so we know that Jasper popped out of her hole perfect. she is the Perfect Gem™. the biggest. the strongest. the toughest. the quartziest. even her hole is perfect.
and i realized, i know what that feels like.
i was a Smart Kid™. sure, i didn’t pop out of my hole perfect; i was also a Weird Kid™. but i was constantly told that i was smarter than other kids. that i was even a little bit better than other kids. i always heard “you’re too smart for the public schools!” “you’ve got the vocabulary of a kid twice your age!” “other kids don’t know as much as you.” “you shouldn’t correct people (but you are right).”
and i’d bet dollars to dolomite that that’s what Jasper heard too.
because Jasper, as we see her after Alone At Sea, is obsessed with strength. she’ll do anything to feel strong again.
beg back the gem who imprisoned her and tortured her? yup.
assemble an army of insane monsters? yup.
fuse with an insane monster just for more power? yup.
and that reminds me of things i’ve done. to me, this doesn’t look like a Jasper Is Obsessive thing. to me, this looks like someone who was constantly told they were good at something being confronted with a problem that they can’t solve.
Jasper couldn’t defeat the Crystal Gems, despite being the Perfect Gem™ (because her strength wasn’t the right kind of strength necessary to defeat them). i struggled since i hit my sophomore year of high school, despite being a Smart Kid™ (because my intelligence wasn’t the right kind of intelligence necessary to solve these problems). like hell i turned to external aids and used every underhanded trick i could in order to maintain my status as Smart. Jasper reminds me of myself, in that she is doing everything she can to maintain her status as Perfect.
i don’t think it’s just the Rubies who were so impressed with Jasper. i think all Homeworld was impressed with Jasper. “The Facet 9 Kindergarten Quartz That Could.” “popped out of
the ground with her helmet on.” “took out eighty Crystal Gems before the sun went
down.” that’s what she heard her entire life.
so Jasper couldn’t let anybody down. she had to be Perfect. and that’s why she did the things she did.
