There’s been a total of 16 players who’ve worn #34 on their sweater. Matthews is just the latest of the bunch. Personally, I think it’s meant to represent James Reimer, who was in net for the Leafs from 2011 to 2016, including their most recent shot at the Stanley Cup.
Also, one of his nicknames was “Optimus Reim”, a reference to the Transformers protagonist Optimus Prime … and knowing Willis’ love for all things Transformer, this seems to be just the sort of Easter egg that he would hide in the strip.
Doctor_Who
Yeah, but Willis likes naked cartoon characters too. Look, there’s an ad for some he drew over to the left.
LookingIn
given the timeframe he played, the age of Ruth, and how masochistic their fanbase is…it’s the only one that fits. But yeah, this is Willis so it’s definitely due to his nickname.
Ikki
It says Matthews under the number, or it is supposed to look like it does.
Auston Matthews is very good, franchise altering talent, and James Reimer was never really a player anyone would have on their wall. It’s probably Matthews.
She painted her room, alphabetized her sock drawer, regrouted the bathroom, stole a brain from the pre-med building that Carla needed for “reasons” (they only had Abnormal, but Ruth is sure that will be fine), and learned Sanskrit.
Didn’t do any homework though, cause c’mon, there’s only so many hours in the day.
I barrowed a tonne of firewood, split and stacked it, and made pizza bases for dinner later. All the laundry is done. But there’s a flagstone path that needs re-laying. And re-grouting the upstairs bathroom sounds like a good idea.
The worst are the paints for metals. Those can be dangerous. I once got hold of a can of actual oil paint for a kitchen, because I didn’t know to ask for alkyd enamel. Just about drove us out of the house for a week. Don’t ask for oil paint. They’ll be glad to get rid of it. The acrylics, which replaced latex, aren’t bad for fumes, though.
Paints and coatings
A major source of man-made VOCs are coatings, especially paints and protective coatings. Solvents are required to spread a protective or decorative film. Approximately 12 billion litres of paints are produced annually. Typical solvents are aliphatic hydrocarbons, ethyl acetate, glycol ethers, and acetone. Motivated by cost, environmental concerns, and regulation, the paint and coating industries are increasingly shifting toward aqueous solvents.
Aqueous solvents are a pain in the ass. “Just cleans up with water.” Gallons and gallons of water, which frequently gets washed down the sink, which gives the sewer workers headaches cleaning paint out of the lift stations. I loved the alkyd enamels, which cleaned up quickly with just a little paint thinner, and which gave a superior finish.
BarerMender
And which you damned sure didn’t pour down the sink.
Bathymetheus
Well, you’re certainly not supposed to. I somehow doubt that that stopped very many people. Out of sight, out of mind. Some of our descendents may live in closed ecologies on other worlds or space stations (or on Earth if the natural ecosystem collapses). They will be very aware of proper disposal protocols because their lives will depend on it.
Needfuldoer
The best way to dispose of latex paint is to let it dry out and then throw the solid mass in the garbage. Just rinsing tools off in the sink should be fine; the very little bit that comes off is incredibly diluted by the time it hits the sewer main, never mind the treatment plant.
BarerMender
This is not true. First of all, you don’t get a brush clean by light rinsing. It takes considerable work to get acrylic paint out of it (I haven’t seen latex in years), and lots of water. Lots and lots. Secondly, it doesn’t matter how dilute it looks, it settles out in patches. I’ve had to deal with this myself. Don’t wash your paint down the sink.
Ordinary wall paint shouldn’t be a problem. Though there seems to be a philosophical debate about wether you should let in day out with closed windows or open the windows. (How should it dry if you have no means of getting humidity out?)
Or that’s just in Germany, where volatile organic compounds have to be as low as 0.7g/l.
The curing of modern plastic paint is a polymerisation reaction, not simply drying-out as with watercolours. That’s why you can wash the painted surfaces after the paint has cured. So the bulk removal of moisture is not the limiting step.
Ordinary wall paint (acrylic) dries without much regard to humidity (this is a Florida painter who tells you so), then it goes through a curing process that takes about a week. Until it cures it’s easily rubbed off, so don’t push your bed or hang curtains against it.
I just want to give Ruth a hug, as someone undergoing treatment for stuff, I one hundred percent relate to this. Not the painting my entire room thing, although I have had the urge to do so. But the massive upswings and downswings as I’m going through different medications and getting used to them is something I can sympathise with.
I mean if you are trapped in a job you’re not equipped for and don’t want because your abusive grandfather’s using you as a game piece, and likewise trapped in an eternal single semester? Go for it.
And yet I see no paint anywhere else but the walls and the tarp. Ruth scared the paint into only landing on the tarp.
BBCC
She threatened their paint femurs.
Bathymetheus
She also drove nails into the walls to hang those items – see the hammer and nails on the desk.
BarerMender
Nails are superior to tape, but tacks or staples are better. You can fill a nail hole with a little putty, but sometimes you just can’t get that old tape off and you end up with a huge scrape spot to repair.
Agemegos
I like to drill and plug in masonry. But perhaps the dorm is shoddily built of plasterboard.
BarerMender
Plasterboard, or as we painters call it, drywall, is standard for interior walls these days. It’s only shoddy if not installed competently.
Bathymetheus
I note the presence of a paint roller among the other paraphernalia. Having done a little painting myself, I am confident that the only way to have accomplished the job with no mess, while using such small tarps, would be to move the tarps frequently so that they are always under the working area. That’s inefficient, and no professional painter would work that way. But I can readily understand an inexperienced person trying it. Even so, it would take great care and attention to not make a mess.
Terry
I also see what looks like a roll of plastic sitting against the desk. Perhaps she used the plastic to protect the floor, then threw most of it out when she was done with it. She only kept those small squares because she hadn’t put the can, brush, etc. away yet. Maybe the 4th wall isn’t done yet and she was taking a break and took up the plastic so she could move the bed and desk back in place after the wall dried enough.
Terry
Alternately, she could have left the smaller bits there so she could draw the fantastic horse and dog pictures.
Illithid
If she painted the 4th wall we couldn’t see her.
BarerMender
Professional painters work that way all the time, especially commercial painters. They kick a little piece of cardboard along the wall. Drove me nuts. I properly dropped an entire room on a commercial project, and the super hit the roof. He had no good reason, other than I might step off the drop cloth and track paint on the carpet. As if I didn’t know to check my feet before I stepped off the drop.
Bathymetheus
Kicking a piece of cardboard? They may have been getting paid, but I call that very unprofessional.
BarerMender
I concur. Yet commercial painters do it all the time. If you tried that on residential repaints, the boss would have harsh words for you.
Make me wonder if Ruth is bipolar. My wife suffered from depression. Once medicated, she started exhibiting hypomania. We had a child diagnosed with a serious medical issue and she ended up with a full manic breakdown. Hope this isn’t where Ruth is going. It’d make for great drama, but it’s still tough to watch.
Disorder, no, but they can cause similar problems regulating your mood
#notadoctor
#justanerd
#pleasetakeyourmeds
Marduk
Generally no. Bipolar disorder tends to remain latent until a trigger event kicks off a cyclic boom and bust cycle of mania and depression between the ages of 18 and 40. At onset, for whatever genetic reason the brain fails to release dopamine/serotonin, and in response to this perceived lack of monoamines (happy chemicals) the brain slowly begins to triple the number of receptor sites for them on the hypothalamus. Then whatever release mechanism was glitching out resumes working as intended, the monoamines come flooding out, they crash into the now-hypersensitive hypothalamus, and boom: next thing you know you’re standing naked on the hood of some stranger’s car trying to smash in their windshield with a baseball bat while screaming that you’re the messiah. In really bad cases you begin hallucinating in multiple senses, in less bad cases you just exhibit hypomania: a hyperproductive and focused state similar to the best parts of adderall or cocaine (one of the difficulties with bipolar patients: most of them are low-key addicted to hypomania and they tend to stop taking their meds because “normal” always feels like shit in comparison to a mild hypomania).
Needless to say, SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) and similar drugs for depression which basically block the brain from reabsorbing those happy chemicals only serve to make the situation far, far worse – the serotonin sticks around in the brain crashing into that oversensitive hypothalamus again and again. This can easily push an already active but misdiagnosed-as-depressive bipolar person into fullblown manic psychosis. Ever hallucinate the bile smell of your intestines being punctured when the demons flying out of the walls start disemboweling you? It is not great.
Given her past rage addiction it is entirely possible that Ruth was always mildly bipolar, or – moderate type 2 (depressive biased). SSRIs would temporarily help treat such a person during their down cycle, but they’d make the counterstroke so, so much worse. This comic is exactly what the initial onset of that looks like.
We don’t really have enough information to say yet as taking antidepressants when you have been depressed for a long time are supposed to increase your energy so you can DO things and for some people, their emotions at first come back at like 200% power and chill out later. Being bipolar also wouldn’t explain the intense crying that we have seen as far as I know as hypomania/mania episodes tend to either lead to joy (euphoric) or anger (dysphoric).
So for now at least, I would say it seems more likely to still be the emotions are still intense as she is getting used to them again and she’s figuring out what to do with all this energy she now actually has.
169 thoughts on “A better place”
Ana Chronistic
“Billie, don’t Leaf me alone”
Doctor_Who
So I looked up the number 34 online, and Ruth is either a fan of a guy named Auston Matthews, or of naked cartoon characters.
She’s a cartoon character herself, so I ain’t judging.
Reltzik
Porque no los dos?
I mean there’s some sort of rule that there’s porn of everything. I’m just saying.
Pablo360
That rule has a number but I don’t know what it is, lemme g3t b4ck to you
Bicycle Bill
There’s been a total of 16 players who’ve worn #34 on their sweater. Matthews is just the latest of the bunch. Personally, I think it’s meant to represent James Reimer, who was in net for the Leafs from 2011 to 2016, including their most recent shot at the Stanley Cup.
Also, one of his nicknames was “Optimus Reim”, a reference to the Transformers protagonist Optimus Prime … and knowing Willis’ love for all things Transformer, this seems to be just the sort of Easter egg that he would hide in the strip.
Doctor_Who
Yeah, but Willis likes naked cartoon characters too. Look, there’s an ad for some he drew over to the left.
LookingIn
given the timeframe he played, the age of Ruth, and how masochistic their fanbase is…it’s the only one that fits. But yeah, this is Willis so it’s definitely due to his nickname.
Ikki
It says Matthews under the number, or it is supposed to look like it does.
Wizard
Rule 34 is also my personal favorite from the Evil Overlord List: “No matter what happens, I will not turn into a giant snake. This never helps. “
ninja_jesus
I have not thought about that list in a very long time. Last I did there was a second list.
Vorkon
Incidentally, I’m sure there’s PLENTY of Rule 34 involving people turning into snakes…
André
Auston Matthews is very good, franchise altering talent, and James Reimer was never really a player anyone would have on their wall. It’s probably Matthews.
Shadowypenguin
Just a little
BBCC
Damn, these rooms look stylin in blue.
Doctor_Who
She painted her room, alphabetized her sock drawer, regrouted the bathroom, stole a brain from the pre-med building that Carla needed for “reasons” (they only had Abnormal, but Ruth is sure that will be fine), and learned Sanskrit.
Didn’t do any homework though, cause c’mon, there’s only so many hours in the day.
Agemegos
I barrowed a tonne of firewood, split and stacked it, and made pizza bases for dinner later. All the laundry is done. But there’s a flagstone path that needs re-laying. And re-grouting the upstairs bathroom sounds like a good idea.
He Who Abides
@Doctor_Who – Walk, this way!
Goshii
No no Like this!
Roborat
That song was playing on the radio as I read this.
Svankensen
Izzat a Fallout 2 reference?
Douglas
“Young Frankenstein” (1974) Mel Brooks
DailyBrad
I hope she opened a window or something, dunno if house paint gives off fumes.
Kyrik Michalowski
It does, how much depends on the paint though, some are way worse than others.
BarerMender
The worst are the paints for metals. Those can be dangerous. I once got hold of a can of actual oil paint for a kitchen, because I didn’t know to ask for alkyd enamel. Just about drove us out of the house for a week. Don’t ask for oil paint. They’ll be glad to get rid of it. The acrylics, which replaced latex, aren’t bad for fumes, though.
ninja_jesus
I heard lead based paint was the way to go. 😀
BarerMender
White lead was the best paint ever, but you can’t get it anymore. Or red lead, either.
Roborat
Tasted great too.
Owlmirror
Wikipedia:Volatile_organic_compound#Paints_and_coatings
Bathymetheus
Water-soluble paints are also easier to clean up. And less likely to poison the bacteria in the sewage plant.
BarerMender
Aqueous solvents are a pain in the ass. “Just cleans up with water.” Gallons and gallons of water, which frequently gets washed down the sink, which gives the sewer workers headaches cleaning paint out of the lift stations. I loved the alkyd enamels, which cleaned up quickly with just a little paint thinner, and which gave a superior finish.
BarerMender
And which you damned sure didn’t pour down the sink.
Bathymetheus
Well, you’re certainly not supposed to. I somehow doubt that that stopped very many people. Out of sight, out of mind. Some of our descendents may live in closed ecologies on other worlds or space stations (or on Earth if the natural ecosystem collapses). They will be very aware of proper disposal protocols because their lives will depend on it.
Needfuldoer
The best way to dispose of latex paint is to let it dry out and then throw the solid mass in the garbage. Just rinsing tools off in the sink should be fine; the very little bit that comes off is incredibly diluted by the time it hits the sewer main, never mind the treatment plant.
BarerMender
This is not true. First of all, you don’t get a brush clean by light rinsing. It takes considerable work to get acrylic paint out of it (I haven’t seen latex in years), and lots of water. Lots and lots. Secondly, it doesn’t matter how dilute it looks, it settles out in patches. I’ve had to deal with this myself. Don’t wash your paint down the sink.
LookingIn
oh, it definitely does…and I doubt cares at this point 😀
CJ
Ordinary wall paint shouldn’t be a problem. Though there seems to be a philosophical debate about wether you should let in day out with closed windows or open the windows. (How should it dry if you have no means of getting humidity out?)
Or that’s just in Germany, where volatile organic compounds have to be as low as 0.7g/l.
Agemegos
The curing of modern plastic paint is a polymerisation reaction, not simply drying-out as with watercolours. That’s why you can wash the painted surfaces after the paint has cured. So the bulk removal of moisture is not the limiting step.
BarerMender
Ordinary wall paint (acrylic) dries without much regard to humidity (this is a Florida painter who tells you so), then it goes through a curing process that takes about a week. Until it cures it’s easily rubbed off, so don’t push your bed or hang curtains against it.
Kyrik Michalowski
I just want to give Ruth a hug, as someone undergoing treatment for stuff, I one hundred percent relate to this. Not the painting my entire room thing, although I have had the urge to do so. But the massive upswings and downswings as I’m going through different medications and getting used to them is something I can sympathise with.
Br44n5m
Once you reach some sort of stability I don’t see too much harm in repainting your room, new walls to symbolize a new chapter in life!
Darkoneko
beats cutting your hair
Needfuldoer
Now Ruth has done both!
Woomy
Ruth’s new hairstyle is baller tho
Danielle
good for ruth for doing a project
Regalli
I mean if you are trapped in a job you’re not equipped for and don’t want because your abusive grandfather’s using you as a game piece, and likewise trapped in an eternal single semester? Go for it.
Regalli
Also I love how woefully inadequate that tarp is.
Kyrik Michalowski
And yet I see no paint anywhere else but the walls and the tarp. Ruth scared the paint into only landing on the tarp.
BBCC
She threatened their paint femurs.
Bathymetheus
She also drove nails into the walls to hang those items – see the hammer and nails on the desk.
BarerMender
Nails are superior to tape, but tacks or staples are better. You can fill a nail hole with a little putty, but sometimes you just can’t get that old tape off and you end up with a huge scrape spot to repair.
Agemegos
I like to drill and plug in masonry. But perhaps the dorm is shoddily built of plasterboard.
BarerMender
Plasterboard, or as we painters call it, drywall, is standard for interior walls these days. It’s only shoddy if not installed competently.
Bathymetheus
I note the presence of a paint roller among the other paraphernalia. Having done a little painting myself, I am confident that the only way to have accomplished the job with no mess, while using such small tarps, would be to move the tarps frequently so that they are always under the working area. That’s inefficient, and no professional painter would work that way. But I can readily understand an inexperienced person trying it. Even so, it would take great care and attention to not make a mess.
Terry
I also see what looks like a roll of plastic sitting against the desk. Perhaps she used the plastic to protect the floor, then threw most of it out when she was done with it. She only kept those small squares because she hadn’t put the can, brush, etc. away yet. Maybe the 4th wall isn’t done yet and she was taking a break and took up the plastic so she could move the bed and desk back in place after the wall dried enough.
Terry
Alternately, she could have left the smaller bits there so she could draw the fantastic horse and dog pictures.
Illithid
If she painted the 4th wall we couldn’t see her.
BarerMender
Professional painters work that way all the time, especially commercial painters. They kick a little piece of cardboard along the wall. Drove me nuts. I properly dropped an entire room on a commercial project, and the super hit the roof. He had no good reason, other than I might step off the drop cloth and track paint on the carpet. As if I didn’t know to check my feet before I stepped off the drop.
Bathymetheus
Kicking a piece of cardboard? They may have been getting paid, but I call that very unprofessional.
BarerMender
I concur. Yet commercial painters do it all the time. If you tried that on residential repaints, the boss would have harsh words for you.
He Who Abides
So, Ruth = Chuck Norris?
Stephen Bierce
I heard a punk rock song today, it went “you don’t have to be asleep to have nightmares…are YOU asleep?”
MatthewTheLucky
Is she allowed to paint in there? Is this the straw that causes Puddinghead to spontaneously develop a spine?
Mra
Puddinghead?
Deadjolras
Chloe, the Resident Manager.
Dr_D
Make me wonder if Ruth is bipolar. My wife suffered from depression. Once medicated, she started exhibiting hypomania. We had a child diagnosed with a serious medical issue and she ended up with a full manic breakdown. Hope this isn’t where Ruth is going. It’d make for great drama, but it’s still tough to watch.
StClair
Naturally, who knows?
With the meds she’s on right now? Probably.
Woomy
Can meds for depression give you bipolar disorder?
Minibit
Disorder, no, but they can cause similar problems regulating your mood
#notadoctor
#justanerd
#pleasetakeyourmeds
Marduk
Generally no. Bipolar disorder tends to remain latent until a trigger event kicks off a cyclic boom and bust cycle of mania and depression between the ages of 18 and 40. At onset, for whatever genetic reason the brain fails to release dopamine/serotonin, and in response to this perceived lack of monoamines (happy chemicals) the brain slowly begins to triple the number of receptor sites for them on the hypothalamus. Then whatever release mechanism was glitching out resumes working as intended, the monoamines come flooding out, they crash into the now-hypersensitive hypothalamus, and boom: next thing you know you’re standing naked on the hood of some stranger’s car trying to smash in their windshield with a baseball bat while screaming that you’re the messiah. In really bad cases you begin hallucinating in multiple senses, in less bad cases you just exhibit hypomania: a hyperproductive and focused state similar to the best parts of adderall or cocaine (one of the difficulties with bipolar patients: most of them are low-key addicted to hypomania and they tend to stop taking their meds because “normal” always feels like shit in comparison to a mild hypomania).
Needless to say, SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) and similar drugs for depression which basically block the brain from reabsorbing those happy chemicals only serve to make the situation far, far worse – the serotonin sticks around in the brain crashing into that oversensitive hypothalamus again and again. This can easily push an already active but misdiagnosed-as-depressive bipolar person into fullblown manic psychosis. Ever hallucinate the bile smell of your intestines being punctured when the demons flying out of the walls start disemboweling you? It is not great.
Given her past rage addiction it is entirely possible that Ruth was always mildly bipolar, or – moderate type 2 (depressive biased). SSRIs would temporarily help treat such a person during their down cycle, but they’d make the counterstroke so, so much worse. This comic is exactly what the initial onset of that looks like.
Sam
We don’t really have enough information to say yet as taking antidepressants when you have been depressed for a long time are supposed to increase your energy so you can DO things and for some people, their emotions at first come back at like 200% power and chill out later. Being bipolar also wouldn’t explain the intense crying that we have seen as far as I know as hypomania/mania episodes tend to either lead to joy (euphoric) or anger (dysphoric).
So for now at least, I would say it seems more likely to still be the emotions are still intense as she is getting used to them again and she’s figuring out what to do with all this energy she now actually has.
TCS
Being on the wrong medication or at the wrong dosage for depression can cause severe agitation and hypomania as well.
At least, that’s how my doctor explained it to me when I was having that problem with some meds.
C.