Volume 1, Episode 13:
Jaune: I'm a failure. Ruby: [cheerfully] Nope! Jaune: Nope? Ruby: Nope! You're a leader now, Jaune. You're not allowed to be a failure. Jaune: But what if I'm a failure at being a leader? Ruby: Hmm… nope! Jaune: You know, you're not the easiest person to talk to about this stuff. Ruby: [still cheerfully] Nope! Ruby: [sobering] Jaune, maybe you were a failure when you were a kid. You might've even been a failure the first day we met! But you can't be one now. You know why? Jaune: Uh. Because…? Ruby: Because it's not just about you anymore. You've got a team now, Jaune. We both do. And if we fail, then we'll just be bringing them down with us. We have to put our teammates first, and ourselves second.
Volume 9, Episode 7:
Jaune: I couldn't save them. I was supposed to save them. And they're dead. Yang: No, Jaune. They're gone, but they're not dead. They'll be back. Weiss: Yeah, it's what they wanted. Right, Ruby? Ruby: why are you asking me? Blake: Um. We just— Ruby: Because I'm the leader? Because I'm just supposed to have something to say? 'Cause I don't. Ruby: [more agitated] I mean, why do I have to be the leader anyway? Why do I have to always be the one to pick people up? What about me? 'No time,' right? (…) Ruby: I'm sorry, is this a bad time? Are we supposed to be mourning Jaune's make believe friends? Jaune: They're gone because of you! The walkers came for you, because Neo hates you! Oh, and let's not forget the reason we're in the Ever After in the first place is because of your plan, that that didn't work! 'What about you?' It's ALL about you!
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
... which is all to say, it was fucked up the first time Ruby said all this. It was a red flag all the way back at Beacon. Ruby was wrong to tell Jaune that and frame it that way, and this has been building between them literally since day one because of it.
Ruby's never had a healthy or reasonable conception of what a leader is or what their responsibilities are and like. how could she? between being raised in her mother's shadow and her silver eyes putting her on a magic pedestal she never stood a chance. and if she confronted the fact that that might be a problem that would mean admitting she has a problem which is against the rules for leaders. it's never allowed to be about her; she can't want things or have doubts.
Ruby's optimism didn't break, she stopped choosing it. because it was always a conscious decision she was making. and now she can't anymore, understandably, because she's too tired! she doesn't have anything left to give!
which also brings up--
when Ruby snaps at Blake to shut up after Blake tries to look on the bright side, she doesn't say "You're wrong."
she says "Don't do that."
even in her meanest moment, she's not actually trying to pull Blake down.
she's trying to stop Blake from making the same mistake she did, the same error in logic she then passed on to Jaune, which was insisting relentless positivity was the only way to lead.
