Ruby Granger #12 The Continuing Adventures of Pie-rott and Muriel

[Saskia69]

“These are not affiliate links. I just really like miss patina as a brand”

Proceeds to post half a dozen stories where every single outfit is #gifted.

While I accept she isn’t paid to post, I really hate when influencers act like gifted products aren’t a form of payment! I realise they don’t pay the bills, but it’s still a TRANSACTION of goods and services. They’re not exactly gifting her straw boaters to frolic in the wheat fields in private…

 

[gossip_guy]

“These are not affiliate links. I just really like miss patina as a brand”

Proceeds to post half a dozen stories where every single outfit is #gifted.

While I accept she isn’t paid to post, I really hate when influencers act like gifted products aren’t a form of payment! I realise they don’t pay the bills, but it’s still a TRANSACTION of goods and services. They’re not exactly gifting her straw boaters to frolic in the wheat fields in private…

Yup! "I really like them as a brand, so much so that I didn't pay for any of the Miss Patina that I'm showing off, but if I keep advertising them constantly, they'll keep sending me free things! And they signal-boost me by featuring me on their website! So, as you can see, it's all legit and you should trust my opinion." That's 100% a transactional relationship.

How many brands and businesses does she go out of her way to show off and endorse that she hasn't been gifted or paid for? Because it sure seems like none.

 

[margodays]

There was a pretty memorable moment in first year when she whipped out a quill and ink in a lecture but apart from that she’s just this really small quiet girl. She always sits at the front right in the middle and stays to talk to the lecturers afterwards. And if someone swears or says anything she thinks is inappropriate she won’t talk to them again lol. And she does contribute a lot in seminars, I’ve never seen her interrupt a lecture though

"There was a pretty memorable moment in first year when she whipped out a quill and ink in a lecture" I am bleeping screaminggg

 

[yayadumpling]

This is the thing: most people who are planning meals are too broke to be bothering with a fancy meal planner or need an aide memoire to help them get round the shops on their budget (that's me: put me in Lidl without a meal plan/ shopping list when they're selling Greek food, and I can return home with just 5 boxes of baklava, and a confused expression).

Ruby's target market is kids who can afford to pour their pocket money down the drain on Rube's Bumpkin Banal merch but who I presume are too young to be dealing with meal planning unless one of their weekly chores is cooking a meal.

i literally just write a meal plan on the notes in my phone app as i hate cooking/thinking of something to eat when i get home from work lol

 

[babyspice1996]

I also know people who also study English Lit at Exeter and have interacted with Ruby. They too have said she sits at the front of the lecture and asks lots of questions. She always has her laptop open on the black and white clock screen thingy that she uses, which is apparently very irritating. I haven't heard anything about a quill and ink though... I'm not saying it's not true, but I'd hate for people to spread malicious rumours about her for a quick laugh. This, as you say, would be a very memorable moment and no one has mentioned it.

I've also passed her in the street and, as you say, she is very small.

It was in one of the extra voluntary workshop lectures so I guess the fact that not everyone went to them explains that. Trust me I’m not here to spread mistruths, the only reason I made an account and commented was bc there was a narrative that Exeter uni had low standards and I wanted it to be made clear that Ruby’s grades are not the norm, I’m never had anything over a 72 and no one I know has either. She’s definitely not getting the grades she does get easily lmao

 

[CleverLittleThoughts]

She has become completely disgusting. Her insta and channel are no longer about studying or books. They are about food, exercise and playing dress-up. Nothing that interests me. Kind of random, but can anyone suggest any interesting booktubers? I already follow Emmie/Emma. Would appreciate more suggestions. I stopped following Ruby ages ago. Now I am not even looking at her stuff. It is just a complete waste of my time and I am not at all interested in watching some random YouTuber starve themselves and watch their channel and life decline. Pretty sure I can find someone better to watch in my spare time!

 

[mindlessness]

She has become completely disgusting. Her insta and channel are no longer about studying or books. They are about food, exercise and playing dress-up. Nothing that interests me. Kind of random, but can anyone suggest any interesting booktubers? I already follow Emmie/Emma. Would appreciate more suggestions. I stopped following Ruby ages ago. Now I am not even looking at her stuff. It is just a complete waste of my time and I am not at all interested in watching some random YouTuber starve themselves and watch their channel and life decline. Pretty sure I can find someone better to watch in my spare time!

We have a booktuber thread here with lots of suggestions in the last few pages (and actually all the way through)! https://tattle.life/threads/booktubers.2805/

 

[gossip_guy]

It was in one of the extra voluntary workshop lectures so I guess the fact that not everyone went to them explains that. Trust me I’m not here to spread mistruths, the only reason I made an account and commented was bc there was a narrative that Exeter uni had low standards and I wanted it to be made clear that Ruby’s grades are not the norm, I’m never had anything over a 72 and no one I know has either. She’s definitely not getting the grades she does get easily lmao

It definitely doesn't paint Exeter in the best light if someone as staggeringly stupid as her is she's not just passing, but getting consistent firsts. I guess it's possible that she's a puddle-brained dumbass only on the internet and in real life she's actually a genius, but that seems very unlikely.

How do all the other students there feel about her getting such good grades when she's can't get through a sentence without misusing, mispronouncing or inventing words? Does she mangle the English language constantly in lectures/seminars, too?

 

[babyspice1996]

It definitely doesn't paint Exeter in the best light if someone as staggeringly stupid as her is she's not just passing, but getting consistent firsts. I guess it's possible that she's a puddle-brained dumbass only on the internet and in real life she's actually a genius, but that seems very unlikely.

How do all the other students there feel about her getting such good grades when she's can't get through a sentence without misusing, mispronouncing or inventing words? Does she mangle the English language constantly in lectures/seminars, too?

She’s never said anything that’s baffled me. I think she probably just feels insecure on the Internet and tries to appear overly intelligent because that’s her brand. Of course she’s a bit of a meme and I think how she’s approaching her dissertation is ridiculous but I’m sure she’ll listen to her advisor when we go back in September. I think she just fantasises a lot and gets way ahead of herself without guidance. Ruby’s a lot of things but she’s not dumb. If anything, Ruby does so well because she probably caters her essays towards the opinions of her seminar leader (who marks her work) and takes on a lot of office hour advice. And English is really subjective. If you write something your marker vehemently disagrees with they’re more likely to poke holes in your essay than if you present an argument that agrees with them. You can be really good at essay writing and still really stupid when it comes to other things. I doubt she uses her weird vocabulary in essays, and she has a lot of time to go over them and proof read again and again bc she’s always so ahead of herself. Maybe she gets her friends to proofread for her? Idk.

We do always tend to be astounded at how consistently well she does though lol. She never seems to struggle at all.

And as for the uni, we’re Russel Group and have a pretty solid reputation as a good university. There’s also a pretty established sentiment that English is one of the toughest humanities subjects at the uni because of how brutal the marking can be. And I don’t think Ruby is the best way of judging any school considering she’s only one person anyway lmao

 

[missmina]

She’s never said anything that’s baffled me. I think she probably just feels insecure on the Internet and tries to appear overly intelligent because that’s her brand. Of course she’s a bit of a meme and I think how she’s approaching her dissertation is ridiculous but I’m sure she’ll listen to her advisor when we go back in September. I think she just fantasises a lot and gets way ahead of herself without guidance. Ruby’s a lot of things but she’s not dumb. If anything, Ruby does so well because she probably caters her essays towards the opinions of her seminar leader (who marks her work) and takes on a lot of office hour advice. And English is really subjective. If you write something your marker vehemently disagrees with they’re more likely to poke holes in your essay than if you present an argument that agrees with them. You can be really good at essay writing and still really stupid when it comes to other things. I doubt she uses her weird vocabulary in essays, and she has a lot of time to go over them and proof read again and again bc she’s always so ahead of herself. Maybe she gets her friends to proofread for her? Idk.

We do always tend to be astounded at how consistently well she does though lol. She never seems to struggle at all.

And as for the uni, we’re Russel Group and have a pretty solid reputation as a good university. There’s also a pretty established sentiment that English is one of the toughest humanities subjects at the uni because of how brutal the marking can be. And I don’t think Ruby is the best way of judging any school considering she’s only one person anyway lmao

Well there is nothing brutal about the marks or feedback Ruby gets. It does seem pretty laid back. I went to a good uni in my country and even the best of the best sometimes would get a really bad mark or fail an exam. Taking into account how Ruby has no problems in getting good grades despite not being very intelligent (yes she is definitely dumb just studies a lot) shows really well how the grading is very light or she's in some way favourised by the staff. She wouldn't be even able to adapt a good vocabulary or literary knowledge when mostly reading kids books. Absolutely no. She even lacks basi knowledge or basic understanding of basic concepts - like in the 1984 incident.

 

[space.cat]

Well there is nothing brutal about the marks or feedback Ruby gets. It does seem pretty laid back. I went to a good uni in my country and even the best of the best sometimes would get a really bad mark or fail an exam. Taking into account how Ruby has no problems in getting good grades despite not being very intelligent (yes she is definitely dumb just studies a lot) shows really well how the grading is very light or she's in some way favourised by the staff. She wouldn't be even able to adapt a good vocabulary or literary knowledge when mostly reading kids books. Absolutely no. She even lacks basi knowledge or basic understanding of basic concepts - like in the 1984 incident.

Let's not get carried away now. It's one thing to trash talk the people we dislike, it's a whole other thing to start a conspiracy with a whole uni just because you're mad she's not failing like you want her to.

We have no proof of her being "not very intelligent" or "definitely dumb" to be talking about it like it's a fact. Her results show the exact opposite.

 

[Saskia69]

Let's not get carried away now. It's one thing to trash talk the people we dislike, it's a whole other thing to start a conspiracy with a whole uni just because you're mad she's not failing like you want her to.

We have no proof of her being "not very intelligent" or "definitely dumb" to be talking about it like it's a fact. Her results show the exact opposite.

Well there is nothing brutal about the marks or feedback Ruby gets. It does seem pretty laid back. I went to a good uni in my country and even the best of the best sometimes would get a really bad mark or fail an exam. Taking into account how Ruby has no problems in getting good grades despite not being very intelligent (yes she is definitely dumb just studies a lot) shows really well how the grading is very light or she's in some way favourised by the staff. She wouldn't be even able to adapt a good vocabulary or literary knowledge when mostly reading kids books. Absolutely no. She even lacks basi knowledge or basic understanding of basic concepts - like in the 1984 incident.

As someone who did Ruby’s degree at Exeter and can count on one hand the number of firsts I got, I am finding this “marking is laid back/low standards” talk really quite offensive and I feel like I am not alone when I say this!

I admit that I am shocked at how consistently high her marks are, but know that is NOT the norm - I don’t know anyone else who got consistently high marks like that, but I very much agree with what’s been said about her using office hours to the max.

There was one particular module where my seminar tutor was a notoriously tough marker. I spent more time with her discussing my essay than I did with all other tutors combined, as I wanted to get the best sense of how she’d respond to my argument. I somehow got a 66 and that was literally a Champaign cork moment, as half the group got a 2:2!

 

[Tsarist_Russia]

Well there is nothing brutal about the marks or feedback Ruby gets. It does seem pretty laid back. I went to a good uni in my country and even the best of the best sometimes would get a really bad mark or fail an exam. Taking into account how Ruby has no problems in getting good grades despite not being very intelligent (yes she is definitely dumb just studies a lot) shows really well how the grading is very light or she's in some way favourised by the staff. She wouldn't be even able to adapt a good vocabulary or literary knowledge when mostly reading kids books. Absolutely no. She even lacks basi knowledge or basic understanding of basic concepts - like in the 1984 incident.

I'm guessing her grades have something to do with the tremendous amount of time she puts into every one of her assignments, compared to her peers. For example, if you look at any of her exam-related content (i.e., the 24h exams), you'll see she spends way more time on these than she should have. The same goes for any of her essays. But, of course, she's only able to do that because she does literally nothing else (sorry, but transcribing war poems for 30 minutes a day isn't exactly a time-consuming extracurricular). If Ruby actually committed to any extracurriculars (e.g., sports, a uni newspaper, research assistant, etc.) or had an actual job while at university, I'm sure her marks would suffer tremendously.

I study at an ivy league law school in the U.S. An essential aspect of a law school application here is the resume because it shows whether an individual has done something with their time at university or just studied day and night. The latter would not be a competitive applicant. In the grand scheme of things, Ruby's grades are actually quite mediocre, given that she does nothing all day but work to achieve these grades. I think a first is everything above 70%; her average was 74% (I think). If she worked 20 hours a week (for example) in addition to receiving a 74%, I'd be a lot more impressed.

Edit: I've seen a lot of mediocre people do exceptionally well at challenging universities and subjects. As far as undergraduate degrees go: putting a lot of effort and time into your work will get you a good grade, not intelligence.

 

[GoinDowntown]

You guys (missmina and space.cat) both have really good points. It is a bit of a strange contradiction that she appears to be so inarticulate and naive in her videos and yet receives really good grades for her uni work.

I don't believe it's any kind of conspiracy or preferential treatment, or that the uni is too lenient with its marks.

I rather think that Ruby doesn't share her worst marks or the most critical comments she gets from lecturers. Surely even the best students get critical feedback sometimes, so it is kind of suspicious that she never seems to have much of that. It seems like she would quibble with the lecturer about every single point they made she doesn't agree with, and we have seen evidence of that.

Secondly, I think that she is not very good at thinking on her feet, but needs reassurance from secondary sources and criticisms to make up her own mind and forms her opinion based on what others have said. She is not an original thinker, and she needs to be told what she should think.

That's why when she makes videos she rambles and makes vague, generalised statements.
But with her uni work, she can spend hour and hours reading what other, smarter people have said about a text and she is able to incorporate those things into her work well. There seems evidence that even her tutors have picked up on that, as one of the comments she got for her exam was that she discussed the secondary sources more than the actual fictional text they were supposed to be considering.

And finally, I get the feeling that she talks down to her audience, whom she knows is younger than her and look up to her. She definitely acts like she thinks she is superior to them and might think that she doesn't need to work as hard making her content as she does with her coursework, because they won't get it anyway. She often says things like "today I'm going to TEACH you about... (insert Victorian girl's job description)." She gets all the validation she needs from her adoring fans without much effort.

 

[July9696]

I'm guessing her grades have something to do with the tremendous amount of time she puts into every one of her assignments, compared to her peers. For example, if you look at any of her exam-related content (i.e., the 24h exams), you'll see she spends way more time on these than she should have. The same goes for any of her essays. But, of course, she's only able to do that because she does literally nothing else (sorry, but transcribing war poems for 30 minutes a day isn't exactly a time-consuming extracurricular). If Ruby actually committed to any extracurriculars (e.g., sports, a uni newspaper, research assistant, etc.) or had an actual job while at university, I'm sure her marks would suffer tremendously.

I study at an ivy league law school in the U.S. An essential aspect of a law school application here is the resume because it shows whether an individual has done something with their time at university or just studied day and night. The latter would not be a competitive applicant. In the grand scheme of things, Ruby's grades are actually quite mediocre, given that she does nothing all day but work to achieve these grades. I think a first is everything above 70%; her average was 74% (I think). If she worked 20 hours a week (for example) in addition to receiving a 74%, I'd be a lot more impressed.

This. People seem to be putting her grades down to the fact that Exeter are giving her special treatment or their standards are lower when the latter has been convincingly refuted by posters who know Exeter and the former may be the case but realistically essays are marked anonymously/why would they sacrifice their academic reputation/ do tutors care enough/ she’s hardly a celebrity/ why would a 2:1 or 1st matter at the end of the day through Exeter’s eyes etc....

I thinkthe mistake we’re making is comparing ourlife or grades to hers. She spends her life studying, if I did I’d be getting her grades too. Instead I had multiple friendship groups, a boyfriend, in uni societies, a part time job. I had balance and was pleased with my 2:1 at the end of it. She has none of this and we’ve all seen the effort she puts into her youtube “job”. No mystery here.

 

[missmina]

We have no proof of her being "not very intelligent" or "definitely dumb" to be talking about it like it's a fact. Her results show the exact opposite.

We do It’s enough to watch few seconds of one of her videos to realise.

 

[gossip_guy]

We have no proof of her being "not very intelligent" or "definitely dumb" to be talking about it like it's a fact. Her results show the exact opposite.

The proof of her being not very intelligent has been catalogued on here in great detail. This is someone who can't pronounce or spell even basic words, words so simple and obvious that it can't be explained away by "She just learned them by reading them, so she was unsure how they were pronounced." I mean, "muriel"? Really?

Despite constant correction, she continues to make these mistakes. These are things even a basic spell check would catch. Ruby makes them time and time again, even after she's been told otherwise. Every new video is a treasure trove of linguistic duck-ups. Her books reviews are word soup; a collection of misused words that, even when translated into the sentences she actually meant, amount to the surface-level thoughts of a dimwit. Like babyspice1996 points out, she constantly wants to sound smarter than she is. Unfortunately that only shines a light on how dumb she is. She's a perfect storm of stupidity and ego.

She puts a lot of time into essay prep and academic work, but as we've seen so many times, none of that time is used efficiently. Endless, redundant lists and planners. Writing thousands of words over the word count. This is someone whose planning and organisational skills haven't improved at all from what she's shown since high school. And any intelligent student is capable of getting the same grades as her with a fraction of the work if they work more efficiently than she does.

I'll concede, it's likely she devotes a tonne of hard work for essays and exams away from the public eye, and devotes an insane amount of time to proofreading and quadruple-checking and polishing away all her natural mistakes into an essay that technically hits all the criteria required for a great mark. She's certainly getting impressive grades, against all odds. And her ungodly amount of tutor sessions and proofreading might save her ass from embarassment in many cases. Which means all her numerous, constant instances of stupidity are reserved entirely for the internet.

So in that scenario, she puts in the genuine work to get good grades in private, to proofreading and correcting all her errors in essays for a degree that ultimately won't get her very far in the real world without any real work experience, while in the public view of the internet, which constitutes her major source of income and realistically her best shot at major career success, she's happy to show herself as a borderline illiterate who can't learn from basic mistakes, is too lazy to do even basic editing and proofreading for anything she does, and can't plan or effectively use her time while teaching productivity skills and educational tips. Now, does that make her less stupid, or more stupid?

 

[gingerteacup]

Thread suggestion; I’m a little tea pot, a leg is my spout. Posting triggering content and getting called out.

Never expected to get that many likes!

 

[missmina]

As someone who did Ruby’s degree at Exeter and can count on one hand the number of firsts I got, I am finding this “marking is laid back/low standards” talk really quite offensive and I feel like I am not alone when I say this!

I admit that I am shocked at how consistently high her marks are, but know that is NOT the norm - I don’t know anyone else who got consistently high marks like that, but I very much agree with what’s been said about her using office hours to the max.

There was one particular module where my seminar tutor was a notoriously tough marker. I spent more time with her discussing my essay than I did with all other tutors combined, as I wanted to get the best sense of how she’d respond to my argument. I somehow got a 66 and that was literally a Champaign cork moment, as half the group got a 2:2!

I absolutely did not mean it in a way to offend anyone (anyone else than Ruby) - to me it doesn’t make sense to give her such a good marks when her tutors constantly see her come to the office hours for help. And yes it is basically help for her cause she gets additional advice on how to get better marks when other students can’t afford that - they either have other important stuff to do instead of going to office hours every time and also maybe some self dignity - I would feel super embarrassed to go e v e r y t i m e. What I’m trying to say it gets super obvious she’s not the smartest when she needs that much of extra support of the staff AND many hours of studying. Not to mention that in general the marking system seems to be flawed because to comes down to writing exactly the specific things or in a specific way that tutors want you to even if it’s not better than other ways - as in what guarantees you perfect marks is sucking up to the teachers not your actual skills and way of writing.

I rather think that Ruby doesn't share her worst marks or the most critical comments she gets from lecturers. Surely even the best students get critical feedback sometimes, so it is kind of suspicious that she never seems to have much of that. It seems like she would quibble with the lecturer about every single point they made she doesn't agree with, and we have seen evidence of that.

But with her uni work, she can spend hour and hours reading what other, smarter people have said about a text and she is able to incorporate those things into her work well. There seems evidence that even her tutors have picked up on that, as one of the comments she got for her exam was that she discussed the secondary sources more than the actual fictional text they were supposed to be considering.

Exactly this. That’s why I feel the grading system doesn’t work because it mostly applauds rewriting what others already wrote without any original thinking - which Ruby lacks.

Besides, ok I get it’s pandemic and so on but the fact she has so much time and opportunity to prepare her essays to be perfect is pointless to me - I was in a literature based class in high school which was super competitive and even then (as in compared to uni) the biggest percentage of our grades would be essays we were writing in class without any external help. Something like that required knowledge and good writing skills, not to mention the time pressure and planning on a spot. I wonder what marks she would get if she had 3 hours to wrote on a topic she wouldn’t know beforehand without any external help, proofreading and advice of her tutors.

 

[mindlessness]

I’m reiterating something that others have said before - if your tutor or lecturer has office hours, go to them! Seriously. It’s a thing Ruby does right IMO. Because 1) you’re paying for that degree and education, get your money’s worth and 2) most Academics want to talk about their areas of expertise with interested students and scholars. It’s why they became Academics.