Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for July 26, 2023

Pantser? I thought Pantsers were wise guys who pulled down your pants in High School gym class, when cute girls were around. ;)

Bernice needs to see the ear doctor. She clearly has some heavy duty wax in her ears.

.

So what do we think… are Tiff and Kip getting it on right now in the pool house? lol

Frenemy

And Bernice is being an apple.

Bernice sure is nasty to the friend whose family provides her a rent-free room.

Is Bernice trying to win some insufferable jerk award?

I can’t. Tell the difference that is. So I guess we’ll just keep ploDDing along without a ploT!

I like having the date on the fridge door, better than listening to Bernice.

I mean.. it’s Luann, we know by now she can be both. Also, Bernice needs to get her ears checked. She claims to have misheard “plodder” after Luann’s explanation of how she’s plotting out her story.

Luann actually showing initiative in taking on writing. Not bad, Lu! I know not to get my hopes up about Luann sticking to a new direction… but for now I’m at least pleased that she’s absorbed some good advice and seems to be resolved to give it a try.

Personally, I hope this storyline shifts into Luann asking Bernice why she wants to be Little Miss Muse for some mopey dudes she’s known for a short while but when her life-long bestie has a new interest Bernice is ready to insult her and discourage her from something that makes her happy. I dunno, seems like something Luann could bring up after how Bernice wanted to act like a inspirational saint when Piro boosted her ego.

The idea that G&K lurch into these stories without having a conclusion in mind, leading them to abandon stories in mid-stream makes a lot of sense. Consider the whole idea of having Kip as Tiffany’s summer roommate. So edgy and plays into the idea that Kip has had his eye on Tifffany since they first met. But what are the consequences?First Stefini is going to have a cow because she thinks Tiffany is trying to steal her man. (You can’t steal what you never had)Check - We had a overly-long week of thatSecond Tiffany is going to agonize over her desire to ogle Kip’s naked bod versis her promise not to.Check - another long week of ‘I must; I mustn’t; I will, I won’t.And that ends with Tiffany down by the pool telling kip she’s just going to the “zobego”And there the story stops. They did a week of Tiffany being cranky and only on the last day confesses that she’s frustrated. So here’s why the story stopped. Tiffany is down by the pool. what happens next?A) She goes to the Gazebo. Nothing happens.B) She goes to the Gazebo and Kip follows her.C) Tiffany falls into the pool and for a while they splash around in the pool together then Tiffany leaves to dry off. Nothing happensD) Kip kisses her.

A is the most likely branch of this decision tree. But since nothing happens there’s nothing to write about. But going to the Gazebo and doing nothing at least ends the story.C gives us a week of antics in the pool, And when Tiffany leaves to dry off that also brings the story to an end. B opens up a new branch of the decision tree. Kip and Tiffany could talk about inconsequential thinks, how he met Stefini,, what’s it liking with an absentee father. Then they leave, Another week of story but seeming to end.D Kip kissing Tiffany opens up a whole new kettle of fish. Is it a casual kiss, is it an invitation to doing something else.

(continued)D Kip kissing Tiffany opens up a whole new kettle of fish. Is it a casual kiss, is it an invitation to doing something else.

To me the strip ought to have gone to the kiss because everything up to then had been shading in that direction. But G&K have shied away from that direction. They don;t know what to do with “Kip-any” now that they have set it up to happen. And so they have abandoned the story.

All I know is if my BFF was always this snarky and degrading, while being totally oblivious to her attempted superiority complex, she’d have been gone a long time ago.

I too am a plotter, I have to have everything planned out meticulously before I commit myself to any sort of a project . . . and in the case of a comic, I had already started working over a year and a half in advance before I started publishing, just to give myself that much of a buffer, because I knew it would be incredibly time-consuming, and I didn’t want to run the risk of falling behind or missing any updates.

Bernice give it a rest.

So, the arc has shifted back the very irritating, insufferable, snarky comments by Bernice… Very disappointing! Unless this is leading up to, “That does it. Get the He$$ out of my house!” then let me add it’s unnecessary.

What is a pantser? A pantser is a writer who works without an outline, a term derived from the concept of writing by the seat of your pants. It stands in contrast to a plotter who is someone who outlines their work to a greater or lesser extent.

Play of words not hilarious?

Title of Luanns new book is ‘Kill Bernice’

Bernice needs to stop being a success vampire. I hate people who spend their time discouraging others who are trying to better themselves. It’s like making fun of fat people at the gym.

Luann is using terms that Bernice doesn’t know. But more than showing curiosity, the only thing Bernice shows is always and only sarcasm, repeating the terms wrong on purpose. I’m not saying the only thing that brings joy in her life is teasing Luann, but sometimes it just seems like this. It’s good to see Luann learning and that she understood what kind of writer she is. She and Tara are polar opposites and their writing together is extremely important because of that. But it would be nice to see Bernice less corrosive towards her “sister” Luann once in a while.

Ah, Bern being her sweet, supportive, self…yet again.

Need audiologist.

Bernice can go… soak her head.

Bern, it’s “meddle”, not “mettle”.

Doesn’t Bernice have a home she could go to and disrespect her parents.

Remind me why Luann is still friends with Bernice? Habit?

By the way, Bernice, the title of my next story is the “The Homeless Muse”.

Somehow, I think Luann just made these words up.

does anyone really eat a donut two-handed?

I expected Bernice to use a knife and fork.

This arc is a plodder…

If she’s a Plotter, she’s a Harried Plotter.

I write some fiction and then after laying out the outline let things roll, more than once characters have surprised me but i figure they know what they’re doing.

I think Bernice is getting hard of hearing.

Well, I don’t think that’s the method Stephen King said he used in “On Writing”.

Bernice really is a mean friend.

Shut up, Bernice.

As Crankshaft would say: “With friends like her, who needs enemas”?

Is Bernice’s only contribution going to be snarking at everything Luann says? Of course, one would hope that there will be an occasion (soon) for Luann to return the favor.

What is Bernice eating? It looks like a bagel with a hole in the middle, but you don’t eat a bagel with two hands. If it was a bagel sandwich with filling the hole would be covered by the filling.

Eat your bagel, Bernice.

Any tortoise and hare comparison?

Because there is none.

Lu?

Just say you’re writing about a FORMER pain in the butt “best friend” who’s about to be evicted from your house and your life.

And NO, your not talking about Delta……,

I’ve never heard these terms before. But I do feel that when it comes to writing I am a bit of both. I do use outlines per chapter and an overall plot but the problem is you can get so bogged down in your outlines that you always wind up putting off actually WRITING YOUR STORY. I try to do a loose outline of notes per chapter but what always happens with me is my characters start “helping” me write the story and so my outlines (which are really only guidelines) get changed. But often, they get improved along the way. You cannot be a slave to outlining or you’ll miss the creative opportunities to improve your story.

A stupid conversation…….

I’m definitely one of those “pantsers” too. The bane of high school writing assignments for me was teachers who insisted on a stupid, useless, time-wasting #$@#!! OUTLINE to be submitted with the assignment. I quickly figured out the way to keep those sadists happy was to write the paper first and then make up the @#$$#!!! “outline” once I was done.

Nothing wrong with “plotting” it out. Having a general outline at the start is actually a good idea. You can always change it up as the story unfolds.

For me, speaking off only an outline was always challenging. I needed to write the whole thing out. And yeah, I had the outline written down separately to show the instructor after.

Bernice… with friends like that… who needs an enema!

Trying to remember the last positive thing Bernice said to Luann

“Plodder”?

As in, this person?

https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/MAD/Issue-412?id=73347#7

Really not enjoying Luann for a while now, but reluctant to delete it from my gocomics follow… I guess I’ll PLOD along a bit longer. But sheesh, no joy in this comic.

I’m sick and tired of Bern being the worst non-friend “friend” I’ve ever seen. Just let her do ONE KIND THING to prove she’s not as bad as they write her to be.

Bernice, stop using Q-tips, they only push the wax further in your ears

You know I try to be positive, something that Bern fails to understand. The Zeistgeist between the generally positive, if doofus Luann, and the generally negative, but unaware of how doofus, Bern, their friendship is part of of their stories. I generally defend Bern, but maybe it’s being directly negative, but Bern is just getting on my nerves in this arc. Can’t she manage something positive and encouraging at all?

Bernice, you’d look so good as a chalk outline.

I’m curious how many years you’d have to look back to find an interaction between these two where they come across as people who like each other.

Pantser or Achtung Panzer! ? It would be sort of wild to see Bernice as a fictional Frau Hauptmann commanding a platoon of Panzerkampfwagen III tanks while liberating Ukraine from the Russian invasion.

Don’t be ugly, Bernice.

It’s Greg’s comic, he plans the plots (with daughter’s help). Just read and enjoy or move on. Lots to choose from, no one is being forced to read any, but to many it’s a tiny enjoyable part of the day.

My therapist would say that Bernice is treating Lu like this because she lets her. It’s been their dynamic since.. ever, but that doesn’t make it right. Much of the time they don’t even hear what the other is saying. I would ask Bern to stuff it and eat somewhere else. Her snark is not only not helping but it’s counterproductive.

Bernice has always been a pain in the butt

Bernice isn’t funny, she’s cruel. Like Jimmy Kimmel cruel.

Give it a rest Bernice.

The most boring possible thread . We all want to know what’s happening at the pool!

Bernice should stop being a SMARTARSER.

I’ll retract every complaint I’ve made about this strip if Saturday’s installment shows Luann punching Bernice right in the mouth and telling her to find a new place to live.

Hey,Bernice,why don’t you take that donut hole and crawl into it?

And yet you continue to try to talk to her, so that’s on you, Luann.

How about a story titled “The Mystery of the Broken Window”?Gunth and Bets, cutting through Palm Springs, encounter “The Ghost Of Liberace”.

The ghost isn’t so bad,but “Chopsticks” over and over is driving them mad

Bernice aka Muse-licks is intentionally mishearing what Luann is saying. Luann should shove that donut or bagel in her mouth so at least she’ll get a brief reprieve from Miss Snit.

Luann is still stalling and Bernice is calling her out on it! I like it! Luann never finishes anything that she starts.

Why, just for once, can’t Bernice come across as a true friend to Luann?

Let’s dump Bernice. She’s no friend.

Tomorrow:

Bernice continues to snark for two panels, third panel shows Bernice wearing that bowl of whatever, with stars and birdies whirling around her head…

Don’t count your eggcorns before they’re written.

“Hard to tell the difference” between Bernice and a non-friend.

Plodders talk about the great stuff they are going to write. One day, soon. When they finish the research and get a good idea to work from.

Someone needs their hearing checked

I’d wholeheartedly rather see Gun & Bets road trip over either this Luann & Bernice arc or the Tiffany & Kip story line.

Unrelated, but yesterday’s Zit’s showed Jeremy Duncan driving his VW Van with Pierce riding shotgun.

And a friend in Pt Arena Calif sent a pic of a VW car club traveling south on Hwy 1 with a long line of beautifully maintained VWs. Lots of vans & Vanagons in the shot.

I have a general story idea, the rest I put down as I write. I write 2 pages every day.

https://moovians.blogspot.com/2020/04/alternate-alley-oop-chapter-23-alley.html

More idle Chit and Chat, the vapid teenies….

mg|79, It’s a comic. Sheesh. I didn’t mean to bother your rock.

yawn