Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for May 24, 2021

Take the drink, Bernice. Cheer up!

yeah, maybe a cup of tea will calm her down and get her to talk about Nil

Well there’s a switcheroo. Bernice will debrief with the Temp Parents!?!?

sounds like she’s down because Nils didn’t respond to her kiss

I dread the day Bernice moves out. It really adds a lot to the comic.

Bernice regresa a su estado normal

Poor Bern is definitely conflicted about tonight. Nancy will need all her bartender skills!

You’d think after all the wonderful things Nil said about her, she’d still be happy about the evening.

So if we do get back to Gunther, at least a full day will have passed.

Think this entire week will be spent in the kitchen?

I was expecting Luann in the role Frank is playing. It’s out of character for him to be so nosy.

So, no sparks with Nil, either?

Go ahead, Bernice – a few hot toddys will break the ice.

“Drink?” Frank is offering tea. Maybe a double vodka-cranberry and Bernice might let it all out.

a cup of coffee to talk ?, could work!

Nancy dives right into the date that Bernice had with Nil. After Bernice says it did not tell Frank playing the bartender ask if Bernice want’s a drink. Frank you better make that drink some JD and bourbon.

Nancy sure does seem to get done with work early, considering she’s a bartender. Does the Fuse close at 8 pm or something?

Nancy is an expert at relationships advice. Hopefully, Bernice is willing to drink Tea?

Bernice just had a guy tell her she was the most interesting person he’d ever met and she made the best night of his life and she’s PISSED?

Maybe not rn

Bernice is acting like Bets minus the kiss. Why do women get thay way? Would some of you ladies please explain.

Yep, just as I thought.

Bernice is confused by her impulsively kissing Nil and we’re going to watch her analyze herself all week.

Bernice is emotionally immature, and it drives her crazy.

More of… “The Unsaid”

I would totally talk Nancy up!

I like the funny in this one. Except tea is not “drink” Nancy was talking about unless Frank plans to slip in a few shots. Bernice looks perplexed so she is confused about the kiss.

I sincerely hope this week of analysis goes better than what Gunther endured after the Bets debacle. So, so disappointed that Bernice split on Nil. What I’d like to see now is Jack getting Nil to say something about the evening. Or maybe Nil in his studio, painting Bernice’s left eye, which he then has delivered to her at the DeGroot’s home. Maybe with a note: “Great night. Enough said.”

Maybe Nancy has another book.

Aw, give that poor girl a third of a beer. I bet she can handle it, unlike someone I could mention.

When is the last time she saw her family, she could discuss this with Ben. He’s heavy, he’s her brother.

Those of you who complain about the story arc switching abruptly at the start of each week have brought this on yourself. Another full week ahead of Bernice stewing silently and not letting anyone know what’s up with her. If you had kept quiet, we might be spending the next week watching Les go crazy looking for a runaway Punk.

Nancy and Frank ♡! They are probably the best people Bernice could ask for advice.Hopefully, a cup of tea can help her talk about her date, the kiss, and her feelings. Especially the mysterious reaction of Nil! I wonder if Berbice has ever confided in her parents, but now she has the Degroots.

She’s fickle.

There seems to be a parallel in the storylines between Gunther and Bets and Bernice and Nil. Will the storylines stay separate or will they collide?

She is angry that she kissed a guy who is interested in her?

She’ll start talking about it tomorrow.

Better NOT to talk about it, than to talk about it without sorting it through first. Good move, Bernice.

Another mess that Bernice has made for herself..

If she didn’t want to talk about it all she had to say was “fine” and leave it at that.

Let’s be honest. “I don’t want to talk about it” is a conversation starter. It’s basically saying " I have a secret". If you don’t want to talk, or share your secret, you don’t start the conversation with “I don’t want to talk about it or I have a secret”.

Most of these comments are quite thoughtful! It would be fun if Bernice could ask “the Fourth Wall” for advice.

A week of psychoanalysis…yay…zzzz

She’s gonna drink alright.

Bernice doesn’t want to be considered smart and interesting. She wants someone to love her, be romantic and think she’s beautiful. Add to that the only person who seems to think of her at all is a cold fish who showed no response to her kiss. What a bummer. At least now she can go about scientifically seeking a mate by kissing everyone in town until she gets the response she’s looking for. Maybe Tiffany can help her do a makeover? That would be fun.

My two cents: Nil is a shy kid who could never have expected that kiss, probably his first, and had no idea how to process it, or if and how to respond. He’s not a cold fish since he basically had just told her that her presence made this the best night of his life. Bernice is a control freak who plans every move but she just did something spontaneous for maybe the first time in her young adult life, which must be terrifying to her, and she couldn’t stand there not knowing what his response would be so she got out.Next time they meet sparks may fly, or both could just retreat back to the comfort of their own dysfunction.

Nil’s kisses are like his art. Not much there, but what’s left is— interesting. If you don’t like that, don’t try him in the sack.

Maybe she’s just thinking about how the sparks she was hoping for weren’t with Jack, but with Nil. And maybe Nil was just as shocked as she was by the kiss. She took the plunge in response to his compliments, so…your serve, Nil.

Love how Frank is opening the door, future bartender;-) Bernice is chewing over her kissing Nil, her feelings, and the fact she’s attracted to someone she’d rejected. Ahhh, the fun of love. Frank and Nancy are exactly what Bernice needs to find up.

In vino veritas.

I don’t think it’s buyer’s remorse with the kiss. It may have dawned on her that she has been looking in the wrong direction for male companionship. Finally finding someone who appreciates her for what she is may have struck a real chord. OMG, real progress in her self-actualization.

That girl is a mess.

Bernice tends to over-analyze everything, especially herself. Nil already told her what he thinks of her, so I suspect they’ll have more interaction coming up.

And so begins Debriefing Week. There could be fireworks if it is revealed Luann was in on the setup.

Bernice needs more than a drink of coffee. She needs a guy who combs his hair out of his eye!

My personal guess is that Nil is autistic, and does not know how to handle intimacy properly.

The question is, does Frank know what he’s doing, or was that an accident?

Once you realize Nil expresses himself through his art which in itself expressionless; I can only assume he’s very excited inside. Bern the psychology queen will hopefully come to that conclusion.

My diagnosis is simple ‘Hysteria’. We used to treat that in the office in the good old days. Now the Hitachi corporation made it possible for anyone to be cured.

Nancy gives Frank the side-eye as he perks up with a hopeful smile a-building on his phiz: “All right! Down with the teapot,” Frank’s thinking, “and out with the jug of Jimmy B.!”

Bernice wants to be a psychologist? I think she needs to find a different career path that doesn’t involve with people.

Ho hum

good one, dad

Bernice let herself be vulnerable and Nil didn’t say anything after her kiss so of course she’s sorry she let that side show.

Cute, Frank! It could work and she might open up to Nancy and Frank over a cuppa. As long as Luann stays out of sight. I think the parents would listen, if Bernice can bring herself to say the “unsaid”! Luann would just cause friction and another argument. I’m not sure Bernice understands or can identify her own feelings right now.

Bernice had a moment of humane spontaneity, she can’t live with it. And she wants to be a shrink?

7

Overall, everything has been pretty amazing about the art and date scene with Bernice and Nil up until Saturday. Saturday introduced ambiguity and confusion into the mix. Now, it appears this week we will be exploring that confusion. Here are my thoughts:

1. I think it is still quite true and obvious that Bernice now has a romantic interest in Nil. But NOW she is embarrassed, disgruntled, and/or confused because Nil’s response was not what Bernice had envisioned in her mind for countless years about how such a moment would proceed.

2. Nil, I believe, was taken off guard by the kiss from Bernice. He basically “froze in his tracks” as he attempted to work through his own feelings on what had transpired. I, like Schrodinger’s Dog, feel the “bubbles” in the previous comic suggest that Nil was utterly flummoxed for a bit by the kiss. But, from his previous statements, I think he TOO has (and continues to have following the kiss) a romantic interest in Bernice. And, emo Nil’s prior dating experience may be quite limited, and this is new territory he is just figuring out how to explore.

3. I think that Greg’s choice to have the DeGroot parents talk with Bernice is an intriguing and good one. There will of course be some miscommunication to allow for “hilarity ensues” but I tend to think that the parent’s listening and advice will likely be a bit more helpful and beneficial and well focused than other friends Bernice may talk with at this point. I tend to think that most all of Bernice’s friends have relatively minimal dating experience… and Bernice and Nil are a bit more “quirky” than her other friends, so the pathway to dating success is perhaps a bit more complex for those two. Frank and Nancy will do a good job to help.

Bernice could say something about Nil’s artwork without telling Frank and Nancy her personal issues. Now they will think something is wrong, but won’t have any idea what it is.

So. Well. Done.

We’re so invested in the narrative that it’s easy to overlook how clever this transition from “the date” to the dissection” is.

haha yikes…. you can tell she regrets it. One word Bernice okay? DONT as in don’t ever regret something you did unless you murdered someone or something. If its something you really wanted to do and it didn’t hurt anyone why should you feel bad for doing it? also wow this comment is long:)

Maybe Nancy should ask her why her and Luann spend so much time in Luann’s bedroom.

“Nil” is also a synonym for “nothing” so you can’t expect much.

Wrong kind of drink.

Does B drink any booze? I can’t remember ever seeing her do that, but I am not a real long-time reader, so I probably missed something. I know Dez gave her something that made her giddy, but I think it had hemp in it, not alcohol…

So just where are all these loose romantic ends going to culminate?? They gonna have a dance or bonfire party with everybody together and all hell breaks loose?

smort

Go ahead; pull a “Sheldon” and offer her a hot beverage since she looks upset.

That might have been Nil’s first kiss, left him paralyzed!

Yeah, she looks upset. Is she upset because Nil didn’t respond to her kiss? Or is she upset with herself because she kissed him in the first place? At this point, I can’t tell.

Excellent parenting

Is this the train wreck so many predicted weeks ago?

Saturday’s comic strip will have Nil standing outside holding up a painting of a boombox.

All Bernice has to say is, " It’s certainly more romantic if you live in a two story house."

Nil flips the painting, to show the backside, which is a painting of himself holding up a painting of a boombox, seen from the perspective of a second floor window.

Frank, you sly devil, you!

But I doubt they’ll get much out grumpy Bernie….

People tell Bartenders Everything because Bartenders are mostly Strangers who cannot Gossip about you with your friends and family.

“She kissed me but I didn’t know what to do, so I did nothing. It seems I did the wrong thing.”

I wanna say i predicted this arc but so far Bernice has just spoken with Frank and Nancy. Wait til she talks to Luann.