Río the weevil

Original post by @morallygrayautisticscientist here, this post was so funny I decided to draw it lol.

Panel by panel below:

dad lore

Chewing sticks are basically sticks from specific trees that you strip some of the bark off, chew to loosen up the inner fibers, and then brush your teeth with said fibers. You cut off the fibers every other day and strip off more bark so the sticks also force you to keep replacing your toothbrush a bit better than normal ones do because you’re literally whittling them down to nothing over time.

No toothpaste required because the sticks naturally have fluoride in them and being, you know, sticks, they’re biodegradable by nature. So no plastic from the toothpaste because there is no toothpaste and no plastic from the stick because it’s a stick.

Some brands sell them wrapped in plastic but you know, not all of them do that. And you can get a reusable container to put them in when you’re not using them.

But because zero waste people are super into finding complicated ways to reduce plastic usage I was surprised I’ve never heard of these things being discussed in the zero waste YouTube channels I’ve watched. They talk about like bamboo toothbrushes and refillable toothpaste and whatnot. Not chewing sticks.

I’m using them because I can just keep one in my pocket in its little container and they’re super stiff and my gums need strengthening according to my hygienist. (Note if you decide to use these things your gums might bleed the first few times because the fibers are so stiff)

Simon lives at the end of everything.  There are only a few thousand people left alive, and both humans and everything else are dwindling resources.  EVERYTHING is running out, including time.

Simon has likely never lived in a world where he had time, or was guaranteed his next meal, his next breath, his next moment.  Drinking all the water as soon as he finds it not only speaks to how long he’s likely gone without water (because why would you waste more precious food or water on a convict that is almost certain to die at the bottom of a blood ocean beyond what is base-line necessary to keep him functional?), but it also shows a survival strategy.  If everything is scarce, then trying to ration resources opens you up to having someone else take them away.  It’s likely to be an instinct at this point: if he gets something, he consumes it immediately before someone else can take it from him.  And that instinct is so ingrained that he does it right away, and then recriminates himself afterward.  He has these mechanisms for survival that are betraying him, but the instinct is hard to overcome.

The rubbing alcohol moment is another great moment of world-building (and also a great moment of levity in a very grim film).  Here is this tiny cup of alcohol, part of a barely-there first aid kit.  He’s got bandages, and he’s got alcohol.

And he drinks the alcohol rather than using it on his injuries.  Simon exists in a world of despair, in a near-hopeless situation after a string of near-hopeless situations, after being raised in a damn death cult.  Why would he use that alcohol to prevent an infection he is almost certainly never going to have time to develop?  Why would he care about a hypothetical maybe-future when he had to deal with isopropyl poisoning?  He is staring down death.

Why not indulge in a moment of chemical escape?  Why not give yourself that moment of oblivion?  If there is no future, there are no consequences.  So he drinks the alcohol, and it’s both funny and this exquisitely human moment of relief for him. 

- Simon / The Convict (Iron Lung) pride icons -

Nonbinary flag

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Requested by @thebirdtm