Hey Checkov, in terms of theme and character development what would you say (without revealing spoilers) are the biggest obstacles Rose has to overcome by the end of your story, physically, mentally and psychological?
She has to realize that she is capable of growth.
I think Roseâs defining thing is seeing growth and change as beautiful - in everything except herself.Â
She saw beauty in the organisms of other planets long before the Diamonds even acknowledged the idea that mindless killing might be unnecessary. She saw the beauty of earth and its humans, saw them being able to make choices and become something else.Â
She even saw the OTHER gems being capable of change. She saw them as capable of freedom of choice, she thought they could be anything they wanted - and of course, this REQUIRES growth.Â
But she, herself, never realized that out of ALL the other characters, she was arguable the one that grew the MOST throughout the series.
She went from a spoilt, naive child-like DiamondâŠ
To a brokenhearted but determined Diamond willing to do anything for her planetâŠ
To a much kinder, much more free gem who wanted to help othersâŠ
To a rebel leader with strong convictions and a purpose to fight forâŠ
And at the end of all that, Rose STILLÂ talked as if she didnât believe that she, herself, had changed at all.Â
Out of all the other characters, Rose not only did a complete 180 personality-wise, but she also turned herself in 3D space and launched in a fully different direction in terms of morality. She completely abandoned one of her identities - and then went to far as to literally decide to cease existing for the purpose of reinventing herself AGAIN.Â
I think Rose is the epitome of a character that is extremely emotional and has a lot of potential to be good⊠that was raised in a HORRID environment of very little sympathy and developed TERRIBLE coping mechanisms in order to survive. And even after she finally had the chance to make good choices⊠She had no idea how to.Â
AND SHE STILL DID A LOT OF GOOD, EVEN WITH THAT!!!!
She never developed a frame of reference for NOT lying to the people she loved. Her entire life revolved around hiding things from people - from the Diamonds, from her friends, from her family⊠With the exception of Pearl, she never once felt safe enough to truly reveal herself to anyone.Â
If she did so to the Diamonds she would be punished and pushed aside and ridiculed.Â
If she did so to the other gems who thought she was Rose, they would only treat her as their Leader and would not take her seriously as an equal.Â
If she did so to the Crystal Gems, they would likely abandon her and mistrust her cause.
And you know who inherited that âcanât talk about my feelings, gotta keep it all pent up inside otherwise people will think Iâm a monster!â attitude?
I gotta say, I understand why people donât like Rose and critique her. She did terrible things to Bismuth, and to Pearl, and etc.Â
But what Iâd like to see more of is the acknowledgement that she TRIED and she changed A HELL OF A LOT MORE THAN MANY OTHER CHARACTERS ON THE SHOW.Â
And yes, maybe Iâm projecting, but the people screaming âWHY COULDNâT SHE JUST TELL THE CGs THE TRUTHâ are missing a HUGE and very obvious part of her trauma, and are also simplifying how much SHE was affected by the war. Sheâs not just a cog in the machine, she literally broke the system singlehandedly and set everything in motion, and I, for one, think that it is a LOT of weight to carry on her shoulders.
But just like with Steven, no one was around to help her through it. Everyone else relied on her to âmake things betterâ. She didnât have anyone to turn to, to trust to listen to her without judging⊠except Pearl, and I think she knew that Pearl was already burdened enough and didnât want to burden her any further, didnât want to deepen that hole sheâd dug.Â
And yes, I am ABSOLUTELY planning to cover this in the WD!Steven comic, and yes, I am DEFINITELY planning to draw ALL the parallels between her and Steven as children from broken families that have unhealthy coping methods (because actually, she and Steven have many of the same onesâŠ) and yes, they WILL be good for each other because in the end, they are perhaps the two people in this comic that know exactly what the other could be feeling.Â
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