In case you were wondering, my goofy cryptid-driven fantasizing on Monday was inspired by the books of Rick Riordan, author of the youth adventure books featuring young protagonists like Percy Jackson. Rusty has had a fascination for cryptids over a long time and has gone on a few cryptid hunts, though they always seem to be treated as page-filler for Mark’s and Cherry’s stories.

Anyway, the Tuesday strip shows that I was somewhere in the ballpark about Robbie being involved in Rusty’s show-and-tell. And Robbie’s blue diamond shrimp might be a clue for what is coming this Sunday. If so, Mark may inform Robbie that the recommended minimum water capacity for this type of pet shrimp is a five-gallon tank. Frankly, I’m not even sure what Robbie is holding, as it seems to be only about ½ inch deep. Show-and-Tell might be a little odd for middle school students, but perhaps it is a science class.

As is usual, Jules Rivera cannot resist ruining whatever mood the strip is building by inserting one of her “let’s keep it cute and funny” puns in panel 4. It does not end here.

Robbie may be underhanded, deceitful, a bully, and a liar (the apple doesn’t fall far, I think), but he does have confidence. Unfortunately, Rusty does not exhibit much confidence, and Robbie knows how to exploit that weakness. It may be justified, but Rusty certainly loses his cool around Ranger Shaw’s untrustworthy son.

At the same time, Rusty will have a tough time making his small bit of turquoise stone look as interesting to the class as living blue shrimp! Now, if Rusty (for example) had some legitimate Navajo jewelry to illustrate how turquoise can be employed and shown off, he could make a big splash with the class.