Okay, you’ve all become so jaded in this digital, online world of ours that a publishing nexus (leggings) just wasn’t notable enough to draw a single comment. I may be taking this thing way, too seriously!

So, why couldn’t they get Peach out to the dump? Is she allergic to the outdoors? Too busy sewing? Did Jules Rivera only come to the realization at the end of the week that she had not explained why Peach didn’t accompany them? So the “cliff-hanger” here is: What is Peach doing that she couldn’t come along? Finally, I think Rivera doesn’t have much faith in Cherry, because Cherry doesn’t look as stressed out as Rivera suggests in panel 4.

Quick Quiz: Just to see if you’ve been paying attention to the strip for a while, what is one of the most significant (if subtle) changes in the dialog from the pre-Rivera era? I don’t mean just today or this week. I mean since Rivera took over.

Even bucolic Lost Forest has its seamy aspects, aside from Honest Ernest, Ranger Shaw, and the Cheddersons. So we arrive at the local landfill. It makes one wonder whatever happened to the recycling project that Cherry tried to start at the Sunny Soleil Society. Or was that the composting project? (see Compost Crusade)

Olive Pitt is on the hunt, investigating the dark side of Holly Folly’s business model. I’m thinking the sisters will find a trove of thrown-away (“fast”) fashions from the House of Holly (or whatever it’s called) in the mountains of muck up ahead. If Olive brings back physical or photographic evidence, it could convince Peach that Holly Folly’s fashion goals are clearly the opposite of her “upcycling.”

On the other hand, Peach could get inspired by the castoffs Olive shows her and decide to design more fashions using those items, since upcycling discarded stuff is her mojo. I can just see Peach driving Cherry’s pickup back to the landfill and grabbing piles of abandoned clothing and junk for her work. Then wouldn’t it be a hoot for Peach to show Holly her new designs using the trashed knockoffs Holly has been hawking!

The textbox is quite ironic, don’t you think? Considering Cherry and Olive both live outside of town, a drive anywhere is already a drive outside of town. Unless they are driving into town, I suppose.

When Jules Rivera took over this strip, she made Cherry a resourceful, feisty, but likeable person with the same strong family ethic as before, and having enough personality and grit to carry her own stories. In a way, that was similar to the earliest portrayals of Cherry, when she was still single and had a pet bear.

Still, Rivera’s personality edits for Cherry were a good improvement! But over time, Cherry’s personality and demeanor have changed (as they did before Rivera). She may still possess a strong family ethic, but I’m no longer certain of the other qualities. Granted, sister Olive Pitt has a troubled past and is prone to argument, physical interaction, and taking charge. In fact, she has some of the qualities Cherry used to have. But Cherry seems to have little patience or trust. She demeans Olive’s self-improvement efforts with her leading questions. Some sister!

The story trudges along: Cherry and Olive distrust Holly Folly, but Peach is more optimistic. Now, Holly wants to move ahead with a deal. So far, so good.

What might be confusing here is a point of grammar. In Panel 1, Cherry lists some negatives about Holly, then follows up with “But we’re not going into business …” Although I’m no professor of English, I know that when a statement is followed by a “But”, it implies a response that is contrary to the initial statement. For example, “I’d like to make prank phone calls with you today, but I’m busy working on my Great Humanitarian award speech.”

Instead, Jules Rivera has Cherry follow her initial, negative, statement with another negative statement: “Holly Folly is bad. But we’re not going into business with her, right?” A conjunction such as “Therefore” or even “So” would make Cherry’s statement sound correct. “Okay, Holly Folly has flaws and we hate fast fashion. So, we’re not going into business with her, right?”

In Panel 4, Rivera affirms Holly’s message: “Odd how that turned around so quickly.” Okay, what turned around quickly? Peach was already sold on the deal. Did Cherry and Olive suddenly become Holly Folly acolytes? Do they now like fast fashion? Sounds like a classic non sequitur.

Geez! Just how long is this argument going to continue? I reckon it must be important for the story’s development to ensure that we recognize that this is a dramatic turning point, where the protagonist (Peach Pitt) is warned by her sisterly “Greek Chorus” of impending disappointment if she continues down ths path. But like all Greek tragedies, Peach will likely put aside the advice. Otherwise, the story will end.

More importantly, why are Cherry and Olive standing side-by-side in the background? Is it to play up their Greek Chorus symbolism? I don’t know. Jules Rivera seems to love drawing people lined up in the background, anyway; we can see it often enough. In panel 1, the gals are even holding things up in front of them, as if they are in a school show-and-tell.

Cherry dropped the shirt in panel 2 in order to point a finger at her mental image of Cricket Bro, only to return to holding the shirt up again in panel 4. Okay. Why is Cherry holding up that shirt!? Well, Olive is not immune to goofiness, either. In panel 1, she holds her laptop sideways, as if it is book! In Panel 4, she is still standing and holds the laptop in her left arm, as if she is a server taking an order. Why aren’t they just sitting down, like they were doing in Monday’s strip?

The first ten people who post an answer will hereafter be known as the first ten people who posted an answer.

Well, at least one of the Pitt sisters has the right attitude: Remain skeptical until proven otherwise. Peach is so anxious to do well and do well, environmentally, that it would be a real disaster for her if Holly Folly turns out to be a swindler. But is sister Olive enough of a counter-force to protect her?