FBOFW characters have been aging since I started reading it, at least 15 years ago.
It doesn’t always take itself seriously. for some years now, the Sunday strips have been entirely divorced from the ongoing storyline (the one exception I can think of being the death of Farley. :(, and it’s frequently funny even during the soap opera storylines. But time has always passed at a pretty much realistic rate; that is, even though a given storyline make take take a fortnight to run through and only cover a single day, there’s always an implicit time jump between arcs so th the dates stay current.
Farley! Poor, noble Farley! I’m still mad at April for getting you killed!
Skald:
Mike’s and Deanna’s wedding was another, more recent exception.
I keep asking you not to bother me with facts. Must I release the genetically engineered, venom-spewing, etc. winged monkeys?
Lynn based Michael and Elizabeth on her own kids, but early on, Aaron Johnston was self-conscious about having to live down his avatar’s actions. So Lynn froze the characters for a few years, until her real kids were older than the fictional ones. Since sometime in the early '80s, they’ve aged a year at a time.
So, someone clue me in, here–what’s the history between Anthony and Liz? How did they meet, when did they date, and how did they break up? I missed a good several years of FBOFW, and I started reading again after Anthony and Therese had already been married.
Hey–could someone clue me in, here? I’m feeling a little lost, and I’d appreciate any help you guys could give me. I missed a good several years of FBOFW, and I started reading again after Anthony and Therese had already been married.
What’s the history between Anthony and Liz? How did they meet, when did they date, and how did they break up?
Yes
Anthony and Elizabeth were high-school friends/sweethearts/steadies. When Liz went away to college, she and Anthony broke up because of the distance. While she was away at school and student teaching in Mtigwaki, he married Therese.
*all of this is my best recollection, so may not be entirely accurate.
But how am I supposed to home in on you? You give your location as “Center of the Universe,” but as we all know, the inflationary model implies that the universe has no center–that space itself is what is expanding and any spot in any galaxy may be conceived of as the center–and–and–and–
::head explodes::
Liz and Anthony became a couple in 8th grade. They broke up for a while in 9th or 10th, but by senior year, they were a couple again. When they went to their respective universities, they lost interest in staying in touch, and decided to call it off.
In Liz’s sophomore or junior year at uni, she became involved with a guy named Eric, who seemed ideal, and they moved in together. Long story short, he was cheating on her, and Liz spent a few months in denial before calling his bluff. Then it was over, and she was wounded and somewhat bitter. Before this, though, she went home for winter break, and Anthony offered to escort her to a NYE party. (NYE parties figure heavily into the Liz/Anthony/Therese triangle.) She thought her relationship with Eric was still going strong, and he was eager to tell her about his engagement to Therese.
After that, it became a long dance of approach/avoidance. Liz was invited to the wedding, and refused to go without an escort, so Lawrence set her up with a very handsome gay guy as basically a trophy. In the recieving line, Therese asked Anthony if he was jealous, and he muttered, “Don’t…not now.” After that, I’d recommend going to the official site and reading the January strips from each year, as well as last summer’s. Therese was portrayed as an insanely jealous witch, until it became clear that her jealously was not unfounded, as Anthony seems never to have stopped carrying a torch for Liz.
I have a very basic question. Is the strip supposed to be set in any particular place? I know it’s Canada, and it seems to obviously be English-speaking Canada. But is it supposed to be suburban Toronto, or a small town in the Prairies, or just any old place?
London, Ontario, I believe.
It’s a fictional town called “Millborough” Ontario. London is where Michael went “away” to school to, and he was (IIRC) a couple hours away from home. It’s a suburb of Toronto; in the early strips it was “Scarborough.”
And I’m so glad someone started a FBoFW thread; I was contemplating starting one to complain about the freaky-ass blinking eyes and decided it was too MP to be S even IMS.
Jodi, who bought and read She’s Turning Into One Of Them! today.
That’s another thing, which coincidentally came up in the new collection book today. What the hell does that mean? I take it that it means “easy” or something like it, but “roadside”?
:: Off to find the strip from the new book :: Ah. Here it is:
[On the school bus]
APRIL: Becky thinks she’s so hot because she’s going out with a guy in Grade 12.
DUNCAN: Yeah, she’s hangin’ high.
APRIL: She’s only just turned 14. What would a guy who’s 17 see in her?!
DUNCAN: You’re kidding, right? April, Becky is “hands on” . . . she’s a “gig”! She’s “roadside,” man!
APRIL: You mean . . . she’s ‘been there’?"
DUNCAN: Yeah . . . an’ once you’ve “been there” you ain’t comin’ back!
Okay, “been there” and “hands on” I get. (And I had visions of the Euphemism Fest continuing: "You mean she’s ‘ridden the meat pony’? etc.) But please explain “roadside” and a “gig”. Is this Canadian? Or am I old? Or both?
This is a total WAG, but perhaps “gig” comes from the fact that the kids in question are in a band?
And “roadside” could mean that, like a hitchhiker, she’s looking to be picked up.
Lynn made both those terms up, on the grounds that she didn’t want to use authentic slang that would eventually be outdated. Whatever.
Personally, I think it’s unlikely that Lynn will do this for the following reasons:
a) We’ve already had a childhood sweetheart storyline - Mike and Dee.
b) There’s been too much effort invested in the “Officer Wright/the Right One for Liz” storyline
c) Lynn intends to end the strip in 2007.
I think she’s just tying up the loose ends to this Howard storyline. Hopefully she’ll cement the Paul-Liz relationship by them moving in together or something along those lines.
So if I were to go read the books, could I get caught up on everything I missed? How far back do they go? I love FBOFW when I remember to read it, but over the years I’ve been in and out. How far back does the website go? I’ve heard it’s a pretty good website so I guess I need to check it out.
I thought the strip was ending in '09 – its 30th year. Has she moved up the ‘retirement’ date?