Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for February 01, 2017

The bogus blonde Tiffany gets it, Bernice you bossy brunette! (Frank Farkel from yesterday: What’s wrong with me reading “Phoebe and Her Unicorn”?)

Bern and Gunther perfect for each other, because both when they get mad……………………………….. oh man!!!!!!!!!!!!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86URGgqONvA run for the hills

That last panel is, like, 99 Word Balloons…

Bernie had better hope that Luann and Tiff don’t get to talking about whose rooms Star – Dud has been staying the night in.

Enter Piro – to ask Bernice whether her edict means he can’t stay in her room anymore either…

Oops, meant to say Star – Dude. Or, perhaps it was a Freudian slip…

Bernice has a right to be angry, and assertive, although if Tiffany ever finds out that Bernice let Piro stay in HER room that will be disconcerting. How she would react if she did/does would be very interesting. Giving out the keycard was a very serious issue, probably enough to get her expelled from Mooney, but Bernice showed compassion with her righteous anger by not reporting Tiffany, in exchange for the promise about Piro. My only question is will Tiffany keep the promise, and my only other question is the disposition of the TV and whether it is related to the keycard is hanging out there. Bernice is actually doing what an RA should do, even if there is a bit of personal angst here, and while some might comment that she asked Tiffany those personal questions out of jealousy, I think they are very pertinent. So, what next?

With the expression on Bernice’s face in the last frame, I fully expected to see little horms on her head. Maybe she and Gunther the Angry are a good match, after all. Both mad-at-the-world types…

Ooops. Meant ‘little horns’ on her head…

@ARGYTHREE: Didn’t Bernice already at one time have three little horns sticking out in the front of her head?

@BRDSHTT : Oops, meant to say “hairs” on her head…

Bernice has let this ‘job’ go to her head. It seems to have settled in her boo-hind instead! [anal]

this new format has cut down DRAM<ATICALLY number of “comments”, and now the count does not count the “replies”

Bernice is being kind to Tiffany, not wanting her to get into serious trouble. But she wants Tiff to hold the line in the future, partly because it could reflect badly on Bern as RA if Tiff causes more trouble. So far, so good.

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However, I’ve sensed that some readers think Tiffany should not be criticised for lending Piro her card, and letting him stay in her room, “because she’s helping out a homeless guy”. As if that’s the highest morality. Universities have security rules for very good reasons. Students sometimes take their chances and break a rule. I did when in college decades ago. But I’d say students do this at their own risk. Tiffany’s indescretion may not be so unusual for a student, but to give it moral rightness “because she helped a homeless guy” is ridiculous. That kind of thinking can justify anything.

Letting homeless people crash in dorms, is not a good idea… although, Piro seems rather harmless…..so far

At this point I am hoping that Bernice and Piro get together. Kind of a be careful what you wish for deal.

Berni the Beast. I can’t wait for the big portion of humble pie she will hopefully have to eat.

Expect Bern to have a breakdown crisis of conscience soon. She’ll call herself a hypocrite. It’s already written. How long have y’all been reading this, and you don’t see it coming, a mile away?

I wonder if it’s a mere coincidence or if Bernice’s shirt is green to underscore her jealousy?

I had said Bernice was going to like Paris (tiffany) even more after this, and I was right. is that Bernice’s smile, or are those her “shark week” teeth? ready to eat tiff alive.

Bernice is jealous! She wanted Piro but Tiffany is in her way.

Greg should color Bernice green. I’m betting that SHE would have let Piro stay in her room.

No Bernie, if giving away your keycard is against school policy, then you need to tell the headmistress. Tiffany did something wrong and now a TV is stolen. I like Tiffany and she might not have had a hand in this, but she needs to be punished for doing something wrong. I swear Bernie is the worst RA sometimes.

“Never EVER let Piro stay in your room again! I’ll be taking over that, thankyouverymuch. YOU go find your own homeless person!”

Bernice should never go face to face with Tiff, or for that matter, chest to chest, because she’ll always come off the loser. The drab vs. the fab.

Wow… Bernice has a teeny, tiny bit ‘o’ power,  and she holds it over Tiffany’s head… In an underhanded way….

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Marking (unowned) territory, eh?  That kind of behavior is reserved for the “four legs and a tail” sort…

“It’s Every Manipulator For Their Self!”

“The Ultimatum Warrior”

“Wrestling With Someone Else’s Conscience”

“Exit Marks The Spot”

“Heads I Win, Tails You Lose”

“See Ya Later, Manipulator!” (♬♪)

“After While, I’m In Denial!” (♪)

“Determin-ator 4: The Broken Monitor”

“You Drive A Hard Bargain…And I Didn’t Ask For A Ride”

“Hot On The ‘All-Gone!’ Trail”

“Dissen-Tiffany”

“What Have You Got To Lose?”

“A Low Spark For High Heeled Girls” (♬)

“Guaran-tee’d Off”

“Gimme No Shelter!” (♬)

or

“Paint It, Blackmail” (♬)

Yes, young lady, I am prescribing 10mg Prozac Daily and an Anger Management Course for you.

And one day she’ll be out on campus going to a class and see Piro walking along with another unknown girl, and her delusions will all be shattered.

By the way, most colleges have rules like the following:

Students may have guests and visitors, with the consent of their roommates or suitemates, for a maximum of three (3) consecutive days. Students are responsible for the behavior of their guests. Questions or disputes concerning guests should be brought to the attention of the Office of Student Life. Even over break periods, as long as this is cleared with the Housing Office.

Get away from her, Tiff. Bern’s gone over the edge. Needs an intervention.

And I’ll bet Piro will be back in that room tonight. Tiffany listen to Bernice? RIIIIIIGHT…

I sure hope the missing TV is somehow Bernice’s fault. By someone using her keycard or her messing up somehow. It will serve her right to get in trouble for the missing TV.

So what happens next?

Next time Piro asks to crash at Tiff’s, she tells him that she can’t let him because Bernice threatened her, and he tells her – either blurts it out by way of surprise, or actually tells it because Bernice’s revealed nastiness makes him angry – that he had stayed one night at Bernice’s too. Now Tiff has counter-blackmail material!

Next up, sit back and watch the fireworks.

Evans is both a gifted and talented artist in his ability to portray the emotions of the characters. All the hypocracy and self absorption are clearly evident in the final frame where she is drawn downright ugly. I don’t agree that she is being kind to Tiff, but that she is motivated by her own single sided agenda. I look forward to the outcome of this arc, though I may be waiting…

JAYBLUE “and let a guy crash (the same guy as Tiffany, even) in her dorm room, previously” Heheh – twice. Remember the spontaneous party that happened? [10-18-14] Prio crashed on the floor and Bernice sought refuge with Tiffany in her room. So much irony.

40 comments by 10:40 cst

Just wondering how Piro is going to get his backpack back?

@WIZARDGOAT: I don’t really see Bernice as being ‘kind’ to Tiffany by not reporting the fact that Tiffany let someone use her keycard and dorm space. If the rulebook that Bernice uses says that no one can let a visitor stay in their room overnight, Bernice herself violated that rule. She is aware of the fact that her own roommate knows she violated the rule, so if she turned Tiffany in for that infraction, she’d have to admit that she was just as guilty.

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Undoubtedly, giving out the keycard is a more serious infraction; once someone gains access to the dorm, they could steal property or even harm a resident. If Bernice was doing her job the right way, she’d have to turn Tiffany in for that.

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But the expression on Bernice’s face in the last frame (and the questions she is asking Tiffany in the first frame) say it all. She’s much more enraged over the fact that Tiffany might be in a relationship with the mysterious Piro than she is that Tiffany might responsible for letting someone in who stole the TV…

I think some people are forgetting that Tiffany gave Piro her key card. He was not supervised. I seriously doubt that he stole the TV, but the difference between staying in Bernice’s room and staying in Tiffany’s room is the fact that he was not alone with access to the entire dorm when he stayed with Bernice.

The temptation to abuse power hits even the gentlest of souls. The only known counter involves giving power to some watcher who is in turn tempted to abuse THAT POWER.

I’m not enjoying this side of Bernice….

A green sweater for the green eyed monster. Appropriate.

I knew Piro in college, he trolled the naive underclass chicks because the upperclass chicks were on to him. He was a user. In more ways than one. This arc does not have a happy ending. Piro probably skates away on this probably leaving Tiffer holding the bag.

Note the whole background is green too. Interesting.

JEALOUS Bernice?? BTW: In what universe does a dorm room look like that?

Bern the Sphincter Police lays down the Law on Tiff!

@GERMANSHEPHERDS4EVER: Tiffany doesn’t have a dorm room. She has a suite. They didn’t have those back in the day, when I lived in a little closet pretending to be an actual room. But these days, schools are competing for resident students because tuition is higher. So dorms now include ‘suites’.

@SCHRODINGER’S DOG: The background is green where both of the ladies appear, but in the frame where we only see an angry Bernice, the background is black! Wonder if Sheriff was just being creative, or our cartoonist specifically called for this?

@Argy.Bargy2 @SCHRODINGER’S DOG And the room background in panel 1 is entirely different from last week. Different view of the suite? How many sofas does Tiff have?

@ROLLOTHEGROUCH : Perhaps someone has been stealing sofas for her. After all, she would need 6 sofas, one to go with each TV she says she has. There is a possibility, depending on what happened to the common room TV, she might need a seventh couch.

7

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Well, the big picture I see is:

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1. Bernice being very jealous of Tiffany in regards to her “true-love” Piro.

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2. Tiffany is apparently not romantically interested in Piro but is instead being a friend by giving him a place to stay.

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But what is the undercurrent here, IMO….. a) yes, technically what Tiffany did was against the rules, and in certain circumstances could be very dangerous or harmful to other students, b) in regards to Piro, specifically, my read of his character as developed thus far by Greg is….. I think he is NOT dangerous. I also think he is NOT homeless in a “destitute” sense, instead I think he will be found out to from a reasonably wealthy family, and he has either been “cut off financially” by his family or has decided to forgo money for an apartment/dorm for come reason. My read/opinion also suggests that Piro is not a PTSD veteran, nor a danger in any reasonable sense. I see him more as a bit of a moocher, who probably has broad interests (silent film for example) and is sort of on a “out for the ride” journey in college…. not particularly caring if he conforms to any norms or standards. Sort of…. a “Rebel Without a Clue”.

I am so convinced on not blackmail tip that I am going to repost a reply to one of the replies on my original post. I hope I don’t break any blog rules.

It’s not blackmail, its anger, and like I said while there is personal angst, blackmail is a stretch IMO. She is only telling TIffany to not let Piro stay in her room anymore, and give out a keycard to someone not apparently a student, to whom, per Tiffany, she was not around most of the break. I mean think about it: its been 50 years since I was an undergrad (ARRRRRRRRRRRGH -:) and while I am a Baby Boomer and we were the “free love” generation until AIDS hit you poor Gen X’er’s, and the rules were loosening on people in dorms, would you then, now, or if you were an undergraduate now, think it would not be a problem to give your keycard, over break when you are not there, to someone, who is not a student, AND allow to stay in your room, real estate that the college is getting money from you or your parents or at least Uncle Sam ? Piro is trespassing just by being on campus if he is not a student. Of course it would be. Now a TV got stolen. I don’t think Piro did it, but still it’s a horrible situation. Bernice should report TIffany. I know she might not because Piro stayed in her room, but Tiffany has no idea of that. If she did that would make it even more complicated. Telling Tiff not to do that anymore, not reporting her for the keycard, protecting on the TV, and not telling anyone about him staying in the room is both part of her job, and very, very adroit. She warns on one infraction, and keeps the secret BETWEEN THEM on the other. The girl is smart not jealous, well maybe a little jealous, but she should think about law school or b-school in my opinion. So no its not blackmail. If it was blackmail she would tell Tiffany to stay away from the mojo man entirely.

@CHRIS73 : LOL, Most all the young ladies and young men in the strip are single and Piro has no interest in any of them, either. I think his main interest seems to be himself and where he’s going to spend the next night.

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As an aside, the license plate on my (1 of 58 made with the SD – 455 engine that year) 1974 Pontiac Formula 455 is “CHRIS74”. Pontiac only produced that engine for two years, you must have one of the 1973 models…

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-Chris

Piro just from seeing him and how he behaves must have had some traumatic experience(s) and just wants calm. Not emotional or other kinds of such. Just a place to sleep not on the dangerous streets. The shelter is probably too far away for him.

@NIGHT-GAUNT49: He might have 50 women in 27 states after him for one reason or another, and keeping a low profile and no traceable address is keeping him safe. For the time being…

While giving her key card was a generous and trusting gesture it was probably not the wisest thing for (Tiffany) to do. But I feel really disappointed in Bernice’s bossy, finger pointing, nasty behavior. I’m hoping that something (with her) will come to a head. I think she needs some counseling.

Bernice has completed her heel-turn, and, as planned by the story-line creators, we now will all hate her until the next turn….

SPOILER

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Begins to look more and more like there is more and more to a ‘Tiffany and Piro’ relationship. Maybe it IS a thing…

I had no idea there were so many hormone driven adolescent boys here slobbering over one dimensional ink and paper boobs. I hope every one of you finds your own, personal Tiffany. You so deserve it.