Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for July 15, 2016

I guess some would say Tiffany’s pretty fast, and takes dangerous curves for granted. She’s got a blind spot, and her penchant for being reckless could soon leave her uh……“wreck-less”, nevermore. At the speed she’s going, she could even get detoured from that “great big freeway to LA”, and end up securing pole position in some dive, in the ‘smoke filled’ part of town.-Ah, yes Shannon, go on and enjoy the scenic route, while you still can.

Shannon’s six, huh? Could she be Calvin’s equal when it comes to dorkiness?

This explains a lot about Tiffany.

Nice to see Prudence teaching little Shannon some actual dance routines, and Luann providing the music.

Didnt’ someone say ‘it takes a village to raise a child?’

Wonder who… maybe it was her Dad…

It would be interesting to learn more of Tiffany’s background. I think she will grow beyond it – at least i strongly hope so.Knowing for sure that Shannon is 6 should settle down the few who expect her to be the same as when she was 4. A lot of learning happen in those years, and those two years are a third of her entire life.

Ahhh Tifffany!! For those who get turned on by cartoon characters here she is. It shows you though, Luann gets blasted for being ditzy, but she is still the soul and center of the strip, and her sensibilities, she learned from her very solid parents, are the soul of the strip as well. Tiffany had some issues with her parents, which might be a metaphor for how she is, and how Shannon could be given her parenting situation. But one thing about the strip is that Greg lets people grow, so Tiffany has shown some good points lately, helped by Gunther, of all people, but she is unrepentant in being sultry and attention-getting. Trufan, and proud of it out for now (lol).

Oh, let’s take time off from this pointless storyline to make fun of Punching Bag Tiffany! Time to throw the Trufans a bone!

Why is Tiffany here at all? Are they practicing all the acts, including Gunther’s magician routine? (Note that they practice their acts in street clothes, but they wear costumes to sign up for the show!)

Well not totally out. Several months ago, when we met Prudence for the first few months her character was criticized by so many who were not patient enough to see how she was being developed as a character. It turns out she is kind, caring, fun, wise, and immediately comes to the protection of Shannon who is a sweet, and vulnerable child. And Pru is one of those free-spirited theater people too!!. Tiffany would not really harm Shannon, I am not arguing that at all, I like Tiffany, but this strip tends to protect this child from things that might offend middle American sensibilities. I do know one thing, man, Shannon is going to be the center of one titanic struggle between now and December. I will put bitcoins down on it! -:) Now I am out on original comments anyway.

“Spin Doctor”“Rotten To The Choreography”“I’ll Just Take My Dances”“The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From The Sultry”“Curves….Your Enthusiasm”“Inno-cence And Sensibility”“There’s A Knock On The Dorky”“If You Want Her To Succeed, Plant A’Six-Seed’ "“One For The Money, Too Much For The Show”

or “Minor Adjustments”

Tiffany is the strip’s “spice girl” who searches for attention when what she really needs is someone who cares for her. She is the chocolate eclair to Luann’s plain donut.

Far from making fun of Tiffany, this shows a tragic insight into why she became the way she is and what she has to fight to change. Taught to be sultry at six? Somebody wronged her, and she, poor thing, hasn’t figured out yet just how wrong that was, and doesn’t know any better than to pass the wrongness on. I’m glad Pru and Luann were there to break the chain!

Yeah, hopefully not!

Especially since those ‘finicky racers’ can sometimes require more ‘maintenance’, which leads to more ‘maintenance fees’ from the bank….

Like how she just says “ok” because she just wants to be with the big girls.

For the little girl – “Dorky” sounds more fun than “Sultry,” even though she probably doesn’t know what either one means.

I’m more than a bit surprised that Brad and Toni haven’t already had the conversation about adopting Shannon formally. I think Jonah would go for it in an instant, Frank and Nancy would be more than happy to help out, Luann and Shannon go way back and Luann loves interacting with kids.

I think Shannon would be over the moon!

Then again, it’s possible B&T have already had the conversation, and it just wasn’t shown (or I may have missed it). They may be waiting until the marriage is official, as a smoother way through the legal aspects (not that legal aspects are much in evidence in the Luanniverse).

I still think Fishbait had fatherhood land on him when he wasn’t done being a teen-ager, and is refusing to let go of his adolescence.

I had forgotten that Shannon’s Mom “took off”. I always allowed for the possibility that she might actually be dead. So she could potentially appear one day, with just about any agenda (I don’t think she’s Prudence).

Greg and Karen are wise enough not to make a permanent end to a character that might be useful later. We could still run into oldies like Zane, Mrs. Horner, Delta, Rosa, Dirk or even that mini-Elvis guy. Elwood?

I’d get a kick out of a Sunday one-off where Mrs. Horner hooks up with that busload of “Sultry Seniors”, or whoever they were. That could be great fun.

Good of Prudence for showing Prudence..

Poor Tiffany, turned into an object of sexual desire by idiots.Poor JonBenét Patricia Ramsey, dead at six.Lucky me, too ugly to have anybody consider such foolishness.

And we barely notice Luann supplying the music vocally.Much good will here.

Where’s Toni when you need her?

“Once a dork always a dork.”.Thank you. I try hard.

Maybe a sultry dork?

What’s with the Kid singing a Disney Corporate Marching Song?

What Happened to the BELOVED Classics like:

“I’m a little COFFEE Pot Short and Stout!”“Here comes the Danish, So You’d Better Look OUT!”

that’s Paris’ (Tiff’s) strong, mental side. shes so sultry she’s dorky.

Why is it that Tiffany portrays herself as a future “Madame” or as a tarnished trophy wife of a washed up ball player?

Yes, the magic of Tiffany. Is she tragic or is she trashy? A lot of people beat her up, but I also think a lot of people like her. She is the ultimate illusion…….. she is anything you choose to see her as. Sexy, dorky, loyal, dumb, self-centered, caring. I choose to like her, so if you all will excuse me, I must have a little coffee with my eclair. Cheers.

@Schrodinger’s DogThis comment is specifically for Schrodinger’s Dog:Late last night when I looked back at yesterday’s comic before bed, I realized something that also was instrumental in my initial suggestion that Luann (and not Purdence) give dance lesson help to Shannon….When I read the comic initially yesterday, I had mistakenly thought that Luann was talking with Mrs. DeGroot! It was not until I went back late last night, that I realized my mistake and that it was Prudence in the panels yesterday. With my mistaken thought that Mrs. DeGroot was in the comic yesterday, it makes “a little” bit more sense why I initially suggested Luann give Shannon the dance lessons. But, as I explained yesterday, your idea of Prudence giving the lessons was a very good one…. and was even more logical (and more where Greg was leading us) given that Prudence was in the panel yesterday, not Mrs. DeGroot.

This suggests Tiffany had a stage mom who put her in Toddlers and Tiaras, or something. I feel very sorry for her. If this is meant to be humorous, it doesn’t work at all for me.

6It saddens me that Tiffany was doing “sultry” at the age of six. It makes me feel that her childhood was not the childhood I would have wished for her character or for any child. I am not naive enough to not recognize that “sultry” (which reads to me as “sexualized”) is often a part of many performances that a lot of kids do today…. but maybe I am too old fashioned…. but I really, really do not like it. That sort of behavior displayed by anyone in a performance below the age of 16 (I’d still rather say 18 or 21, but am trying to not be overly arcane) feels very, very wrong to me. I am glad that Prudence is giving her dance choreography lessons, and I am especially glad that Prudence is standing firm about having no “sultry” incorporated as was Tiffany’s suggestion. I still suspect Luann’s own dance moves would be akin to Elaine on “Seinfeld” and in regards to Tiffany… I do hope that her act with Gunther at the talent show is going to be interesting and fun!

One final comment…. my wife controls the remote when we watch television in the evenings…. and there are a variety of times we scan across a few channels that have some programs we enjoy including TLC and Lifetime…. and both of those channels have had on numerous occasions had commercials (just the commercials are bad enough, we would never watch the shows) that feature “Dance Moms” and “Pagent Moms” who guide their kids into all sorts of “sultry” acts…. and the commercials alone make me feel very, very sad for these kids.

I like how Luann places herself at Shannon’s eye level and connects by holding her hands…while Tiffany is distant and makes Shannon look up to her. So much is communicated in this one image.

Luannfan, yes, i KNOW Shannon is NOT four, and have posted that yesterday and today, but yesterday there were some posters who did mention exactly that fallacy. I guess you were just agreeing with me.Seismic, much of the Fuse is the public space used and passed through by customers, so if Tiff was on her way to the cafe or double checking something about the show it would make perfect sense for her to be there.

Good point, Team Evans— this is both an age and cultural thing. We didn’t learn sultry moves EVER, but in the deep South, they had grade school band members doing the grind on parade. (Though they stopped when parents protested.)

Ken, i agree. At that age Shannon probably has no idea what either word means, but intonation and trusting Luann probably mean a huge amount.Dreamdeer, i agree. An adult who was in her life then probably played a role. While the suggestion that music videos may have played a part, as another mentioned, it still would take an adult agreeing with that as a model to emulate since in that age bracket kids try on a lot of hats but repeat the encouraged ones more often.I am wondering if the person or people who encouraged that model was/were especially important in Tiffany’s life, making it harder for her to find ways to be more prismatic, if you will, and recognizing the shortfalls. Tiff is a character i like and want to see grow, but i think that will also involve learning more about her background. Many Tiffanies have grown personally, intellectually, and professionally, and completely surprised people from their youth with their added areas of expertise. Anyone who has been to a high school reunion has seen that often enough.

Airman, it strikes me that if you have never seen it you might greatly enjoy the too little known past tv series Cleopatra 2525. It was, and remains, a favorite of mine. I like to lift to it (ditto Xena, Buffy, Dark Angel, and Conan). The title character of Cleopatra 2525 might remind you of Tiff in appearance, and the stories are fun, very tongue in cheek w a lot of action.

I looked it up, Airman. If you want to try Cleopatra 2525, Amazon has the complete series for under $24, so that is probably pretty standard.

For those wondering, Airman is a big Tiffany fan and yesterday wrote being back from a surgery, so i figured that Cleopatra 2525 might be a good fit during recovery as entertainment.

I thought that Quill might have had second thoughts—about never coming back to the Fuse—and signed up for an act with Pru. Doesn’t look like it.

That explains a lot about Tiffany.

Yes, NG, I think know much or all of the very thin amount of Tiff’s history that the strip gives, but there is much more to her past, and parts of it coukd explain a lot about her. Personally, i suspect that an increase in her friendship with Gunther might teach us all, but so could other blossoming friendships.

When Tiffany made her offer to Shannon , all I could think of was Toddlers and Tiaras.Luann is right – stay dorky for awhile yet Shannon! Enjoy being a little girl.

Yes, luannfan, constructive disagreement by people who actually follow the strip is just fine. Sometimes i actually feel sorry for the true trolls and flamebaiters. How crummy does a person’s interaction skills have to be to consider that any type of interaction, yet it is self-perpetuating, so they would not practise real interaction skills and things would just spiral for them if they do not have the sense to stop isolating, and break out and learn some actual human friendship skills with people helping people in both directions.

Jim, people grow and change very often – not all do, of course, but many do – so if a person grows away from destructive behaviors there is potential there. So, i have very different takes on Les and Tiff, for instance, at this stage of the stories.

Nothing en. That was a tragic story, but I think the pageant angle was played too much when you think of the tragedy of Jon Benet. That is something, along with so many murdered or missing children, in our country alone, that exists at the edges of my conscienceness forever. Shannon represents so much in the strip, but nothing like that horror. She is just excited about this show, which is a dramatic trope anyway. I think that is where you were going? Somebody brought that up in one of the comments, and I think its a phantasmagorical presence in that person’s mind as well. But not related to Shannon, nope.

LOL, that is fine, Airman. One of the great things here is that there are many caring people, and you have been among them. Yes, I’ve read you being kind to people here! :-) (The irony, of course, is that the people who have learned and use those skills also have full social lives outside the list specifically because of those skills (so, give your darling an extra hug from this old woman for caring for you during this), which is something not everyone understands. Yes, i still am feeling sorry today about how clueless and socially bankrupt trolls and flamebaiters are. Maybe thinking about how the Tiff character has grown has me hoping for the lonely ones.)

David’s point was a reasonable one about totally inappropriate adult encouragement of the imposition of too adult sexual trappings upon certain children, and potential resulting harm.

Makes me wonder about Tiffany’s relationship with her father — or one of his friends — or a funny uncle…

What do Tiffany and Jon Benet Ramsey have in common?^^^^^^^^^WELL, IF you conclude that Tiffany MAY have had someone in her life at 6 who was pushing her into beauty contests etc and was making her up and dressing her in ‘sexy’ ( yuck ! in the child connotation), the comparison with Ramsey is obvious, with the much less tragic result.

And yet Tiff hasn’t been able to get Gunther to look at her. Poor poor, Gunther, you dork.

Slsharris, i have seen that sort of thing because of another’s mother who wanted to be a stage mom, with a six year old in makeup and then when she became a chubby ten year old in clothing that was terribly age inappropriate. So, funny “uncle” is not essential.

It would be nice if Jonah played the guitar and Luann sang “Small World” (I don’t know that one) while Shannon danced to it. Now that would be a nice act. Probably it is not what Greg has in mind.

let’s see a Pru and Tiff story arc

Argy2, i once asked our much younger friend who was a highly successful runway, HC, and print model for seven years how many models she has met who starve themselves, vs. how many are just young, and how many have genetics like hers. (Both sides of our friend’s family are naturally thin, tall, with small enough builds to not be boney. She is also very athletic so keeps a food diary to be sure of getting a well balanced diet w enough Calories since her body as naturally loses weight easily as mine retains it.). She said that about half just are young and only last two of three years in the industry while thin after a growth spurt. Of the remaining half she figured that half to two thirds are naturally built that way like she is. The remaining one third to one half (of the half which are not just young) restrict Calories, so figure the fraction is 1/6 to 1/4 of all successful models. That is a goidly number, but far lower than what many assume.BTW, just as there are people like one of my cousins whose genetics, endocrinology, or both (in her case from both sides of the family) cause them to be unusually overweight, there also are those who have very low body fat, or light structures, or both due to such reasons, and people at both extremes suffer from job discrimination and from well meaning strangers verbally insulting them. Our naturally thin friend often has strangers who very likely eat far less in Calories as well as a less balanced diet than she consumes telling her to eat more or assuming that she has an eatting disorder even though she never has had that problem.

Correcting myself after looking at a note: the young ones just after growth spurts usually last one or two years, not two or three.

Kymberleigh, yes, and how Tiff behaved then, too, makes a person wonder about the examples she had when young. I suspect she cried herself to sleep all alone many times as a little girl till she fit into the desired mold.

Oh sorry, I misunderstood.

I think Moose was just being funny in talking about COFFEE pot instead of TEA pot, because Moose is a big coffee-haulic…

Poor Tiffany. She hints, perhaps unwittingly, at some of the seamier side of her upbringing, such as it was. “Sultry” already at six, if not even younger?Shall we imagine why and how, knowing that her father has largely paid to get rid of her, in effect?Meanwhile, while Tiff had no ill intent towards Shannon (quite the contrary!), Pru and Lu are right to keep her dorky….

@Siesmic- I didn’t say that Tiffany knew Shannon. I said that she would try to get to Jonah to be near to anyone connected to Hollywood and that she wasn’t above using Shannon to get Jonah’s attention.

And here she comes.

It is nice to see the girls jumping in to help Shannon.

Anyone else find it hard to believe that is the song Jonah intends to play?

Who would have guessed that Tiffany was Little Miss Sunshine?

Spoiler:From the mouths of babesWe DO know now what insight led Shannon to her dance.

Thank you!