31-03-15 Tasteful connoisseur

[wi1dfire]

First off, thank you for the tone in your post, it was remarkably a non-confrontational way of telling me "you're wrong." If I didn't expect others to butt in, that would have been a PM. So, by all means...

I am almost equally confused by your response as you apparently are to mine. Ruby's primary method of interaction seems to be to judge other people. Chiefly with Amber, of course, but as you said that's her bugaboo, and can be set aside as an anomaly. But she's also exasperated with her mom when we meet her. She assumed Dillon was a pervert before she even knew his name, and it took her catching him in the act of him and Jerzy screwing around before she changed her mind. I think she actually likes Dillon by now, but she is also visibly annoyed and short-tempered by his antics, even when they have no effect on her. There are other examples where she automatically assume the worst about someone, either because she assumes they are terrible or assumes they think she's terrible, and winds up looking like a moron because of it.

I'm also not sure I'd describe someone who thinks everything will be terrible and make her look bad as very open-minded, but it is to her credit she does the new things anyways. Grumbling the entire time and loudly proclaiming she'll never do any of it again, but she does go on that date and does help Dillon with his schemes.

I realize I'm being uncharitable toward Ruby, and seeing her actions in a negative light even after we know she has a tragic backstory. But it is my estimation, given what we know about her and what we can infer from her dialogue (again, given that I'm not inclined to cut her any slack), that many of her difficulties in life are her own fault. Her "friends" forced her to watch an Amber-Amber video at some point; it was her decision to take that and decide to never even think about sex again. No one is holding a gun to her head forcing her to keep Amber's secret from her parents, she doesn't even think it will be as big of a deal to them as Amber seems to. She's anti-social by inclination, and buried herself in her studies by choice. Her parents, despite being apparently quite successful and presumably driven individuals, seem disinclined to pile pressure onto their daughters, or Amber wouldn't still be their favorite (in Ruby's words, which means there must be at least some evidence for it).

Edit: Missed this.

*obviously you can find sentences of things Ruby said that taken out of context seem to contradict what I just claimed, but to me it is clear as day that all of those instances is Ruby being "backed in a corner" (pressured emotionally) and wildly "lashing out" without understanding what she's saying or -especially- actually believing the things she says. It's obvious (from the facial expressions the writing team gives her and the other scenes where she's not under pressure and behaves 100% differently) that this is the "canon" interpretation of her character, though maybe it doesn't work for you?

No, that interpretation doesn't work for me. As I said, I'm not inclined to cut her any slack, so the way she acts under pressure is equally valid to me as the way she acts when Dillon cries at her and forces her out of her comfort zone. Plus, her obvious impatience with Dillon when he does succeed at getting under her skin speaks volumes.

Further, tightly wound as she is (and being a protagonist in a comedy comic), she seems to be constantly in a state of emotional pressure aside from when she's distracted by Minew. So since "under pressure" is her default state, looking only at how she acts when she isn't under that pressure doesn't paint the full picture for me.

[Spidrift]

Except she's not even shown herself to be all that bright. There's a stronger case for the opposite, really. She has a college degree, yes. But so do a lot of people, and many of them aren't that bright either.

I've been trying to refer to Ruby as "academically bright" or "book smart" for some time now. I know that people enjoy snarking at academic qualifications, but they do mean something; just not everything. They are attained by some combination of a specific form of intelligence and hard work. What they don't indicate is "common sense", life experience, or social skills. Case in point, Ruby.

Which means that we have to take her academic intelligence largely on trust, because the comic isn't going to show her exam papers or the spreadsheets she designs. But I'm prepared to accept that it's there, for the sake of plot. We have had hints that she does make Amber feel stupid sometimes, and she's been displaying a slightly broader vocabulary lately, though.

I'm well aware that Ruby is an identification character for you. I've often wondered if part of what I've been calling your head-cannons are simply instances in which you've projected your own characteristics onto Ruby, instead of actually seeing her as she's been written.

I can identify with her, but that doesn't mean I see myself in her very much. She reminds me a bit of my younger self and a lot of a sort of composite of many people who I like and one or two who I love, mostly in their younger days. And yes, some of the characteristics I see in her may derive from that - but I'd claim that's because I'm familiar with the personality type.

(And by the way, it's "canon". One "n" in the middle.)

Because, to be blunt, Ruby as written is an arrogant, overly judgmental jerk who has a tendency to blame other people for her own problems, and has zero interest in seeing anyone's viewpoint but her own.

She hasn't bothered judging Dillon for his homosexual, hyperactive lifestyle since those first few panicky moments in the wardrobe (and we now now that she thinks he's a good person). She seemed to kind of like Angel. She's not got around to judging Zii yet.

She's not great on empathetic understanding, but my impression is that she's just a bit out of practise there. She did a fair job of understanding Dillon's problem and working out what he could do about it.

None of that ruins her as a character; she's actually rather fascinating as a fictional entity, but she's not someone I'd want to know in real life.

Whereas, apart from having the sense that I already know her, I'd feel obliged to try and befriend her. She's of the clan, and she needs moral support just now. Plus, when people like her relax a bit and broaden their horizons a little, they make loyal, interesting, funny friends.

Her interaction with Dillon shows that you are wrong in your assessment. She hasn't ever honestly judged his way of life*, can obviously understand his viewpoint, was humble enough to receive and follow advice from him, and to help him without asking for something back, etc.

This. Very much this.

Ruby's primary method of interaction seems to be to judge other people. Chiefly with Amber, of course, but as you said that's her bugaboo, and can be set aside as an anomaly. But she's also exasperated with her mom when we meet her. She assumed Dillon was a pervert before she even knew his name, and it took her catching him in the act of him and Jerzy screwing around before she changed her mind. I think she actually likes Dillon by now, but she is also visibly annoyed and short-tempered by his antics, even when they have no effect on her. There are other examples where she automatically assume the worst about someone, either because she assumes they are terrible or assumes they think she's terrible, and winds up looking like a moron because of it.

She has a nerdy inability to suffer fools (as she sees them) gladly, and she'll go off on brief rants about specific annoyances. ButI think that she's concluded by now that most people are idiots - and in a reflexive moment, she's even admitted that this includes herself, sometimes. She may roll her eyes a bit, but from her point of view, that's just life. It doesn't in itself make her hostile to people.

I'm also not sure I'd describe someone who thinks everything will be terrible and make her look bad as very open-minded, but it is to her credit she does the new things anyways. Grumbling the entire time and loudly proclaiming she'll never do any of it again, but she does go on that date and does help Dillon with his schemes.

She's way out of her depth and I think more than a little bit scared. But she accepts the situation she's in and mostly tries to make the best of it. This makes her quite open-minded in practise.

I realize I'm being uncharitable toward Ruby, and seeing her actions in a negative light even after we know she has a tragic backstory. But it is my estimation, given what we know about her and what we can infer from her dialogue (again, given that I'm not inclined to cut her any slack), that many of her difficulties in life are her own fault. Her "friends" forced her to watch an Amber-Amber video at some point; it was her decision to take that and decide to never even think about sex again.

She suffers from being a comic strip character, whose entire personality can be shaped by one bad experience. But one has to assume that the bad experience caught her at just the wrong moment.

No one is holding a gun to her head forcing her to keep Amber's secret from her parents, she doesn't even think it will be as big of a deal to them as Amber seems to.

She fears it wouldn't be; I don't think we want to find out. We still don't know for sure what was said between her and Amber about that matter in the past, but clearly there are big, complicated, messy issues of family loyalty involved.

She's anti-social by inclination, and buried herself in her studies by choice.

No. She is NOT anti-social. She's a classical introvert, which means that socialising withg other people costs her emotional energy, and she's currently way out of her depth and unclear how to relate to the people she meets, but when she makes the effort anyway, which she does quite often, she is usually at least formally polite, and occasionally, for brief moments, charming. And she feels obliged to help people. She's almost as highly socialised as an introvert can get.

The studies are, so far as she (and we) can see, the one place where she has an advantage and earn other people's respect. So of course she focuses on them. That's just basic-model nerd.