Ruby Granger #29 Is it soon yet?

[as1994]

Oh no, she's discovered Lucy and Yak. I hope she doesn't ruin this brand for me, I can't stand Bird and Blend now that she mentions it in every video.

 

[LitNerd]

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Girl what is we doin????

This was a painful read. I don't even know where to begin lmao

I just read like four lines at random, starting at ‘they’d come up without her’ and dear god the amount of times her is used would have the red ink flowing from any competent editor or creative writing lecturers heck even when you’re proof reading your own work where not everything is obvious that sure as heck should be

I know repeating words like that is a staple technique for meaning in poetry, but just… not like that

I work in publishing so what I’ll about it say breaks my heart and my brain, but part of me thinks that (at least before getting her agent) that Ruby thought that editors edit the book themselves with absolutely 0 input from the author? As in, the author never has to feel “critiqued” by their editor because after she’s written her book she’s assuming the fairies take care of it until it’s in bookshops?

I have no basis for this other than her general attitude to any criticism strangely combined with her “life long dream” to be an author, those two things do not sit together because after Most authors go through years and years of regection and struggle to get an agent and then a publisher they go through rounds and rounds of edits and restructures working hard with their editors on those edits to discuss and make them better, and I just don’t think that’s the way Ruby thinks or wants to do anything

 

[FolderDuvet]

And she said she has no idea what she wants to do in the future. I thought the point of a degree was to do the job you want to do.... how is she gonna chose what to study next year if she doesn't know what she wants to do. I'm confused.

For people who have a clear image at 16/17 of what they want to do, yeah sure (I've a friend who told me at 15 he wanted to be a paramedic, and now, over half a decade later he is, in fact, a paramedic.) However for people like Ruby, whose primary character trait at 16/17 is being good at school, University is just a next step in the plan others have for you. Their choice of course is basically determined by what subjects their teachers say they're good at. What happens to people like this is that in their final year (or maybe their penultimate year) they panic because they realise that they can't just make the socially approved decisions anymore, there's no teacher to impress, and your parents more or less shrug and go "work it out."

These people either:

• Realise that life is about making sometimes arbitrary decisions and following them as long as they are tenable. These people understand that getting independence is the first step in seeing what is available, and hence try to keep moving as they leave university.
• Stagnate and head back home. They continue to make decisions that they think others will approve of, not those that will help them develop from adolescents into adults.

The second path is far more comfortable, but many people take the first path out of necessity (failure to launch is quite hard on parents and so they often encourage their sprog into independence.) Ruby has parents who are more than happy to keep her at home and incubate her little schemes. I reckon Ruby makes more than she needs to have a little flat all to herself, and that would do wonders for her even if she was only a short distance away from mum and dad. Her learning to drive is a positive sign.

I know all this because, in all honesty I think Ruby and I are somewhat similar. I remember the crises over my future I had in the third year of my degree (as I wasn't sure I'd do well enough to progress onto the fourth.) I look back and realise many of the decisions I made were made because I felt they were the best way to get validation. But I am going the first way into independence because I realised that life is about picking your direction and walking (and picking a new direction when the old one doesn't work.) Ruby has the luxury of working from home (as lets be honest she does make a decent income from YT) and hence can push off adulthood a bit longer.

There's nothing necessarily wrong with living with your parents after you graduate while you look into what you want to do next (it took me 3 months to do enough research to decide on a career I wanted to pursue.) However I can't help but think Ruby is chasing a pipe dream, and one that she doesn't yet have the skill to pull off.

 

[Griftwood]

I reckon Ruby makes more than she needs to have a little flat all to herself, and that would do wonders for her even if she was only a short distance away from mum and dad. Her learning to drive is a positive sign.

She owns a cottage that’s a very short way away from her parents’ house. Like, biking distance, or even walking distance on a nice day. She bought it when she was 18 and it’s being rented out. She says she bought it with her own money, and she may well have had enough saved up for a down payment - but only because her family is rich enough that she’s never had to work, and has had the leisure and the means (camera, laptop, etc.) to start doing youtube at a young age, hasn’t had to cover any of her own cost of living, etc.

If she’s having a crisis over what she wants to do with the rest of her life, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that she’s in a similar position to most of us. She can afford to decide to do nothing at all for the rest of her days, and her parents are enabling her in that.

 

[Elekktra]

For people who have a clear image at 16/17 of what they want to do, yeah sure (I've a friend who told me at 15 he wanted to be a paramedic, and now, over half a decade later he is, in fact, a paramedic.) However for people like Ruby, whose primary character trait at 16/17 is being good at school, University is just a next step in the plan others have for you. Their choice of course is basically determined by what subjects their teachers say they're good at. What happens to people like this is that in their final year (or maybe their penultimate year) they panic because they realise that they can't just make the socially approved decisions anymore, there's no teacher to impress, and your parents more or less shrug and go "work it out."

These people either:

• Realise that life is about making sometimes arbitrary decisions and following them as long as they are tenable. These people understand that getting independence is the first step in seeing what is available, and hence try to keep moving as they leave university.
• Stagnate and head back home. They continue to make decisions that they think others will approve of, not those that will help them develop from adolescents into adults.

The second path is far more comfortable, but many people take the first path out of necessity (failure to launch is quite hard on parents and so they often encourage their sprog into independence.) Ruby has parents who are more than happy to keep her at home and incubate her little schemes. I reckon Ruby makes more than she needs to have a little flat all to herself, and that would do wonders for her even if she was only a short distance away from mum and dad. Her learning to drive is a positive sign.

I know all this because, in all honesty I think Ruby and I are somewhat similar. I remember the crises over my future I had in the third year of my degree (as I wasn't sure I'd do well enough to progress onto the fourth.) I look back and realise many of the decisions I made were made because I felt they were the best way to get validation. But I am going the first way into independence because I realised that life is about picking your direction and walking (and picking a new direction when the old one doesn't work.) Ruby has the luxury of working from home (as lets be honest she does make a decent income from YT) and hence can push off adulthood a bit longer.

There's nothing necessarily wrong with living with your parents after you graduate while you look into what you want to do next (it took me 3 months to do enough research to decide on a career I wanted to pursue.) However I can't help but think Ruby is chasing a pipe dream, and one that she doesn't yet have the skill to pull off.

i usually only read very long messages if it's gossip_guy lol, but it's ok i made it.

I was thinking earlier that you maybe were Ruby btw.

Well Griftwood said everything, i have nothing to add.

i was just talking about how Ruby said that next year she is doing her master....

But i don't know how she can chose what to study when she says she doesn't know what job she wants to do in the future.

So i think she sees being an author just as a side thing , like a hobby.
Like when she does acting or ballet... or trampoline.

 

[taleofthetimes]

Not sure if it's been mentioned in these threads before but every Exeter student has access to Studiosity. If you don't know, it's an external service that proofreads your essay for you and gives you advice on structure. Her high marks could also be because she makes use of this (you can make up to ten submissions in one academic year, which is more than enough for her to run every assignment through it). What we see in her videos might be before someone's actually fixed it for her. We all know she'd never actually include footage of her uploading her essay to Studiosity because it wouldn't fit the image she wants 13 year old children to have of her.

 

[gossip_guy]

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Girl what is we doin????

This was a painful read. I don't even know where to begin lmao

Ruby's imagination is firing on all cylinders: The seeds were like seeds. Good bleeping lord.

This is atrocious. No way in hell was her creative writing portfolio worth a 76.

 

[opal73]

Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever cringed this hard for someone. I feel like she could benefit from an actual creative writing course where she could get real critique from people who aren’t up her ass like her followers. She’s never going to grow or improve when all she has is people telling her she’s wonderful.

Then again, she doesn’t really want to grow or improve or become a better writer - she wants the praise that she thinks comes with Being a Writer, and the sales of course, so she can pretend she’s making her own way in the world and not just coasting along on her rich girl privilege.

Even doing an online creative writing class through skillshare (which I'm pretty sure every studytuber has made an ad for at least once) would benefit her. All she knows how to do is game the academic system, she doesn't know how to actually structure her writing and getting real feedback from someone would be immensely helpful. She doesn't want to put in the work though. I predict her book will be about the same, the same Ruby minions will read it and give it glowing praise and five stars but there will be similar issues with the characters like with Erimentha.

 

[Randomer123]

Oh no, she's discovered Lucy and Yak. I hope she doesn't ruin this brand for me, I can't stand Bird and Blend now that she mentions it in every video.

Same! I love Lucy & Yak.

 

[gisellejoly]

It reminds me a bit of Steinbeck, when he waxes on about the land. Cut down considerably I could see this being a good section towards the end of The Clergyman's Daughter or midway through Coming up for Air (though in its current state it definitely does not fit Orwell's style), or some other book that has a return to a place. There are definitely bits of this I very much like, though altogether it is a bit much. Good potential.

Don't compare her to Steinbeck, let's not encourage her

I thought you might be Ruby based on your posts about your 'reading strategy' and now this FolderDuvet are you Ruby Granger??

 

[Elekktra]

Don't compare her to Steinbeck, let's not encourage her

I thought you could be Ruby based on your posts about your 'reading strategy' and now this FolderDuvet are you Ruby Granger??

i had the same thought . Rhubarb finally joined us!

 

[Blue_Letters]

Oh, I don't know actually. It's a bit underpolished, and could do with a couple of bits here and there cutting out (she's laboured the waves anaogy a bit too far.) Some of the description is slightly contradictory. She seems to be going for a feeling of disappointment or a lost past but she's managed to pull in slight revulsion ('like grease') which I don't think was necessarily the aim. [ETA: I think something like 'tears of dew glistened on her fingers' or similar may capture what she's going for, if the purpose of the passage is disappointment at a lost past.]

It reminds me a bit of Steinbeck, when he waxes on about the land. Cut down considerably I could see this being a good section towards the end of The Clergyman's Daughter or midway through Coming up for Air (though in its current state it definitely does not fit Orwell's style), or some other book that has a return to a place. There are definitely bits of this I very much like, though altogether it is a bit much. Good potential.

Is it self indulgent? Yes. Is that automatically bad? No. Does it need considerable editing and a rethink of purpose? Most definitely.

Ruby's agent is that you??

 

[rattlebat]

Im late to the grade reveal party, but Im really confused about the 74. Could someone compare it to American or some other system (like, is her 74 equal to B+ or C-)? UK grading system is so confusing to me....

 

[gossip_guy]

I also think it’s super telling that someone being kind to Ruby = Martha helping her with her ”spiraling thoughts”, whereas Ruby being kind to someone = saying thank you and writing a letter. The expectations seem to be essentially disparate. Although I’m now trying to imagine Ruby being able to help someone with a mental health issue, or even just someone having a very bad day, and it doesn’t compute. In fact I’m unable to imagine her in pretty much any situation that doesn’t somehow revolve around her.

And the kindness she receives takes precedence over that which she gives out, to the point where the first two sections are about what the world gives her and what other people do for her. And there's a section for the unkindess which she experienced, so she can chastise "bullies" on paper.

Why is "hours spent in company" a thing?

If this is how she defines kindness, then why's Ruby's not out there spending time with lonely old people that she's not related to, to provide them with much-needed company and conversation? Not that they're gonna understand Ruby without 7 different translators, but it'd be like leaving a radio on for your beloved dog - they won't actually understand any of it, but just having someone in the room making sounds will provide the illusion that an actual person is there and not some unhinged Tory scarecrow.

This just a "How many hours were my parents with me" tracker the way Ruby uses it. If they're not with her at least 9 hours a day, then that was VARRY unkind and a VARRY bad day for her.

She's grateful for November, books with beautiful illustrations and bagels (which she never eats).

"Blakeney's offered to go see while I'm away."




She offered to go see what, Ruby? That you're still hundreds of miles away from uni so she can breathe a sigh of relief? Go see a movie at the cinema by herself so that you don't have to struggle to focus your attention on something for more than 15 minutes? (And she'd provide you with Notion notes afterwards so you can pretend you watched it?) She offered to go see that your stash of ill-gotten charity money is still safely hidden under the floorboards of your room in AXATAR while you spend most of the year at home with mummy and daddy?

Ruby's act of kindness: Sponsor-chasing and plugging Waterstones once again in her Kindness Journal.

Ahh, yes, that noble act of generosity: Harassing strangers while they browse books and insist that they HAVE to read books that you yourself have never read. But forget to compliment someone's top in the process. What a "depacle"!

Ruby's grateful for global solidarity, because evidently she lives on a different planet than the rest of us.

She's grateful for blue skies, even though she's a PLUVIOPHILE AND THAT IS HER IDENTITY.

I just can't. Everything she does or shows of herself is some sheltered, detached-from-reality insanity. Which might be sad if she weren't such a toxic compulsive liar charging money for this kind of tit.

This is a book she's owned for years and another product she claims to use herself to encourage others to buy. She flicks through and only three pages are half-filled. This is very clearly yet another product made to suit only her privileged, self-absorbed, insane needs but which she herself never uses. She just pulls it out of a dusty drawer to pretend to fill in a page every 6 months for a half-assed ad. She's charging extortionate amounts for tit which has no value or purpose to anyone with half a brain.

I work in publishing so what I’ll about it say breaks my heart and my brain, but part of me thinks that (at least before getting her agent) that Ruby thought that editors edit the book themselves with absolutely 0 input from the author? As in, the author never has to feel “critiqued” by their editor because after she’s written her book she’s assuming the fairies take care of it until it’s in bookshops?

I have no basis for this other than her general attitude to any criticism strangely combined with her “life long dream” to be an author, those two things do not sit together because after Most authors go through years and years of regection and struggle to get an agent and then a publisher they go through rounds and rounds of edits and restructures working hard with their editors on those edits to discuss and make them better, and I just don’t think that’s the way Ruby thinks or wants to do anything

Totally. And I don't think her editor is doing anything to divorce her of this notion, which is insane and not doing either of them any favours.

Ruby's said she dislikes editing and proofreading and considers it "mindless" work, even though this is a fundamental part of being a writer that requires thought, self-awareness and both broad and close attention. Ruby just wants to crap out first drafts and be praised and rewarded for her "natural genius".

Almost zero literary agents would ever accept a messy, incoherent first draft from a writer. Most writers with any sense would know to get their manuscript in the best shape possible before showing it to any industry professional. And if they didn't, almost any agent would tell the writer to go away, work on it, revise and edit, and come back when it's in polished final draft stage so they can focus on the last-minute tweaks and submit to publishers.

99% of literary agents when you ask if it's okay to send them a rough draft:

But Ruby's agent signed her based on a completely unedited first draft, and only did so because she thought the value of Ruby's name would be an easy sell to publishers (which is delusional in itself - subscribers don't translate to book sales, and if Ruby does manage to get a book deal, her book won't hit shelves until 1-2 years later when her relevance and fame will have diminished that much more).

Most writers would learn to edit and revise their work before that, but that would be the first major hurdle to push writers to improve if they want to succeed. Ruby's privilege gave her another golden ticket to skip that learning process and she's had her agent coaching her through several from-scratch rewrites.

She's never going to learn, grow or improve because until now she's never had to, doesn't really want to and doesn't think she should have to.

And that mentality and mollycoddling has led to this defeated, morose face being her perpetual reaction to the slightest criticism or feedback:

She hasn't gone on submission yet, so she has no idea the world of rejection she's entering now and nobody in her camp has done anything to prepare her for it. All that to chase a career that she has no genuine interest in and not talent or passion for.

 

[heroesfeast]

Im late to the grade reveal party, but Im really confused about the 74. Could someone compare it to American or some other system (like, is her 74 equal to B+ or C-)? UK grading system is so confusing to me....

From what everyone’s been writing, you can probably assume that the 74 equals a solid A. If you get 70%+, that is called a First and the highest grade you can achieve. The other degree qualifications are 2.1/Upper Second, which would be a B, 2.2/Lower Second, which would be a C, and Pass, which would be a slap in the face C-/D. At Exeter, more than 90% of English Lit students achieve a 2.1 or higher, and I think someone from the UK wrote that approximately 30% of students at Exeter get a First.

And for everyone who’s still confused, please just read this in-depth explanation that’s just one google search away https://www.studying-in-uk.org/uk-grading-system/

 

[rattlebat]

At Exeter, more than 90% of English Lit students achieve a 2.1 or higher, and I think someone from the UK wrote that approximately 30% of students at Exeter get a First.

Thank you for the explanation. And big yikes, those seem like really inflated grades.

And also Roobee throwing a small hissy fit about an A, whats more on brand for her?

 

[Scapier88]

Sorry I've been absent been stuck in a germ house Mr scapier got covid and small human felt left out so caught chicken pox
Que the pregnant one dealing with two needy humans

Has our darling Ruby moved her stuff out of her uni house yet or is the landlord still highly confused to why his house looks a five year has been living there for two years

 

[heroesfeast]

Thank you for the explanation. And big yikes, those seem like really inflated grades.

And also Roobee throwing a small hissy fit about an A, whats more on brand for her?

You’re welcome. And yeah, I just checked again and in the 2019-20 academic year, almost 40% of students received a First. Which might explain why Ruby wasn’t happy with her grade — it’s just not special enough for a child prodigy like her.

She didn’t show her class rank in the video, did she?

 

[judgejohndeed]

40% getting a first is crazy! On my bachelor's, only 5% got a first. And it wasn't THAT long ago (class of 14)

 

[StatusWoe]

View attachment 1391542

Girl what is we doin????

This was a painful read. I don't even know where to begin lmao

Oh dear

Purple prose rolling in like...



Ok, that's not really purple, but was the best GIF.

(or maybe their penultimate year)

Better to not mention penultimate on these threads.