Do you think part of the reason why Ruby was so upset at Blake and Yang in particular isn’t because she’s genuinely mad they got together (or homophobic as I’ve seen some people joke) but because she’s /jealous/ that they were able to take enough time for themselves to even think about their own personal relationship, when meanwhile Ruby has been fighting for her life since the end of volume 3? Like maybe Ruby would love to stop and talk to her friends and sister about her potential love interests (as a girl her age should get the chance to) but she doesn’t have /time/, and seeing Yang and Blake kiss just made her realize what she’s been denying herself in order to be the Heroic Leader. idk I’m in my rosegarden feels and I bet watching Yang and Blake be so close just makes her feel more alone than ever.
LMAO I'VE SEEN THE HOMOPHOBIC JOKES 🤣🤣 how anyone actually believes that allegation is very funny. But yeah I agree. Since the very beginning of the show, Ruby has just wanted to be a normal girl with normal knees who can "paint her nails, try on clothes, and talk about cute boys" with her friends (Note: Oscar has been called cute twice already in show). And Ruby has not had the chance to do so at all because she hasn't stopped moving. Even leading up to v9, everyone else had other things they were focusing on and she's just been trying to hold everybody up. Never taking time for herself to sort out her own struggles. So she's feeling alone and left behind. I went over it a bit in the Treasure Analysis about the framing at the end of v9e6 where the Bees are warm and cozy by the fire, Weiss is warm with her cup of tea, and Ruby is sitting cold by herself by the window across from an empty chair. All alone in crowded rooms without the one person that makes her not feel that way.
The volume starting with Oscar as the very first illusion that Neo uses - and RG being the only pair that was split up in v8 that didn't end up reunited in v9 - sets up his absence very strongly right out the gate. And that absence just seems to grow with each episode.
As much as I do love RG, I don't know that Ruby necessarily knows she likes Oscar or has reached that point. At least not yet, but distance makes the heart grow fonder (as we have seen with Renora and the Bees) and I have a feeling we're not ready for how close they're going to end up when everyone is back in Vacuo.
Part of her upset here in the Ever After, is that she is crushed under the weight of so many things that she doesn't even have time to entertain such an idea as a crush. In any other circumstance, Ruby would have been elated about so much of what they're experiencing. She would have been excited for the bees just like she had been in v6 and she would have been all over this fairytale nonsense in the Ever After.
But she's tired. Weiss is snapping at her every other hour, Jaune is a broken husk of himself and needs their help more than he can offer it in return, and the Bees got to spend time sorting out their feelings and find comfort and support in each other... while Ruby is just dealing with all of this on her own.
She doesn't feel seen. She doesn't feel wanted. She doesn't feel prioritized. The only person that ever asked 'what about Ruby' is in another dimension and the only one in Ever After that noticed before she broke was Little (who has VERY STRONG PARALLELS to Oscar as I just brought up in a recent ask).
This volume is very rough emotionally on our characters, but I'm really optimistic for Vacuo being an arc of resting, rebuilding, and recovering for all of them. But especially for Ruby. Because there ain't no way all of what was brought up this last episode can be resolved in the 3 we have left until the season is over. But at least Oscar is waiting for her with open arms once she gets there. 🌲💕
