You mean to say that this was all a waste? Who could have ever called that outcome? Besides everyone.
I mean, kudos for Luann for realizing this and all; but Bets and Tiff … uh, maybe you two should take a look in the mirror. They both started this arc out by wanting to force this “we’re smart and capable entrepreneurs” and made “Batubs” (still the worst name for a brand possible) as an attempt to show how talented they are… only for it to show that they can’t even dummy up a “we turned her into a success story” narrative with someone as easily led as Luann. (Sorry, Lu, but it’s true. No one stays friends with someone who squashes your confidence the way Bernice does without being at least a little easily influenced).
“I see a vacant messy room,” replied the Ghost, “in the poor chimney-corner, and a dog named Puddles without an owner, carefully preserved. If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, Luann DeGroot will die.”
Oh wait, I got my future predictions crossed.
Anyhow, I think that Luann could get better advice from Mrs. Horner cause usually the old woman sets her on the right course without making her feel like she’ll shrivel into dust and blow away in the wind if she’s unsure about her future.
Really the way reality is in general for most people 5 years in the future is incredibly uncertain (just look at how much the pandemic changed lives) and you can change dreams and aspirations MANY times and course correct your life. I’m not saying it’s wrong to have a defined idea, in fact a plan is good, but a lot of people change their mind. One of my mentors went from cataloguing antique furniture and teaching courses to opening an art gallery and moving very far and I know for a fact she didn’t really expect to make that big change, but she’s happy.
The Adopt-A-Highway thing was a storyline that lingers on in my memory as the most dull and uneventful one ever… but the one where Bern, Luann, and Tiffany’s pool party that never was does stand out as a painfully drawn out story, especially since it came out when the Evanses dropped the “pay to read the actually eventful story” in lieu of Luann and co sitting on butt and doing nothin’.
Yes exactly. A little outlining can go a long way. I think that Luann taking an idea combining her interests into something substantial (like a children’s storybook or kids’ show) it would make for an entertaining storyline. Instead we have padded out weeks of reiterated strips like Luann being berated by Tiff and Bets for weeks and Luann, Bern, and Tiffany talking about stuff they want to do but instead just puttering around and doing nothing.
Honestly, Luann having a few interests isn’t exactly making Bets and Tiffany seem more rounded cause they’re basically the same. If I pictured Bets answering this my guess is she’d have 3 special interests social media, stereotypical nerd media, and Gunther. With Tiffany it used to be cheerleading and fashion (though now she’s drawn in exclusively frumpy, matronly clothes) but now it’s mostly “business woman hairbrained schemes?” and … trying to date Kip? (I dunno Tiffany is basically as aimless as Luann but does it with a bit more character development.)
They’re not exactly brimming with exciting passions.
Poor Luann. She’s been written to have so many potential paths that… we don’t really get to see her ever actually take one.
I honestly have no clue which of these paths has the most potential for storytelling in the strip BUT if the Evanses wanted to have Luann workshop ideas like becoming someone who works on an educational show with songs and / or puppets it would combine these interests and make it so she could utilize her skills. Honestly, it’s probably something that would be a best case scenario for her. She could even get some of the strip characters with less ambitions or things going on and start a creative venture with them. (For example, if she got Tiff and Bets involved they could stop this sad attempt at being brand managers)
Also, I’m tiring of Bets and Tiffany being so smug. They’re not exactly bursting with these fabulous life-skills they mock Luann for lacking. Bets and Tiff are business majors who named their business “Batub,” need I even elaborate?
With Tiff and Bets being so committed to old archetypes of the makeover, maybe they’ll resort to lazily putting a pair of thick glasses on Luann’s face for the “Before” picture. Then for the “After” have her take them off and mussy up her hair and they’ll all go, “Why, Luann… you look so beeauty-ful!”
I mean, it worked in every romance movie in the 2000s, which seems to be when Tiff and Bets are mentally stuck in since they’re about as in touch with what Gen Alpha or Zoomer trends as an alien might be (I mean, hot to split hairs but Karen and Greg could do so much fast research on what is in fashion for college kids today with just a few searches on youtube or tiktok).
Also it’s funny how non-stop this storyline has been with savagely dunking on Luann and roasting her for having no personality. She is a character who is the stand in for Karen right? Should Karen be insulted if Greg suggested this storyline or should we check on her to see if she’s in a self-loathing funk? Cause the rebranding thing… it’s kind of painful.
It’s funny you say that. I’m 33 and Vincent Price is my favorite actor of all time! I’d have really loved to have met him! From all the biographies I’ve watched he seemed like a humble and soft-spoken gentleman. Dr. Phibes, Theater of Blood, House of Wax, and the Roger Corman Poe films are yearly Halloween movie staples for me. Plus his voice work in The Thief and the Cobbler and The Great Mouse Detective were iconic for my childhood.
That was my immediate thought, “It’s a Wonderful Life!” is a Christmas classic and one of the most wholesome life-affirming films. I’m a millennial and I watched it growing up.
You mean to say that this was all a waste? Who could have ever called that outcome? Besides everyone.
I mean, kudos for Luann for realizing this and all; but Bets and Tiff … uh, maybe you two should take a look in the mirror. They both started this arc out by wanting to force this “we’re smart and capable entrepreneurs” and made “Batubs” (still the worst name for a brand possible) as an attempt to show how talented they are… only for it to show that they can’t even dummy up a “we turned her into a success story” narrative with someone as easily led as Luann. (Sorry, Lu, but it’s true. No one stays friends with someone who squashes your confidence the way Bernice does without being at least a little easily influenced).