just popping in to say that erasing this part of Rose’s identity also flattens out her character. if you ever hear someone complain that Rose, or like, a ship that Rose is a part of, is boring? it’s usually because someone took her at face value, with her verbose speaking style and interest in books and stuff, and decided she was a stuffy killjoy without really looking any further.
I’ve said this before, but Rose is an attention seeker. she’s a light player, and this is a manifestation of that, but she’s also a neglected kid. her mom wasn’t fully there for her… beta universe Roxy was, by Rose’s assessment, distant, aloof, often inebriated, and didn’t understand Rose or her interests. and Rose made herself into a bit of a puzzle as a response to this, which furthered the disconnect. Rose acts aloof and mysterious because A. she’s a bit spiteful, and wants her mom to try harder to figure her out, B. she’s acting like her perception of her mom, who she does admire and want attention from deep down, but who she also doesn’t understand, and C. she wants to entice other people into paying attention, because they’re aware that they don’t know what she’s up to. it’s not even just her mom… Rose wants to fill the niche of being intelligent and mysterious among her friends as well.
on a deeper level though, Rose wants to be acknowledged as valuable to her friends and family. it’s implied early in homestuck that Rose would make empty suicide threats at home with the base emotional motive of “if I died, would you care?” driving her actions.
later, when Rose goes grimdark, she goes to fight Jack knowing that she can’t beat him and will probably die, because to her, it’s worth it. her mom is dead. and that was someone that she spent her whole life giving all of her own attention to. Rose’s greatest desire was to have a reciprocated mother/daughter bond with that woman and now she’s missed her chance entirely. Rose is sad, and angry, and fighting Jack seems like the only thing left to do. even if she knows it’s too little, too late. it’s a fixation to fill the void.
and then comes the Tumor mission. in this, Rose has created a plan where she is the keystone. her intellectual ability to navigate through the furthest ring makes her indispensable in this plan that she has crafted. it’s exactly the sort of classic mortality-based attention grab that Rose would pull. but this time, as if she even had to ask anymore, someone is here to say “yes, I would care if you died” and that someone is Dave. all of her friends feel this way, but they don’t know what to do. Dave is both capable, and straight up willing to take Rose’s place and die so she can live. he thinks she’s too valuable to lose. and that is everything to Rose. it’s all she’s ever wanted a family member to feel about her. and knowing that, of course she can’t let Dave take her place. it’s out of the question. she’s always wanted to reciprocate those feelings, and she does. Dave is valuable. she can’t lose him.
in the end, they go together. and in the end, they come out okay. and it’s honestly so poetic in terms of their aspects… light, and void. Rose was chasing the void where she wished her mom could be, and even chose to embody void in her darkest moments. but then she is revived, and navigates through the void to complete her mission, for the sake of the people she loves and cares about. she is resurrected by creating a sun the size of two universes… an object so big and bright that it can be seen across the full scope of the story’s setting, even across the void that separates multiple sessions. and it is the beacon that brings everyone together, to meet face to face for the first time. Rose is everyone’s guide from then on. she is recognized as indispensable.