Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for February 06, 2016

Hmmm. Dark, brooding and creepy. Sounds like Gunther since he returned from Peru…

If you missed it, new poll up: Is Ox the most perceptive person in the room?

“Piro Pressure”“Finders Creepers”“Other Peoples’ Lawns”“Never Carry A Torch When You’re In The Dark”

“Call The Police, Cos He Stole My Girl”“Waiting For A Star-Head To Fall” (♫)“Trouble, With A Capital P…” (♪)“A Trivial Pursuit”“Him, Him, Him!” (♪)“What’s She Gonna Do About Him?” (♪)or..“We Don’t Need Another Piro” (♫)

Man, this is deep. Gunther AND Quil haven’t he foggiest who Bernice’s friend Piro is.

I hate how they assume that Piro is a creep and that he’s dark. So far the only thing we know about him is that he likes to sleep in different spots. If he slept on Bernie’s couch then its possible that he slept on Tiffany’s couch as well. This is why I hate Gunther and Quill

Apologies, but ARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH! Could the Gunther and Bernice PLEASE find some way to be their supposed ages. Gunther had made some progress then reverted. Also, seriously, Quill has not in the past embraced stereotypes so easily so why depart from his usual character? Growing pains are fine, but 18 to 20 is not the same as 14 to 16. I have enjoyed this strip but am recently finding myself often disappointed. Gads, i hate having to write that. I will keep hoping.

“She thinks I have a thing for Tiffany”? No, she’s shipping you and Tiffany – in fact pushing you to go knock her over the head and drag her off by the hair. And you’re supposed to be lovable because you’re too mindlessly stupid to resent it.

The non-date at Kafe K ended a day too soon.Today is inert filler, as far as the story line goes.’Cept now Gunth is angry. Is he going to stay angry?

At least Gunther picked up on the fact that Bernice is interested in Piro.

One thumb up?

People are kind of slow on the uptake here I think. Gunther is socially non-adept, particularly with girls. Actually they find his brain, and his gentleness attractive. Remember nerds rule the world, Mark Zuckerberg anyone? He has the super smart beautiful babe, the fantastic baby, is a billionaire, is the founder of Facebook, so nerds have a lot to offer. But again they have to become somewhat socially adept. Realize to get to the woman you desire, you have to ask, and know how to ask. Anyway, Quill is very socially adept, and has no problem attracting women, his issue is being a bit tone deaf with a needy, but worthwhile girlfriend. And for those who decry it, and make fun of being a Luann defender, I am a Luann defender, and proud of it. Anyway, again, Quill makes a very, very apt observation to clueless Gunther here: girls dig mysterious, dark, brooding types, and man isn’t it clear? Bernice is the intellectual type who has no context yet, and she wants order, in fact she has been picked to be the RA, and really follows the rules, and believes others should follow them. Except she has this unrestrained desire side underneath, which she does not recognize yet, or know how to deal with. Dez helped bring it out, and it turned out that Dez’s brownies had no weed in them, but Bernice believed they did. And that unrestrained side came out. So her attraction to Piro, particularly being ms. control freak is entirely understandable. The better boyfriend is clearly Gunther, but that dude needs also to grow a backbone when it comes down to women. I don’t mean to be a troglodyte, but learn to listen, and to speak how he feels, and know his own feelings. See easy. This is as old as sex and relationships.

Gunther retreated from Tiffany because he didn’t know how to make progress. Berneice would certainly not be any easier. And Berneice doesn’t meet any help with homework.

Creep? Pot, meet kettle.

Since Luann has been so deadly boring let me tell you something exciting from yesterday. The current thought on a holy grail for easy testing to spot early malignancies (remembering that “cancer” is actually hundreds of diseases) has been to see if there might be a universal or at least very common methylation signature around some specific gene which could be found through blood tests. Now, that is a real needle in the hay stack problem, but one team led by Laura Elnitski might well have found an excellent candidate, with current work done for several types of common malignancies. There is work to be done to know things like posdible rates of false positives and how many other types malignancies might also produce this result, etc. but if this holds up it will simplify testing for malignancies, will allow for earlier detection, and therefore will permit treatment at earlier stages where options are better. This has the potential to turn out to be huge. Time and hard work will tell.

Gunth is ticked because Bern set him up…Tiff insinuations, pumped him about Piro, called him to meet, stuck him with the check, & left him sitting there, like a fool.Wonder what he’ll do, the next time she calls.

The true irony of this situation is that Piro isn’t even making a move on either girl. He just wants a place to sleep. He even leaves a scarf at places he’s slept in as a thank you. So he’s not a total creep.Still, there are a couple of things about Piro that I wonder about. Whoever heard of a homeless guy with a laptop? And what did he mean when he told Bernice he likes silence? It seems to me there is more here than meets the eye.Wouldn’t it be interesting if in spite of everyone elses ‘maturity’ and ‘goodness’ It turned out that shallow centrist Tiffany turned out to be the sensetive one that sees the real Piro? Now THAT would be ironic.

Yeah I Know, Right Guys?

Women: CAN’T Live With ‘Em, CAN’T Figure ’Em.

Well Look on the BRIGHT Side, Gunth. In about 10 years from Now, after Luann’s “Marriage” to Pretty Boy Here, FAILS, and Piro has LEFT Bernice to RESUME Cohabitating at the Girl’s Dorms, and After the Two Ladies Look into the mirror one day, and have Come to the the UNMISTAKABLE Conclusion that Gravity Is WINNING, Then ON that Bright, Glorious Day, YOU Sir, are Suddenly Gonna LOOK Mighty GOOD to Them. (Provided “They” Don’t Go FULL “Cougar” First)

Oh, Serving Wench? COFFEE for Me and the two Lads Here! I’m Feeling Particularly JUBILANT Today! (And NO Sugar for the ‘Foreigner’)

Replying to yesterday’s comments by argy.bargy2 and the ever cheerful RolloTheGrouch:argy.bargy2 asked, “Please, more better hints…”No can do. That would spoil the fun. And history proves it’s not worth it. On the now defunct United Media Site, regulars such as Clydefrog, Coaster, and a host of sock puppet creations howled with mock outrage when I’d drop a Hobbitesque clue as to what was coming. Not worth it. You guys all do a pretty good job of speculative forecasting and that’s where it should stay.Rollo Baby: Did I deliver newspapers to your house years ago? The name is familiar. Ennyhoo, said you yesterday, “it’ll be nice if you’re right. I’d be looking for something to actually happen or change (not just “character development”).I wasn’t referring to today’s strip. But what’s been shown by Bernie (Halper, not Sanders) all week and what’s coming is pretty cool character revelation. You want flaws? You’ll get ‘em. You want action? You’ll get it.I think that’s safely generalized enough to keep the virtual tomato throwers at bay.

Jealous much, Gunther?

Quill understands women and the carousel.

Yep, all kinds of things droop (lol)

Why isn’t Gunther shaving? Or whatever a man does to keep that 5 o’clock shadow look without actually growing a beard.

Of course, Bernice could just ask Tiffany whether she and Piro are in fact an item, and if they aren’t, what does she know about Piro’s background. However, that would eliminate several month’s work of misunderstandings and inaction, so it won’t happen.

So just when did Tiffany learn that Piro had stayed with Tiffany? It was back on December 12, nearly two months ago (in strip time as well as in “our” time, since it was before the Fuse’s holiday show):And in the last 2 months, what has actually happened in this (non-) story? Nothing at all, except for their continuing to talk about it, and even that “talking” has of course always consisted simply of saying the wrong things to the wrong people.

Piro’s a sweet kid. He can’t help it if the chicks dig him and the roosters resent his attention. It’s just a burden we manly men have to bear.

I was hoping Gunther would grow a pair and speak up to Bernice.

“Others make their own, so they can marry anyone they please.”.Or not.

Qu has a clue after all. Hey!

If Piro had a camper, then he wouldn’t have to crash in other people’s rooms. He said he used to sleep in his car, “until…” We don’t know what happened, but apparently even sleeping in his car is no longer an option. He’s homeless now. What isn’t at all clear is whether he’s even a student at the university, at the present time.

Green-eyed cat. Let’s recall— Gunther was jealous of Mr. Gray with his mom, jealous of Luann with Aaron Hill (I think), now jealous of Piro for Bern. Any more? And what should he do about it?

I guess roomies can’t talk to each other, then, is that it? Nope, that never happens in real life.

Hard to believe that Gunther wasn’t attracted to Tiff after the nature hike, etc. Tiff’s comment about nothing on under her robe was certainly an attempt to create interest – hard to believe it had no impact on Gunther other than just a challenge. Aspergers syndrome is a tough condition – but desire should still be there.

The only whine I see here is yours.

Yes, and we knew one who slept on a mattress atop file cabinets in a lab where he donated time. Brilliant guy, also marvelous person, wound up getting a doctorate without first completing an undergrad degree.

Enjoying thinking, curiousity, and learning are like anything else which is a passion. They have to enjoyed for themselves and to heck w the rolled eyes of people who are sadly too unable to understand passion. (The hardest part of my declining vision has been how much less i get to read journals, and how many computer design (as in menus and controls) and wenpage design experts disappointingly seem unable to take reduced vision into consideration since sometimes i can not even get useable access that way.)

You nailed it dude. Girl likes dark moody type, hooks up with said guy, gets knocked up, mysterious guy leaves, girl whines there are no nice guys around, when all along she has ignored them.

Actually, i found Imp’s dialogue segment funny. I do not think Quill will leave, since i think he has more to offer the story line as a friend than a boyfriend, but never-the-less i saw some fun winking humour in there and enjoyed it.

hey! it’s OUR drivel and we like it! woof!

it’s “silly season” at Luann! everybody is either running for the hills(Yank and Oz), or to someone they think they can take for granted (Gunther and Bernice) and not count on surprises (Piro)

LOL! You must think we’re all blind or stupid. Not a chance, fella.You and I both know EXACTLY what you are doing here, and yes, it is the behavior of a troll. Or do I have to post my “How to be Implausible” outline again? You try to paint yourself as “merely posting my views.” What you are deliberately doing,, however, and you know it, is spewing relentlessly negative garbage day after day, hoping that someone will bite. You and I both know your game. Fortunately, others are catching on to it too, even the newbies here. No matter how many paragraphs of BS you post in an attempt to deny it and say “I know you are, but what am I?”, we all know the score, buddy.Difference of opinion is fine. I’ve said that MANY times here. Relentlessly, deliberately posting negatives in an attempt to disrupt the forum is NOT fine. That’s what you’re doing. Troll-fishing. Hoping someone bites. Well, congrats, looks like I did again, eh? Go ahead, do your pathetic little victory dance. LOL. Sheesh.

I guess the reason I was so angry at Gunther was because I genuinely respected and liked him for his kindnesses and friendship with Tiffany. If he hadn’t earned that, I would not care about what he did anymore than I did when Leslie Knox was harassing dear Tiff. He’d just be an object to be dealt with, not someone who could disappoint me. Discovering that his dream of the ideal relationship with Bernice is not what he actually needs or really wants could lead him to value the friendship he has with Tiffany. Gunther has drifted away from Luann it seems, and having a platonic relationship with Tiff might be just the thing he needs to get over his inability to deal with girls. I just thought it was so sad, remember the moment Gunther was ready to fly out of Tiff’s room to pursue Bernice,and she desperately tried to delay him to keep him close a little longer? It was only after she felt Gunther had abandoned her that poor insecure Tiff was seen allowing Piro to stay over in her room. Tiff is so lonely… Gunther wake up man!Actually Bernice is kind of funny, she’s intellectual but not perceptive. She jumps to conclusions and some of them are very wrong. I’m hoping for some more Tiffany/Bernice interactions, they were wonderful last year:)

In other comics, today Mark Trail learns not to let TJ do the strip’s catering.

Now what? Does Gunther call in Crystal for advice on how to go “Goth?” Darken his hair, let the beard grow, wear black, and put on sunglasses?

As long as you keep doing what you do, it is perfectly within my rights to keep calling you on it. Believe me, I’ve only been here a short time but have skipped past a TON of your bullcrap already without comment.

> But how would the Evanses explain the regression? Frankly, I think that such a move would be comic strip suicide.>Patrick Duffy steps out of the shower and tells Mrs. Berger that “It was all just a dream.”

I’ve noticed that also. Sometimes the Reply button does nothing at all. Thought it was my Chrome browser, but switched to IE and got the same thing.

Then just engage in ignoring on your own side. It takes two to fight. Whichever one of you continues after the other stops will look worse.

Yeah, it does that, and a person enlarges the comments it crashes rather more often. Those i am used to, but yesterday and today a free game “win” repeatedly took me offsite. More than slightly annoying…

Gunther’s biggest mistakes in his ‘coffee date’ w/ Bernice were his nasty remarks made about others behind their backs, i.e. calling Piro a creep and Tiffany dumb. A lot of it had to do with his social awkwardness and desperate attempt to steer the conversation away from discussion of others. But how can he expect someone to want to be his friend (or girlfriend) when this is how he presents himself. Regardless of Bern’s prior agenda, Gunther can only blame himself. He has difficulty handling social situations that aren’t going the way he wants them to.

I think the key to understanding this comic strip is that it’s fundamentally about the core characters’ attitudes and feelings – towards themselves, each other and other characters. The characters can sit (or stand) around for weeks talking about their feelings. It’s not a pause in the story, it IS the story..Any situation that occurs or action that happens, is there to serve as a backdrop for revealing what the characters are thinking. Thus the often-sketchy nature of the storylines. They often seem to be full of holes but really just consist of just enough detail to set up the characters to reveal their inner thoughts. There’s none of the classic story structure of setup-conflict-climax-resolution-coda that exists in most literature. The history of creation of The Fuse is a good example. The story writers could have made it a comedy of errors, as the hapless Frank & Nancy struggle with disappearing workmen, financial problems, unpleasant surprises in the building structure, officious government inspectors, etc. Instead, the Fuse exists as the backdrop for the alienation between Quill & Luann, a source of feelings of satisfaction for Frank & Nancy, and now a venue for characters to do their interacting. So instead of a near-disaster, the renovation happened by magic. And since the production of “Yule Daze” really just served to deepen Luann’s feelings of alienation, it was much talked-about but never actually shown..(The Sunday strips sometimes have more conventional comic-strip fare, including social commentary.).While the core characters are doing all their feel-ing, the secondary and peripheral characters have active lives and do the do-ing that sets the situations up for the core characters. Quill and Pru have their active theater careers. Dez has her hippie-New Age thing. TJ is still scheming, and runs the new place for characters to meet. Mr. Gray can swoop(?) in and perform any magic he wants to. Even Piro is doing his own thing just by crashing in dorm rooms..When the core characters “do” something, like a biology field trip or becoming an RA, it goes no farther than setting up a relationship/feeling situation..So to enjoy Luann, it’s best just to sit back and follow the characters’ interactions. If you want action/adventure, look elsewhere.

> Not everyone is willing to have sex at a moments notice for no reason than hedonism. >At the drop of a hat? Gunther is terrified to kiss the woman he supposedly loves and with whom he had been together in a foreign country for six months. Not “have sex”, mind you – kiss. Gunther’s situation cannot be dismissed by saying “He’s not a hedonist”. That’s not even remotely close.

If Gunther cannot speak up for himself, he should learn to like living as a loser, ’cause that will become his lot in life….

“Some people just live to be contrarian.”Yep. And a sad, sad life that must be. SMH

So you’re me, eh? Did you get all my chores done today? Hahaha. Anyway, that post of his really got on my nerves. I should know better after all this time….

Except in the investor class on the one hand, or the academic one on the other, or on a third had, the political class. Sorry ran out of hands. The US is a big country and complicated, and we are the most technologically advanced in many ways; its just that we approach our abilities in fits and starts. We get to the moon for example more than 30 years ago, and we could have had had scientific bases there, and even economically based ones for a tiny, tiny fraction of a many trillion dollar economy over those over 30 years. Now most likely China or Japan, or Europe will beat us there. We are first in medical research, but we do it in fits and starts. Teaching community college students my biggest fear is that too many of them are anti-intellectual, although there are many students who are interested in the world around them. I mean what about silicon valley? Its too easy to condemn the whole country to being ant—intellectual, we are a big country, so there are fits and starts is the best way I can put it.

Good luck both of you.

Wonderful sounding man! He had a grace about him. I still have to learn how to deal with the vision changes with grace when they happen. At least i whine less often now except some days when the pain is a problem, and bit by bit have been finding ways of doing things both for current needs and to be prepared, but grace eludes me. Hopefully, eventually…

" Intellectualism isn’t popular in the USA.".It depends on many things..Some realize they’re relatively stupid and resent it. They will always feel inadequate. One like that here is always complaining about “Team Evans” as if that puts them down. It is simple jealousy..Some realize those who think they are intellectuals are stupid in at least some field in which they spout loudly. Those need to be withstood or ignored. One fitting that description here is always going on and on about how nobody on the planet would do whatever the characters do in this story line. This is obviously false since humanity has much variety..And, of course, sometimes the intellectuals are right and that truth hurts folks needing it to be false. Nothing to be done about those folks.

@DavidHuieGreen“What I meant was that women who make their own money don’t have to be tempted to marry someone they don’t love because he makes a lot of money,”.Yep, I understood that, and agree.