Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for May 16, 2018

too much prettying up, Fay

Talk to me, and not like lovers do.

They’re gonna both end up in trouble.

Hair yes. Lips no.

But be prepared to have Axel make Wicked Witch of the West jokes.

Not only does Fay have on lipstick and is undoing her pigtails, but she also managed to put on makeup that makes her eyes bigger. Luann didn’t start doing that with her eyes until she was much older.

U R 2 naive Luann! Her mom doesn’t know the truth! You remind me of Pru(ne). and Fay is going to look smashing. (Maybe a bit too smashing for a 14 y.o.)

Don’t pretty up in the car, Fay! You should have done this hours ago!

I get the feeling that Luann is not about to let herself be party to this charade. I predict she drives Fay back home to talk to her Mom.

tramp

Have to wonder if Fay has thought of the fact her mother will probably be waiting for her when she gets home? and how does she explain dressing down on way home to Luan?

Oh! Lol Luann knows, Fay your caught!

Some have said that Fay is this way because of the way her mom is.

New possibility: Fay’s mom is the way she is because of the way Fay is now revealing herself to be!

Let us at least not have Axel showing up using a second pair of socks.

I said that the tween/teen hybrid, Fay, is a representative of her puberty age, a bundle of hormones. I was remonstrated gently. That is part of the whole reality of tweens, girls and boys, although girls typically mature sooner, and yes I know boys are usually more than capable of becoming totally male at that age. The issue is not really the nature of that, it happens normally as a biological fact; rather the issue is how the tween, and her/his culture around her prepares her for her changing growing up role. Witness ms hormone Fay who wants to make herself pretty (which is important for her self-esteem) for the boy she has a major crush on and plans for (I am not implying any kind of active sex, this is Luanniverse). Luann is being the adult here asking what is going on, this is a side of Fay she has not seen before. I wonder how Axel will react? Plus we have the brother, who is he, and how will that affect the dynamic of the arc? And what happens when we get to the Fuse? If we do, and I bet we will. And people are complaining about this being boring. Pining for Tiffany and Gunther. Don’t worry they are in stasis, they will be back soon enough, right now this is really fun to me anyway.

Wonder how Axel will react to seeing the new Fay, or should I say Fayke?

Seeing Fay with the hair and the lipstick is hilarious. Major chuckle.

The false eyelashes must be tomorrow’s add-on.

Umm, Luann, her mom DOESN’T know….oops!

A 13 year old girl walked into a bar and……………(got served).

Much praise for Greg & Karen’s artistic imagination.

I get the feeling she Does have permission for this activity. As many teens do, I think she got permission by carefully editing the parameters of the activity. Mom can I go to the film fest at Fuse. It is going to be great. Luann said she would take me. I am gonna learn so much!… That’s great dear. I am glad to see you are starting to really take an interest and as long as your mentor is taking you… All statements are true just some vital info is carefully omitted.

Fay has turned out to be a total ‘Fake’ (as another poster said above). Luann seems to have been taken in by a con artist. Maybe Fay was trained by Ann Awful. Sure seems like she’s been styling her hair and doing heavy makeup for some time now. Maybe THIS explains Mrs. Garcia’s overly watchful behavior, rather than all the ideas posters have suggested in the past about Mrs. Garcia giving birth to Fay at age 13, or what. If Luann knows what’s good for her, she’ll take Fay home and wash her hands of her…

Gee…..

What if the movie was West Side Story.

I can smell that cheap Fr…..Wh……..perfume all the way here.

@ROSETTE: Even today I doubt that ordinary 13 year old girls wear that much lipstick and backcomb their hair so they look like Olivia Newton-John in ‘Grease’. They sure didn’t back in the day…

Yikes. When did Fay get a chance to talk to Tiffany?

Well, Fay’s mom DID say ‘yes’ to, um, something!

Well Fay i love to see how you will tell your mom this will not be pretty.

“Girls mature faster than boys. Sometimes a little too fast”

-My mom

In the pit of my stomach, this feels like more than a 13-year-old hormonal desire to pretty ones self up. It strikes me as another layer of dishonesty. Fay has gotten swept up in the whole acting thing – be something you are not. If you aren’t confident, rehearse the lines and pretend to be confident. If Mom is unlikely to let you date, concoct an alternate script to feed her. Instead of allowing Axel to like the person he knows, pile on the makeup and create a new persona.

I think this seductress look will scare the bejesus out of Axel! Fay should tone it down. Leave the hair in braids, as this is the way Axel knows (and likes) her. Maybe a light pink lipstick. That’s enough at her age. This won’t end well.

Something else that doesn’t sit quite right, even by Luannverse logic: Fay and Axel went through however many weeks of Quibbling Siblings rehearsals together as leads. Axel is not some total stranger. This entire arc she acts like she hasn’t had a conversation with him and doesn’t know how to be in his presence.

“What… have I done…?”

Somehow Fay seems to have grown a few inches.

Needs cleavage.

“I know the voice of deception. We are old friends. I just heard him in your voice.”

watch Fay’s mother show up at movie night

Axel’s about to find out he’s not even in Fay’s league. She’s going to get a lot of attention once she comes out of her shell.

Looks like Luann could learn a couple of beauty tips.

Amused by the parental & judgmental commentariat today. Calling her a tart is just plain silly. This is about what I expected. Perhaps Luann ought to have clarified matters more on the phone with Fay. But the ball is in motion, and this is a test of the maturity of Luann is, rather than that of Fay.

Greg opened an interesting possibility. Axel’s older brother is not anyone we or LuAnne know. He is not going to hit on LuAnne, but hit on Fay. Fay added 5 years to her age, making her appear 18, well past the Age of Consent. Is she in over her head and needs LuAnne to rescue her?

Someone has just smelled a rat! Fay has now just lost the trust of her mentor/coach AND her mom if/when she finds out.

So this is how Greg will force Luann inside to meet the brother. Clever. Didn’t see that particular twist coming.

The brother is going to be someone Luann knows. But who?

Luann is in a tight spot. If she wants to continue to mentor Fay, that is. Let’s see if she can make things right with all the characters involved (Fay, Fay’s mom, Axel, and the bro) and still keep her own integrity.

If Greg pulls this one off he should start writing TV drama scripts.

BTW. Is Luann starting to sound like Nancy here?

Axel might kindly tell Fay, “Go to the restroom and come back as the girl I like.”

This is where Luann turns the car around and brings Fay back home. It’s an important lesson for Fay in honesty, maturity, and trust with her parents. It also will keep Luann out of trouble with Fay’s mom.

@FORESTOVERIN: My take on this is that Fay fooled Luann, who perceived her as a painfully shy young kid instead of someone who is overly ruled by hormones and whose mother may have already gone through something like this (explaining the overly strict mother.) Luann doesn’t ‘almost deserve a shotgun’. My hope is she will turn her car around and take Fay home, telling her that she needs to rethink her priorities. I don’t think there will be a meeting of Luann and Axel’s brother; at least, I hope not. At this point, there shouldn’t be a meeting of Fay and Axel…

TYGE. Mentioned this earler, but what if by some miracle, Mrs Garcia doesn’t find out about this “date?” What are the chances that a “betrayed, “ ticked-off Luann will tell young Fay to go find herself another “mentor?”

1) Fairly Good If the “Brother” is Jack or Nil, or some non good looking guy.

2) Slim And None, If the “Brother” is some handsome “stud-muffin” or WORSE, (GAG) Aaron Hill…….

While they’re on a roll, I’d like to see G & K draw Bernice in a trashy mode, after deciding to find a date.

3

Ugh. Fay, with her actions regarding the lipstick and the frizzing out of her hair is clearly aiming to have Axel notice her in a “romantic” sort of way. The very unfortunate thing, though, is the high degree of deception that Fay has engaged in to get to this point. As far as Luann goes, she unfortunately promoted some of the deception herself (last week in not talking to Mrs. Garcia, and in covering up their role playing as being for a play), but I think that Luann is now waking up to the fact that the deception Fay has furthered has escalated exponentially since that point. Hopefully Luann will become the voice of reason and even with her earlier collusion, will be the adult she is and work to correctly rectify the situation. Other thoughts:

1) I am not sure whether to view Fay as the naive, shy, reclusive kid I had been assuming she was and that her actions now are extreme because she is trying to figure things out…. OR…. if perhaps Mrs. Garcia’s firmness about dating is more a reflection that she has had other, previous issues with Fay acting out in ways that were not particularly age appropriate. It is hard to tell at this point, IMO.

2) Part of me is leaning more towards thinking Fay has acted out in age inappropriate ways before…. I am thinking this because of the simple, easy way that Mrs. Garcia agreed to having Fay attend the film at the Fuse with the way Fay presented it…. this did not seem in any way an indication of Mrs. Garcia being a “helicopter parent” as many have been suggesting…. she seemed quite calm, appropriate and reasonable. This is making me think that Mrs. Garcia’s prior firm stance about boyfriends may have been warranted.

3) The way Fay is getting all “fancied up” seems a bit more like she aiming to be going to a nightclub (perhaps like the CBGB in the late 1970s) rather than going to a film. It just seems a little extreme for a film date, whether she was 13, 23, or 33 or older.

@KENHENSE: Of course, you have the same right I do to express an opinion. Availing myself of that right, I’m happy to suggest to you that if trashiness is your thing, you might want to check out 9 Chickwood. Not a natural beauty in the bunch, but lots of flash and trashy behavior. And @CEEJAY:, if it’s ‘beauty tips’ that Luann needs in your opinion, the last person she should be getting them from is someone age 13 who thinks ‘beauty’ is doubling the size of her mouth with heavy red lipstick, and quadrupling the size of her hair to look like something a cat got rid of…

Never underestimate the power red lipstick.

Oh my goodness: unbraided hair, red lipstick & mascara..will there be a change of clothes too….??

Faye’s new look is TOTALLY APPROPRIATE for a 25 year old cocktail waitress

Hard to believe all the censorious comments here from nearly everybody. You are outdoing Fay’s mother, guys!

Impressive lipstick applying Fay!

It’s interesting how the dramatic “makeover” is causing many of us to re-evaluate this character and her situation in a way that even her string of “white lies” did not. And how suddenly, no one’s complaining about “another week of Fay?” anymore… LOL. I’m looking forward to seeing how Luann handles this.

Little, miss jail bait is upstaging her mentor who doesn’t even seem to try anymore, unless having pizza and changing tires with some guy who likes to pose nude puts her in a high social status.

Wow, she got that lipstick and eye make-up on fast! She’s probably practiced at home many times when Heli-mom is not around.

I think I was wrong about Fay getting pregnant at age 14. She seems very prepared for her date and she probably has several types of condoms in her purse and knows how to use them.

Someone, either Here, or over at Acramax asked, whatever happened to the shy young introverted young girl we first met last year? Gone, thanks to the mentoring of one Luann DeGroot who brought the young lady seated next to her, out of her “shell,” for better or worse. But has Luann nurtured a young lady or created a “monster?”

Some “folks” have said that Fay may have done this before, and that’s the reason why Mrs. Garcia is so “smothering.” Highly doubtful, since fay said in Panel #1 that THIS, is her first “date.”

Other Folks have said Luann will turn right around and drive Fay back home. I kinda doubt THAT too, because Luann would have to explain to Mrs. Garcia “WHY” the sudden turn around? AND would Luann tell Momma the the truth or concoct a lie to cover Fay? And how would Fay explain why her hair is unbraided and what’s up with the makeup?

Nope. I’d say that this “date” will go on under Luann’s STRICT supervision and after she gives Fay a rather good talking to.

That way, Luann will get to meet the “brother.”

Two great “hide your imperfections” inventions: makeup and spackle. (make sure you use each one on the appropriate surfaces.)

The make-up and hair are not a big deal. Lying to her mom is a big problem. The mom will not trust her after she finds out.

What flabbergasts me is how quickly they go from teenage girl to young woman!

That’s not funny, only gross. I regret peeking at this strip—should have followed my instincts and left Luann alone.

Quick transformation. Not good.

its obvious Faye is not who she appears to be .. playing the wallflower while being the blossoming flower she is portraying now – she no longer needs the drama class – she is an actress and is filled with plenty of drama it seems

Question: why is it that, when Shannon tried on Luann’s makeup, everyone understood that Shannon’s personality remained the same even though there was makeup all over her face, but when Fay puts makeup on, suddenly she’s a different person who was faking being an innocent teen?

The loudest condemnations didn’t come in when Fay lied to her mom, but rather when she put on makeup.

In our culture, makeup is a signifier. Different people interpret it differently, but many here are seeing it as an advertisement of sexual availability.

No one thought Shannon was using it that way. Why the assumption that Fay is using it that way?

Fay, too, can be using makeup because she’s playing at being grown up.

Even the Ugly Duckling didn’t try to jump start nature.

Oh no… this is the kind of thing Luann would have done years ago, i.e. the make-up and coiffed hair, changing herself into someone else. I hope Luann stops the car and says that they will go no farther until Fay returns her ‘made-up’ self to her regular self.

Luann: “OK, Fay. Re-do your pigtails, and wipe off that stuff! And DON’T say to Axel, ”Talk ‘flirty’ to me! TRUST me!!"

After all, Luann went through all this stuff with Aaron Hill! She knows! And she’ll tell Fay how her experience went with him!

Now she is ruining it.

Why is she making her hair all scraggly?

It’s unlikely that the expertise that Fay is showing in transforming herself from a ‘shy introvert’ to jailbait has anything to do with Luann. Fay is doing this very quickly and in a moving car (lots of older women smear their lipstick under similar circumstances, from what I’ve seen.) Just because Fay says this is her first ‘date’ doesn’t mean she hasn’t been putting on warpaint and going after guys without an arranged ‘date’. And since she finds it so easy to lie to her mother, she probably has no problem lying to Luann, either. Luann may have daydreamed about turning herself into a siren to attract Aaron, but it’s doubtful she actually did it. I can believe, from today’s ’toon, that Fay has much more experience with going after guys than she told Luann she did…

I knew it! Fay IS my kind of girl, and on the first date too.

Fay you need to talk to your mom.

Ok, I don’t like stereotypes and as a Jew and a semi-disabled person, I fight them all the time. But I also recognize the fact that a lot of guys are overly turned on by younger women wearing a lot of makeup and/or what a guy thinks of as provocative clothes. We just recently, in the very conservative county I live in, celebrated ‘International Denim Day’ which is a protest against a court ruling in Europe where a judge reversed a rape conviction by a lower court, because the defense argued that the victim’s jeans were so tight that she must have cooperated in the removal of them. The facts are that guys (and Talibans and Daesches and lots of judges and laws) put the burden on the female victim of a crime to prove that she wasn’t a willing participant. So young girls who ‘play at being grown up’ by shoveling on the makeup, and then get an unwanted response may say that all they wanted was romance, but they are, at the very least, taking an unnecessary chance. You can get romance by showing a guy that you are interested enough in him to listen to him talk about cars or watching football with him, or what…

Fay has seen too many Hollywood movies and not enough Real Life. Tarting up like that is not what she should be doing for her “first date” with Axel….

All this chatter about tarts is making me hungry!

I was debating about commenting, but most of these comments seem WAAAAY off. Do any of you remember what it was like to be 13 years old? Hell, my mom used to buy me make-up in the hopes that I WOULD use it. Fay is wearing lipstick and taking her hair out of braids … THAT’S IT. The way you folks are acting you think she was going out with a g-string and 6 inch high heels. They’re going to THE FUZE for movie night – not some sordid orgy. Lighten up. Who knows, maybe Axel’s brother will be hot and Luann will have a new boyfriend.