Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for May 10, 2016

well, at least they’re talking peacefully instead of bickering

Ah, the adult way to post-breakup. Refreshing.

They still need a road map.

It’ll be nice not to see these two butt heads anymore.

A stranger parts the wavesIn a wide sea of many facesBut it is a familiar sign to me,In the winding path my mind traces-

A light that breaks the silent fronts, Piercing their misty grey The voice of a distant land calls to meAnd as before, I remember the way….

In the dawning, wings of night and blueQuickly toss with outstretched wingI know where to go, but do remember meIf wintry hue is returning-

When the cup is low, and evening shinesAnd you and I have had our fillThe hour sings, the time is nigh-But in “my great shun” is the return… I do remember the way, still….

Love one another, but make not a bond of love:Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup.Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loafSing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.And stand together yet not too near together:For the pillars of the temple stand apart,And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.

It’s good to see they’re getting along well after the breakup.

Ahhh, he begins to understand Luannverse!!

“Two Ships”“An Impact Statement”“An Altered Course, Of Course”“Head Off The Head- On”“Knowing When To Leave” (♫)“Make It Easy On Yourself” (♫)“Like Forces Repel”“No Deposit, No Return”“Fall And Rebound”“Spring Forth From The Winter Of Our Discontent”“Summer In Love, Some Are Not”“A Larger Crisis, Averted”“A Nervous Wreck-onciliation”or“The Object Obstacle Of My Affection”

I cannot tell if there will be more Quill in her life. He is so much better than the campus jerks. And she is growing into a lovely young woman.

Luann looks confident. That’s good, no matter where the story goes.

I enjoy that Luann is being so logical about it. These two never had trouble being friends. While they grow and explore life and options there is nothing wrong with them having that working part of their relationship continue. They are still young.

Yes, Quill. Going our separate ways instead of butting heads. Don’t worry, you’ll get over it. Have a nice life.

Glad they are being mature about it but I’m still bummed. Quill was the first relationship Luann has had that she wasn’t ridiculous about. There was nothing wrong with him working hard his first year in college to further his career and there was nothing wrong with Luann wanting more attention. That is a normal thing. They should have just worked it out. Mostly though, Luann should have been more understanding. The breakup didn’t make either of them look good but it put Luann right back in the “center of the universe” attitude.

While we’re distracted reading this, Leslie’s doing a demonstration of his money handling skills.

Fast pickup, re Leslie!Nice to see the kids maturing.

I enjoy this strip but would really love to see at least ONE resolved story line…and where are Knute and Crystal?

Wonderful strip today:)

Margaret… They are all pining for the return of Aaron Hill

Oh, dear God. Please don’t “reconnect,” kids Time to grow up. Time to move on. Move on, move on, grow up, move on. Please move on. Oh please oh please oh please. . . .

At this point, they may hook up again. Just not now.

Does anyone remember if there was a strip in the old days wheee the plot went like this? Gunther thought he was going to movies with luann but it was dark snd he wound up sitting next to tiffany? Someone was on crutches. I just started reading this strip regularly earlier this year snd am trying to remember if i had read it occasionally before

not time for more yet, they must find their own roads first.and if their roads cross, they then will have more love, more fun, and a lot more money, not to mention all the time they need to make things work.

Superficially, Luann and Quill are behaving very cordially after the bitter split, and that seems very “adult” of them. But the underlying tensions are not far from the surface and could quickly re-emerge….

Well, today Quill is facing East, and Luann sorta South-west. Does that mean that Quill is now embracing Islam and considering joining ISIS, while Luann is contemplating building a chastity wall to protect her southern borders?

( continuing from yesterday’s direction-based analysis of the strip).

Lu: “You give good advice. ‘Get a life’, rocks.”

E-Gad, these Two are ACTUALLY “Talking.”

How DISAPPOINTING But at the SAME Time PREDICTABLE.

See? THIS is what Happens when You DON’T Punctuate Your Break-Up Speech with “I Think its Time We Saw Other People.”

Hey Pretty-Boy? Ever Notice How Couples ALWAYS seem to Get Along with Each Other Better AFTER They’ve Split? She CAN No Longer COMPEL/BADGER You into Doing What SHE Wants. You’re FREE, Son!

So Take NOTE, Celebrate Your Freedom, Shut Up and Head in the OPPOSITE Direction and LEAVE!

POST-HASTE!!!

I really hope they make it work. a lil time apart makes a fresh new start over.

He should just say “i really miss you like crazy” ….“maybe we could get coffee some time, and talk about your trip some more”

Please let this happen ……

She was married 4 times. LOL

I’ll be eager to see how Luann is “totally changed”, as in actually thinking or doing something different, beyond just talking about it.

( hidden “Shadow People” dialog, 2nd from the left: ) " does this shade of black make me look fat?"

I’m glad they’re still talking. So many times when I parted with a guy he would totally avoid me there after.

“A Two-Way Street”“Career-View Mirror”^Heh, heh, Guess you could also say that for a brief moment or two, they were both playing a game of "Chicken, “Road Warrior version”….

Thank you!! (8^D) – “The Quill is Gone Babe”^Good one!!!

6Nice that they are talking, but worrisome (for me) that they may get back together as a couple…. which I really hope does not happen.

Today’s offering from poem-a-day fits with today’s strip and some of the commentary from a few people:

http://academyofamericanpoets.cmail2.com/t/ViewEmail/y/77A659BA3B5C8D1E/BA99E4D658246739981D23A7722F2DCD

Oh, and Pipe was NOT one of the people tightly embrassing blaming, but i just got on a bit of a roll while i was typing so diverged more and more from his original statement as i went on.

Hmmmmm, somewhere in the dark, pulsing jello of my brain “embrace” in relation to holding tightly to blame and anger became “embrass”. Perhaps part of me was thinking of sadly “brass ones” on those who can not find ways to move on? No idea.

( hidden “Shadow People” dialog, 2nd from the far right: )

" Hey, didn’t you used to be Aaron Hill?"

I think we can surmise that Luann is symbolizing by her hand placement that going on to different paths on their own, rather than together, is better for both. Or another way to put it is that going their separate ways is better than going together as a connected pair, I think. It depends on how you perceive the break-up and thus the relationship between Quill and Luann. I am one of those who is on the side that it was good for Luann to move on, because she had the strength to determine that she was not happy with his apparent choice of career over her, she was not willing to be second fiddle. Some would think that is selfish, but looking at it from his perspective, his career was increasingly a first choice before he attempted to make clear how he felt about Luann within his personal hierarchy of goals(sort of like Maslow’s pyramid of needs). Could they possibly get together again? Possible. Luann needs to be more secure in her own personality, and I think the cartoon is showing considerable progress for her, the New York trip, and her leading role in it, and the excitement is good evidence, while Quill needs to be more communicative, and sensitive to her feelings while still going forward with his career. Couples find ways to do that all the time, but it takes maturity, patience, confidence, and willingness to share. So its possible. Time and Luannverse, and its creators will tell.

"Luann is symbolizing by her hand placement "

I took it as a pretty universal gesture for butting heads, or being opposed. She is indicating that going their separate ways is better than fighting and confrontation.

To those who either want Lu and Quill to (A) immediately rekindle their romance or (B) avoid each other like the plague, I hope the Evanses are leading us through ©, seeking to be at ease in each other’s company again, but wiser about their needs and expectations. When we avoid working through an issue, it becomes a sore that can’t heal due to “repetitive trauma”.

reading todays strip, it almost seems like they are getting to know each other all over again.. in a different way…more open and straight forward.. i.e. no underlying agenda, .

Hos do people embe images and past comics in comments?

Working hard there, puzzle….

You have always hated quill so much. Why? He is incredibly benevolent, talented, and handsome.

Well, i just accidentally deleted my note replying the single way that perhaps embarrass was also in the back of my mind. I was going to reply trying to clarify, so let’s see if i can manage to do so. When i read some of the comments about the Luann that are incredibly stereotypical and sexist, and when i read comments that also fit that about Quill — though these seem to be much rarer, i find myself wondering if maybe Puzz is right and that embarrassment can fit into the application of such raw anger and blame to a clearly fictional character.Yes, i realize that the creators’s abilities to so squarely hit aspects in people’s own lives speaks to the ways that the characters and story feel real enough that people can identify with characters or situations. That is not a problem.Nor do i have any problem with people delving into the story and characters. That is typical when discussing fiction.When i saw some readers wanting to tightly latch onto blaming someone — and it happened on both sides though more against Luann when anger was expressed — when there simply was a growing apart to which both fictional characters contributed, with that urge by some readers to lay angrily blame even after the characters themselves seems to be growing past that…Shoot, i can’t explain clearly. I know the ones who recognize their pain will work on it to help themselves heal, but i hope the ones whose posts instead were so angry that they made me uncomfy to the point of embarrassment even reading them will find a way to work on their anger and also heal. Does that make enough sense? I do not know how to express it.

I liked Luann + Quill. I think it stinks that she cannot have a happy relationship.

Ha, ha!

Ha, ha, good thing I didn’t ask: “What’s the meaning of this?”!

SPOILER ALERT

Playing on a post of Jay’s “We are too wordy! We are way too wordy!”

Too much talk leads to even greater separation. Go along on your ways, kids, and think before you put an ending to the ending…