Who cares!! I only shave when I feel like it and that’s not very often... expecting adult women to shave is such a bullshit notion, really!
- Notice
gossip_guy
VIP Member
Blakeney, blink three times if you need help.
On the face of it, this is a cheerful, ad-filled home makeover video, but under the surface, there's a dark undercurrent of subtext which focuses on one unfortunate young woman trapped in a toxic, controlling roommate relationship with a wealthy lunatic with the mind of a child.
Ruby: "We bought this rug for £38.99, which is actually really good for a full-size rug!"
Blakeney:
That's the "Sure, Jan" look of someone who absolutely did not agree to overpaying for that cheap-looking, ugly-ass rug, if I ever saw one.
This is also by no stretch of the imagination a full-size rug.
That thing is tiny. We see that Ruby has no grasp of reality, while Blakeney's reaction to Ruby's claims of this tiny, cheap rug being "huge" and "a good deal" show that she knows these things not to be true. Ruby persists anyway. Gaslighting? Possibly. Stupidity? Absolutely.
Ruby: "You should explain this Grape Nuts poster!"
Blakeney: "Well, I quite like the cereal Grape Nuts, and--
Ruby: "--IT'S THE BEST CEREAL IN EXISTENCE!" (Translation: "I had never heard of it before Blakeney mentioned it, now it's part of my identity.")
So, in summary: Make a point of asking roommate to explain something that has a very simple explanation ("I like Grape Nuts so I bought this Grape Nuts poster.") Loudly interrupt roommate multiple times before they can finish a sentence, to assert dominance.
Usurp roommate's favourite foods and claim them as your own, but bigger!
I have included a very scientific diagram of Ruby's apparent relationship to Blakeney, based on everything we've seen of the two together:
Is this Ruby continuing to whittle away at Blakeney's individual sense of self until all she sees in herself is a reflection of Ruby, and vice versa, until the two become one single, inseparable entity in Blakeney's now fractured psyche? We may never know... But I'd say definitely.
In a moment of clarity, Blakeney ponders her escape:
"I could just run. I could just go, while she's distracted. She's too weak and frail to catch up to me. I'd be free. No more butchering of the English language. No more talk of "murials." No more colourful gruel for every meal. ...No...it's too easy... She'll have planned for that... There'll be other chances, Blakeney... Tomorrow brings new light, and with it, new opportunities for escape."
Later, Blakeney mentions how the candlesticks (not "candlestick holders" as Ruby constantly insists they're called) have a lot of heft to them. Blakeney is undoubtedly filing that away in the back of her mind as a potential murder weapon. "The cops would never believe a candlestick could be used as a murder weapon. If someone suggested it, they'd go, "What is this, Cluedo?" and laugh it off. I'd get off scot free."
Moments after Ruby proudly mentions that they'd gone for a chrome, black and red motif when decorating, conversation shifts to a very red utensil pot...
Blakeney: "Ruby doesn't like that red pot, so we had to replace it..."
Ruby: "Ugh, that PINK pot thing is the ugliest thing ever, it has to go!"
Blakeney: "Ruby is always complaining about that red thing."
The pot is clearly red. Blakeney knows that the pot is red. Ruby insists it's pink, despite being corrected. Is this another psychological gaslighting tactic for Ruby to try to mess with Blakeney's head? Is she colour-blind? Both are valid options, but we've already firmly established that Ruby's a moron, so it's also probable that she's just a moron who also doesn't know what colours are.
A hallmark indicator of a controlling relationship is when the dominant partner isolates the other from their friends and family. This can happen subtly over time. Here, Blakeney's family are represented by Fox Costume Girl and Watermelon Dude and their gang of colourful pals, who proudly adorn the fridge. When next we see this fridge following Ruby's enforced makeover, the focus is now a giant photo of Ruby and Blakeney, along with pictures of food and 19th Century randomness. Ruby has successfully pruned away swathes of Blakeney's life to the point where Ruby and her interests take precedence. Fox Costume Girl has been relegated to a back stairwell of Blakeney's life. The rest are gone. Only Watermelon Dude remains. But for how long...?
Stay strong, Blakeney! You can get through this!
Also:
Ruby: "Karma is a wonderful app that I've been using for years!"
Translation: "I've never heard of this thing until they inboxed me with an offer of cash and a video idea, and will never use it again unless further offers of cash are forthcoming, in which case I'll say I was using it all along!"
Ruby bought a child's bath mat/rug. She put it in the living room.
Ruby bought living plants and named them just hours before they moved out and left them alone and unwatered for months. Those plants are already dead.
Last edited:
gossip_guy
VIP Member
For all the crap we give Ruby, I have to give her credit for how inclusive she is with her outfit options: She always includes a look for people who were just involved in a horrific car accident and their right leg is now mangled and bent at impossible angles. It's a very specific group of people, sure, but Ruby's got their backs.
VeryFerociousDrama
Active member
Right, I've been umm-ing and aah-ing posting this for about a week as I wasn't sure whether I wanted to stoop this low or not, but what the hell:
Can Ruby and Blakeney's shipping name be Boobee?
Can Ruby and Blakeney's shipping name be Boobee?
poppystark
Member
And she has unfollowed.. Ruby. Good for you Molly, stay strong 
Attachments
buflesse
Chatty Member
I think I'm going to have to step back from this thread (and Ruby) for a bit. I don't have and have never had an ED, but I do have body dysmorphia and I've found myself thinking a lot about her food habits and the fact that she is clearly ED baiting and getting thinner & thinner, and it's not healthy for me. Sending love to everyone, keep calling her out on her bullsh*t
howaboutnot
Well-known member
oh my gosh! Did you guys see the IG story that she posted a few hours ago!?
She and Blakeney are sitting together holding mugs of tea, and Ruby says they're "enjoying..." to which Blakeney cuts in and says, "pretty much the only thing we have in common".
Was that a roast!? Is Boobee over before it began?
She and Blakeney are sitting together holding mugs of tea, and Ruby says they're "enjoying..." to which Blakeney cuts in and says, "pretty much the only thing we have in common".
Was that a roast!? Is Boobee over before it began?
treasuredintention
Well-known member
don't tell her to read the back of the ketchup bottle, she will add it to her GoodReads list!!
Stormweald
Active member
That's fucking peach fuzz, you'll live. I have more hair than the average man because 
balkan genes and no one fucking cares about that.
balkan genes and no one fucking cares about that.GoinDowntown
Well-known member
Funny how she had to make sure to mention that she already read it at the tender age of thirteen to remind everyone what a mature, progressive prodigy she was.
gossip_guy
VIP Member
"I Read 7 Books in A Day"
Ruby: "Obviously there is so much disparity between books... it's just not useful to compare numbers when people are reading different kinds of books. For example, there is no way I could have read a Bronte book as part of this readathon in a single day"
No, Ruby, there's so much disparity between what you're claiming to have accomplished (reading 7 books in a single day) and what actually happened (you didn't even remotely do that.) You don't then get to humblebrag that not everyone can be as great as you because everyone's reading ability/choices are different. I could be a record-breaking mountain climber if I just changed the definition of what constitutes a mountain to be "a very tiny mound of dirt" and then gave myself a trophy for merely stepping near it. That's not how the world works though. You don't get to say "I read the complete Lord of the Rings in 10 minutes!" because you read the first page of each book. I believe that's the dictionary definition of...(looks it up in the dictionary)...lying! Hey, I read one word in the dictionary! I guess that means I read the whole thing! Go me!
This is just lies. Clickbait. Imagine if a sponsor came to you and said "We want to pay you £100,000 to advertise this nice hat." Then the package arrived, and it wasn't a nice hat, it was an ugly scarf. The sponsor says "Yep, that's exactly as advertised. Hats are worn in fairly close proximity to scarves, after all." You wear the scarf once for Instagram, claim it's the greatest scarf in the history of knitwear and you'll never take it off, then you shove it in a drawer and never speak of it again. But when the payment comes through, it's only for £100. The sponsor says, "No, that's right. We only paid you every thousandth pound, but that's still a loose approximation of the full £100,000." You'd feel cheated, right? That's exactly what you're delivering when you title a video "READING 7 BOOKS IN A DAY (cosy university readathon)" and it features you specifically not reading 7 whole books and also does not feature anything related to university.
It's a lie. Stop doing it. Why couldn't you just call it something accurate? Just "I read all day" or "A Summer Readathon Vlog" would have been more accurate. But you just have to give yourself the self-important ego boost of claiming to have accomplished more than you did.
"This book is very nostalgic for the kinds of books I read when I was younger." Oh, the nonsensical sentences! People are nostalgic for the kind of books they read when they were younger, Ruby. Inanimate objects aren't nostalgic for anything. I think you meant to say "This book is reminiscent of the books I'm nostalgic for" but honestly, with the word soup that comes out of your mouth, you could just as likely been trying to give directions to the nearest cobblers and I'd be none the wiser.
"The Daily Scrouge"? It's Scourge. "Fassymiles"? "Alamac"? Oh god, I can't even... We're not even a third of the way in. Is she dyslexic but just won't admit it as she falsely believes it's a stain against her fabricated reputation as a child genius? (Oddly enough, one of her most recent reads is flagged in its Goodreads synopsis as being "Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers aged 14+." - at this point Ruby would fit any/all of those.) Or did she just play American Football professionally for several years while nobody was looking? Because I'm really starting to believe she has severe brain damage from getting hit in the head too much. "Romantisilation" is not a word, it's a sign that you may have a concussion.
Ruby, this is why you should actually read the words on the page, not just skim and skip over them all - you might have a fighting change at noticing what the words actually are and what order the letters are in if you're not half-glancing at pages occasionally as you flip through the book to speed to the end and pretend you've read it.
I'm really starting to get the impression Blakeney is just Ruby's live-in carer, distracting her with cute kid crafts like you would a child to keep them entertained long enough to stop them from screaming or wandering off and putting a fork in a plug socket.
Ruby: "Obviously there is so much disparity between books... it's just not useful to compare numbers when people are reading different kinds of books. For example, there is no way I could have read a Bronte book as part of this readathon in a single day
"No, Ruby, there's so much disparity between what you're claiming to have accomplished (reading 7 books in a single day) and what actually happened (you didn't even remotely do that.) You don't then get to humblebrag that not everyone can be as great as you because everyone's reading ability/choices are different. I could be a record-breaking mountain climber if I just changed the definition of what constitutes a mountain to be "a very tiny mound of dirt" and then gave myself a trophy for merely stepping near it. That's not how the world works though. You don't get to say "I read the complete Lord of the Rings in 10 minutes!" because you read the first page of each book. I believe that's the dictionary definition of...(looks it up in the dictionary)...lying! Hey, I read one word in the dictionary! I guess that means I read the whole thing! Go me!
This is just lies. Clickbait. Imagine if a sponsor came to you and said "We want to pay you £100,000 to advertise this nice hat." Then the package arrived, and it wasn't a nice hat, it was an ugly scarf. The sponsor says "Yep, that's exactly as advertised. Hats are worn in fairly close proximity to scarves, after all." You wear the scarf once for Instagram, claim it's the greatest scarf in the history of knitwear and you'll never take it off, then you shove it in a drawer and never speak of it again. But when the payment comes through, it's only for £100. The sponsor says, "No, that's right. We only paid you every thousandth pound, but that's still a loose approximation of the full £100,000." You'd feel cheated, right? That's exactly what you're delivering when you title a video "READING 7 BOOKS IN A DAY (cosy university readathon)" and it features you specifically not reading 7 whole books and also does not feature anything related to university.
It's a lie. Stop doing it. Why couldn't you just call it something accurate? Just "I read all day" or "A Summer Readathon Vlog" would have been more accurate. But you just have to give yourself the self-important ego boost of claiming to have accomplished more than you did.
"This book is very nostalgic for the kinds of books I read when I was younger." Oh, the nonsensical sentences! People are nostalgic for the kind of books they read when they were younger, Ruby. Inanimate objects aren't nostalgic for anything. I think you meant to say "This book is reminiscent of the books I'm nostalgic for" but honestly, with the word soup that comes out of your mouth, you could just as likely been trying to give directions to the nearest cobblers and I'd be none the wiser.
"The Daily Scrouge"? It's Scourge. "Fassymiles"? "Alamac"? Oh god, I can't even... We're not even a third of the way in. Is she dyslexic but just won't admit it as she falsely believes it's a stain against her fabricated reputation as a child genius? (Oddly enough, one of her most recent reads is flagged in its Goodreads synopsis as being "Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers aged 14+." - at this point Ruby would fit any/all of those.) Or did she just play American Football professionally for several years while nobody was looking? Because I'm really starting to believe she has severe brain damage from getting hit in the head too much. "Romantisilation" is not a word, it's a sign that you may have a concussion.
Ruby, this is why you should actually read the words on the page, not just skim and skip over them all - you might have a fighting change at noticing what the words actually are and what order the letters are in if you're not half-glancing at pages occasionally as you flip through the book to speed to the end and pretend you've read it.
I'm really starting to get the impression Blakeney is just Ruby's live-in carer, distracting her with cute kid crafts like you would a child to keep them entertained long enough to stop them from screaming or wandering off and putting a fork in a plug socket.
Last edited:
gossip_guy
VIP Member
Well, that murial's not gonna make itself.
Princess Peach
Member
Ruby is a...
buflesse
Chatty Member
I thought it was interesting to compare Ruby and Blakeney's views on the same book. Blakeney sounds fun and like she actually enjoyed and understood the book. Ruby, on the other hand..her review just sound so try-hard, like she's trying to write a personal statement.
Attachments
gossip_guy
VIP Member
I think it's a weird combination of her trying to be relatable to her audience while also having zero understanding of what normal, everyday things that grown-ups buy should look like or cost because she's lived in a bubble of fantasy and privilege her entire life.
The rug thing is a glaring indication of that - that's not a full-size rug, it's tiny, and £40 is too expensive for something so small that looks like it'll disintegrate if you run a hoover over it. It's a rug for a child's bedroom that you'd expect to pay £10 for at Argos.
But for someone who has never considered the cost of anything before, in her mind it's probably a good deal, and maybe she thinks to the unwashed masses who must dream of owning a giant Oriental rug, this is a majestic middle ground and surely a bargain. Surely poor people are humble and grateful for but the smallest glimpse of prosperity, so everything looks big and expensive to them! Look at this gigantic rug the size of a postage stamp!
In reality, they could've gotten a much nicer, larger and more durable one for £40, and it would've covered much more of that cheap carpet that their landlord put in and Ruby can't be bothered to hoover properly (check out the latest video for her expert hoovering technique - just go over the same 3 spots a few times and ignore 85% of the carpet's real estate.) I'm sure they were restricted to some extent by having to buy things from retailers supported by the Karma app, but even so, her trying to sell the whole thing as a huge bargain is deluded.
I'm honestly quite shocked she didn't buy one of those bags of fake autumn leaves you can buy for £1 at The Works and just cover the living room in them.Ha sorry, we call it ”midsummer” where I live and don’t actually have the ”first day of summer/spring” concept at all, so I didn’t think of itBut yeah anyway. She’s so fixated on things being “automonal”, it’s probably that she feels chilly from lack of food and her place smells like things rotting in corners.
Ruby: "And these beautiful autumn leaves that I used to cover the floor, counters and every shelf of the fridge really helps culpitate a sense of--"
Blakeney: "--Sorry, do you mean 'cultivate'?"
Ruby: "Oh, Blakeney, you're such a character! You're always making up words like that! That's why I'm glad we're such good friends! Anyway, it really helps culpitate a wonderful dark academia vibe which is super aesthetic. And I also found these tattered curtains in an old trunk that belonged to my great, great grandmother, so we're using that as a tablecloth."
Blakeney: "It has an awful lot of spiders and cobwebs on it..."
Ruby: "It's so aesthetic."
Blakeney: "Are you sure these curtains weren't buried with your great, great grandmother? They smell like corpses and mouldy turnips."
Ruby: "And I also hung up this beautiful old map of Soviet Russia signed by someone called Joseph Stalin."
Blakeney: "...You know who that is, right?"
Ruby: "Pssh! Of course! He's the author of the Goosebumps books! They're very scary! And they fit the autumnal aesthetic!"
Blakeney: "...I'm moving out."
Ruby: "This video is sponsored by Skillshare."
She'll donate them to an underfunded state school. #giving #blessed
Last edited:
gossip_guy
VIP Member
It's absolutely Blakeney's influence. Ruby has no individual style or personality, so dresses/acts exactly like whoever she's closest to.
At home where she has no friends around, it's been whatever internet fad aesthetic is most prominent and a succession of fictional characters (for most of her teens it was Hermione, for a while now it's been Anne of Green Gables from Anne With an E.)
At Exeter she started dressing exactly like Blakeney the second she was back with her - Ruby has suddenly bought a tonne of new dungarees and t-shirts/ringer tees, not-so-coincidentally that's Blakeney's usual style.
Spoilers: It'll be titled "Productive University Camping Morning Routine (Slow Living + Cottagecore)"
Here's a sneak preview:
"Hello, it's Ryoobee and tyooday, oiym gyowing tyoo bee showing you my morning routine while camping.
"I've been camping with Blakeney to make the most of the byootiful summer weather we've been having, it makes me so, so inspired and grateful, and it always reminds me that great, inspirational historical figures like William Shakespeare, Mahatma Gandhi, Anne Frank and Albus Dumbledore all looked up at the same bright sun as I do now, and that always makes me so fulfilled as I think they'd be smiling down at me and proud of all I've accomplished. I only do that for a while though, as my head starts to hurt from staring at the sun for too long.
"While camping, Blakeney and I danced and sang and talked and drank tea, and we had such a lovely time."
(10 seconds of sped-up, silent camping footage.)
"When I'm back home, I wake up later than usual at 6:15 and drink a gallon of water as I get so, so thirsty, and then I brush my teeth while reading two books at once..."
(From here it'll just be 15 minutes of reused footage from old routines slapped on the opening 20 second bit about her camping trip.)
Honestly I think Ruby has just never had a close friendship like this before. The way she looks at Blakeney, the way she puts on a different voice, her exaggerated reactions, reminds me of how I used to act (as a child) around older girls I looked up to. Because Blakeney like reading and tea as much as she does, I think Ruby's just holding onto her hard. It's nice that she has a friendship like that but she's noticeably more intense with it than Blakeney is, who seems just generally more healthy and well-adjusted. I don't think Ruby's mentally mature enough to really have a crush on Blakeney, I think she just looks up to her and wants to be like her.
