Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for June 18, 2021

I was watching an episode of the original Star Trek series earlier this evening, and how opportune that the episode “The Changeling” was on. A space probe named “Nomad” was on board the Enterprise probing, sterilizing, scaring the hell out of everyone, and killing a few red shirts. It scanned Bets, I mean, Uhura in her red miniskirt, and declared that she was a “mass of conflicting impulses”. How fitting. Now, that is a REAL tie/coincidence between this strip and Star Trek.

.

Be careful, Gunth – I have a feeling she will be back…

We’ve got a UFO here. An unbelievable fantasizing object.

Ground control to Major Tiff, make sure your helmet hair is stiff.

Tiffany is living in Fantasy land. You don’t run into the arms of the guy you’ve been GHOSTING for 3 weeks!!

Tiffany, bets didn’t pay you. How are you going to give her a refund for something she didn’t pay for?

Wait a minute! Refund for the dinner? Bets actually paid $300 in advance for nothing?

The one thing doesn’t always necessarily lead to the other, y’know … ✨

And so it gets worse…Well at least Gunther is down to Earth…Able to avoid yet another insane scheme.

Wait, Wait, WAIT!

“Refund??” I thought that before Bets stormed out of the Farrell mansion on April 16th, she shrieked “No Pirates, No Payment!”

Now today, Tiffany’s predictably moronic “plan” involves her dangling the promise of a “refund,” indicating that Bets did indeed, pay some if not all of that 300 bucks upfront.

Either Tiffany “forgot” that she didn’t get paid (Amenisa runs rampant in the VAST Luanniverse) or Tiffany DID get paid and Bets was totally in the right to get Mad because she absolutely did NOT get what she paid good money for. In fact, I’m surprised that Bets didn’t DEMAND her money back before leaving.

A couple of things:

1) Again, it is assumed that Tiffany can get in touch with Bets when Gunther could not.

2) No one has yet to think of checking Bet’s website or contacting her legions of fans for her whereabouts.

3) No one has thought about going to Bets’ residence.

Confusion reigns on Friday.

Saturdays “cliff-hanger” will either be jaw-dropping or a monumental fizzle. :)

Karen sure has some vivid fantasy — Tails of Atlantis and now this Fantasy Island idea. And, wait! Bets claimed that she was not going to pay for the dinner, meaning she had not paid for it yet, so Tiffany can’t refund what she never got. God, Karen needs a contonuity checker.

Earth to Tiffany snap out of this dream world.

Tiffs heart is in the right place but she’s not realistic about the whole Gun/Bets situation. At least we now know that Bets paid for the evening. I was concerned the Hot Harpist didn’t get paid. LOL

Gunther is down to earth.

Thankfully Gman isn’t buying into her fantasy world.

Just because Gunther loves Bets, doesn’t mean she’s that into him.

Please let Gunther get through to Tiff that he is not willing to do this and let Tiff ask how she can best help him.

I don’t see this plan working…..

If Bets finds Gunther at Tiffany’s house, being Bets, she’d leap to the conclusion that Gunther and Bets are having a torrid affair, and invited her over to flaunt it in her face.

Evans can’t seem to decide whether or not Bets paid Tiffany for the meal. Both options have been presented as fact since that incident.

Is it just me? Or does the way Tiffany fantasizes the outcome of her plan feel awfully familiar? (Today’s strip is GnK’s ‘tribute’ to their readers)

Based on the dialogue, it’s not unreasonable and fairly common that Bets could have made a deposit on the dinner to get it started. No payment could refer to the large sum balance.

Love means never having to not say, “SHUT UP, TIFFANY.”

This alone, as the last words of the last panel tomorrow, would make a great cliffhanger.

Can Tiffany face reality?

Youth: An acceptable refuge for the stupid and delusional. Recovery usually occurs with time, but subject may become lost in “spaced out”, start referring to themselves as Trekkies, and become obsessed with their collection of Japanese comics.

Gunther…sal si puedes!

Nice to hope for Gunther in your little visualization to bring them back together…it is more complicated than that. Maybe YOU ought to have a little girl talk with Bets and find out why she ghosted Gunther and that you already know it was not the dinner. Do us a favor and do this – we all are dying to know why (although many of us have our suspicions).

Can’t you picture it in your mind’s eye…

Greg Hardy to Karen Laurel:

“Well, here’s another fine contradiction you’ve written us into.”

On a totally unrelated thread from many of the comments on today’s strip: I think it can be concluded that Tiffany’s reaction means that the Tiffany/Gunther ship has at least sprung a leak, if not hit an iceberg and sunk.

I think the only thing that will satisfy Bets is a pirate themed ‘Table for Two’ like she wanted in the first place. She wants to provide content for her followers and she was denied it when Tiffany gave her a romanced theme instead. Poor Gunther confessed his love to someone who might not be able to reciprocate it.

To G & K: Please surprise us Friday !

Dunno why, but I’ve the impression (or maybe I just hope so) that everything will leat to a huge fight between Bets and Tiffany before Gunther could even see her again. It’s so nice to see Tiffany with hearts eyes thinking she’ll helping her friends love each other ♡. She’s a good girl and a precious friend. And she have to refund Bets.

Interesting strip. First Tiffany is genuinely interested in getting Gunther and Bets back together. Then she shows she wants to prove herself right and keep the money at the same time. She’s a mass of conflicting impulses.

Plays work best when actors know their lines and follow the script. Bets doesn’t and probably wouldn’t. Even Gunther seems to reject the script, even though it is out of this world.

Bets never used the future tense. Only the past tense (“I paid”) and the ambiguous (“no payment”). But it doesn’t matter if Bets prepaid or not. Tiffany should have canceled the booking (and refunded the deposit) because she knew she was not going to provide the product the customer wanted. And as we saw later on, Tiffany’s report did not need to be based on the truth for her to get an A. It should also not be ignored that Tiffany was in position to stop Bets and Gunther from spending money and effort in making the costumes.

Gunther needs to move on

Tiffany is romantic to a fault, reality being any part of her romantic world Whither Bets? Misdirection play?

While serving tea, Tiffany is still managing to squeeze herself into being the center of attention.

She may have gotten an A on her Marketing assignment but she gets an F on reality.

I only hope Gunther will continue to stand his ground against Tiffany’s foolishness next week.

When my pupils get like that, all my plans seem perfect too!

Gunther didn’t agree with Bets about her opinion of the dinner. That’s the real root of the problem, not the L word.

Any intelligent life around here?

That would be a great idea. If you wanted to impress a prince in a fairytale!

I must be remembering incorrectly, but I thought Bets refused to pay for the dinner?

Here we go again…

Thank you, Gunther. That sums it up, alright.

Poor thing. She still doesn’t get it.

Scotty, please beam Tiffany’s brain back down!

Oooof…..you were doing SO well there, Tiff….dial it back one panel.

Considering how Bets plays to her fans all the time, has anyone checked her podcast to see if she’s featuring any new boyfriends while she’s been ghosting Gunther? Sure she stages scenes, but her site should be more or less broadcasting her mindset regarding her significant other status. It’s possible she’s already moved on.

Nothing solves life’s problems like sitcom shenanigans. Or just date someone else.

TJ will bring Tiff down to earth, and rescue Gunther

The Evans’ seem to have lost their dementia medicine again. I keep forgetting that they have no ability whatsoever to maintain any continuity in their storylines.

From Tiffany’s own words, the dinner was paid for. How about some retractions/apologies from those commenters who asserted otherwise?

What’s the worst that could happen? And whenever you say that, you find out : /

While she may be fantasizing, and giving herself an outsize role, Tiffany still starts from a noble impulse- to bestow happiness on two OTHER people. She’s not an unalloyed narcissist.

Whatever happened to TeaFanny & CaptainTeaFanny ???

try again Tiff.

Luanniverse has entered the summer doldrums months early this year. I was hopeful for some meaningful relationship advancement with Gunther, Tiffany, Bets, and/or even Les, in some mix. Anything to advance the arc!

It is apparent that Team Evans are just cranking out fill-in strips until some quick conclusion. There’s no inherent development of a theme toward some desired result. As it appears now, Tiffany will make an appearance, seem more ditsy than in recent months, then disappear. Then be followed next week by someone else, maybe Luann, with similar results, then Les, then maybe Bets will appear for no apparent reason and the relationship will be resolved one way or another.

The comics oracle is deceptively unclear at his point.

Uh, Gunther? Shouldn’t you be touching a spot above your shirt pocket? (Comm badge)

Remember that upon her first appearance Bets was identified as Uhura by the majority of commenters. Gunther was supposed to be Spock and folks were expecting their relationship to parallel the Trek story in some form or fashion. Maybe it still will. 8^ \

Tiffany seems to be a nice girl at heart. She is just egocentric and a bit airheaded.

Ah, lighten up. She got Gunther to grin and make a joke.

Who knew Tiffany had this romantic streak! I thought she was all about the $$$.

So Tiffany is changing up from entrepreneur to relationship counselor?

This is the land of confusion … and not much love to go around. Can’t you see this is the land of confusion.

I am sorry, but with what is known with Bets personality, she would have already got her refund. If she didn’t get it when she stormed out, she would have gotten her $300 back long before now. No pirates, no payment. Bets would not have just let it go.

Tiff didn’t know Bets and Gun were on the outs. You guys share classes, Bets has been to your house to help you study. Heck, Gun and Les are house-mates. Les works with Tiff, Ox and TJ, all of whom were there at the Dinner for Two. None of the three asked Les how things went that night from Les before that? Or heaven forbit, none of you called/visited Gunther?

Bets has a following on her whatever account. I am quite sure Gun is a follower, if not a few others from the LuAnn universe. She just went 100% incognito? No one can find out what she has been up to?

Does Gunther work or go to school. What the heck does he do.

Gun, if you trick Bets into a meeting, then yes stick a fork in it cause you two are done. Tricks will not get Bets back into your life to where you can find out what her perspective is.

So in THIS version of events Tiffany got paid! Because sometimes she didn’t, you know! I think Evans might need a vacation.

Gunther’s sassy little pose, though…

Thinking that Tiffany should switch her major to English and write Fiction. . .

First thought, Bets did pay?! Next, wow, what a romantic! For Bets, the romantic dinner didn’t work the first time, being alone with Gunther wasn’t enough, his declaration of love, well, we don’t know what she thought about that, was more interested in posting for her followers, and apparently Bets isn’t interested in conversation, especially anywhere near Tiffany or her house. She’s not a neutral party and maybe someone else would be more successful in getting Gunther and Bets together. If Gunther is going to accept Bets and all her idiosyncrasies, maybe he should post a “Lost in Space” photo. It’s still no guarantee she accepts him as is.I don’t remember her having any friends, just followers. Kind of sad.

So that means Bets did pay! I remember a debate on that when Bets got angry at Tiff for not doing the pirate theme. I hope Gunth does not let Tiffany do this.

this attitude is probably why romance novels are profitable

I posted this in answer to a couple of commenters who were wondering about the payment/non payment thing…..

It’s because G&K can’t keep their storyline straight.

Really they have a bunch of daisies. and when necessary they pick one, and pull the petals off, while saying: “Bets paid Tiff…..Bets paid Tiff not…..Bets paid Tiff…..Bets paid Tiff not…………”

When Gunther says in the first panel “Uh, I don’t think -“, what is the rest of the sentence? “I don’t think you should do that.”“I don’t think I want any help.”“I don’t think I love Bets.”???

The question of whether Bets prepaid is settled. The more important question is one that Tiffany herself brings up in the third panel: What she right all along? Did she do the right thing in making TTFT a fine dining experience, even though she knew Bets and Gunther were expecting a pirate theme and had a history of going to such events in cosplay garb?

Instead of feigning a call to Tiffany…call Bets!

Tiffany should have not taken Bets money (since now it is indeed determined that it was paid). She had no intention whatsoever of giving Bets what she was paying for (which is fraud). Peter Pirate also brought up the point that she also knew they were spending money making costumes. So she just blissfully went about totally disregarding the wishes and investments of her customers. If I were Bets I would be raging mad too! I would have probably ended up on the news after getting ripped off like that. Bets received no customer service or consideration at all from Tiffany! If all the facts were known Tiffany would have gotten an F on the assignment! And Gunther should have sided with Bets on this one. He blew it. Tiffany owes Bets a refund and an apology.

Anybody out there ever drive/own AMC Gremlin? I learned to shift (three on the column) on that car. I made my brother buy it, since he was borrowing some of my college money for a new car.

Dunno if earth can ever get to Tiff – she’s never been grounded!

The worst mistake Gunther can possibly make is letting Tiffany be involved in this. So let’s watch him do just that.

Don’t reject it out of hand. It has some merit…….

Yet, Tiffany will somehow persuade him.

Gunther, it’s time to change the channel & find a new lobby.

Gunther is “practical minded”, like Don Bowman’s Jeepers character in the classic motion picture, Las Vegas Hillbillys. Meanwhile, Tiff is taking on Jayne Mansfield’s Boots Malone role in that same film, by thinking outside of the box and getting the job done.

From Tiffany’s own words, the dinner was paid for. How about some updates to their opinions about Tiffany from those who heretofore have not articulated the slightest criticism about the way she treated Bets?

Full of something…

I don’t think Bets is angry at Gunther. I think Bets was startled (and maybe scared) when he used the ‘L" word. I doubt that she feels love for Gunther; I think she is too absorbed in both her cosplay world and her online posting to be looking for a genuine ’non-play’ relationship. She would not be ‘full of romance’ if she saw Gunther waiting for her at Tiffany’s house, that’s for sure…

It’s hard to tell who is living in a bigger fantasy world, Bets or Tiffany?

Keep dreaming Tiff. Never gonna happen. Bets probably won’t even talk to you after ruining the date she wanted set up for her and Gunter.

If Gunther wants to get Bets back, it should be his way, not like a a bad sitcom cliche.

I applaud her for at least trying.

@DG:

I’m not as long-term a reader as many others here are, but I’m guessing you may be somewhat newer here than I am, from some of the questions you asked. I didn’t notice anyone answering those, so let me try.

You asked whether Gunther worked or goes to school, what does he do. Gunther is still in school; originally wanting to be an engineer. (Don’t know if that is still what he wants.) He is very booksmart, but not all that ‘peoplesmart’. He also is a great fan of science fiction, ‘cosplay’ (wearing costumes, like to a Science Fiction or comic convention), and is very talented at sewing. At one point, he had a relationship with a girl in high school named Rosa, who was very idealistic and also booksmart. Her parents wanted her to go to an ivy league school. She got in, but wanted to help poor people, so she went to Peru. Gunther followed her, but came back to the US when his mother (who raised him alone) got involved with a man that Gunther didn’t trust. Gunther met Bets in an on-line dating site when Luann posted his profile. Bets loves cosplay and going to Comicons. She also constantly posts to some site or other and has a lot of followers. Gunther has been uncomfortable with all the posting of their private life but has not said anything to Bets.

Hope this helps?

Tiffany’s heart eyes in the second panel shows she’s watched too many Hollywood romance films.

Wouldn’t a real Star Trek geek either tap his chest insignia or pretend to hold a communicator? Pretending to use an ancient telephone receiver is so retro I fear for ol’ Gun at the next Trekkie convention.

Aww. Bless our chubby little Tiffany with the saucer-sized eyes-full-of-wonder. In her own self-centered way she really does want to help Gunther win back Bets, and she has a plan, however spacey (as Gunny implies in panel 3)….

aw…that’s sweet … let her try

I don’t blame Tiff, she wants to be helpful, just once.