142

Locked away
Posted on March 25, 2014 by David M Willis

142 thoughts on “Locked away”

  1. The Meek Ninja

    Keep at it Ruth. You’ll get it down one day!

    1. Megatron

      She should have it down now! She had two whole weeks of training!

      1. Dean

        Including an instructional video!

      2. Ivan

        Offer her IMmoral support! Tongue-lash her now!!

  2. Doctor_Who

    “I just want you to know I’m here if you need me and are those Mario bedsheets just what the hell’s wrong with you?”

    1. Yotomoe

      I swear to god if that’s a pokemon walkthrough manual on your desk…THE INTERNET EXISTS!!! WHY WOULD YOU NEED THIS?

      1. Doctor_Who

        I almost bought one of those this very weekend.

        I just got myself a 3DS and downloaded the free Pokemon game promotion they had (still have?) going on. I’m not actually a Pokemon fan, but free is exactly the right price to get me to try it again.

        Saw a walkthough book at the store and actually carried it around for like 10 minutes before I realized this is 2014 and what in God’s name am I thinking?

        1. jaimehlers

          I finally got rid of my old strategy guides, for that matter.

        2. Historyman68

          Books don’t need batteries or wifi.

        3. Samuel Erkison

          @Historyman68
          Sure, but you can’t ctrl-f a dead tree book.

        4. Jostikas

          Sure you can. It’s called an index.

        5. Jostikas

          BWAHAHA!.. sorry… I just realised the percentage of times the index has been useful is way below 50 in my own experience. Though I do like to have some dead tree books for studying… bookmarks work really intuitively in their OS.

        6. Zephyr, God of the West Wind

          Those things are always filled with inaccuracies anyways.

        7. Hawkwing

          And people say there were no errors back when we couldn’t patch after release….

      2. GoogerGeiger

        “Speaking of which, what the hell is that on your laptop? Does that say… Iron Man/Captain America slashfic?!”

        1. JeffEpp

          Now, if it was Blackwidow/Spider-Woman/Mockingbird, that would catch her interest.

        2. Tori

          Mmm, do want.

      3. newllend

        Pokemon walkthrough manual the hell, people still use those!?

        1. Marisa Mockery

          What’s better is they think the game is so complicated that they’ve decided to issue it in two parts, so you have to spend FORTY dollars to get the entire walkthrough with Pokedex. My friend who collects them complained bitterly about this.

      4. capughe

        Strategy guides are pretty though… I haven’t forked out cash for one in eons, but I would buy it just because it’s pretty.

      5. Soozi

        Am I the only one who likes having the manual? I don’t always have internet access, and I love having all the information in front of me…

        Then again I usually get the manual after I’ve already completed the first run of the game, so I can go back and get it 100%. I also buy used textbooks to read for fun, even in classes I’m not currently taking.

        Oh my god I think I’m Hermione Granger.

        1. Doctor_Who

          “It’s NidoRIno, not NiDORino.”

        2. GreatContagion

          Hot damn that is the best comment I’ve read this week.

  3. Plasma Mongoose

    Who else will protect us all from those damned RPG money spiders if Amber doesn’t?

    1. nothri

      So really Amazigirl is just an unplugged version of what Amber does constantly

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        Pretty much and as a bonus, whenever she defeats an enemy IRL, they also drop things like money and other random things.

        1. newllend

          Like all kinds of healing orbs and a item that really part of a 15 piece item that can only be made by one dude all the way on the other side of the level. That basically what online RPG are like.

        2. Zephyr, God of the West Wind

          Not WoW. Only Monks get healing orbs in WoW.

        3. asmcint

          Entirely unrelated: Do you have a link to the full version of that gravatar? 0.o

        4. Plasma Mongoose

          I know that I found the pic my grav was originally based on on one of the ‘boorus a few years ago, it’s Asuka(Evangelion) with a new hairstyle and glasses.

        5. GreatContagion

          But not much else. HEYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
          *highfive*

        6. 3oranges

          That would be nice. Instead what we’ve seen is that when she encounters them, she gets new cutscenes.

        7. Legasher

          Unfortunately, when the tables turn and she is forced to flee, she also drops items… like transformers and Amazi-condoms.

        8. Arkadi

          No, that was in Scott Pilgrim.

  4. Barf Ninjason

    The best thing about Ruth is that she knows when she’s being a jerk.

    1. asmcint

      I’m not sure if a Mike gravatar makes that comment better or worse, but I know it affects it in some manner.

  5. Raine

    Hope this turns into an Amber helping Ruth out with Billie thingy.

  6. Yotomoe

    Don’t be such a turbo dweeb! I mean…

    1. newllend

      But dont we live in the turbo dweeb age? Everything is digitized.

  7. nothri

    Ruth seems…remarkably okay considering everything that happened last night. I hope that’s a good sign.

    1. Yotomoe

      Billie may be large, but the world doesn’t revolve around her.

      1. capughe

        Does anyone else think they wouldn’t have noticed Billie is supposedly fat if Ruth never called her Lardo or Thunderthighs?

        1. Leorale

          I still don’t consider her overweight. I just assumed Ruth picked what might insult a bodacious cheerleader.

        2. BlackIo

          To be fair, she was being drawn a lot smaller in her earlier appearances.

        3. Zephyr, God of the West Wind

          eh, she’s big, but not fat or anything.

    2. Plasma Mongoose

      Maybe Ruth is just trying to forget her problems for a while by focusing on someone elses’.

      1. nothri

        Good guess. Really, I’m kind of proud of her, considering the big temptation would have been to deal with her problems the old fashioned drunken way.

      2. Urzu725

        “Sometimes the best way to solve your own problems is to help someone else.”

        -Uncle Iroh, Legend of Korra

        1. Jen Aside

          “Zuko, you must look within yourself to save yourself from your other self. Only then will your true self reveal itself.”
          – Prince Zuko as Uncle Iroh

        2. Khrene

          +! to the both of y’all!

        3. Plasma Mongoose

          Is the ! a reference to Ruth’s shirt?

    3. Doctor_Who

      She’s moved on. She found another full figured girl with glasses and family issues to latch onto, thank you very much.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        But Marcie doesn’t have any family issues as fare as I know… =3

        1. Yotomoe

          And Dorothy is already dating Walky.

        2. Doctor_Who

          Dorothy is fairly svelte, and of all the parents we’ve seen hers are the least awful.

          Ruth needs damaged goods with more to cuddle.

    4. newllend

      We all know she’s going to move on and hook up with malaya

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        Assuming Malaya becomes even a minor character in DoA, I like to think that she’s a robotics major secretly designing an artificial girlfriend which she calls Carla.

        1. John

          But Malaya already is a minor character in DoA?

          Carla hasn’t appeared yet, but they’ve both been in preview panels from the middle of May.

        2. Leorale

          Aw, that’s just a cameo walk-on, not a minor character… Yet.

  8. Wonder Wig

    I play much games. Almost 7 games.

    1. Jen Aside

      much games
      so support
      very comfort

      1. Shadow12000

        wow

        1. N0083rP00F

          Much excite
          many wow
          so fun
          no dice
          very Doge

        2. Arkadi

          I love you guys. It’s important that you know.

    2. Doctor_Who

      My Steam library is beginning to get pretty turgid.

      I have made a vow not to buy any more until I make a dent in some of those. I figure I have until the Summer Sale, at which point it’s out of my hands.

      1. Shadow12000

        Dark Souls 2 looming eerily on the Steam Store’s main page for preorder…

      2. Foxhack

        You mean the Easter sale. The one that’s about a month away.

      3. Jen Aside

        Ye cats, I don’t get people who just buy Steam games and never play them. Okay, sure, I have some unplayed Steam games, but they were part of a (humble) bundle, and I have a 96% completion rate of the games I’ve played that have Achievements [still working on Bastion and DuckTales HD].

        [[also I have effectively no income to just blow on stuff I won’t play]]

        1. Jen Aside

          [in b4 arguments about supporting the devs [which is fine, do that all you like] or getting games on the cheap ’cause “you can’t afford NOT to buy them!”]

          http://thecastledoctrine.net/seedBlogs.php?action=display_post&post_id=jasonrohrer_1389812989_0&show_author=1&show_date=1

        2. Opus the Poet

          Where did you get that Grav, if you don’t mind my asking?

        3. StClair

          Because we’re conditioned to respond to bargains, and there’s some* possibility that if you don’t buy the game now that it might become unavailable at some time in the future.

          … did I say “we”?

          (* increasingly slim/remote in reality, in these days of Steam and GoG where stuff hardly if ever just vanishes forever, but old hoarding habits.)

        4. Doctor_Who

          It’s always games I WANT to play, and will eventually, but don’t have time for just now because of work and life and such.

          If I know I want to play it, might as well pick it up when it’s $5 instead of $40. Spending $100 during a sale means I don’t have to buy another game all year.

        5. Jen Aside

          Yeah, me too. I buy games very deliberately and still only “own” just under thirty [including, I confess, the free-for-Christmas L4D2]. Yes, I have a HUGE pile of point-and-click games stacked up waiting to be played, but not on Steam, because 1. there’s no public record of my hoarding/non-playing in that case, and 2. I actually OWN the games, so I can’t get bullshitted by DRM. [3. I can theoretically resell them if I don’t like any.] I feel like my Steam library can be comfortably ignored indefinitely, vs. being slightly motivated to get through a physical disc.

          I’m not saying it’s bad having a huge Steam library, especially to support devs, just that I don’t comprehend that desire myself. But then, I’m moving at the moment and de-cluttering is huge on my mind.

        6. Jen Aside

          I’m also the type to pay full-price to support a game [or web comic, etc.] I like, though, even if it’s “punishing” myself as a fan, per the above link.

  9. BlackIo

    Give her some time. She’s still figuring this whole “interactions that don’t involve yelling at, threatening, or kissing people” thing.

    1. nothri

      And she only recently learned the difference between shoving and kissing.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        I wonder if Dina know the difference.

        1. Barf Ninjason

          Dina’s gonna be all, “Oh, I am into hardcore velociraptor cosplay BDSM, didn’t you know?”

        2. gangler

          Does her partner play the part of some dinosaur that velociraptors eat or the part of some human that hunts dinosaurs?

        3. ninja_jesus

          Dina is the raptor.
          Her partner is her human prey.
          Prepare to be devoured.

        4. Leorale

          Dina doesn’t strike me as the type who thinks anything is so wrong that it’s right — so, no dinosaurs/humans coexisting.

        5. Leorale

          Wait dangit why am I imagining Dina’s sexual ideas Augh do not want.

        6. GreatContagion

          Only the most appropriate of gravitars for that comment.

    2. Yotomoe

      I don’t know what you’re talking about. That’s how I treat everyone.

  10. newllend

    You could have talked to after a floor meeting and you’re figuring this out damn people are slow in this comic.

    1. Yotomoe

      YOU’RE DANNING UP.

    2. Plasma Mongoose

      They’re slow for the sake of drama and story-telling.

    3. Jen Aside

      “But the last floor meeting was like a YEAR ago!!”

      1. Barf Ninjason

        “I don’t want to alarm anyone but I think we’re in some kind of time vortex because we should actually be just about graduating by now.’

        1. Shadow12000

          “What are you talking about? School started about a month ago, right?”

        2. Barf Ninjason

          “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh”

        3. N0083rP00F

          This is the semester that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friend. Some people started studying, not knowing what it was, and they’ll continue studying forever just because…This is the semester that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friend. Some people started studying, not knowing what it was, and they’ll continue studying forever just because…

  11. someguywithakatana

    I like that Ruth isn’t letting her personal drama get in the way of her RA stuff and generally being a nic-

    …

    compassio-

    …

    …

    Ruth is good people.

    1. Glacirus

      Better than Horses. Horses are terrible people.

      1. N0083rP00F

        Hay there now ……

      2. David

        Tell that to the Houyhnhnm.

  12. Jay Eff

    [HANK HILL]”Put down that Game Boy, Amber! You can’t spend your whole life with your nose in a Vidya Game! And put down that Fruit Pie!”[/HANK HILL]

    1. SilverArrowArtemis

      +1

  13. Regalli

    … Oh, Amber.

  14. MM

    Ouch. That last line.

  15. sps48

    Is the alt-text written with the comic, or added later?

    1. sps48

      And of course I mean “hovertext”.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        IIRC Willis does the hovertext with the comic releace but he has been known to change it on the release date.

        1. sps48

          Thanks, Plas!

        2. Plasma Mongoose

          You’re Welcome.

    2. David Willis

      This alt-text was written back in December.

      1. Shadow12000

        This is quite the large backlog saved up you have here.

  16. Fuzzydaemon

    Amber is so used to abuse.

  17. bob99938

    Well she is like me, except my RA and I hang out. Lots of videogames, and sometimes have to go to the library

  18. Kernanator

    Wait, what’s Amber talking abou-

    Oh.

  19. Jack Finch

    This is what I love about Ruth. She’s self-aware and want’s to do the right thing.

  20. gangler

    Is Ruth going to join in on Dina’s lessons? It would be ever so wonderful if a progressively larger group started coming to Amber to learn social interactions.

  21. newllend

    Ruth: “Hey look I know your going through a ruff time and I just wanted to say that YOU’RE A FUCKING NERD AND EVERYBODY HATES YOU, no wait I’m sorry I mean that I’m hear for you and if you ever need someone to talk to YOU SHOULD GO OUT AND GET SOME FRIENDS AND A LIFE! no I mean (Damnit Ruth we’ve been over this)

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      “I wouldn’t worry too much Ruth, just remember that the Earth is bi-polar too” 🙂

  22. Charles Phipps

    Is Ruth upset she’s condemning Amber because she says the latter lives in her room playing video games (and is being insulting when she’s trying to be nice) or that she’s an idiot for the fact Amber goes to floor meetings and Ruth is sounding stupid for both the above comment as well as her being hard to track down.

    1. No Name

      I think it’s a litle bit of both

  23. NF

    I feel like David started writing this, launched into Ruth haranguing, then got about halfway through and then realized, oh yeah, I had her coming in here for a different purpose than to just be Ruth.

    Basically, I think the subtext of this comic is that this is how Willis’ creative process worked here.

    1. David Willis

      Guess again!

  24. GhostWriterL

    Pretty sure Ruth just realized she’s acting the same way Blaine would… or if she’s not thinking of him, the way her grandfather likely treats her and her brother.

  25. LiamAldam

    “Go to the library.” anyone else catch that? That’s one of those clutch Spider-Man-Esque cover ups.

    1. John

      I believe that was the library that she leaped off and zip-lined onto that moving truck.

  26. Kennerly

    And then Ruth looks in Amber’s eyes and realizes they’re not black dots, they’re actually amber!

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      …with mozzies engored with dinosaur blood trapped inside them.

      1. Dr Paul

        Don’t tell Dina about the dino blood or she will want to take them out to see.

      2. ninja_jesus

        Which explains why Dina is Amber’s roommate. She wants to study the dinosaurs trapped in Amber’s eyes!

  27. Pyr05

    Let’s offer moral support by berating who we’re conversing with for their life choices!!

    1. Arkadi

      Then let’s break their femurs!

  28. Random832

    Even given the assumption that she never leaves her room, why assume the time is spent on video games, rather than browsing the internet, or studying, or sleeping?

    1. Mrimm

      It sounds like Ruth’s asked around about Amber while trying to track her down. Perhaps she’s had a conversation with Ethan?

  29. Jen

    I really like the way you pace the story. Though I love all the crazy drama that you put in, having these calmer periods where we can catch our breath makes for great story flow. I think that’s part of how you’ve managed to take three years to convey a month, but it feels like the story is rolling right along at a good pace.

    Reading from Roomies through current work, it’s really amazing how much both your art and storytelling has grown. I’m curious, did your growth as an author come purely from practice or did you also do things like writing workshops or self-study/research of story structure, pacing, and such?

    1. Gigafreak

      Pretty standard story flow, really– periods of rising action, a climax, and then falling action.

      Rising action: Dorothy and Walky chase Amber (as Amazi-Girl) all over campus until she escapes on a truck in the rain
      Climax: Amber (still as Amazi-Girl) confronts her father and proceeds to beat him to a bloody pulp
      Falling action: Danny and Amber (unmasked) flee the scene and discuss her inner issues

      Coincidentally, Walky’s penis had a rising action, a climax, and a falling action in approximately the same timeframes.

      Yes, I wrote this post just to make that joke.

      1. Mrimm

        Worth it.

        1. Maveric1984

          Penis jokes are always worth it.

    2. David Willis

      I’ve never taken a writing course. If I’m better, it’s probably because I’ve kept doing it every day for sixteen years.

  30. maxyai

    Breaking femurs… I mean moral support.

  31. :(

    It seems to be just about impossible to navigate your “It’s Walky” comics. The drop-down menu just sends me to a white page of code, the calendar links just send me to the first page every time, and the arrows to move along one comic at a time are really awkwardly placed and small 🙁

    Maybe it’s just because I’m browsing on a phone, but Shortpacked and Dumbing of Age work great.

    1. David Willis

      Yes, that is why I am putting them all on bringbackroomies.com.

  32. Eric D

    I remember being “supported” that morally by the parents before, oh those years of nonstop playing into madness, though it may have changed into webcomics drawing and reading now.

  33. JohnnyO

    In my freshman year I was never in the dorm and never went to floor meetings or any of those stupid dorm events, so my RA made me have a private meeting with her because she was “concerned.” I think she thought I was partying every night or something. Actually I was always at rehearsal and getting really involved with clubs and service with the rest of my free time.

  34. Charles Phipps

    I kind of find it hilarious that Ruth is ripping into someone about their social skills. She’s like one of the most unlikable abrasive people in the world while Amber has friends.

    1. John

      Does she? Of all of Amber’s alleged friends, Dina is the only one who hasn’t been doing things that could not possibly be calculated to hurt Amber more. (Though, to be fair, Mike is probably the only one of them actually doing those calculations and deliberately acting on the results.) Maybe they’re friends, but with friends like these, who needs nemeses?

      Amber’s friends make Ruth’s fucked up dysfunctional relationship with Billie look good.

  35. fit-to-freak

    At first I thought Amber was referring to the way her dad talked to her (which made me sad). But then I remembered this strip:
    http://www.dumbingofage.com/2010/comic/book-1/02-uphill-from-here/amber/
    So now I’m thinking it possible she’s talking about Mike and Ethan? Which would be less depressing. I don’t know, what are other people’s thoughts?

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