Spoiler I would like to point out that it hasn't once been said in the show that Rose died, even though that word is explicitly used a lot.
Spoiler Used by fans or in the show? Because yeah, I've noticed that too, and I've made a mental note of it. It has lots of potential implications but I feel like "you and I can't exist at the same time" means that whatever Rose is (that isn't "dead"), she is "dead" in the sense of "gone and never coming back". (suicide warning for the rest of this spoiler) The last few episodes have made me see Rose's choice to become pregnant in a new light: she basically committed suicide. The fandom has been on the "wait, Rose made some pretty shady choices, she's probably not all sweetness and light..." track for a long time now, and Steven's more recently been exploring that too, but it makes sense that the first person to go there would actually be Rose herself. Rose is not some sweet perfect angel, but she's also not a horrible, horrible person pretending to be a sweet perfect angel. Essentially, she wants to be better than she is, but she doesn't think that's possible. Not while she's still Rose Quartz, anyway. By becoming Steven, her consciousness - specifically, the consciousness that has all these memories and all this crushing guilt - ceases to exist, ending Rose's suffering. The fear that she could never become good enough is dealt with by combining herself with someone who she sees as good enough: Greg, both as an individual and as a human being, represents something better than she could ever be. Being Steven counters her dark past with a bright future, one with much more positive potential than she felt she had as Rose. Spoiler: comparing characters from different franchises (no actual spoilers) Typing this out now I'm thinking of two characters who I've compared before: the titular characters of both Doctor Who and Xena: Warrior Princess. Both of them have done such immensely terrible things - things that have caused widespread destruction and devastation - that they cannot reconcile with their beliefs about right and wrong. They don't feel they can ever make up for what they've done. They try to do good in the world, but that doesn't get rid of any of their guilt. They can't go home because of what they've done. Unlike the other two, Rose did not, to my knowledge, decide to wander around the world forever after looking for good deeds to do. I mean, we know she wandered the world and we know she liked humans and helped them here and there, but there's no mention of her, like... going around preventing disasters and fighting human corruption and defending the weak and so on. She defended humanity as a whole; she didn't understand humans well enough to get involved in specific issues. Still, I find it to be an interesting connection and I will have to go away and think about it some more.
Spoiler: oh damn (suicide cw) The suicide thing makes a lot of sense, holy shit. And that puts Love Like You in an absolutely tragic light--one that actually just lends more credence to the idea. "I always thought I might be bad, now I'm sure that it's true?" "If I could begin to do something that does right by you?" Stuff like that? ...Oh my God. Love Like You, conceptually, was Rose's apology to everyone. And, one could argue, a suicide note of sorts.
I finally realized what rose's room was reminding me of. It's basically a lucid dream room! That's why it seems so sentient... dreams seem to work that way too, even though it's just you. Also I read in the DID thread that when you're dreaming your brain IS sort of running two personalities for you, one for you and one for the dream, which is why it's possible for DID to be a thing. The framework for extra personalities is already there. Edit: Come to think of it, the temple is probably alive. Are ALL the rooms like this? They seem to spontaneously generate for fusions, so there's some creative potential there. It can't be infinite, but I don't think it is, it's obviously keyed to 5 specific gems somehow... Man, gem biotech is weirder every time I think about it. They're like... computer aliens...
i wonder if the difference between rose's colour scheme and all the other quartzes seen so far means that she's "defective." like, maybe most rose quartzes have the switched colour scheme from that post. the discourse is ridiculous, though.
yep, the post is ridiculous. rebecca sugar didn't whitewash her own character. but rose, unlike all the other quartzes seen so far, does have hair darker than her skin, and i'm wondering if that break from the pattern is significant, in-universe.
Huh, interesting idea! Or maybe all the Rose Quartzes have that reversal, further evidence that "the entire cut of Gem" is defective?
Yep! Link credit goes to a plurk friend who watched it streamed but somehow found the link faster than me. Spoiler: Rocknaldo
Spoiler: spoiler I'm only like 3 minutes in and I can already see the parallels between this and homophobia
Spoiler: does this count as a rocknaldo spoiler ALL OF PEARL'S EXPRESSIONS IN THIS EPISODE ARE EXCELLENT AND RELATABLE
Spoiler: rocknaldo spoilers??? Now I've actually finished the episode I want to also call attention to this very good Amethyst shot. SHE IS CONCERNED (I'm half tempted to make this into my new avatar but do I really want to lose my #brand.......)
Spoiler: rocknaldo Okay, that's probably my least-favorite season 4 episode right there. I didn't hate it, but it was...not great overall. Did have some good moments, but overall it was just kinda disappointing (keep in mind that I normally am one of those freaks who likes Ronaldo eps).
Spoiler: rocknaldo reax did. Did Ronaldo make anyone else feel deeply uncomfortable in this ep??? And also like. he still didn't seem to fully get things other than the fact that he was a jerk and felt bad about it. Which I suppose makes sense given his character but I was also kinda sad.
