So, let's talk about the concept of character nuance.

So, if you've seen me post here before at all, you may know that I generally tend to have a pretty harsh opinion of Rose's character, especially after Bismuth, and especially especially after the big Pink Diamond reveal.

Because of that, I've been accused of not being able to "comprehend nuance" -- because I can't seem to wrap my head around the fact that Rose was fundamentally a good person who, understandably, made a few missteps along the way. But here's the thing:

Is that not the polar opposite of a nuanced perspective?

Saying that she was, at her core, a "good person" who only incidentally made a few "mistakes" -- I mean, doesn't that just whitewash over all the ways she actually hurt people?

Wouldn't the actual nuanced perspective have something to do with the incredibly broad labels of "good person" and "bad person" being deceptive and reductive, and how very few people are ever really one or the other, and how even being a quote-unquote "good person," on the surface, does not somehow magically mitigate the suffering you've made other people endure, the same way being a quote-unquote "bad person" doesn't necessarily eliminate the good you've done?

Am I wrong here?

Now, the other Diamonds -- if anyone can be safely called "bad people," it would be the people who knowingly commit planetary genocide across fucking dozens of worlds. But we can also acknowledge that they do love their sister and sincerely grieve the loss of her. We can read humanity into the fact that they didn't seem to appreciate her until she was gone.

But then, looping back around to synthesize these two points together into a more complete and textured whole, we can acknowledge the fact that simply missing your own sister does not somehow undo, balance out, or justify the billions of murders you've systematically committed.

By the same token, we can acknowledge that Rose may not have been a cackling monster, but that doesn't make her a "good person" who "just made a few mistakes."

She knowingly used, abused, lied to, and manipulated thousands and thousands of people every single day for more than five thousand years -- and these were people who trusted her implicitly, people who worshiped her as their liberator, people who happily fought and suffered and, in many cases, died in her name. And she lied to them. Every. Single. Day.

We can think about how absolutely stone-cold that is.

We can think about how that's not just some incidental "mistake" but a conscious, ongoing choice.

We can think about how, even when she was supposedly leaving "Pink Diamond" behind, she still used Pink Diamond's power and authority to forcibly strip Pearl's personal freedom away from her. We can think about what a hypocritical move that is, for someone supposedly fighting for the freedom of Gems to exert direct control over the free will of a Gem she supposedly loves.

We can think about all these things.

And we should.

And we shouldn't be fucking yelled at, insulted, or downvoted en masse for considering the actual, canon traits and actions of a given character.

Reducing her down to just a "good person" is the opposite of nuance.

And, honestly, this latest episode was the opposite of nuance, too. Sapphire rightfully felt used, abused, and betrayed, and for Pearl to say, "No, it's okay, 'cause look how cute and innocent and fun Rose and I were together" is kind of bullshit. I'm sorry, Pearl, but your fluffy memories do not somehow magically negate Sapphire's feelings.

It's even more bullshit that, apparently, the crew thinks they do, since the episode ends with Sapphire being moved and getting over it, as if Rose having a few happy, relatable moments somehow completely erases the literal millennia full of lies and manipulation.

It's like the show is unwilling to admit that maybe Rose can just be a shade of gray. Or several shades of gray at once. No, it has to whitewash over everything. It has to bring us back to that place of "good person, made mistakes," and that's super disingenuous. She lied to the people she loved until the day she died (and even then).

Those characters are allowed to be hurt about that.

And the audience is allowed to judge her for it.