*cheers* Go Ruth! I was hoping that this conversation was going to happen for Amber but I wasn’t sure just who it would be nor where or when. Ruth . . Ruth is a good choice I think.
self-destructive recklessness, definitely. I don’t think suicidality.
There’s definitely a big element of the first in the whole Amazi-Girl thing. You could argue it’s a death wish channeled into a theoretically useful direction maybe.
I do think she could have broken that chokehold, or at least given it a good try, but seeing this get called out reinforces my take on that whole fight ending sequence. Amber got what she needed out of that fight with her little moment of triumph – she proved to herself she could handle Sal and that she could do so without resorting to Amazi-Girl or giving in to the kind of rage that she unleashed on Blaine and Ryan. That she could stop.
After that she didn’t need to fight. The “end it” was for Sal. Readiness to die, not suicidal desire.
Indeed. Ruth suspects that Amber deliberately lost that fight because she was hoping Sal would kill her (to end her misery, not because she wants Sal to go to jail or some such.)
However, in an alternate universe I relish the thought of Ruth going, “But first, I must challenge you to a contest of pugilism as honor dictates!”
Yeah I kinda wish Willis gave us a better idea of where exactly they are… On closer inspection, though, I can see that Amber’s in her room and Ruth has edged inside and is going to close a physical door to give the two of them privacy rather than close a figurative door on their conversation… Took me a minute. 😅
For Amber to commit Suicide by Sal, wouldn’t Sal have to actually, you know, try to kill her?
According to Wikipedia on chokeholds, unconsciousness takes a few seconds and death takes several minutes. Unless Amber thought Sal was capable of murder, and wanted to murder her enough to actually do it, why would Amber expect to die rather than wake up twitching a minute later?
Wikipedia points out that Judo uses chokeholds frequently, and they basically never result in death. That makes it seem like, yes chokeholds are dangerous, but they’re not attempted-murder dangerous unless the person applying them is very incompetent or actually murderous.
Part of this conflict is between “realistic violence” and “dramatic comic strip violence”.
If we’re projecting realistic understanding of violence onto this world, Amber’s understanding derived from fiction may actually be a better guide.
This is fiction. She’s a super-hero. She has a good understanding of how violence works in this fiction – she knows she can beat up multiple larger opponents, she knows a guy with a knife isn’t a real threat to her. She gets in fights for stress relief. She knows she can get in fights on moving vehicles, though she’d much rather not.
None of this is realistic. A realistic understanding of violence would clearly show that she died or was crippled a long time ago.
On the other hand, while in the chokehold, Amber flat-out told Sal to ‘end it’, which does have a suicidal insinuation to it. Even if realistically it wouldn’t have likely killed her, that doesn’t mean she knew that, and certainly doesn’t mean she didn’t want it to.
Small Block Chevrolet, most commonly in reference to the Gen III 350 that found its way into everything before the LS took off. (Ah the LS, the Game Genie of engines.)
Amber’s view of justice is seriously fucked up. Perhaps she thinks that if Sal kills her, they’ll be even. Sal will have avenged the stabbing with a fair fight, and Amber gets to inflict psychological trauma on her adversary!
That being said, I hope you’re right about Ruth being the one to finally get through to Amber. I noticed how similar they were after Ruth tried to help after Blaine showed up on Freshman Family Weekend. But Amber was too elusive and flighty, and Ruth wasn’t persistent enough. But now the stakes are higher, so the gloves are coming off.
No, it’s that Amber thinks that Sal beating her is inevitable. Amber did not believe that the rivalry was winnable. She was just trying to stay functional, turn her brokenness to something good, in the meantime.
Sal wasn’t a PERSON for her. Sal was an ADVERSARY. And Amber hated/hates herself too much to think that she’d actually win in a fight with her nemesis, so the only way things could go down is that she loses. That’s why it was so confusing and exhilarating to win, even momentarily. She was expecting to make a sacrifice play. But, hey, life isn’t a story.
I’d almost forgotten about that until Ruth brought it up again, but I really hope this conversation goes well. Honestly, Ruth is either one of the best or worst people for Amber to talk about this to… and I’m hoping for the “best” option. I mean, she understands what it’s like to have suicidal feelings, and hopefully that kind of understanding will help Amber. (On the other hand, this could also go horribly for either/both of them.)
“I think you could have gotten out of the chokehold, now that I know you moonlight as a superhero*. I’m worried that you stayed in a potentially lethal situation because you wanted to die.”
I know you’re trying to figure this out, but please don’t mention future strips. Willis has asked us not to do that, as a courtesy for people reading through for the first time.
You should only ask this of people who know how not to damage your larynx in the process. A martial artist should know, because you usually get taught to do choke holds to compress the arteries and at all costs avoid putting pressure on the larynx. At least if the martial art in question in invested in not killing or permanently damaging your opponent, that is.
It’s merely a convenience that learning how to avoid putting pressure on the larynx also teaches you how to put pressure on the larynx – just the do that bit you were taught not to do.
Ruth is obviously concerned that Amber has some suicidal ideation. Which she is well-qualified to be aware of.
Properly handled, this conversation could expose the abysmally low level of Amber’s self- esteem . . . and from there, the extent of her DID. However, that’s a lot to ask of Ruth. She has some exposure to therapy (which seems to have been good) but from that to performing it is a big step. Even recognising DID – which she may never have heard of – seems a bit of a stretch.
I think the most we can hope for is that she will see that Amber needs therapy, though even that depends on Amber opening up to her, which I don’t hold out much hope for. Moreover, Amber accepting such a recommendation seems unlikely. [sigh] I suppose I shouldn’t get so involved with fictional characters, but I find it painful to see such self-hatred. I’ve been there (though without the DID) and I relate entirely too well.
Yeah, I, like, just remembered that the last time we saw her was her fight with Billie. I’m proud of how she seems to be doing– unless this is a setup to disaster, but, like. She’s not intoxicated like Billie is, so at least there’s that.
Ruth is tough. She basically keeps going when she wanted to die out of sheer force of will and to prove her grandfather wrong. I don’t think she’s willing to let alcohol beat her because if it does, he wins.
Tough, yes. But I think her main motivation is that she is Howard’s only protector (to the limited extent that she can protect him). If it weren’t for Howard, it’s not clear to me that she would otherwise keep going.
Doesn’t matter what it is shes in no fit state to do anything more than suggest Amber gets help but I dont think that’s what Ruth’s going to suggest because that would make for a boring comic
Crisis rarely waits for a convenient time. It can definitely be hard to talk to someone about their suicidality, if that’s what Ruth is doing, when one is struggling, but I’d hardly say Ruth’s in “no fit state.” She’s making progress, and yeah, she has more to go, but right now she sees someone who needs help, possibly RIGHT NOW, and so she wants to try to help.
I’ve personally talked to a number of people about their suicidal feelings while feeling suicidal myself. It might not have been in the area of “self-care,” but it wasn’t harmful to me and, I hope, anyway, was helpful to them.
And those factors dont make her incapable. I doubt she has a ton of faith in the higher ups, and she may want to talk to Amber either way. If the suggestion of therapy were to come up, it works a lot better when you’ve had a conversation with the person rather than just going, “Hey, I think you should go to therapy.”
The next person up the line is absolutely fucking incompetent.
When she found out Ruth was suicidal, her reaction was to – without Ruth’s consent or even her knowledge – to contact her grandfather (Before you or anyone else exclaims that “Chloe had no way of knowing Clint was abusive!”, YES she did. She could have spoken to Ruth first, and the fact that she DIDN’T know one way or the other is exactly why she should have)
Ruth is just depressed, not made of glass. She’s been doing alright since getting out of the hospital and there is nothing in here demeanor here that suggests she’s unable to handle this.
Ruth is by FAR the better person to talk to approach Amber about this.
Furthermore, Ruth can’t send this to her boss or any higher-ups without giving some reason why she’s so concerned about Amber, and that can lead to questions that can get both Amber and Sal kicked out of school.
So you keep going up the line until you get to someone that isn’t incompetent
Shes not just depressed shes also suicidal and an alcoholic and probably has other issues as well which means that she shouldn’t be taking on the peoples problems as wrll
Bureaucracies don’t work like that. Ruth can’t bypass Chloe without raising a cloud of stink that could very well put Amber in worse danger.
If Ruth had her way, she wouldn’t be in this position at all. But she’s there and she can’t do anything about it. And she understands that, no matter what her own circumstances, she has ethical obligations (and professional ones, and human ones) towards Amber. Which is more than you can say for her immediate chain of command.
No that’s not correct. Ruth, due to her own circumstances, thinks it’s up to her, shes taken on that responsibility which while being admirable is also not good for Ruth due to the issues Ruth us dealing with at the moment
I might be wrong here but it seems as if the major reason Ruth us even ti get to this state is due to the drugs shes taken and any number of reasons could see her relapse
I just think its a bad idea, potentially life threatening even, for Ruth to do anymore then to try to get Amber to get help
It’s quite hard to go up the line when you are inside the organisation. It’s not really a matter — or not usually a matter — of encountering a hierarch who doesn’t want to do the necessary themselves but is happy enough for someone else to do it. You encounter someone who wants it not to be done, because they are invested in it not being necessary. If you go up the chain to their superior so do they, and their position is that you are wrong about the necessary, causing trouble, neglecting your actual duties, and refusing to follow instructions, which they are entitled to have obeyed. If you go to your boss’s boss you are a wrong-headed troublemaking insubordinate shirker, obsessive and impractical and an ignoramus to boot.
Puddinghead’s reputation, prestige, and position are invested heavily in the assertion that everything is going swimmingly under her capable direction. If it were to turn out that three of her residents are suicidal, one is a hoodlum, one a persecuting transphobe, half a dozen have been drinking and two going on alcoholic benders — all while she has been submitting glowing reports that everything is hunky-dorey — she would suffer a loss of face, and her work might in future be more onerous. Many bureaucrats would fight quite nastily to prevent such a revelation.
Abusive guardians, self-loathing and suicidal tendencies, frequently funneled into violence…pop quiz, which one am I talking about
Someone who is beating the same problems is the perfect person to talk someone through them, because they can speak in a relatable way that won’t be immediately dismissed (as Amber normally does with any praise she receives).
I literally cannot think of anyone better in the cast to talk to Amber.
Hey guess what Chris? People who are depressed, have suicidal thoughts, and are recovering alcaholics are still capable of doing things, and the ONLY risk here is to Ruth herself, and that is her risk to take.
If it turns out she CAN’T handle this conversation or whatever might need to follow afterwards, there’s absolutely no reason she can’t bring in someone else THEN
This also looks like Ruth maybe trying to ignore her own problems by focusing Amber’s as it can’t be coincidental that she chooses to do this now right after her fight with Billie
So if Ruth focuses on Amber so much she might not even see that shes over head, I mean shes got a lot of issues to deal with and shes also on her on own course of drugs so I think this is too much for her
However it is a comic and we know no one dies so there is that
Ruth’s major problems are depression, suicidal ideation, and a desire to drink excessively.
Those are problems where ignoring them is a good thing most of the time. She’s already getting the treatment she needs. Keeping herself busy is good. Dwelling on shit she can’t change right now is not
Doing her job and trying to help Amber might be hard, but I think it’ll be better for her than if she’d passed the buck
This is not just her job. Amber is FAR more likely to open up to Ruth than to anyone else she could bring in. Passing this off to someone else without even TRYING would likely make Ruth feel guilty and useless.
(Which we’ve seen before, when she let Mary’s blackmail stop her from standing up to her for Carla)
I see we’ve reached the limits of the comment system, where direct replies are no longer possible.
Chris73, I agree with you completely that it is bad and potentially dangerous, for Ruth and for Amber, that Ruth is in the position of being the one who is responsible for dealing with Amber right now. I’m just not sure if there are better alternatives for either of them at the moment. It may be that this is the least bad path.
I am pretty sure that going to Chloe is a worse path, and going above Chloe, especially late on a Friday night, is likely to raise a lot of alarm bells that might be worse for both Ruth and Amber.
Though now that I think about it, it would probably have been better for Ruth to wait for a better time, say, tomorrow morning. That’s where I will question Ruth’s judgment.
And there’s nothing solid she can go to Chloe (or anyone else above her) about without getting both Sal and Amber expelled and possibly arrested.
“So why do you think Amber is suicidal?”
Chloe didn’t have any choice about calling sir gramps. When a student is in deep trouble, it’s her obligation to notify family. It’s the obligation of family to help, not make things worse.
No. It’s not.
Ruth is a legal adult. Unless Ruth has him listed as Emergency Contact, there’s no justification for contacting him. There’s no special “student” category that gives “family” special rights.
There’s certainly no justification for not letting her know you’ve done so until he shows up days later, after she’s been released from the hospital.
Clint probably is her emergency contact, though. Not only does he probably insist upon it as a condition of paying for whatever isn’t covered by her stipend, but who else does she have? Howard’s not old enough, and we haven’t learned of any other relatives. Clint’s it.
I’d also argue that even if school policy would’ve required her to reach out to emergency contacts in that situation, she STILL would have a choice. It’s just that the choice would carry risks. I’d consider it far LESS awful if the rules said she should do it, but she still could have talked to Ruth to assess the situation more before acting
Instead she didn’t tell Ruth she was going to contact him, that she HAD contacted him, or even that he was coming. Worse than that, Chloe actively HID that from her. She treated it like she thought it was going to be a fun surprise, and there’s absolutely no way that’s what school policy says to do
When somebody is on suicide watch, surprises are a bad idea. Like, I can at least understand how a person (at least one who ISN’T a resident manager, whose very job should have trained her or at least exposed her to plenty of student/family drama) could fail to consider that not everyone has pleasant or even healthy relationships with their family, or that some parents are abusive. But WHY THE FUCK, if she thought seeing her grandfather would cheer Ruth up, would she keep it a secret that he was coming?? Why would she not tell Ruth at the earliest opportunity that this supposed loved one is on their way?
Chloe is IMPRESSIVELY bad at this aspect of her job
Well, if he was the emergency contact, then he’d be contacted: by Chloe, by the hospital, by somebody.
Even if they tried to ask Ruth, she wasn’t in shape in those initial hours to either make it clear or to be taken seriously.
But yes, keeping it secret was completely unacceptable. Clint wanting it kept secret should have been a huge warning sign. Hell, Clint not coming to see her near immediately and going to talk to the administration about her job before going to her should have been a red flag, even without him asking her to not mention it.
So what happens to Amber, already known to the chain as “the stabby girl?”
It’s not like anyone up the chain gives a shit about Amber as a person. To them, she mostly looks like a liability. I’m guessing at this point, Ruth going up the chain pretty much means suspension or even expulsion for Amber. Is that in Amber’s best interest? Damned if I know.
I think ignoring Ambers situation it is likely to make Ruth‘s mental state worse than having this chat with Amber.
Ruth now knows about the situation, and if she‘d sit on her hands she‘d hate herself for it. She‘d likely feel like she‘d proven her grandfather’s assessment of her lack of worth right, even if Amber never would attempt self-harm. Amber‘s one of her charges, and as little as Ruth likes it, she takes the responsibility for her charges serious. She always did, even when she was in her plain dumb and abusive „rip your femur out mode.“ Half of Ruth current self-hatred comes from hating herself for falling down on her responsibilities, like her failing to stay away from alcohol.
Additionally she can‘t go to anybody else without getting Sal & Amber kicked out, and Ruth strikes me as someone who‘d seriously hate herself for THAT, too. Again, she‘d feel like she‘d failed in her responsibility to her charges.
So Ruth can either ignore Amber or talk to her, and I think, yeah, Ruth is the type of character who needs to at least try in order to be able to live with herself.
She shouldn‘t be in that situation to make this call to begin with – Puddinghead failed her and her grandfather delights in actively making things worse. But I genuinely think that talking to Amber is the least bad of shitty choices Ruth has, at least for Ruth‘s own mental state. Still could go bad, but not doing so so def. would.
Is it the least bad choice for AMBER? I don‘t know. Depends on how this goes.
Three reasons why Ruth has to handle this herself:
1. There is no chance a bureaucracy like the University would allow her to elevate things past Chloe without giving a reason why. And, unfortunately, “Trust me, I know she’s incompetent because she kept me in the job and I’m incompetent” has a bit of a flaw as an argument.
2.There is pretty much zero chance that Ruth trusts any of her higher-ups anymore. Aside from what we’ve seen from Chloe, there’s also the fact that nobody seems to have gotten a complaint about Ruth to go anywhere and there were clearly lots of reasons to complain about her.
3. Amber’s problems are tied to her extra-curricular activity. If the higher-ups found out about that not only could Amber be arrested, but she would almost certainly lose the lawsuit Ryan brought against her and her family would be bankrupted.
Note that it wasn’t actually Chloe that kept her in the job, though she was happy to do so. Clint went over her head to pull strings, to the very people we’re suggesting Ruth go to.
And yeah, the only reasons Ruth would be able to give to justify higher ups getting involved would be a) the fight and b) Amazi-girl. So properly doing her job here would involve getting Amber arrested and Sal expelled.
I am wondering if Ruth was trying to get herself fired, unaware that no one cared about the threats of violence or terrorizing of prisoners. Err, I mean residents.
She also studied Martial Arts, and seems to have become quite good at it. That is very definitely a sport, though I don’t recall that we ever heard of her competing in tournaments.
Though as BarerMender points out, Ruth is not likely aware of such specifics. She only knows that Amber is capable of taking down people much bigger than herself.
Y’all sound like highschool boys talking about vaginas.
Kegels aren’t just for sex, and, when you have really strong muscles, you can more easily choose to relax them.
(And by ‘you’ I mean ‘I’, cuz I have this.)
So after their fight, Billie went to go and drink while Ruth went to go and try and help someone. On the one hand it might be an unfair comparison since it is Ruth’s job, on the other hand it only highlights how Ruth is doing better while Billie does worse.
Ehh… Your prior binge is always your last one, until you drink again Not saying that Billie couldn’t stop, but she’s put no effort into the therapy and support systems needed to stop. As it currently stands, she’d try to quit, fail, and sink into guilt and despair drinking.
It might just be me here, but I have a feeling that the whole chokehold comment was a red herring. There was a certain emphasis Ruth made notating Amber’s skill and what she is actually capable of doing when she sets her mind to it. With that in mind, when Ruth says she needs to assuage her fears, she’s not talking about suicide, she wants to discuss something discreetly with Amber. I think she needs a favor. And considering her most recent conversations with Billie and her desire to keep drinking have been running through Ruth’s mind all day, I think she wants Amber to keep an eye on Billie. Again…discreetly. And if we take into account that we just saw that Billie has fallen off the wagon (again) I think that is the most prescient kind of favor to ask at the moment under the current circumstances.
I wouldn’t bet on this theory, but I do find it interesting. Might be kinda shitty framing on Ruth’s part to bring up the chokehold if your theory is her endgame, but.
I passed a though of Ruth asking Amber to put that bad excuse for a grandfather in hospital, but given her words, I think it’s more likely she worries about Amber’s amount of self-hate.
Closing the door should reveal that they’re not alone, although Ruth won’t notice Dina until she turns around at the end of the conversation. Ruth and Amber will both communicate differently than they would if they had the audience the other person thinks they have. Dina will learn a lot and will correctly apply it.
No no that’s not what I meant. The chokehold comment is a red herring. It’s a distraction. what I’m implying is that that Ruth is worried about Billie and she might be asking Amber to spy on her. This is just a roundabout way of asking for that favor.
Well, it seems pretty clear she’s aware that AG and Amber are the same person. As for just how deep that particular rabbit hole goes, I don’t think anyone aside from Amber and AG have any idea.
Nah, she was entertaining and this is a comic. I like this Ruth better though. She’s more complicated, interesting, and I don’t like seeing these characters hurt for the sake of seeing them hurt.
There are femurs just going around going to waste, these days.
The only thing that’d be more of a waste of human resources would be if GLADOS were to give up science! What tragedy..
She’s depressed. You barely need to be good to be better than your depressive jerkbrain tells you you are. She’s perfectly capable of being better than just good.
(A common, very good means of support: being there for them, listening to them, and likely asking them to get help — and you’ll dial the hotline or therapist’s office for them, and you’ll walk them to appointments. But needs and abilities vary.)
Or, you know, you could tell them they have anger issues and you don’t care that they’re hurt and their issues are not your problem and kick them out of you 14-year friends group while their dad is dying, all while believing you support mental illness. Bitter? I’m not bitter.
Oh come on, it’s clearly an oblique way of saying “making it up to Sal.” Obviously it’s a small step in light of all the stabbing and stalking, but Sal seems happier so I’d call it a step in the right direction.
Puddinhead really did think Ruth was her best RA. Look at her floor compared to where Billie is now.
Billie, an alcoholic.
Carla is great, but we have seen that how bigots react to her needs attention.
Sal, petty criminal who has a connection to the Dean.
Amber, whose dad had to be part of the file.
The floor is a drama hurricane.
Okay, I KNOW you’re talking about Sal’s recent stint as a vigilante and not the gas station robbery, because barring the cosmic coincidence of the people involved reuniting after five years the robbery does NOT define her anymore.
And frankly, I’ll eat my hat if Linda uses her connections to the Dean to help Sal. To keep any embarrassment from being public, maybe, but to help Sal? Yeah, no.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t at that point… but she wouldn’t. She had claimed victory for herself and had given up. She wanted Sal to kill her. We all know this, Ruth… keep up.
Ruth’s always been good at this job. She just doesn’t want the job because Clint forced her into it in the first place so she sabotages it. (If he didn’t get the job for her, she’d probably admit she likes it) When it’s important though she seems to do it right (look out how she interacted with Amber when Blaine showed up). I don’t think Chloe was exaggerating when she called Ruth her best.
Well, she’s good at doing when she’s capable of getting out of beat and not threatening or abusing her charges.
She definitely has shown her good points doing it, but don’t neglect the ways she was awful at it.
Loading ...
“ok fine I could TOTALLY have broken that choke hold”
“Excellent! Just checking”
“I froze because I couldn’t decide whether to follow it up with a Randy Savage Elbow Drop, or an Undertaker Tombstone Piledriver.”
“Hmmm, understandable.”
“I don’t understand. Why wouldn’t you just take their femur and beat them with it?”
I could have totally beaten Blain to death with his femurs.
Yep, I knew that arc wrapped up a little too cleanly. This’ll be FUN!
Not for Amber, but for me. And I appreciate Ruth trying as an RA. <3
*cheers* Go Ruth! I was hoping that this conversation was going to happen for Amber but I wasn’t sure just who it would be nor where or when. Ruth . . Ruth is a good choice I think.
They can trade notes on how to deal with abusive guardians.
In my imagination, this involves Ruth is writing furiously in a notebook “beat the shit out of them” and underlining it several times.
I think that’s the one Ruth presents with a disclaimer like she did when she spoke to Amber about her father’s hospitalization.
I’m TOTALLY for it, though. I give zero shits that Clint needs a cane, the fucker started it and someone needs to finish it.
ruth, dont
Don’t assess a resident’s potential level of self-destructive recklessness/suicidality?
i was reading the situation wrong
No, I concur, this is Ruth challenging Amber to a fight before their team-up.
Were you? I’m still thinking Ruth intends to test Amber’s ability to break out of a choke hold by putting her into a choke hold.
Whether that leads to what Yumi just said or not, I have no idea.
I don’t think that makes a lot of sense, and I don’t think it fits with the shift in Ruth’s expression, personally.
I agree- the OLD Ruth might have tried that, but not anymore (I hope).
Yeah, she ain’t gonna try to choke Amber here as a test.
self-destructive recklessness, definitely. I don’t think suicidality.
There’s definitely a big element of the first in the whole Amazi-Girl thing. You could argue it’s a death wish channeled into a theoretically useful direction maybe.
I do think she could have broken that chokehold, or at least given it a good try, but seeing this get called out reinforces my take on that whole fight ending sequence. Amber got what she needed out of that fight with her little moment of triumph – she proved to herself she could handle Sal and that she could do so without resorting to Amazi-Girl or giving in to the kind of rage that she unleashed on Blaine and Ryan. That she could stop.
After that she didn’t need to fight. The “end it” was for Sal. Readiness to die, not suicidal desire.
That’s still some level of suicidality, in my opinion, but more than that, it’s still something Ruth might assess for, which is what I was saying.
Yeah, I just don’t think it’s the kind of suicidality Ruth’s likely to be thinking of. Not the kind she’s familiar with.
“Assuage myself of some fears.”
Does that mean, “Try you on for size?”
No, it means Ruth is afraid Amber wants to die.
Indeed. Ruth suspects that Amber deliberately lost that fight because she was hoping Sal would kill her (to end her misery, not because she wants Sal to go to jail or some such.)
However, in an alternate universe I relish the thought of Ruth going, “But first, I must challenge you to a contest of pugilism as honor dictates!”
Woah Whiplash. what the hells happening
Ruth is being a responsible RA.
Yeah I kinda wish Willis gave us a better idea of where exactly they are… On closer inspection, though, I can see that Amber’s in her room and Ruth has edged inside and is going to close a physical door to give the two of them privacy rather than close a figurative door on their conversation… Took me a minute. 😅
Politics & Poker, Politics & Poker
Played for a pot that’s mediocre…
IDGI.
SBC?
Ruth suspects Amber was trying to commit Suicide by Sal during their fight.
She’s probably right.
I mean…
For Amber to commit Suicide by Sal, wouldn’t Sal have to actually, you know, try to kill her?
According to Wikipedia on chokeholds, unconsciousness takes a few seconds and death takes several minutes. Unless Amber thought Sal was capable of murder, and wanted to murder her enough to actually do it, why would Amber expect to die rather than wake up twitching a minute later?
Wikipedia points out that Judo uses chokeholds frequently, and they basically never result in death. That makes it seem like, yes chokeholds are dangerous, but they’re not attempted-murder dangerous unless the person applying them is very incompetent or actually murderous.
I can see how Amber could believe both of those things. Sal was the Big Bad in her mental origin story comic book.
Amber’s also pretty deluded and seems to take a good chunk of her understanding of how violence works from fiction.
Despite her delusions she would have to have a realistic understanding of violence to fight as effectively as she does.
Part of this conflict is between “realistic violence” and “dramatic comic strip violence”.
If we’re projecting realistic understanding of violence onto this world, Amber’s understanding derived from fiction may actually be a better guide.
This is fiction. She’s a super-hero. She has a good understanding of how violence works in this fiction – she knows she can beat up multiple larger opponents, she knows a guy with a knife isn’t a real threat to her. She gets in fights for stress relief. She knows she can get in fights on moving vehicles, though she’d much rather not.
None of this is realistic. A realistic understanding of violence would clearly show that she died or was crippled a long time ago.
On the other hand, while in the chokehold, Amber flat-out told Sal to ‘end it’, which does have a suicidal insinuation to it. Even if realistically it wouldn’t have likely killed her, that doesn’t mean she knew that, and certainly doesn’t mean she didn’t want it to.
Maybe she meant for Sal to end it with a neck snap? That would be a movieesque way to end things, tying into her delusions.
I wish I had a picture of Marlin saying, “It’s like he’s trying to speak to me, I know it.”
I get idgi but what does sbc stand for?
“Suicide by cop” is my guess.
That makes a lot more sense than “Southern Baptist Church.”
Surreptitious bouncing cattle, obvs.
Significant booty call
Small Block Chevrolet, most commonly in reference to the Gen III 350 that found its way into everything before the LS took off. (Ah the LS, the Game Genie of engines.)
They’re losing me
Ruth, stop projecting your asphyxiation fetish on to others.
Glad to see I wasn’t the only one.
One could say she’s affixed to asphyxiation
And now I have this bizarre image of the choke hold turn into erotic asphyxiation. That would be bad for everyone.
Ruth saw it too. Amber wanted Sal to kill her. I think – hope – only because she wanted to die, not because she wanted to ruin Sal’s life.
Maybe Ruth will be the one who can reach Amber. Fingers crossed.
Amber’s view of justice is seriously fucked up. Perhaps she thinks that if Sal kills her, they’ll be even. Sal will have avenged the stabbing with a fair fight, and Amber gets to inflict psychological trauma on her adversary!
That being said, I hope you’re right about Ruth being the one to finally get through to Amber. I noticed how similar they were after Ruth tried to help after Blaine showed up on Freshman Family Weekend. But Amber was too elusive and flighty, and Ruth wasn’t persistent enough. But now the stakes are higher, so the gloves are coming off.
No, it’s that Amber thinks that Sal beating her is inevitable. Amber did not believe that the rivalry was winnable. She was just trying to stay functional, turn her brokenness to something good, in the meantime.
Sal wasn’t a PERSON for her. Sal was an ADVERSARY. And Amber hated/hates herself too much to think that she’d actually win in a fight with her nemesis, so the only way things could go down is that she loses. That’s why it was so confusing and exhilarating to win, even momentarily. She was expecting to make a sacrifice play. But, hey, life isn’t a story.
Clearly Ruth plans to hire Amber as a contract hitman.
She already knows where the femurs are, that’s half the training right there.
I’d almost forgotten about that until Ruth brought it up again, but I really hope this conversation goes well. Honestly, Ruth is either one of the best or worst people for Amber to talk about this to… and I’m hoping for the “best” option. I mean, she understands what it’s like to have suicidal feelings, and hopefully that kind of understanding will help Amber. (On the other hand, this could also go horribly for either/both of them.)
Actually Ruth wants to confirm they both had the same sifu, Captain Kung Fu
I DO envision Ruth as channeling Ving Rhames/Cobra Bubbles in this comic.
“I’m the one they call when Things Go Wrong. And Things, have Gone VERY Wrong here.”
*casually yanks open nailed-down door*
From one person seeking death to another.
what is she saying exactly
“I think you could have gotten out of the chokehold, now that I know you moonlight as a superhero*. I’m worried that you stayed in a potentially lethal situation because you wanted to die.”
*from Ruth’s perspective
Oh good, so that was what Ruth meant. I wasn’t entirely sure because her wording confused me a bit.
the part i don’t understand is that i’m reading ruth’s tone as angry, or at least stern in an unhelpful way. am i misreading this?
I know you’re trying to figure this out, but please don’t mention future strips. Willis has asked us not to do that, as a courtesy for people reading through for the first time.
What is going on?
Ruth thinks Amber remained in the chokehold on purpose, with a hope, however vague, that it would result in her death.
So Ruth is asking for some auto-erotic asphyxiation? Cool. Safe, sane, and consensual.
If it’s auto, doesn’t that mean another person’s not doing it?
Like, I have a lot of thoughts on this comment, but that’s the one I’m going with.
If she’s asking for it to be done to her by another person, it wouldn’t be “auto” anything. It would simply be “erotic asphyxiation”.
You should only ask this of people who know how not to damage your larynx in the process. A martial artist should know, because you usually get taught to do choke holds to compress the arteries and at all costs avoid putting pressure on the larynx. At least if the martial art in question in invested in not killing or permanently damaging your opponent, that is.
It’s merely a convenience that learning how to avoid putting pressure on the larynx also teaches you how to put pressure on the larynx – just the do that bit you were taught not to do.
Fun Fact: Erotic Asphyxiation is actually more about cutting off the bloodflow the the brain than it is cutting off the oxygen.
Fun fact: oxygen gets to the brain by way of the blood.
I should emphasize, Oxygen to the lungs.
Sorry. I’m in a bad frame of mind, and I’m behaving badly. I will cut it out.
Go listen to Animals As Leaders and think about what you did.
Erotic asphyxiation isn’t so much about the asphyxiation as it’s about the thrill of thinking, “I can’t breathe!” That’s the payoff.
Ruth is obviously concerned that Amber has some suicidal ideation. Which she is well-qualified to be aware of.
Properly handled, this conversation could expose the abysmally low level of Amber’s self- esteem . . . and from there, the extent of her DID. However, that’s a lot to ask of Ruth. She has some exposure to therapy (which seems to have been good) but from that to performing it is a big step. Even recognising DID – which she may never have heard of – seems a bit of a stretch.
I think the most we can hope for is that she will see that Amber needs therapy, though even that depends on Amber opening up to her, which I don’t hold out much hope for. Moreover, Amber accepting such a recommendation seems unlikely. [sigh] I suppose I shouldn’t get so involved with fictional characters, but I find it painful to see such self-hatred. I’ve been there (though without the DID) and I relate entirely too well.
Ruth in every universe is aware of suicidal tendencies.
Some superpowers are more subtle in how they help you save the world than others. ^.^
Like recognizes like.
I’m very relieved to see Ruth is sober, though, for now. I had, and still have, fears about that.
Yeah, I, like, just remembered that the last time we saw her was her fight with Billie. I’m proud of how she seems to be doing– unless this is a setup to disaster, but, like. She’s not intoxicated like Billie is, so at least there’s that.
Ruth is tough. She basically keeps going when she wanted to die out of sheer force of will and to prove her grandfather wrong. I don’t think she’s willing to let alcohol beat her because if it does, he wins.
Spite can be a powerful motivator.
Tough, yes. But I think her main motivation is that she is Howard’s only protector (to the limited extent that she can protect him). If it weren’t for Howard, it’s not clear to me that she would otherwise keep going.
Doing her job will help keep her mind off her relationship troubles for a while, too.
Ruth whatever it is you think you’re doing its wrong, you are in way, shape or form to be doing anything remotely even close to this
Yeah you’re hurting because of Billie but you are not strong enough mentally or emotionally to deal with whatever this is
What is it you think Ruth’s doing? I want to try to understand what you’re talking about before responding with some personal experiences.
Doesn’t matter what it is shes in no fit state to do anything more than suggest Amber gets help but I dont think that’s what Ruth’s going to suggest because that would make for a boring comic
Crisis rarely waits for a convenient time. It can definitely be hard to talk to someone about their suicidality, if that’s what Ruth is doing, when one is struggling, but I’d hardly say Ruth’s in “no fit state.” She’s making progress, and yeah, she has more to go, but right now she sees someone who needs help, possibly RIGHT NOW, and so she wants to try to help.
I’ve personally talked to a number of people about their suicidal feelings while feeling suicidal myself. It might not have been in the area of “self-care,” but it wasn’t harmful to me and, I hope, anyway, was helpful to them.
So she puts her concerns up the line until someone listens (if that’s the case)
Yeah she might be making progress but shes also (among its other issues) an alcoholic potential suicide with no family except her brother
And those factors dont make her incapable. I doubt she has a ton of faith in the higher ups, and she may want to talk to Amber either way. If the suggestion of therapy were to come up, it works a lot better when you’ve had a conversation with the person rather than just going, “Hey, I think you should go to therapy.”
They may not but it’s also possible that what Amber says is too much for Ruth and she turns to the bottle
Broken people don’t always get to have perfect saviors come along. If it were that easy, there wouldn’t be broken people anymore.
The next person up the line is absolutely fucking incompetent.
When she found out Ruth was suicidal, her reaction was to – without Ruth’s consent or even her knowledge – to contact her grandfather (Before you or anyone else exclaims that “Chloe had no way of knowing Clint was abusive!”, YES she did. She could have spoken to Ruth first, and the fact that she DIDN’T know one way or the other is exactly why she should have)
Ruth is just depressed, not made of glass. She’s been doing alright since getting out of the hospital and there is nothing in here demeanor here that suggests she’s unable to handle this.
Ruth is by FAR the better person to talk to approach Amber about this.
Furthermore, Ruth can’t send this to her boss or any higher-ups without giving some reason why she’s so concerned about Amber, and that can lead to questions that can get both Amber and Sal kicked out of school.
So you keep going up the line until you get to someone that isn’t incompetent
Shes not just depressed shes also suicidal and an alcoholic and probably has other issues as well which means that she shouldn’t be taking on the peoples problems as wrll
It is literally her job to do this. And, y’know, perhaps at least get permission from Amber to bring this up at her own therapy session.
It’s her job to provide counseling to suicidal students? I’d like to see the job description for that
Bureaucracies don’t work like that. Ruth can’t bypass Chloe without raising a cloud of stink that could very well put Amber in worse danger.
If Ruth had her way, she wouldn’t be in this position at all. But she’s there and she can’t do anything about it. And she understands that, no matter what her own circumstances, she has ethical obligations (and professional ones, and human ones) towards Amber. Which is more than you can say for her immediate chain of command.
No that’s not correct. Ruth, due to her own circumstances, thinks it’s up to her, shes taken on that responsibility which while being admirable is also not good for Ruth due to the issues Ruth us dealing with at the moment
I might be wrong here but it seems as if the major reason Ruth us even ti get to this state is due to the drugs shes taken and any number of reasons could see her relapse
I just think its a bad idea, potentially life threatening even, for Ruth to do anymore then to try to get Amber to get help
It’s quite hard to go up the line when you are inside the organisation. It’s not really a matter — or not usually a matter — of encountering a hierarch who doesn’t want to do the necessary themselves but is happy enough for someone else to do it. You encounter someone who wants it not to be done, because they are invested in it not being necessary. If you go up the chain to their superior so do they, and their position is that you are wrong about the necessary, causing trouble, neglecting your actual duties, and refusing to follow instructions, which they are entitled to have obeyed. If you go to your boss’s boss you are a wrong-headed troublemaking insubordinate shirker, obsessive and impractical and an ignoramus to boot.
Puddinghead’s reputation, prestige, and position are invested heavily in the assertion that everything is going swimmingly under her capable direction. If it were to turn out that three of her residents are suicidal, one is a hoodlum, one a persecuting transphobe, half a dozen have been drinking and two going on alcoholic benders — all while she has been submitting glowing reports that everything is hunky-dorey — she would suffer a loss of face, and her work might in future be more onerous. Many bureaucrats would fight quite nastily to prevent such a revelation.
Abusive guardians, self-loathing and suicidal tendencies, frequently funneled into violence…pop quiz, which one am I talking about
Someone who is beating the same problems is the perfect person to talk someone through them, because they can speak in a relatable way that won’t be immediately dismissed (as Amber normally does with any praise she receives).
I literally cannot think of anyone better in the cast to talk to Amber.
Hey guess what Chris? People who are depressed, have suicidal thoughts, and are recovering alcaholics are still capable of doing things, and the ONLY risk here is to Ruth herself, and that is her risk to take.
If it turns out she CAN’T handle this conversation or whatever might need to follow afterwards, there’s absolutely no reason she can’t bring in someone else THEN
This also looks like Ruth maybe trying to ignore her own problems by focusing Amber’s as it can’t be coincidental that she chooses to do this now right after her fight with Billie
So if Ruth focuses on Amber so much she might not even see that shes over head, I mean shes got a lot of issues to deal with and shes also on her on own course of drugs so I think this is too much for her
However it is a comic and we know no one dies so there is that
Ruth’s major problems are depression, suicidal ideation, and a desire to drink excessively.
Those are problems where ignoring them is a good thing most of the time. She’s already getting the treatment she needs. Keeping herself busy is good. Dwelling on shit she can’t change right now is not
Doing her job and trying to help Amber might be hard, but I think it’ll be better for her than if she’d passed the buck
This is not just her job. Amber is FAR more likely to open up to Ruth than to anyone else she could bring in. Passing this off to someone else without even TRYING would likely make Ruth feel guilty and useless.
(Which we’ve seen before, when she let Mary’s blackmail stop her from standing up to her for Carla)
I see we’ve reached the limits of the comment system, where direct replies are no longer possible.
Chris73, I agree with you completely that it is bad and potentially dangerous, for Ruth and for Amber, that Ruth is in the position of being the one who is responsible for dealing with Amber right now. I’m just not sure if there are better alternatives for either of them at the moment. It may be that this is the least bad path.
I am pretty sure that going to Chloe is a worse path, and going above Chloe, especially late on a Friday night, is likely to raise a lot of alarm bells that might be worse for both Ruth and Amber.
Though now that I think about it, it would probably have been better for Ruth to wait for a better time, say, tomorrow morning. That’s where I will question Ruth’s judgment.
Fair enough, you raise some good points
And there’s nothing solid she can go to Chloe (or anyone else above her) about without getting both Sal and Amber expelled and possibly arrested.
“So why do you think Amber is suicidal?”
Chloe didn’t have any choice about calling sir gramps. When a student is in deep trouble, it’s her obligation to notify family. It’s the obligation of family to help, not make things worse.
No. It’s not.
Ruth is a legal adult. Unless Ruth has him listed as Emergency Contact, there’s no justification for contacting him. There’s no special “student” category that gives “family” special rights.
There’s certainly no justification for not letting her know you’ve done so until he shows up days later, after she’s been released from the hospital.
Clint probably is her emergency contact, though. Not only does he probably insist upon it as a condition of paying for whatever isn’t covered by her stipend, but who else does she have? Howard’s not old enough, and we haven’t learned of any other relatives. Clint’s it.
I’d say a friend– I was my friend’s emergency contact throughout college– but we haven’t really seen her have any.
I’d also argue that even if school policy would’ve required her to reach out to emergency contacts in that situation, she STILL would have a choice. It’s just that the choice would carry risks. I’d consider it far LESS awful if the rules said she should do it, but she still could have talked to Ruth to assess the situation more before acting
Instead she didn’t tell Ruth she was going to contact him, that she HAD contacted him, or even that he was coming. Worse than that, Chloe actively HID that from her. She treated it like she thought it was going to be a fun surprise, and there’s absolutely no way that’s what school policy says to do
When somebody is on suicide watch, surprises are a bad idea. Like, I can at least understand how a person (at least one who ISN’T a resident manager, whose very job should have trained her or at least exposed her to plenty of student/family drama) could fail to consider that not everyone has pleasant or even healthy relationships with their family, or that some parents are abusive. But WHY THE FUCK, if she thought seeing her grandfather would cheer Ruth up, would she keep it a secret that he was coming?? Why would she not tell Ruth at the earliest opportunity that this supposed loved one is on their way?
Chloe is IMPRESSIVELY bad at this aspect of her job
Well, if he was the emergency contact, then he’d be contacted: by Chloe, by the hospital, by somebody.
Even if they tried to ask Ruth, she wasn’t in shape in those initial hours to either make it clear or to be taken seriously.
But yes, keeping it secret was completely unacceptable. Clint wanting it kept secret should have been a huge warning sign. Hell, Clint not coming to see her near immediately and going to talk to the administration about her job before going to her should have been a red flag, even without him asking her to not mention it.
On the other hand, it’s her job.
She doesn’t want the job, but it is nevertheless her job.
Then all she needs to do is put up the chain until someone listens
So what happens to Amber, already known to the chain as “the stabby girl?”
It’s not like anyone up the chain gives a shit about Amber as a person. To them, she mostly looks like a liability. I’m guessing at this point, Ruth going up the chain pretty much means suspension or even expulsion for Amber. Is that in Amber’s best interest? Damned if I know.
I just think she has the potential to at best derail Ruth’s progress and ar worst to be potentially life threatening for Ruth
I dont like Ruth at all but I do want to see her get better and become a better person
Dammit, I mean this has the potential not she has
Okay, now THAT is something you could have pointed out earlier
I can completely understand being concerned for Ruth’s own sake that she won’t be able to handle this, even if I disagree and think she can
The way you were phrasing your other comments made it sound like you were criticizing her and felt like she was doing something morally wrong
I generally do better talking at a bar then I do typing, so much communication is missed without non verbal body language
I think ignoring Ambers situation it is likely to make Ruth‘s mental state worse than having this chat with Amber.
Ruth now knows about the situation, and if she‘d sit on her hands she‘d hate herself for it. She‘d likely feel like she‘d proven her grandfather’s assessment of her lack of worth right, even if Amber never would attempt self-harm. Amber‘s one of her charges, and as little as Ruth likes it, she takes the responsibility for her charges serious. She always did, even when she was in her plain dumb and abusive „rip your femur out mode.“ Half of Ruth current self-hatred comes from hating herself for falling down on her responsibilities, like her failing to stay away from alcohol.
Additionally she can‘t go to anybody else without getting Sal & Amber kicked out, and Ruth strikes me as someone who‘d seriously hate herself for THAT, too. Again, she‘d feel like she‘d failed in her responsibility to her charges.
So Ruth can either ignore Amber or talk to her, and I think, yeah, Ruth is the type of character who needs to at least try in order to be able to live with herself.
She shouldn‘t be in that situation to make this call to begin with – Puddinghead failed her and her grandfather delights in actively making things worse. But I genuinely think that talking to Amber is the least bad of shitty choices Ruth has, at least for Ruth‘s own mental state. Still could go bad, but not doing so so def. would.
Is it the least bad choice for AMBER? I don‘t know. Depends on how this goes.
Three reasons why Ruth has to handle this herself:
1. There is no chance a bureaucracy like the University would allow her to elevate things past Chloe without giving a reason why. And, unfortunately, “Trust me, I know she’s incompetent because she kept me in the job and I’m incompetent” has a bit of a flaw as an argument.
2.There is pretty much zero chance that Ruth trusts any of her higher-ups anymore. Aside from what we’ve seen from Chloe, there’s also the fact that nobody seems to have gotten a complaint about Ruth to go anywhere and there were clearly lots of reasons to complain about her.
3. Amber’s problems are tied to her extra-curricular activity. If the higher-ups found out about that not only could Amber be arrested, but she would almost certainly lose the lawsuit Ryan brought against her and her family would be bankrupted.
Note that it wasn’t actually Chloe that kept her in the job, though she was happy to do so. Clint went over her head to pull strings, to the very people we’re suggesting Ruth go to.
And yeah, the only reasons Ruth would be able to give to justify higher ups getting involved would be a) the fight and b) Amazi-girl. So properly doing her job here would involve getting Amber arrested and Sal expelled.
I am wondering if Ruth was trying to get herself fired, unaware that no one cared about the threats of violence or terrorizing of prisoners. Err, I mean residents.
Amber was on track and field, right? I’d say sports aren’t quite off her beaten path.
She’s referring to Amber’s computer-bound existence, probably.
She also studied Martial Arts, and seems to have become quite good at it. That is very definitely a sport, though I don’t recall that we ever heard of her competing in tournaments.
Though as BarerMender points out, Ruth is not likely aware of such specifics. She only knows that Amber is capable of taking down people much bigger than herself.
Oh.
Woah, now Ruth. I won’t have you underestimating my girl Sal. She’s got that down south strength.
Nobody cares about the strength of her kegels, Yotomoe.
Kegel was the name of the doctor who devised the exercise, not the muscles involved (the Futurama Kegelcizer scene notwithstanding).
This has Frankstein discussion vibes and I love it.
P.S. Her future boyfriend will care. A lot.
Don’t work them out too much or else it’ll be like a vice.
Though someone’s probably into that.
Y’all sound like highschool boys talking about vaginas.
Kegels aren’t just for sex, and, when you have really strong muscles, you can more easily choose to relax them.
(And by ‘you’ I mean ‘I’, cuz I have this.)
I know as much about vaginas as I do about penises. Which isn’t a lot.
Modern American sex ed really doesn’t do anyone any favors, does it?
So after their fight, Billie went to go and drink while Ruth went to go and try and help someone. On the one hand it might be an unfair comparison since it is Ruth’s job, on the other hand it only highlights how Ruth is doing better while Billie does worse.
It sounded to me like Billie saw that as her last binge before joining Ruth in sobriety… She handled it poorly but I don’t think she’s a lost cause.
Ehh… Your prior binge is always your last one, until you drink again Not saying that Billie couldn’t stop, but she’s put no effort into the therapy and support systems needed to stop. As it currently stands, she’d try to quit, fail, and sink into guilt and despair drinking.
It might just be me here, but I have a feeling that the whole chokehold comment was a red herring. There was a certain emphasis Ruth made notating Amber’s skill and what she is actually capable of doing when she sets her mind to it. With that in mind, when Ruth says she needs to assuage her fears, she’s not talking about suicide, she wants to discuss something discreetly with Amber. I think she needs a favor. And considering her most recent conversations with Billie and her desire to keep drinking have been running through Ruth’s mind all day, I think she wants Amber to keep an eye on Billie. Again…discreetly. And if we take into account that we just saw that Billie has fallen off the wagon (again) I think that is the most prescient kind of favor to ask at the moment under the current circumstances.
I wouldn’t bet on this theory, but I do find it interesting. Might be kinda shitty framing on Ruth’s part to bring up the chokehold if your theory is her endgame, but.
I passed a though of Ruth asking Amber to put that bad excuse for a grandfather in hospital, but given her words, I think it’s more likely she worries about Amber’s amount of self-hate.
Closing the door should reveal that they’re not alone, although Ruth won’t notice Dina until she turns around at the end of the conversation. Ruth and Amber will both communicate differently than they would if they had the audience the other person thinks they have. Dina will learn a lot and will correctly apply it.
Umm . . . are you suggesting that Billie needs to be choked to prevent her from drinking?
Please explain what you do mean.
This was supposed to be a reply to Robert.
No no that’s not what I meant. The chokehold comment is a red herring. It’s a distraction. what I’m implying is that that Ruth is worried about Billie and she might be asking Amber to spy on her. This is just a roundabout way of asking for that favor.
Wut.
Them’s fightin’ words but…that’s not a fightin’ face? What is going on?
No, thems is “I’m worried you are suicidal and we’re planning on letting sal kill you back there” words
“were planning” not “we’re plannning” I assume?
Or it is a conspiracy and time travel.
Wait… Does Ruth actually know Amber and AG share a flesh vessel?
She do. http://www.dumbingofage.com/2018/comic/book-9-comic/01-flyin-to-the-red/desecrated/
That doesn’t necessarily follow that Ruth is aware of Amber/Amazi-Girl’s DID, though.
Well, it seems pretty clear she’s aware that AG and Amber are the same person. As for just how deep that particular rabbit hole goes, I don’t think anyone aside from Amber and AG have any idea.
Danny has the most clues, though it’s not clear how far he’s been able to follow them.
He hasn’t followed them at all.
That’s not clear either.
Ruth gets to Carla now?
I already loved Ruth, but I love her more for the concern and empathy she’s showing here.
Nobody has postulated that Ruth is going to ask Amber if she may have hospitalised her abusive father yet?
Counterpoint: Ruth figured that one out but doesn’t see it as a matter of concern.
That’s my view on the matter, too.
You did 🙂
Is it wrong I’m kind of missing the irredeemable murderous awful Ruth?
Yes.
Nah, she was entertaining and this is a comic. I like this Ruth better though. She’s more complicated, interesting, and I don’t like seeing these characters hurt for the sake of seeing them hurt.
There are femurs just going around going to waste, these days.
The only thing that’d be more of a waste of human resources would be if GLADOS were to give up science! What tragedy..
Classic Ruth had style, and New Ruth is just a generic pepsi clone
I’m starting to think Ruth is far better at her RA job than she thought she was.
She’s depressed. You barely need to be good to be better than your depressive jerkbrain tells you you are. She’s perfectly capable of being better than just good.
Ruth, this is not a good idea. When someone is on the edge, you don’t push and you of all people should recognise someone on the edge right away!
Nnnn. If you think someone’s on the edge, leaving them to deal with it by themselves isn’t the best move.
Yeah, if somebody’s on the edge, you need to support them as best you possibly can.
It’s not good to stare into the abyss alone.
(A common, very good means of support: being there for them, listening to them, and likely asking them to get help — and you’ll dial the hotline or therapist’s office for them, and you’ll walk them to appointments. But needs and abilities vary.)
Or, you know, you could tell them they have anger issues and you don’t care that they’re hurt and their issues are not your problem and kick them out of you 14-year friends group while their dad is dying, all while believing you support mental illness. Bitter? I’m not bitter.
Ruth isn’t pushing, she’s throwing Amber a bungie.
Ruth doesn’t like it, but when push comes to shove, she can be a competent RA
She takes her phony-baloney job very seriously, in her own way, and that makes all the difference!
“ooo choke me Ruth-y”
Playing sports with a bunch of grown ass women is in no way community service but whatever.
She is keeping two vigilantes off the streets.
Probably not.
We haven’t seen what Amazi-Girl’s been up to.
But the last time Amber talked about it she said she’d stopped losing time, which means Amazi-Girl has stopped going out without her knowledge.
She did? When?
Closest I could find was telling Walky “I think I slept”.
And it’s only been a day, right?
Oh come on, it’s clearly an oblique way of saying “making it up to Sal.” Obviously it’s a small step in light of all the stabbing and stalking, but Sal seems happier so I’d call it a step in the right direction.
Yeah it’s pretty damn weak in that light too.
That is literally what my second sentence says.
Well, masochistic self-destructive self-hate is something Ruth knows all about.
…. she’s a Leafs fan.
Puddinhead really did think Ruth was her best RA. Look at her floor compared to where Billie is now.
Billie, an alcoholic.
Carla is great, but we have seen that how bigots react to her needs attention.
Sal, petty criminal who has a connection to the Dean.
Amber, whose dad had to be part of the file.
The floor is a drama hurricane.
Okay, I KNOW you’re talking about Sal’s recent stint as a vigilante and not the gas station robbery, because barring the cosmic coincidence of the people involved reuniting after five years the robbery does NOT define her anymore.
And frankly, I’ll eat my hat if Linda uses her connections to the Dean to help Sal. To keep any embarrassment from being public, maybe, but to help Sal? Yeah, no.
Don’t forget the Whiteboard Ding Dong Bandit. (Sorta minor to having to throw that b-hole Blaine, but it was still a thing.)
I predict Ruth will handle this really terribly or really well—no in between.
I look forward to either one.
Does Ruth get to be Commissioner Gordon? Please let Ruth be the Commissioner.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t at that point… but she wouldn’t. She had claimed victory for herself and had given up. She wanted Sal to kill her. We all know this, Ruth… keep up.
I don’t think she actually wanted Sal to kill her. She just wasn’t going to fight back.
Ruth’s hair looks like a box
Ruth’s always been good at this job. She just doesn’t want the job because Clint forced her into it in the first place so she sabotages it. (If he didn’t get the job for her, she’d probably admit she likes it) When it’s important though she seems to do it right (look out how she interacted with Amber when Blaine showed up). I don’t think Chloe was exaggerating when she called Ruth her best.
Well, she’s good at doing when she’s capable of getting out of beat and not threatening or abusing her charges.
She definitely has shown her good points doing it, but don’t neglect the ways she was awful at it.
yup those things were awful, I’m suggesting she’s “choosing” to be awful at it as opposed to lack of skill.