Lapidot is more than just “real”

Here it is! My essay on the symbolism and hidden hints that might potentially point to Lapidot being “endgame” I hope you shippers enjoy it, I know you’ve been getting the brunt of most of the nastiest attacks lately because I ship everything in SU and it’s the only tag I browse where I actively have to block people every single day that I check it! So here is a pick-me-up for my favorite SU ship and my little brothers first chosen “OTP”!

Let’s take it all the way back to the beginning. To the days of Peridot not being fully with the Crystal Gems. Lapidot was a popular crackship based just off aesthetic. Or was it? Here’s the part that might blow your mind. Subtext and subliminal messaging is a real tactic used both visually and contextually by a narrative to reinforce something- or the idea or something, before it actually happens. It’s done a lot.

For example. If I heavily tint multiple scenes in a blue and yellow tint, and during those scenes the music is soft and slow and romantic, and then later similar soft music plays to a blue/yellow gradient shaded scene as a character with a mostly blue color palette meets a character with a mostly yellow color palette, you may not “know” why you feel these two “go together”, you just “feel it”, well. That feeling is due to your attune senses picking up on the subtext and subliminal hints left to make your mind unconsciously associate and connect things with each other. It’s deliberate! Subtext can also be dialogue clues that don’t make sense until a future context puts them into a greater meaning- this has been done more times than I can even count with SU so I won’t even try.

So, does lapidot have any subtext or hints of that caliber? Yes. Yes it does. Let me take you on a journey of lapidot subtext and subliminal hinting that could have lead to the “pairing” initially in the first place

(Music from the soundcloud account)

https://soundcloud.com/aivisura/steven-universe-peridot-in-the-rain

Just listen to this sweet little piece for a moment. This track and the scenes it goes to, are the first foreshadowing of lapidot, or the “subliminal subtext” people caught onto. This connects Peridot to rain. Rain is water. Lapis is heavily associated with water.

Peridot starts out scared and unsure of the weather, Steven helps her figure things out and she has an emotional moment in the rain- this very scene is actually the start of her earnest trust in Steven.

Peridot starts out on rocky terms with Lapis upon reuniting as “crystal gems” or at the least gem friends of Stevens. Steven helps her to understand Lapis and Lapis to understand and care for Peridot, with the episode nearing its end on a note of Lapis being sure to ask if Peridot is alright and Peridot blushing, signifying “she’s in” the heart of Lapis now.

These two scenes are connected and I believe foreshadowed each other. Steven helps Peridot to understand “the rain” aka Lapis. A scene showing Peridots reaction to the change following, and the heavy involvement of Steven, and the shared element of “water”, let’s just say it’s no coincidence in a show with as much care put into it as this.

I’m not sure on it, but a piece of dialogue subtext that I believe will foreshadow the first lapidot fusion attempt is the conversation they have in “Beta”.

As Peridot attempts a daunting task she’s hardly dabbled in, Lapis joins her and offers for them to try it together. Now, please bare with me as I add some personal theory into this otherwise objective piece.

Like the foreshadowing examples listed above and how they facilitated each other, I feel this scene is a lighter “glimpse” at something much further ahead.

I don’t think Peridot or Lapis are “ready to fuse”, not even with each other. I think Lapis will want to explore things beyond “fusing” and Peridot, as well as not being ready may have other issues with it. I feel like for both of them, it’s complicated.

Now what the dialogue foreshadows to me, is Peridot and Lapis deciding to fuse in a very tense situation, maybe the CG’s get in trouble and Peridot tries to fuse with Garnet and just CANT even with “the end” looming over them- and then Lapis tells her, “WE can do it. Together.” and we finally get the lapidot fusion- oh, think of this, we get the lapidot fusion fighting off Yellow and Blue diamond- their respective diamonds. Using the power to bend metal and water. I know that sounds grand which is why it’s more my personal theory of how I’d like the foreshadowing to line up. Only time will tell if it was foreshadowing at all but like how I picked up on “Peridot in the rain” I believe this piece of subtext means something.

Lapidot has had subtext, official art, official hints, a shipper of the two as one of the crew, and just plain old outright text and now they actually share a close and sweet friendship, their place is “home” in Peridots heart of hearts. Peridot is all set with just ONE cute roommate; aka Lapis.

There is also the potential camp pining hearts program that bonded them potentially foreshadowing their endgame status with the symbols on their clothes of the “main couple” blue teardrops (lapis) and yellowish triangles (peridot), hey, weirder uses of subliminal subtext have been used before! So why not?

Another interesting piece of info: according to the official Peridot twitter account the only time Peridot has put her beloved tech that comforts her down and away was for Lapis, and next time we see them together in the show they’ve bonded so much. That moment was real and whatever happened in it, I hope we get some sort of flashback or storybook “The Answer” style to see exactly what happened right then to bring them from a stage of tenuous new friendship to camp pining besties. Whatever it was- was potentially important enough to hold off on showing until later.

To the SU Crew: THANK YOU FOR LAPIDOT! I think it’s a beautiful bond! I got yo number!

Peace and Love to the Lapidots for being awesome and perfect and one of the funnest SU fandoms! You deserve it! Hope this maybe brightens a day or two!