oh boy I SURE LOVE how SU just make the correct levels of powers apply ONLY when is conveniently for the plot to create DRAMA but at any other moment everything is just like “oh woe is me I NOT that STRONG”, DON’T YOU JUST LOVE THAT?!?!
I’m wondering if it’s not the amount of power but the ability use it effectively? Like, when Lapis is damaged and trying to get to Homeworld she’s clearly distressed. Even though she was able to call all the water on Earth to her, it clearly wasn’t going to work. But after Steven heals her, she is much more calm and only needs a little water to fashion wings to fly away. It wasn’t power but ingenuity that got her home. As for beating Jasper, I don’t know if Lapis was completely against her. She stated before that she sided with Homeworld and Jasper is an agent of Homeworld. She might not have given her all, if only subconsciously. It seemed to me she was confused and unsure of her position which could understandably effect her ability to fight.
I not really sure what really this has to do with what I was saying?? I mean, I know that you are trying to explain why and why not Lapis used the amounds of power/skills/ability she did for each time, but what I meaning is about that the first time lapis use her godly powers in earth, she was enraged, tired, mentally and physically stressed for being keep in a object for thousands of years and with a cracked gem….AND SHE STILL COULD CONTROL WATER AS NATURAL AS IF SHE WASN’T! when amethys had her gem cracked she couldn’t even hold her form together, Lapis could built a water tower, fight with 3+ enemies and she wasn’t really looking pressured about doing all that stuff when Steven came to talk with her. The point is that Lapis could do all that with little to no real efford
So when she was confronted with helping or not Jasper, Lapis could have totally refused AND beat up Jasper, she sided with homeword because she was temporally being a prisioner on the ship and they would return there to inform the whole deal, she didnt wanted further problems!
In the end she didn’t beat up Jasper with her water powers, why? was she tired and hurt??? she does end up winning that fight becuase she end up using her water powers to beat and drag Malachite to the sea, and I don’t know but I feel that need even more power/concentration/skill at the exact moment than making a huge water hand to smash Jasper 3 or 4 times, she just didn’t because for the viewers, that would have looked BAD
and on the Alexandrine deal is the same, if you have been holding yourself under stress and mental and physical exhaustion for MONTHS, I somehow feel you could do easily holding OTHERS, you are tying to KILL, Jasper might be the part that want the feeling of a physical fight, but if you are losing your instint will use whatever you have at hand to inmediatly win