Ruby Granger #35 Hello, it's Flu-bee!

[DanBanks]

She'd have been much better off just self-publishing. There'd be no turnaround to get her work out in the world, she doesn't care about editing or improving so it'd remove that barrier. She already has an established platform to market from and she'd get to keep more of what little money she makes. Tattle would get to roast it and she'd plenty of blind praise from her fans. But instead she wants the gold trophy of a traditional book deal from one of the major publishers and expects a £1million book deal with no talent or effort.

Spoiler: OT: Publishing

Yes, Ruby should've gone the self-publishing route, especially since it's not as laughable as it used to be. In fact, it's become a pathway to getting traditionally published. Olivie Blake's The Atlas Six is one of the most successful recent examples of a self-published novel that got picked up and re-published by a traditional publisher. It didn't take Blake years of torturous rewrites and discouraging rejections to hit the NY Times bestseller list -- she was on it before she even had a publisher.

This is why it doesn't surprise me that Ruby thinks she should have an easy time getting published. Becoming a commercially successful author isn't always the arduous artistic journey that it used to be. Anna Todd's After series was a Harry Styles fanfic that the author started writing on her phone to pass the time in a Walmart checkout line. She published it on freakin' Wattpad, and it not only got found and published, but adapted into a Netflix series. Will anyone give a shit about it a hundred years from now? No, but who cares? It still made the author exquisitely rich. Personally, I'd rather be a multi-millionaire in the here and now than a literary legend long after I'm dead.

There's a lot of mediocre and downright piss-poor writing that's making fast money these days, especially in the YA category, fueled by Goodreads and BookTok and BookTube and probably some Gen Z social media shit that I don't even know about. It's really no wonder that Ruby thinks she can get in on the act, but she's going about it all wrong. A quicker path to becoming the latest fiction sensation these days is to get your writing out there yourself. If it catches on with BookTok, the publishers will find you. But of course, Ruby would actually have to write something first.

 

[pinkmug]

She looks like she put a cauldron on her head, at least wear it right

 

[theMoth]

SHE WASN'T EVEN VP OF THE HARRY POTTER SOCIETY
I just went to nose about on the society IG and,,, she wasn't even VP. Like she's not even mentioned in the committee anywhere. How pathetic!! If you're going to lie about something, at least make it cool and relevant to your LinkedIn!!

she was: https://hpqsoc.wixsite.com/hpqsoc/meet-the-committee

 

[opal73]

Well I'll be anxiously awaiting her substanceless review whenever she does finish it

 

[gossip_guy]

I wonder if she did any preparation for this event or not. I'd suspect not, since her performance is little more than a live-action version of the same meaningless monologues in her videos. If she did prepare, and this is what she came up with, that's kinda worse TBH. One way or the other, this was just a catastrophic fail.

I suspect the extent of her preparation was skim-reading the book from the other panel members to try to parrot their ideas and impress them (which they seem to have picked up on immediately).

She probably also Googled for quotes about Gen Z and/or social media so she could shoehorn in a few "Ian McEwan says..." quotes in her usual GCSE essay approach to conversation, but I imagine that was it.

 

[StatusWoe]

It honestly wouldn't shock me if Ruby went into a teaching session with an earpiece while she made Blakeney hide in the bushes outside to Cyrano all of Ruby's lectures for her.

Laughing at that image. Think Mission Impossible only...boring.

@Griftwood hope you're recovering now! Don't worry, I think you're still a safe distance from Flubee behaviour.

Speaking of That Russian Guy, I always think this is funny:

 

[okaymaybe123]

The bit with google assitant, just amazing content

 

[fromthemachines]

Lmao conveniently ignoring the commuting question

 

[emmer_moans]

Was just about to say the same about Nick Cave. Definitely the Harry Potter song

Also she's dropped the D&G trousers from £83 to £68 lol (on Depop)

Such a random price for depop! Why not 80 or 65... 83 and 68 is bizarre.
Should be 20 quid second hand, though.

 

[figgypud]

If you're in the mood for a specific thing, just read that specific thing. It shouldn't matter if you've already read it 50 times. A good place to start is the author's other books, she could try other WW2 narratives or idk one of the books she's bought recently and hasn't read.

She has no real intention of reading though, she just wanted to tell us she's read Atonement loads (allegedly)

 

[DrinaM]

To be fair I work in a primary school as a TA (newly graduated) and I go to work in a t-shirt and black jeans, maybe sometimes even leggings. No one seems to care much, it's the learning that's important. But you never know I might have ironed her skirt if I was wearing it..

Same haha I taught seniors Legal Studies while I was wearing jeans and a tshirt. But think about it, tee and jeans probably looks more put together than her wrinkly clothes...

 

[Deeznutslol]

A CV should only even hit the 2 page mark if your older and have years worth of relevant experience, I bet Ruby’s is 2 pages full of the same shite on her linkedin.

Yeah I feel like a CV for someone in their early - mid twenties should really only include a short paragraph about yourself and what you’re looking for jobs wise, your education + qualifications, your previous/current employment and skills (this should make up the bulk of the CV) and then a short part about any relevant extra things which you have done. No need to be listing out modules which you studied at uni or shit like that.

 

[Whisper2Me]

lmao over her reel about Wuthering Heights. She looks like a French hippie with that outfit. Nothing remotely like the clothing that would have been worn in Wuthering Heights. And sorry, but you haven't even got the heights part, let alone being locked up in your trashy looking backyard, where your family doesn't even bother to do any proper gardening or landscaping. The place is an absolute pit, yet she keeps filming as though it were something glorious. idk I just don't get her or any fans, at all. Not surprised she can't light the candle. In the middle of day. Outside. No dark lanterns for her. She is still the pyro she has always been. Her recitation is ridiculous, as usual. She doesn't get the obsessive twisted passion that runs throughout the novel, the brutality, the incest, the revenge. I am pretty confident she doesn't understand about 90% of adult novels. She has no experience or friends to even discuss such matters and it is moments like this that remind me of why Oxford rejected her the first time around and hopefully will reject her, yet again. I hope she has a backup plan beside spending another year writing her book. What a hopeless cause she is.

 

[DrinaM]

We shouldn't categorically disapprove of everything Ruby does. She seems happy in her van short video, as well as Blakeney. I am glad she is spending some time with people other than her family, and one good thing about Blakeney is that she definitely didn't befriend Ruby just because of her social media following. Otherwise she would have a public profile somewhere. So it does seem like an authentic friendship.

I don't disapprove of Roob hanging out with Blakeney in the van. I'm just laughing at the content she created out of it. Content is created for people to react to. As usual, Ruby's feedback on the day and the book is 'SUCH a good day'.....'SUCH a good book'. I have a feeling that she will be cutting back on Youtube and making more of this short form content.

 

[berkeleymoon87]

For those of you on TikTok, I'm sure you've seen videos of teachers crying because of kids bullying them for the way they dress, their looks, etc. Bad behavior is definitely playing a huge role in the teacher shortages we've seen (at least here in the US). There's also a teacher on TikTok who eats school lunch and answers questions and she constantly gets made fun of by current students. They've even posted videos of her in the classroom without her permission. I honestly would not be able to handle all that. I'm not sure how Ruby is going to make it through this job in one piece.

Also I'm not sure what Ruby's position will be, but I often see students on TT complain about teacher's assistants not being helpful at all. They always prefer more experienced teachers to help them and say they put their hands down when they see the TAs approaching. Lol. Imagine her giving students feedback on their papers and receiving a bad grade because she made them switch perfectly sensical words to malapropisms she's guilty of like lucrative, astronomical, and quantum.

 

[gisellejoly]

Its how I found her. She ended up in my Recommended on YT. Then I went down a studytuber rabbit hole while I was recovering from an injury to my lower back. This continued during Covid. Then I googled something about Ruby and found this forum lol

When I want to watch something serious and relaxing about books, I watch a channel called Uncarley. She's a bit more chill and funny and doesn't just cover classic fiction.

I find uncarley so unbearable. She talks about the same few books all the time and is so sarcastic and clearly just copies phrases she heard on TikTok or something. She reminds me of Jack Edwards - everything is “unhinged” “a red flag” “if you like this book you have mental illness”. I think it’s so funny that she does stand up comedy, I imagine it’s super cringey.

The best booktuber I’ve come across (and one of the only ones who actually comes across as a lovely normal person) is a Canadian girl called Emmie. She’s really well read and intelligent, I definitely recommend her to anyone!

 

[StatusWoe]

Roobee owns her own house?! Do you know what she does with it? Rent it out, or is it just sitting empty? She is SUCH a Tory.

She bought a cottage a few years ago. There was a vlog about it but the video's been removed, probably due to privacy issues and backlash. I'm pretty sure she rents it out. I know Ruby earned lots of money through YouTube, but I'm guessing her parents helped financially too? But yes, she does have the option of moving into her own place.

 

[Deeznutslol]

View attachment 1884933

Swearing in Chinese mate

 

[Whisper2Me]

Oxford offers an English and American studies masters, there’s a high chance she’s applying to that course given she can feed in her US trip and the fact she’s always mentioned that she likes learning about US history too.

Personally I don't remember much of her mentioning she likes US history at all. A vague mention of tea being a part of the Boston Tea Party, being a fan of Emily Dickinson, and running into the water at one of the beaches while exclaiming it is the most beautiful place she has ever seen (believe me, it isn't), hardly makes her a US history lover.

Has she studied the Revolutionary War? When visiting Concord she was right in the midst of it, but I didn't see her go to Concord Museum for the history and artifacts, or ask tour guides anything about it. What about Independence Day? How our government works and how a bill is passed? Any favourite presidents and why? Has she read about our founding fathers? The Mayflower and Plymouth Plantation? What about French/Indian Wars? Jamestown? Williamsburg? The raids on Historic Deerfield? The real reason for the Salem Witch Trials? The gold rush? The Civil War? And much more recent events? No. She has her head in the clouds and her eyes in children's books. She doesn't know a thing about American History, so she better not play up that card. If she was going for a Masters in American studies she ought to have studied, via undergrad classes, Early American Literature, Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Wharton (she should have gone down to Newport RI to see the mansions to at least get a glimpse of how the families of the Gilded Age lived), all the authors and memoirs of the pioneers out west, as well as a hoard of authors from the 20th century.

Reading Little Women, touring a few author's homes, and sitting at a desk in Emily Dickinson's room to write for an hour doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of US history. Does she even know who all the Transcendentalists were, where they got their ideas, where they were located and info on their attempts at Utopian societies? She didn't tour Fruitlands in MA or any of the Shaker communities. Again, a major fail in her 3 weeks of touring in this area. This movement highly influenced the writings of Concordian authors. This is just another reason why I see the past year as being such a waste of time. If she were going for her Masters this would have been the perfect time to do a deep dive into a specific area and read immensely on the subject. Research like crazy. Tours come later. Playing roles is stupid and childish, to say the least. Learn about things, people, events, and be a pro on it so you can write your thesis. Because, unless getting your Masters in the UK is very different from the US and you actually take basic courses to introduce you to your chosen subject, Ruby has very little knowledge in history of both the US and the UK, their relationships with the rest of the world, and historical/political/literary dynamics. She is highly lacking in her education and would have done well taking a few extra classes this year in prep for applying. When you go for your Masters you are already supposed to be very educated in a specific discipline. Masters programs are for shining up that knowledge and writing a unique and scholarly paper on said subject. Not starting from scratch with a blank face!

 

[Redrose97]

I'm currently reading a nonfictional historic book about men dressing as women in the Victorian era ("Fanny and Stella: The Young Men Who Shocked Victorian England" by Neil McKenna) and I'm thinking "what would Ruby think about this topic? would she read the book?"

Off topic but it's a really good book and I really enjoyed it! I had to do a lot of reading on those men for a university module called queer Britannia and it was about gender and sexuality in the nineteenth century and I do wonder how ruby would cope with it especially as I had to read a Victorian gay porn novel for class and discuss it.

I think that it would be a bit shocking for her especially as some stuff might be explicit for her, not including the porn novel I had to read for class. I think her versions of the Victorians are just fancy dresses and afternoon tea than the reality. As for LGBTQ + issues and topics especially of the period , not sure how Ruby would stand about things other than saying things were wrong and that's it.

I know that she has read books such as Call Me By Your Name and Heartstopper apparently, but I'm not sure if Ruby even really reads books with characters who aren't white and assumedly middle class girls in them. I don't see her being that interested in other books, fiction or non fiction that deal with LGBT themes and characters other than what's popular online or she's invited to a premier for.