Ruby Granger

[Sukia]

Skimmed through the room tour video... what boggles my mind is some of her hygiene practice: bathed the room in dettol after no one's been there for months versus having photos taped over the sink which it's probably the dirtiest place in the room with all the splashing from washing dirty hands etc and makes it impossible to clean...

 

[kingdomhearts]

If you’ve ever read The Secret History by Donna Tartt then that’s a good example of what dark academia is.

I can see how dark academia is exclusive of PoC as a concept in real life as it’s based on old universities like Oxbridge. However, as an aesthetic, I don’t see how it’s excluding PoC. There’s nothing stopping people from dressing or decorating their room in that particular aesthetic. Feel free to correct me, though. It’s an interesting topic.

 

[Ripley Rose Kat]

Absolutely! I don't think there is anything wrong with speculation, however Ruby only shows us a portion of her life. She shows us what she wants the viewer to see.

I'm not saying she's going out clubbing and she absolutely is not the type, we all know that. However, she could be into boys or girls or not at all but chooses to keep that aspect of her life out of the public eye.

I kinda respect her for having boundaries in that sense.

 

[slamvs27]

Yeah definitely, she needs to get some hobbies to do instead. What will her life look like when she works a 9-5 and can't take work home with her?

She said in an old video that her hobby is studying. While I can relate to that, doing a hobby for 8 hours per day is just going overboard. You can like cooking as a hobby, but once you cook for 8 hours a day, you're getting to the point of not being enjoyable anymore. You can have other hobbies as well lol.

I wonder what her professors and classmates think of her. I have some Ruby-types in my university and they are usually insufferable fake-woke "intellectuals". Every time one of them open their mouth to speak everyone just inwardly rolls their eyes and groans.

 

[Deeznutslol]

Ugh I feel you! Back in the good old days of year 7, everyone used to take the piss out of me for my “posh accent” I used to them hate my voice. 12 years later, I’ve found I’d rather have a posh accent than talk like a smackhead chav

Wow that absolutely reeks of classism tbh

Generically long hair can work for anyone, I think it's more about how you style it - and wearing it down and entirely natural is a very 'childish' look especially in combination with her outfit choices. She's baby-faced but plays up to that with how she presents herself. I have a baby face too but because I want to be taken seriously at my Proper Adult Job, I choose hairstyles/outfits/glasses that emphasise I want to be taken seriously and treated like an adult. I'm not sure Ruby will be going into the corporate world but I can't imagine it would work with the way she is currently.

If you were Ruby's friend and were styling her for a Corporate Internship, what would you do?

Pff I don’t think the hair cut is the issue for me, I’d probably put it in a bun and not allow her to put the hair clips in. I think the hair clips are a bit primary school

 

[tsuyu]

True, but I live in a similar type of area to Ruby (rural), and it was pretty much essential to learn to drive at 17 if you wanted to go anywhere spontaneously, as public transport in these types of areas is typically every 2 ish hours. Unless she has very understanding parents who are willing to drop everything to take her places, or she only ever goes to places (which require a car) with her parents...

I learnt to drive at 17, couldn't afford insurance for a car (was quoted 2k) and was going to uni not long after anyway so there was no point in buying a different car, not that I could afford that anyway. I didn't get my own car and start driving properly until I was 22 (am 25 now) and out of uni with a job. If I had a car at uni, I'd have had to pay for a parking permit as not a lot of uni housing comes with parking and I only know of one other person who had a car and that was because she was studying teaching and needed to get to placements.

My brother is same age as me and passed around the same time (when we were 17) but only started driving again this year (at age 25, we're twins ) due to confidence issues related to driving. He lives with our parents in a very rural village with only 2 buses a day so did rely on lifts but they've always been very understanding because of his anxieties with driving. He's starting to drive more now and I'm so proud of him.

Theres a lot more to learning to drive than money and being able to afford it, theres the confidence needed to drive and we all know Ruby isn't the most confident.

Also travelling home by train most weekends is probably cheaper in the long run when you consider the cost of a car (insurance, petrol, servicing, MOT, tax, parking permit, any fixes it may need)

 

[SilentSue]

I didn't! Thanks for enlightening! Wow!!

But the whole point you were making implied that there's something wrong with a person who hasn't had a relationship.

 

[Deeznutslol]

Arguably, she, and most people in the UK right now, don't have to "work on" getting over a need to sanitise or stay at home. Those are the things we SHOULD be doing.

You’re right we all should be taking it seriously and following the rules but I think what the op meant was that ruby can take things to an extreme, like unless someone is touching your back pack or coughing directly every day you don’t need to sanitise it all the time.
My dad is the same, hes always been a total germophobe but hes also taken covid to a ridiculous level. For example he only goes outside between midnight and 7am, sanitizes any shopping thats bought into the house, demands that the dog gets sanitized after every walk and even went through a phase of wearing an ffp2 mask at all times inside the house, yet he lives in an area of spain which has had consistently the lowest rate of covid since the pandemic started.
Its important to practice good hygiene and protect yourself but you do have to rationalise it to an extent and realise that when you take it to ridiculous levels, its going to effect your mental health.
I think a lot of her covid fear comes from her mum, I read her blog and most of the posts are about how scared she is of covid

 

[DoggyWoof]

She’s a fucking freak

 

[Welshgal]

While I wasn’t jumping around I was certainly relieved when Biden was declared the winner and quickly went downstairs to share the good news. And many, many people behaved similar!

Lots of people have been heavily involved in the election these last few days and the signal this result is sending to everyone is huge! Trump has caused many rightwing parties to gain momentum (not just in the US but also the UK, Germany, France etc.) so I think it’s alright that Ruby was happy. We don’t have to go into more detail whether Biden is all that great or whether all those people who became political advisors during this time will continue to keep up to date with politics, but the important thing is: people cared and people showed an interest.
And that is the first step towards change imo.

 

[figgypud]

When I was at uni, a big part of my social life was going to societies and going to friend's houses and even when I didn't do those things, I had the social interaction in my classes - now with Covid restrictions and online teaching, a lot of students can't do that. They can meet up at cafes or pubs but those things have to be planned out. It's not like the summer where people could easily still socialise outdoors.

From her vlogs last year, Ruby spent a lot of time in the library, in the gym (not sure if the uni one is open but even if it is she seems to be keeping her distance), she was involved in the Harry Potter society and she obviously enjoyed her classes - most of those things she can't do now or they're online which isn't the same at all. She seemed to be socialising well with her housemate but being in the same four walls with the same one person endlessly, without any of your usual options to get out and about, must be hard. In her situation I probably would have come home too. It's a pandemic and its unprecedented and at least at home she knows where she stands a bit better, she knows what she can and can't do. It's not a bad thing for anyone to be looking out for their own mental health right now.

 

[opal73]

What irritates me most about her is her study methods which are entirely ineffective and actually more time-wasting than productive and yet somehow she’s become as popular as she is.

I do think she is pretty out of touch, sheltered and privileged, but all in all I feel like she’s about average. Not extremely academically bright and not a total shut-in either. Lack of confidence and pretending to be someone else is not all that unique for someone her age especially for someone who was bullied in school. She has some obsessive tendencies but not nearly as bad as what I’ve seen from some others and she has mentioned seeing a therapist for it (not sure if she still is though).

 

[Deeznutslol]

I can’t watch marfas content, its just another middle class white girl trying her hardest to be quirky and I just end up having to skip through because its boring

 

[3calico3]

Regarding her fashion sense, I think she needs to a 'less is more' approach. One statement piece of old-timey clothing like a blouse, with less flamboyant trousers/skirt/hair ribbon etc. would make her style more cohesive and interesting. As it is, she sometimes looks like she was in an explosion at the Miss Patina factory.

 

[Deeznutslol]

This may seem harsh but I wondered if I was alone in my thoughts.

Ruby spends so much time studying, I'm not saying she's not clever but I feel like it doesn't come to her naturally which is why she spends so much time doing it. Also, doing unnecessary work in the process?

I think she would have struggled at Oxford as they have so much work and tight deadlines.

I honestly think the exact same, shes obviously not stupid but she just doesn’t come across as being particularly intelligent to me and also, for someone who reads so many books, I really don’t think shes great at writing tbh. Whenever I read her instagram captions, the way she uses language when she describes things is just really odd? Like for example here where she talks about autumn mornings being her dads favourite ‘temperament’, and then goes on to describe the sun as ironically seeming warmer in winter than summer. I don’t think its necessarily wrong but to me it just doesn’t flow particularly well as you read it and sounds a bit like shes been told to do a creative writing description of the weather at school or something. Idk its really hard to pin point but I personally have seen writing of much higher standards from people who are younger than her and far less educated. It doesn’t come naturally at all to her and she tends to over complicate things and use big words to try and sound clever

 

[Spencerskates]

Guys I’m having an identity crisis because I pronounce academia the same as Ruby
I’m from a rough council estate in Yorkshire, so not a ‘poshness’ thing for me! I wonder if it’s just from Ruby...

 

[GreenFlamingo]

For the last 2 days in her academic planner, Ruby had ‘call Blakeney’ (sorry, spelling!) so hopefully that means they’re still on good terms!

Or she keeps calling and Blakeney ain't picking up! (Joking, I hope they're still friends too. Blakeney seems sweet).

 

[Kcn]

Just another observation I made from watching her recent insta stories.. her apparent “obsession“ with being able to fit into kids clothes as a 20 year old is kinda getting weird now

Does anyone else think it was also odd that she was wearing it back to front?? Later on she changed it and it seemed to have a quite obvious v neck front to it. I can understand inside out (we’ve all done it ) but not backwards on a top with a clear front and back. Her mum also pointed it out to her and she replied in a kind of jokey sarcastic way ‘oh dear’ and didn’t seem bothered about changing it. I might be looking into it too much but does anyone else think that she wanted us to see that label?? Especially because it seemed like her mum made a point of pointing it out (which easily could have been done off camera).

 

[figgypud]

Some of what she says is such waffle, like "having a study space that revolves around academics" - yeah duh, it's a study space?? Affordable vintage desks on Etsy??? When she said that she didn't even look like she believed herself. Some of her book recommendations (that I've read) didn't seem very dark academia to me either, like The Ocean at the End of the Lane? The Book Thief? It seems like she included that literally just because of the "books" association. How is Little Women DARK academia?? She didn't really explain anything. I'm not especially into dark academia and don't know much apart from the basics but it doesn't seem like Ruby really grasps it either.

 

[Lola123]

She lives in UK. I don’t think her country would be affected badly by the election outcome like some other countries. She is all like “Look, I’m all about the politics. I follow the news.” I call it BS.

Tbf a lot of people are worried about the US-UK relationships because of brexit (which happens officially at the start of the new year) we are fully embedded into following the US election as the rest of the world is