Dude, I'm actually so feral over session 7
Like... Max is loud, brazen, and fiercely independent. He's obnoxious and he knows it. He's stubborn and egotistical, and generally a difficult man to deal with. But underneath all of that lies a heart of gold. Underneath his ego and difficulty, he maintains a deep-rooted desire to help people, to heal and care. He's often the reason he and his friends get into trouble, but also the one to heal everyone after every fight
And then they get to the circus and Max... changes. He's quiet when he should be loud, sheepish when he should be brazen, humble when he should be flashy. His friends are instantly supportive, even through their obvious concern
And then they meet Langley Ridgemont
Langley is immediately standoffish towards Max, one could even call her rude. She scolds Max for running away with no explanation. He's an employee that abandoned his workplace, an investment that seemingly threw away all the hard work that the circus put into raising him
And then, of all people, it's RUBY NYX that stands up for him
Ruby, the person in the party that Max has the most friction with. Between his distrust towards tieflings and her annoyance with his shenanigans, it's no secret that they don't exactly get along super well
But when Langley bad-months Max, it's HER that immediately stands up for him. She calls him a friend, despite all the trouble he's given her
I've watched session 7 way too many times now and wherever I get to that confrontation, I imagine Max just looking at Ruby in shock. Because most of the people that influenced him growing up didn't see him as Max Blunder. Based on what we know from canon, the most favorable light paints a picture where Max was seen as just another employee of the circus and nothing more. The most important person in the circus is strict and orderly, and it's safe to assume most people there are a lot like her
But that's not who Max Blunder is. And the only person at the circus who saw that is now gone in an irreversible way
But for the first time in... maybe his entire life, there's more than one person that GENUINELY cares for him, who see him for who he REALLY is. Ruby proves it in that one moment
Because to Ruby, Wizard, and Bro, sure, Max is still the one-of-a-kind half goliath-half halfling that the circus saw him as, but that's far from the most interesting thing about him. He's kindhearted deep down and enjoys playing his bagpipes. He's independent, obnoxious, and friendly. He'll get them into deep trouble but do his damnedest to get them right back out of it. His main contribution to fights may only be to Bless his companions, but that simple action helps to elevate them into even better combatants, and he's always there after the fight to heal them
His friends know there truly is no one else like Max Blunder, but that phrase means something else entirely to them