level of abuse to me, and she was not in control of that situation for months.
Yes, she was the one who wanted to fuse again, but she was also addicted to a toxic relationship she very much didn't initate, and while she is in the wrong and Lapis made the right choice in rejecting her, it's also Lapis's fault that Jasper is so traumatized. So no, I don't think Jasper is more abusive or the sole abuser in that situation.
Outside of that, I don't like how Lapis's relationship with Peridot is written. Specifically, making decisions for Peridot, then taking their home away, and then coming back and not even apologizing is... troubling. There was also that whole thing about stalking Steven, I think?
And this is all brushed off super easily? It's not like I expect them to punish her, an already traumatized person, but I do wish the things she did wrong were more explored and dealt with. I think at the very least Peridot should have been allowed to be more upset over how she was treated.
I think Lapis is a really complicated character and I honestly have weird feelings about how she's written. There's some debate about who is the abuser in her situation with Jasper and I think the topic is approached with very little nuance.
Jasper imprisoned Lapis, something which was incredibly traumatic for her, and in retaliation Lapis chose to imprison Jasper back. It's a situation where Lapis chooses to hurt someone back as a way to process her trauma, and in doing so traumatizes the other person.
You can make the argument that she was also doing so to protect Steven, but this falls flat for me because Lapis is one of the more powerful gems in the show. She was right next to the ocean and could have easily fought Jasper without breaking a sweat, so acting like imprisoning her was about anything else but getting control back and retaliating against someone who she was hurt by doesn't make sense to me.
Ultimately, when they get separated, Lapis does realize that they are bad for each other. Jasper gets high on the power she feels when fused with Lapis, even at the cost of her freedom. Meanwhile Lapis gets to feel like she's in control of something for once in her life. But this is horrible for the both of them, so when Jasper wants to fuse back, Lapis refuses, and this is the right decision.
Where I get conflicted is where people try to act like Jasper was the more abusive one. She was the one who took advantage of Lapis first, and she was absolutely in the wrong for that, Jasper is a horrible person (and also my favorite gem, because I like my characters to be awful as people <3), however I do think the brutality of being forcefully imprisoned is another level of abuse to me, and she was not in control of that situation for months.
Yes, she was the one who wanted to fuse again, but she was also addicted to a toxic relationship she very much didn't initate, and while she is in the wrong and Lapis made the right choice in rejecting her, it's also Lapis's fault that Jasper is so traumatized. So no, I don't think Jasper is more abusive or the sole abuser in that situation.
Outside of that, I don't like how Lapis's relationship with Peridot is written. Specifically, making decisions for Peridot, then taking their home away, and then coming back and not even apologizing is... troubling. There was also that whole thing about stalking Steven, I think?
And this is all brushed off super easily? It's not like I expect them to punish her, an already traumatized person, but I do wish the things she did wrong were more explored and dealt with. I think at the very least Peridot should have been allowed to be more upset over how she was treated.
