#soft banjo plays in the background lol

[professionalfixator]

There is one scene.

One moment in Season 3, that no matter how hard I think about it, I can never figure it out.

It is so confusing that it has left me stumped for a week. So, I'll try to dissect it here. Buckle in, it will be long.

THIS SCENE. THIS F'ING SCENE.

Season 3 Episode 3.

Maybe I'm dumb, but I can't figure it out. You know that user that has their 8 part series for Gilbert's feelings? I tried to do it for this one and got NOTHING.

So, a little context. Ruby and Moody have known each other for years.

They've gone to school together for YEARS.

Ruby has liked Gilbert for YEARS.

In 1x03, Josie says that Ruby has liked Gilbert for 3 years, so by the time we see her in 3x01, she has liked Clownbert for 6 years! 6 YEARS. LIKING THE SAME GUY.

But as we know, Gilbert likes Anne and never showed Ruby any attention whatsoever. Not even romantic attention, just...attention in general. FROM WHAT WE SAW IN THE SHOW, the only thing Gilbert ever did for Ruby was help her off the ground in 1x04 and that was just because he wanted to get Anne's attention. You can imagine how hurtful it must be for Ruby by Season 3, to have the guy you like pay you zero (0) attention for 6 years.

Now, let's look at Moody. He has a love interest of his own. In 2x05, when these poor children are forced to play Spin the Bottle, Moody got to kiss Diana. We don't know if Moody liked Diana during that scene or around that time, but judging by the look on his face when the bottle lands on him, we can assume he did. However, things are fairly normal between them in 2x10, when he says his iconic "my whole life is an accident" line. Diana is sitting with him and everything seems fine, no awkwardness.

But fast forward to 3x01, Moody obviously has a crush on Diana.

He compliments her, but everytime he does so, he is met with this face:

I mean, really. What is this face, Diana? This is the MOODSTER. but I digress.

So, he is met with a painful level of non-reciprocity. Sound familiar? Because this is basically what Ruby has been going through with Gilbert! Not EXACTLY, but quite similar. A crush that has been met continually with a blank stare and lots of awkwardness.

Now we're here. Season 3 Episode 3. Mary is dying, the world is burning, but right in the middle of it all... Moody and Ruby have a little moment.

And it doesn't make much sense. I think it boils down to each episode having so many characters and storylines, that you often have to bounce between them a lot and it gets confusing.

But! Be that as it may, the last time we saw Ruby and Moody was two episodes ago when they were flirting with their own people of interest. Ruby with Gilbert and Moody with Diana. (Keep in mind this is before she saw that he was a banjo strumming king!)

In this scene, Mary is ill and Gilbert yeets off to get the doctor. In the meantime, the newspaper kids are working on their latest issue. They hang up a fresh page and upon rewatching, I noticed, when Moody says "just like magic" he is gazing at Diana, and Charlie pats him on the back. So his feelings for Diana are still very much there, despite her non-reciprocity and overall coldness. (You can even hear Josie say a scolding, "Moody" in the background.) Diana pretends not to notice and reads the newspaper. "Farmers celebrate a new Gilbert" and everyone laughs. Ruby yells that she is preoccupied and wonders why Gilbert isn't there, then starts to cry when Anne tells him that he went to get the doctor. Moody looks sad and sympathetic, observing this scene. Anne claps back at Josie, at Ruby interrupts what could be a squabble by saying that Gilbert was so heroic.

Then we get the moment that confuses me. Moody gives Ruby his handkerchief and says, "Here, Ruby, for your poor eyes."

Apparently, after some Googling, handkerchiefs were the main mode of flirting during the 1800s when overt modes of expressing attraction were restricted. We see this in 3x06, when Diana gives Jerry one. But handkerchief love was usually reserved for women expressing love to men, not vice versa. So here, when Moody gives Ruby one, it is a little odd. His face is soft and sympathetic, albeit a little teasing, so it could just be brushed off as a friendly gesture, especially since we just saw signs of him still liking Diana. And as for the poor eyes line, there is probably no other meaning to this other than it being a teasing remark about Ruby crying all the time. (We could say it was a remark about her constantly crying over Gilby when he doesn't care about her, but I don't think so.)

Josie then whistles and asks Diana if she is taking notice of this. Moody glances at her and Diana looks uncomfortable. He looks surprised that Josie is pointing it out to Diana and when she does, he turns back to Ruby smiling like an idiot. He's pleased that his little gentlemanly act got noticed by Diana, or so he thinks.

Then Ruby says, after blowing her nose, "it's true, I am beautiful when I cry". I...am confused. Why would she say that? Is it...I just. No matter how hard a try, for all my analysis, I get stuck on that. Did Ruby interpreted the kerchief moment as a romantic gesture? Did Moody intend for it to be a romantic gesture? He looked surprised when Josie treated it as one, so I guess he didn't. Ruby must have interpreted it as romantic, though, so she chalked it up to it being her beautiful crying face. I don't think she even considers Moody an option by this point, even though he glowed up. We see Moody give her a second glance, though, so maybe he just noticed what she was talking about? He's looking at Ruby tenderly, which makes no sense since up until this point he's been making heart eyes at Diana. Did he realize in that moment that since Diana doesn't like him, Ruby could be an option???

Ruby then bundles up the tissue and goes to give it back to him??? Which is a weird thing to do because what would Moody do with a gross, snotty tissue? But ok. He rightfully tells her that she should keep it (because gross) but then adds, "if you like".

Ruby is confused and Moody continues to gaze at her!

So, in summary, WHAT THE HECK?! HOW DID WE GET HERE? How did we go from "wow diana is like magic" to "keep my kerchief, Ruby". Because apparently in that time period giving someone a kerchief was romantic af?

I don't know. I'm still confused. This didn't help. Congrats if you read this whole thing lol