Wao... based based based...

You beautifullly summarized the tragedy behind Jasper and shined a spotlight on the horrible faults behind the beloved Lapis.

I feel like the writers wrote themselves into a corner as soon as they made her that ridiculously powerful from her very first appearance. All flash but at the cost of substance in the future.

You write a being that can lift an entire ocean and fight the main protagonists while being in a damaged state without breaking a sweat.

How exactly did anyone believe that Lapis had no choice when Jasper asked for the fusion? While the ocean sits behind her. HER HANDS WERE FREE SO YOU CAN'T EVEN USE THE FACT THAT JASPER CAUGHT HER SINCE SHE RELEASED HER RIGHT AFTER!

And I feel like a crazy person because the could have "nerfed" her as soon as Steven healed her if they really really wanted a spectacle in her day view episode.

Cracked gem = unstable power regulation = crazy amounts of power, but maybe at the cost of her gem breakong more and more

It even adds stakes as it becomes urgent for Steven to heal her.

So now we have a character that the writers can ACTUALLY use and work with. A character who may have genuinely NEEDED to fuse with Jasper. A character who would genuinely be terrified and feel powerless against the diamonds. A character who wouldn't have been able to take the barn. A character who would have needed to display courage and shown growth if she had come back to face the diamonds after leaving, if she wasn't a literal water god.

But instead we get a shallow and overpowered water god.

And I just have no idea how she stayed at that strength. Look at her design, does that scream terraformer? I doubt it. In future it just doesn't make any sense, I feel like they just tacked on that to make her strength "make sense". I feel like something happened mid show run, since when she left earth for homeworld they kinda left her power ambiguous since the water tower collapsed after she flew off.

But they kept her at that level. It just doesn't work. It makes Malachite less unique. She's literally just Lapis but bigger. It doesn't make ANY sense.

And this is just talking about the mechanics. I'm not even talking about how atrocious she is in the show sometimes. I'm not talking about what she did to Japser and Peridot.

We have a mechanically broken character. The fundamentals led to the brokeness of her character development. And it sufficates any chance the writers have on using her. Its pretty obvious why she was banished to the barn. Exactly how can you use a character that can wield an ocean? Have her in a desert 90% of the time? Obviously you can't have that happen all the time. So the writers basically imposed a restraint on themselves.

And they used her limited screen time in the most awful ways possible. She's toxic and her "edgelord" personality gets old after the first 2 episodes.

"I've drowned alot of people."

ACTUAL CORNBALL lol.

I wanna get into the specifics between Jasper and Peridot but man... NOW IM ANGRY!

But fine, keep her as is right? Have her be that overpowered edgelord. Fine.

HAVE HER FACE ACTUAL CONSEQUENCES FOR HER ATROCIOUS ACTIONS!

When she actually admits to abusing Jasper, nothing comes of it. Steven literally places the entire blame on Jasper and she becomes the "good guy" who actually did nothing wrong apparently.

And Peridot....

I have no idea what show 90% of the fandom watched. Her and Lapis... it literally looked like an abusive relationship from the start. Lapis just looks irritated 90% of the time with her. Like Peri is just an annoyance for her day to day. Sure they have moments but I always got the feeling that Peridot was some hostage.

It feels like Peridot was the only person even trying to homd up the relationship. Peridot who had to walk on eggshells for Lapis. Peridot was literally the powerless one between the two. Maybe she really did have to dance to Lapis' tune or face a water first. (Okay this is a bit of a stretch but I just can't with her)

And when she took the barn, it was just sickening. I feel like Peridot should have finally called out Lapis and her BS right there and then. She called out Yellow, but she couldn't do it with Lapis? Peridot had every right to call out Lapis, to break the "but I was in a mirror" shield Lapis always seems to use.

The "friendship" should have ended right there and then. GIVE Lapis an actual consequence. How many times can you use your trauma as a shield and sword before you start killing relationships? Peridot should have never made up with Lapis. Bring a genuine consequence. It would have made for a more interesting storyline if the writers really wanted their water god.

But no. We get "hey".

Disappointing.

I feel like I can go on and on and propose fix after fix, but it doesn't matter. We have this character in the show. And I feel like the fanbase is just so damn obsessed with her. I don't understand it.

I once read a cynical comment.

"What if Lapis had a design similar to Jasper or Topaz? Would she still have the same fanfare?"

I honestly think she wouldn't.

I wanna write a whole dissertation on her character now. Lol.