Well, come to that, how many examples do we actually have of Ruby's brilliance, apart from backstory "informed ability"? We certainly have several examples of how she isn't particularly clever.Spidrift wrote:Ruby's a nerd. Academically doubtless bright, but socially inexperienced at best.
On the other hand, so what if her intelligence turns out to be 99% perspiration? That's the classic definition of genius. It gets results. Someone with the determination and focus to put the hours in is entitled to be called intelligent in her own way. And she's shown flashes of versatility - carrying off the Rudy disguise, picking up manga fan jargon quite quickly, and demonstrating a useful visual judgement.
And I'm not sure where you're getting Amber's intelligence from. Frankly, we know relatively little about her either way. She out-smarted Nathan (gosh), using a standard classic sort of trick, but apart from that?
11-09-15 I have to make this right
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Re: 11-09-15 I have to make this right
- Spidrift
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Re: 11-09-15 I have to make this right
I'd never say brilliant; I did say "academically doubtless bright", for which the BBA is evidence enough. Beyond that, though, we've just got characterisation details, like the way she did start using detailed manga-fan jargon within days of discovering the medium. (She may or may not be bright, but she does seem to be analytical.) She's also demonstrated enough flair for cinematography to impress Amber (who presumably knows a little about the craft) at the first attempt. At a subtler level, I get the feeling from a lot of her conversations with Amber that she makes Amber feel stupid or slow - a classic situation where you have a fairly smart nerd and a non-nerd sibling.
Amber, on the other hand, is ... well, she isn't DiDi or even Sonya, which isn't saying much but leaves her looking okay by Ma3-universe standards. The cunning stunt she pulled to get Dillon's "permission" to bag Gary showed a certain amount of smarts. She totally failed to recognise her own sister in rather dubious male drag, though, which gives Ruby at least one round in the contest. Mostly, despite her starting with the second-lead role in this comic, we know rather little about Amber; I'm not convinced that Giz has much of a handle on her character.
Amber, on the other hand, is ... well, she isn't DiDi or even Sonya, which isn't saying much but leaves her looking okay by Ma3-universe standards. The cunning stunt she pulled to get Dillon's "permission" to bag Gary showed a certain amount of smarts. She totally failed to recognise her own sister in rather dubious male drag, though, which gives Ruby at least one round in the contest. Mostly, despite her starting with the second-lead role in this comic, we know rather little about Amber; I'm not convinced that Giz has much of a handle on her character.
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Spidrift
"Brevior vita est quam pro futumentibus negotium agendo."
-- Motto of Hogshead Publishing of fond memory, and wise words to set your Foes List by.
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Spidrift
"Brevior vita est quam pro futumentibus negotium agendo."
-- Motto of Hogshead Publishing of fond memory, and wise words to set your Foes List by.
Avatar misappropriated from the wonderful XKCD.
- lokisdottir
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Re: 11-09-15 I have to make this right
Speaking of Ruby's cinematographic flair, I get the impression that the story is setting up for an eventual showdown between Ruby and Horn as rival producers.
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Re: 11-09-15 I have to make this right
Given that Nathan is a filthy rich producer while Ruby is currently dead broke but seems to have potential as a director, I doubt that we'll see any head-to-head conflict between them for a while. Maybe ten years down the line, Ruby will have parlayed her ideas into a production company which can start snapping at Nathan's heels.
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Spidrift
"Brevior vita est quam pro futumentibus negotium agendo."
-- Motto of Hogshead Publishing of fond memory, and wise words to set your Foes List by.
Avatar misappropriated from the wonderful XKCD.
Spidrift
"Brevior vita est quam pro futumentibus negotium agendo."
-- Motto of Hogshead Publishing of fond memory, and wise words to set your Foes List by.
Avatar misappropriated from the wonderful XKCD.
- lokisdottir
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Re: 11-09-15 I have to make this right
Given Nathan's sleazy ways, though, I wouldn't put it past him to try and nip potential competition in the bud, especially if he develops a vendetta against her. For luring away his hottest (in more senses than one) talent, perhaps?
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Re: 11-09-15 I have to make this right
I'd have thought that his better and more obvious move at this point would be to make her a job offer. He's even seen a little of her work, and not been put off by it. Sure, after this little conversation, he may not be terribly pleased with her - but we've seen that he doesn't mind a bit of being yelled at if he can use his money and power to assert his dominance in reply.
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Spidrift
"Brevior vita est quam pro futumentibus negotium agendo."
-- Motto of Hogshead Publishing of fond memory, and wise words to set your Foes List by.
Avatar misappropriated from the wonderful XKCD.
Spidrift
"Brevior vita est quam pro futumentibus negotium agendo."
-- Motto of Hogshead Publishing of fond memory, and wise words to set your Foes List by.
Avatar misappropriated from the wonderful XKCD.
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Re: 11-09-15 I have to make this right
Oh, come on; Ruby's disguise is one of the most incredibly competent things she's ever done. She actually made a pretty convincing guy somehow!Spidrift wrote:She totally failed to recognise her own sister in rather dubious male drag, though, which gives Ruby at least one round in the contest.
Still, not recognizing your own sister, clever disguise or not, is a little bit bad, really. Okay, point for you on that one.
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Re: 11-09-15 I have to make this right
To be fair to Amber, Ruby ducked out and hunched the instant that she came into view, which would help. Also, well, their relationship isn't great, which makes the fact that it was her own sister seem a bit less significant. The understated joke in that scene was that Amber recognised Dillon instantly - because anyone who knows Dillon probably gets used to seeing him in drag - but didn't recognise Ruby - because anyone who knows Ruby at all probably thinks that she doesn't do things like that...
The moment I'm waiting for is when Amber does discover that Rudy is Ruby. We've seen that Ruby is terrified of anything that might embarrass her in front of Amber; I can imagine there was a bit of childish teasing from Amber, back when Ruby was emerging as the academic, prickly smart-ass of the family, and we've had strong signs that Ruby wanted Amber's respect and was hurt not to get it at one point. But I also assume that Amber will be quite impressed when she finds out - she'd be honest enough to admit that she was fooled, and that Ruby can surprise her. I anticipate a larger, louder version of the first few moments between Ruby and Zii.
(Although the way things are going, what we may get is, say, Amber discovering Rudy in bed with Andy, and getting righteously angry over Andy's betrayal of her sister...)
The moment I'm waiting for is when Amber does discover that Rudy is Ruby. We've seen that Ruby is terrified of anything that might embarrass her in front of Amber; I can imagine there was a bit of childish teasing from Amber, back when Ruby was emerging as the academic, prickly smart-ass of the family, and we've had strong signs that Ruby wanted Amber's respect and was hurt not to get it at one point. But I also assume that Amber will be quite impressed when she finds out - she'd be honest enough to admit that she was fooled, and that Ruby can surprise her. I anticipate a larger, louder version of the first few moments between Ruby and Zii.
(Although the way things are going, what we may get is, say, Amber discovering Rudy in bed with Andy, and getting righteously angry over Andy's betrayal of her sister...)
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Spidrift
"Brevior vita est quam pro futumentibus negotium agendo."
-- Motto of Hogshead Publishing of fond memory, and wise words to set your Foes List by.
Avatar misappropriated from the wonderful XKCD.
Spidrift
"Brevior vita est quam pro futumentibus negotium agendo."
-- Motto of Hogshead Publishing of fond memory, and wise words to set your Foes List by.
Avatar misappropriated from the wonderful XKCD.