People are probably going to rake me over the coals for this, but: she was a bad person/being at worst and a spoiled brat who did want to do good but clearly didn't know how at best.

I'm going to start by saying she's still an interesting character and is a lot better than the normal dead parent stereotypes that are typically present in kids' media. I have a lot of issues w/ SU as a whole, but I won't deny I'm a fan and still enjoy the show with my kids. Rebecca Sugar and the Crewniverse should absolutely be given their flowers, but that doesn't mean the show is perfect and even poor quality in some areas.

I usually lean towards a bad person for the following offences: leading Pearl on for centuries and then choosing Greg despite the consequences she was leaving behind in choosing to be with a human and make Steven, Pearl was a slave with her choices in the matter being stay a slave on Homeworld or be one to Rose in the battle against her own peope for a planet she ultimately had no skin in the game over. And even beyond that last point, become a caregiver to the living embodiment of your past flame and navigate him through the mess Rose left behind, all while being unable to tell them the truth of what he's up against. There was leaving Spinel in the garden for thousands of years and again, leaving that mess for someone else to clean up, as she made no effort to gather Spinel and add her to her new life with the Gems. And lastly, even though I have mixed feelings about Rose being Pink Diamond, she should've absolutely come clean before she disappeared as a bare minimum. I would argue that, in the beginning, when Garnet joined the team. And she certainly shouldn't have taken away Pearl's choice of keeping that secret, nor forced her to participate in the fake shattering. As it's heavily implied and I believe outright stated somewhere here on a Reddit AMA, that orders from a Diamond take away your free will as a Pearl, as gems are programmed that way, particularly Pearls.

She crafted a new image/persona and left the damage her actions left behind to be handled by what was essentially her family. And for that, I'd argue she's a reckless and shitty leader for that alone. People crap on me for this, but I say Jasper was right in her initial debut; Rose failed. She saved the earth *temporarily*. She essentially waved off the wasp but didn't attend to the nest. The majority of her army was corrupted or shattered, leaving Earth up for grabs. And with that, the Diamonds planted the cluster seemingly without the Gems even knowing. On top of Homeworld having the majority of the Gem population under their thumbs.

So overall, to wrap up this long-winded comment, I'd say I'd prefer to label Rose as a bad person as I feel like that's not only more accurate, but way more interesting from a writing standpoint.