Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for September 20, 2017

Brilliant deduction, Sherlock DeGroot.

I always had the thought that of all the familiar characters going to college Tiffany would be the one to fall of the wagon. Though I suspected drugs rather something as simple over-eating. But it could be a thyroid issue causing her metabolism to slow down..

We’re treading water a bit here…

Why does Bern look like she’s solving some sort of crime? And how is she qualified to diagnose Tif’s “condition”?

I guess once you have everything, there is nothing to look forward to anymore.

I must say I don’t appreciate Bernices attitude toward Luann when all she did was go out and have a nice time with her room mate as well as her choice of words, ‘’Tiffany gained weight and needs our support, I think, would have been a more appropriate approach.’’

Or, Luann could trade places with Tiff and maybe she’d see why she was depressed…

Still water runs deep, Luann. Money can pay for things like rent/housing, food, and other necessities. Money isn’t, however going to guarantee a kind, loving family like the one Tiffany should have had.

Luann sees this girl who can have anything she wants because she’s hot and daddy’s rich. Luann doesn’t see the Tiffany’s emotional turmoil because she wouldn’t have had when to learn about it. There’s always the story that others can’t/don’t know about someone.

That’s just how things work. There’s always the things we don’t know because we can’t crawl into other people’s heads.

With that being said, I’m hoping this snaps Bernice out of her bitterness. She cares about others, or at least has the capacity to do so, and she recognizes that Tiffany needs help. Maybe Bernice will help Tiffany and they will both grow as people.

She is depressed over not being with Gunther.

And, in the meantime, what has happened to Delta, and to (my favourite) Knut? Is he in art school, working towards the noble goal of being a cartoonist?

More likely, Tiff is pregnant.

This situation just seems so ironic to me, because in a strip from some years ago Tiffany asks crystal how people let themselves get so out of shape. Well here’s your answer Tiff

True clinical depression (having been through it) isn’t the result of your wealth or lack thereof, but imbalance in chemicals in the brain. The fact that Tiffany is in emotional turmoil may make it worse, but if she didn’t have a propensity for depression, emotional turmoil alone would not have been enough to bring that on. After all, she has had major setbacks in her life before, as when she was forced to give up a beauty queen crown because she was involved with TJ in a scam on the firefighters and the DeGroots. And I don’t remember her becoming depressed and binge eating then.

Psst, Luann. None of those reasons would even faze Tiffany. However, if she got a secret look at how Evans planned for her to end up with Gunther, then that could do it.

Everyone so far has dumped on Bernice for her perceived snarkiness, or her way she has hypothesized that Tiffany might have psychological depression. It seems that Bernice is expressing these comments out of bitterness. Dez is a communication channel in the first two panels, but to me the bitterness of our named character, Luann, seems most interesting, possibly disappointing. Luann lists the reasons why Tiffany has had advantages, and this aggravated sense of herself over the years, “the hottest person on the planet” dad pays for everything, guy magnet, and so on, and then in the third panel makes a devastatingly mean and sardonic conclusion which the epitome of snarkiness, “yeah, I could sure see how she’d be depressed”. Dez looks distressed like she picks up, as that communication channel, the real bile in Luann’s true feelings about Tiffany. After all they have been enemies for years, Tiffany always seeks to make herself higher and better than Luann, and Luann, while being polite, always pushes back against this attitude. Bernice has had a lot against TIffany over the years too, but it is Luann who has most psychological “skin in the game” IMO. I am disappointed in her to be honest. She is being mean.

Dez’s daddy has more money than Tiffany’s daddy.

Did Tiffany take a world tour for the summer? Ever skydive?

Third panel Dez’s look: You know nothing.

But she’s polite and not saying anything yet

Anybody ever hear of the “freshman 15”? Tiff’s got the freshman 30 or 40. Almost all college first-year students pack on some pounds. Tiff has overdone it. And no doubt Greg has some more to tell in this story.

wait, i forget, did they ever find out who raided the candy machine. um, or who dint.

I wonder why Luann refers to Tiffany as a “guy magnet.” In the strip at http://www.gocomics.com/luann/2017/03/02, Luann asked Tiff, “Do you even date, Tiff? I’ve never seen you out with a guy.”

Now, granted, after that, Jack dated Tiffany … but he had asked Luann out first. And you could call the dinner with Mr. Gray and Les a date with Gunther … but Luann has dated Gunther in the past.

So Luann should consider herself at least as much as a “guy magnet” as Tiffany, albeit that may not be saying much.

Come on now , Dez “why did Tiffany put on the weight?” better ask yourself how you got so fat and what you’re gonna do about it…oh I see, your sparkling personality, sense of adventure (as long as it doesn’t involve any actual danger? am I right? ) and insight into the cosmos makes all that irrelevant. Oh my apologies. How stupid and shallow of me to question the one who see’s all, knows all. Excuse me while I crawl back under my rock.

Tiff all but haunts Luann in panel #2.

“A Series Of Fortunate Events”

“The Grass Is Always Greener On The Other Side Of Our Imagination…And Especially If We Can’t See Over The Fence”

“Assume The Disposition”

“She’s A Hot Solder Of Fortune That Needs To Be Re-Fused”

“See The Farthest, For The Tri-ages”

“She’s Here, To Log-ic A Constraint”

“Soon We’ll Be Raisin’ All De Etres, Around Here!”

“A Situation, In Time, Enslaves Nine”

“Community Chess-ed”

“A Case Of Myth Taking Identity”

“All Her Straits Were Paved With Gold”

“Just A Suburban Legend”

“It’s After Breakfast, In America” (♬ ♩)

“Don’t You Look At My Life, Girlfriend!” (♪)

“They Gotta Have ‘Em In Taxes, Cos Everyone’s A Millionaire!” (♪)

“Moving In Stereotypes” (♬)

“Talking Heads Follow Dire Straits” (♩)

“For The Jung At Heart”

or

“You’re Such A Freud-y Cat”

Going from queen of the small school to one among other in the huge uni. Lonely.

Would the conversation be different If Tiffany had……..say anorexia?

Has anyone given thought to the possibility she’s pregnant?

Just talk to her and stop deducing what’s wrong!!

Poor Tiffany, she is lonely. Just because you seem to have everything in the world, it doesn’t mean that you do. In high school, she was a big fish in a little pond. In University, she is a tiny minnow in the ocean. And she’s lonely, and right now food is her best friend. She is eating her feelings. I sympathize with her.

On the whole who’s the bad guy here? matter of Luann v. Tiffany. Over the years they’ve each needled each other frequently, have continued a game of one-upsmanship that verged on cruelty. At other times, they’ve been friendly or acknowledged, at least to themselves, good impulses in the other. It’s not hard to find examples of all this stuff over the decades of Luann stories. But I can’t think of any bad behavior of one against that exceeds Tiffany taking photos of Luann changing clothes, attempting to blackmail her with them, and then posting them on the internet. Can anyone cite worse from either against the other?

Tiffany’s fat for a role in a movie?

And I’m loving the side eye Desdemona is giving Luann….

Technical boring who cares question.

When today’s strip first appeared, I distinctly remember seeing a white gap between Luann’s fingers in the first panel. It is now colored in.

Is the repair of lack of coloring something GoComics can take care of?

She isn’t pregnant is she? Hope not.

Tiffany Ferrell, the “Poor Little Rich Girl,” Huh, Luann??

But “Luann DeGroot?”

1) Loving Parents.

2) Close “Old” Friends.

3) Close “New” Friends.

4) Get’s attention from a Campus “Jock” and flowers after He Busted Your Foot.

5) Had a “Questionably Hot” Boyfriend before You DUMPED Him.

6) Got Straight "A"s in Art Class.

7) Loved by the Kids at Your Summer Job.

8) Loved by this Kid You’re Mentoring Named “Fay.”

9) Loved by Your Pet Pooch, “Puddles.”

10) And Dare I Say it, Probably STILL loved by this Guy named “Gunther.” All Ya Gotta do is Say the Word.

So Yeah, Lu. I can See Why You’re NOT, “DEPRESSED,”

Tiff is pregnant?

Depression often happens when your life is in turmoil; and Tiffany’s certainly is.

jckc1 I’m on team Tiff forgot the pill…right there with you!

Tiffany never learned the art of making friends. Of course she’s lonely and depressed. Poor kid—

“I don’t care too much for money, money can’t buy me love.”

Question: How close is the university to the kids’ hometown? It seems close enough so that those who aren’t attending university can visit their friends on campus (as Luann is doing here), or the kids living on campus can visit their hometown friends. On the other hand, it has to be far enough away so that it is worth Bernice and Tiffany staying in dorms instead of staying at home and commuting.

6

Pipe and coffee break analysis for today:

1. I see that Luann is picking up on Bernice’s negative stance about Tiffany. Both of them have used the descriptor “Fat” in a pejorative way to “diss” on Tiffany. I find this sad.

2. Dez, meanwhile, is the one person in the frame that is showing some genuine interest and empathy towards Tiffany. Her comment of, “Wonder why she has gained weight.” is a statement that shows some level of concern, and is not simply a “diss”.

3. While the long high school history of Bernice, Luann, and Tiffany can be somewhat of an explanation for B & L’s negativity… previous strips while at college have shown the three of them interacting in a much more friendly and caring way. It is, to me, disappointing to see B & L initial reaction being simply gossipy and mean spirited.

In my manner of thinking about Tiffany at the moment…. I tend to think she is depressed…. but NOT in a clinical type of depression. I think she is working through emotions of a) Gunter’s kind of nasty slam towards her earlier in the year, b) a greater realization by Tiffany that she is not sure where she is heading anymore in life, c) a greater self awareness by Tiffany of her own range of emotions…. and d) especially a greater self awareness by Tiffany of NEGATIVE emotions that she is now actually FEELING. Traditionally Tiffany has been more surface focused and probably has not spent much time examining her own feelings. I think this has changed.

Unfortunately for Tiffany, she has adopted the easy to acquire behavior of using food as a coping mechanism as she feels buffeted by her emotions…. which is a newer experience for her. (to be continued in the next comment)

What I hope though, is that Tiffany continues to work through her emotions so that she becomes a stronger, more well rounded individual. I do not really care if she is heavier or thinner… although for Tiffany’s health and wellness, I hope that eventually she is able to at some point again move towards a normal range BMI for her. I really think Greg may be (hopefully) using this arc to shed more light on the horrific way a large part of society still thinks it is “ok” or “normal” or “justified” to pick on or denigrate folks because of their body size. Greg can use this medium to help some folks to see how biased and unpleasant and unkind that sort of behavior (picking on individuals because of their body parameters) is.

Like I said earlier, it takes people a while to adjust their attitude and set-in feelings about someone else – especially Luann and Tiffany who have been for so long such rivals. Hopefully, this will be the wake-up call for Bernice saying, “Oh, this is what counseling/helping others can be!” And hopefully, Bernice will like that as a life mission.

Sadness has an external cause. Depression is a serotonin/dopamine imbalance in the brain which can just happen without any obvious reason and might persist for years or be chronic. For those who have never experienced depression, it is hard to grasp what this feels like, and that includes many mental health practitioners. I am curious how sensitively the Evanses will handle this.

Speaking of bitterness…

Okay, it is no secret that i think that Tiffany and Bernice are two sides of one coin, both lonely, with that loneliness to a decent extent of their own making, and both bitter about it, but with college age Tiffany turning that bitterness more inward while college age Bernice is turning it outward and has moved beyond being snarky into often being nasty. Tiffany’s change has had a rapid marker while Bernice’s has been gradual, but…

Now it is Luann’s turn to be usurped by bitterness. What a shallow take on life! Yes, i know she is mainly speaking from long term rivalry and long term hurt, but hopefully she begins to get past this because she is depicted as being in her late teens and every “value” she just mentioned is just as shallow coming from her lips as when they came from Tiffany’s at a younger age. Hopefully, Luann is being deeply sarcastic, and also KNOWS that, rather than reverting to childhood points of envy.

I wonder. Is there anything Dez gets bitter about? Okay, we know that some of her teas might be bitter, and we know that Bernice sometimes drives her into doing meditation to calm herself. But what gets under her skin?

Oh, and, yes, i am keeping my mind open to alternative explanations, and, yes, i do know how hard it is to get out there and meet new people. (My suggestion to these two is to volunteer in something they care about to meet others with whom they can connect.

That leads me to one other question: are we recently seeing the beginnings of the core group increasingly moving away from each other and developing their own new circles? Both Tiffany and Bernice NEED that to have new friends, and Luann is exploring new relationships already.

Poor Tiffany’s been reading ‘Luann’.

Another question (for the far future in our time): Dez has worked hard to be a friend toward Bernice but there has not been much reciprocal behavior. When Luann finishes community college, IF she goes to Monney Uni instead of taking us all to a new setting, might Luann and Dez decide to room together if Bernice does not clean up her act?

Empathy, thy name is NOT Luann.

It really is absurd that all the commenters are upset with LuAnn. I am sure all the commenters who are pissing all over Luann for her comment are all so perfect they would do a 180 and ‘turn the other cheek’ in their abject desire to assist their nemesis ( tiffany) instantaneously.

Too much psycho-babble. Evans is so unpredictable, it wouldn’t shock me if this turned out to be a repeat of the shower scene from the TV series Dallas. It was all Bernice’s imagination because Tiff had no makeup on. Just sayin’. Only one person has seen Tiff so far.

Y’know, people can feel depressed, without suffering from depression. Depression is also an emotional state of being, that can be exaserbated by low self esteem, loneliness, frustration, etc

In a strip composed of one dimensional stereotypes, Bernice’s character is REALLY getting tiresome

Okay, what mostly unexpected phys ed classes can you imagine working out once they get into them for various college age main characters here? My take:

Luann: Judo (That would soooooo work.)

Tiffany: first Tai Kwan Do and Tai Chi, progressing into Mixed Martial Arts, maybe Body Building

Bernice: Wrestling, maybe Ballroom Dancing

Dez: Yoga (Duh, of course) and maybe adding Tai Chi

Gunthur: Olympic Weight Training or perhaps Body Building, Ballroom Dancing

Hmmmm, i just thought of something unrelated. I think that Gunther and Dez could at some point be good for each other as a dating couple. There may be that balance of complimentary strengths thing with them just as there has been with Gunther and Tiffany.

she’s probably pregnant.

Do you think Gunther will join Tiff in a workout program to help her lose the weight?

Maybe she is hiding a pregnancy

First, how much weight had Tiffany gained. She does look heavier, but it’s hard to really tell how much in the bulky sweats. Might just be 10-15 pounds.

And why assume it’s depression. Tiffany could have hurt her back at the gym and not been able to do her usual workout for the rest of the summer. Or she could have taken a course on gourmet cooking over the summer and ate too much of her homework. Or she could have gone on a vacation that involved touring all the best eateries in Europe. (There has got to be a tour somewhere like that.) And yes, she looked a bit ratty when Bernice saw her, but maybe she had a late night, or Bernice woke her up from a nap, or it might just be “that time” of the month.

The point is, assuming Tiffany is depressed and “needs help” might be jumping to conclusions.

Wondered when the girls would start to put on weight, although in real life it doesn’t hit most women until after they have kids or hit middle age.

Dez and Bernice seem to actually care about Tiff’s problem. They may help her. Many people like Tiffany are deeply insecure, that’s why they strive so hard to look perfect on the outside.

Dolly Parton once said, “It takes a lot of money to look this cheap”. Tiffany has to maintain her image as a sexy party girl or disappear into the background.

so what will be Des’ solution? Make her drink cat-poop tea ?

AIRMAN: given your background, this announcement may be of interest to you since it will affect people you helped rescue:

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/federal-agencies-partner-military-veteran-pain-management-research

The last time we saw Tiffany was June 16th when Gunther dropped her off. The whole conversation is some self realization for Tiffany and Gunther warning her about Leslie. So… two potential scenarios here I think. She’s been in depression about herself and/or her life, or she ignored Gunther and Leslie has “done her wrong”.

I have been a little surprised at the general ignorance about depression in these comments, some made by well-meaning and very astute people. Two books to read, if you want to understand better, are The Noonday Demon by Andrew Solomon and Darkness Visible by William Styron.

Having asked the question after Luanaphile led me to the right one, I looked up forms of depression. The lists differ.

http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/depression-types#1

http://www.healthline.com/health/depression/types-tab

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/depression/index.shtml

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3181770/

Interestingly, situational depression such as i underwent a half century ago due to being a battered child and a half year later as a vulnerable teen shunned due to someone’s lie is in some lists as situational depression, but is now in more as an adjustment disorder. So, in today’s terms i guess adjustments were made, both by myself and by others in response to those who threatened action if the beatings continued.

So, i guess that technically in today’s terminology Tiffany might be dealing with an adjustment disorder!

Learn something every day – sometimes the right question has to found first, though!

I hope none of the gang gets so insensitive as to start calling Tiffany things like, for example, Tiffatty. (Hmm…maybe I need some sensitivity training, myself if I could think that up…)

I am kind of amazed by a lot of what has been posted here. First, the idea that if Tiffany is seriously depressed that Bernice, Dez or Gunther could help her. None of them have the training to genuinely help, even if they may want to. They can be supportive, but for real help, someone with genuine depression needs a person with both medical and psychiatric training. Secondly, I’m not sure why so many people are assuming that Gunther is ‘to blame’ for any depression that Tiffany may or may not be suffering from. People can withstand a lot of verbal and even physical abuse without becoming depressed, if they don’t have the chemical makeup that leads to depression. On the other hand, a person may be surrounded by caring family and still suffer from depression…

Whatever her current situation may be, sooner or later Tiffany will have a reckoning with reality. She considers herself an actress and model, but her only acting credit is a video game, Eyez of Zeye, that may or may not exist, and her only modeling gig (that I recall) was as “Miss Chamber of Commerce,” a job she was fired from. She always says she is the hottest girl in town and irresistible to boys, but she has never had a boyfriend and rarely has a date (Luann and Bernice both have much more active love lives). Meanwhile, Tiffany appears to have no career plans other than continuing to be gorgeous and popular. All of this is bound to catch up with her eventually, although perhaps not for another few years, according to the usual course of thing she for girls like her.

I knew quite a few people who tried to drink their sorrows away and gained weight that way.

Bern may be making analytical grade conclusions but at least she is correct. Luann is less perceptive and understanding, almost sarcastic.

Luann shows a common misunderstanding of depression. Depression does not correlate one-to-one with apparent success, wealth and possessions, or even seeming popularity. Look at how many movie stars, celebrities, and other notable “successful” persons have ended up severely depressed or even committed suicide. Yes, Tiffany could be putting on the pounds out of depression; but, conversely, Bernie should not be so certain, as there many other possible reasons for sudden weight gain….

Luanaphile’s 15%

Is the Saturday strip no one wants to see going to be Dez and Bernice and Luann pounding on Tiffany’s door while loud music is playing.

Lots of medical issues will increase weight.

Tiffany hinted at her insecurities earlier when she asked Gunther why she can’t meet a guy, despite all her superficial moves.

It is my hope that the three of them will ultimately befriend Tiffany to help her overcome her situation. I can see Dez as a neutral person who could be the first to go over and open up dialog.

Good. I hate Tiff. Let her get diabetes and all of it’s complications and die before 30.