Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for May 29, 2018

Oh, how cruel of you, Daddy!

How to win friends and influence people. Aw Tiff, think before you speak.

Daddy is clueless. When he is penniless, he will even have less than no clue.

Oh Tiffany. Life isn’t so bad. At least he didn’t cut your allowance, and he did send you to a counselor you know.

Well, this session is off to a great start.

That sensitivity training is really paying off. ✨

Cruel and unusual punishment. 8th amendment violation if he were a government.

But it is for my beloved Tiffany’s own good.

Oh, the torture!

This is kind of complicated for a comic strip comedic drama: the issue is based on a belief/history that the way to deal with Tiffany’s “issues” is to “punish” her by making her go see a counselor (whose ability is questionable) twice a week, while at the same time Tiffany has to deal with the advances of a truly evil person’s influence over her father. He has always treated her transactionally, not personally, that is, pay her off, buy her a lot of stuff, make her hide behind her money, now he does not see how threatened she really is by this harridan, not only because he is still being transactional, but also because of Ann. What a adult sized problem!

Tiffany is still in “I did nothing wrong” mode.

One of my God-Daughters is a lot like Tiff. She was a cheerleader in High School, very attractive and a bit spoiled. But she was a mediocre college student. Then she dropped out of college and joined the Air Force Reserves and she’s now doing great. The Military Discipline agreed with her.

Maybe that’s what Tiffany, Les and My Favorite Nerd Need. Discipline, and to come to grips with the fact you can’t control your Parents lives, and sometimes, you just have to let them go and move on.

Jeeze, I hate seeing Tiffany cry. She’s done far too much of that in the last year.

Oh Waiter? COFFEE Please. This Arc is getting a bit depressing…..

So, seeing Mrs. Fogarty is worse than losing half of your allowance, Tiffany? Maybe she can refer you to a dietician. She could be a blessing in disguise, you know. She could help you explore your feelings for Gunther and forget about your dad – find your own love and not to worry or be wanton of dad’s.

Tiffany, you are a (mostly) mentally sound adult. Your dad no longer has the power to punish you as if you were a little child. Move. OUT. Get a job, get a boyfriend, move in with Luann, I don’t care – but don’t let him emotionally abuse you like this!

poor tiffany..

Mrs. Fogarty needs to say, "So Tiff – What are you going to do with YOUR life?

Give last chance or have quiet farewell talk with clueless dad, warn him, let go and walk away. Cut the cord, break the chain. Move on- get a job and make your own allowance. Not at a bakery, though…

If Tiffany explains what happened, maybe Mrs. Fogarty will finally be the one with enough presence of mind to point out that Tiff has witnessed a crime and needs to notify the authorities.

Tiff you have all the power use it.

Why are some people that way?

I’m still wondering why Mme. Soufflé (whatever her name was) hasn’t gone after Ann. Or maybe that’s in the making.

Poor Tiff! But don’t you worry dear, Greg and Karen (never mind who they are.. ;) ) will get you out of this mess somehow!

Does Tiff look less chubby or is it me? She was never going to be a match for Anne Awful. Daddy loves that wench in a different way. He’s going to have to disillusion himself with her for that to end.

Time to get your act together and kick daddy to the curb. Make your own money, and buy your own things. You’ll feel a lot better about yourself and less concerned about the actions of others, ie, daddy-oh.

Don’t get mad, girl, get even. Stick it to nasty old Ann Eiffel…

Love me some Tiffany!

Oh. Burn. You go, Tiffany! :D

Tiff has a secret weapon. Les. Seems Les should arrange to have a meeting with Tiff’s father. I’d lay odds that Tom Farrell (?) doesn’t even know about Les. And as Les is Ann’s son, I think his testimonial should be worth listening to.

I notice a number of posters seem to think it’s easy to just “let go” and cut yourself off from a parent. It’s not, even when they’re genuinely abusive, not just negligent.

Ouch.

On the bright side, your anger appears to be burning off the extra pounds…

This has gone kinda weird. The arc has returned to a gag-a-day format so far, yet the situation rates a melodrama approach.

Tiffany’s sudden weight gain indicates an emotional crisis; yet unresolved. She did not respond well to a couple of intervention attempts by various characters. The arc was abruptly dropped with Tiff in denial. Now we see Tiffany reverting to her high school persona. How appropriate to introduce her to her high school counselor. Am I going somewhere with this? Yes.

I foresee a Deus ex Machina in this arc’s future. (Someone mentioned a “third party” type rescue, above.) GnC have written themselves into a bind of sorts. If this just turns out to be just another character-development arc for Tiff (ala Fay & Axel, which ended with two gag-a-day strips, BTW) it will be a bummer of a let-down; at least for Tyge.

I will admit to being a bit worried where this arc is going. :o\

Edit to above: [It could go some disastrous way for Tiffany fans (like me).]

I will admit to being a bit worried where this arc is going. :o\

Can someone please translate the last frame?

Anybody else hoping for Mr. Gray to come help with the trouble his sister is causing? He does see Leslie a lot. You would think that he would’ve mentioned Ann to Mr. Gray.

Tiffany’s problems with her father not being there for her, and just sending her money, very much predate the situation with Ann Awful. Adding Ann to the mix brought this problem to a near crisis situation, which is part of why Tiffany became depressed and began overeating. But she was already on her way into depression over the fact that college is very different from high school; she was kind of a ‘big fish in a small pond’ in high school as a local celebrity, but, in college where there are a lot more students, a person can become anonymous and also start to feel overwhelmed by college level classes. I worked for a year as a volunteer on a crisis switchboard at University of AZ way back during the Vietnam War, and this was what we were trained to deal with. (Depressed students were not who we ended up trying to help, but that’s another story.) So, even if Ann Awful is shown to be a crook and Tom Farrell drops her, Tiffany might not automatically be ok. She will still have her original issue of a father who is only there for her financially…

Have the strip’s creators completely given up on the fact that Ann committed a major crime (with over a hundred victims), and decided that all that happened was a personal matter between Tiffany, her Dad, and Ann, or at least that’s all that really matters? Luann knows that the Fuse was the scene of that major crime, but she doesn’t care?

@SHADOWBEAST: I think Les lives with Al Gray. They don’t exactly get along, from what we’ve seen. And since Les is apparently under court orders to repay Ann for using her credit card without her permission (or some similar infraction), it ’s not clear that if Les reported bad conduct by Ann to Al Gray that Al Gray would believe Les…

As I reacall, Tiffanys father also lowered her allowance

7

The dual nature of Tiffany’s words and actions speak volumes. She calls it “punishment” to see Mrs. Fogarty (the counselor) yet, her emotions are pouring forth showing it is not punishment but a need for her at this time.

I find it a bit surprising that Mr. Farrel has “punished” her in this way…. the scant knowledge we know of him currently suggests this is a bit more “caring” than may be expected from him. He, typically has seemed to have been by-and-large thinking more with his groin and not so much with his brain… since up until this small discovery…. all we know is that he took Ann’s side in this situation.

As a father, he should be working to help Tiffany. While I believe he still needs to be much more of a father to Tiffany… this “punishment” of counseling at least shows a smidgen of effort.

@SEISMIC: As has been said repeatedly, only Tiffany has actual proof of the crime because she has actual examples of the real thing as well as personal contact with the owner of the company being ripped off. For anyone else to report the crime is basically to engage in hearsay; without proof, police cannot take action. So if fingers are to be pointed at those who have been wronged, the fingers can’t be pointed at those who can only refer the police to Tiffany for proof. And given how sunken into depression Tiffany appears to be right now, it is not surprise that she hasn’t gone to the police. She probably figures that they wouldn’t credit her evidence if her own father didn’t.

do we think dad is undercover and Tiff walk in at the wrong time and walk in on a sting.

I will say this. At least we now see how Tiff ended up with Ms. Fogarty. And it shows how out of touch Daddy is, making her see Ms. Fogarty. He couldn’t have popped for a professional counselor? It’s not like he doesn’t have the $$$ for it.

Again, I hope that Tiff figures things out for herself. Look forward to the solution.

Selling ‘knock-offs’ at flea markets and garage sales is actually a big business, and people have learned to check for authentication cards in products, specific types of stitching, initials and signature, types of materials and so on. But you have to know what the real thing looks like in order to do that. Too many folks buy a very expensive watch thinking its by some big name manufacturer and when it needs repairs, find out otherwise.

@JPUZZLE: As with many categorical beliefs, Norman Vincent Peale’s were deeply flawed, sometimes with tragic consequences. The great theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, said such a message was “dangerous. . . . It hurts people. . . . It helps them to feel good while they are evading the real issues of life.” It is also utterly ineffective with major depressive disorder or terminal cancer, as many studies have proven.

Back to the gym, Tiff!

College student Tiffany, is seeing high school counselor Fogarty. That’s beyond odd.

So her father sends her to a school councilor for her mental health appointments?

This may be (I hope) an arc where we get to see Mrs. Fogarty in a new light and at her best. A few commentators have thought that she should focus on Tiff’s weight. I say Fogarty is doing the right thing by not commenting on it and instead probing Tiff’s relationship with her dad. Once Tiffany gets her emotions and priorities on track, the weight (if it is a problem) will sort itself out.

Why should Nancy be charged with the job of counseling Tiffany? She has her own work and family. That Tiffany is seeing Mrs. Fogarty does not preclude her talking to Gunther which she already does. It is likely that Fogarty will encourage Tiff to develop real friendships (as part of getting her own life), which in the past she has not done. I like seeing Fogarty in this professional capacity. She is right for Tiffany (or any former Pitt student) because she’s known her for a long time.

Mrs. Fogarty thinks Tiffany’s nose is so borgeois, that it’s diamonds that she’s sniffling…

-

….But it’snot…..

“In Mentor Condition”

“Cryin’ And Punishment”

“Too Many Handkerchiefs, Not Enough Simoleons”

“Don’t Counsel Your Eggs, Until The Lot’s Smashed”

“Save The Last Guidance For Me”

“Daddy Unclearest”

“Friend? Or Fogarty?”

or

“Leave It To Deceiver”

Having to see Mrs. Fogarty twide a weeg is cruel and unusual punishment, but Tiff probably won’t file a police report on Tom Farrell, since she thinks he’s a victim, too. It all goes back to Annie Awful, whose assorted crimes, misdemeanors, and nasty behaviors need a big-time Reckoning.

Go for it, Tiff! It will feel so good!

Wonder if Mrs. Fogarty will ask Tiff about whether she has “support” from friends, and if Gunther or Les or both will me mentioned.