Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for July 14, 2021

Stop! I need validation!

you’re sure a big help, Bernice

Probablemente Bernice se está escapando para ver a Nil

So Luann enjoys Bernice being there and always putting her down??

”Dogged Pursuits.” ✨

Puddles knows sit and stay, but now Luann has no one to show his skills off to. How about spending ten more minutes with Puddles, clean your room, and go to work?

this is an interesting turn of events. Will Luann pursue Bernice? The week has suddenly become unpredictable.

Puddles is happy he’ll get a break from this stupidity now that B is gone.

@Rhetorical_Question:

An answer to your strange comment was provided yesterday, but in case other readers missed it: (1) Luann did not break up with Quill because she was ‘needed validation’ from him that he was not providing. She broke off with him because he was a workaholic who kept making plans with her and then breaking them for anything work related. Since I had a Dad like that who missed vital doctor visits for my late brother’s care, I understand what Luann did.

(2) An additional point: Someone looking for ‘validation’ is looking for support that an idea is based on fact. Since it is no longer a ‘fact’ that B is Luann’s best friend, Luann can’t be ‘looking for validation’ in wanting B to spend time with her…

Yes, stay! Stay in the library forever!

Hmmm. I wonder if this is going to turn out to be a serious character development arc for Luann.

Maybe Bernice can get a book on graciousness or manners?

Right now Puddles is very happy.

Soooo… Bernie goes in for the kill with her putdown of Luann then shoves off. Whaddagal!

Well, Luann, you need to have a life. What are you doing hanging around at home? Bernice has a more active life than you do, apparently.

Luann, Bernice has her own life.

hmmm…. home alone, everyone gone to do what they do… now what…

Very nice back view of Bernice! She’s a lot prettier than she realizes. But maybe she does…..

Bernice changed her top from yesterday. She’s definitely going to see someone and I donlt think it;s jack.

This is a bit sad. Luann wants to have fun with her BFF, talking about Puddles or whatever. This shows how much Luann loves her♡, but Bernice has other priorities in life and that’s good and natural. I don’t know if the next strip will follow Luann or Bernice, but I hope Luann will pick up her phone and call Jack (or Tara, or Dez, or even Prudence) maybe just to chat, or to arrange something together.

Puddles is upset because he thought he was Luann’s BFF.

Luan does have a point,Bernice makes me wonder sometimes, she’s being selfish here, she could have said, you’re right, why don’t you come with me? you can walk the dog while I study, There is always a compromise, a win-win situation.

You guys get on each other’s nerves, colossally. Have some space. Please.

And usually it’s Luann complaining that Bernice wants to stay home.

Bernice seems rather nicely dressed for studying. i mean a tank top?

Bern’s looking just a bit too good for a library trip. I smell a meetup.

Luann, this is your chance to grow apart. Don’t blow it.

It’s about time for Jack to show up, maybe they could go bowling again.

Interesting that the mainstay character has become the least interesting storyline….

Five years from now: Luann marries some shallow, as-of-now unknown man. Bernice is working on a PhD in psychobabble and has no love interests. She is finally forced to move out of DeGroot Manor.

Why would Luann want Bernice to always be with her? All she does is make her look like a fool. Well, a bigger fool than she already is, anyways. Is it possible that Luann developed Stockholm Syndrome? Or is she just too attached?

LOL! It should be so easy for Lu! Not a chance.

I wonder if Bern is really going to the library? She is looking awfully clevaa (South Side street vernacular) in panels 1 & 2. Going to meet Nil? As for Luann, she is in her role as setup for other characters, and I got a chuckle seeing Puddles apparent confusion in panel 3. Still too early to see where this is going even though we’re on a hump day cycle.

15 years from now: Luann has two kids and is trapped in a dead, loveless marriage. She meets a guy 10 years younger online, spends the weekend with him and accidentally gets knocked up. Bernice is working on her 3rd PhD and is still an embittered basket-case. She is still a virgin.

Hmmmm…is the charm of having Bernice living there wearing off? Is Luann getting a clue? Like…your supposed “best friend” is uncaring, rude, dismissive, insulting, self-righteous, arrogant and abusive? I will admit that once Luann gets an inkling of what’s going on, she usually acts on it. I do wonder why Nancy (who is usually so perceptive) has not seen how dysfunctional these two girls’ friendship has become. Instead, she was shown joining in on putting Luann down. Since she is the one who invited Bernice to live there (rent free) maybe she should start working out a way to resolve the situation – like asking her to find somewhere else to live, or speaking to Bernice’s parents and arranging for her to move back home.

This week is just a “rest stop” along Greg’s highway to adventure.

Yesterday Bernice said I’m talking to Pud Today she is leaving. Something is missing here. Also, you do not train a dog by holding a food dish over his head. I was expecting to see Bernice take over. That could have been interesting

Luann still really likes Berniece. I can understand them being friends from long ago. Middle School makes insecure kids hang together. But these days? They have so little on common. I frankly do not understand why they haven’t grown apart and gone their separate ways. Berniece has shown not a single bit of warmth toward Luann since she moved in. Luann desperately needs to make some new and better friends—interesting people who genuinely like her. She can still interact with Berniece at home but unfortunately Berniece and Tara and Jack seem to be her only friends. If they don’t want her to have a boyfriend right I can understand that but at least give her a few new friends.

So why does Bernice NOT have a job to help pay for household expenses?

Boy, that Luann is sure a glutton for punishment. You’d think that she’d enjoy her alone time, after what just transpired. And the way that Bernice just abruptly goes, “Well, I’m off to bury my smug, snarky little face in psychology textbooks again” without any warmth or friendly goodbye just serves to drive that impression home even further. Why are they even friends anymore?

Luann seems to be in the throes of existential anxiety lately. First Gunther, her forever boy friend, links up with a dynamic beauty. A relationship that she initiated and then took a prurient interest in its development. Then Tiffany, her bestest rival forever, has found some new inner strength and paternal reconciliation and is off pursuing her own goals. Tara may have left for Utah, we don’t know. Jack, once a potential beau (they did date, remember), is apparently solely focused on his vet tech studies and physical fitness pursuits and has relegated her to the friend zone. Even her irritating brother has hunked up, become a heroic fireman and found the love of his life.

Fate had brought a BFF/potential sister into her very home and they had girl talks and exciting adventures. Then Bernice, her really real best friend forever, has found a new love interest outside the DeGroot home. Luann is being relegated to Existential Limbo.

Alas and alack, her only “friend” is the ubiquitous Puddles. Yes… it is the dark night of the soul for our eponymous Princess. Is there a Prince Charming out there to rescue her from this dire situation?

Don’t turn that dial. GnK will come up with something.

apparently what Luann needs is a life

Lu really needs to start thinking about getting her own place (and her own life).

Luann is not training Pud right. Saying two commands at the same time confuses him. Say one command. When he complies with the first command, reward him. THEN go on to the second command.

Luann needs a life, pronto.

Oh, the Bern of it?

Bernice is probably seeing Nil on the sly!

I agree with those that think Bernice is off to meet Nil.

So tomorrow do we follow Bernice, or follow Luann?

This question is, of course, an Enders Game setup.

Everyone is going to answer:

Puddles.

So where is Bernice really going? To the “Unsaid”.

The problem with modern abreviations is that one doesn’t always know their true meaning when using them. For instance, here, is Luann really aware that BFF stands for Badgering Female Fiend when she is using it as Boring Frustrated Fellow

Sometimes when Luann is searching for a solution she gets that “risky frisky” feeling. As we saw, that one didn’t turn out so well. So I hope she’s not getting that feeling this time.

Is Evans ever going to let Luann go through puberty? She comes off as a ten year old

Sad. Luann wants to spend time with her BFF Bern, but Bern doesn’t have time for Luann as she is off to the library to “study”. I bet she isn’t going to the library again to study, but in fact she is going to meet and smooch with Nil, which is worse cause than she is flat out lying to her friend. Face it Luann, you are being used. Your BBF is just using you for free room and board. She doesn’t care about your feelings or you.

6

Interesting! I am glad this is not just a week about training Puddles (who, IMO is fine the way he is). By the way….. IS Puddles a boy or a girl? Today I was thinking boy but I am not really sure.

So, what is afoot:

1. Could it be that Bernice has a Summer class and she is going to the library to study? (Possibly)

2. Could it be that Bernice is going to the library to meet Nil? (Bigger possibility)

So….. since we have seen the comic concept of one friend “following and spying” on the other just recently…. it seems somewhat unlikely Greg would do that comic concept again so soon. But….. is it likely that Bernice and Nil will just have some alone-to-talk time? (This does not seem comedically likely.). So…. who will enter the scene when Bernice and Nil potentially meet?

A. Luann? (It would be fair counterplay, but it would be difficult to explain unless Luann were to follow and purposefully spy…. which like I said before seems unlikely Greg would use as a technique again so soon.

B. Jack? (Possibly…. but seems a bit of a stretch.)

So…. with Bernice going to the library and Luann not likely to follow her….. what will happen? I have no clue.

ALSO….. I do very much like Greg’s affirmation here today that Luann and Bernice ARE best friends. This shows to me that BOTH Luann and Bernice know and understand that the silly, sometimes edgy, sometimes sarcastic interplay they have….. is just a normal part of the way a lot of friends are with each other. Their interplay NEED NOT be so polarizing to some folks as it tends to be. For me (and it appears for Greg too) it is just a common aspect of some types of friendship bantering back and forth.

A couple thoughts…. How often does Bernice run off? Why doesn’t Luann go with her? Is Bernice actually going to the library or is she meeting Nil? If so, that was an interesting start on Monday for this arc. Seems Luann could learn about control from Bets and Gunther could get some pointers about independence from Bernice. /s ;-))

@Pipe Tobacco:

I don’t think artist Evans has shown us that Luann and B are friends. I think he’s shown us that Luann still thinks of B as her best friend, but B does not see Luann as a best friend, or a friend at all. Maybe this is a guy thing, acting in a sarcastic way toward a friend? It isn’t really the way a woman who considers someone a friend would treat that other woman…

Luann likes having Bernice there? She likes being constantly insulted and sneered at?

HUH!!

I never knew Luann was such a masochist.

A lot less comments these days since the Bets/Gunth arc ended.

Bern isn’t too good at saying “Arf”.

Bet she has a study date with Nil.

I’m a little confused here. Why are folks thinking that a pair of slacks and a tank top is “sexy?” Heck, it’s summer. What do YOU wear in the summer?

Luann needs to get a life. Others are not there to keep her entertained.

Is Bernice up to something? Some clandestine meeting? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe she really is going to the library to study. Or maybe she’s going to the library to have a little time to herself. Maybe she’s meeting Nil for coffee, or to pose for him for a painting.

I’d like to see Luann grow up a little. She still acts like she’s in high school, playing silly high school games. Doesn’t she have a job? If not, she needs to get one. For that matter, it seems most of the people in this strip have a job. Heck, even Les has a job. What exactly IS Luann doing with her life? I’d sure like to see some character development beyond the dumb blonde she’s been portrayed for so long. She needs to have an “aha!” moment – something that will change her life and give her direction. Come on, GnK! Do something with your title character, okay?

Luann, Bernice goes out and pursues life, she doesn’t stay at home expecting life to come to her. Bernice doesn’t expect fame, fortune, and love to just fall in her lap…you do.

Bernice is going to the library possibly for a date with Nil or to exercise her favorite joy: reading.

A double fail for Luann-as-trainer! And this is only Wednesday! How long, O Evans, must we suffer this?

Even Puddles is finding this boring….

Yeah, it does not work like that.

@phxhocking and kittysquared:

Please explain which ‘silly high school games’ Luann is playing. Taking her dog to a dog park? Trying to train her dog? Taking an interest in someone she very mistakenly thinks of as a friend? I didn’t realize these were ‘silly high school games’. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve been in high school and I still take an interest in those of think of as friends.

Get a job and be an adult. Luann has had jobs before and may still be employed part time at Kidz First. Helping kids to do well in school and life is at least as important as Les’s job ensuring that dishes in The Fuse are clean. And as far as having a job means being an adult, I guess you would have to say that Gunther and Bets are still high school children, since neither appear to be employed at this time.

I just love libraries. Luann uses her self defense “muscles” that way more often to show she has a right to her self esteem.

I do agree that Bernice is probably on her way to see Nil. But I’m puzzled by the comments that she’s “dressed too nicely” to be going to the library. Maybe I’m just old-fashioned (I know for sure I’m old, lol), but a tank top and slacks isn’t “dressed up” to me. I wore such things all the time to the library, both in college and in my working life afterwards. I still do. (Well, tee shirts instead of tank tops now, but still casual but nice clothes). Perhaps I’m doing it wrong, and I should get some baggy jeans and sloppy shirts next time I head out to the library. :-D

I’m still mystified that anybody really cares whether Puddles gets trained or not. Luann is just trying to prove to Bernice that she’s capable of training him, which she isn’t. But I don’t know why she should even care. It’s not like he attacked people or knocked all the furniture around. As for taking Luann along to the library, Luann is just to flighty, IMO, for a study partner. If I were seriously studying, she would drive me crazy with airheaded comments. And a friend certainly doesn’t need to come along if Bernice is going to see Nil. Again, she would drive anybody nuts. I like Luann, and her “airhead” personality is endearing. But that’s better enjoyed in a very casual setting such as going out to eat, or chatting at home, not that Bernice is interested at all in doing anything with Luann.

@finnygirl:

Sometimes, people who appear to be airheaded and flighty may be using that behavior to cover up the fact that they lack self confidence. Especially if they find themselves always being talked down to; it’s easier to accept being treated with disdain if you’re hiding behind a made-up light-hearted personality that you know isn’t the ‘real you’, than to take the risk of being yourself and just get talked down to some more…

There isn’t any fun living with Bernice

The shadows seemed to be sitting much closer together.

One of the better ones I have seen, anywhere.