Ruby Buckton
Ruby Buckton is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera "Home and Away", played by Rebecca Breeds. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 20 June 2008. Ruby was created by executive producer Cameron Welsh. When she was first introduced she appeared to hide her problems and pretends to be strong. She was characterised as a free spirited and independent girl. Her storylines have consistently followed themes such as romance, unrequited love and rejection. In what has been described as a "shock storyline" Ruby discovered her sister Charlie Buckton was in fact her mother. This had subsequent effects in her character development. She became out of place and confused about her life. It destroyed her trust in Charlie and their relationship never recovered. Ruby went on a journey of self-discovery and used men to redefine herself. Her relationship with Xavier Austin was characterised through their mutual friendship, which ended through lack of passion. She controversially fell in love with her music teacher Liam Murphy, the pair shared an emotional and creative connection through music. Yet, her advances were unrequited and it created problems with her state of mind and began binge drinking. Breeds felt the storyline differed to her romance with Xavier, as it showed Ruby "headstrong and unconfined". Breeds felt they were ill-suited to one another.
Ruby Buckton
Ruby later becomes good friends with her music teacher Liam Murphy (Axle Whitehead). They work closely together and Ruby develops feelings for him. The storyline creates many hurdles for the characters and highlights "controversial negotiation" in its themes. This sees Ruby experience a "different kind of love" than she felt for Xavier. At this point Breeds said: "She's matured a bit and is exploring different parts of herself and love." Through Liam she was "realising something she's passionate about, and being encouraged in her creativity with her music." It is the intoxication of the situation that has been misappropriated to Liam. Breeds opined they shared "really strong chemistry emotionally and creatively." She said Ruby is ignorant to the fact he is her teacher by virtue of the fact she is feeling "headstrong and doesn't confine herself to boxes." Ruby was initially in denial of her feelings, she realised it was "controversial" – Yet, ultimately she decided to be true to her feelings.