You know, I thought it was going to be odd having Ruth back given the way her arc ended back in Roomies, but new Ruth really is just that amazing. Awesome.
“all the swearing”? “All”? Really? It’s one word. Swearing is very rare in David’s comics, and when it is used it’s usually censored. When it *isn’t* censored, it’s there for the impact; to add weight to what the person is saying. It makes perfect sense in this context.
Yeah, we’ve had the f-bomb a total of twice since this comic began. Other than that, we’ve had one “dammit”, and a “poop”, I guess, if you want to call that a swear.
I think Sesame Street can get away with more than that.
next comic. Someone points out there’s only one question left. Someone else has lightbulb moment and calls out to Ruth. Before it can be asked, Sal arrives and asks “So what did I miss?” Because she was sent to Catholic school and we are expecting her to be holy, but we all KNOW she is SAL, she will show up in sexy punky version of old uniform. last scene is reaction shot from rest of room. Yay!
Since Ruth is too amazing to get into more than three seconds worth of a catfight with Billie, I wonder if she’ll end up fighting with Sal.
I’m also picturing a rather hilarious image: the look on Roomies!Danny if he (somehow) ever heard/found out about a Billie/Ruth catfight.
Ruth is the kind of bully who seriously needs her ass handed to her. I mean, really, she’s just a fuckin’ RA. If I were Billi, I’d have her up on Assault charges by morning. Nevermind that the charge wouldn’t stick. In most Colleges and Universities an RA will be removed simply for having the charges brought regardless of their validity. Bye- bye, Ruth.
Can you tell I don’t like Ruth?
I hope you’re not going to play her up to be some kind of cool person. So far she’s just another bully who needs a severe, life altering, reproductive organ damaging beating.
Most of the sympathy currently being generated can be blamed on nostalgia as well as wanting her to actually stick around this time and not die in a freeway crash saving Danny from his own drunkenness. Would you rather she be a depressed grad student who walked in on her dad having an affair while carrying an unconscious Walky in her arms just after engaging in pre-marital hanky-panky herself in a traumatic event that shattered her worldview? Because that’s what she was like in Roomies! Fucking depressing. I’ll take a psychotic bully over that any day.
That said, I understand your criticism. She does seem to be able to lay down massive amounts of hurt with little to no consequences, though I should mention that it reflects a sad fact of life: some people really do get away with that shit and don’t get called on it. Also, Sal should at least give her some trouble before she throws down the gauntlet.
Ultimately, this is a webcomic. Violence doesn’t have serious repercussions here because that already got explored to death in the original Walkyverse when Joyce got charged with murdering her evil clone. That works great when you’re trying to write realistic drama, but how many times did you see that happen in sitcoms? Almost never, and it usually never lasted longer than a single episode or maybe a two-parter if it was serious enough. Since DoA is designed to work like a sitcom, the same principle applies.
And one more thing that I forgot to add and have to create a new comment because I can’t edit my old one: some of the best leaders are the ones who bring their subordinates together by giving them someone to hate. Ever wonder why Drill Sergeants are so nasty to new recruits? If they were all flowers and sunshine the soldiers would be running to them with all their problems rather than working as a team. Granted, this isn’t military school, but as long as Ruth believes the same principle applies then it at least provides a reason for her actions. She also follows the time-honored tradition of singling out the person with the biggest ego and proving who’s the Alpha dog so that all the others will fall in line. It may not be the nicest management strategy for a bunch of college girls, but at least she’s made it clear where she stands. And she does invite them to come to her with anything, so that counts for something.
Ruth still provoked the assault, which is problematic enough. Legal issues aside, though, I can guarantee that Ruth’s attitude (as you’ve seen it) won’t last. As stated above, two weeks is not enough to teach you how to deal with people properly.
You can make yourself the alpha/the unifying hatred all you like, but all that serves is to isolate you and to make it so that no one comes to you when they genuinely need help. And as far as I know, that kind of counters the point to being an R.A…
From a legal stand point Ruth disarmed the attack in a non-harmful way so unless Billie decides to press charges for harassment, which in turn would lead to Billie being charged for assault and likely a settlement out of court that pretty much involves a written apology I’m not seeing that go anywhere.
Not to mention all the legal fees for a written apology…
Although in Arizona (Where I currently reside) Assault is defined as one person touching another without permission it could lead to assault charges… But then again so could tapping someone on the shoulder… No seriously you can charge someone of assault for tapping your shoulder in Arizona, God bless America!
“I’m calling your bluff. Come on, lay some thunder-thigh action down on me. I give you permission.”
I’m pretty sure the above quotes qualify as provocation, which means that Ruth started the fight. And I think you’d be surprised with how little the courts care about ‘self-defense.’ They’d both be arrested, and could face charges from the school for their actions.
But they won’t, because this is a comedy and no actual people are getting hurt. And honestly, the age of the target audience means that nobody’s going to head out and try this themselves. Seriously, it’s just a fucking comic. Lighten up already.
Don’t forget, however, that Billie is kinda an ass that thinks just because she was a cheerleader in high school, that means everyone should pay attention and worship her. I’m not saying that Ruth is necessarily doing the right thing, but Billie is basically an asshole victim.
Call me crazy, but I could see her getting VERY fired VERY fast for that kind of behavior. Cause… you know… threatening student’s femurs and saying “I will FUCK you up” is probably not an acceptable approach by the school.
But since this is a webcomic, I’m going to guess that the administration will over-look such behavior rather easily. Cause… you know, they’ll be dumb or inept (much like my real world Grad school. :P)
I love the fact she force an entire room of woman into a room solely to tell them essentially “I’m your overlord. Not shut up and stay out of my way.”
Now that’s my kind of woman. But Dwayne is almost right, you couldn’t get her up on assault because it was self defense. She’s the smart kind of bully, if she’s a bully.
Although that throw was all brawn. Gotta get her to an Aikido dojo learn the beautiful and easy way to ‘layeth the smacketh’ down.
Oh good, I’m glad I’m not the only one whose initial response was, “Wow, what a self-righteous c***.” I would not have wanted an RA who decided to 1) make fun of my weight 2) threaten me with violence in the less than 3 days I’d been there 3) use martial arts on someone she knew she could take in a fight. That last bit goes against every bit of training I’ve had and yes, I’ve actually had some. Assault charges or not, the character is unlikeable and not in that ha ha comedic way. I’m looking forward to her dying, yet again, so we can have better characters.
I don’t think we’re intended to worship her as some of the older fans have been doing. Willis hasn’t focused on writing any real villains ever since IW! ended, but I tend to think of Ruth as that jerkish mentor that everybody hates at first but whose true colors are revealed later on. Look back at Roomies! and you’ll see that one of her first appearances had her punching out Joe when he made a pass at her. It wasn’t even using his own momentum against him like it is here; it was a straightforward blow to the sternum that knocked him on his ass. But later, she suggested that he invest in an engineering degree so that he could make life-sized versions of the toys he enjoyed playing with so much. She ran a sorority where girls like Billie who had lost their popularity could still feel welcome, and she saved Danny from getting killed on the freeway by putting her own car in the way. She comes on very strong, but she’s a good person underneath. We just haven’t had a chance to see that part of her yet.
Why are billie and Ruth not friends? D: they were friends at the beginning/ appearance in roomies. I guess its because rth doesn’t wallow in self pity his time around.
It’s probable that, due to the lack of aliens kidnapping a kid she was babysitting, she never discovered her father cheating on her mum. Small change, big difference.
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FIRST! (I think)
Still no Sal! When are we going to see her?
We have! (she drove by on her motorcycle when Billie was talking to Walky earlier :D)
Yup, replying to 3 year old comments will totally explain the story too them. 😉
Glad to know that, thanks!
Question 3: Where the f*** is Sal? 😛
Imagine if all RAs learnt how to flip people? I can’t tell whether that’d be fun or horrible.
No, they just learned to flip OUT.
They learned it from the residents.
Who is the dark-skinned girl in the red supposed to be in that last panel.
Well I think part of it is Dorothy’s forehead penis.
Haven’t named her yet. She’s new.
Well she has been good at hiding throughout this scene.
A new character? That’s… obscene! Every character must secretly be an iteration of someone we’ve seen before! 😛
You could name her Linda. Because that’s not the name of Amber’s mom.
It’s the name of Walky’s mom.
You could always hold one of those contest where you name a character.
Maybe she could be that 5th member of Squad 135 who never gets seen properly 😀
One of these days I should put up the only art of her. It’s just sitting on my hard drive.
It’s haxorzing time! No… not really I’m to lazy to do that for a few pictures of somebody we don’t get to see well in a webcomic…
You know, I thought it was going to be odd having Ruth back given the way her arc ended back in Roomies, but new Ruth really is just that amazing. Awesome.
Where Sal… 🙁
I also still want Dina’s hat…
So, she had a meeting for the sole purpose of convening the meeting? That’s awesome.
That and making it clear that the NEXT time she feels the need for a meeting, you WILL show up.
And, of course, I meant “adjourning” the meeting…
Perhaps the third question will somehow involve Sal’s entrance…?
…On today’s episode, the part of Mary will be played by Rachel Moore…
I guess this counts as being nice for Ruth. I mean, she’s even offering to solve all of their problems for them.
Is all the swearing really necessary? It just feels kind of forced.
It is INCREDIBLY necessary.
“all the swearing”? “All”? Really? It’s one word. Swearing is very rare in David’s comics, and when it is used it’s usually censored. When it *isn’t* censored, it’s there for the impact; to add weight to what the person is saying. It makes perfect sense in this context.
Yeah, we’ve had the f-bomb a total of twice since this comic began. Other than that, we’ve had one “dammit”, and a “poop”, I guess, if you want to call that a swear.
I think Sesame Street can get away with more than that.
next comic. Someone points out there’s only one question left. Someone else has lightbulb moment and calls out to Ruth. Before it can be asked, Sal arrives and asks “So what did I miss?” Because she was sent to Catholic school and we are expecting her to be holy, but we all KNOW she is SAL, she will show up in sexy punky version of old uniform. last scene is reaction shot from rest of room. Yay!
And, incidentally, Ruth answers her question. And then tried to lay the smack down on her. It will be EPIC.
TRY, not “tried”. What are wrong with me?
Okay, question three: Do you really think that a two-week crash course on diplomacy is enough to prepare you to be an R.A.?
My instincts say no.
By the way: I’m not sure that the Joyce gravatar is appropriate for me, but I’m just going to roll with it.
Perhaps not, but the Joe Gravatar is superbly appropriate for me, since I am a Joe.
For Ruth-style diplomacy, I think that two weeks could do it. (Keeping in mind that she came with the fighting-skills pre-installed.)
The HSQ for these first few pages went through the roof.
And ohmygodit’sRachel! And Dina TALKED last comic! (is ecstatic)
Since Ruth is too amazing to get into more than three seconds worth of a catfight with Billie, I wonder if she’ll end up fighting with Sal.
I’m also picturing a rather hilarious image: the look on Roomies!Danny if he (somehow) ever heard/found out about a Billie/Ruth catfight.
Ruth is the kind of bully who seriously needs her ass handed to her. I mean, really, she’s just a fuckin’ RA. If I were Billi, I’d have her up on Assault charges by morning. Nevermind that the charge wouldn’t stick. In most Colleges and Universities an RA will be removed simply for having the charges brought regardless of their validity. Bye- bye, Ruth.
Can you tell I don’t like Ruth?
I hope you’re not going to play her up to be some kind of cool person. So far she’s just another bully who needs a severe, life altering, reproductive organ damaging beating.
Yup.
Most of the sympathy currently being generated can be blamed on nostalgia as well as wanting her to actually stick around this time and not die in a freeway crash saving Danny from his own drunkenness. Would you rather she be a depressed grad student who walked in on her dad having an affair while carrying an unconscious Walky in her arms just after engaging in pre-marital hanky-panky herself in a traumatic event that shattered her worldview? Because that’s what she was like in Roomies! Fucking depressing. I’ll take a psychotic bully over that any day.
That said, I understand your criticism. She does seem to be able to lay down massive amounts of hurt with little to no consequences, though I should mention that it reflects a sad fact of life: some people really do get away with that shit and don’t get called on it. Also, Sal should at least give her some trouble before she throws down the gauntlet.
Ultimately, this is a webcomic. Violence doesn’t have serious repercussions here because that already got explored to death in the original Walkyverse when Joyce got charged with murdering her evil clone. That works great when you’re trying to write realistic drama, but how many times did you see that happen in sitcoms? Almost never, and it usually never lasted longer than a single episode or maybe a two-parter if it was serious enough. Since DoA is designed to work like a sitcom, the same principle applies.
And one more thing that I forgot to add and have to create a new comment because I can’t edit my old one: some of the best leaders are the ones who bring their subordinates together by giving them someone to hate. Ever wonder why Drill Sergeants are so nasty to new recruits? If they were all flowers and sunshine the soldiers would be running to them with all their problems rather than working as a team. Granted, this isn’t military school, but as long as Ruth believes the same principle applies then it at least provides a reason for her actions. She also follows the time-honored tradition of singling out the person with the biggest ego and proving who’s the Alpha dog so that all the others will fall in line. It may not be the nicest management strategy for a bunch of college girls, but at least she’s made it clear where she stands. And she does invite them to come to her with anything, so that counts for something.
Can someone explain where the bullying lies in messing up someone who just tried to punch you?
Ruth still provoked the assault, which is problematic enough. Legal issues aside, though, I can guarantee that Ruth’s attitude (as you’ve seen it) won’t last. As stated above, two weeks is not enough to teach you how to deal with people properly.
You can make yourself the alpha/the unifying hatred all you like, but all that serves is to isolate you and to make it so that no one comes to you when they genuinely need help. And as far as I know, that kind of counters the point to being an R.A…
From a legal stand point Ruth disarmed the attack in a non-harmful way so unless Billie decides to press charges for harassment, which in turn would lead to Billie being charged for assault and likely a settlement out of court that pretty much involves a written apology I’m not seeing that go anywhere.
Not to mention all the legal fees for a written apology…
Although in Arizona (Where I currently reside) Assault is defined as one person touching another without permission it could lead to assault charges… But then again so could tapping someone on the shoulder… No seriously you can charge someone of assault for tapping your shoulder in Arizona, God bless America!
To be clear — BILLIE charged HER. Ruth’s maneuver only works by using the other person’s momentum. It was purely a defensive move, actually.
If anything, Ruth could have Billie up on assault charges.
Ahem.
“Show me.”
“I’m calling your bluff. Come on, lay some thunder-thigh action down on me. I give you permission.”
I’m pretty sure the above quotes qualify as provocation, which means that Ruth started the fight. And I think you’d be surprised with how little the courts care about ‘self-defense.’ They’d both be arrested, and could face charges from the school for their actions.
But they won’t, because this is a comedy and no actual people are getting hurt. And honestly, the age of the target audience means that nobody’s going to head out and try this themselves. Seriously, it’s just a fucking comic. Lighten up already.
I’m not suggesting that anyone’s actually going to be arrested here. Seriously, I’m just passing on my own experiences with rule and law.
The fact that I’m stupid enough to get into an argument over the internet is largely irrelevant.
Don’t forget, however, that Billie is kinda an ass that thinks just because she was a cheerleader in high school, that means everyone should pay attention and worship her. I’m not saying that Ruth is necessarily doing the right thing, but Billie is basically an asshole victim.
Call me crazy, but I could see her getting VERY fired VERY fast for that kind of behavior. Cause… you know… threatening student’s femurs and saying “I will FUCK you up” is probably not an acceptable approach by the school.
But since this is a webcomic, I’m going to guess that the administration will over-look such behavior rather easily. Cause… you know, they’ll be dumb or inept (much like my real world Grad school. :P)
I love the fact she force an entire room of woman into a room solely to tell them essentially “I’m your overlord. Not shut up and stay out of my way.”
Now that’s my kind of woman. But Dwayne is almost right, you couldn’t get her up on assault because it was self defense. She’s the smart kind of bully, if she’s a bully.
Although that throw was all brawn. Gotta get her to an Aikido dojo learn the beautiful and easy way to ‘layeth the smacketh’ down.
Oh good, I’m glad I’m not the only one whose initial response was, “Wow, what a self-righteous c***.” I would not have wanted an RA who decided to 1) make fun of my weight 2) threaten me with violence in the less than 3 days I’d been there 3) use martial arts on someone she knew she could take in a fight. That last bit goes against every bit of training I’ve had and yes, I’ve actually had some. Assault charges or not, the character is unlikeable and not in that ha ha comedic way. I’m looking forward to her dying, yet again, so we can have better characters.
I don’t think we’re intended to worship her as some of the older fans have been doing. Willis hasn’t focused on writing any real villains ever since IW! ended, but I tend to think of Ruth as that jerkish mentor that everybody hates at first but whose true colors are revealed later on. Look back at Roomies! and you’ll see that one of her first appearances had her punching out Joe when he made a pass at her. It wasn’t even using his own momentum against him like it is here; it was a straightforward blow to the sternum that knocked him on his ass. But later, she suggested that he invest in an engineering degree so that he could make life-sized versions of the toys he enjoyed playing with so much. She ran a sorority where girls like Billie who had lost their popularity could still feel welcome, and she saved Danny from getting killed on the freeway by putting her own car in the way. She comes on very strong, but she’s a good person underneath. We just haven’t had a chance to see that part of her yet.
Call her Michelle… She can even idolize mike from Shortpacked
Why are billie and Ruth not friends? D: they were friends at the beginning/ appearance in roomies. I guess its because rth doesn’t wallow in self pity his time around.
It’s probable that, due to the lack of aliens kidnapping a kid she was babysitting, she never discovered her father cheating on her mum. Small change, big difference.
Am I the only person who really wishes somebody *cough* SAL *cough* will turn up and take Ruth out?
What a nasty piece of work.
The dark-skinned person in the last panel is not named Sydney, right?
“The first Rule of Ruth is you don’t talk about what Ruth does.
The second Rule of Ruth: You do NOT talk about what Ruth does.”
I just noticed that Billie is still on the floor…
Oh look, it’s Numbah 86.
To defeat the Huns!