lapis snortlaughing is the best thing, and daaaamn suddenly the hells of toxic relationship. jasper even whipped out the old “you’re horrible and i’m the only one who knows how horrible you are and can stand you” isolating headfuck, that shit is right out of the domestic violence handbook.
i was also super impressed by the abuse being mutual. often times you don’t see that in media, they always have to have a perfect good partner and a monster partner, instead of two flawed people who are toxic for each other. it’s not very useful to split things black and white, that doesn’t explain why the victims stay together, that sometimes the partner with the conscience feels like they are just as much to blame or deserve to be punished for how they “provoke” the abuse and participate in the headgames. letting the shame and self-blame be acknowledged is really useful, because it gives people in these relationships who, themselves, behave in terrible ways (which is to say, everyone) a chance to say “yes, i did fuck up, and my making mistakes excuse precisely none of what’s happening to me.”
i really appreciate the way lapis enjoyed her power over jasper but also is fully aware of how fucked up and abusive it was, and how jasper saw her weakness against shame and tried to play on her self-loathing to manipulate lapis back into the relationship.
really well done. wish we had more time to develop it, but eh, that’s the medium.
ugh 