Ruby Granger #4 Please sir, may I have some more (priviledge, playtime, and fake productivity)?

[MGB01]

the book could also be known as Mr Aldridges villain origin story, poor fella is being worked to the bone by Erimenthia

 

[Deeznutslol]

So some thoughts now I'm a quarter-ish of the way through the book. A lot of the negative reviews say it's written poorly. I don't think this is the case - the prose and structure seems ok to me, I think it's the fact that Erimentha just isn't a particularly likeable or relatable character, and Ruby needs to decide who her target audience will be; 9-12 age group seems like a better fit?

Do I want a sequal of Erimentha Parker goes to uni, gets a few piercings, a hangover and learns some humility? Hell yes!

I don't think Ruby moving back home did her any favours, I do think her parents indulge this 'childlike Ruby' a little too much. When she did a video on reflecting on her Oxbridge rejection, it was really insightful and mature, not a, "I'm SOOOO much better off without them!" defensive take like that Jade person.

Anyway...

Spoiler: Erimentha Parker's to do list, Chapter 7

Simone arrives with her dad and Erimentha meets them outside and starts examining his car.

"Is your family otherwise eco friendly?" I enquire, running my hand along the green car frame. "As in, do you use renewable energy sources to power your home?" Mr Randolph indulges her, rather than wondering why this peculiar little gnome is asking strange questions. Philippa Forrester of Robot Wars meets Greta Thunberg.

They talk about solar panels and her dad chuckles at his daughter in an, "Oh, aren't you adorable?" kind of way, rather than reprimanding her for asking another adult such personal questions about his home life.

Simone asks Erimentha if she can make the papier-mâché as she has an allergy to glue. Erimentha says they can use rubber gloves, she isn't doing all the grot work for this, and did her feeble-minded friend not think about gloves? She also points out to Simone that she's getting drips down her shirt. Erimentha begins to wonder whether it's possible that Simone's inhaling her IQ points in such close proximity. Simone goes on about her clumsiness and points out how 'together' Erimentha is.

Simone tells Erimentha that the water spilling incident was intentional and she should tell a teacher to nip it in the bud. Erimentha gaslights her, telling her it was an accident.

She knows Simone is not convinced, and says she, "can see the cogs turning underneath the marrow of her skull, beating against the blood flow and the electrical impulses of her cerebellum."

I'm convinced that Erimentha has decided that Simone is so intellectually sub-par, she's going to harvest her brain to experiment on

Her incorrect use of anatomical words pisses me off, using the word ‘cerebellum’ when shes talking about her thinking doesn’t make sense considering that it’s the part of the brain which controls your balance and movement, as opposed to cognitive functions like thinking, problem solving and decision making lmao. Clearly she means cerebrum, but like if you’re going to try and use anatomical words like that, why not at least google it first and make sure you’re talking about the correct part of the brain?

 

[kbjhguih]

Absolutely howling that she wishes she could sit in bed every morning with a cup of tea ..... um, what's stopping you?

 

[EllaEm87]

Okay, I don’t wanna come across like I’m trying to label someone’s sexuality or that I’m assuming things about Ruby here, but I knew a girl like her in high school and I just wanna talk about it for a bit

So i knew a girl who was sort of similar to Ruby. Not obsessed with Harry Potter or anything, but she was a bit of a loner but very very organised and had the same “Victorian, posh” thing about her. She was always going on grades and routines, just that kinda thing.

She never had a boyfriend or girlfriend throughout school, which is totally normal!! But like, didn’t seem into anyone at all really. Whenever she was with us at lunch we’d bring up even something small like kissing this girl would just squirm and not join in.

Anyway I went off to uni and didn’t see her again. But my friends then told me that one of them went to the same uni as her and after graduating she has completely changed... which is amazing but like completely became confident in who she is.

She is basically into kink. Like very into it. Has a mistress and stuff. She’s gay now, but she has a blog and I’ve read it and it talks all about her high school experience where she felt shy and awkward. But now she’s into discipline and being told what to do and getting spanked by older women. This girl also wrote on her blog that she was obsessed with dressing vintage and pretending she’s a good little girl back in the day.

i mean... no shade, genuinely was just shocked reading this as it was not the same person in high school. I am so happy she’s realised what she fancies. But now when I look at Ruby, I can totally see the same traits in her... right down to pigtails, cute dresses, being obsessed with rules and order, being really organised and not showing any interest in relationships.

I dunno, just throwing this out there!! Obviously we don’t know anything but I just can’t get over the similarities. Even their photos on insta are the same!! Like purposely dressing younger and looking cute. I dunno... I just wanted to share. Maybe part of the reason she’s so organised and routine is because it turns her on. I have no idea haha but thought I’d post anyway

Firstly, I think this is a complete reach... and secondly, is this really ANYONES business? Is anyone’s sexuality or lack thereof really any the business of anyone but that person? She makes very young content, and her audience is mostly very young. Why should she have to bring up things like her sexuality just to satisfy speculators on Tattle? I think this is a bit much tbh.

 

[MGB01]

I think she was well intentioned it just strikes me as something you would think to do when you're younger and don't fully understand funding and things, I think she has a bit of a hero complex mixed with privileged naivety

 

[sergeantsantiago]

Given how rigid Ruby is, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was a bit of a nightmare as a sister, especially since Martha absolutely doesn’t seem like a study-two-shoes.

Didn’t Martha get Ruby a lamp once as a present, and Ruby said she didn’t need it so was going to donate it or something along those lines? I’d be devastated if I gave a thoughtful gift like that to my sister who studied by bloody candlelight, only to have her announce online that she didn’t want it.

I’m sure they’re both spoiled, but that was pretty mean of Ruby.

 

[Satisfying Click]

Usual comments apply. Just as a wee warning, if you didn't already know, the parent's favouritism between the siblings may be difficult for some here as the book continues. We don't know what the real dynamic is at home between Ruby and Martha, but I'm guessing the inspiration had to come from somewhere.

Spoiler: Erimentha Parker's to do list, Chapter 8

The volcano gives a bomb-ass performance and looks really good. Erimentha and Simone draw some diagrams and write a conclusion together about it, but once Simone leaves, in an act of scholastic infidelity, Erimentha spends two hours writing an essay about it to bulk out the work.

She does some room rearranging, organises her candles, fairly inoffensive stuff that you'd see on a Cottagecore StudyTuber's video. Mum comes into her room and they talk about the time they visited the British museum. Mum reminds Erimentha that the other museum curators were impressed at Erimentha lecturing them on their subjects of expertise, and how other children were complaining how bored they were.

By other children, they mean Nathan. They had to promise him a trip to the Lego store, and they laugh together at his silliness. Nathan - you are kind, you are loved, you matter!

 

[MGB01]

Has anybody watches Ja'mie private school girl? Ruby wanting to help underfunded state schools has the same energy as Ja'mie when she took Kwami in

edit: the speech she makes 30 seconds in you can't tell me this isnt ruby

 

[3calico3]

Umm, doesn't a Victorian routine also include going to the toilet in a chamber pot? Just saying.

 

[Satisfying Click]

Chapter 1

The family dynamic is brilliant - Erimentha's parents clearly outdid themselves in spawning her, that they made no effort in naming their other offspring, Nathan. He may as well have been called Gary, Trevor or Spare.

Lots of anxiety about going into Year 7. Mum tries to reassure the golden child that she has done extra work *and* spoken to a Year 10 student, though Erimentha persists, saying there's a world of difference between Year 7 and Year 10.

True: by the time you're in Year 10, you know how to skip the dinner queue without being noticed and you can confidently deal with surprises in your menstrual cycle.

 

[Deeznutslol]

I don’t wanna bash her too hard but like, just because its an underfunded school doesn’t mean they’re suddenly cutting out history classes on the holocaust to save money? Like why does she think that these schools aren’t educating their students, they follow a national curriculum.
Gives me private school girl selflessly going to educate the ignorant holocaust denying unwashed state school masses

 

[3calico3]

Does anyone remember her review video about the pros and cons of living in a studio? To me, that was the nail in the coffin for her unrelatability. In the whole 15-minute video, she didn't once mention the price disparity between a single room in shared accommodation and a studio (as a con or otherwise).

She didn't even think to mention the cost because, to her, it was immaterial. That's privilege right there, and the blissful ignorance of the fact that for her subscribers, the cost would be one of (if not the) most important factors.

 

[CatCafe234]

She's on her way to the library and mentions she wrote a pamphlet for a teacher and can also give it to Mr Aldridge as there is a historical element. Mr Aldridge needs to attend a support group, this burden is way beyond his remit. By the end of this chapter, I expect Erimentha is That Child discussed over breaded garlic mushrooms at the Slug and Lettuce on a Friday night staff outing.

This has made me dig out my copy on Kindle and I’d just like to add some additional information here. Turns out, Erimentha (aged 11) spent the summer discovering Plath (including The Bell Jar and her letters to Ted Hughes) and decided to write a pamphlet on the history of the treatment of mental illness from Plath’s time to the present day, so that she could present it to the GCSE psychology teacher at her new school. At age eleven. That is all.

 

[July9696]

Everyone was right at the ‘re-investing’ instead of ‘donating’.

Sorry but on what authority?? She’s not Jewish, no Jewish ancestry as far as we know, has never shown any particular interest in this before (that I remember)?

Oh wait, she’s doing a module as part of her LITERATURE degree so must know everything about how to approach this subject in a range of education contexts, this is of course building on her experience working with state schools and educational leaders with a specific emphasis to spread the word about the horrors of the holocaust... oh wait

YouTubers do this all the time. They do some reading then think they’re an expert on the subject. If she was setting up a huge project or drive or hashtag or charity I’d get it but this is RANDOM

 

[Deeznutslol]

oh my god even reading your post before seeing the vid I still wasn't prepared for the collar .

Hello its ruby and today I’m going to be showing you my 17th century puritan morning routine

 

[Ilaariaa]

The more I think about this the more it seems like some kind of last-minute elaborate emergency measure to control damages. It seems to me she had no intention of donating the money, she wanted to treat this as any other paid ad, then she got called out on it and panicked and had to think of something.

 

[Deeznutslol]

I think it's very pressing given that anti-semitism is on the rise and so many hate crimes are committed against Jews. Maybe you'd speak differently if you were Jewish..

I really don’t think ruby granger going into schools to make holocaust memorials is going to solve antisemitism tbf.

 

[buflesse]

If Ruby had made it to Oxford she would have been eviscerated. For all its faults, tutors there have no time for posh girls who are desperate to be seen as special. I feel sorry for students with imposter syndrome, who are better than they think they are, but I CANNOT abide those who think they are better than they actually are. It definitely seems like Ruby had a fantasy that she was so much smarter and more interesting than everyone else in her school, probably as some kind of coping mechanism for a bunch of unresolved issues. And this fantasy has continued into adulthood, and is being enabled by her parents. I doubt she has the self awareness to see what she's doing, and I can't see her actually being able to work alongside other people cooperatively at all.

 

[n8459]

Ooof, ‘underfunded state school’. I know that many are but perhaps it could have been phrased better?

She gets more Tory with every passing day

 

[tsuyu]

Discussing someones possible kinks without their knowledge or consent is a step too far I think. It's private, unless she decides to speak about them (if she has any at all, not everyone does!). I know this is a gossip site, but for someone like Ruby who has rarely spoken about romance and stated she has no interest in relationships I don't think it's fair to speculate on the sexual side of her without her consent.
I have no issue speculating her sexuality to a degree, and whether she has had a relationship in the past (someone on twitter said she had) but kinks are just too far in my opinion. Her audience are quite young and her content has nothing to do with her sex life.
I think consent is the key word here, Rubys life is online and we discuss what she shows us (food, routine, study habits) but she has not consented to show us that side of her so we should respect that