Was Rose A Good Person? | Steven Universe

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"Was Rose A Good Person?" is the most controversial question in all of Steven Universe. Today we look at Rose's character from multiple angles and FINALLY find the answer...
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Music:
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#stevenuniverse #stevenuniversefuture #stevenuniverseedit #stevenuniversethemovie
Steven Universe is a coming-of-age story told from the perspective of Steven, the youngest member of the Crystal Gems, a team of magic guardians who protect the planet Earth.
The animated series was conceived as part of the "Shorts Development Initiative" at Cartoon Network Studios, and is created by Emmy and Annie Award-nominated writer and storyboard artist, Rebecca Sugar, Cartoon Network's first solo female show creator!
All images/audio fall under fair use.
chapters:
0:00 Intro
2:42 Human Zoo
3:50 Spinel
5:40 Pink Pearl
7:19 Pearl & Rose's Relationship
8:44 War/Lying/Bismuth
9:52 Steven
11:25 Was Rose A Good Person?

[@Jorddd]

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[@prescool29]

i just edged to this

[@dapandamau5]

i think Rose was a good gem. but she didn't understand humans enough to be a good person. and you cant really fault her for that. she was raised in a different kind of way and was a good enough person to realize that that way wasn't good for others.

[@zuubbiii]

this is an amazing take

[@jamtyx4170]

If there was a nail and a coffin, I think you'd be hitting it pretty well😏 ( I know this joke is God awful.)

[@zuubbiii]

@@jamtyx4170 nah it’s good lol

[@alexborcea3624]

This is such a good way to put it

[@DishonorableMentions452]

Funny, being a person means you have to understand humans?? That's makes absolutely no sense (unless I missed something, if so could you explain further?) Edit: in a world where both humans and gems are sentient beings I believe being a person would be more than being a human.

[@Evil_Monologues]

I am personally of the belief that rose BECAME a good character. She gave up everything to defend the earth, for thousands of years, before ultimately giving even her life so that Steven could exist. Him feeling like he was meant to be her, would be the last thing she would want, she wanted more than anything for him to be his own person.

[@blacksesamecandies]

She did become better, maybe even somewhat good. But I think the damage was done, the thing is about Rose/PD is the situation is complex, not everything can be blamed on one character - she is simply the catalyst character and there is large ripple effects from her actions, her mistakes and so forth. She was written kind of as having this young teen/young adult mentality rebelling against his shitty 'family' - she made some choices she'd thought be the right choices and got caught up in her lies trying to fight for what she felt was right. However, she just kind of made a mess of things as a result. That being said, Steven's entire life was just trying to fix her mistakes and forced to grow up too quickly. Which had it's own set of issues, then we see him break down later in Future - which lots of people hated but it seemed like a logical conclusion to someone with so much baggage so early on.

[@mertensiam3384]

@@blacksesamecandies true, but the Steven thing isn't something rose wanted, that would be the CG's fault

[@orangejuice6360]

YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHH FUCK, ITS NICE FINDIN LOGICAL PEOPLE IN HERE !

[@dietwater2155]

RIGHT, her development didn't stop with being the leader of the crystal gems and defending earth, it concluded when she loved greg and had Steven, that was her final form, she finally understood what she was protecting and gave her life for it.

[@joaolima7131]

Yeah, if she knew about the Cluster, Earth invasion etc, she would probably try to stop that first, I just think Steven just got extremely bad luck and feels like Rose let him to fix things for her.

[@pieflower6419]

She's morally grey and I refuse to label her as good or bad, but I think it's valid for those she's hurt to hate her.

[@kul2130]

More character should be like Rose: COMPLEX.

[@No_king1143]

@@kul2130morally “good” or “bad” characters can be complex too. it isn’t about _what_ they are, but _how_ they are written to be

[@juliacondensada]

It makes me baffled how many people love the diamonds but hate Rose

[@stinkymrsnow..............]

That's probably due to the writing of the epilogue protraying the other 3 as holy goddesses but Pink as a evil demon

[@90sprinceofcrime67]

@@stinkymrsnow..............that’s not why, the diamonds and gems are clearly evil in general, they conquer planets, people just love to hold stuff over Pink because of how she was portrayed in the beginning of being this nice person and get mad whenever something bad she did thousands of years ago get brought up as if it still applies to the current her

[@astraastra4226]

Personally, the take that Rose had Steven so that he could deal with all her problems fundamentally misunderstands the timeline of the show. Rose and the remaining Crystal Gems were on earth for thousands of years after the war, after the Diamonds had sent out the corruption light. From there on out, the Crystal Gems worked to bubble all of the corrupted gems so that they wouldn’t have to live in that state and they would be at peace. They were doing this for THOUSANDS OF YEARS AFTER THE WAR. Then Rose meets Greg, their relationship develops, and she has always been in love with the natural life on this Earth that she wants to create something that will join it. Nobody knew how things would turn out because Steven is the first half-gem half-human, and all of them thought it would be something different. Amethyst thought it was shape shifting, Garnet thought it was fusion, Pearl thought Rose’s gem was trapped inside of Steven’s body. They didn’t understand humans until they had Steven and began raising him, but the point is, until the Red Eye shows up in episode two, there hasn’t been any Homeworld Activity on earth for THOUSANDS OF YEARS. She didn’t leave Steven to deal with her problems because she did not know that they would be coming back to the planet she fought so hard to free from their grasps.

[@amazinggraciegurl]

THANK YOU

[@liammcconlogue7266]

Dang great point

[@Astro_retired]

She didn't know the diamonds would try to avenge her death?

[@astraastra4226]

@@Astro_retired The Diamonds treated Pink like a child and withheld a colony from her for that reason, they’d lock her in the tower and as seen in change her mind, Blue Diamond would use her powers to make her cry which can definitely be likened to a form of abuse/manipulation. Don’t you think that if she knew the damage it would end up causing, she would have tried to find another way? Rose Quartz completely valued life as I’d already discussed in my previous comment, and I believe that ideally in her mind, they could have quit the Earth colony to protect the life already existing there as well as take the gems that had already been produced somewhere else. The fact of the matter is many fans have interpreted the relationship between Pink and the other Diamonds as being a victim of abuse, with many abuse victims feeling similar to how she is depicted to feel. Just because she was a victim of the Diamonds’ neglect does not excuse how she treated Spinel, however, but that is a very nuanced topic that deserves its own comment/video essay. All this to say, if you had been treated terribly by someone and decided to leave that situation, and they acted out because it hurt them without you realizing since they’d never expressed something you interpreted as caring, wouldn’t you feel as though those actions were unpredictable?

[@turkeybeef6269]

​@@Astro_retired5000 years after 0 inactivity when the diamonds could travel there in a month seems pretty "wallah I'm finished".

[@matti.8465]

I really can't blame Rose for deciding to have Steven. By that point Homeworld had stopped being a problem for THOUSANDS of years, no one could have expected them to return during Steven's lifetime, at the most inconvenient time possible.

[@ModestEevee]

I don't understand why people expected Pink Diamond to immediately know how to be a good person after literally thousands of years of terrible lessons from the Diamonds and no other role models.

[@lumanianilin1198]

I've always said Rose WASN'T a good person... Because she wasn't a person at all to begin with. She BECAME a good "person" after starting to learn about humans and empathy. The tricky thing about it is that we've seen Rose's growth IN REVERSE. When we first start hearing about her, we hear about how wonderful and nice she was IN HER LASTS DAYS. But as we uncover more and more of her story, we see less and less humanity in her. And since we see that growth in reverse, we're left with the wrong impression that she was in fact a "bad person" after all. I agree that she's a complicated character, but only in the way her story was told. Other than that, she was as bad as Peridot (which we've seen being "bad" and turn into "good" in chronological order)

[@tm5brown520]

Very nice way to put. Yeah think the order of their stories matter a lot. I could see many other characters being labeled villains of their backstory was told backwards.

[@twigwigsoso]

if we had been shown the series linear a lot of people wouldn't hate rose as much, she escaped an abusive situation, tried to liberate and save the earth, did what she could, loved dearly, grew up, and had a child not to run from herself because if rose loved anything, it was creating life

[@crazyinvaderfangirl1]

Rose was an abuse victim that did the best she could. Not a bad person. Just flawed and misunderstood.

[@alexisc1474]

Abuse victims can also be victimizers. She is flawed and misunderstood but that doesn't discount her wrongdoings

[@Jpx0999]

​@@alexisc1474she grew overtime Can you take rose quartz and Pink diamond identities and say they would have acted the same?

[@kul2130]

​@@Jpx0999you can change and still be responsible and unforgiven for past, especially big bad things youve done like abuse. Ignorance is a reason but it is not an excuse.

[@Terron-de-pimienta]

Except until you realize that a lot of bullies, abusers, killers, tyrants or simply selfish dickheads, where abused in their childhood and they never cared about changing and healing but just threw all their dirt over new victims. Being an abuse victim doesn't mean you were born good.

[@Terron-de-pimienta]

​​@@Jpx0999Well, in 5000 years Rose never tried to came back for Spinel, who was abandoned in a floating rock waiting for an horrible death, in her butt-ship or using the warps. Spinel love and life was never important enough for Pink could see her as a person. Rose never told to Pearl and Garnet about what happened with their beloved Bismuth, as well as she never tried to reconcile with her and gave her a second chance. And let's not talk about how Rose didn't gave a damn about their loving ones' feelings (again), when she deciced to exchange her life for Steven's one knowing that he would have to deal with all her past problems and mess ups. Runing away no matter what, only worrying about her own happiness, that's what she always did. Pink never changed her mind and behaviours, she always acted in the same way.

[@chaokid999]

Huh... I didn't realize until now that Spinel's "Drift Away" scene is thematically identical to Jessie's "When She Loved Me" from Toy Story 2. Spinel and Jessie are both living beings perceived as toys that their owners grew out of. No malicious intent, just kids maturing and leaving their childhood interests behind.

[@antihero627]

Yeah, except that PD knew Spinel was alive, unlike Emily and Jessie, respectively. Pink Diamond didn’t just leave behind a toy she outgrew, she left behind a friend, a being whose entire purpose was to make her smile. When you outgrow a toy, you put it in storage or pass it on to someone else for them to enjoy; when you move on from a friend, they at least need to know that your friendship is ending/changing so that they can move on as well.

[@imjustgr8]

@@antihero627 how else would you expect for it to go? like you said, spinel's entire purpose was to be entertain her and be "best friends" with her. how would you think she'd react to pink telling her something that's goes exactly against her programming?

[@aureic.callisto]

​@@antihero627gemkinds sees inferior (in status) gems as objects (like when peridot thought pearl was 'just a pearl' at first), so PD probably didn't even think that spinel would be upset or that her feelings matter. It is normal in their society to treat their subordinates that way.

[@antihero627]

@imjustgr8 the same way the other gems from homeworld react to going against their programming, they embrace it. Leaving was one thing, but you’re telling me PD couldn’t have just gone back and explained everything to Spinel, helped the little gem find a new purpose like she did other gems. Crystal Gems couldn’t use a mascot during the war?

[@antihero627]

@aureic.callisto True, but Peridot did change her opinion over time, much shorter than 6,000 years; Pink could have gone back once she learned more about Earth and how to value other lives or consider their feelings.

[@Kendorable]

I think Pink Diamond was basically a child/teen/yound adult and Rose Quartz was the person who outgrew her initially terrible traits and behaviors. She still wasnt perfect in the end and left behind a mess instead of fixing it herself, but she also could not have known what to do. In the end she was a decent person who had outgrown MOST of her flaws, but that doesnt make the new things learned about her past hurt people any less.

[@TheMeloettaful]

I had just commented that when White Diamond told "Pink" (Steven) she was acting like a child I thought to myself Pink was essentially a child compared to the other Diamonds. But you are right that Rose Quartz was the person Pink ultimately grew into eventually. I believe wholeheartedly if Rose still existed right alongside Steven, she would have taken on the brunt of all of the issues she created beforehand in a heartbeat if it meant Steven would be spared from it. But of course, that's not what happened. So of course she thought the Earth was long forgotten about by Homeworld, and was safe to go ahead with having Steven not knowing about the horror that was the Cluster down below. Let alone the slew of other problems to come. But overall Rose was a decent person who was very flawed just like the humans she adored so much 🤷‍♀.

[@featherlight2652]

The thing with Pink is that she was basically a child just with immense power until she grew up. It’s a bit like the Collector from The Owl House, and everybody loves them.

[@stinkymrsnow..............]

That's probably because he's alive

[@kul2130]

​​@@stinkymrsnow..............And also Rose ve done some bad things as an (somewhat.) adult, then Collector realized everything in one moment and as the same child completely changed his behavior. Just wanted to say: comparison is kinda incorrect due to major differences in characters.

[@stinkymrsnow..............]

@@kul2130 Spinel is more comparable to the Collector, but Pink/Rose is more comparable to Ariel from the 1989 little Mermaid in my opinion

[@oneeye9801]

@@stinkymrsnow..............maayyyybeeeee but the og version has ariel almost kill eric and then turn into sea foam… that part doesn’t fit rose

[@stinkymrsnow..............]

@@oneeye9801 I meant the Disney 1989 version

[@ghostein.stereo]

The fact that she saw humans as equals by giving herself up to have one showed much love she had for humans as a whole. She abandoned her past and everything she learned to help stop the colonization of a planet. No leader in war can be completely good - people’s lives are at risk and everything is a gamble. With everything Rose was given, I say ofc some things could’ve been handled differently but with how she was raised and how change doesn’t come naturally to gem, she did what she could.

[@salceds]

I'd also like to point out that Pink damaging Pink Pearl was what led to her mellowing out, when she was given Spinel to replace Pink Pearl as a playmate, she left her because she felt as though she'd grown past being someone's playmate.

[@TheMeloettaful]

It also reminds me of the statement White Diamond made to Steven about acting like a child. Pink essentially was a child compared to the other Diamonds. But by the time she finally got her first colony basically like you said she wanted to be taken more seriously and grown past being a playmate to others 🙁. Not only that just looking at her design she looks like a court jester of sorts. While the other Diamonds do love her they were never gonna take her seriously at the end of the day. Still makes me wonder to this day if she was overcooked like Amethyst was, and she was supposed to be red & big like Yellow & Blue 🤔. I betcha she would have had a colony a lot sooner than she did originally.

[@baraxor]

I may be interpreting Steven's dream differently, but it wasn't scarring Pink Pearl that really affected Pink Diamond (not to say that it didn't), it was Pink Pearl being taken away, apparently for conspiring with Pink to conceal her Diamond's unsuitable activities (while this is outside of canon, Pink Pearl also mouthed off at the other Diamonds in defense of her mistress, a grave crime by any Gem, much less a mere Pearl). This was the symbolic birth of Rose Quartz.

[@ersundesilimontartum5029]

I always took it as another sign of the other three diamonds just really not understanding Pink. When we saw pink in Stevens's dreams or heard about Pink from the Diamonds, we saw she enjoyed entertaining others. When she and Volleyball are playing, she is the one doing the tricks, juggling and the like. She was the Diamond responsible for planning and hosting parties, and she was the one who would do things like go to the bottom of the Diamond's bath to sing, so the other three could guess what she was singing. Pink seemed to prefer entertaining others over being entertained by others. It's not that she'd outgrown a playmate, so much as her and Spinel's preference for fun were too disjointed. The Diamonds creating Spinel for Pink in my opinion was akin to hearing an Artist you know has managed to break their easel, so you buy them a bunch of completed paintings. It may have been a well-meant act, but it was an improper match for the person.

[@joshuaculler717]

So, her solution is to abandon a living being with it's own emotions and free will, forcing it to stand alone in a garden for multiple, MULTIPLE years. Instead of Giving Spinel some other purpose.

[@ersundesilimontartum5029]

@@joshuaculler717 No-ones said her choice was OK. However, it is worth noting that Pink abandoned Spinel before Ruby and Sapphire first fused into Garnet. This would either make it before the war started at all, or at the point in time the only members of the crystal gems were Pink and Pearl. Before Garnet, we are told that Pink fought to protect the earth, but it had nothing to do with other gems. It was only after she met Garnet, that she realised that Gems did not have to follow the purposes they were given by Homeworld. The growth to think to give Spinel a different purpose did not occur for at least 150 years after she abandoned her. When she did that, she was still on the same mental wavelength as the rest of Homeworld, that gems were created for one purpose, and that was their only purpose.

[@paulshipper143]

I always thought she was a flawed person. In a world where everyone inspired to be perfect, she some how found beauty in flaws. At the very end, regardless of all of her friends and family, she decided to make a selfish and selfless decision to end her own existence and create a new one. She was apart of a ruling class and gave it all up for a planet that wasn't her own to create something she would never know. I also like to consider... we all know that Rose Quart and her 3 crystal gems were quite easily able to dominate earth. But instead of being conquerors of the humans, they allowed the humans to grow with very little interference from them. I think that speaks more than her interpersonal relationships with other gems

[@baraxor]

That's a very good point in favor of Rose. Even assisted only by Garnet and Pearl, and later Amethyst, Rose with her warp network and extensive surveillance system (demonstrated in her room) could have ruled like a Princess Bubblegum over primitive human societies indefinitely. If she wanted the whole Earth could have been The Zoo.

[@lukapainter9038]

Another thing to add onto the Spinel story line is that Spinel was always happy, always trying to play and I think Pink was at a time in her life where she wasn't happy, she didn't want to play games. Spinel was making her feel like a child just like how the other diamonds treated her as a child, and if she wanted to move on she felt she had to leave Spinel.

[@grapesauce5091]

The reverse arc was actually super cool, its just sad that people didnt see it like that. Rose just feels like a real person compared to other gems

[@mertensiam3384]

There's one thing everyone forgets about her relationship with Pearl, and it's that... Pearl never told her she felt jealous or didn't like Rose dating other people. She sings it herself "I was fine, with the men, who would come into her life now and again". She told Rose she was okay with it and Rose took it as the truth. And something people forget about Voleyball, is that it was an accident. Pink had an outburst of her destructive scream that hit Pink Pearl and harmed her in so many ways. Pink started changing after this becoming more reserved and repressing her feelings as much as she could, because she really regretted having hurt Voleyball so much

[@silentmuse6660]

I always thought that Rose, much like her gem, was a multifaceted being. She 'grew up' being told she was better than most others around her because of her diamond status, but she was also being treated as lesser by the other diamonds because she didn't fit the mold they expected. She was generally considered 'wrong' and 'childish' by the people considered her 'family,' to where she had to put on an act of acting like the other diamonds just to get even a smidge of respect from them, while hiding that she was a playful and generally childish person. Rose at first was just another way for Pink to push of her 'responsibilities' as a diamond and go have fun exploring the earth, which slowly transformed Rose into being this rebel leader that fought to save earth from being colonized because Pink became so interested in earth and all the life on it. Rose didn't become much of a 'good person' until she met Greg, because Greg was the first one who told her the way she treats him (and probably most other humans) wasn't all that great, and then started to change her way of thinking and treating the people around her.

[@Remiwi-bp6nw]

I feel like a lot of people forget that there are thousands of years between the bad stuff Pink did and when Rose was part of the Crystal Gems.

[@SirRebrl]

My thoughts on some of these points: 1) no notes, you covered this point as much as I would 2) Children throw tantrums because they feel impotent and don't have a grasp of their feelings and how to manage them. It's amoral, not good or bad, because it's not a _decision._ It's a state of overwhelm. Pink was in arrested development because she was never given a chance to make decisions like an adult. She was squarely pegged into a child role no matter how old she was. And so she felt impotent, and had no basis for emotional management as she only grew more frustrated with her status. Her harming her Pearl was a catalyst for her to change, though, because it was a permanent consequence of her lack of control. How she _responded_ to that event can be a basis for judging her, but the event itself is not. 3) I don't think Pink/Rose had a sense of _commitment_ in relationships before Greg. She had flings, for fun. That's what every human had been to her before Greg, and that's how being with the gems around her was, too. They just lived longer than the humans did, and had no reason to go separate ways. I don't fault Pearl for feeling possessive over Rose given all they'd been through together, but that doesn't make her right. And I don't think there was any way, really, for Rose to let Pearl go easy. Pearl knew what was going on. She was beginning to grieve when she recognized that Greg was different for Rose than all the humans before. But she fought it, because she needed her status with Rose to feel special. Rose definitionally could not relieve her of that, because any affirmation from Rose would be... an affirmation from Rose. 4) again, no notes, she had precarious, high stakes decisions to make and frequently lying was just the safer option - Rose chose safety over maybe being more ethical, but what's the morality of that really? 5) Pink/Rose _did_ change in her life, but I don't think after everything she really had any faith in gems changing. Her circumstances changed enough that maybe she was herself as always being the same and just acting different in response to different circumstances. She was ecstatic for how humans are hard-coded for change, though. Something worth noting here is that when gems fuse, they share something of themselves - but _not one of the gems around her_ realized that Rose was Pink. She was hiding that _hard._ I don't think her point was to saddle Steven with her mess, but I do think that she believed she wasn't good enough, couldn't _change_ enough, to make everything right. But maybe her kid could be better, because her kid would be human. Pink Rose was better than a "good person" or "bad person". She was an interesting, complex person. But a lot of people want to be able to label other people and fictional characters as "good" or "bad", because it's more comfortable than "it's complicated", and that's why she polarizes the fan base. If the writers hadn't done a good job of crafting a gray character, the fan base would be a lot less divided.

[@malak-ij4lf]

The entire character of rose can be summed up as a quote from early book three zuko: "why am I so bad at being good?!"

[@sneakysam6564]

I wish the bismuth thing was better contextualized as causing in fighting in the rebellion as opposed to “I’m gonna shatter you with it” and her diamond sisters. More than those though, I wish/headcanon that the primary reason she bubbled bismuth is that Bismuth knew that the sword couldn’t of shattered pink

[@Youknowjoe187]

“Sign me the fuck up my diamond” 💀💀💀

[@boxseven]

I have had this same conversation before. The thing that I think tends to get glossed over is the crazy abuse that she had as Pink. It's implied that the other diamonds would poof her for punishment in addition to locking her in the room and that's super messed up. She seems spoiled, but also that lashing out is not different from abused children with behavioral issues. I think it's weird that Steven and the Gems all decide that she is bad when they look through a lens of empathy for everyone else. For lack of a better analogy, she's like if Hitler's child started out as a good nazi youth and then went on to become Oscar Schlinder

[@sheepysnowtato824]

5:19 I can't remember who, but I think someone else in another Rose analysis video theorized/said that part of why Rose and Spinel's friendship didn't work out was because 1, like you said it was forced and purely to pacify Pink dismissively so the Diamonds wouldn't have to actually give her what she wanted, but also because 2, Pink could've consciously or unconsciously seen it as a sort for replacement for Pink Pearl who she could've still been grieving for. Kind of like how a child is given a new pet right after their old one died, or bought another toy after they lose the one that was actually special to them. It's artificial and feels like it's just to get them to shut up and stop being upset already.

[@marinao4412]

I think future as a whole gives some interesting subtext to rose/pink, because mostly I would say (and have seen other people say) that her ultimate fatal flaw was avoidance. she left a lot of harmful loose ends (abandoning spinel, leaving bismuth bubbled, giving her first pearl to white diamond instead of making amends, making our pearl unable to talk about her full life) that could have been resolved if she'd confronted and dealt with them, but one thing that I think is very relevant is that our pearl didn't even _know_ pink had destructive powers. she never let herself get to that level of anger around other people, and since pearl didn't seem to have an inkling about her problems with rage, then she was almost certainly dealing with it by suppressing those emotions on her own instead of reaching out and getting help from others to deal with it in a healthy way. I feel like with future, the subtext becomes that avoidance was her last-resort tactic to stop herself from accidentally blowing up at people and doing permanent damage.

[@DarkPrincessAly]

I think Rose's evolution is one of many revolutionary depictions within Steven Universe. It was the first time I really saw a Truly complex and morally gray character in a kid's show. Which I think is important. It's important to teach kids that people and their lives can be extremely messy, that nobody really has anything figured out and that we're all making it up as we go. And, sometimes, we hurt people - even those we love. For the most part, there is no pure good or evil, just a lot of people with a lot of pain doing their best. Trying to be better than the day before. Kids who aren't taught this and are completely sheltered from the horrors of humanity grow into naive and vulnerable adults who shut down and have their worldview shattered before the age of 30. The ones who are taught these things are prepared for complex relationships and the uncertainty of the future in an ever changing society. We actually kind of see this transformation in Steven: a happy and naive kid that has an idealized view of the world and how it should work is suddenly thrust into reality somewhat unwillingly. Seeing how wrong he was, he has trouble transitioning into adulthood because he cannot cope with the harsh reality that was hidden from him up to that point. He gets mad at his guardians for keeping secrets from him and not telling him Important Information because they don't see him as capable of understanding or ready to know. He fumbles new relationships due to not knowing how to actually interact with people. He's a kid in an adult's body, in large part because he wasn't told the darker secrets of his family history until he was on the cusp of adulthood. With no time to grow into that knowledge, how is anybody supposed to transition smoothly, let alone those with trauma?

[@ani-ma-tion5326]

The Diamond authority no matter how many times people scream at me, represent a very dysfunctional family, even stated by Rebecca in the book. Pink Diamond was basically a spoiled princess with her sisters who were parental figures when her actual mother (speaking as that’s what White represents in this) was a neglectful, narcissistic perfectionist who treated Yellow and Blue incredibly harsh compared to Pink, Yellow and Blue were just doing what they were raised to think was normal, so they treated Pink in an abusive manner. Pink is one of those characters who is morally grey, She’s basically a representation of what it’s like to grow up in an abusive family, even though she wanted to leave that cycle behind, it still followed her. She grew as Rose but still, she wasn’t necessarily “good” and like you said with Spinel, it’s like leaving something behind that someone toxic gave you. Not an excuse but I can see the mindset.

[@bikerboys1106]

She gave up being a diamond, she fought against the diamonds. She gave up everyone and everything for a planet. She didnt outrun her problems. She thought she solved them. Shes a good person. People change. She changed.

[@iLikeScara]

awesome video, i hate hearing just "rose bad" "rose good" when she's obviously so much more complex than that. people seem to just nitpick certain aspects of rose to fit their narrative and ignore everything else at times

[@tellmeaboutyourgame314]

Important to remember that Rose lived on earth for like 10,000 years. Humans were uniformly sparsely populous hunter-gatherers when she arrived. That's multiple times the length of the Roman Empire. We only see her in quick flashbacks, and it disguises the fact that the person we see is really not the same person from flashback to flashback

[@decrepitdebauchery]

honestly, the fact that she can be either loved or hated is amazing to me. like, a lot of the time with characters, people can attach themselves to and love characters that theyd never like in real life. but no matter how “good” or “bad” a _real_ person is, someone can always love or hate them. and i think thats amazing. ironically, shes the most human of all. shes made horrible mistakes. shes hurt people. shes grown. shes changed. shes loved. and shes moved past it. and people are entitled to love or hate her because of it, just like theyre entitled to love or hate a _human being._

[@eeveefennecfox]

10:38 even so,that is the most genuine and heart wrenching thing,I think that part always makes me cry

[@NoCommentChick]

I mean, when you think of the transition from Pink to Rose to Steven, it's like a ship of Theseus situation. It's also a question that Steven ultimately has to leave behind to be his own person.

[@simonebressanin2012]

I rewatched the show and read the artbooks "Art and Origins" and "End of an Era". There Rose/Pink is described as a gem that thought so low of herself, due to how she was treated by the other diamonds, that she is unable to form healthy relationships with others because she doesn't believe she can be better. That is until she met Greg and finally understood the power of being human and change. She had become Rose Quartz because she hated being Pink Diamond and now she had the opportunity to become a human being and finally grow, change. It was both selfish and selfless to become Steven and leave the crystal gems, but it definetly wans't an excuse to escape from her problems and leave them to Steven. As for the horrible actions she did as a diamond, she is supposed to represent the most instictive part of the self, doing things because she just wants and experiencing extreme emotions and fascination; she is a powerful energy that finds everything but herself interesting. Therefore she's careless, impulsive and she can't see other people/gems as threedimensional individuals with flaws. She's such an interesting, deep character that it's easier to just look at the surface level and see her either as a horrible diamond that used everyone or a caring and genuine person and leader. It takes a more critical eye to really understand the reason of her actions, but i encourage anyone who wants to see what the writers of the show thought of her to read the artbooks

[@kacklina]

I don't think Rose was evil, I think she was humanly coward. She just didn't really want to confront anyone, she felt weak in front of others, to the point that she had to reinvent herself as someone else to do so, or even to feel she could get close to them. I think she is a lot like Steven, but he is brave enough to say all that has to be said despite hating confrontations. She is an example of how Steven's gentle personality could fail and become something else entirely if he didn't have the courage to constantly open up and say all that needs to be said. Rose avoided the little fights and things just grew up. She couldn't even tell Spinel, she find her annoying with time, that she wanted something that felt real, that she was leaving, even if she thougth less of her, she was afraid of hurting and confronting even in the smallest of ways, and that made her unknowingly committ great acts of cruelty.

[@learn2chillax]

In Spinel's case, Rose likely couldn't easily get her due to 1. Spinel has 0 reason to join the War as she was literally MADE to be Pink Diamond's happiness. Spinel was happy/too content for the Gem War. and 2. Even if Rose wanted to get her back, she likely couldn't in a easy manor, ESPECIALLY after the war ended. I don't think the decision with Pink Pearl was bad, more so showing how abused victims can be prone to anger like what PD did when living in a abusive household. It's not a excuse but a explanation, and after she hurt Pink Pearl, that clearly started the domino chinn of Pink D trying to be a better person. I do also agree that it wasn't 100% evil, an accident but regardless, it did it's damage. I do agree in believing Rose did love Pearl but I also wonder if the situation with Pink Pearl made Rose feel like Pearl shouldn't be with her for too long or she'll get hurt too, not realizing she still hurt Pearl by choosing to have Steven. Especially since Pink Pearl had visible damage from her trauma, Pearl, did not but still has her own trauma. PD/Rose hurt her Pearls emotionally and hot damn... ALSO I AGREE, I LOVE BISMUTH XD Agreed, she should've told somebody about the situation with Bismuth. Making Pearl to promise to not talk about her being PD.... that also has it's fair share of "I can see why"/"Yikes". The Crystal Gems can't know that since, fighting for their freedom would feel like a lie since they still followed a Diamond. But Pink D genuinely wanted to help gems after meeting Garnet for the first time besides freeing the Earth. Pearl talking to Sapphire shows how much it got to her and it would've been the same for lots of other Crystal Gems if the survived the Corruption Blast. But, also Sapphire said "SHE **LIED** TO US!", showing that Sapphire was hurt that she wasn't trusted enough to know and that makes sense why it pisses her off compared to Ruby. Sapphire is to have implied to have chatted often or often enough with Blue Diamond to look for stuff/topics with her Future Vision. They presumably talked about inside info. Also, aside from seeing Pink Diamond as an enemy. Ruby was just a guard who had to guard, knowing nothing much beyond "Protect this Sapphire." Plus, when you remember how Pearl was faking Peridot tracks to form Sardonyx... she wasn't just lying to the team, she was lying to **Garnet** to fuse with her and that pissed off both Ruby and Sapphire for reasons explained in Keystone Motel. Yet interestingly with the PD truth, Sapphire in contrast to Keystone Motel (and similar to Ruby), reacted majorly in the present, as opposed to her Passive albeit Tranquil Fury while Ruby decided to take the time to find herself and what SHE wants now and for the **future**, in contrast to how she acted in Keystone Motel (similar to Sapphire but without the elemental outburst). Amethyst handled this emotionally very well, especially when you remember she met the Famethyst who'll still be apart of her family if she removes PD/Rose and what's done is done, thinking "How does Steven feel about this? I should help him, since he's her kid and is probably taking this pretty badly." Bismuth, in contrast to her debut, took it well since she noticed a lot of things didn't add up and that, before she poofed, she realized Steven for who **he** is. If anything she sooner felt like she no longer belongs since she almost killed Steven, the Crystal Gem's new leader. (Thankfully the team forgave her, since she isn't a bad gem, imo.) But yeah, great video! I enjoy talks about Rose since that grey writing is so good in sparking these discussions~^^

[@rosequartz122]

Diamonds: commicted genocide , they are idolyzed Pink diamond: left spinel in the garden , she was SATAN

[@Hiphilmahooters]

I agree with the sentiment that thinking of Rose in such black & white context takes away from a proper analysis of her growth and character. Whether she’s good or not detracts from the attention her personal growth deserves. She went from a tantruming “teen” to a “woman” by learning through new experiences outside of what her society projected for her and the other gems. Garnet meeting Rose as a fusion was life changing for both of them!

[@E-nfileexe]

Theres a line that Pearl says in the episode where she teaches Connie to sword fight that I think often gets overlooked Its when she ends up having an emotional moment of vulnerability and says something that feels almost like a Traumatic cry that she cried before "Why wont you let me do this for you rose" A lot of people end up overlooking this line and then continue to say that Rose always let or wanted Pearl to jump into fight and do things for her but it was Rose that telling Pearl NOT to do things for her and to have her to NOT keep trying to fight and die for Rose.

[@johnman8398]

Rose isn't perfect but she became a good person. I think a lot of people forget that you can still do bad things and be a good person just like you can do good things and still be a bad person. And honestly I find it hard to blame some of the bad stuff she's involved in when a lot of the time its done unintentionally or done with good intententions.

[@povarensky]

I always didn't understand why people have hard time feeling empathy towards Rose, but go easy on other Diamonds, like Yellow and Blue. Like, helloooo, they're literal dictators? They abused, shattered and mistreated other gems long AFTER Pink/Rose already did understand that it's wrong. The fact that we didn't see their bad behavior often on the show doesn't mean it didn't happen within show's universe. It's clearly implied. Rose tried her best to change while other Diamonds continued to be dictators, lol. Like, I get that they're all abused and all, but people go way harder on Rose - I don't get it. I never understood that emphasis on Rose's flaws and easy forgiveness of Diamonds amongst the fandom. I think the main thing about being a "good person" is about wish and effort to change. It's far more grater and more important than being "good" from the start. But tbh I hate the very concept of "good/bad person" - I think it's very dumb and hurts our society.

[@bradens.3125]

it is interesting to see how much she changes as a gem/person looking at her growth on a chronological scale

[@orangejuice6360]

as someone that didn't had the best outcomes in life, Rose is a perfect depiction of a flawed person and mother.

[@m0m055]

I think the show gives you total freedom when it comes to the opinion you can have about her, but it pushes you to question her actions and her motivations, which are always at the heart of broad, legitimate questions that fit the show's themes of family and self-help.

[@SylviaRustyFae]

counterpt: Is there such a thing as someone who is "a good person"? Or perhaps its not ones personage that gets labeled good or not; its individual actions and we cant just tally up all their actions and determine if they were good or not. Its a lot easier to identify someone who is actively a bad person than it is to identify someone who is actively a good person; bcuz a single flaw can oft be enuf to remove the label entirely from the "good person", but a dozen good acts by an "evil person" is almost nvr enuf bcuz of the fact that one evil act counts much more against a person than one good act counts for them Was Rose a good person? Thats the wrong question. Was Rose a person who acted with good intentions? Thats a prty easy answer to give i feel; yes. She did bad things and good things to achieve such ends, and it must be remembered that she herself was a child of trauma and thus has a warped sense of reality and that no doubt led to a lot of her secrecy and her doin things behind ppls backs like bubblin Bismuth Rose fully believed that no one but Pearl wud understand her not bein Pink Diamond anymore, no one but Pearl wud ever still love her if they knew her truth. She and her army of crystal gems were ostensibly fighting against Pink Diamond; for her to reveal that secret to her troops wudve put her in extreme jeopardy. She no doubt feared they wud turn on her and cast her out bcuz she was born a diamond and cud thus nvr stop bein a diamond... And who was it that taught her that? The diamonds. The diamonds had shown that she must be set apart from all the rest, the diamonds had shown that they must rule; not lead, the diamonds had shown what authority is like to her You cant rly blame someone for bein brainwashed and actin in bad ways bcuz of it; tho you can totes blame someone for not tryin to undo any of that ever... And you can totes blame someone for takin the easy road to get out of the problems and saddlin their offspring with the problems Was Rose a good person? No, but she did do things with good intentions; which is what i think shud rly matter... Not whether her heart is lighter than a feather or some other balance of good and evil nonsense. I dont believe that Rose ever acted with bad intentions, regardless of the result of her actions or even the seemingly clearly bad actions like lockin up Bismuth, just to keep her secret; but even then... she believed that not doin such wudve resulted in the crystal gems turnin on her and maybe even shatterin her bcuz she is a diamond; the sworn enemies of the crystal gems.

[@badangil]

I think Rose said "your going to be human" in that tape. I think rose intended for Steven to have a human life, unbothered by the diamonds. Unfortunately he got roped into it, so she gave him her powers.

[@smokeyskeet1694]

Seeing Pearl in the movies made me realize how much development she had to have went through off screen with pink diamond. It seems like over time she fell in love with Rose’s rebelliousness and morals even though she was made to serve pink diamond. Pink diamond had been put off by pearl’s blank minded obedience to her and the other diamonds. Rose started to like pearl once she became adventurous, started breaking the rules with and for pink/rose. Just my opinion and I’m using pink/rose like “they’re the same person, but different” ya know?

[@demonsdreams]

Pink diamond felt like the perfect depiction of youngest sibling syndrome(tm) in an abusive household. One of those traits that was shown vividly in "now we're only falling apart" is that its common that when you're the youngest family member (especially with a large age gap like whats implied) you're always in a state of being the "baby," even when you've matured out of your childishness to a degree that's infantilizing and dehumanizing. It's not surprising to me that Rose was actually able to become a better person when she finally broke away from that and was for once, allowed to be a person.

[@KingofAces5912]

In DnD, the term for Rose's alignment would be Chaotic Good.

[@SaiScribbles]

Bubbling Bismuth and silencing Pearl were to me Rose slipping back into the ease of her Diamond privilege. She may have been disregarded and felt like she had no control over anything compared to the others but she was still a Diamond. I don't think she ever fully shook that. But she was just a flawed person like any other.

[@ryuspiritvtuber]

I believe Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond is in the grey area. Ok sure, she cause the gem war, lied to her crystal gems, kept Bismuth in a bubble, hurting pink Pearl, left Spinel all alone, took over earth and left Greg to raise Steven but she didn’t knew anything about humans until she found a tribe of humans and a beautiful nature. She loved and respected earth and wanted to share her love with the crystal gem including Steven. That’s what makes Rose Quartz herself

[@Diamond1234]

Rose in indeed a person, a person who has flaws and made mistakes she never made up for and made changes that changed people's lives for the better too. She's a gem that grew into a human and defied her upbringing and did her best ever since she realized the harm she did towards her former playmates. She had the most character development in the show and she's my favorite character for it.

[@Muyiam]

Rose simply isn't either good or bad. She's just a person that sometimes did good things and sometimes awful ones. But you can really see that by the end of her life she was working really hard to make mostly good things. She had learned to cherish and respect all kinds of lives and wanted to help as much as possible, especially humans. So much so that she wanted to be one, and since that was obviously impossible, she decided to at least be a part of a human. And by doing so, she created the only being in the entire universe that could act as a bridge between humanity and gem-kind. I'm not sure if this was her intention as well or if she really only wanted to bring a human into the world, but that's simply the truth. No one but Steven could have been able to *peacefully* stop the war and stop the gem empire as a whole.

[@TheGoldNinja101]

Pink Diamond was never a villian, but it led me to understand her feelings as a diamond. I still love Rose Quartz, even if she did bad things as a diamond, she doesn't deserve to be hated after being found out. Pink diamond was abused, which she's less likely to abide with the Diamond authority. Blue and Yellow hurt Pink as a dumb punishment. I know exactly how Pink feels, being forced out and left alone just to suffer this punishment. This is also this unforgiving feeling and I get how hurt she really felt as a Diamond. The Diamonds invalidated love for Pink, just to expand their Diamond empire. The Spinnel case. After the Diamonds invalidating their love for Pink, It led to a domino effect that She invalidated her love for Spinnel. It led her to be tired of Spinnel after a while. It makes feelings of love to become so dull, meaning love doesn't exist only in perspective. She still have a lovely spirit when she entered Earth illegally according to gem law. She has intent to attempt to halt colonization. She's the only diamond who's good. I'm starting to imply feelings being code inside humans. What do or don't you desire?

[@batmanbatman3840]

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." -matthew 7

[@genera1013]

I always viewed Rose as a flawed but not malicious character. Her damage was unintentional and I tried not to hold it against her. Until Spinel. It might just be because I relate to Spinel(Mom walked out on us for a few years and acted like everything was fine when she came back), but it wad the straw that broke my ability to forgive Rose. She could have found a way to go get her. She chose to leave her there knowing she'd wait. Forever.

[@jennawenna-vn2yf]

rose/pink d was honestly a great character. yeah she had her ups and downs but so did the other characters + she had just as much trauma just like the others. she was shut out by her family, the only people she had was the gems and greg but they didn’t even know who she truly was and what she actually felt, except for pearl ofc. she’s a great written character, i just kinda wished we had more of her

[@namelessnavnls8060]

I think she's a seriously traumatized, messed up person who has been through some sh~t and was trying to deal with things how she thought best but also how she _wanted_ to. That's where a lot of her mistakes appear. She did what she wanted a lot more than what was actually morally right. But honestly a lot of real people do the same damn thing and you don't see us making character analysis videos about them. (Well. Most of them. Pff-)

[@Monica_bondevik]

Pink diamond is actually my favourite character in SU because she's a complex character.

[@Julnz]

I feel like a lot of people overlook that Rose/Pink was under the impression that Homeworld had no interest in Earth up until that point. It's somewhat implied that Rose had no idea that the cluster or the gem mutants existed, which is the reason Yellow Diamond took interest in the earth again. The Cluster was made when the diamonds decided that the earth was no longer suitable to be a colony. I don't think the diamonds would wanna tell her that the colony she's trying to save was going to be blown up for their "experiment"; the least thing they want is for Pink to have another tantrum. Not to mention that after roughly 6000 years they had never seen any interference from any other gems besides the corrupted remnants, so Rose was under the impression that Steven would be able to live a fairly normal life. Sure, it could've been in the back of her mind that Homeworld may randomly find interest in Earth again, but after 6000 years of nothing you stop worrying a bit lmao

[@RPGLover87]

I see Pink Diamond abandoning Spinel as the first (bad) step in trying to resolve her anger issues. She had already cracked her Pearl and had to get a replacement and could feel Spinel starting to get on her nerves, so, afraid to stand up and just say "Sorry, you aren't coming because I don't respect you as a person and I'm afraid that my sisters would see you as making me look childish", she just distanced herself from her to protect her from pissing her off.

[@bigbeeks]

dude the edit in the beginning is absolute fire and this video is so well made oml

[@_TinyHyeju_]

I think rose is a really complex character that still had good intentions. The reason most ppl hate her is cuz we’re shown her character development backwards, starting as a hero then learning more about her messed up action as the series goes on

[@mimibreyes3532]

1) About Roses room I think while Rose is no more, Steven actually speaks to her in the room, pr rather who she was when she last was alive, that some kind of shadow is left behind and hes able to communicate with her Because she acts VERY differently from the other copies 2) I think Rose was very enamoured with creating life, because of the pebbles and her being excited for gems being born in her colony, so it makes sense she wanted to be a mother, even if she dissapeared because of it, and also her love of humans and their ability to be however they want and change constantly

[@spriken]

I agree about Rose's room, I think it's telling about when the room glitched out, and how real Greg still was. It was almost like two sets of memories were generating him.

[@TGOArchive]

A lot of people are calling Rose a bad person is the reason why cancel culture is not justified sometimes. Idk why but… a lot of people LOVE canceling people who either learned their lessons and moved on from there- opening old wounds for no reason, or straight up DIED years ago. Obviously there are times where cancel-culture does a good job, but 7/10 it’s unnecessary.

[@deano8894]

pink diamond is pretty much what those adults who think kids cartoons are secretly for adults actually fans actually want, a complex and morally gray character who did bad things and good things but neither outweigh each other but here we are with this discourse anyway i think pink diamond tried to be a good person but her inability to make peace with her past kept snowballing

[@MrHoboman12]

I think she’s a bad person that was trying to be a good person but didn’t have a good therapist to help her work everything out. She also didn’t have time to figure out the loose ends in her life

[@darkmask5933]

I think Rose/Pink tries to be a good person and had a lot of growth from where she started, but just like real people (and yes I am ignoring Rose saying 'I am not a real person', she is still a sentient being with wants and feelings) just because you try and generally be good doesn't mean you always succeed and don't sometimes do things that could be considered cowardly or selfish. I think the issue people have is Rose was introduced on such a pedestal that anything that took her down from it immediately makes her look like an awful person in comparison.

[@sailorsagittarius8526]

This situation of Steven being a diamond and the Pink D. makes me worried about Steven, but also worried that he makes the same psth as Pink.

[@chloele7651]

This is such a broad question, thats like asking everyday people of they’re bad people. Everyone in Steven Universe has their own trauma that made them bad. Pink suffered a lot of trauma from the other diamonds and we see that in the later seasons and a little in the movie so idk it depends on the people she hurt ig. What she did to pearl, lying to garnet, poofing bismuth, lying to the other diamonds and even spinel

[@Sammy_The_Umbreon]

You just summed up almost all my thoughts on Pink/Rose perfectly. Amazing, 10/10, love it

[@jamesscott7215]

Honestly I think the best way to understand roses character is to listen to “Love like you” from the perspective of Rose talking about Greg.

[@texantourguide]

Gems aren't born with empathy, they have to learn it. Gems don't naturally have natural empathetic emotions

[@Demokuma]

So in cronological order to answer that question would be like No, Maybe..., Yeah she's pretty good

[@naomiassor1784]

It doesn’t matter what her intentions meant it matters what she achieved

[@doomus_]

tldr nobody truly is only good or only bad. everyone has different good and bad actions theyve done and it really all depends on opinion.

[@mikeyhamato2012]

I always get emotional, when I listen to the Roses Fountain theme, because I always wanted to change just like her. In my teen years, I was very angry and bitter and I took it out of so many people. This is not an excuse, but an explanation. My childhood was not the easiest, neither were my teenage years. So I felt like: “If I cannot be happy, why should I let others feel that privilege? That is unfair!” I want to change, like Rose, I want to become a better person, though the things I did will always be a part of me. I will never be a good person ever again. I know I will forever be neutral. In 2020, I had a fight with a girl and it was a whole mess of a situation, which I take the responsibility for. I had the stupid idea of “bullying her enough, so that she will leave me alone.” I could have just blocked her instead. But I did not. I was just so toxic towards her. Last year, I decided to apologise to her. She told me to off myself and how I will forever stay a terrible person. Her rage is justified, yet I cannot help but feel hurt. I deserve it though, because I hurt her in 2020. That is why Rose was always my favourite character. Because she managed to change. But I am hesitant on claiming that I am deserving of love, when I hurt so many people around me. I may be an adult now, but it really is not that long ago. I feel like I lost the opportunity to be good a while ago. Rose did not, at least.

[@emuwu6125]

Your doing good now good enough, that you know you could've done better things Even if you are an "adult" that doesn't mean you can't grow anymore Hugs//

[@mikeyhamato2012]

@@emuwu6125 Not sure, to be honest. Considering that someone, whom I apologised to, told me to go sh00t myself. :( Clearly, I am not forgiven. And I did tell her in my apology, that I did not ask for her forgiveness. Still, I guess I am a hypocrite for feeling hurt at the sudden backlash I received. I am completely lonely, I isolate myself from people. I feel like I do not deserve to be happy. Or find love. I was just so destructive, like Pink Diamond. Now I will spend the rest of my life cleaning up that mess and every day, trying to be the best version of myself.

[@randomdatacollection]

"...every moment you love yourself, thats me, loving you, loving BEING you..." is very... how do I put this... existentially dreadful? like no wonder dude had problems, he couldn't even trust his own self-love because of this.

[@gracekim25]

I think at the end of her life she was but it’s very complicated 😅

[@bug9615]

got so excited to see you post another steven vid - u talk so in depth and make me realize things i couldn’t have realized after watching the show for years

[@Somedudeonline2023]

ngl your videos made me realise just how good Steven uni actually is

[@BooWho-kw6eg]

Rose overtime may have grown to the path of a decent person. But my issue is Rose was always shown as the (child) of the diamonds. Pink always wanted to strive like her family, hell she got her first colony and everything happened after. She may have many good intentions but she's ignorant of what her actions cause. In response to her actions she lives the moments rather than the aftermath of it all!

[@SoulGTReal]

Rose was kinda like peridot where she had to have development to be better, kind of like learning more about humans and how they work, or learning to communicate in a good way to free where he didn't feel like their love was a joke Basically she was kinda bad at first (the spinel situation kind of screwed my feelings about her being a good person) but overtime and with learning she became a better person

[@corvinsebastiand.paylangco7805]

Rose probably had Steven bc she thought that homeworld was done with their goofy moofy choofy shenanigans so she assumed that her child could live a carefree life or smth

[@Zeyox96]

I honestly believe Rose became a good person. She started out... Just plain bad. A product of her environment, sure, but that doesn't take away that she was bad. But when she really, truly started to see how she was having a bad impact on those around her (Pink Pearl and all the life on earth, for example) she tried to do and be better, and she changed. That's not to say she overcame every character flaw she had, or even was aware of all of them to begin with. She WAS *NOT* perfect. What she WAS, was someone who tried her best to be good to others and someone who self corrected to the best of her ability when she realized she was hurting those she cared about. And I think that is honestly the most we can expect out of anyone.

[@hrishikari8600]

a little late lmfao but i personally believe that rose is the best person she could be. innately, at least, she is a good person and taking into account what she has gone through and what kind of position she "grew up" in (and the fact she never went to therapy lol) she is a surprisingly good person. though faltering at times, most always having a positive outlook, always thinking about others. even in one of the most "selfish" and, well, last moments she still did what was best for another. to sacrifice her life for another one to blossom. and one of her worst actions, silencing pearl, she still did for the good of others. for humanity, for the rebellion, for her family, for pearl.

[@joekoeussa798]

Omg i need a talk with Rebecca IMMEDIATELY like nowwwww

[@GreyAcumen]

Rose was never a good person, but she was pursuing something better, and in some ways, that's even more than simply "being good"

[@spriken]

Pink Pearl and a bit Spinel: Hurting Pearl was an accident and I think it really traumatized her making it hard for her to get close to others. In the flashbacks, Pink never looks happy with Spinel because she was past playing and didn't want that closeness. It's not said in the song but if you watch the body language Pink tells Spinel she can't come and Spinel refuses to listen (likely because Pink was expected to be responsible and not play like Spinel thought they were gonna do). What would another Diamond do with a gem that no longer served a purpose? I don't know but Peridot speaks of gems being harvested for their power... Pearl and Rose: It always seemed like she was quite clear to Pearl that she wasn't in love with her. In a normal setting when people have that kind of situation they can distance themselves but here the only option would be to split the group and leave someone alone. Lying about who she was: I do think it was the right choice... See if she had started the war as Pink many many more gems would have followed her but her being a Diamond it wouldn't have been their choice, would it? She would be asking gems to sacrifice their lives for something without any say so. But as Pink, every gem in her army made that choice on their own without feeling pressured by her Diamondness.

[@SilverScribe85]

Rose may have lied...but have we all forgotten all the good things she's done?

[@idreadFell365]

Like saving the earth, liberating gems, defending humanity and people are turning on her for being no different from them?

[@SilverScribe85]

@@idreadFell365 Exactly...and yet, the moment the Pink Diamond reveal happened, the moment Spinel arrived and after the events of Future played out; everybody's decided Rose is a worthless piece of trash

[@pinksoda8702]

The good doesn't change the fact she never tried to own up to the bad just saying even George Washington had slaves

[@bat_nick]

that was the idea, being a grey character and they made it so well , all Steven universe characters (or at least main cast) really don't ever feel flat and that's why I love the show, some times I hate rose so much but then I remember how I felt after watching the tape episode being so emotional, just the idea that I can't decide how I feel about a character is great. The intro edit was so good btw

[@niooshaes232]

Wow you really had some good points there... I used to think that rose was a total jerk But now that i think about, I think that rose WAS a bad person and hurt a lot of people but changed into a better person at the end when she met Greg and started living on earth

[@Amazon._Prime]

I think rose was a Good person. The only Real mistake she made was leaving bismuth in lion’s mane and pretend that nothing happened and she even lied to pearl, garnet and the rest of the crystal gems. Well, I don’t count Spinel because we don’t know rose’s side of the story.

[@anto-qe4rs]

I LOVED the edit!

[@veronicapiccinini7956]

I believe she’s not good nor bad. She’s just flawed like us. She messes up, sometimes to the point of making huge blunders, but it’s more out of ignorance rather than malice. It’s not like she enjoys hurting people. She hurt Volleyball in a violent tantrum by accident, but deeply regret it, which is why she didn’t fall in love with Pearl. She abandoned Spinel only because the Diamonds taught her that Spinel’s purpose is not unlike of a toy people would eventually outgrow it. She caused the Gem War and ended her relationship with the other Diamond only to protect Earth for further damage and because, even if they loved her, they abused her using all methods except sexual abuse (Yellow was physically abusive, even locking her in a room for many millenia; Blue was emotionally abusive, as she guilt-tripped her and made her cry with or without her powers many times; and White was psychological abusive since she constant gaslighting and control freakness), so leaving that toxic environment was a good choice actually. She treated humans as defenseless pets, until Greg calls her out for it, since they have sentience and, unlike Gems, they grow many times, something that even Pink was envious of. And no, she didn’t give birth to Steven, so he could make up her mistakes and stop the Gem War for good in her place. That was ALL THE CRYSTAL GEMS’ fault. She created him only because she wanted he would experience growth and live his own life as a human being, something that he did it at the end of Future.

[@goofy._.goober]

Dude your editing is amazing!!!

[@noahdrboss]

love the content, love the pace! your channel is going to blow up if you keep up the work! ❤