Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for January 18, 2016

Rather than talk directly to Brad about her feelings about the wedding (I know she did before) and reminding him of her wishes, she won’t come out and speak it plainly: she’s becoming a DeGroots…

Toni, Toni, Toni …

If you didn’t want all this, why did you encourage Brad on Friday with "I want to ask if they have an opening right now?

New poll up: Big Wedding, or Small?

Should Brad and Toni Elope?1) 34 votes – Yes2) 11 votes – No, they should just change the date and try again3) 11 votes – Other4) 10 votes – No, they should stay the course5) 2 votes – No, they should just move to a city that has less need for firefightersOther: Just get married already. What’s the hold up?; I’d settle for anything that gets them out of the strip.Even Cthulhu eating them; They should call off the wedding, they aren’t right for each other!; Yes, but with different people; I don’t care, as long as they GET MARRIED ALREADY!!!; Stay single!!!; just move in and be done with it; Yes, but only if they invite everybody they know.; Maybe they already have and this wedding is just for show?; No. We fans need the drama that will happen at The Fuse December 11, 2016.

So reminiscent of list of songs we all came up with for possible wedding songs, or a compilation CD for them to have for their wedding… – Guess Toni would rather keep it all about “the loving desire” and “not losing the feeling”, instead of focusing on “the things”….

“Under The Influence Of Overwhelming Pressure”“Don’t Break The China, Girl!”“Contents Under Pressure”“Let’s Dance!”“The Soundtrack To Our Lives”“Shaken To The Score”“The More You Have, The Less You Desire”“Heart Of The Matter”“Compila-Shuns”

or“Marry Melodies”

Toni must be a Beatles fan. (Brad really does need someone to help him.)

Degroot

There’s always the justice of the peace if they want simple.

“Helter Skelter” seems appropriate.

Ha ha ha!!!

How about “With A Little Help From My Friends”

Beatles songs specifically for Bwad: She Said She Said (because listening to what she said is beyond him.)I’m a Loser (because he bugs me.)

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bride want nothing (for a first wedding). I’m not finding this believable….but maybe it’s a vehicle for them to break up? That would be a better story line….. and then they might eventually get back together and just elope THEN. Brad isn’t reading the signals.

He is such a girlie.

Is Brad going to become a Groomzilla???

That is a slippery slope list. Get realistic. Save the money for a home together. It is not all of the trimmings, it is getting married that is important.

Wait til you see the price!

Pru’s going to plan this sucker…

This seems like a turnaround. Shouldn’t she be all gaga over the wedding? I hope Brad is as excited by the marriage as he is about the wedding.

Uh, guys? A tip: Justice of the Peace with immediate family in attendance and SAVE your MONEY for your 1st House, Kids, etc.

Skip the doves. Go for Butterflies!!!

Lite the fuze,y’all..jeez

Brad is like a little boy in a toy shop. Just Say No, Toni. Once he gets beyond the initial rush of all the shiny options, he should come back to his senses and start acting more like a grown-up again. I hope….

Eloping is starting to look pretty good, at least for Toni.

Or for after the wedding, “Brother Can You Spare a Dime”?

Wedding planner, they need a wedding planner, and I know who would be perfect for that, what she is naturally designed to do—-dum, de dum dum…Tiffany!! What a nice mix, with Luann as the maid of honor, and Tj as the best man, and Shannon with her very tart wit. Lots of drama, but Tiffany would run with this I think.

Oh good grief, wake up Brad, get out of your dream! Toni has said repeatedly she isn’t into a big wedding. Is that due to her only relatives are her brother & neice? There has never been any mention of other family although she did tell Luann that it was not her turn to baby sit before this outing started.

4For me, this feels a lot like “filler”….basically I suspect the Brad and Toni will eventually figure out that the costs are beyond prohibitive and will eventually go to the budget friendly “The Fuse”.

Why are these two people marrying each other? The communication in this relationship is zero. It’s time for them to realize that this would not be a good idea.

Hey trust me: you think you know the person you married before you marry them, but you really find out after. This is true even if they live together, have kids, share money, and the whole 9 yards. Marriage changes a relationship forever. You legally become partners in everything, and as such the personal issues between you either emerge, or become exacerbated. It becomes work then, and if there is love and patience and commitment it will work out, if not it will not.

Y’know, I see a lot of people criticizing Brad for ignoring Toni’s desire for a small ceremony, but forget that Toni’s kind of stomping on Brad’s desire for a big wedding. Compromise goes both ways. Although in either case it requires them to both pay attention to each other and talk instead of just pushing for what they want.

“I should have known better” that “she loves you”, so “let it be”.

How about just getting married at a church?

Toni, again these are options. You don’t have to take a single one. So don’t hyperventilate and do something rash that you’ll regret all the way to Divorce Court by going the “Let’s get married at the Fuse with TJ catering and Col Zebo’s decorations” route. People have simple but elegant weddings in these type of places all the time. You don’t need ice sculptures or fleeing doves, just you, Brad, family and friends. What you don’t need is the Fuse and TJ’s food!

no, but Cold Feet is.

Brad knows Toni all right. He is just excited about the wedding and having his day with Toni and his family and friends. Toni has no family except Jonah whom she is not close to and Shannon and it doesn’t look like she has any friends so she is not as excited. She is not a detail person – all she wants is to get married. Justice of Peace would suffice for her. She needs to let Brad handle the wedding and just go for the ride. Let him have his fun. After all, this is what marriage will be about – letting the other do this and and the other do that.

Implausible said, *It’s funny because Brad knows nothing about Toni. Help, indeed.

Considering we’re spending yet another week with them, hopefully they’ll get around to start addressing the problems with their relationship. We’ve been through how much Toni hates big wedding for years, if Brad doesn’t know that then this is a doomed marriage*. . . -—————————————————RIGHT ON !!Another good analysis.

Uggh. another week of this boring wedding planning junk. .Who cares?.What has this to do with the strip.??

I asked:What has this to do with the strip.??-———————,Well maybe some, if they get in an argument over scale and call wedding off..That would create a plot of sorts , I suppose..Grossly childish, downright stupid, of course..But some sort of plot. . But the bad part would be a waste of other coverage in the strip before we arrive at the tearful reconciliation... MEANWHILE: Forget Luann and Quill, Forget Gunther and Tiff, Forget Bernice and Piro. Forget the mysterious Mr. Gray. Forget the puzzling Miss Pru. Forget the warehouse. . . . . .Well, that latter might not be any loss !!!

I tend to concur. I found Brad and Toni’s courtship very entertaining. Now that they’re together, they’re kind of dull.

They’d better elope or break up by the end of this week’s arc.

EEEEEEEEEEEElope!!!!!! Please!!!! Now!!!!!!!!! End this dull, endless pain.

Possible story arcs if Brad and Toni break up:

Brad tracks down Diane and begs her to give him another chance.

Toni takes Shannon and moves as far away from Jonah as she can get without him even realizing his daughter is missing.

Quill seduces Toni.

Pru seduces Toni.

Pru seduces Brad.

Pru seduces Jonah. (This one might actually work, given that they’re both theatre types.)

Frank and Nancy kick Brad out of the Horner house and make him move back into his own room, rent it to Pru, TJ moves in with Toni to avoid being in a love triangle with whoever Pru seduces next. (Luann, finding Brad is back in the bedroom next to hers, moves with Quill to Australia just to get away, and is never heard from again.)

Aaron Hill finally breaks up with Lian and returns to Pitts seeking the original “L” of his life, then runs off with Toni instead.

Bernice has the entire rest of the cast locked up for psychiatric observation. To everyone’s surprise, Frank is the only one declared to be sane.

Piro reveals that his nickname really is short for “pyromaniac” by burning down The Fuse when everyone is there for the special “New Year’s in February” celebration. The strip then centers on him and Dez.

Luann refuses to babysit Shannon now that Toni isn’t with her brother. In desperation, Tiffany is called in to babysit and proceeds to give Shannon a makeover worthy of those pre-teens whose mothers keep entering them in beauty pageants.

Tiffany realizes she can’t attract anyone and has Crystal give her a goth makeover. Toni decides she likes the look so much she adopts it as well, resulting in her no longer meeting the fire department standards.

I can think of more, and most of them are more plausible than what’s going on here now.

The role reversal is interesting. Often it’s the lady who wants all the fanciful stuff and the guy who wants it simple and efficient. I wonder if Brad and Toni are headed (temporarily) to the rocks like Luann and Quill… another example of two people initially attracted but who don’t deeply know one another.

a talented man. A great loss.

Toni needs to compromise as well. She doesn’t want a big wedding, and Brad does. So go somewhere in between! I’m sure that big place offers middle of the road options, too. She’s being a little ridiculous about all this. I kind of feel sorry for Brad.

I’m sorry to say, but I’m afraid that you’re right.

This set of arcs has a unifying thread .. though somewhat awkward … 1. Luann and Quill arguing… not communicating, 2. cut to Bern and Luann discussing relationships and disappointments; Bern hits the nail by saying that people not communicating is the big problem. 3. scene is not finished when Toni suddenly calls to ask Luann to baby sit…. she hopes she’s not interrupting a Luann& Quill activity… more relationship observations…. "I love the guy but he drives me crazy’ re: comment about Jonah… Luann makes the connection, 4. Cut to Tony and Brad laying out wedding plans which don’t work out… date is finally set… now the cottage scene…and back to the theme of a couple not communicating..

They will grow into it.

That should be her career actually, event (party!!) planner.

On the theme Toni and Brad don’t talk to each other, but separately, or maybe at each other. Actually I think that is not uncommon in this strip, and I think the reason is because themes are being expressed by the characters. Eventually they do talk, and perhaps a point is made. We just spent that with the week or so long arc with Bernice and Luann personally anguishing over their respective issues with Quill and Pru, and Piro and Tiffany. It was beat, beat, beat, beat and a half, then finally Saturday, or the next Monday communication on the common issue, Friendship intact, and in fact being such good friends they could do that and no harm done. Two dimensionality to express the thematic point. Jeez should be have a class or something? (lol).

It’s been a week of Brad & Toni. Can we get back to Luann and Quill?

Yeah, I was really shocked. “Already Gone” was one of their best featuring Frey. He’s already gone, but never from our hearts or the great rock he contributed to the growing repertoire of music.

Wonder if “You’re Gonna Lose That Girl” is on the list?

So, instead of a Bridezilla" we get GroomZilla.

“Uh., excuse me, but you DO know you are planning a wedding ceremony of the type I specifically told you I DON’T want ! ?”.“Forgive me, heart of my heart, but I thought perhaps you had just said that out of concern for my impoverished state.”.“No, snookums, I REALLY don’t want to make a spectacle of our sacred ceremony leading up to our first fleshly union.”.“First? Then who was it that slipped into my. . ? Uh, never mind. Yes, our first.”

How about “You Won’t See Me”? Or “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away”? Or going in another direction, “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?”

That’s what happens…guys get all starry eyed, gals get stuck with putting it all together…..

-Glenn Frey

He will be missed by many. The Eagles were supposed to be honored at the recent ‘Kennedy Center Honors’, but because Glenn Fry was so ill, they decided not to attend.

He was a very talented guy and I hope he won’t be forgotten…

Budget hawk?

SPOILER 2

Communication might be starting. Someone said ‘budget’. Or maybe the communication is via laser?

I got a simple minister, one step above JP, and used the chapel on base. We paid the organist $50 and my Dad held the reception at his house. My best man learned to drive a stick when he drove us from Sandpoint to Lake Forest Park. We are still married 27 years later and quite happy, thank you.

SPOILER 3 – .Toni stands tall.