170

Student union
Posted on February 11, 2020 by David M Willis

170 thoughts on “Student union”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    I feel like Joyce should get a poké bowl, everything is just kind of stacked and not mixed at all

    1. Poskie

      And she could swallow it whole without chewing and barely taste it, even though it would cost several dollars…

    2. Kamino Neko

      That poor, poor Pikachu…

      1. Ana Chronistic

        https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/601662979699638293/673295865351372817/IMG_20200201_152540544.jpg

        1. anonymousethatscurriesinthedarkness

          I am trying to think of an appropriate politically correct word that best describes that…..

          Terrifying seems to fit the bill as well as AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

    3. Jon Rich

      What’s a poké bowl?

      1. Freemage

        Hawaiian dish. It’s veggies and raw fish, in a bowl like a salad, but all the components are separated into neat little clusters; assuming Joyce could tolerate any individual ingredient, she would be fine just eating one segment at a time (possibly with the aid of a side-plate). https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/images/made/images/uploads/recipes/Poke_Bowl_Image_3_800_480_85_s_c1.jpg

        1. thejeff

          Don’t think she’d go for the raw fish – unless it really was just that sushi is wrapped in rice and seaweed.

          The “food touching” thing is the most obvious, but her issues seem to extend to new foods in general.

  2. Stephen Bierce

    All we are saying…is Give Peas A Chance!

    1. Ari

      https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2437

      1. King Daniel

        Don’t forget the followup: https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2438

        1. Norah

          Off-topic, but I was trying to find that QC strip with Joyce and Daisy making a guest appearance! Thanks for posting this!

        2. Kaidah

          O_O How did I not notice that before?

        3. anonymousethatscurriesinthedarkness

          In this modern media society both attention span and retention have been greatly diminished.

          Squirrel!

        4. Jon Rich

          That’s Joyce and Daisy?! That’s confirmed somewhere? Holy crap!

        5. ValdVin

          Wow! I didn’t know that was Joyce, either.

        6. Kamino Neko

          I’m…not seeing Daisy, there?

        7. Kyoulkoa

          in QC 2438, Daisy Wooten is the character just to the left of Joyce.
          She is from John Allisons’ excellent Giant Days

        8. Kamino Neko

          Oooooh. I thought, since people were just saying ‘Joyce and Daisy’, they mean, you know Willis’s Daisy.

      2. ValdVin

        “Come on, I’m hilarious!”

        (I know, Claire said this after a different pun, but it always holds.)

        1. Fire_Daws

          “AI’s should get their head out of the cloud!”

          (No, I unfortunately don’t remember the strip number and I’m too tired to search through 4000 comics to find it)

        2. ValdVin

          Nice to see our Claire ambassador here to add some detail.

    2. Bicycle Bill

      Stop the violins —
      Visualize whirled peas!

    3. Reltzik

      Why does everyone steal my puns?

      1. Miri

        My 5 year old is amused by how cross I still get about this: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-45564552 (safe for work)

    4. Roborat

      Great, now I am channeling The Arrogant Worms. Again.

  3. Yotomoe

    I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t dip chicken in honey mustard.

    1. timemonkey

      All forms of mustard are disgusting.

      Guess that makes me untrustworthy.

      1. BBCC

        All SAUCES are disgusting, so I’m right there with you.

        1. BarerMender

          I’m of Ambrose Bierce’s opinion on Sauce:
          SAUCE

          -n.

          The one infallible sign of civilization and enlightenment. A people with no sauces has one thousand vices; a people with one sauce has only nine hundred and ninety-nine. For every sauce invented and accepted a vice is renounced and forgiven.

          The Devil’s Dictionary

        2. BBCC

          Excellent. More for you.

        3. thejeff

          Still boggles my mind. “Sauce” is such a huge category, it’s really hard to see them all as disgusting. Even Joyce likes some sauces, though she might not recognize them as such.

        4. BBCC

          I am partially exaggerating for comedic effect. I don’t mind barbecue sauce on chicken (so long as it’s so grilled in it’s basically part of the chicken) and I like steak jus on fries.

          ….I think that’s literally it though.

      2. He Who Abides

        “All forms of *ketchup* are disgusting.”

        Fixed it for you.

        1. Diane

          No, you didn’t. BBCC is right, all sauces are disgusting.

        2. Diane

          Ugh, my brain failed me, and I apologize, I thought you were replying to BBCC instead of timemonkey. Still gonna have to disagree, mustard is gross. But I also get why people don’t like ketchup (despite my grand love of it). Stiiiill find mustard worse cause at least I can handle the smell of bad ketchup.

        3. Roborat

          Depends on the mustard, I am not a big processed mustard fan, but I have discovered some gourmet mustards that I really like. I found a horseradish mustard that I just love.

        4. thejeff

          I’m very fond of the whole mustards, especially those made with a bit of whiskey in addition to/instead of vinegar.

    2. Gash

      All the sauces are great!
      Mayo is kinda lame though…

      1. timemonkey

        Only if it’s light.

      2. Freemage

        Ugh. Mayo and ranch are both on my no-go list. Mayo, in particular, because if you get it on a burger, it’s almost always glopped on until it matches the calorie content of the rest of the sandwich, smearing everything within with that overwhelming blandness.

        Ketchup is fine–if you’re 12. And, of course, NEVER on a hot dog.

        1. Skeptible

          “overwhelming blandness”

    3. KJ

      who are these people commenting on your post and who hurt them? sauce is great y’all. more for me

      1. BBCC

        Incorrect and also false. Sauce is nasty.

        1. khn0

          Bisque de homard
          Beurre Bercy
          Beurre blanc
          Beurre Chivry
          Beurre Colbert
          Beurre d’ail
          Beurre d’amande
          Beurre d’anchois
          Beurre de citron
          Beurre de crabe ou de crevette
          Beurre de cresson
          Beurre d’escargot
          Beurre fermière
          Beurre de laitance
          Beurre maître d’hôtel
          Beurre manié
          Beurre marchand de vin
          Beurre Nantais
          Beurre noisette
          Beurre noir
          Beurre rouge
          Sauce grenobloise
          Sauce vierge
          Aïoli
          Sauces hollandaise
          Sauce Figaro
          Sauce Joinville
          Sauce maltaise
          Sauce marquis
          Sauce Mikado
          Sauce mousseline
          Sauce à la diable
          Sauce béarnaise
          Sauce Beauharnais
          Sauce Bontemps
          Sauce Choron
          Sauce Foyot
          Sauce paloise
          Sauce arlésienne
          Sauce tyrolienne
          Sauce Véron
          Sauce Valois
          Mayonnaise
          Mayonnaise aux anchois
          Mayonnaise onctueuse
          Mayonnaise printanière
          Mayonnaise ravigote
          Sauce rémoulade
          Sauce antiboise
          Sauce berlinoise
          Sauce chypriote
          Sauce cocktail
          Sauce dijonnaise
          Sauce enragée
          Sauce gribiche
          Sauce La Varenne
          Sauce mousquetaire
          Sauce norvégienne
          Sauce rose
          Sauce tartare
          Sauce verte
          Sauce Vincent
          Sauce vierge
          Vinaigrette
          Sauce Albert
          Sauce à la crème
          Sauce à la maître queux
          Sauce allemande
          Sauce anglaise
          Sauce aux anchois
          Sauce aux crevettes
          Sauce aux moules
          Sauce bâtarde
          Sauce Mornay
          Sauce Nantua
          Sauce normande
          Sauce poulette
          Sauce printanière
          Sauce riche
          Sauce Soubise
          Sauce Chivry
          Sauce Cardinal
          Sauce béchamel
          Sauce aux câpres
          Sauce cardinal
          Sauce au raifort
          Sauce princesse
          Velouté
          Sauce à la reine
          Sauce Albuféra
          Sauce Alexandra
          Sauce ambassadrice
          Sauce aurore
          Sauce chaud-froid
          Sauce Chivry
          Sauce crapaudine
          Sauce dieppoise
          Sauce duchesse
          Sauce financière
          Sauce ivoire
          Sauce ravigote
          Sauce suprême
          Sauce allemande
          Sauce impératrice
          Sauce polonaise
          Sauce poulette
          Sauce sicilienne
          Sauce normande
          Sauce diplomate
          Sauce Joinville
          Sauce laquipière
          Velouté au vin blanc
          Sauce Bercy
          Sauce Comtesse
          Sauce Grandville
          Sauce marinière
          Sauce matelote
          Sauce orléanaise
          Sauce Pompadour
          Sauce vénitienne
          Sauce Victoria
          Sauce Bonnefoy
          Sauce financière
          Sauce marinière
          Sauce Richelieu
          Sauce Villeroi
          Velouté ivoire
          Sauces espagnole
          Sauce bordelaise
          Sauce à la moelle
          Sauce rouennaise
          Sauce italienne
          Sauce au sang
          Sauce Chambord
          Sauce Chateaubriand
          Sauce genevoise
          Sauce italienne
          Sauce matelote
          Sauce piquante
          Sauce poivrade
          Sauce grand veneur
          Sauce Robert
          Demi-glace
          Sauce à l’oignon
          Sauce à la pauvre homme
          Sauce au porto
          Sauce au vin rouge
          Sauce bourguignonne
          Sauce Chambertin
          Sauce chasseur
          Sauce Colbert
          Sauce Diane
          Sauce Dodard
          Sauce Duchambais
          Sauce duxelles
          Sauce François Raffatin
          Sauce madère
          Sauce aux champignons
          Sauce aux olives
          Sauce Périgueux
          Sauce sarladaise
          Sauce portugaise
          Sauce marchand de vin
          Sauce moutarde
          Sauce Régence
          Sauce Sainte-Ménehould
          Sauce Talleyrand
          Chaud-froid brun
          Chaud-froid Madère
          Chaud-froid Nantua
          Chaud-froid rosé
          Chaud-froid royale
          Chaud-froid sibérienne
          Chaud-froid jaune
          Sauce tomate
          Sauce créole
          Sauce provençale
          Sauce au citron
          Sauce à l’abricot
          Sauce à l’ananas
          Sauce à la cerise
          Sauce à l’ananas et au rhum
          Sauce au chocolat
          Sauce au café
          Crème anglaise
          Sauce au Grand-Marnier
          Sabayon
          Sauce à la vanille
          Sauce à la vanille et au rhum
          Sauce à la vanille et au bourbon
          Sauce instantanée
          Sauce piment
          Sauce à l’ail

        2. BBCC

          None of these sound appetizing to me in any way :P.

        3. Diane

          I dun wanna be a sauce…

        4. thejeff

          And that’s just some of the French ones, ignoring the entire rest of the world.

        5. StClair

          As the French do their best to.

        6. khn0

          @St Clair:
          If only.
          Choucroute (alsatian version of sauerkraut) was probably taken from China’s tradition before the real deal of colonial exploitation, but the french cuisine is like all (maybe more tha most) a colonial litany of stolen goods, from stolen lands and grown by stolen working forces. Tomatoes, potatoes, almonds, mais, sugar all these essential elements of so-called french cuisine that were unknown before the colonial boom. It’s the 18th and 19th bourgeoisie that invented the idea of a french cuisine existing.

        7. khn0

          Actually, it’s a classification of sauces known to french at some point. But you’re right, and that was one of my points, if a french-only list from the 19th is that long they’re should be myriads of possible sauces, what leads me to my central point: what is a sauce? Is it even possible to do without it at some point? If you look at that partial and actually short list, you see that broths, soups, almost anything with a bit of liquid can enter the definition of a sauce.

        8. thejeff

          Thinking a little more about this and admitting my experience is very limited – I’d never even heard of this before reading about Joyce and then BBCC and some other posters here confirming it as a real thing: It seems to me modern American (and to a lesser extent English and maybe Western European cuisine in general) would be relatively easy for someone with this kind of food issue to navigate. The classic meat and potato/bread and vegetable on the side kind of meal is perfect. Skip the gravy, get some kind of vegetable cooked straight without a sauce and you’re good.

          How do those raised in some other cultures fare, assuming the same issues still develop? Indian cuisine, to use the one the came up for Joyce? Or Mexican or Chinese cooking? Again I’m no expert and maybe it’s just the kinds of dishes I tend to seek out, but I don’t think the separate foods thing is nearly as common.

        9. Uly

          Those same issues definitely come up in other cultures. In India and Mexico and China it’s entirely possible to subsist entirely off of rice + some sort of plain pulse + plain cooked chicken.

      2. Diane

        In my case, they usually don’t add anything for me, but I do like marinara sauce with my mozzarella sticks, I like ketchup with my fries, but they aren’t a needed thing. Unless it’s BK fries, then I must drown them in ketchup so that I don’t taste the badness that is their fries.

        The other side is they also have a not nice texture or flavor. Ranch must be in small amounts, too much and it’s bad. Mayo has both bad texture and not nice flavor, and having it on my tongue induces desires to vomit. But sadly, a lot of foods make my body want to vomit, odd examples being lettuce and corn. I can smell both, and it just causes agro on my stomach. It really sucks, cause I’m even more picky that Joyce as I won’t eat that broccoli, but they can at least touch so maybe not as bad?

  4. butts

    joyce maybe you should… be more careful with that particular word

    1. Yotomoe

      Segregation doesn’t have to be a dirty word if we don’t let it be. Unless you meant pea since it sounds like Pee.

      1. clif

        Segregation is a perfectly good English word for separating things. The problem is never the words. The problem is the use we make of them.

        1. sillygoose

          As long as she doesn’t run around the building shouting “Segregation is a good thing! I love segregation! We should go back to not mixing what doesn’t belong together!”

          Side note: how can you be so careful about eating only one ingredient at once and still enjoy, say, waffles, or pancakes? Any batter is made of at least two ingredients, usually 3 or 4. Or even soup? Is it because the mixing is so complete that it doesn’t look like it was initially 4 things? If she doesn’t accept croutons in soup, would she accept soup thickened with day-old bread, if it’s been mixed fine?

        2. Needfuldoer

          I guess it’s because once the ingredients are combined, they “become” the end result instead of being themselves mixed together?

        3. DaveM

          “What therefore a cook hath joined together, let no man put asunder.”

        4. Mister Sparkle

          “how can you be so careful about eating only one ingredient at once and still enjoy, say, waffles, or pancakes”

          Easy: pick and choose among the rules you decide to follow. It’s not like it’s a rational process.

        5. thejeff

          It’s not so much “pick and choose”, but as you say not a rational process. If you think of them as “one food”, it’s okay. If you think of it as two foods mixed together it’s gross.

          Noodles with sauce would be gross. Macaroni and cheese is one of Joyce’s favorite foods. Mac and cheese is just pasta in a cheese sauce.

        6. sillygoose

          Sounds twisted but somehow it still works. And the simple fact that she eats pasta and bread answers my question, actually. I wasn’t paying attention.

          And now I want to know whether she eats Marmite. Yeast in bread ok, yeast in more yeast not ok?
          Also, haggis. It’s just one food, right?

        7. thejeff

          Probably not, on the ground of both being weird foreign foods if nothing else.

          Plus you generally put marmite on something, right? Are things like sandwiches or jam on toast acceptable? Classic pb&j? Shouldn’t be, but might be grandfathered in.

  5. zellgato

    I honestly enjoy Happy Joyce. That was some of the best parts of the prevoius universes (just took a loot of work to get there)

  6. BBCC

    Joyce is me when it comes to food. Stuff touching is gross.

    Except ketchup. It only belongs in chip form. Any other is totally unacceptable.

    1. Needfuldoer

      Hickory sticks are better than ketchup chips. Ketchup belongs with fries, just like vinegar.

      1. BBCC

        Disagree on both counts. 😛

  7. Jane

    Aw, the two of them make such a cute couple <3 .

    (Yeah, I know they're not actually a couple; but this would totally be an “Awww” conversation if they were.)

    1. butts

      becky’s gonna hunt you down

      1. timemonkey

        Not really an intimidating prospect. You’d hear her coming and you’d have a free shot while she informed you she was a lesbian.

      2. Jane

        That’s okay, I’ll distract her with pictures of Dina’s hat just barely being on.

        1. StClair

          l-lewd…

    2. Delicious Taffy

      Just because they’re not dating, that doesn’t automatically mean they’re not a couple.

      1. Jane

        While this is true, I’m picturing Forest Quad “Aww”ing a romantic couple, and it doesn’t quite feel like they’d do the same for a platonic one.

    3. deathjavu

      “They’re not a couple?”

      -Everyone in-universe and most of the comment section, probably

    4. Needfuldoer

      Somebody’s eventually going to cut out the “awwww”-s from a few days ago and superimpose them on today’s comic, aren’t they.

  8. StClair

    Joyce is very cute.
    She’s an utter mess, but very cute.

  9. Delicious Taffy

    I don’t know if Joyce is the best person to teach a class about segregation…

    1. Reltzik

      “I see we have a diverse class this term, and all of you bring your unique perspectives to it, and that’s GREAT. But if those perspectives mix, that could get complicated and weird, so let’s just split you up into groups, okay?”

      (Yeah, I know she wouldn’t do that, but my brain went there anyway.)

  10. Mr D

    Will someone explain to me what the poop is wrong with Joyce and food? I don’t get it.

    1. Norah

      She has sensory issues about food.

    2. Delicious Taffy

      She has neuroses, generally. I also suspect she may be slightly autistic. Lots of neurodivergent folks have texture sensitivities or a need for organisation.

      1. Regalli

        I’m willing to let foods touch sometimes, but I generally don’t combine things or eat a main part and side simultaneously. You eat all of one thing first, and then all of the other thing. You know, as is logical.

        Yeah I’m not certain if Joyce’s diet is limited enough to go under Adult Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, and some of her Food Quirks seem less about eating the food and more about a need for orderliness, but she’s definitely some stripe of neurodivergent and undiagnosed. (I waffle over autistic or anxiety disorder of some flavor or both, personally.)

        1. Regalli

          But yeah, I’m in this comic and I accept it.

      2. JetstreamGW

        Honestly, I doubt it. She’s probably just a fussy eater. I used to eat like her, and it wasn’t ‘cuz of any neurodivergent traits. I was just, y’know, ten.

        And Joyce hasn’t exactly broadened her horizons until… like… three months ago?

    3. DailyBrad

      Some people really do not like their food touching and find it deeply unpleasant.

      Joyce’s case is more extreme than mine, but for example, I do not, EVER, have ice cream and cake on the same plate at birthday parties, because crumbs get in the ice cream and it is a visceral sort of revulsion from me.

      1. Sara Hysaro

        What about vanilla ice cream and apple pie? I’m generally averse to food touching (unless it’s not the sort to cross-contaminate, like chicken + plain fries), but select combos are pretty tasty.

    4. Uly

      Some people have trouble eating certain foods. This *can* be associated with autism or sensory issues, and often is, but it certainly doesn’t have to be. In Joyce’s case I think her bigger issue is just generalized anxiety that manifests as food issues.

      It’s very easy to brush this off as immaturity or attention seeking or somehow not “real”, because after all, you and I can eat these foods without problems. But consider all the foods that loads of people eat every day without problems that in our culture, very few people do… like insects. Lots of people in lots of places around the world eat insects. Insects are a good source of protein, and easily sourced! In the West, eating insects is so outre that you’d have to literally be starving in the woods to think of it. It’s a regular feature on “dare” shows, even if the insect in question is chopped up and encased in chocolate. If you were to put a clean and sanitized insect in a glass of water and then remove it, people wouldn’t drink the water.

      To Joyce, all food is potentially insects. (Not literally, but let’s run with this analogy, shall we?) She has a small variety of foods that she trusts are (probably) insect-free, but in order to be safe it has to be, well, safe. No sauce. Nothing mixed, which might mean that sneaky insects are hiding or that incompatible foods have turned into something she can’t eat just by proximity to each other. Nothing “weird”, which means stuff she’s unfamiliar with (which is a lot of stuff, because there are a lot of foods she doesn’t eat because eating them might make her sick). She has a great deal of anxiety about accidentally eating something that she can’t eat, and she also has anxiety about the fact that she looks weird picking apart her foods and that people think she’s childish for having such a limited diet.

      Joyce knows she probably will not literally be sick if she eats combined foods, or if she eats something that she turns out not to like – although it’s certainly possible. People with serious food aversions can and do vomit from eating things on the “no” list. She also knows that it wouldn’t literally be the end of the world if she is a little sick – though, again, it can be serious. Foods can move from the “yes” list to the “no” list through association with a “no” food or unpleasant experience. She knows it, but knowing that intellectually is not actually enough to get you through anxiety or food aversions or phobias.

      Depending on how limited her diet is and how badly this affects her life, she could probably benefit from therapy. When children have a severely restricted diet you speak to an occupational therapist or a speech-language pathologist. That’s probably the best option for Joyce as well. However, given her background it’s very possible that she has never thought of this as being a medical need that can be treated – actually, Americans of many backgrounds are likely to think of this as a personality problem or (in children) a discipline problem, but I suspect that the fundiegelical crowd tends to be even slower to consider therapy as a solution here than the general population.

      One note about sensory issues: As I said at the start, I see no reason to think that this is the root cause of Joyce’s specific problems with food. However, it is often part of a seriously “picky” eating in adulthood. Even though you probably eat many more foods than Joyce does (and may even eat the aforementioned insects if they’re presented to you in the right way!) you probably have some foods you just don’t like. Most people do. And there’s no explaining it! The food that other people enjoy is just so gross to you. We usually don’t use the phrase “food aversion” unless people have that reaction to a lot of foods, but it’s worth thinking “This person’s reaction to EVERYTHING is like my reaction to THAT ONE FOOD”. They’re not being picky at you. They’d rather be able to eat ALL THE FOODS just like you can.

      1. Lily

        Therapy definitely helps with food issues. My little brother went from crackers to bok choy and burgers and some kinds of sandwiches after some months of “food school”. Shoutout to food therapists!

      2. Poskie

        This was a very eye-opening explanation. I’ve never experienced any intense food aversion like Joyce’s, so the insect analogy actually made it a lot more understandable. Thanks!

    5. Keulen

      I’ve been assuming she’s just a picky eater like me, but it could be something else.

    6. Sam

      It could be a sensory issue like myself and other autistic people tend to have; it could be a compulsive need for organisation; it could just be a way for anxiety to safely manifest in organising something; it could just be that she really does not like the way food tastes when mixed. It could be a mix of more than one of these as we literally saw her counting meatballs so she could evenly distribute them.

      Regardless, Joyce has like, food rules which if they aren’t followed or only bent by her own personal choice, makes her very unhappy and this is likely partially because she doesn’t *like* a lot of foods and when you don’t like a lot of foods, people sometimes develop tendencies to try to trick you and hide things in your food. Or they try to persuade you into trying things then question you on why you don’t like them, because *they* like them.

      Like, my dad used to put onions and bits of tomato in my spaghetti and it just led to me not eating spaghetti for years as I was spending so much time picking out bits it kept going cold and because I didn’t trust him not to keep trying to hide them in it. His lack of trust in my ability to discern what I like and dislike led me to not trust him to make spaghetti that I could eat.

      Foods that have minimal ingredients you can easily discern are also mostly basic ‘kid’ foods and you become very guarded against new things that are likely to contain things you dislike. Especially because a lot of people label you as a ‘fussy’/’picky’ eater as if you are purposely doing it to make things difficult and brush it off as not a big deal. Which means you can’t trust them to make sure food is something you can eat.

      I literally went to a buffet after a funeral and the only thing there I could eat there was a small quantity of bread. Because I don’t like a lot of things. And no one bothered to consider that when they organised it so I literally went home hungry. I didn’t even bother mingling with anyone, I just wanted to go home and was so annoyed about the lack of food available to me, that I did not have a good time and I don’t remember it fondly even though it was supposed to be a pleasant time. For me, it wasn’t. It was just another time when people didn’t consider me and let me starve because they wanted sauce and vegetables in everything.

      I find this often with ‘events’ and ‘special dinners’ that they’re really not for people like me and don’t have options for me as well. Like, Joyce is really not as far off-base as you might think when she considered ordering everything on a pizza to be what people expect a grown-up adult person to do. Pizza is one of the few things you can get plain and no one questions it, but adults are more expected to like ‘everything’ i.e. eat everything with a sauce, a salad, a second sauce on the salad, and a second salad.

      I don’t remember where I was going with this but my main point is that Joyce doesn’t like a lot of things and is likely very ‘fussy’ in behaviour about it at least partially because a hell of a lot of people disrespect you and don’t take your dislikes seriously so you *have* to constantly monitor and control your food because you can’t trust the people that are dismissive to actually make sure you can eat at all.

      1. BBCC

        This. I’ve gone to a lot of places where we were ostensibly supposed to eat dinner and ended up just mingling because nobody thought about what I was supposed to eat. And I FEEL you on not telling people. I was embarrassed about not being an ‘adult’ so I ate like three or four bites of anything my boyfriend (who LOVES mixing food) made and then pretending I’d eaten before I came or something. It was months before my mom told him about my food preferences and then he felt bad because he would have just made something I could eat if he’d known. Thankfully, both my family and my boyfriend’s family are very understanding (his family’s always double checking what I can and can’t eat when I eat with them) but I don’t generally tell my friends and I always end up checking a menu before I go anywhere new to find something I can eat (or, barring that, determine the least offensive thing).

      2. thejeff

        Just as a side note – even “plain” pizza which Joyce eats is still dough and sauce and cheese all touching, but that’s apparently fine. (And in her case, it’s also fine to have sausage cooked in it for flavoring as long as she can then pick the sausage off to eat separately.

        The rules here are complicated.

  11. Chaucer59

    Where’s Mike?

    1. Yumi

      He’s moved on; it’s time that we do as well.

      1. clif

        There is a big difference between moving on and having been moved on.

      2. Needfuldoer

        I thought he moved down, and rapidly.

    2. BenRG

      Barring future events, he’s on the bus.

    3. Deanatay

      Who?

      I mean, I remember something before this, about Kit Fisto, and before that something about… some guy, don’t remember his name. None of it’s really important, right?

  12. Dr. T

    It certainly isn’t a conversation you can have in the IU Student Union Food Court right now. I was quite shocked today when I decided to actually eat lunch there today that they shut it down for renovation. 😛

    1. Charles Spencer

      What I can’t figure out is how they’re this far into the semester, but this is just the first time Joyce has been in there?

      1. Sunny

        Maybe she’s just surprised Dorothy chose to go there for lunch.

      2. Dr. T

        I am pretty certain her dorm has a food court in it that serves both chicken fingers and soft serve ice cream, so why would she go out of her way to eat in the union?

        1. Charles Spencer

          Okay, my experience is out of date again. Back In The Day, the only food available in a dorm came out of a vending machine. The good stuff was always gone, and everything else was stale.

  13. Nah

    She’s a fool, the best sauce for chicken fingers isn’t red, it’s honey.

    1. Delicious Taffy

      Honey isn’t a sauce, you fake food eater.

      1. StClair

        You’re right – it’s bee vomit.

        (I kid; I love the stuff, actually.)

        1. RowenMorland

          Does anything vomit better than a bee?

        2. clif

          I’ve never tested it.

        3. timemonkey

          Is honey vomit? All these years I’d thought it was from the butt.

        4. drs

          cow juice and bee barf

        5. Bicycle Bill

          Back in the 1980s, then-governor of Wisconsin Lee Dreyfus stated that while he ate honey his wife did not because she considered it “bee poop”.

  14. DailyBrad

    I’d take the class if I wasn’t already partially living it.

    1. Shane

      You know who might or might not be partially living? Mike.

      1. Geneseepaws

        Weellll, see? My question is whom shall we ask? Schrodinger? Or Heisenberg?

  15. Adam Black

    what is joyce wearing?

    ( wouldnt that feel really uncomfortable , chafe?
    Unless the blouse is a very soft cotton/ rayon with no bra,
    and the top as support .
    but I dont see Joyce going braless )

    kind of feel like this outfit is meant to be worn in reverse with the top button open

    1. clif

      Have you no sense of fashion?

      1. Adam Black

        the Colors look nice.
        but id probably layer them in the other direction

    2. BBCC

      ? Doesn’t look uncomfortable to me at all. It’s a blouse with a vest on top. I wear stuff like that all the time.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Since when does Joyce wear a vest? /s

        To be fair, it does kind of look like a sports bra since it’s all one solid shape. The notch at the front hints that it’s two pieces buttoned together, though.

        1. Adam Black

          thankyou.

          I thought it was a midriff athleisure supportive tank.

        2. Needfuldoer

          Yeah, maybe it could have used a little more detail or different shading to make it more obvious.

          A good example is Sal from a few strips ago. Her black t-shirt is actually a very dark blue, which helps differentiate it from her hair (which is a dark brown).

      2. Adam Black

        is that a vest?!

        i thought it was a midriff top like Sal wears.
        or a sportswear or athleisure tank bra.

      3. Adam Black

        I thought it was tighter, smaller and higher than a vest.

        but it looks like Microvests are part of the DNA of the character
        https://www.itswalky.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/2017-01-07.png

    3. BenRG

      I dunno; Joyce likes vests over her blouses/shirts. It’s just the look she likes, I guess.

      1. Adam Black

        ive never seen her wear a vest that small or formfitting ?

        i thought she wanted to wear something more risque than her usual plaid vests, but then wore it over a blouse

        1. Adam Black

          https://www.itswalky.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/2017-01-07.png

          But In Walkyverse Walky thought a short vest meant AntiJoyce,
          so maybe it signals character change

          ( im agreeing with everyone else that its a vest , unless Willis says otherwise. )

        2. Schpoonman

          Daaang.

        3. clif

          OTOH https://www.dumbingofage.com/2014/comic/book-5/01-when-somebody-loved-me/march/

        4. BenRG

          I can’t see there being a conscious choice on Joyce’s part but, yes, I’m wondering if she’s feeling aggressive today.

  16. FLUFFY

    It’s just like how my dad always said “miscegenation of the rices” whenever he was having white and brown rice together.

    1. clif

      Why would anyone ruin brown rice by mixing white rice in it?

      1. Geneseepaws

        I got no answers for the heretics. Brown rice has things that are good for you besides ‘just’ calories. White rice has,… calories.

  17. drs

    Joyce’s nightmare: Dorothy will only hang out with her if Joyce eats bibimbap the proper Korean way.

    (The Korean way is to mix or mash everything together, which is great.)

    (And to use metal chopsticks, which is not great.)

    1. Mister Sparkle

      Short metal chopsticks are 100x better than disposable wooden chopsticks that have a non-zero change of putting a splinter in your tongue. FITE ME

      1. timemonkey

        Metal can give splinters as well.

        1. Liquid Len

          But those metal chopsticks are polished so smooth it’s almost impossible to pick anything up. Or get a splinter. (and I’ve had my share of metal splinters from drilling/tapping/cutting/grinding metal. not fun)

  18. Heather

    I love how wholesome Joyce and Dorothy’s relationship is. It’s like an oasis compared to how fraught and stressful some of the others can be. Probably the next closest one is like Dina and Becky in the comic. I feel instantly calmed when these two interact. Even when there’s one stressor you know they’ll work things out somehow.

  19. Bagge

    awwww. Dorothy stepping carefully around Joyce’s neuroses is beautiful.

    Everyone who hangs out with Joyce gets an education in her neuroses. Everyone.

  20. Bicycle Bill

    I take it that chicken fingers with barbecue sauce, even though is is reddish in color, is a non-starter then.  Poor girl!

    1. BenRG

      Are chicken fingers in breadcrumbs or some kind of batter covering? If so, that’s a red line for Joyce!

    2. StClair

      Most generic “American” barbecue sauce (I’m not counting the regional variations) is just ketchup with a few more spices added, so I think it should be okay?

  21. BenRG

    I suppose it’s a good thing that Joyce is aware of her neuroses and has coping strategies. It’s definitely a good thing that she’s trying to expand her horizons. It’s also a good thing that Dorothy is trying to work around her friend’s problems.

    All this aside, I agree with everyone who says that these two are cute together, whether they’re just friends or whether it ever becomes more than that.

    1. Strangeshapes

      I agree. DoA has many ship-worthy vessels, but sometimes I like just strong depictions of friendship, and college isn’t probably the best time aside from age 9 or so to get those really lifelong, move-an-apartment, move-a-body friends.

  22. Agemegos

    Chickens don’t have fingers.

    1. Agemegos

      Also: buffaloes don’t have wings.

      1. C.

        Also, chicken fingers aren’t the exact shape of a human finger.

        1. Shane

          Except sometimes, but those are “incidents” and the “media gets involved.”

      2. ValdVin

        And the Rocky Mountains don’t have oysters.

      3. Roborat

        And thank the gods for that, I wouldn’t want to be beneath a buffalo herd flying overhead when they decide to empty the holding tanks. It is bad enough being bombed by Canada Geese.

  23. Needfuldoer

    Chicken to broccoli is easy, but she’ll need an extra fork to flick off the grains of rice that stick to the bottom of the broccoli.

    1. Dean

      You pick up the broccoli with the fork, and scrape the rice off with the knife. This is covered in Joyce’s class, but separating peas from mashed potato is an advanced level subject.

  24. Bicycle Bill

    I can’t help but think that the first time Joyce is able to let herself try something with multiple ingredients cooked together as a whole — a good chicken Kiev, for example, or a German-style beef rouladen — it will go something like this:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iECwVCFjmqc

    1. Strangeshapes

      Oh, thank you. I needed that video today.

  25. Bryy

    My first thought:
    “Joyce has never been to the food court?”

    My second thought:
    “It’s only been two months, the campus is large, and Joyce has been a recluse for the vast majority of that.”

  26. Shane

    I contend mental illness is the true villain in every series.

    1. StClair

      Definitely in any Batman work.

  27. Alan in DC

    Dorothy looks incredibly cute when her hair goes uncut and unstyled for two months.
    First semester, everyone is just too busy to realize they need a haircut.

    1. Schpoonman

      In my head, Walky will see her soon and get googoo eyes. Amber sees this and musses her hair up like Amazi-Girl’s.

  28. Some Guy

    Props for the correct use of “myriad”.

  29. Masumi

    You a what’s great? Chopsticks. You get to pick out everything of one kind, then everything of the next kind, without worrying about the initial mixing state. And Joyce made me realise that is probably the reason I like chopsticks :V

  30. vivid grim

    willis can i just say: thank you for this ARFID representation (which is probably a stupid thing to thank you for since this is based off your experiences)

  31. Schpoonman

    What I’m getting from this is that you could feed Joyce some real-deal legit-shit culinary art and as long as you weren’t being the asshole about the plating (like people insist on telling me is the only way, pricks), she would happily eat it.

    1. thejeff

      Some real culinary art – as long as the meal itself didn’t involve parts mixed together. A lot of classic meat and vegetables on the side meals would be fine, but any kind of dish where they’re cooked into one thing would be a problem.

      1. Schpoonman

        Steak with pan sauce, sweet potato fries.

        1. thejeff

          According to some here, all sauces are bad and constitute food touching food, so you’ll have to have that steak without the pan sauce.

          But yes, there are even fine cuisine meals she could eat – though it would probably take some learning how to navigate a menu, since it’s often not clear from that what would be acceptable.

  32. Wakeangel2001

    cool, they got a coke freestyle machine!

  33. Suet

    It IS a different cafeteria. Whodathunk. And whodathunk it’d be organization heaven!

    Oh hey one of those preview images!

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