My Big Fat Canadian Fandom

[rj_anderson]

Yes, I have a new fandom. No, really, I do. I blame Josh Reads Comics for getting me started.

It involves snarking on For Better or For Worse.

Yes, I confess to being really irritated at the thought of Liz Patterson getting together with her lame, wimpy (but recently divorced, and therefore available) grade-school boyfriend Anthony, particularly given the general awesomeness of her current boyfriend Constable Paul Wright. Long have I been tempted to leave flaming bags of poo on Lynn Johnson's doorstep every time she seems to be foreshadowing the horrorshow of white-bread mediocrity that is Liz/Anthony. Long have I also wanted to beat several of the Patterson family members with a clue stick, especially April, so it is a strange comfort to know that I am not alone.

The good thing about FBoFW fandom is that it has precious little fic, no vids, and very few ship wars (unless you count the growing number of people who think that Constable Paul is way too good for Liz, but it's kind of hard to disagree there).

Okay, so admitting to emotional investment in a comic strip soap-opera (which is, unfortunately, what FBoFW has mostly become) is a bit lame, but hey, at least it's not Rex Morgan or Mary Worth.

*cough*

As you were.

Comments

[seangaffney.livejournal.com]

I stopped reading FBOFW when it stopped even pretending to be funny, which I guess would mean the early 90s. It reminds me of Funky Winkerbean, another gag comic that suddenly turned into very dark soap.

[peacockharpy.livejournal.com]

ALDOMANIA!

er, hmmm. Yes, the Comics Curmudgeon is one of my favorite, favorite guilty pleasure. And if Liz ends up with Anthony, I will weep.

[yahtzee63.livejournal.com]

Hey, man, Mary Worth has been kicking ass lately. She's being stalked by Captain Kangaroo! That's dramatic gold.

[(Anonymous)]

*Snorfle*

I knew Aldo reminded me of somebody! 8-D

Mary Anne

[cryptile.livejournal.com]

I'm still pulling for Farley to return FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE. That's all.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Heh. That reminds me -- my sons both got medals for participating in a local church soccer league this past summer. I'd never really paid attention to the words engraved on them, until one caught my eye the other day and I had to double-check to make sure they did not in fact read "VICTORY... FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE."

(It was VICTORY BEYOND THE GAME, actually. I was almost disappointed.)

[sreya.livejournal.com]

I've been a devotee of For Better or For Worse as long as I can remember. Liz is pretty much the same age I am, and while April is a couple years younger than my baby sister, they've lined up pretty closely developmentally, so the strip has always had a spooky connection to my family! Liz and I got glasses and then contacts at about the same time... they even introduced the rabbit stuff at the same time my youngest sister started breeding rabbits for 4H!!!

So while it seems a bit melodramatic sometimes (and I totally agree that if Liz ends up with Anthony it's a scream-worthy offense), it lines up so closely with my life that I enjoy the irony.

[auditrixlectrix.livejournal.com]

This is weird. I follow FBoFW too, and just the other day started following the FOOB and Mary Worth commentary at joshreads. Can't remember how or where I came across the livejournal with the FOOB "foefic" (think Liz chained to a bed, Connie imprisoned in the Patterson home, and Gordon paying Paul to carry out a hit on someone.)

If Liz gets together with Anthony she is a fool. Crazy Therese is still out there, and she is still Anthony's daughter's mother, so she will always be in the picture and Liz will never be able to get rid of her (by legal means, anyway.)

[dreagoddess.livejournal.com]

I hate Liz/Anthony, but I don't like Liz/Paul either. Paul is just...I don't know. They seem to have been crammed together without real feeling between either. I'm still pulling for Warren. ;)

[annebelle-ca.livejournal.com]

I didn't realize that there was a fandom for FBOFW. I am devoted, read it every morning. I can't stand Anthony and his weasely little face but I don't think it's going to work out with Constable Paul, which is a shame because he's pretty hot for a comic character!

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

I love FBoFW - but it totally ticked me off when Liz decided to move home away from her boyfriend out of some vague homesickness. I keep hoping she'll realize she doesn't really fit in there anymore either and return to Mtigwaki or somewhere similar.

Today's strip gave me a little more hope for a future with Paul, though Sunday strips are often not really in the storyline.

[http://users.livejournal.com/shing_/]

I never knew there was a fandom for FBoFW until I saw how popular their thread was at the now defunct Fametracker (new home and thread here (http://princessmc.proboards66.com/index.cgi?board=Books) and OMG it's at 387 pages!)

I enjoy reading the strip when I can.

[apis-mellifera.livejournal.com]

I love FBOFW, but there's not nearly enough Michael and Deanna (and Weed!) for my taste. April's so meh.

[infiniteviking]

Hey, that's the only comic strip I read that has an actual story arc! (Except for back issues of Little Orphan Annie.) I must confess to being fairly ardently Elizabeth/Paul myself, so the chronic uncertainty is annoying. Liz has been a bit dumb lately, hasn't she?

[drmm.livejournal.com]

I find myself totally irritated by Anthony every time I see him. Paul is so much better. Anthony seems like one of those guys who lets people walk all over him and just makes me go 'ugh'. He needs someone as wishy-washy as he is, since that's the only kind of relationship he'll be able to be on equal footing with -- and I can't imagine a happy relationship where one partner is a doormat.

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

Aw. *nostalgia* I was *addicted* to FBoFW the one and only time I had regular access to a daily paper--when I helped my brother with his paper delivery route in high school.