Her Max
is a short Max and Ruby fanfic by Baby Show Story Writer. It's a serious oneshot attempting to deconstruct the show.
Ruby is a seven year old in charge of raising her three year old brother Max. Their parents died in a car crash when Ruby was six and, to avoid being put in separate foster homes, Ruby decided to become the primary caretaker of her family. However, taking care of her little brother isn't easy for the little rabbit.
Her Max provides examples of:
- Cerebus Retcon: Max's quiet nature stems from trauma, while Ruby's bossy nature stems from having to take care of her little brother on her own. The two don't have Invisible Parents—their parents died in an accident.
- Dark Fic: The fic takes the show at face value and goes with it. Max and Ruby don't have Invisible Parents, they're outright have dead parents. Ruby is Max's caretaker but it's not easy to raise a kid, especially when you're a kid yourself.
- Deconstruction Fic: It deconstructs the cartoon and the sibling's personalities. Ruby is precocious and bossy because she has to raise Max alone, while Max is near nonverbal due to trauma.
- Free-Range Children:
- A six-year old Ruby convinces her parents to leave her home alone with her two-year old brother for a few hours.
- After the death of their parents, Ruby and Max become fully free-range. The only adult supervision they have is their grandmother, who doesn't live with them,
- Infant Sibling Jealousy: When Max was born, Ruby didn't initially like him. She didn't want to share her parents with anyone. Eventually, she became fond of her brother.
- Promotion to Parent: From age four, Ruby liked taking care of babies. At age six, her parents died in a car crash and Ruby was forced to become Max's parental figure. This is deconstructed as it takes a toll on Ruby. She only focuses on Max, not herself or her needs. Eventually, Max comes to see Ruby as his mother.
- Raised by Grandparents: Subverted. Social Services thought that Max and Ruby would be raised by their grandmother, however their grandmother has a hands-off approach. She lives separately and only occasionally visits to supervise then.
- Unnamed Parent: Max and Ruby's parents are just referred to as Mr. and Mrs. Bunny.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: Ruby has always been an Adorably Precocious Child but she had to mature quickly after the death of her parents. It's mentioned that at seven she has the maturity of a twelve year old.
- You're Not My Father: A nightmare sequence depicts an older Max yelling "You are not my mother!" at Ruby. Max growing up to resent her is a fear of Ruby's.
