@emythos They do have a very similar colourscheme except the Steven bits, so at least there's that :l
Spoiler: Earthlings She's superficially strong, but she's not Strong In The Real Way™ . It seems she started as a big fish in a small pond; the only perfect gem from a shitty kindergarten on a shitty planet. She's gained strength and worth according to Homeworld values, but Rose Quartz ruined her life in ways she never recovered from. Destroyed her diamond, gained allies and power from worthless scraps, even made her originating world worthless to ever return to. And Rose made it all look so easy. It can't be that difficult to fuse. It can't be that difficult to build an army. It can't be Jasper's failings that are causing all of her problems now, it has to be their fault! ...Right? So yeah, that quote about "you're suffering because you deserve it, we all get what we deserve" and her time as Malachite where being abused = being strong, and Homeworld values, and her failures to fuse and her failures compete... she's falling apart on a morale level.
Spoiler: Earthlings Spoiler Wow just. Fuck. Jasper nooooooooooooo The fusing with the gem monster caught me off guard and SMOKEY QUARTZ IS SO CUTE SHITTTTTT I still love Jasper and I hope someday Steven fixes her corruption
Not spoilery but the only thing that makes me "ghfdgh" about jasper's design is. her teeth. they. they aren't consistently the same from shot to shot and the fact that she's often shown with her teeth being separate compared to most other characters makes me wanna grind my face into the floor. design consistency plz
Spoiler: earthlings spoiler "when you're at the bottom, you'll follow anyone who makes you feel like less of a failure." I wonder if she's talking about how she wanted to get back together with Lapis? She could be talking about Yellow Diamond, but I don't know if she would lowkey insult a diamond like that, or if she had any choice in following YD after the war. If there's another gem in her life that she started following I think we would have known by now. Also double ouch when you consider the implications from her perspective: if you'll follow anyone when you're at the bottom, then why can't she control a bunch of gem monsters? She sees lack of control as another one of her personal failures because she thinks everyone is like her and just latches on to someone else when they feel down. You can't get much more down than a gem monster, and even then they are refusing to follow her. It's really messed up. in other news "Jasper and years of intensive therapy as well as the desire to change into a better person" is still my OTP.
double posting but I wanted to add: Spoiler: related to the earthlings spoilers above I can only imagine Steven (and possibly Garnet?) trying to teach her how to be a good leader once she is healed from corruption. Try to tell her that nobody is going to like or listen to her if she's mean and controlling. How she has to be kind and patient with people and try to understand them. She doesn't really get it though, because she's always been perfectly happy to latch on to people who hurt her because she thinks she's worthless and deserves to be treated badly. Therefore, the people she thinks are worthless also deserve to be treated badly. She's got some unpacking to do.
I managed to wait to see Beta and Earthlings together and man I'm glad I did also MAN THOSE WERE SOME GOOD EPS Spoiler I'M SCREAMING WE FINALLY GOT A GEM/STEVEN FUSION at first I was concerned about the weird arm placement but... with Amethyst and Steven both being part of this fusion, and with both of them being little weirdos (in a good way lol) it actually makes sense as like. A manifestation of their personality rather than a sign of instability? Also it came in super handy on a couple occasions! :'D
Spoiler: earthlings OH MY GOD SMOKEY QUARTZ AND JASPER. JASPER BABY NO I like that we got some context to Jasper's actions at the end of her arc, and I really hope they manage to heal her later in the show, because holy shit Jasper needs some therapy. And finally!!! Finally someone mentions Pink Diamond! God this episode destroyed me.
Warning for people who haven't watched Earthlings yet: it gets a bit body horror towards the end. Spoiler: more specific discussion the spikes coming out of her eyes, jesus christ
Also!! Spoiler Wow that little breakdown there. Holy shit. Jeeze, that's a lot of info about what made Jasper Jasper. Holy fuck. Man, they've gotta bring her back, but when and what's gonna happen. wow. That was real good. Plus, goddamn, it must super suck to place all your self worth on being a powerful warrior and just be immediately outclassed by fusions like that. it's a good metaphor I guess. Stronger together,no matter how strong you are alone.
Spoiler: beta/earthings ngl the fact that every steven + anyone fusion is going to have his clothes as part of the design kind of makes me like their looks less. smoky quartz's personality though? absolutely perfect. love the battle yoyo weapon too. also jasper + monster fusion = super fucking hot. 10/10 would yiff. wondering if more of the pink diamond stuff will be revealed over the course of the week since jasper was already taken care of. i'm. worried about the scratch steven got. i mean it seems like corruption happens from fusing and from having a shakey mental state. so i'm not sure if a scratch is 'contagious' or something. just kind of standing out in my mind. Spoiler: spoilers for distant future episodes Spoiler: double spoiler to be safe it seems like jasper definitely comes back in some fashion later. her voice actress has been credited in a few future episodes.
Spoiler: more coherent beta & earthlings stuff Oh man, Jasper is such a model for just. So many different kind of toxicity. If the crew pulls of a redemption arc for her, it'll be amazing. And I think they will, because it goes against the theme of the show to have a character be Just Too Evil To Live. Alternately, she will completely self destruct, which she came close too this episode. But she hasn't, not yet, and Steven's efforts to get close and heal her are very probably foreshadowing of further outreach down the line. If they can fix her partial corruption, then it might be a super important step to healing the others. Also I really love Peridot and Lapis' discovering art, and the way their senses of humor have developed and mingled. I don't even mind that we haven't seen it on screen, it speaks of comfortable cohabitation after much effort.
Spoiler: beta/earthings though actually in regards to me 'eh' about smoky's outfit.. a few people elsewhere have made a good point about the first time fusions being 'messy'. steven hasn't exactly had a lot of practice and this was his first time fusing with another gem. i love her cute face though. and her personality. i love her.
