121

Imagination
Posted on May 30, 2013 by David M Willis
Under $1200 $1000 $700 $500 $300 to go until Sunday updates are unlocked for a year! I think you guys are gonna do it. YOU DID.  Be here Sunday!  Lord knows you'll want to after Saturday's strip.

121 thoughts on “Imagination”

  1. HK-A6A7

    Still more patient than I when something has my attention.

  2. AgentKeen

    Ah yes, the bad side of having an imagination, I know it well…

    I blame PBS.

    1. Raoullefere

      I’d say I blame Rod Sterling, but truly, I blame my SO. I never had that kind of imagination until we got together, and I got to hear the fates she imagined for me when I was away from her. Now I can play the ‘worst-case scenario’ game with frightening ease.

      1. Blob Marley

        Serling. If you’re talking about Twilight Zone Guy, it’s Serling.

        Consider, if you will, a Residential Aide at a state school’s co-ed dormitory…

  3. Mr L. Shade

    OK Legs, do your stuff (again!).

    1. Yotomoe

      Ruth may need a new wall.

    2. Aizat

      Legs? I thought she’s Mrs. Robinson.

      1. Campor

        At least she’s not the nose, I guess. I leave that to Ethan.

    3. darcos0

      i personally find her eyes in the last panel a little strange…

      1. lightsabermario

        They do look a little derpy to be honest, seeming to be looking in different directions. I suppose it’s let-slidable, though, since it’s hard to precisely place a dot when it’s that small.

        1. Roborat

          I don’t think he draws the original that small, and you can zoom in when you draw digitally, which I assume Willis does.

  4. John

    Lemme guess… Ruth spilled the booze on her way to the bathroom, and is currently on her way back, and standing just out-of-panel behind Billie watching her.

    1. Aras Pabedinskas

      She spilled alcohol in the doorway of her room? Wouldn’t that carry with it certain consequences in a dorm that prohibits alcohol?

      1. John

        Yeah, the RA might have to write her up.

        (One of my friends actually did write himself up for drinking. In his defense(?), he was drunk at the time.)

        1. Resne

          That’s amazing

  5. Wonder Wig

    Trying to make a Billie-goat-ram-battering ram joke but failing.

  6. ArkhamTexan

    Yes, Ruth! Use those crazy-strong cheerleader legs! Dammit, that wall should’ve shattered into a million pieces as soon as she used those legs to brace herself!

    1. Yotomoe

      …Billie. Her name is Jennifer Billingsworth.

      1. Aras Pabedinskas

        AND DON’T YOU FORGET IT BLACKGATEALASKAN!

        1. Aizat

          KNOW THAT HER NAME IS JENNIFER BILLINGSWORTH!

        2. ArkhamTexan

          I can’t be expected to remember everything!

          Or anything at all, for that matter.

        3. Raoullefere

          That’s okay. The friendly natives (loud, but friendly) will remind you.

        4. ArkhamTexan

          I may steal that name for an alternate name handle, even though I’m meaning to reference Lovecraft’s town and not Batman. BlackgateAlaskan is still a good name, though.

    2. Josh

      …I’m pretty sure the dorms in this building have inwards opening doors.

    3. xKiv

      Ruth needs to make more use of Billie’s legs.

  7. Doctor_Who

    Panel 4 took me a sec. Thought she was trying to kick in the door and somehow missed.

  8. Luzahn

    Good job Billie. This is the proper intensely paranoid action. You do the comments section proud.

    1. Leorale

      That was my first thought as well. It’s kinda beautiful, sometimes, how well the characters mirror the activity in the comments section. Reality imitates art!

      1. Doctor_Who

        This is why we all know that buffer calendar on the side of the page is a lie. Willis is actually breathlessly writing tomorrow’s strip as we speak, basing it entirely on things he reads while skimming these comments.

        All you need to do to take control is plant keywords in Willis’ head. Then when he draws a strip, the suggestion enables his brain, simian though it may be, to reorganize the subtly planted words, and the magic happens.

        1. Hythrain

          My brain feels violated. And intrigued.

        2. Aizat

          Why the random emphasis on words?

        3. Aizat

          Oh wait, never mind.

        4. AgentKeen

          Unfortunately, the bold l-e-s was nigh invisible for me, so I was trying to figure out what a bainorgy was…

        5. Luzahn

          I look forward to tomorrow’s Shortpacked! =p

        6. Makkabee

          I refer you to the current Menage a 3 story line.

        7. Roborat

          Yea, that one is getting interesting. I expect to see Gary return to his room to find four girls making out on his bed any strip now.

  9. Brian Lynch

    Chekhov’s Cheerleader Kick!

    1. Brian Lynch

      Not to be confused with Chekov’s Cheerleader Kick, which was inwented years later.

  10. Sensedog

    If one were to remove the speech bubbles (and therefore the context) from the last panel, it might seem as though Billie is aggressively trying to hump the doorknob.

    1. AgentKeen

      Alternatively, keeping the text but just having that panel would leave a similar impression.

      Alternatively number 2, that’s exactly what she’s doing to try and get the door to open up.

  11. Aizat

    I would’ve grabbed a hatchet.

  12. Kernanator

    And this, children, is why you should never use your imagination!

    1. Aizat

      NEVER! My imagination is one of my best friends.

      1. Neospector

        As long as it’s not your only friend.

        1. Aras Pabedinskas

          Hey, I have plenty of friends. You just can’t see them.

        2. Yotomoe

          I’m still not 100% sure that you all aren’t a figment of my imagination, or that I am a figment of one of yours.

        3. Aizat

          I don’t know if I am the dreamer or a dream or a dream who dreams about a dream.

        4. Kernanator

          I dream you dream I dream, but do you dream I dream you dream I dream?

        5. Aizat

          Yo dawg, I heard you like dreaming so we put dreams in your dream so you can dream while you dream.

        6. Bearfuz

          I dream of ice cream.

        7. Khantalas

          And suddenly we ate watching Inception.

    2. Plasma Mongoose

      If you cant talk to yourself, who can you talk to then?

  13. SUGauthor

    I’m glad Billie is finally addressing the problem.

    1. Arkadi

      The problem of getting to Ruth’s booze?

      1. Yotomoe

        The problem of getting to Ruth’s boobs.

        1. Hermitix

          The problem of betting to Ruth’s goobs.

        2. insomniac

          wat

        3. Bettyspaghetti42

          Goobs.

          goobs, n. [güb]; 1.) The physical phenomenon where breasts (of both male and female persons) are predominated by fat; in which is accumulated by caloric intake, leads to a gooey formation.
          2.) Ralphie May’s calling card, see: Honkers

  14. ridtom

    How hilarious would it be if it was someone else in the room?

    1. Aizat

      A dude? Or another lady?

      1. Wack'd

        Or a dude who looks like a lady?

        1. Yotomoe

          A lady who used to be a dude.

        2. Aizat

          A half dude half lady? You know, like Baron Ashura? For those of who didn’t know, here’s his/her/its picture: http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxrv0xhDlJ1rnpanoo1_500.jpg

        3. Doom Shepherd

          Half woman, half SHARK!

        4. Roborat

          Okay, that is going to give me nightmares for a little while. Dare I check out whatever that is from?

        5. Aizat

          Mazinger Z.

        6. Z3tto

          Or a lady who dresses like a man!

        7. Makkabee

          I do so love a woman in a tux.

        8. insomniac

          YEAH! YEAH!

    2. Ray Radlein

      Her newspaper editor, cutting out the middleman and going straight to Ruth for the sexytimes.

  15. Simplerdayz

    Why would the door open out? Maybe she’s pulling the door when she should be pushing?

    1. vlademir1

      I don’t think “maybe” fits here. An “outside” door in any form of shared living facility like an apartment or a dorm would open into the individual unit, otherwise the hinges would have to be on the outside of the door and be a nasty security issue. Same reason the outside doors on a house open into the house.

      1. Greenygal

        More specifically, we’ve seen this particular door open (most recently here), and it opens in.

        1. xKiv

          Ooooh .. Leafs! That explains those Billie’s tweets …

    2. David

      http://itswalky.tumblr.com/post/51775621914/i-completed-almost-a-full-week-of-dumbing-of-age

  16. Aizat

    IMAGINATION! *making a rain bow gesture with both of my hands*

    1. Kernanator

      That was my first thought as well.

      1. Aizat

        Huh, so great minds do think alike.

  17. Yotomoe

    We all know this is what we wanna see

    1. Aizat

      Actually, I was expecting her to go through the wall Macho Man style. NEED A LITTLE EXCITEMENT? SNAP INTO A SLIM JIM!

      1. Yotomoe

        There’s nothing slim about Billie.

        1. Aizat

          And we all like her for it….or maybe it’s just me.

        2. Kernanator

          I certainly do!

          AND MY AX!

        3. lightsabermario

          And my bow!

        4. Svata

          And my sword!!

        5. Longeye

          And I’ll form the head!

        6. Makkabee

          And my spear! (see what I did there?)

  18. John Harmon

    Fret not, I’m right there with you. If you have to draw a body part doing something too complicated, just cover it up!

    1. John

      The first thing that popped into my head to cover it with was Ultra Car flipping the triple bird.

  19. Uniqueantique

    Other people talk to their voices too? Wow.
    So, my voices still say Ruth is in the trash chute. I think they are wrong, maybe.

    1. Aizat

      I have 20+ voices in my head…..it gets really noisy at times.

  20. NinjaNick

    Kick it like a ninja cheerleader!

  21. Null Set

    “Well Sal goes out the window all the time, and I’m a cheerleader. I can do this!”

  22. Raoullefere

    She’ll get it open. Because Billie’s strong; Cheerleader strong.

  23. lightsabermario

    Welp. It’s time for Ruth to die of alcohol poisoning to teach Billie a valuable and sobering lesson.

  24. Connnor

    What dormitory still uses for real locks on the doors? It was all cards when I was at school.

    1. Luzahn

      Well, my current college still uses physical locks for room doors; a cardswipe is only used to enter the building.

    2. Otera

      a good deal. every one I visited when looking at schools (and of course the one I wound up at) had a card to enter the building and a key to enter your room.

  25. fishamaphone

    No regrets!

  26. Lis

    ok Ruth I may not like you but please PLEASE don’t be stupid. I do not need this in my comics right now…

  27. Zababcd

    I can’t think of an uninteresting way for this to turn out.

    1. begbert2

      Billie draws back, raising a foot to kick in the door. Then stops. Lowers her leg, puts her ear against the door.

      “Szzkzzz…”

      “Oh. She’s fine. Well, whatever.” Billie shrugs and walks off.

      1. Roborat

        Alternatively, Ruth opens the door just as Billy launches, and she kicks Ruth in the vagina.

        1. John

          I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t qualify as “uninteresting”.

  28. asdsadafa

    Tomorrow is Friday. I do not have a good feeling about this.

    1. begbert2

      Be not afraid! The shift to 6-day weeks has thrown off the schedule for diabolical cliffhangers for the next few weeks. So if there’s an evil Saturday cliffhanger, it will be an accidental evil Saturday cliffhanger. And with just a few hundred more dollars of contributions, there will be no more cliffhangers at all for a year!

      1. AgentKeen

        Every day is a cliffhanger, I can’t wait until tomorrow!

        1. David

          That’s pretty true these next few weeks.

  29. Star Ranger

    I have to agree that I’m really worried and hoping Ruth is just dead Drunk and not just dead.

  30. Maycroft

    She busts the door and the hallway gets flooded with cheap rum.

  31. Neospector

    I don’t know why, but this face cracks me up.

  32. Daenel

    “Whoops there it goes”

    LOL

  33. Darnel

    What is up with this,.. my name was mispelled,… and only part of my post made it?

  34. Jay

    My imagination does the same thing xD

  35. Sir Robin

    I feel bad that because I lost my job, I had to withdraw my pledge. I’m glad you were still able to meet all the goals though, I’ll both both books as soon as I can

    1. David

      Never ever feel bad about that! I’m just tryin’ to print some books, not run folks out of their homes.

    2. laila

      I would have pledged but… yeah, same issue here. Good luck finding something else. 🙂

  36. hack

    and the action goes straight into the weekend now.

    hawt!

  37. Brian

    I’m hanging on every strip this week and now thanks to the Kickstarter we do not have to suffer through the weekend to see the next installment!

    It’s killing me. Come on, Ruth. Be okay.

  38. Yet Another Laura H.

    I kind of thought Ruth had attempted suicide, myself. That’s until I started on the archives of the previous strip, and given what happened to her previous incarnation, I kind of think she succeeded.

    The fun bit? Who is supposed to educate people on suicide prevention, and hold the floor together when someone ignores it? That’d be the RA.

    Poor kids.

  39. Jenny Creed

    Nyah, that’s what you get for setting your comic in a country with doorknobs instead of sensible door handles.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

*

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.