Potential Lapis Rewrite (non-fic)

>inb4 Steven/Lapis fanfics
Fuck, guess I gotta stay on-topic this time

Retcon Malachite entirely and make Lapis the first new inclusion to the team, hesitantly ignoring the manipulations of Jasper and her disdain of the Crystal Gems and instead choosing to trust Steven. Malachite added nothing of value to Lapis' story and introduced a dark ambiguity to her character that really wasn't needed, and Jasper's arc would have been much more tragic had she struggled on earth to succeed alone due to her insecurities about the Beta Kindergarten, and fused for the first time with a corrupted gem, more clearly emphasizing the 'toxic relationships corrupt people deeply' theme she carries. As well, retcon Homeworld putting her in the mirror. It was a giant pussying out of the implications that Mirror Gem BLATANTLY laid out, I don't care what semantics you can play with Pearl's wording of finding the mirror.

Make Lapis' character focus that of an unwilling neutral party learning to trust others again. She could come to find out for herself that home is not a 'where' or a 'what', but a 'who', and that those people are worth fighting for, even at the risk of punishment, something she's at first too nervous to do.

She would be distrusting of everyone but Steven at first, and it would take time and effort to make that change. She could see some potential damage she did to a harbor or something after the results of Ocean Gem, perhaps, and become guilty, trying to make amends with the unintentional damage she did in her panic to leave Earth. Making peace with humans who she worries will never forgive her would also make a good transition into her considering forgiving the Crystal Gems, who she would eventually confront. Maybe Bismuth made the mirror as a gambit to get info from a Homeworld Gem that could win them the war, but lied to assure the others that the one they trapped in it would be totally unconscious, because they were initially unwilling. Still an accident, but one they actively took part in, and one which Lapis would need to allot them forgiveness for, so they can all move on.

From there, the CGs would begin to slowly warm up to her, and their consequent gestures of good faith begin to overwhelm her, all culminating in a climax where Lapis and Garnet talk out her issues. Lapis asks in exasperation how someone who can see the future and know what others will do can possibly know how it feels to be paranoid that everyone might betray her, and Garnet tells her about the Sardonyx incident, telling her that relationships are a leap of faith worth taking, and that while forgiveness can be hard, it too is worth considering. Maybe she and Garnet would go on to have a closer friendship than the rest, mirroring that of Peridot and Amethyst.

Oh and Lapis and Peridot don't live in a fucking barn segregated from the main characters jfc what a terrible idea that was