From what I read in the last guest review, I assume the person has not quite gotten the point I tried to make...

Lars isn't defending Rose, he just shows that she wasn't an evil asshole like many people make her out to be. He constantly remarks that she hurt people and he IS angry at the fact that Steven has to deal with everything she left behind. He just shows some insight to Rose's true intentions, seeing how frustrated Steven is with her AND himself. Lars does not agree nor is justifying what she did. He only wants to make Steven feel better and not be blinded with the thoughts of Rose being an evil bastard - those that, as seen in the series, only worsen his self-loathing. That's what I tried to aim with this chapter - and the fic as a whole.

Yeah, maybe that doesn't change anything, and there are many things to be solved, but Steven hates himself for being Rose's son, he got to the point of sacrificing himself to Homeworld before. He was willing to DIE because he thought he deserved it, due to how he's constantly compared to Rose by almost everyone in the show. She is literally part of him, and the reminder that she did horrible things gets to him every single day. Lars knows this and he strives to show him otherwise, that Rose isn't evil, so all that weight on Steven can be less overwhelming - even if not completely, but it still helps someone who hates themself so much, at least from my own experience.

But idk, people have different opinions and interpretations of a piece of media, so I understand that not everyone is going to agree with this fanfiction. About the anon's opinion, I can comprehend what they meant; however, I do feel that they distorted Lars' position, and sounded a bit too extreme to me. Maybe that wasn't their intention, but that's the impression I got from their review. I'm not sure if they will come to read this reply, but considering that other people might have this point of view, then I'm leaving this comment here. If anyone would like to disagree in a CIVILIZED way, then I'll be glad to discuss more.

Look dude I get it
Rose wasn’t good or bad
But in this fanfic she pretty much destroyed Steven's entire life and you just make Lars defend her?
I don’t know if you know but this doesn’t change anything
Steven is still alone, everyone is still suffering because of her, and everything is fucked up because of her and now a FOURTEEN years old kid has to fix everything while suffering more than anyone can imagine
Lars defending Rose doesn’t make any sense at least not in this Fanfic

Aw! And don't worry, I saw the new episodes, and still read this all the way to the end! It's adorable, BTW.

I love the story and I love the brotherly bond between Lars and Steven.

I hope you do another one if you want

The offcolors didn't really know anything about Rose or Pink other than some rumors. I'm pretty sure one of them already thought Rose was some evil monster before Garnet's explanation. I imagine they wouldn't mind the fact that Steven is the son of an offcolor diamond.

This was just so amazing and everyone was so...in character, it seemed like this was an ep of the show, and honestly, I wish it was.

I liked the chapter!

Yeah, I had that hunch in the back of my mind as well since seeing Jungle Moon with Pink's reveal. That the show itself had a long history of parallelizing Lars and Rose Quartz didn't help either. And then A Single Pale Rose happened and sealed the deal for me.

It still astonishes me that people like AJ Universe just got so angry over the reveal. Like I understand getting angry over Rose/Pink's character for a time, but to get angry over a plot twist that had tons of foreshadowing behind it, I just. He's getting better about it, but:
This was from someone who theorized that "Love Like You" was from Lars' POV. While others have always argued that it was Rose Quartz' POV (Meanwhile, I feel that the song is from both, plus a couple more characters).
But I guess he wasn't among those talking about the similarities between Lars and Rose, so he was probably caught off-guard.

Also, a thing about Lars and Lion?
I remember back when people were theorizing that Lion was Pink Diamond. So...
Does that mean Lars and Lion might be Rose Quartzes? After all, we still don't know what the bubbled Rose Quartzes at the Human Zoo look like once unbubbled.
Some other possibilities are Fossils (Since they count as organics becoming Gem-like) and Morganite.
With Morganite, it's part of the Beryl class of minerals (In fact Morganite is called the "Pink Emerald") and if you look up the meanings for the Gem, it's kinda fits as well (Understanding love, actualizing one’s potential, growth of confidence, etc.). It's also trendy to use/pick Morganite over Diamonds in wedding rings of late.

Also I really like Lars' character. I understand crying when I don't want to and having a hard time communicating exactly what I want to say to others. It makes me wonder if Lars has done any stimming off-panel.

I think you did a brilliant analysis of Rose/Pink! You brought up a lot of parallels between her and Lars I did not notice too. I'm also pretty in the middle for analyzing Rose/Pink's motives.

Awww... I’m totally loving how you portray Lars and Steven’s relationship... bromance!

You think exactly how I think
I’m also pretty much neutral to Rose right now I mean she clearly wasn’t evil but she did do a lot of horrible things
She was really trying to save Earth but also trying to free herself in the process thus causing the corruption
In my opinion she was good but made mistakes A LOT OF MISTAKES and that's what they are trying to teach us that everybody makes mistakes
Even a diamond

So...is it over?

good idea I hope to see more in the near future.

Please do more! I really like this idea! I like seeing Lars try to be the comforting one :)

ohh, following for more, can't wait to see Lars reaction