290

Work
Posted on October 24, 2023 by David M Willis

290 thoughts on “Work”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    KFC: BE SURE TO DUMP IT ON YOUR CHICKEN

    1. Nono

      I’ve always seen it but never tried it. Is it actually any good?

      1. Diane

        It was good until they got rid of their popcorn chicken and replaced it with nuggets. Something about the nuggets doesn’t taste right, and so I just get it plain mac and cheese now.

        1. Jo_cubstar

          What I’m really disappointed about, in Canadian KFC they used to have these bowls which were popcorn chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, and gravy… and it was delicious. And they’ve discontinued them 🙁

        2. Taffy

          The Famous Bowl? We have that in Illinois, far as I know. It’s my girlfriend’s go-to order.

        3. Needfuldoer

          You can always make it yourself if they still offer all the constituent parts separately!

        4. Queen Anthai

          Imagine Joyce faced with one of those.

        5. zee

          Since when does KFC have chicken nuggets???

        6. elebenty

          It’s been a while now, a year maybe?

          They got rid of the popcorn chicken, which was their one redeeming meat item for my (grown) kid. Their nuggets are simply chonks of meat with a light coating of the original breading. They changed the chicken strips, too. They are closer to Panko than extra crispy.

        7. LadyIslay

          But we’ll always have ketchup. And ketchup chips.

          OMG

          KD – topped with buttered crushed ketchup chips and baked.

        8. Shade

          Huh in Australia we have both still and the nuggets have been around longer than popcorn chicken.

      2. Jamie

        It’s okay. There’s a Korean place in my area that uses the same trick, but also throws in kimchi, shallots, tater tots, sliced green onion, and an egg. It’s amazing, murders my stomach, and is named the Bowl o’Shame.

        Sadly, I prefer not feeling terrible on the toilet over tasty food.

        1. BarerMender

          As my dad used to say, “You’ll have shit in the creek for a week to keep from setting the woods on fire.” Except, being a West Virginian, he said, “crick.”

        2. Freemage

          NGL, sounds worth it to me.

      3. Angel

        i mean , theres prolly a ver of it at a local chicken shop that does it better but prolly charges you 4x as much tho i suppose if you had the time and patience and confidence in ur cooking skills (even with instructions ppl can still mess up, no shame in that tho) you could prolly make a version yourself to ur liking

      4. Myth

        Honestly, it is exactly what it sounds like: it’s KFC’s mac and cheese side, with KFC chicken on it. I found it… underwhelming, personally. I usually order a Famous Bowl, so my standards aren’t particularly high or anything.

  2. shadowcell

    panel 4: joyce experiences pants euphoria

    1. fridge_logic

      I’m really really happy to see Dorothy spending friend time with Joyce. I also ship them at times like these but I want to make it clear that the platonic love is more important.

      1. Needfuldoer

        I just hope this isn’t a setup for another “teachable moment” where she again tries to convince Joyce to dump Joe.

      2. BarerMender

        Yeah, but hot girl-on-girl action is more fun.

        1. Meeks

          Perfect Gravatar moment

    2. DashWallkick

      I’m honestly not sure what her reaction is, I *want* to believe she’s delighted and thankful but given that she’s not flushed in the cheeks and her follow up question of suspicion I wonder if she’s concerned. Like in a “This doesn’t sound like you at all” kind of way. Especially since she just said she’d be busy with work and she funneled it into “this is work for me.” Like Dot is showing up and doing this willingly and unprompted; Joyce might be thinking, “Are you…alright?”

      Dunno, we’ll see! Unless a Patron wants to tell us ahead of time.

      1. Daibhid C

        Which would be a good thing for her to think, since Dorothy is very much not alright.

      2. HueSatLight

        spoiling would be very bad form for them.

  3. Dave Van Domelen

    Ah, cutting away from the violence.

    1. Sirksome

      Second time that’s happened for Lucy specifically.

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2023/comic/book-13/04-but-dont-give-yourself-away/treat/

      https://www.dumbingofage.com/2023/comic/book-14/01-everybodys-looking-for-nothing/raised-2/

      Starting to develop a neat little pattern.

      1. Vanessa

        Supervillian origin story

      2. Reaver

        Funny how when Sarah says the horrible thing about Lucy being a passing phase/nobody everyone is cool with it. But when it’s Linda oHHh shit gotta fite.

        Poor Lucy getting this shit from Walky’s friend group and his parents

        1. Daibhid C

          Funny how when Sarah responds to Lucy calling her a bad friend (not entirely without reason) by questioning whether Lucy is even part of the friend group “everyone” is cool with it, but when Linda says she’s dragging Walky down with her blackness, that’s worse, somehow.

          Also, I’ve just skimmed the comments on that strip, and there’s a lot of people here who don’t count as part of “everyone”, apparently. Heck, I didn’t even attempt to defend Sarah on that one, because it was a crappy thing to say (even though I don’t think it was thespecific crappy thing to say everyone else thought it was).

        2. PB

          Unlike Linda, Sarah has demonstrated actual care for those around her in a way beyond them being puppets for her ego. /nbr

        3. bleepbloop

          People were definitely pissed when Sarah said that even though it came after Lucy had said something presumptuous about her.

        4. Butt Sir

          Yep. Plus this time it’s not “only” about Lucy being under fire. This time Lucy is mainly pissed about how Linda talks down on Walky.

        5. HueSatLight

          Sarah responded in kind to Lucy being mean to her. Linda, out of the blue, was racist. Incidentally showing Sarah was right, regarding the shenanigans to end racism plan.

        6. Synnerman

          Also Sarah was responding to Lucy prattling Raidiah’s bullshit. (No I’m probably never going to spell her name properly)

        7. Devin

          Funny how people react differently to different situations.

      3. MM

        Third time’s the explosion?

    2. foamy

      There was supposed to be an Earth-shattering kaboom!

  4. Amós Batista

    Shit, I’m still ship them…?

    1. RassilonTDavros

      I will never not ship them.

    2. Proxiehunter

      This strip is certainly bringing peoples shipping of Dorothy and Joyce to a middle.

  5. JA

    That cutaway tease.

    1. Wraithy2773

      …well, it’s not quite “Steve Eating Cereal”, but its close…

      1. Quirdry Tawks

        QC refs ftw! ?

      2. Butt Sir

        Also, damn I need to re-read QC sometime again.

        1. Butt Sir

          Hmm… the link was supposed to read Cutaway to Dina Eating Cereal

  6. Doctor_Who

    Joyce had better ask Joe his opinions on Kraft Mac and Cheese real quick, because if they don’t align sufficiently the relationship is doomed.

    1. Angel

      i think joe knows her preferences by now but he could just flavor his after rather than sharing a large batch from a big bowl (tho that’d be kinda self serve anyways)

  7. Nono

    Wonder how the rest of the cast has mac and cheese.

    1. Leorale

      Mike just had it with hot sauce if he was alone. If somebody else was present, with canned pineapple, solely to annoy them. If the person was your mom, obv, with a nickel.

      Walky: with sliced hotdogs, and extra cheese.

      Jacob: with peas, broccoli, and a can of tuna for protein.

      Booster: Has a shaker of Italian mixed spices for just this purpose.

      Jennifer: however somebody else made it for her.

      Ethan: Batman shapes. Also, salted with his own tears.

      1. Steelbright

        This is perfect and i can find no additions

        1. NGPZ

          What about Dina? Certaintly she’d love dinosaur shared pasta! ?

        2. NGPZ

          *shaped

        3. Mark

          She might be thrilled to share pasta with a dinosaur.

        4. Daibhid C

          I can see Dina disliking it because the shapes don’t have enough detail for her to judge their accuracy.

        5. Thanatos

          I can see Dina saying she doesn’t like it because the shapes don’t have enough detail for her to judge their accuracy, giving it a suspicious glare, then eating it anyway because even potentially inaccurate dinosaur macaroni and cheese is still dinosaur macaroni and cheese.

        6. Leorale

          Totally agree re: Dina. Also if Becky’s the one making it, she spoils her a little: steamed broccoli if Dina’s wearing her triceri-top, or chicken if Dina’s being a carnivore.

          Sal and Marcie: BBQ sauce

          Grace, Mandy, & Sierra prefer Annie’s, because it’s fair trade

          Mary: Bacon bits.

          Robin: Pixie stix.

          Carla’s family’s chef didn’t make Kraft, so she isn’t nostalgic for any particular method. However, she’d enjoy serving it to / throwing it at somebody, via elaborately self-aggrandizing machine.

          Sarah: hotdogs, mustard, solitude.

          Charlie: we’re just glad she didn’t burn the kitchen down.

        7. Taffy

          I’m a little worried about why Mary would go with bacon bits.

        8. NGPZ

          because Mary’s a pig?

        9. Leorale

          Because Mary’s a pig.

          Also, middle-class American Christian in Indiana, whose parents are perfectly nice and pleasant and normal (as per Word of God). I was going for common middle-American banality, not, like, chopped spiders. I imagined Mary’s parents might have bacon bits on the table and basically put them on everything.
          There’s probably also a metaphor here for how bacon bits get everywhere, but I didn’t think that hard about it.

        10. Taffy

          For some reason, my mind went directly to “She developed the habit at a young age so she wouldn’t have to share with the Jewish kid in her class, because she’s that much of a petty bigot.”

        11. Leorale

          I mean, it definitely didn’t hurt my association that bacon bits are specifically treif (non-kosher).

          I just don’t want to insult all the American Christians on this here website, who might like bacon bits and aren’t Mary.
          #NotAllGoyim.

      2. Angel

        i feel like jen would prolly have a ‘lighter’ ver like either baked or milder cheeses/calorie conscious if not being one of those asians that’s lactose (i’m not technically lactose but i never have more than one cup of milk before bed/that large a portion lol doesn’t stop me from eating ice cream tho)

      3. WalkerOfSorrow

        Well if that’s true, I’m stealing Walky’s and Jacob’s, first chance I get. If I have to choose one, Jacob’s.

      4. Dara

        Okay, take Jacob’s, use shell-shaped pasta instead of standard noodle, add some booster seasoning of your choice (a little siracha, the abovementioned pepper, some specifically _seasoned pepper_ because that shit absolutely kills the canned taste out of anything) and you end up with a really good low-effort casserole where the shell-shaped pasta wraps itself around the peas and becomes a real gestalt.

        If you want to go nuts, toast some panko in a buttered frying pan with a little more pepper and sprinkle over it as you serve it.

  8. C.T. Phipps

    At last, Dorothy will make her move on Joyce and realize their love.

    1. John Campbell

      I’m picturing them doing the Lady and the Tramp thing with a macaroni.

      1. BarerMender

        IJBOL!

        1. BarerMender

          (Not sarcastic.)

  9. NGPZ

    Awwweeeeee ?? Way to go Dorothy!

    Imma have some Mac and Cheese myself right now! ??

    with a secret ingredient if you can guess ?

    1. HueSatLight

      roasted radishes?

      1. Quirdry Tawks

        Wait wat.

        1. NGPZ

          exactly. and nope!

        2. Leorale

          Not a secret ingredient, a “special” ingredient. But I’m no snitch

    2. Steelbright

      Nutmeg?

      1. NGPZ

        nope! (none of you are gonna figure it out are you?)

        1. BarerMender

          Black mustard seed, ground in your big granite mortar with your big granite pestle.

        2. NGPZ

          Looks like imma have to give another hint.

          It comes from a tree native to India and Central Asia.

        3. HueSatLight

          toasted almonds

        4. BarerMender

          Can only be cinnamon.

        5. NGPZ

          Here’s another hint: Carla also enjoys this ingredient, but as far as we know, she doesn’t primarily consume it by eating it 😉

        6. HueSatLight

          adoration?

        7. Miri

          Is this an ingredient generally referred to as a herb or weed, good for relaxation and pain relief, popular recreationally amongst students, and recent legislation in parts of the US has made it either legal or legal for medical purposes?

        8. NGPZ

          Ding ding ding!

          Yee, I made cannabis infused Mac and Cheese! ?

        9. HueSatLight

          not a tree, so I’m still guessing almonds

  10. Sirksome

    Ketchup in mac n cheese? WitchKraft!

    1. Proxiehunter

      Obviously you should use pizza sauce.

      1. NGPZ

        mustard! make it taste like sharp cheddar ? ?

  11. brionl

    IMNSHO, Anne’s Organic is the best Mac & Cheese in a box. Any of the flavors are good. As long as you stay away from the god-awful Gluten Free one.

    1. Sajuuk-Khar

      TRUTH

    2. Quirdry Tawks

      Probably true, but there are times you just really need that lovely orange processed powdered cheese food product. The kind of orange you can see from space. The kind of orange that’d fit right in on Koningsdag.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Yes!

        Just remember to devour it all before it sets. For whatever reason, that stuff never reheats right after it’s been in the fridge.

    3. NGPZ

      Kraft has a gluten free version if ya wanna check that out

    4. Angel

      i don’t mind some instant foods but some of the powder was too strong for me, even the kinda liquidy sauce was a bit meh but also a bit odd b/c the portion was way too much for the shell shaped noodles tho it might’ve been catered to an american palette. i dont mind the baked mac a local fast food chain has but a few other places that has had mac as a side is also a bit strong (tho i guess i usually prefer swiss/any thing other than pepperoni and grilled cheese i don’t eat a lot of melted cheese [and this ‘macaroni’ salad some hawaiian/asian place had was surprisingly good/light white sauce even tho i normally hate mayo unless it’s something else])

    5. Dara

      yeah if you’re looking for quality vs. nostalgia this is definitely the way to go

      this is the shell-shaped pasta I was talking about above when I was going off about legitimate low-effort casserole.

    6. Needfuldoer

      I wish “gluten free pasta” was better. Some of it isn’t bad, but a lot is still grainy, mealy, and unpleasant. (I have no problem with regular ol’ semolina pasta, but people with celiac shouldn’t have to suffer any more for it! Maybe the whole “going gluten free by choice” trend will help advance development on better choices, like “going sugar free” helped give diabetics more choices than saccharin and aspartame.)

  12. Just an Armadillo

    Damnit Dorothy, you even have to make Kraft Dinner a whole-ass thing. I get exhausted just looking at you.

    1. Devin

      Adding pepper to her own portion is making it a whole-ass thing?

      1. MrBookBoy

        I think it’s more that she’s going back into martyr mode and framing the mac-n-cheese as a huge burden to make Joyce happy.

        1. Just an Armadillo

          That was what I was referring to, yes.

  13. Van Jealous

    Ruth has the right idea. Cold Kraft’s M&C with Hunt’s Ketchup on it is the best!

    1. DailyBrad

      My dad used to put ketchup on his. Not my thing, but I suppose I can see how it works, same with pepper.

      (Myself, I just tend to put a kraft single torn up in with the mac and cheese to thicken it up.)

    2. Needfuldoer

      You spelled Heinz wrong. 😛

      1. Van Jealous

        Hunt’s ketchup….not Heinz.

        1. Needfuldoer

          I know what you wrote.

          At least get French’s. Hunt’s ketchup is as bland as their plain canned sauce. 😛

      2. Mark

        You spelled Brooks’ wrong.

    3. Roborat

      My variant uses salsa instead of ketchup.

  14. Bittersweet

    Dorothy, you’re sounding really… bad right now. Like, “someone call your parents” bad.

    Idk, maybe she always has a bit more formality to her manner of speaking, but she’s sounding really robotic here. From personal experience that’s like the last step before a complete severe breakdown.

    Basically, I’m just worried about her is all. I could be misreading and she could be sounding totally normal with appropriately mild enthusiasm about impending Kraft Mac and cheese.

    1. drs

      I took this as healing. She’s not cutting herself off from Joyce like a dumbass. And she’s smiling in panel 3.

      1. DashWallkick

        Yeah, plus remember what Amber said, focus on what you really enjoy in yourself. For this it’s taking care of Joyce, because they’re friends and she loves her, not *literally the entire world at once*. She’s centering herself, I think. Or at least taking a step to realize what she was doing is not sustainable.

        1. Mark

          Start small, with something you know you can do, then work your way up.

    2. justin8448

      I think this is Dorothy, at bare minimum, coming to terms with the fact that she needs to change. She understands that what she was doing wasn’t working anymore.

      That’s a great first step, but there could still be more breakdowns along the way.

      1. Steelbright

        Yeah this is like, actually listening to Joyce’s preferences and being nurturing and spending time together, rather than judging and nitpicking, feels like progress. Maybe she’s rethinking what “helping everybody else” means. Still not so great to think of yourself as not worthy of help, but… Progress!

    3. moriarty70

      When has adding parents in ever helped a situation with this crowd?

      1. Bittersweet

        Dorothy’s seem pretty nice and even-keeled. If their daughter was going through a bout of depression they seem like the sort that would come and try to help her, rather than drag her away from college or berate her.

  15. Cholma

    College dorms have actual kitchens? That surprises me for some reason.

    1. Raven

      If it’s anything like my old dorm it’s one communal kitchen for the whole building. Bigger dorms I could see having one per wing or something

    2. drs

      My college’s dorms had kitchens in every hallway.

      Needed them, the meal plan was only for lunch and dinner weekdays, weekends on our own.

    3. Dan

      My dorm had a kitchen in the basement – I thought they all did.
      I never used it since I had a hot plate in my room.

    4. Quirdry Tawks

      That’s nuttin. My grad school was the only uni I’d ever heard of with its own bar.

      Basement of the student union, dim, loud, always packed… Ah the mems.

      1. drs

        No bar, though some dorm parties were allowed alcohol with putative carding. But we did have a student-run ‘Coffeehouse’ in the basement — more about the burgers, jalapeno cheese sticks, soft drinks, etc.

      2. BarerMender

        That sounds like the bar at my school. It was called a “coffee shop,” but it was a simple beer joint. Got some good musicians, though. John Jackson. Donal Leace. John Miller (blues musician).

      3. Mano308gts

        I think having an on-campus bar is not-so-rare in countries where the drinking age is equal to the age of incoming freshmen (18); I attended grad school in Ireland and my university had a bar on campus, that doubled as a decent food place for breakfast. I know some other universities in Ireland also have bars, but not all.

        1. Daibhid C

          Yeah, Edinburgh (where I went to fail at physics due to undiagnosed dyscalculia) has a sports bar in the Teviot, the main student union building, I think two bars in the Potterrow “student hub”, and a there used to be a fourth in the Pleasance building where the SF&F Society used to meet, but it’s a cafe now. I don’t drink, so I only ever went to the Pleasance for Skiffyoc meetings.

    5. Angel

      i’d hope they’d have something in a break room, if ur living in a dorm i assume you wouldn’t always want to go to the cafeteria and/or affording takeout each weekend

    6. Mark

      Me, too. I never lived in a dorm, but I helped my (future) wife move in/out over summer breaks and I don’t recall seeing any kitchen.

    7. sdrainbow

      My sophomore dorm had a kitchenette in the lobby, but none of the freshman dorms did.

    8. thejeff

      I think they’ve become a lot more common since my day.
      We weren’t even allowed to have hot plates in our rooms, though everyone did.

      Just supposed to starve on weekends, I think.

    9. zee

      Well yeah. Are college students not expected to cook? The girls on my floor are always marinating and frying chicken or making salmon or shrimp or something.

      1. Cholma

        I guess I expected them to be like military dorms. Two beds/desks per room, and either a shared bath between rooms or a single community shower/toilet on each floor. Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner all served at the campus dining facility/cafeteria.

  16. Chiatroll

    Wait wait.. we got to go back to walky and lucy sir.

    Turn the camera around.

    1. Icalasari

      Don’t worry, we’ll cut back to Walky’s Egg Donor being atomized, I’m sure

    2. HueSatLight

      I’m worried she just bottled it up, and switching scenes is to advance time without showing the non-response.

      1. Mark

        I’ve assumed that time is retreating, not advancing, in the scene changes: these are all happening concurrently.

        1. HueSatLight

          I hope so. So far, she’s only bottled up her frustrations and unleashed it at the person the “popular” people directed her at.

    3. Woof McGee

      Not yet! Maybe six months

  17. Yotomoe

    Part6 (NSFW)
    Would you believe me if I said I still have a bit more in me?

    1. Proxiehunter

      I’m shocked, shocked I tell you. I could never believe you would have more in you.

    2. DailyBrad

      I can believe it. I also love her teasing about what he’s off to do.

    3. Taffy

      If nobody has pointed this out yet, your dialogue feels very in-character for Joe and Amber.

      1. BarerMender

        Agree.

    4. Quirdry Tawks

      ‘Believe’? Like we weren’t hoping? ?

    5. HueSatLight

      not seeing the ‘thump thump thump’ from upstairs anymore.

      1. Yotomoe

        Haha it’s still happening. Probably just a lull while they’re shifting positions.

    6. Quirdry Tawks

      Oh. Em. Effin. GEE.

      Yoto you’re brilliant. Thank you for sharing it with us. ❤️

    7. PirateTawnee

      Reading the comment before I tab over to the link, and it sounds like *someone* needs a bit more in them.

      1. BarerMender

        Or in someone else.

    8. Alan in DC

      “I would have rocked your world”.
      Wow… big change from her encounter with Danny: “I really don’t know what I’m doing. It’s just the mask.”
      Well, good for her!

      1. deliverything

        I hope so, but… well, I know a lot of gamers like to claim to be more skilled than they actually are, especially when they don’t have to prove it. She might just be approaching this subject the same way.

        Of course, she could well be right anyway, if for no other reason than that Yotomoe probably doesn’t want to depict disappointing sex.

        1. Yotomoe

          That almost seems like a skill. Draw out a sex scene of canonically bad sex.

        2. Mturtle7

          Reminds me of the Literary Review’s Bad Sex in Fiction Award! https://literaryreview.co.uk/bad-sex-in-fiction-award

    9. Amós Batista

      dick is getting angry

    10. milu

      gotta squeeze out every last drop of that horniness, Yoto.

    11. Jeff K!

      How on earth did I not notice this was happening until tonight?
      Most days I click to the previous day and search for “yoto” just to see if there’s bonus comic, and I somehow missed five whole strips?!?

      Excellent work as always, Yotomoe!

  18. Proxiehunter

    Damn you Willis!

  19. Synnerman

    Holy dramatic blue balls.

  20. Icalasari

    Dorothy is making MAC N CHEESE AND NOBODY CAN STOP HER!

  21. DailyBrad

    I take it as a good sign Dorothy insists on making at least some her way. She needs to not deny herself at least some pleasures.

  22. Call Me Deacon Blues

    This reminds me of when I first made mac and cheese for my ex. I’ve never been much for boxed mac and cheese (yes, I realize this makes me a weirdo), but when I do make it on rare occasions, I always add extra cheese to it. Like, shredded cheese, or a torn up American slice, or shredded parmesan if I’ve got it (or some grated parmesan dust if not), or a little Velveeta, or whatever. So I made the mac and cheese and without thinking I just added extra cheese… and she got so mad at me she started CRYING. Because I ruined it. Admittedly, I didn’t think to ask before adding it, but she also didn’t tell me that adding cheese would cause her to have a meltdown lol.

    Ironically, when she calmed down, she later admitted it was better that way. Oh well lol

    1. Call me Deacon Blues

      Gravatar roulette

      Also, before anyone asks, she wasn’t on the spectrum or anything (at least she never had a diagnosis or any symptoms). But she did have a habit of making small things into big things

      Like her refusing to eat the Big Mac meal from McDonalds because I accidentally ordered a medium fry instead of a large one. Because if it wasn’t going to be enough food she wasn’t going to eat it at all, threw it away, drove off for about 6 hours to cool off, and then went to McDonalds to get another Big Mac meal. Sigh…

      1. Call Me Deacon Blues

        Apparently I don’t understand how gravatar roulette works

        1. TheHorseCouncil

          Did you change the capitalization on your email?
          Thats what I usually do.

      2. not someone else

        As someone who absolutely is on the spectrum, I have absolutely had a meltdown because there was something wrong with my Mac and Cheese, but I would never throw away a good meal because of an accident on size. Especially if I wouldn’t be made fun of for just getting more fries or something.

        I am now forcibly reminded of the sheer amount of food-related trauma I have…

        1. not someone else

          Gotta love missing a forward slash.

      3. Needfuldoer

        “There is not enough food, therefore I will eat no food at all.”

        Yikes.

        1. Taffy

          The only appropriate response to that behavior is “Then starve.”

      4. Proxiehunter

        She never had any symptoms the poster says as they describe some of the symptoms she had.

    2. Sirksome

      I don’t think it’s weird to not like boxed mac n cheese. I was raised on homemade mac n cheese. You bake it usually. Lots of church potlucks, cookouts, stuff like that. It’s weird to me when boxed is considered “the good stuf” when it’s always just been a “I don’t wanna cook tonight” alternative. Probably just cultural differences.

      1. Leorale

        I think if a person grows up on it, it often becomes a comfort food. It’s very easy, very predictable, you can make it come out exactly the same as how you had it when you were a kid.
        For Joyce, it’s also a Safefood.
        Either way, the secret ingredient is nostalgia, and you and I just haven’t got it.

      2. thejeff

        The trick is not thinking of them as the same food. They’re both good, but they’re completely different things.

    3. Angel

      ppl can get emotional over random things, i’d only be mad if someone took something i bought and made it without permission versus that but i’m not a huge fan of cheese overall compared ot most americans, or can tolerate some of it’s mild/prefer a lighter taste/used to pizza

    4. Hof1991

      If you’re weird then I am too. Boxed product in question has no actual cheese in it. Never liked it. Won’t eat it. If I have time and desire I can make macaroni with cheese. Probably have six different kinds of ? on hand.

      1. Angel

        Yeah, unless it’s like dirt cheap to just buy a box of it, you could easily just buy a box of just the noodles and buy separate cheeses of your liking lol

  23. HueSatLight

    Just adding pepper is still practically plain, Dorothy.

    1. Nathan

      Right?? Her idea of making it fancy is the second most basic seasoning of our culture, barely a step up from salt
      .

      1. Taffy

        Nobody said it was fancy, though…

    2. Angel

      maybe she doesn’t eat it often enough to bother going ‘all out’ on seasoning it, if not for a lack of seasoning available on the kitchen stock

      Something like plain/buttered noodles i’m fine with b/c i’m basic af but i wouldn’t mind like, lemon pepper/garlic salt maybe or so

  24. Dday

    Is adding ketchup a Canadian thing? Like ketchup chips?

    1. Quirdry Tawks

      Not sure. Only other place I’ve seen it was on Kids In The Hall, soooo maybe?

    2. Angel

      they add ketchups on omlettes/omurice in japan too so might depend on the country. tho i can imagine some places like the south would add hot sauce for a bit of a ‘kick’ to balance out hte creaminess

    3. Mano308gts

      Ketchup in Mac and cheese is a known, if uncommon, choice among East Coast USA peeps… Certainly not a rare enough thing to cause confusion or surprise.

  25. Bo

    Dorothy: “My work is making everyone ‘s lives better :)”

    Ruth: “And that includes me, right?…”

    Dorothy: ” Anyway…”

    1. Angel

      well, they aren’t exactly close but i imagine maybe dorothy would think of another way to pay her back after the last time she supervised her drinking or so

    2. PirateTawnee

      Dorothy: “My work is making everyone ‘s lives better :)”

      Inner Dorothy: “And that includes me, right?…”

      Dorothy: ” Anyway…”

      1. StClair

        Dorothy will pass out trying to help just one more person before putting on her own mask.
        And when she wakes up, blame herself. For passing out.

  26. ValdVin

    D: We’re out of ketchup.
    R: I can squeeze some out of my chips

    1. Mym

      I weep, missing ketchup chips

      1. Needfuldoer

        I wish ketchup chips and hickory sticks were easier to find in the US. (Never been to Canada myself, but a former coworker went regularly and always brought the good stuff back.)

  27. Francoinblanco

    Dorothy becomes a real politician. under the guise of taking care of everyone, she only cares about her own people

    1. Coatl

      Well, that’s how it’s supposed to be. Ensure the well-being of a nation

      1. NGPZ

        family, tribe, nation — all human inventions designed to solve the problem of Me vs Us. However effective they may be, they always leave us with the higher order problem of Us vs Them.

        1. Coatl

          indeed

  28. AeromechanicalAce

    Nah, Best mac N cheese has hot dogs, garlic, and extra shredded cheese.

    1. Angel

      be interesting to see ppl react to a blind taste test and see which is most popular. (tho i think after adding a specific amount of meat/extra in gradients when does it stop becoming ‘mac and cheese’ and just a ‘meat and pasta dish with melted cheese’ lol)

      1. Anon A Mouse

        Lasagna? Mac and cheese with some meat in it. Its all mac anf cheese.

        1. Needfuldoer

          The lazy shortcut way to make lasagna is to just make ravioli in meat sauce.

    2. Mark

      Ham.

  29. Taffy

    Dorothy is looking extremely “I would willingly kiss a girl if she asked me to” today.

    1. not someone else

      It’s the untucked dress shirt. Especially if there’s a few buttons down in front. Huge bisexual vibes.

      1. eh, whatever

        what

        1. Jamie

          As far as I can tell, the internet has decided that sitting crooked and being slightly askew in general is how you determine that someone is bisexual. Which is weird, because none of the bisexual people I know feel a need to do any of that stuff.

          I think they just want to have some stereotypes.

      2. Angel

        other than getting caught on something i wouldn’t think ‘untucked’ shirts necessarily look unpro or so, unless it’s like super long compared to your pants but i’d prefer shirts to be a bit longer so my midriff doesn’t accidentally show if i move around/stretch plus you could prolly ‘get away’ with wearing sweat pants that are a certain texture/darker color versus jeans if your shirt is covering where a zipper would normally show (not that ppl should really care too much lol)

    2. Sajuuk-Khar

      This is Dorothy. She needs the girl to follow a trail of extremely subtextual clues that will break Dorothy’s heart if she even gets one wrong, THEN ask Dorothy to kiss her but not directly.

  30. HueSatLight

    this is an improvement over “by being president of the United States of America or equivalent successor nation”. Need to drop the “else”. And scale back the every.

    1. Angel

      i’m sure she still sees joyce as a huge ‘fixer upper’ even tho she’s gotten better since the beginning of their college days as long as it doesn’t devolve into some toxic codependency lol

    2. Keulen

      I think the main problem with Dorothy wanting to become president to make everyone else’s lives better was her thinking she could do that by becoming president. Maybe in a country where the political system works for the working people, but not here in the US where the political system works for the very wealthy.

  31. Jo_cubstar

    I add real shredded cheese to mine, broccoli, roasted red pepper, whatever kind of meat I have on hand, sometimes bread crumbs, and then bake it for a double-baked kind of deal.

    1. HueSatLight

      the crunchy top is a special treat.

    2. Quirdry Tawks

      When I’m making it from scratch I try to undercook the elbows a lil bit, then fish em in the oven. Done it with and without a Panko crust. My oh-my-gawd favorite is to make it with diced ham and lots of jalapeños. Om nom nom.

      1. Quirdry Tawks

        *finish. Jeez.

    3. Angel

      i never esp disliked broccoli (tho i tended to eat teh stems more than the tops unless it was made in a restaurant/takeout compared to parents cooking) but i liked caulifower a bit more

  32. UrsulaDavina

    On one hand this could be good or bad but its a bold strategy cotton let’s see if it pays off for her

  33. Amós Batista

    Can a box of Mac n’ cheese serve 2 people?
    My instant macaroni parameter is Lamen. So, it seems like one portion is small for an adult. Right?

    1. miz

      a standard sized box of kraft mac n cheese as depicted in the above strip is 7.5 oz dry, or somewhat less than 3 cups cooked. in theory, that’s 3 servings per box.

      1. miz

        (in practice, i would happily eat the whole box in one sitting by myself if no one stopped me)

        1. rjmmbc

          I did that once. It was delicious and I regretted it immensely.

        2. Amós Batista

          “at first 3 seconds, it totally worth it”
          O’Marlley, Amber

          (Also, me)

    2. Taffy

      I assume they’re not necessarily eating it to get full, if they’re splitting the box.

    3. Quirdry Tawks

      I’m a fairly, um, big girl, and I eat about like you’d expect. But yeah, one box of M/C will feed me twice. Unless I am really depressed.

    4. Mym

      Box says it’s 4 servings

      1. Mark

        I have always wanted to meet the miniature people who determine serving sizes on food packages.

        1. Hof1991

          Small serving sizes let them list fewer calories per serving.

        2. Mym

          You’re supposed to eat it in addition to vegetables and a protein

        3. thejeff

          That’s not a thing though.

          It’s like those old ads for breakfast cereals where it was “part of this nutritious breakfast” and the breakfast shown is like fruit and eggs and juice and would be just as nutritious without the sugar cereal.

        4. Mym

          It’s almost as if kraft M/C is just junk food. The serving size should be small because it shouldn’t be eaten as a meal

        5. StClair

          “adjacent to this complete breakfast.”

    5. HueSatLight

      In the US, macaroni is only elbows. In Italy they count more noodles than just elbows.

      1. Mym

        Arms and cheese

        1. BarerMender

          Good one.

      2. Taffy

        What part of the US are you basing that off of? Everyone I’ve ever met IRL counts everything from elbows to spirals to mini bowties to shells to those ones little straight ones with the pinhole in them. If the pasta is under an inch and you’re coating it in one of several cheese sauces, that’s mac & cheese here.

        1. HueSatLight

          Missouri. Shells and cheese is like mac and cheese, but its shells. if we don’t call it macaroni when there’s no cheese, then it’s not mac and cheese. If I ordered mac and cheese, and got cheesy bow ties, I wouldn’t trust anything made by that person/restaurant to be what they claimed and would rather have hunger pains.

      3. zee

        In Jamaica some people call all pasta macaroni. I always found it annoying but I guess it’s technically more authentic, who knew

        1. Proxiehunter

          If you’re Yankee Doodle you call a feather in your hat macaroni.

        2. Jamie

          I mean, there are places where people call any kind of soft drink “pepsi”, so.

    6. Angel

      i’m sure dorothy’s calculated the exact amount they need for their own portions and seconds based on the last time they ate together
      tho given how ‘bottomless pits’ some teens are they might need more

  34. Mym

    I hope
    They do

    L a u n d r y

    1. clif

      Mmm.

  35. HueSatLight

    1 box makes about 700 mL.

    1. HueSatLight

      @Amós

    2. Amós Batista

      450mL for each one. Seems so few. What’s about 2 boxes of Mac ‘n Cheese?

      (Look how I webt straight to your comment. Too lazy to calculate to Metric System)

      1. LiterallyJustSomeGuy

        Half of 700mL is 350mL. Double of 700mL is 1400mL.

        1. Amós Batista

          I’m hungry.

  36. Quirdry Tawks

    Oh gosh. I was not expecting Dotty to act so… adjusted? Would that be the right word?

    1. Angel

      unless she’s just on a manic ‘high’ and just hiding it/knowing joyce’s issues might be ‘easy’ to solve or just wanting to check in on how her and joe are doing

    2. Bash

      I think this is a distraction from the real problem.

      1. Proxiehunter

        Sometimes that’s an unhealthy coping mechanism other times it’s what you need for a while to process and put the real problem in proper proportion instead of blowing it up to be bigger than it really is.

  37. Coatl

    I dare say it’s a good start.

  38. Acher4

    I like that from the clothes and Ruth talking,
    this comes just after the two patreon bonus comics. :O

  39. Angel

    ok but what brand of ketchup?

    1. rjmmbc

      There’s only one brand of ketchup. Heinz.
      (Ok, and a second weirdly delicious brand of organic ketchup at a restaurant near me but they don’t have it anymore so my point stands.)

    2. Mr D

      Malloa

  40. Moon

    I put either a little yellow mustard or honey dijon in the cheese sauce personally

  41. thakoru

    Amber did tell her to focus on things that bring her joy, and this is a perfect example. I’m not a very good cook, but I do get a lot of joy from cooking for other people, even (especially?) when it’s something simple like Mac and cheese. Cooking for yourself sucks, because it’s always easier to just heat something up or go to McDonalds or whatever. But cooking for other people lets you focus on the process instead of how hungry you are, besides just feeling nice to do things for people.

    1. Angel

      yeah money and time aside, shame it’s not more of a ‘thing’ for ppl to host potlucks, if not like culinary arts students hosting a dinner every weekend or so, unless it’s something more ‘upper class’ students would have the budget for but even a casual hangout is possible but i guess ppl would just order in pizza or takeout unless your group of friends is known for foodies/likes to cook as a hobby

      tho i can see the appeal of ordering out too, even if someone loved you unconditionally, i’m not boterhing someone in the middle of their sleep at like, 3 am if i want some scrambled eggs and would either make it myself or go to a diner lol https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODYfkPxdy8c or it’d end up something like this lol

  42. Bobcat

    Damn you Willis, way to leave us on a cliffhanger!

  43. Dara

    years from now, when married, they will accidentally re-enact this scene after a fight and only realise they’d done so… later. ^_^

  44. DarkoNeko

    the floor’s common kitchen huh.

  45. BOOSTER SHOT

    This should be the most commented upon strip

  46. Da Boy

    Whaaaaat!? Damn drama-blocked by Willis again!
    Ohh Dotty likes it spicy, I like her.

  47. Thomas

    The dorm floor’s kitchen which we haven’t seen very often, if at all.

    The unrealistic aspect being how clean the damn space is. Common kitchens like these are often incredibly filthy. I guess Dorothy must have cleaned all of it, huh. Or Ruth is still frightening enough to enforce a strict cleaning schedule.

  48. Felian

    My love language is getting made food exactly the way my neurodivergent taste buds AND eyes need it to be <3

  49. Alan in DC

    Crumbled well-done bacon.
    Not bits in a jar, but the real thing.

  50. Jimmy

    I have a cup of chocolate milk with my mac & cheese. Is that weird? Probably.

    1. HueSatLight

      makes sense if mac and cheese was on the menu once every week or two in elementary school.

  51. monkyvirus

    Firstly we need to get back to Lucy. Secondly, Joyce Dorothy is being really weird. Her work is making everyone else’s lives better??? Someone sit her down with a cup of tea and check in. Do not be distracted by mac and cheese!

  52. milu

    just gonna shill my nonstagram again, i post mostly smut and (smutty) DOA fanart. Obviously it is NSFW 18+ lol.

    a while back i started a porn-y story feat Marcie & Malaya, i didn’t finish it (barely started really) because i kept going back and fiddling, but i kinda lost interest on the way so i’m gonna post what drawings i do have, context-free and incoherent as they are.

    maybe not all in one go so that i have an excuse to put this link up a few more times =P

    (yes i’m whoring for compliments but a) don’t whore-shame, and b) i think it’s possible some people what would appreciate my silly horny art are not yet aware of it, so i’m really being super selfless and cool actually)

    1. HueSatLight

      These would make the ancient Greeks blush. [thumbs up emoji]

  53. raultsi

    OMG – Ruth eats it like my family used to. 5 kids growing up, one salaried income. We ate a lot of Mac and Cheese.

    With broiled sausages or scrambled hamburger, and a veggie.

  54. Suet

    This is a nice start… yeah why wasn’t this one the birthday strip for Mrs. Willis instead (lemme have it, I guess)

    A counterpoint to Ruth making her own Kraft Dinner: this monstrosity

    1. NGPZ

      This strip went up 9 pm PST on 10/23, so technically it was her birthday strip over here

  55. Bryy

    Dorothy, you’re not supposed to make epiphanies work for you.

  56. HoopsieDaisy

    There’s nothing wrong to adding ingredients after the fact, but the cooking instructions are there for a reason. Trust the food scientists that worked to perfect the formula.

    1. Proxiehunter

      Sometimes a little mad science in the kitchen makes it better though.

    2. Da Boy

      Food scientists have been demonizing fat and pushing low-fat for half a century to cover up the damage cigarettes did so… eh, they are kind of on thin ice.

    3. thejeff

      It’s not really like the “food scientists” creating Kraft Dinner are focused on either nutrition or actual quality.
      It’s all about cheap and addictive.
      Adding more flavoring to your personal tastes or adding ingredients to make it more of a complete meal doesn’t break anything meaningful.

    4. Jamie

      “Trust the food scientists” is possibly the most disturbing comment on this strip.

      1. Hambone Jones

        Good job reading that completely out of the context of the first half of the sentence. I bet you can make everything real spooky this Halloween season.

  57. RoyanRannedos

    All the fanciest…dijon ketchups!

    1. thejeff

      Only if I had a million dollars.

  58. Rabisch

    I wonder if Dorothy wants to have a serious talk about the future with Joyce while they’re eating. One of those who need the warm light given by candles… Of course Ruth will hear everything and give her lots of advice.

  59. zee

    Okay here’s my Mac n cheese hot take, inherited from my brother. I don’t eat the stovetop stuff much but I love easy Mac, specifically replacing the ⅓ cup water with 1 cup milk. Bonus points if it’s oat milk, it adds a kind of rich sweetness. Result is a kind of delicious cheesy soup I am addicted to. Make sure to get that mac al dente too

  60. PB

    I’m just gonna say it.

    Homemade mac and cheese is the only kind I like. Kraft is just okay compared to taking your own pasta and adding the cheese of your choice.

    1. Hambone Jones

      What? Homemade, lovingly prepared recipes with higher quality ingredients taste better? I don’t know. You might be on a list now. (Kidding)

  61. nightshade

    kraft makes Velveeta shells in cheese that are almost like the version you’d get on thanksgiving or xmas in some parts of the us. The only downside is cause it uses cheese sauce its 4 bucks box

  62. Mr D

    comment section today:
    Joyce and Dorothy in the same room, SHIPPING INTENSIFIES

  63. Pinkie

    Still got to make mac n cheese with Cougar Gold. But a tin of that stuff is…$50?

    1. Angel

      not if you steal it! 8D; <-for legal reasons this is a joke

      tho i wouldn't be surprised if stuff like that was overpriced/catered to rich ppl versus something you could sorta make urself if you rly tried

      1. anonymsly

        Iirc it’s an on-campus WSU creation – WSU creamery, college of food science. So it’s probably made by students, arguing the simple-ish to make… but it does get aged for a year before it’s sold, so that makes it harder to readily do in-home. I think the expense is mostly because it’s made in comparatively small batches; WSU Creamery’s no Tillamook operation.

  64. 3oranges

    Joyce is an element of the set everyone else, not a subset. No wonder Dorothy is failing math.

    (/s)

  65. BBCC

    Sounds about right for a Canadian, yeah.

  66. TatterhoodsGoat

    Fancy Dijon ketchup!

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