Ruby Cline is a first-year HSPS student at Murray Edwards. Her TikTok account, conversationswithruby, features videos on everything from drinking to Westminster politics.

Favourite book? The Edible Woman, Margaret Atwood

Actual favourite book? The Phantom Tollbooth

What are you reading? I’m a literary polyamorist, so I’m currently reading Bodies by Susie Orbach, You Took The Last Bus Home: The Poems of Brian Bilston, and A Feather on the Breath of God by Sigrid Nunez.

Where do you sleep?

Wherever there’s a bed and a decent coffee in the morning.

Where will you be on Wednesday night?

Revs, and I regret it every time. Maybe this year I’ll learn.

When did you first realise that you wanted to be a TikTok micro-influencer for a niche yet painfully Cambridge audience?

I started making videos in about April 2020. I got really angry at how confusing the government’s COVID advice was for young people, so I did all the research I could and started making videos about news and politics hoping that it might make politics a bit clearer for students. When I did my uni applications I recorded that whole thing as well, but I never realised quite how Cambridge-adjacent my audience was until I started getting recognised for my personal statement advice in clubs during freshers. A humbling experience.

Who’s your favourite dictator?

I’m not generally a fan of dictatorships.

What’s the worst joke you’ve ever heard?

My brother likes to say (repeatedly): “Why did the Uzbek cross the Southeastern border? To meet his friend in Turkmenistan.” Which he then follows with: “This joke isn’t very funny, but it’s geographically accurate.”

I’ve never heard anybody laugh. I’ve heard this ‘joke’ at least eleven times.

Who’s your Cambridge arch-nemesis?

I don’t have one yet but I’m actively seeking them out. Please DM me @rubesacline with your applications. Previous applicants need not apply.

What did you want to be when you grew up (aside from a TikTok micro-influencer for a niche yet painfully Cambridge audience)?

Not something I ever aim to admit but I was a big theatre kid growing up and was pretty intense with it. My other path would likely have been jazz and musical theatre singing teacher or choreographer. I also wanted to be a fashion designer for ages - you can decide based on my Sidge fits whether that was ever a reasonable idea.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Anything I get the chance to do, I want to do - if I ever had a Wikipedia page I want it to have at least eleven completely unrelated sections. That being said I really want to go into journalism so go read my stuff in The Tab xx

What will be written on your gravestone?

“Life coulda been a whole lot worse than this”

Any questions? (for us)

How many times did you copy and paste ‘tiktok micro influencer for a niche yet painfully Cambridge audience’ for the purposes of this interview? Did you write it out every time? Should I consider ‘micro’ a thinly veiled insult?

Where was your last kiss?

In the doorway of a Shoreditch studio apartment.

Forget “Revs or Lolas?” Mash or Vinyl?

Mash! Horrid club but <3 queer get down.

Varsity or the T*b?

If The Tab was Van of Life, Varsity would be its five pound card minimum.

Favourite flavour at Jack’s?

This is potentially the biggest red flag I’ll ever admit to, but I literally fell in love with the sweet potato and marshmallow secret flavour they had one time in like February. I think about it at least twice a week

Truss or Sunak?

It’s like comparing turds.

You’re stuck in the UL overnight - what are you reading to keep busy?

I wouldn’t waste time reading, I would spend the night scoping out the perfect hiding spot for the game of UL hide and seek I’ve been amassing participants for since November. I might take a break to read something by Halberstam, I read a bit for mocks last year but never really got the chance to read their stuff properly.

College formal with three people (dead or alive) - who are you choosing? The Master will also be present.

Jesus (I have questions), Simone de Beauvoir (she has answers), and my wonderful and sadly passed Grandma.

If that TikTok-er asked you what song you’re listening to on King’s Parade, what answer do you have prepared? Yes you’d lie. We all would.

Another Man’s Jeans by Ashe. Excellent song and would sound great with that slo-mo walk away he edits.

Biggest difference between ConversationsWithRuby and Ruby Cline?

With ConversationsWithRuby I’m really careful with my responsibility - who’s watching, their age and my potential influence. So I really watch what I say and do. I’ve met people who recognise me from TikTok who are genuinely surprised that I drink or go out, for example. I’m also increasingly scared of telling the online world anything personal so she and I are getting even further apart. I made the mistake of telling the internet I had a girlfriend for example, and then had to unravel ridiculous and intrusive questions about my personal life after we broke up. I’ve had some nasty experiences with para-social relationships between viewers and ConversationsWithRuby.

If you were the new Vice-Chancellor, what would be the first thing you’d change?

Make Trinity into a big Tesco.