Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for August 15, 2017

So… uh… is Fay having a thing for Axel and Axel just doesn’t know it?

Life is difficult for introverts. It’s brave for her to even talk to someone about.

If Fay and Axel ever hit it off, both should be criticized for having poor taste.

Oh God, Luann all over again. In this case we have a shy post-millennial girl gaga over a punky post-millennial guy who does not notice her. He probably is not even aware he is supposed to notice girls yet, but Fay is such a good girl. Therein lies the problem, good girl, bad boy. Man, underlying theme of this strip. How Ann BadMama Eiffel and her shenanigans fit into this Fuse based arc, it should be CRAZYYYY.

Look at that goofy face! She’s in a crush. Cute. And what’s up with Axel’s puckery lips? Botox-filled duck lips or bad drawing?

No offence, but she got poor taste in guys then.

OMG, she’s Hinata Hyuga!

No wonder I like her so much~!!

The sound you hear now is the Bechdel Test Failure Alarm. Of all the reasons Fay has to be interested in theater, it has to be a guy. Oh, Fay! Haven’t you heard the song about Musical Theatre Boys? A boy who wears giant 1980s sunglasses inside, does supermodel duck lips, and wears his hair like Ash from Pokemon is not the kind of guy you want for a boyfriend.

Axel, eh? The thot plickens!

Much comment yesterday about the abrupt shift in tone / plot FROM the serious stuff developing around Ann’s scheme TO this lighter and maybe funnier scene. As almost everything artistic does, it made me think of something from Shakespeare.

As Macbeth Act 2, Scene 2 ends, all is deadly serious in the wake of Macbeth and his Lady committing bloody murder. A knocking comes at the gate, and we shift to Scene 3. Everything changes in one of the most jarring shifts of tone and focus in all literature. The gatekeeper, grumbling about having to answer the gate over and over, begins to compose jokes about the visitors disrupting his rest. At this moment, no kidding, the world hears the first three known knock-knock jokes. And yes, they are in the familiar form we now know… Knock, knock. Who’s there?The jokes are over five centuries old and require a certain amount of footnoting before a modern reader gets them… but there they are.

1. The heart wants what the heart wants.

2. Denigrate the story before it begins. That always works.

3. Wait.

Axel is the only other kid that showed up to the theater camp. So I guess that Fay joined because she knew Axel would be there. Axel’s quick departure may have meant he is aware of this. Note that Axel sat as far away from Fay as he could. Just maybe Axel is attracted and doesn’t know how to handle it.

I used to be like Axel. When you finally notice a girl like Fay, you change for the better. Generation doesn’t matter. But, they’re both kids, so Fay’s attempts will be fruitless for a few years. As for Axel? Yeah, he’s a bit of a punk, but there’s hope for him yet. He just needs to be called out more often on his attempts to be “cool.”

Fay’s eyes in the last panel tell it all.

The last time I saw someone wear there hat sideways was on the Freshprince Of Belair.

“Nice Girl, Falls for Thuggish, Arrogant, Obnoxious’ Guy,” AS USUAL.

Luann? If You REALLY Care about this Kid, You’d tell Her that if this Axel Creature had any (SNORT) “Feelings” for Her, the little Scumbag would have TOLERATED Drama Class just to be near Her. Then dry Her tears and give the Kid’s Mom Her money back. But Noooooooooooo.

Besides, Axel probably been too busy taking private “Thug Lessons” from Les, who’s been teaching the young lad on how to a Good Look-Out and what “Code” to use to Warn Folks when the Cops show up on "Lingerie Night….. "

Yep!  ….shades of Luann at 13…. chasing after a guy who she hoped would notice her…..

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-Though Fay is a bit more timid,  in addition to her feeling awkward…

This is not the direction I expected this arc to go…. ugh. Flashback to Luann and Aaron Hill. Been there; done that arc. -— I’m still waiting to find out who stole the TV and what is happening with the lingerie party? Will Toni and Brad get pregnant and have to oust TJ (or move?). Please, Greg, don’t leave ends hanging. Especially for THIS.

Well, she’s in for some rough times. Axel is a jerk.

Perhaps Luann and Fay will both get something out of this new relationship!

“The Shadow Of Her Smile” (♬)

“Hint Condition”

“Ginger-ly, And Merry Plan”

“A Shy Full Of Clouds”

“Softie First!”

“Born To Be Mild” (♬)

“Timid Life ‘Crisis’ "

“She’s Got An Axel To Mind”

“Aye! There’s The Bub!”

“Burned Notice”

“Tank Full Of Reserved”

“She’s Got Violet Tendencies”

or

“Looking At My Reflection, In Demure”

Geez, you can do much better, Fay!

Why is Luann even asking this question? It’s a paying gig, just do your job.

I will chalk this up to Faye being in the Puppy-Love stage because I can’t even love a person like Axel.

And there’s probably a nice young man in her school who has a crush on her, but she doesn’t notice because she’s got eyes only for the bad kid.

Sounds like a prime segue to some Aaron Hill flashbacks…

The long-time devotees of a hypothetical Gunther / Tiffany love affair, who firmly believe that people who are complete opposites are in fact destined to be together, will now be rooting for Axel to divert his attentions to Fay. Keep the faith, Gunthany ’shippers. Your day will come, one way or another.

Just a quick note about introverts and theatre. I’ve done lots of community theatre over the years, and there is nothing I love to do more than get up in front of people and perform. I am, if I say so myself, talented and confident, and I love to entertain people.

I am also an introvert. Being an introvert doesn’t mean being shy and unsure of yourself. It doesn’t mean being awkward or a shrinking violet. It doesn’t mean you hate being around people. Being an introvert means, in simple terms, that you get your energy from being alone or in small groups of close friends. for an introvert, being at a large party where you are expected to make small talk or flit from one thing to another is utterly exhausting. It doesn’t mean you can’t do it, it just means that it wears you out. Introverts like to connect to people at a deeper, more intimate level, and having so many people around to try to connect to like that is just bewildering. It’s made even worse when extroverts won’t let introverts see more than the surface.

The truth is that introverts make terrific theatre people. Most of the theatre people I know are introverts.

Faye is shy, yes, and lacks self-confidence, yes, but that in itself doesn’t make her an introvert. She reminds me of a young man I once mentored. He was shy and uncertain of himself. He had a lot of talent and a great sense of humor and an innate sense of comic timing that I really envied, but he would literally blush whenever anyone spoke to him. In just a few years of doing theatre, he became the most confident and outgoing person you’d ever meet. He’s one of those people who has never met a stranger and is instantly best friends with anyone who comes into his sphere. He’s a classic extrovert. All he needed was some self-confidence

Luann is not complete until she’s dealing with “boy drama”, even if it’s not her own.

I wish there were someway to turn off comments. I come here for a laugh, not a psychological evaluation or judgement of the characters.

First of all, look people in the eye when you talk to them, Faye.

2

Blech. This is NOT where I was hoping Fay’s story was going to lead. But, given that this is the story put forward to us, here are some of my thoughts:

1. I think it would be wonderful but unlikely if Luann were to mentor Fay into realizing that Fay needs to look within and see who she is as a person and who she wants to be as a person. She should not be focusing on changing herself FOR anyone (other than herself).

2. I think Fay needs to become more cognizant of who SHE is currently so she can make those decisions about what she would like to work on becoming.

3. Whether or not Axel will become a friend (or boyfriend) for Fay should be something that develops more organically…. not by Fay and Luann scheming to figure out a way get Axel to notice Fay.

4. I tend to think Luann WILL realize this idea Fay is expressing about simply working to get Axel to notice her is a pattern similar to what Luann has done in her own past. Hopefully, she will have that awareness be like a light bulb for her to see how it is obviously not a great line of reasoning for Fay…. but also how it is not a good line of reasoning for Luann.

5. I did not like Axel in his brief appearance previously, so I tend to think I still will not like him if he re-emerges into the comic again.

Having finished my pipe and coffee for this break, I am back to work now…

When we first saw Fay and Axel some time ago, I said that I hope this does NOT turn into a Luann-version of Step Up, but here we are …

Could it be that Fay is attracted to guys who have that certain 90’s-style Daffy-Duck look??!! Let’s hope NOT!!

In the last frame – Incredibly sweet expression. How can we not wish her luck.

On a more technical note, the artwork of Luann has really been done nicely! Fay’s look is just so sweet and endearing! The line work looks simple, effective, and is very well done. Bravo!

Maybe Fay could reach out to Axel with a wardrobe change: Raggedy jeans, bright green tennies, black t-shirt with a small heart inside a circle with a line through it – and keep the pigtails. Fay could learn to skateboard a little – something to do when hanging out.

Awwwwwww.

I like the look of Fay. And it seems that for now she wants a means of getting closer to a boy she fancies. Best to start with a goal.

That he is rasczak, but opposites attract.

Fay and Axel might be classmates at school and when Axel signed up for the camp, she did too. Axel is everything Fay is not. Les is a bit of an Axel. ‘Axels’ can turn out like him if they aren’t careful.

I’m still to figure out what’s Ann and Les are planning to do to The Fuze. The thought came to me that maybe the Theater Camp idea would have worked but was sabotaged by Les. He could have torn down flyers, or posted flyers with the wrong address or wrong date. This would have been part of his plot of revenge against the gay cutie.

Meanwhile, even though it’s been shown that Les is Ann’s son and she is Mr. Grey’s sister I have trouble believing that three such different looking people share the same genes.

So this mentoring isn’t about being an actress, it’s about a boy? And it wasn’t very long ago that Fay was laughing at the impression Luann did of Axel. The Evanses have no master plan, do they? Or any plan at all.

The last person a young woman should turn to for advice in romance is Luann. Luann completely failed with Quill by not communicating with him. All the college-aged characters are guilty of poor communication. No one is qualified.

Do you think the Evanses will do a double Axel?

It’s important to observe that almost all shy people are introverts, but many introverts are not shy. (I’m in the latter camp.)

Love the subtle upturn on the corner of Fay’s mouth when she thinks of Axel.

I choose to think (until further notice) that this episode is not about Fay and Axel per se but about Luann’s journey toward becoming a teacher and mentor. She sees some of her younger self in Fay and so is able to help Fay navigate this adolescent period of her life.

It is alleged that a surprisingly high percentage of actors, both male and female, are introverts, like Fay. And, again like Fay, they find the stage or screen gives them an opportunity to set aside, for the moment, their daily inhibitions and act like the extroverts they are not.

So, this should be a Good Thing for sweet young Fay. But I do wonder whether Axel is worth it as her motivation. Maybe, when she finds more self-confidence she will also find a better guy (to be fair, we don’t really know Axel yet; only that Fay’s mental picture of him is not very winning)….

Simple fact: The most painfully shy adult I’ve ever known in my 69 years has been a full-time professional actress since the mid-60s, specializing in leading roles in Shakespeare and Tennessee Williams.

Another “girl mooning for guy” arc? Luann certainly could mentor Fay all about that.

I am agreeing with those who are bah-ing at the continuity of the Aaron-Luann lack-of-romance. Been there. It’s so done and I don’t care to revisit that but it looks like Greg is not. Bet he is missing it after having drawn college-age Luann with zero boyfriend, zero romance for the past few years.

Spoiler Alert: Someone else fades away…

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Someone else fades in momentarily.