225

Chips
Posted on October 2, 2023 by David M Willis

225 thoughts on “Chips”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    What you gonna do when the chips are down
    Now that the chips are down
    Help yourself, to hell with the rest
    Even the one who loves you best

    …wait no?

    1. Ana Chronistic

      fastest solution might be to just restart the universe, idk

      1. StClair

        or end it.

      2. MM

        It’s an old song, but we’re gonna sing it anyway.

      3. Quirdry Tawks

        I think that’s been tried?

      4. someone

        Too risky. If they restart the universe, they’re gonna end up working retail or something.

      5. Needfuldoer

        Have they tried turning it off and back on again?

        1. Psychie

          IIRC that was part of the motivation for one of the antagonists of “It’s Walky”, or something. It’s been awhile, but I think it was involved somehow in the Great Cheese plotline.

          So, to answer the question, it has been attempted in an alternate universe involving these characters.

    2. milu

      Coincidentally,

      a) ive been off my antidepressant for a couple days because i failed to schedule a prescription renewal appointment with GP in time (im seeing them today), and I’ve just had the worst night, just this impossibly long and detailed nightmare that i woke up from absolutely drenched in sweat

      b) my friend who died a year and a half ago loved Hadestown

      And now im bawling

      Just one of these days

      1. milu

        (I’ll be fine. Dont want to worry people unduly. Im ok. Just emotional, it happens and i’m letting it happen)

        1. Decidedly Orthogonal

          Sympathy milu. I screw up my renewals too often. I mostly just get crazy dizzy and a little nauseous, but yeah, the emotions suck too. Way to go on just accepting what’s happening, being gentle with yourself, and giving yourself the space to handle this. You’ve got this qnd you’ll get there. Lots of love cuz.

        2. EmCaCo

          I’m sorry, that is so rough. I hope your ad kicks back in soon.

      2. pig

        Bereavement is awful and grieving is hard. I wish I could give you a hug.

      3. Needfuldoer

        Appropriate gesture of support.

        (Which I’ve always pictured as Obi-Wan’s Jedi mind trick.)

      4. milu

        thanks, y’all. <3 i really appreciate the support <3 <3

        1. elebenty

          Imagine I upvoted that. <3

    3. kaitou

      “When the chips are down, the buffalo move on.”

  2. DarkoNeko

    hey, you said the sanctum of nothin’ was Over !

    1. Cholma

      “Over?! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? No!”

      1. clif

        Damn! I switched time-lines. Again.

      2. Mym

        Ah, Bill Murray

  3. NGPZ

    Dorothy… yeah getting her to do R&R is gonna be tough.

    *cues montage of Walky and Amber trying to teach her how to relax*

    *plays “Easy Breezy” by chelmico over said montage*

    1. Laura

      Spliced with “Nothing,” by Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians.
      https://youtu.be/ZHRyBTShdGs

      “I toss and turn over Nothing.
      ‘Nothing’ keeps me up at night.”
      Story of Dorothy’s life.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Why not just an endless loop of the sound of a record stuck in the runout groove?

        1. Laura

          Oh, perfect! I love that sound! I listen to it when I need help to focus.

    2. Bogeywoman

      It’d be like the episode in She Ra when Bo and Glimmer try to teach Adora to relax

    3. Decidedly Orthogonal

      *cues SEXY montage of Walky and Amber trying to teach her how to relax*

      STFY

      (sexed-up that for you)

      1. Hof1991

        They can hold her hand while she “relaxes”.

      2. Dave the Inverted

        That would make an entertaining Slipshine. Or at least an image for the Other Patreon.

  4. Doctor_Who

    Dorothy, I’m not sure Walky’s parents are a problem you can solve, not unless you can lay your hands on a knife, a tarp, and a bag or two of cement in a hurry.

    There’s not a person in the comments who wouldn’t gladly provide an alibi.

    1. Thag Simmons

      The Walkertons really suck but murder is perhaps a smidge excessive

      1. Taffy

        It’s not murder if she crosses her fingers behind her back.

        1. Thag Simmons

          That’s a difficult case to make before a judge.

        2. Taffy

          The legal system of the United States of America does not apply to any hypothetical scenario I invent, on the grounds that it’s boring and dumb and only ever results in “Well, they’d go to prison”, which isn’t fun.

        3. LiterallyJustSomeGuy

          How about a scenario that ends in, “And then Linda goes to prison?” That sounds fun. Let’s invent one of those.

        4. someone

          That entirely depends on how much money you can spend on lawyers.

    2. Proxiehunter

      A pig farm is a better idea than a bag of cement.

      1. Taffy

        Anybody got Brock Top’s number?

        1. Taffy

          Brick Top.

        2. Allandrel

          I really need to memorize that speech.

    3. HueSatLight

      [Dorothy sculpts state in half-dry cement, using knife, tarp keeping the floor clean. Statue makes Linda aware of her implicit bias and self-absorption, Charles aware of how to stop enabling.

  5. Sirksome

    Ah, so Dorothy likes lost causes. Her attraction to Walky makes so much sense now.

    1. True Survivor

      I can’t tell if this is joke or not, but I think I agree.

    2. Angel

      maybe dating wise/romantically walky wouldn’t be ideal for most ppl but it’s not as if he’s rly sabotaged his relationship with his sister so i wouldn’t think he’s that much of a lost cause (plus he is also planning to still visit his parents again)

    3. DashWallkick

      She likes putting out fires. In another 15 years she’s going to be Princess Caroline.

      1. cain

        that’s the sickest burn i’ve ever read for dorothy but you’re right

      2. Mym

        Daaaamn, you aimed for the jugular

  6. Doopyboop

    Amber wanting Dorothy to stay and hang out is really cute. Do it Dorothy!! Hang out! Learn how to play video games! Get a creative outlet!! LET YOURSELF HAVE FUN

    1. Coatl

      There are still details. But hey, nothing comes right the first time, so I dare say that this could be the first good step for Dorothy.
      Amber is not my favorite, but I liked that gesture on her part.

    2. Angel

      when was the last time dorothy actually had fun outside of hooking up with walky, anyways?

      1. Coatl

        I think this would be the first time, I mean, Amber is inviting her to a game of Mario Kart.
        Although I think that she had fun before, I feel that we should know the girl’s past

    3. Jamie

      I’m actually kinda impressed that Amber isn’t kicking her out immediately.

      1. Coatl

        It seems like he does have some consideration for her.

      2. The Oracle

        Why would she? They like each other.

        1. LiterallyJustSomeGuy

          Because Amber does not always want people around, and she was just deer-in-the-headlights for several pages when Dorothy suddenly came into her room, shouting and scolding?

    4. Nicoleandmaggie

      Yeah!

  7. Pocky

    the universe is a big place

    gonna need a bigger dust pan for that

    1. Aura

      Alternatively, she could take a leaf out Vaarsuvius’ book: “As the size of an explosion increases, the number of social situations it is incapable of solving approaches zero.”

      (I’m sure that’s a riff off something but can’t remember what, or maybe it’s been riffed off elsewhere…)

  8. Nono

    Amber offering social interaction with a non-Ethan person?!

    1. RassilonTDavros

      I mean, Mario Kart doesn’t have to be social interaction per se.

    2. Angel

      welll they’ve had at least one heart to heart, tho not sure how it’ll go if dorothy word vomits out all her issues

    3. Samniel

      Social interactions hidden behind a screen are Amber’s jam, though. She strikes me as having more e-fights on Schrodinger’s-Twitter than Ethan has(had?) in the Transformers wiki Discussion section.

    4. Mark

      Well, also, I think the game is paused mid-way? I reckon Amber would like to complete the winning.

  9. Thag Simmons

    well no wonder you’re having a crisis

    1. Laura

      I thought it odd nobody followed up on Dorothy’s self-description as “a former honors student going through a protracted psychotic break.”

      1. MM

        To be fair, when one of the other people in the room has a history of split personalities, it probably doesn’t hit quite the same.

      2. Thag Simmons

        people are sometimes hyperbolic and if you calmly state the horrible crisis you’re having it’s pretty easy to interpret it as less than completely serious

  10. Mr. Random

    She wants to fix things.
    But she also needs a break.

    I never really thought Walky/Amber clicked, mostly because I thought their issues fed into each other too much.

    But for Dorothy and Amber… I think that’d be a weirdly healthy friendship. If slightly co-dependent at first.

    1. Schpoonman

      Amber is the sort of “I can relax with you to properly decompress” person Dorothy needed in Walky but can be more removed and not as responsible for helping take care of Dorothy.

      1. HueSatLight

        1) And she doesn’t put Dorothy on a pedestal. That’s what Dorothy needs, someone who treats her like she’s ordinary, because she is.
        2) And she’s never been one of Dorothy’s fix-it projects. That’s a tough pattern to shed.

  11. not someone else

    …I am increasingly starting to think that Dorothy has the less-media-friendly version of OCD, where instead of doing specific actions repeatedly (because you’re obsessively worrying about things outside of your control) you try to hyper-control your own life and everything around you (because you’re obsessively worrying about things outside of your control).

    If nothing else, she’s starting to remind me of people who do.

    1. Jamie

      … I don’t have a copy of the DSM handy and I don’t feel like actually doing the research tonight, but I feel like that behavior is covered by a different disorder.

    2. Bogeywoman

      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519704/table/ch3.t13/
      Based on DSM Im not sure it is OCD, but we don’t really know if she has intrusive thoughts. It could be, she definitely seems to struggle with some strain of anxiety disorder.

    3. Meeks

      Maybe OCPD instead? From what i understand, that’s a little closer to what you’re describing. It affects your social behavior and how you act around other people, rather than being something more or less detached from whether there are other people around.

      I don’t (think I) have it, but I can definitely relate to being overwhelmed by the immense variables of other complex people. It’s why I prefer cartoons to live action, and being alone or with one other person to being in a group. Then again, for me it’s mostly due to autism and fear of change and unpredictability.

      I don’t know if Dorothy wishes more control over others, or just more control over other people’s perceptions of her. Maybe she’s holding on to the idea that if everyone just believed she was the person she wants to be, then she would be it. And when someone blatantly sees through all that (I think a lot of her peers politely go along with it, or really believe in the version of herself she tries to project) – it breaks her, because she needs everyone to believe in it, for it to be real.

      1. Meeks

        Sorry for the wall of text haha. I have lots of feelings

      2. HeatherJean

        Since we’re tossing out off-the-cuff diagnoses of fictional characters like, umm, Booster seems to, I’ll toss in mine: Dorothy’s written to have some variant of Imposter Syndrome, where she’s afraid she’s not nearly as smart or competent as people think she is. And a fair bit of guilt about being one of the causes of some of the previous semester’s nastiness.

  12. True Survivor

    Is it weird to wish I was more like Dorothy?

    1. StClair

      it’s not weird, but it may not be healthy.
      because Dorothy masks well, but she’s not healthy.

      1. Coatl

        The right thing for her is to find the balance of responsibility and fun, I think this will be the first step.

      2. Segnosaur

        I don’t think she is all that “unhealthy”.

        Yes, she is extremely goal oriented and work-obsessed. But some people can handle that and/or thrive on it. She is good under pressure (I believe she was the one who organized the escape from the basement when kidnapped). And unlike so many of the other characters in the comic, she recognizes the value of getting professional counselling to deal with her issues.

        I think she is probably better off than walky/amber (who never seem to deal with their issues and let them fester).

        1. Johan

          She has to be in control of every situation and must be well liked and well received or she spirals.

        2. Quirdry Tawks

          Those are two mutually exclusive aims, tho.

        3. Johan

          That’s Dorothy!

        4. Coatl

          Sometimes I feel like we need to know a little more about Dorothy, that is, why she wants to be president. I mean, there are people who seek big goals and ambitions, but you have to see why.

        5. Jeff K!

          She answers that motivation right here, actually: she wants to solve every problem in the universe, and being President of the United States would give her the most leverage to accomplish that goal.

        6. StClair

          The position of God either doesn’t exist or is already taken.

        7. Mark

          Maybe He would like to take a few days off to go fishing.

        8. Taellosse

          Dorothy is the kind of person everyone else depends on. They assume she can handle anything and everything, because she works very hard to project that impression.

          She’s also the kind of person that blindsides everyone when she finally suffers a nervous breakdown from the accumulated stress of too many commitments and an inability to ask for help.

    2. UrsulaDavina

      There is aspect of Dorothy that I like but I wouldn’t want to be here it’s like I love Leslie Knope I don’t want to be Leslie Knope.

    3. Angel

      well, maybe if the average person was like 5% more liek dorothy , but not the overachiever burnout. balance is important after all

      if anything i’d prefer ppl be more like dina 8D;

    4. Mark

      You go right ahead and find the amount of more-like-Dorothy that’s right for you.

    5. Bash

      I think a lot of us could use a little more drive and discipline towards accomplishing our goals and bettering ourselves. “More like” is fine, as long as you don’t want to be exactly like her

  13. Yotomoe

    Dorothy you’re like the exact opposite of a fun time. Fun times end when you enter the room.

    1. Angel

      She needs more of the party side of leslie knope and not the beaurcratic side

      1. HueSatLight

        she would love Cones of Dunshire.

    2. Needfuldoer

      No they don’t! She has a strategy for computing exactly the correct amount of fun to be in any given social situation!

      … Waitaminute.

    3. Devin

      Not if it’s the laundry room!

  14. Sirksome

    I don’t think Walky did anything wrong, but I must say knowingly blowing off your girlfriend is not a good sign that relationship will last. A ship with this many cracks already is less secure than a homemade submarine steered by an off brand video game controller.

    1. Taffy

      “Also I just realized I left my phone in my room” doesn’t sound especially knowing. It sounds more like he’s a shortsighted dingus.

      1. Sirksome

        I would give him the benefit of the doubt if he didn’t already say two separate times he was avoiding her and his family and again reaffirming that now.

        1. Jamie

          I feel like avoiding your family and avoiding your girlfriend are two different things.

          It’s just that he can conveniently do both by forgetting his phone.

        2. Taffy

          Do we even have confirmation he’s been “avoiding” anyone, or is that just the comments section getting whipped up into hysteria over nothing again? He didn’t immediately wake up and go hang out with every single person who might potentially like to see him, big deal. A couple of hours to himself first is hardly “avoiding” someone.

        3. The Oracle

          Why does anyone even bother writing anything before “or” in that type of question? Of course it’s just the comments section being weird. These characters can’t have their eyes pointed a little bit away from each other without somebody writing a novel about how they’re hiding shit or betraying someone or exhibiting symptoms of some mental disorder.

        4. Schpoonman

          It was discussed explicitly earlier when Amber asked him why he was playing Mario Kart with her instead of goofing off with Lucy.

        5. Taffy

          I took that more as him wanting to do something else before he went to hang out with her, since she’s got a billion expectations and can be kind of a lot. I’m not avoiding my girlfriend if I play a few rounds of Fortnite before I wake her up on the weekend.

        6. Sirksome

          I’m not trying to read too much into events, honest. I don’t think him hanging with Amber was a big deal or “emotional cheating” or anything that’s been thrown around the comments. But in that same breath I feel like saying he is not avoiding Lucy is ignoring the subtext a bit. He’s viewing seeing his parents and Lucy as obligations. “Reenter society” Not great for a fledgling romance that should be in its honeymoon period. That’s already over.

          I understand every relationship is different and takes work and maybe Walky does deserve a break from Lucy. My concern us why he thinks time away from Lucy is a break after just a week? He sees doing nothing with her as still something. Why didn’t the idea of them both ditching his loser parents to play Mario Kart and eat nachitos on the sex raptor never cross his mind?

        7. Mark

          Possibly because only Lucy sees their relationship as fledgling romance. I think Walky is willing to let it become so, but Lucy hurrying things along is kind of killing the mood?

        8. Devin

          He’s referred to himself as Lucy’s boyfriend so I tihnk they’re in agreement about their relationship being a romance. I think you’re right about their ideas on pacing though.

        9. Taffy

          The “emotional cheating” shit is just baffling to me. “He’s interacting with a woman he previously pointed his dick at, and might maybe possibly at some point do it again, which could result in the penis emotions coming back if he keeps doing it long enough! Maybe!” That’s how it comes across to me, anyway.

      2. Mark

        And he has good reason to be short-sighted in this instance. He expected to be coming right back to his room with a console.

      3. thejeff

        Especially since he originally came to borrow the Switch, not to hang out with Amber for an extended time.

      4. HueSatLight

        subconscious in the driver’s seat

    2. DailyBrad

      I don’t really know that I buy it, honestly. He’s avoiding shit with his parents as much, probably moreso, than her, and he’s allowed some space.

      I think what he does need to do, though, is communicate more. Lucy’s new to this and being clingy is very typical of a newbie to relationships. It’s not like Walky’s an old salt, but he still is more experienced here and it makes sense he wouldn’t be behaving in the same way he was with Dorothy last semester.

      Of course, it all might implode, obviously, I just think Walky and Lucy might have legs yet.

      1. Sirksome

        I don’t think they’re truly doomed or anything, it just feels that if Walky is already this anxious to be with her this early in it’s not a great start. Amber and Dorothy both started off more relaxed. I feel like Walky gets stressed just thinking about Lucy. “Everything is something with Lucy.” “I probably got like 70 texts from Lucy.” His body language when saying these lines. None of it implies he’s enjoying himself. I wouldn’t bet on it. Just saying always be ready to sell your shares of Walky x Lucy.

        1. HueSatLight

          He can right the ship. He’ll have to communicate though. He’s avoiding her, and avoiding intimacy with her. But it could be as simple as some version of “I rushed into sex before, and I think it might have been a mistake, can we take it slower?” and/or how his huge crushing on Dorothy at the time contributed to that.
          But he also has to figure out if that’s what he wants, because at least twice he’s described what he was looking for, and it sounded a lot like low-pressure hanging out. https://www.dumbingofage.com/romantic-2/ https://www.dumbingofage.com/normal/ and Lucy’s high intensity.

    3. Angel

      well he did say ‘reentering society’ so he’s prolly not going to flake on his parents even if he isn’t espeically looking forward to it

      1. thejeff

        I like how we’re taking anxiety that’s almost certainly mostly about his parents and shifting it to his relationship with Lucy.

    4. Yeet

      yeah
      I’m not sure he’s trying to do it consciously but you don’t need to be a genius to realise you should be checking in with your partner the day after doing a fake-dating scenario intended to make your parents like them

      1. Devin

        Even if he’s already checked in with her the same day he did it?

        I’m not saying it’s a bad idea, but given that they’ve had contact since it happened and this day is still young I don’t think he’s earned criticism on that particular score yet.

  15. Taffy

    Oh wow he was there for a finite amount of time and the room he was in wasn’t the final room of his entire day wow who coulda guessed wow ?

  16. DarkoNeko

    Dotty PLEASE get the clue and play Mario Kart for a bit. Amber is trying super hard, for pete sake

    1. StClair

      The (sad) irony is that what Amber is offering is literally and exactly what Dorothy came there for.

      1. Segnosaur

        Well technically she came there because amber involved herself with various forms of pop culture. That could involve video games, but she might have also been interested in tv/movies/etc.

      2. Bash

        Yes, but that was before she saw her ex that she still loves hanging out with a girl that he used to like.

    2. DailyBrad

      Right, she needs to chill, and Amber genuinely quite likes Dorothy, so yeah, the two hanging would be fun.

      1. Quirdry Tawks

        >the two hanging

        omg I just got a mental image of the two of them on nooses WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME ?

        1. Jamie

          I mean, dark humor isn’t bad if the people you’re sharing it with are down for it.

        2. The Oracle

          You’re a misogynist and you think about extremely violent revenge fantasies against fictional characters, that’s what’s wrong with you.

          Or do you want a serious answer?

        3. BarerMender

          Breath play is a common kink, but nooses might be a little too far.

        4. eh, whatever

          Been thinking too much about US politics lately?

        5. Mark

          We’ve all been asking ourselves that question.

          Seriously, I suppose you’re in a punny mood just now.

        6. StClair

          Amber: “First time?”

    3. Angel

      dorothy strikes me as an edu-tainment game kinda person but i imagine amber wouldnt’ have those unless she randomly torrents/pirates it if not on fre egames site

  17. Owlmirror

    She who confronts slackers should see to it that she does not become a slacker. And if you gaze long into the Nothing, the Nothing also gazes into you.

    ( . . . we have nachitos . . . )

  18. BBCC

    And after that?

    1. Angel

      i’m sure she’d have a 100 step plan for it ;P

  19. UrsulaDavina

    For frig sake Just pick up the damn controller Dotty!

  20. Icalasari

    Dorothy, do the sweeping because I know leaving it will bug you, then pick up a controller and relax a little. You NEED to turn your brain off for a bit so you don’t burn out

    1. Angel

      i mean cleaning up can be ‘fun’ in dorothy terms if not a ‘turn off your brain and do chores’ kinda thing but i imagine dorothy probably has a meticulous system in place, surprised she wouldn’t be more distracted with becky’s ‘messes’ but other than actual litter/garbage i assume she wouldn’t mess with becky’s pile of clothes or so

    2. StClair

      The only people who burn out are those who aren’t good and motivated and organized enough.

      (she’s totally going to burn out, and it will probably be both sad and epic.)

  21. ABunchOTrees

    There’s a little brown spot just below the M in the last sentence, and I literally tried to scrape it off my screen before I realized it was actually just in the comic.

    1. Bash

      I read you comment and then I went to look and I was SURE that brown spot was my screen.

    2. HueSatLight

      Nachito crumbs get everywhere, I tried to clean it off too, after reading this comment.

  22. Jon

    …did we make it?

    I thought for sure that interaction was going to feature a blowup. But no fireworks as yet…

  23. BadRoad

    That’s too many battles, Dorothy. Put some battles back.

  24. Quirdry Tawks

    I unno, y’all… overdeveloped sense of altruism?

    Or just a control freak?

    I find my needle edging more and more to the right.

    1. Jamie

      I find Dorothy easy to project onto, so I’d assume it’s an overdeveloped sense of responsibility, not altruism. It’s a “with great power comes great responsibility” line of thinking, where you are required to do all the good that you can. And Dorothy is not yet at the point where she has internalized that she can’t do everything.

      1. Taffy

        Uncle Ben died for your sins.

        1. clif

          Good thing too. There were a lot of them.

        2. Mark

          Poor guy. He only wanted to cook rice for you.

    2. Bash

      She originally came here for mindless fun. Now she wants to solve every problem because she’s upset about Walky. So no, I don’t think it’s about altruism.

      1. HueSatLight

        When she got rejected by Walky, she decided to fix Joyce’s “has a romantic connection with Joe” problem.
        It’s an unhealthy response to feeling like her life is out of her control.

        But it also started long before the comic did. For a kid, the US president can take control of things and make decisions for everyone else for their own good. I’ve been thinking someone said something offhand about her ability to take control and solve a problem, and she hyperfocused on it. But now I’m wondering if there was some ur-event, where she felt especially like she had no control of something in her life.

    3. NGPZ

      You know how Joyce has biblical knowledge floating around in her brain from years of indoctrination for the goal of serving her cult, and can still call upon it on her own accord?

      Same basic principle, except Dorothy’s goal was self-driven — she has YEARS of garnered heuristics and skills revolving around the single goal of becoming president, and now that the goal is gone she has a kind of brain energy she gotta direct somewhere…

  25. HueSatLight

    I’m pretty sure there’s video games where you have to save the universe. oo, she should play like final fantasy vi, ruin her perfect 4.0, and be liberated from that ridiculous standard. (also because you fail to save the world hahahaha)

  26. Blibdoolpoolp

    First panel has me thinking Walky’s spitting some fire bars.

  27. Suet

    You can’t please everyone, thus you can’t fix everything. If you could, still, Nintendo now, Cognito later.

    Brushing those crumbs off on their room was still quite a move on him.

    1. NGPZ

      re: Cognito, that a reference to Inside Job? :p

      1. Suet

        It is an Inside Job reference ? We’ve got you covered, up!

    2. Pergola

      Nintendo, ergo cogito.

  28. Laura

    …I would appreciate any luck wishes that folks could share.

    Early Tomorrow morning I go downtown for an intake at the hospital’s TBI program. Gonna see if they can help me get better.

    Also, tomorrow evening I’m going to attend my 1st public event since before the pandemic began. A dear old childhood friend who lives 3,000 miles away is in town for 1 night only and is giving a concert. There’s outdoor seating available, and I got my new COVID booster last Thursday. Plus I have my N100 mask and rubber-rimmed protective goggles, gloves, and a face shield. So I’ll look like a space astronaut or a time traveler from 2020, and folks will keep their distance. Still a little nervous about it though. Everyone is getting COVID again these days.

    1. Taffy

      Luck.

      1. Laura

        Thank you, Taffy! 🙂

    2. Mark

      Best wishes, for improved health and a fun evening.

      1. Laura

        Thanks, Mark! 😀

    3. pig

      Good luck and enjoy the concert! I hope you have fun.

      1. Laura

        Thank you, pig. I appreciate that. 🙂

    4. Sirksome

      Good luck.

      1. Laura

        Much appreciated, Sirksome! 🙂

    5. Laura

      Intake appointment went OK. Now I gotta fill out a buncha forms. Ask my doc for maybe a referral. Attend some meetings. We’ll see… *ties a ribbon ’round the finger*

    6. Kelibath

      Hope everything goes okay on both sides x

      1. Laura

        Thank you, Kelibath! Mighty kind of you!

    7. NGPZ

      Wish you the best, Laura ?

      1. Laura

        Sweet of you, NG, hon’.

    8. BBCC

      I hope it goes well and you have fun!

      1. Laura

        Much appreciated, BBCC!

    9. Laura

      I am hanging out in the vast empty space outdoors from the concert. They were super nice and brought me a nice chair outside, and propped open the door so I could hear better. Such sweet people!

      Wearing my sealed goggles and N100 mask pulled tight. Got my hand sanitizer on. All safe and happy!

  29. NGPZ

    How about a game if it ain’t too early.

    Dorothy seems like she would really enjoy management sim games. Something to redirect that “solve every problem” energy into something restorative, ya know?

    1. What’s your favorite management sim, or strategy game in general?

    2. What kinda management sim game do you think Dorothy would really like?

    1. Laura

      2. Tetris. Or Lumosity. She’d make it a daily task to cross off her list.

      1. Laura

        1. My brain can’t handle strategy games, but I do love Teris.

    2. NGPZ

      My favorite management sim is Dinosaur Zookeeper. But by far my favorite strategy game / really favorite game of all time has gotta be Plants Vs Zombies. It’s one of my greatest special interests, I’ve memorized the stats for every plant and zombie as well as their almanac entries, like, inject it into my veins ~aaaaah~ ??

      As for what Dorothy would like, she seems like the kinda person who would LOVE Eve Online — it’s an intergalactic spreadsheet simulator, it’s PERFECT for her! ??☄️

    3. Da Boy

      Oxygen not Included maybe. Colony development plus you need to take care of your little workers and it’s cute. There is also Timberborn where you build up and maintain a beaver colony, taking care of their needs and all.

    4. Da Boy

      Could also play one of the Classics like the Anno or Civilization series. That should scratch her political itch.

    5. Bogeywoman

      Spirit Farer is my favourite game full stop. You play a character who takes over for Charon, ferrying souls to the other side. You care for them on your boat and help them work through unfinished business and coming to terms with their life/death. The art is beautiful, the gameplay is low stress and the story is fantastic.

      Also Common’hood. You play a recently homeless person who starts squatting in the factory your parents worked in and establish an anarchist commune with the other people living there. It’s a bit glitchy, but free and really cool.

      1. Bash

        I’ve been deciding what to play next and I might give Spirit Farer a try. How sad is it? Bittersweet is okay but I can’t deal with anything too sad right now.

    6. Mark

      1. Chess.

    7. Jess

      Probably not the game that Dotty would pick, but I like Max Gentleman: Sexy Business. It’s dumb and mindless and shippy, but you get to manage a business and defeat your enemies. Also, You can unlock in game fanfictions for all the characters. So you know, it’s hilarious.

    8. Falcon

      1. My favorite strategy game is Command and Conquer: Zero Hour. Sadly, the modern version forces a camera zoom level that makes it impossible for me to play.

      2. Dorothy wants to save the world from big problems and be there for the tough decisions. She should play Frostpunk.

  30. Alex Boston

    Gotta admit there is a part of me that would like to see what the universe even looked like after Dorothy solved every problem in it. What is her version of this Utopia?

    1. Taffy

      For some reason, it’s completely devoid of Icelandic people, and Belfast has been flipped horizontally.

    2. Slartibeast Button, BIA

      “overhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out.”

      1. Taffy

        Stars going out? So Dorothy stopped the Heartless too?

      2. Mark

        🙂

      3. StClair

        A classic.

  31. Archieve

    Walky was surprisingly mature and Amber is actually following his que. Too bad Dorothy’s having trouble keeping in the zone.

    1. clif

      Actually, Walky has successfully snapped Dorothy out of her death spiral and she’s ready to take on the world again.

      1. Archieve

        Wonder if that means Yale is still on the table.

        1. Pergola

          It’s a long shot, but Yale would like very much to have another President in their alumni list.

        2. NGPZ

          Yale isn’t who needs to win.

          Dorothy needs to win, her friends need to win, after all they’ve been through. Oppressed minorities of all kinds all over the nation need to win in the same vein.

          To focus on presidency is framing the ultimate goal too tightly.

  32. Reltzik

    Well, Dorothy, you wanting to solve every single problem in the universe is definitely a problem. So solve that one first. It’s the most efficient way to do things, really.

  33. saltchocolate

    Dorothy is fixed!! I was worried there for a minute…

    1. Mark

      Well…her governor seems to be disconnected. That’s probably where these left-over bolts belong.

  34. Da Boy

    Maybe Dorothy could benefit from playing some 4X games or a City Builder… Maybe something cute, like Timberborn.

    1. Zaxares

      Oooh yes! I bet she’s actually LOVE a city/builder sim like Sim City or Cities XL. A blank canvas for her to put her own mark as she wishes, and there’s no shortage of problems for her to fix! It would be right up her alley. 🙂

  35. morhek

    “It’s alright to admit you never played Mario Kart.”

    “Thank you for understanding.”

    “You’ve NEVER PLAYED MARIO KART?!”

    “Congratulations on your cunningly laid trap.”

    1. Thomas

      I played Mario Kart once. It did not go well.

      Also, I chose the little bug character that Sal likes. This was lentirely because of DoA.

  36. Plaaaaaa

    How about thus problem: why use a broom and dustpan when dustbusters, sniffers and vacuums exist?

    1. Needfuldoer

      Because that is What You Do when there are crumbs on the floor. Of course.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Also, Swiffers are awful at picking up anything that isn’t dust.

    2. thejeff

      Honestly, if it’s a small spill of crumbs, broom and dustpan is quicker and easier.

    3. Pergola

      Sometimes the simple ways are the most satisfying.

  37. Amós Batista

    This today strtip gave me peace.

  38. Plaaaaaa

    Damnit autocorrect, learn swiffer!

  39. thumb

    So what you *should* do is play Mario Kart

  40. Yeet

    oh hey, walky’s brain kicked in
    surprised he left his phone behind but it’s in character

    1. Needfuldoer

      He expected to just borrow the Switch and go right back to his room, not hang out with Amber.

      1. Yeet

        true, but getting his phone then would’ve been the normal brain move

  41. Hambone Jones

    Why am I reading Dorothy’s voice in the last panel as if she’s Brain from Pinky and the Brain?

  42. HueSatLight

    between sweeping the crumbs and solving every problem in the universe, they could hold hands and masturbate in a public place. They do share an interest after all.

  43. Pergola

    Talking with Walky has been good for Dorothy. She is now Energized. I expect a new smart-but-not-wise plan now. Look out world!

  44. Yakumo

    She’s back and taking the new lead in the latest sequel to Never Ending Story (I mean, I think there was one already? Not sure). Fight the Nothing, Dorothy! You cannot resist the NEED to do so!

  45. Jdorr

    Oof, that last line is mood

  46. Roborat

    Was kinda expecting to see orange fingerprints on Dorothy’s shoulder in the last panel.

  47. John

    Go to therapy, Dorothy!
    …And you too Amber!!
    …And probably Dina, not sure she needs it, but it never hurts to talk to someone about your problems.

    1. NGPZ

      Given how Dina’s been betrayed by countless bigoted psychologists in her past, I can see why she’d be not so fond of the idea. T_T

  48. Hof1991

    Dorothy really needs the serenity prayer. She has the courage to change things but not the wisdom to know what things can’t be changed.

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