Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for October 03, 2017

Oooh… gotta love “the talk.”

Okay, first you have to lose the number for Domino’s.

It was sure nice of Gunther to bring all those pizzas and donuts for her.

OK now I am freaked. Actual pigout. Actual food boxes everywhere.

Now we are going to get a good story.

This still doesn’t answer why she went down this path, only that she is hiding. She also stood in full view twice now, but she’s hiding Gunther’s eyes? Greg??

“These pretzels are making me thirsty.”

Wise words there in panel 1, G.

“not here to say” or “not here to stay”. Once again Gunther’s tendency not to properly enunciate his words works against him. Curse him and his mumbling ways!!

Join us tomorrow as Gunther says, "You don’t need to diet, you need an attitude change, which Tiffany interprets as, “You don’t need to die, you need an altitude change.”

This site keeps going offline, for a few minutes at a time, for the past 24 hours.

The not here to stay heard by Tiffany says an awful lot of what’s not going be said.

Historically, I remember that there have been some other episodes in which Tiff misunderstands some word or other that Gunther says. So that symptom may not necessarily be due to her current maladies.

Gray sweats? Is she deliberately inviting comparison with the Goodyear blimp?

While I haven’t had much confidence in Gunther for years, I’ll give him credit for at least starting right. He did not just start dishing out advice. Perhaps his priming by the other girls made him realize that Tiff needed a listener.

The wise words that Gunther offers in Panel one come straight from Dez’s suggestions. And they were good suggestions.

On another topic, there were some Luannhaters on this site recently who insisted that Luann made up the story about seeing multiple pizza boxes, just to insult Tiffany. Yet, here we have multiple pizza boxes. I’m sure the haters will find a way to blame that on Luann, too.

Well, Call Me Crazy (Woo-Hoo), But I HOPE Gunther has a “Back-Up” and an “Exit Plan” just In case Things Go Horribly Awry, after Tiffany explains Why She’s suddenly gone all “Howard Hughes.”

I’m STILL laying Odds its got something to do with Their Last Conversation Back in the Spring…..,

Lets wait and see, this will roll out for awhile. I hope kindness and understanding will help both of them. Maybe Mr. passive-aggressive will actually be going beyond his self-imposed limits, and will help Ms. knocked off her uncertain sense of self to better selves for both of them. Lets see.

An intriguing thought: Tiff’s weight gain might not be due solely to getting depressed and then binging.

Since she’s close to Piro, she might have gotten “Dr. Heald’s” name and number from him. He may be a shrink.

She might have gone to him for feeling depressed. And he may have prescribed her one of those awful anti-depressives that can cause rapid weight gain. That could explain why it happened so fast.

There are a lot of quacks in that industry that would rather prescribe horribly disfiguring drugs than counsel a patient at length about her life problems. Psych drugs can also cause drooling and many other symptoms. If a patient only had a little to be depressed about, these will give them much more. But the drugs also may help them not to care.

Yup. The Frosh 20. Away from home, the newbies let loose of their appetite for junk food and become less active due to having their own room which allowed them to dwell in comfort rather than always leaving the house to be with friends at their parents’s homes…so they gain 20 pounds. For some, it probably will stick for the remainder of their lives and for some, it will fall off when the novelty of college life wears off and they return to sensible eating.

She needs some protein in her diet.

What a coincidence! The Luann Againn of Oct 3 is also about Tiffany.

Gunther is right. Tiffany wants to rant – she is not in a mode to receive and follow advice at this moment. Gunth should listen and maybe ask a tactful question here and there. I would like to see Tiffany put Gunther in the line of fire a bit. I still think she should nail Gunther about he was jealous when Tiff paid attention to Les – it wasn’t all about protecting Tiff. If two people are to become closer – which would appear to be good thing in this case – there needs to be a balance of power. I don’t like Gunther always being the wise teacher and Tiffany always being the needy student. Gunther could certainly use some help himself. If he could open a door to let Tiffany help, both could benefit.

Gee, Tiff, look at that beautiful sunrise…

https://youtu.be/hlMKEGWghro

Nothing worse than being alone.

Rumors and hear say the girls portray and the prattle goes on and on.But Gunther’s a friend with an ear to bend and a patience from here to dawn.So let’s have a talk and go for a walk or the fat will stay and stay.So in the end our hero and friend will make this arc go away.

Gunther picked the wrong major, he’d make a much better guidance councilor than judgmental Bernice.

And all this has happened since the dinner party? We missed the lingerie party?

Well now we know why she hasn’t been seen for a long enough period of time to transform so much. And Gunther has decided that a friend in need is not a pain in the *.

By now Gunther has forgotten all of what the other girls had said and has decided to help his friend.

Pizza isn’t junk food.

Not throwing out the empty boxes is worrisome, though.

From yesterday:

@JPuzzleWhiz: The anthem protests have absolutely nothing to do with politics. They are being staged to call attention to the number of police shootings that have been going on in this country. How is that “political”?

Puz, as I said yesterday, I agree with your statement that the anthem protests are freedom of expression.

However, it’s almost beyond me how you can say that bringing up the issue is not political. Reasons:

● While any shootings by anyone seem regrettable, in principle, there is no national consensus on which police shootings are justified and which are not. That’s a very hot-button issue.

● And there’s no consensus on what should be done about the shootings. Some blame the cops and others blame the criminals. Usually, it depends on one’s assessment of the situation.

● A recent Fox News poll showed that about 55% of Americans think that the anthem protests are disrespectful and inappropriate. Another news site, as I recall, put it at 49%.

Any issue that is very hotly and publicly debated is political. And it doesn’t matter a bit if your own position on the matter is absolutely right and moral. That was my point.

But there’s an unfortunate tendency for some people to think that their own position is so inherently logical and right that it can’t be political. However, I think you’re a bright and intellectual guy, and so I’d respectfully suggest that you be careful not to fall into that trap.

It finally feels like we’re getting somewhere with this plot.

Bernice was surprised today that Tiffany was in her dorm room.

Tiffany drives a very distinctive red convertible.

Nobody looked in the dorm parking lot?

Or Tiff pays for off campus parking?

what does Tiff’s mother look like? is this generic?

Bernice needs to learn from Gunther on how to talk to a friend.

She still looks good.

Interesting … The emphasis is on the wordplay, plus Gunther’s friendship. Even the room details are gone, except for the couch and the food boxes – perhaps representing Tiffany’s only and current ‘world’?

I suspect the Evanses are trying to indicate Tiffany’s low self-esteem by having her mishear Gunther. “Say” would be a supportive thing to hear, but she hears that he might not stay.

I bet she ends up moving over to Gunther’s. She will then be under the care of his mom and the G man. Her daddy might not know to handle her “terrible” summer. Although he may be unaware of his daughter’s situation

Last time they talk, Gunther was really honest about Tiff and other things. After that point that where we last see her and guessing from there last talk. She went down hill.

“Being Here to Hear, not Here To Say” & Tiff hears stay. Interesting.

Hmm. Maybe Tiffany has agoraphobia? She doesn’t want to leave her room, and she’s only eating stuff she can get delivered. She hasn’t even taken the trash out for a long time. That points to a terror of going outside.

Today’s installment is truly disturbing. I find that I may have to agree with EnigmaForever ‘s summation that this is an attempt by the Evans’ to force an “eat right and exercise” message – which Schrodinger’sDog noted may become a recurring theme in this strip, using Gunther and Tiffany. If this is the case, I am out. (This happens to be the very message that I have dedicated much of my life to fighting – not living healthy, mind you, but the notion that health is measured by the inverse of one’s weight) (A.K.A.: “Fatphobia”) I like JimmJonzz ’ response to Schrodinger’sDog, “Are you using that Never Dulls, Use It for Centuries Razor again?” which I interpret as, one size fits all, one solution works for all, especially the one solution that has failed over 95% of the time – losing weight!

So far Gunther is saying all the right things, let’s hope that keeps going in the right direction.

Go Gunther! maybe he’s finally stepping up to the plate!

Miss Piggy and the Super Nerd. What a pair.

5

Not really sure about the “say” & “stay” comments….. is it a typo and Gunther was supposed to have said “not hear to stay”….. is it an intentional miscommunication written by Greg to have Tiffany express to Gunther that she wants him to stay?

I am going to presume Greg is intentionally having Tiffany mishear Gunther’s words so she highlights that she does want him to stay.

I have to say I am pleasantly relieved that Gunther is not acting out or doing the “wrong” things at the moment. This appears to be (at least at the moment) a nicer, kinder Gunther. Let us hope he stays this way.

I find it very sad that Tiffany is taking on-line courses. This sadness is due to a myriad of factors:

1. I can see that Tiffany is hiding, because she is negative about herself in terms of her current body image. I know it is hard (having been VERY heavy myself)…. but regardless of whatever weight Tiffany becomes, feelings of shame about body image of any type is so tragic and unfortunate.

2. It is my personal opinion that the vast majority of on-line courses are not as useful or meaningful for a student. Most on-line courses are simply to “get-r-done” with the least amount of time or effort. Most on-line courses are not so much about learning, or community, or growth… but to amass credits. For me, this makes them a poor, poor choice.

3. I am hoping AT least that none of Tiffany’s on-line courses are ones in her major. At LEAST for her major, she needs the more valuable in-person types of interaction.

I also still hope this whole weight gain/sadness arc does not turn into a smaltzy, Harlequinesque Romance arc.

If Tiffany and Gunther do become romantically involved, I am hoping it will be at a time where they are BOTH in a good psychological place.

My conclusion is that Gunther has the innate talent to be a clinical psychologist, whereas Bernice ought to change her major to botany.

Poor Tiff! Whatever problem has caused her season-long junk food binge, she is clearly eager to have Gunther stay. Why’d she mis-hear “say”? Is she having some problem that affects her hearing?

Go ahead, Gunther; clear away those empty pizza boxes, sit Tiffany down next to you, and work your empathic magic!

I’m thinking that the last time Gunther and Tiffany talked it caused her to look inside herself and take inventory. She didn’t like what she saw. She would not be the first to attempt to fill a void with food. I hope Gunther can save her.

A diet of donuts and pizza. That’ll pack on the pounds. I’m glad to see that in the 2nd panel Gunther sheds his initial awkward repeating of Dez’s lines and gets down to the business of being a friend.

All I can say is Tiffany needs all the help she can get

The graduation photo.

S.Dog. …what appears to be her father’s back of his head:

http://www.gocomics.com/luann/2014/06/18

Now that after 3 hours of GoComics being down are over, I went back to see that back of the head of Tiffany’s father.

Very expensive suit. Obviously needing both hands to hold up that very expensive professional quality digital camera.

But I also noticed that Luann is looking at dad and camera. Bernice is looking at mom and camera. Rosa is looking at dad and camera.

Delta is looking off to the future.

But Tiffany, if not with completely unfocused eyes, is sneaking a glance at the black woman standing next to her father.

Why was it automatically assumed that that was Delta’s mother?

Delta may have asked/hired the bald guy to take her picture.

But other than that wild speculation, the comic strip was not helpful towards what daddy might do next in this situation.

She can’t be that depressed, she’s still has lipstick on. :)

QUESTION: How does a person remove a “like”? I figure many posters here are knowledgable and will know.

On another site my eye did that thing it does which causes me to hit to the sude and instead of “reply” i hit “like”. The post i was trying to reply to was a horridly naive and bigoted post. No matter what i tried i coukd not remove it. HELP! Please!

SPOILER ALERT

I was right about the cause of all this. And it wasn’t Gunther…

So there, Moose….