#rose quartz wd!au meta

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

How greatly do the characters from the original show differ from the comic? I've noticed that Rose is a lot less jovial in the comics compared her appearances in the show. Canon rose also carries this air of naivety even in tense situations, whereas comic rose is a bit more level headed

They're definitely different, but in a way that I hope would... make sense? For the difference in their lives as it diverges from canon.

Actually, people are always quick to tell me that I seem to characterize Rose differently from the canon show. And I don't deny that! But I think the reasoning behind that is solid, or at least I hope it is.

1. The First Divergence

First - this Rose didn't just fall in love with Greg and then evolved from there. She met Greg once, lost track of him when he left on his way to stardom, and then their paths aligned again when he came back to Beach City a much more broken individual.

They still connected heavily, like the first time, but their love wasn't merely a whirlwind of feelings and misunderstandings. This time, it was more tenuous - Rose had to struggle to understand Greg not only as a human being, but as someone who was recovering from a disillusionment, having fallen through the atmosphere and burned up... like a comet.

Their mutual understanding stemmed not only from a past they wanted to forget, but also from a past that hurt them deeply. It wasn't better or worse... but it was a different facet of it.

2. What You Don't Know Can't Change Ya

When Steven FIRST met Rose, before she knew who he was... she was arguably MUCH sillier and 'naive'. (I would argue that Rose is not really naive so much as she is aggressively positive.)

The change in her overall characterization came about after Steven poofed her (a bit of a reality check) and when he began to question the gems about the colonization of earth, which made her a bit more morose. I feel like that's not entirely uncharacteristic, given how much it still weighs heavily on her mind.

3. Knowledge is a Curse

The REAL pivot in Rose's personality came at a specific plot turn.

When Steven brought Earl back to the Temple for the first time, and Rose recognized her, and subsequently connected the dots on who HE was..... she kind of lost it.

All the safety, anonymity, all the work the Crystal Gems have put in before this point, all became pointless in the blink of an eye. Her power was barely enough to protect her friends the first time. Now, she was reliving her worst nightmare, but in high definition.

I don't think it's clear in this shot, but Rose isn't looking at Steven. She's looking at Earl, who picks Steven up and pulls him away after her.

All at once, the past which she has been avoiding for so long has come back full-force, and for all she knows, she has no gems with her, and she isn't even sure if White is about to reveal everything she has worked so hard to hide, right before wiping the planet she loves clean off the maps - successfully and totally this time.

She had a bit of a crisis during the time Steven was sleeping, is what I'm saying.

It is at this point that Rose's personality changes significantly in the AU, and it is THIS personality that is most often sited as being 'different' from the canon show (the 2 minutes we got of Rose being Rose on tape - the video she made specifically for Steven.)

Rose becomes quieter. She stops smiling.

She observes more than she speaks. And when she does speak, she's usually confused and upset, especially at first, when she expects a White-level evil villain revenge/punishment plot around every corner.

And even after, when she calms down........ she realizes that the situation is even more complex.

But she can't even do that, because Steven doesn't know ANYTHING.

That puts the onus of protecting the secret on HER. She realizes that for the first time, she has power over White Diamond. The power to hurt... or the power to be kind.

In the end, we know which one she choses. And that's not out of character either, I'd hope. If we watched the same show, it won't be.

4. Little Diamond to Big Diamond

And it isn't as simple as 'Rose is more mature now'. But that's definitely a part of it.

The other part is that she really DOES have things continue to... happen.... that threaten the safety of the earth and the gems over and over again, and Steven is consistently not as powerful nor willing to take a strong stand as she expects him to be.

And even when she DOES show her earlier, sillier side, it's usually very promptly followed by a reality check.

She can't really take a break! She is constantly reminded that her worry-free time on planet earth is no longer for contemplating growth and plants and spending time with the Crystal Gems. The war is back on her doorstep. Again.

...and she is NOT any better prepared to deal with it than she was 5000 years ago.

So yes, this AU's Rose is a bit more... serious? But I don't think it's that far of a deviation, considering the pressure she's under. And I don't think it's unreasonable to say that she's still well within the realms of canon.

Then again, I get the feeling that the people who think I mischaracterize Rose severely expect her to be 1) stupid 2) selfish and 3) annoying.

People may have forgotten that the first time we see Rose... was the final version of her. And she has come a long way since the flashbacks we get at the end of the series.

And now that she's here... she still has further to go. 👀

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