What is your response to people who say, "Okay, Jasper can have a redemption arc but realistically it would take a long time because she's so bad?" I've had two people respond to me like that and it sounds like a cop out to me but I don't know how to address it.
Straight off the cuff, Iâd say that Jasper has done nothing worse than either Peridot or Lapis did, so she shouldnât have to suffer to be accepted.Â
To expand on that, you should ask who-ever responds like that to point out the bad things Jasper has done. The only three things that one should be able to call âbadâ are
When she headbutted Steven
When she grabbed Lapis to stop her from flying off
Those are factually the only 3 things that Jasper has done that one can call bad. But even then there are reasons why she did them, and only the last two have any serious malicious intent, but itâs still very questionable what her motives we because even with the screentime she got in Super Watermelon Island (which I believe may bring her total screentime to like 5 mins?) we still really have no idea about Jasperâs personality, motives, and morals. Blue and Orange morality is a trope that is very much in play with Steven Universe.
Garnet is a fusion, seen by homeworld as only for fighting; the destabilizer is made specifically as a sort of taser âcrowd controlâ device (Peridot goes for one when Steven, Pearl and Ame show up, for example, despite her limb enhancers being usable as weapons)
Jasper only sees Steven as Rose Quartz, a dangerous rebel Gem and enemy of Homeworld. (Honestly her use of force in this case is still severely minimal, she must have been surprised when Steven didnât poof)
Lapis Lazuli was Peridotâs informant, she showed no sign of aiding the ârebelsâ until Jasper found out she had been lying about Rose Quartz, it was entirely plausible Jasper believed Lapis would be on HWâs side when she asked her to fuse. (And obviously didnât expect to be STUCK in said fusion. You want to talk about bad? We had at least 2 Stevenbombs where the theme was Fusion and relationships. Lapis should really be in some serious shit with the way Malachite went.)
Anything else is conjecture, assumption, speculation, whatever you want to call it.Â
Jasper may be a jerk, but she is not-
A bully (We never see her push around Peridot, we have no evidence that she injured either Sapphire/Ruby/Amethyst/Pearl. Being loud =/= being a bully)
A rapist (Fusion can not be forced, except by Lovecraftian science shenanigans, and Fusion is also not an allegory for sex. End of story.)
An abuser (There is no evidence that Jasper did anything to either Lapis or Peridot. Period.)
Anyone trying to paint her as such really needs to re-watch The Return/Jailbreak (and Chille Tid for good measure). I know youâve seen the post I reblogged earlier from a-centipeetle, and itâs true in this situation as well.Â
If someone thinks that Jasper has to go through a long period of suffering to âearnâ her redemption, then what the hell are you watching Steven Universe for?
