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Steven Universe s3 eps15&16

Alone at Sea & Greg the Babysitter

BRAIN STOPPED WORKING!!

Steven Universe s3 eps15&16

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in a toxic relationship, there's not necessarily one "bad" person. Both can be. Each of them in their own way. One can manipulate emotionally; the other one can manipulate physically. Or maybe both, in different situations. Source: Been there, long time ago... and completely regret it.

Diego Reckholder

the mental turmoil you go through after finally fighting back for yourself in an abusive relationship, only for them to turn around and call you the monster is soul shattering. especially when fighting back already weighed so heavily on you, and the guilt eats you alive. and when people believe the person who’s pushed you so far that you finally snapped, it’s nearly impossible to not see yourself as a monster too. lapis represents so much suffering in just one character.

finn 🦷

Lapis's entire story is just one shitty thing after another. She was caught up in a war she had nothing to do with. Captured and interrogated. Abandoned and cracked. Held prisoner, forgotten in a mirror for thousands of years. Escapes to immediately be captured and interrogated AGAIN. Dragged back to the planet where she was a prisoner for all that time. Kind of abandoned AGAIN when the ship crashed. Then selflessly drags Jasper into the ocean as a fusion and spends MONTHS mentally struggling to hold her down in an abusive relationship(ish), litterally JUST to protect Steven, the ONE BEING who has been nice to her or acknowledged her as a friend in so, so long... (And, as people point out here, she also took that opportunity to take all her frustrations out on someone she saw as evil and "deserving" of it. She isn't INNOCENT in that, but she is deeply, deeply damaged.) She is by far the most traumatized character in the show and her bad attitude towards earth and the ocean are DEEPLY rooted. Also! Anyone else catch that foreshadowing during the babysitting episode? 👀

Susan Beasley

Mosco's reactions make me want to crack so many dad jokes around her. I hope Elijah does a bunch of them and enjoys the reactions as much as I enjoy imagining them.

James S

Agreed yeah. It's easy to misinterpret that scene but I'm pretty sure that was Jasper gaslighting Lapis. Lapis hurt Jasper ~back~ and that's different. And everything she did was motivated by protecting Steven.

Christopher Poff

Oh no, No Lapis was not "The abusive one" because of the entire context of their relationship. They both did abusive things to each other, but Lapis was the reactor, while Jasper was the initiator. Lapis was initially just trying to go home, but then Jasper and Peridot forced her back to Earth holding her in a prison cell (after she had already been imprisoned in the mirror for thousands of years) then after the ship crashes and she tries to flee Jasper rips her out of the sky by her foot, tries to convince her that her only friend, Steven, should be killed, and while maintaining control over her physically asks her to fuse, and to "Just say yes" Now, did Lapis do something that was abusive by trapping her in Malachite and enjoying it? Yes...but again, this was a reactive abuse in retaliation of the instigator of abuse. Which is why Lapis is able to recognize that it was wrong and doesn't want to go back to it. Even in this episode where Lapis is surrounded by water, a source for her power, it's only when Steven is threatened that she's able to fight back. The entire time Jasper is still indicating she's the abuser. She stalked Lapis, kept approaching eventually resulting in Lapis being pressed with her back against the wall, called her a monster, tried to go after Steven again, and even said the classic "I've changed, you've changed me" line. Some might say it's "Mutual abuse" but generally speaking there is no such thing, it's an abuser and a victim lashing out. There is technically abuse coming from both sides, but one is someone trying to force the other to bend to their will, while the other is lashing out after being abused. This is why I mentioned only after Steven being in danger did Lapis actually fight back, because even though she's clearly physically stronger than Jasper, her learned helplessness makes her feel weaker. I had a friend who was in an abusive relationship, but he would keep it hidden, only do it behind closed doors. Then in public he would push her buttons, demean her in more subtle ways to an outsider, but hit intensely close to her. Occasionally she would slap him after these incidents. To an outsider she was abusive, but the reality is he was hitting her regularly and mentally and emotionally abusing her. It's just that after awhile of that build up of being abused, it would cause her to lash out against him. Thankfully she got out of that relationship a long time ago and is now happily married to someone that isn't abusive.

MxChloeB42

Am i the only one totally wanting just a video on hamsters care now

Citycrows

If you think about it too the flashback episode with baby sour cream Greg says happened 15 years ago. With Steven being 14 I do believe even though they don't say it directly the show is absolutely implying that experience with the baby for Rose is why she decided to give up her physical form to create Steven

Liam Zynda

I remember the first time I watched Alone at Sea, the toxic Yuri scene happened and I literally yelled out THIS IS A KIDS SHOWWW!!! Abusive relationships were NOT on my bingo card for my first viewing

Val Mattingly

It is so interesting to see Rose's story from the eyes of a fan watching it for the first (and your personal theories without us fan infuencing your opinions), given what we now are fully aware of her.

LikeCat

As for the taking time off for a pet thing, it really just depends on how close and emotionally attached you are to it, regardless of what animal it is or how long it lived. There was this woman on TikTok that had a pet crab named Howie, she loved that crab like it was her own daughter, but Howie died recently and that poor woman was heartbroken, but she ended up living way longer than the normal life expectancy just from how well taken care of and loved she was

Incredible Hamburgr

Oh no oh no oh no not this episode my heart

HeroNotFound

Damn girl, you worked in a call center for 13 years? I only lasted 2 and it drove me bonkers

LobotomizedBarbie

Lets be real its also because of animation consistencies too

peachy af

Technically yes they were both abusive to each other but if we look back to then they were fused as malachite and Steven went into their mind, we saw how lapis and jasper were fighting to take control as malachite. A healthy relation is a partnership in which there is balance. They were taking so much out of each other. Jasper because she is power hungry and lapis because she is so tired of gems using her and trapping her. I absolutely love that representation of toxic relationships because although it is very quick, I can really relate to how lapis was feeling. You get so used to being in a relationship even if it’s toxic and because you get used to it you get comfortable because it’s something you know. That and if it’s like that for a while then you just feel like that’s what love is. When jasper says something along the line of “I’m the only one who can handle your power” that is actually some sort of version of what abusers say. “No one is going to love you like I love you” “no one is going to give you what I give you” “you’re nothing without me” etc etc. Another piece of media that I can think of that also shows that well is the song and mv for Love The Way You Lie by Eminem and Rihanna. Alone at Sea is such a great episode because it shows that malachite was a toxic relationship and lapis was brave enough to finally end it and come to terms that it was bad and that she is good enough to never go back to that.

Quinn S.

Only point I really gotta disagree with is the initiation. Jasper is the one who suggested (and you could even argue coerced) they fuse

Adrian_B

Excellent explanation on the situation, absolutely hit the nail on this messy situation.

Adrian_B

Lapis and Jaspers relationship is more complicated than “one is an abuser the other is a victim” because they’re both victims of each other. The simplest way IMO to look at it is that they made each other worse, mutually toxic. But it also makes sense that Lapis would have been just as “bad” in the situation. Looking at it as symbolism, she was the one keeping Jasper trapped in the fusion / relationship for all these months. Also the fusion under false pretenses, not unlike what Pearl did with Garnet. Which, ya know, is not a good thing to do. It also makes sense that our girl would take the opportunity given to take out all her anger on Jasper because Jasper = bad and since they’re stuck together forever, there’s nothing to hold her back. That’s not to villainize her, of course, just an observation. I do think it’s interesting to note that Jasper is essentially okay with being Lapis punching bag in the fusion so long as their fusion is strong. Her own personal safety and health seems to be unimportant to her, all that matters is if she is strong, and as Malachite she is strong.

Adrian_B

Lapis was kept in the mirror underwater for a long time, early in the show. I assume that’s what she meant by the “more than one”.

SammyDaPonk

One reason Amethyst looks so much smaller in these flashbacks is that she's being drawn next to Rose Quartz. Garnet even looks small.

SweetCandle

It's totally not a metaphor for relationships.

SweetCandle

i adore alone at sea. it's such a fantastic look into an aspect of society and relationships that so many people might wanna wish to keep quiet about, and what makes it so brilliant is that it's so realistic. when you're trapped in an abusive relationship, where your nervous system is active literally 24/7 with "how do i deal with this person, how do i prepare if i have to leave, what are they gonna do to me, where am i gonna go if they kick me out, etc etc.," when you're suddenly outside of that dynamic and able to breathe and relax and enjoy the space, it can be... challenging for some people. having that constant unceasing vigilance almost provides a sort of identity, or almost like a sense of *purpose,* and when that line of thinking no longer applies, your brain might still apply that logic without the abuser present, leading to complex feelings like missing them, feeling aimless without their antagonism, or seeking out other partners that may emulate that behavior. it's an incredibly difficult thing to deal with, and obviously not the case in every single abusive relationship, but i've gone through it personally and it's a really confusing and difficult feeling to reckon with. no wonder lapis was so shaken by it. the understanding that lapis is also partially culpable is another tough one for a lot of people to realize, since we're often so locked into the mindset of "abuser/victim" when thinking of toxic relationships; the reality, though, is that sometimes, both/all parties are mutually toxic! anybody can do things to encourage or worsen abuse, and that's something that unfortunately applies both here and irl. what sets lapis apart from jasper, though, is that lapis acknowledges her culpability in the relationship (the self-deprecation isn't great, but at least she's being somewhat honest with herself); she takes responsibility for her past actions, while *also* reaffirming that she's never going to be that way again. she is not blameless, but she's making strides to be better in the future. and THAT'S an incredibly important thing to take away from this episode. lapis is someone who's been really genuinely traumatized by someone, with her trauma being directly related to a core aspect of who she is as a "person," and she's actively taking strides to be better and to put that behind her. she's so realistic and three-dimensional, and such a beautiful example of growth and positivity for older people who've possibly been through these horrific situations irl. i feel proud to call her my favorite character.

Hazel Thiele

If it’s our fault you are the way you are then that’s a fault I’ll happily claim to play a part in lmao. It keeps things interesting and fun.

ShadowFox1412

Jasper and Lapis's fusion was mutually abusive and unhealthy. That's how most abusive relationships are actually, both people become terrible and hurt each other more the longer they remain in the relationship.

K C Kenny

I think a lot of people miss the fact that they were mutually abusive in the relationship

Peridot

Don’t think I said anything about it changing her actions. In fact I said it doesn’t mean that what she did isn’t bad. Just that it’s more nuanced.

cosmotron

One big issue I have with the gems is, that in their thousands of years of life and the amount of time they spent on earth, they never actually bothered to learn something about humans, not even so much as opening a book on human biology or development or culture or just common sense or something.

Corvo Joka

lol

olek2501

hmm interesting pov, but I think lapises would have more higher spot in hierarchy since of their powers, quite the opposite of what you think but I'll also keep it vague to not spoil stuff

olek2501

holy yapparoni

olek2501

As you can imagine, the discourse around the Lapis episode was just atrocious when it first came out. The takes were absolutely rancid. Abuse is not a black-and-white topic, and there tends to be a lot of blame on the victims and an inability or refusal to understand their circumstances or unwillingness or lack of ability to leave the abuse. At the very least, we're pretty familiar as a culture now with clearly defined one-sided abuse, but what happened with Jasper and Lapis was much different and much more nuanced. Their abuse was mutual. Jasper hated Earth and the Crystal Gems and Lapis hated Earth and Jasper. Jasper wanted power, Lapis wanted to imprison Jasper the way she herself had been imprisoned. To save Steven, yes, but also because she finally had an outlet for all that anger over her imprisonment in the mirror, in being dragged into a war against her will, in being forcibly returned to Earth. Jasper abused Lapis, but Lapis also abused Jasper. They did it similarly and differently. There was no one in that relationship who was healthy and in the right, and Lapis recognized that and hated herself for it and didn't want to be or feel like that ever again. But Jasper, she didn't care how she was treated so long as she was strong. Which is very her. Look at gem society and the expectations foisted upon them by the Diamonds. Jasper is the perfect soldier, bears the brunt of that and sees her power as her pride, her ability to accomplish orders as her purpose. Lapis hurt her but made her stronger than ever, compounded whatever she already had going on. Neither was right and they both need time apart to heal and grow. But Jasper evidently doesn't want to, while Lapis is trying to reconcile what she did with who she wants to be and who Steven sees her as. She wants to be the Lapis he sees, but she rightfully feels guilty for letting her rage consume her when a good target finally appeared. She's not ready to forgive herself for that, so she keeps herself closed off and distant, like with Peridot at first, or with Steven this episode, downplaying herself and trying not to let him build her up to much. But if she's going to heal and change, she needs that support and positive reinforcement. Jasper ain't there yet and just wants power and if it's not surrendered willingly, she will take it. You can argue who is worse, but it's ultimately irrelevant. They both were bad, but one's trying to move on and the other's trying to go back. And right now at this point in the story, that's that. It's a much deeper, more nuanced take on abuse than any other show in this demographic. Hell, it's rare in more mature shows too, to see this sort of mutually abusive dynamic. The lines are normally clearly drawn, someone is sympathetic and the other isn't. So what do you do when both were awful? Do you accept and nurture the one who changes, or cast them out along with the one who refuses? Your choice will shape not only you, but them as well. It's tough.

AbsurdToastling

Who knows he might have started a fight with a ship of the 1700s British navy and that is the result of canon fire

Willow Arkan

Ah, yes. THE episode.

Arianod

I do wonder about her life pre-earth. She's powerful, but her role would probably have her on a pretty low level of gem society given it's utilitarian nature. (a role that should be pretty clear by now but i'll keep vague for spoilers sake)

potato potato also another potato

which plays into the analogy rather well, we like Lapis and don't like Jasper, so we want to give Lapis the benefit of the doubt, we try to deny the evidence and rationalize it away until Lapis acknowledges it herself.

potato potato also another potato

rose episodes are always so interesting, because she's built up as this great hero by the gems, but she's such a goofy dork when we actually see her interacting with greg. There is something I really like about them illustrating that people we build up as heroes and leaders are still just regular people. They did something similar back in the answer with the way garnet describes Pearl before ruby and sapphire met her.

potato potato also another potato

Quite the two episodes for Mosco to watch at once: one was really dark as hell and the other was very cute Greg parent origin story. Like you said Mosco, you can never guess correctly what the episodes are from the titles alone. 💜

Liam Gradwell

so begins my constant anxiety throughout the rest of the series that Greg will be reset to poor.

Tyrant-Den

Lapis is the one who grabbed Jasper and kept them bound. Lapis is the one who initiated the relationship. Lapis is the one who kept Jasper in the fusion on the bottom of the sea. And there was no practical reason for it either; we know Garnet can take Jasper.

Tyrant-Den

i feel like a lot people miss the fact that lapis was the abuser in the relationship

Some Simp

It's Greg. He's a Dad. You're going to get Dad Jokes... "Lapis was the abusive one?" Remember, this is *Jasper's* view of what happened. Obviously, it's going to be different than Lapis's - or us, as outside observers. But at the end of the day, note that it's still Jasper who doesn't accept "no means no." You know, Greg probably had to get some sort of insurance when he rented the boat, that'll probably cover a lot of it. After all, it wasn't anything he did.

David Johnson

well...it was initially self defense. What bothers Lapis is she didn't stop after it ceased to be self defense, she kept hurting jasper, not because she was protecting herself anymore, but because she enjoyed finally being in control. Finally getting to create victims rather than being one. But again, the important part is she recognized that after being separated from Jasper, and is trying to be better, and prevent that situation from ever arising again. (whereas jasper has no interest in changing)

potato potato also another potato

yeah, it's a very, cycle of violence/abuse thing. She'd suffered so much at the hands of others, and when she finally had a chance at power, she was horrified by her compulsion to inflict that same pain on others, by the fact that she sort of enjoyed it, that hurting jasper was cathartic but they key is she recognized that in herself and is trying to stop it, she recognized what she was becoming and is trying to be better.

potato potato also another potato

correct, next thursday should be steven vs (redacted) and that one.

potato potato also another potato

6:19 - Remember, before her fusion with Jasper, Lapis was a mirror for a long time, and then there was however she was treated on Homeworld before being sent back to Earth with Jasper and Peridot. 22:28 - "Lapis was the abusive one?" Jasper just wanted to fuse with Lapis to become stronger and defeat the Crystal Gems. Lapis was the one who forced Jasper to stay fused as Malachite imprisoned at the bottom of the ocean. People are generally inclined to think of the more traditionally masculine or physically dominant partner as the abuser in a relationship, but that's not always the case, especially in cases of emotional abuse. 43:35 - Now that's an OLD reference. In "The Jetsons", George would occasionally get trapped on some sort of out-of-control device (often a treadmill) and shout to his wife "Jane! Get me off this crazy thing!"

ArcticBanana

The context only explains her actions. It doesn’t change the fact that she did it.

Supersideswiper

This is what I came here to say. I'm sure you summarized it far more succinctly than I would have 😂 As somebody who has PTSD and was in an abusive relationship that lasted over a decade, Lapis has always been, if not my favorite character, the one I identify the most with. You 100% become reactively abusive over time. It's a means of fighting for your life. The only other options are to leave (if that's possible - for me it wasn't), or to allow them to break your spirit entirely and essentially become an automaton.

Nokomis Bracken

It's so... realistic. I've never been in a relationship that bad, but I've seen them in friends. And yeah, even on milder stuff, there are people who are drawn to, and around them you are just... worse. They inspire the worst in you. (Ideally, the opposite happens, but...)

William Timmins

I remember watching this after I got out of a very toxic relationship and that’s when I realized why I didn’t like Lapis. She reminded me of the dark parts that I wanted to forget, but now I feel a softness/empathy for her because I know all the complicated feelings of being in a similar situation. My experience wasn’t exactly us both using each other like Lapis and Jasper but I remember feeling that connection and wanting to go back to it because “it wasn’t all bad”. And when Jasper starts begging Lapis to fuse again and how it’ll be “better” is just so triggering. I’m so happy now being in a different healthy relationship.

CrissyJay

i remember, before alone at sea was supposed to air, a screenshot of jasper and lapis was leaked and everybody thought for sure it was fake because jasper would NEVER act that way lol

Caelum Aster

It wasn’t a one way street for them. Jasper used Lapis, and Lapis Trapped Jasper. They both were fighting and hurting each other and as crazy as it sounds, some people can miss that.

Tasia Cooper

Also I know that the lapis and Jasper relationship is really deep, but can we also talk about the implications of Vandalia being a single mother especially since she looks very young when she had sour cream??? Like we all know what Marty did with Vandalia when Greg was doing a show in beach City. That has always stuck out in my mind when watching the babysitter episode. Did this stick out to anyone else or just me?

PinkPonytail _Girl

I know you said it was “mutually toxic”, but I feel like the idea that “Lapis was the abusive one” misses out on key context. Like, it’s not as if Lapis just walked up to Jasper and trapped her in fusion just for kicks. Jasper had already been holding her prisoner, was physically threatening or cruel to her (we see that in the way she throws Lapis around like a rag doll back in The Return). Then, as Lapis is trying to escape, Jasper grabs her and forcibly drags her back, and threatens someone Lapis cares about. Lapis has been a victim of imprisonment - and arguably torture considering what being isolated in a mirror would do to your mind - for basically all of her life. For the first time she uses being a victim to try and claim some power back for herself, and to protect Steven. That doesn’t mean what she does isn’t bad. But it is reactive abuse - done after a result of the abuses she has experienced, including at Jasper’s hands. Theres a lot more nuance going on here, is what I’m saying.

cosmotron

It's the Fun feelings show 😭😂😍🥲😡😱😳😥🤗

PinkPonytail _Girl

she doesnt read the comments of these anymore bc of spoilers, let her know in the discord or the yt comment section!

helluva.alixx

Steven Universe: The show where we display the feelings we don't want to talk about.

PinkPonytail _Girl

Multiple times

morthasa

Yeah I think just saying “Lapis was the abusive one” loses out on the complexity of what is actually happening here. Like, Jasper imprisoned her and forced her back to earth against her will, grabbed her as she was trying to escape, and threatened the life of someone Lapis cares about. Lapis has literally been, in one shape or another, someone’s prisoner for almost all of her life. So what did she do? She decided to use that - being a prisoner - to finally give herself some power. Power over someone else who had already held her prisoner once. Yeah, it was toxic and awful, and she played a big part in that. At the same time, she was absolutely striking out as someone who had been constantly victimized - including literally by Jasper. There’s a lot of weird Lapis discourse out there, and I feel like a lot of it relies on ignoring a lot about what actually is happening here.

cosmotron

The way I feel about Jasper is genuinely the exact same way that Elijah feels about Cinder. Before the end of volume 3 of course. Rebecca Sugar just has really great ✨art✨. Edit: y'all I'm pretty sure we have Gem Hunt and Crack the Whip on saturday. Which leaves Bismuth for next week if I'm not mistaken.

Marcy Wu

Theres stuff both ways ofc, but I mean her surprise right here

Jasmine

22:58 lol we can tell ; it seemed like she hadn't fully gotten or remembered that Lapis (fused under false pretenses, but that was...anyway) was holding them together all this time, even when Jasper immediately tried to unfuse/escape; then in Chille Tid she says she's holding their fusion down, and ...yeah I'm at work what am I doing

Jasmine

“Lapis was the abusive one?” Yep. Basically. Jasper was essentially a living stress ball for her. Something that she could take her anger and pain out on. They were mutually toxic towards each other, Lapis got off on imprisoning Jasper and Jasper, well, she enjoyed the power high and apparently being dominated by Lapis… At least, so I think. Also, we pretty much had that reaction. To that revelation…

Supersideswiper

i just want to explain lapis abusing jasper; as far as i understand it was reactive abuse, which is what the victim will do sometimes as a reaction to being abused. Lapis feels like she is a monster for what she did to Jasper even though it was out of self defense

Evergrove

This episode of Lapis and Jasper’s relationship is sooo nuanced and layered and intense and explained so well for younger and older audiences alike ✨

Annieme

Lapis' story is so heartbreaking. she was stuck in a toxic/abusive relationship for so long and the PTSD from being stuck in the mirror.

Jeal Tar

Thank you for the new reaction BTW, small suggestion: You might want to consider reacting to "Pretty Pretty Please I Don’t Want to be a Magical Girl" It is currently just a pilot animatic, but it's very good quality and above all it has a sense of humour that I think you'd enjoy. Furthermore, since it's just a 11 minute single episode, I think it would not be as big an effort as a normal syndication episode (I say while sitting on my fundament while having no idea of the hard work that goes into a reaction video...) Just my two cents. Thank you for what you do.

morthasa

I love how *done* Mosco was with all the puns 😂

Annieme

mosco.exe has stopped responding lollll

helluva.alixx


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