Elizabeth visits Mike Part I
In today’s For Better or For Worse, I had read the strip the night before and prepared what I like to call “pre-snark” which is snark I write the night before I get up the next day and can toss into April’s Real Blog comments before I have to go to work. Since the strip focused on Michael interacting with Liz and I have grown accustomed to writing Michael, I had written something which was so detailed, I opted to pre-post it, which is a practice qnjones does occasionally when Liz is the focus of the strip and it would be difficult for April to know what was going on. I had not done that in a long time, but it seemed appropriate for the situation and might even help out aprilp_katje a little. I don’t know if aprilp_katje really likes those or resents it, but I suppose if she didn’t like it, she could opt not to use it. She is the continuity goddess after all.
I also did the same tonigm for tomorrow’s strip, to complete the set of 2 strips of Liz visiting Mike. Liz is visiting Mike, but what she is really doing is talking about herself almost nonstop. I find it very interesting, she is doing this with Mike, because of all the people in the strip, Mike is probably the character who most consistently puts down Elizabeth. In tomorrow’s strip, this is no exception, as Mike expresses his belief that Liz and Paul’s relationship is dunzo, in his own special way. Mike is now added to the list of Pattersons who don’t think much of Liz’s relationship with Paul. We saw Elly practically pushing Anthony toward Liz at the car dealership, April hinting Anthony is good moral support, and of course John Patterson complimenting Anthony on how he was handling his failed marriage. That leaves us with 2 questions:
1. When will grandpa Jim weigh in on this subject and will he be on a scooter when he does it?
2. What is it about Constable Paul Wright that the Pattersons don’t like?
The obvious question to number #2 is cultural and racial, but that is simply not possible for a Patterson. The comic strip is heading toward a “Go for Anthony, because he’s the childhood sweetheart” reason, but I really wish the Pattersons would address a real reason for rejecting Paul and pushing Anthony, other than that. Paul has been presented as a little too needy, and it would be interesting to see Elly or April pick up on that and talk about it among themselves and to Elizabeth. But I fear I may be asking for a level of sophistication beyond that of our beloved Pattersons. From the clues given, Paul will be rejected because he:
a. Is messing around with Susan Dokis, and
b. Did not actually apply for his transfer, even though he told Elizabeth he would.
These are good reasons for a break-up, but they simply do not mesh with Mr. Wright, the guy who was practically gushing over how much he loved Elizabeth. The Mr. Wright, they presented, would get the transfer and leave Susan Dokis alone. On April’s Real Blog, I have been walking that tightrope with the good constable ever since the end of last May.
Only one other item. I had grown accustomed to getting a FOOB foefiction on a fairly regular basis from ellcee at her St. Eleanor of Milborough site, but ellcee has dropped off the face of the earth and is apparently not responding to e-mails. Tonight, qnjones as Elizabeth dropped a line about how her cat went to hide in the central vac of the house, and my brain started to churn about a foefic I had been thinking about ever since I went back through the old August, 2005 Liz / Howard strips today. Pictorially, it looks like Howard is trying to give Liz a hug, and she beating the stuffing out of his face. It made me wonder, what would have happened between Liz and Howard, if Liz had accepted his invitation of a date and why didn’t she accept his invitation. She had no boyfriend, unless you count Warren, which you really can’t since Liz was already dating Paul for 3 months when she dumped Warren. The big difference is that Howard was cruder and much more aggressive than the other boyfriends. My initial thought was to do a FOOBish parody of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, with Shiimsa playing the part of the Lion, Lynn Johnston as the Witch, and the Central Vac as the Wardrobe. But the more I got into it, the harder a time I was having in tying the ARB characters to all the books’ characters. So I opted for a meet and greet between Howard, Becky and an otherwordly Elizabeth. It was fun to write, and I hope satisfied my foefic needs for awhile.
I also did the same tonigm for tomorrow’s strip, to complete the set of 2 strips of Liz visiting Mike. Liz is visiting Mike, but what she is really doing is talking about herself almost nonstop. I find it very interesting, she is doing this with Mike, because of all the people in the strip, Mike is probably the character who most consistently puts down Elizabeth. In tomorrow’s strip, this is no exception, as Mike expresses his belief that Liz and Paul’s relationship is dunzo, in his own special way. Mike is now added to the list of Pattersons who don’t think much of Liz’s relationship with Paul. We saw Elly practically pushing Anthony toward Liz at the car dealership, April hinting Anthony is good moral support, and of course John Patterson complimenting Anthony on how he was handling his failed marriage. That leaves us with 2 questions:
1. When will grandpa Jim weigh in on this subject and will he be on a scooter when he does it?
2. What is it about Constable Paul Wright that the Pattersons don’t like?
The obvious question to number #2 is cultural and racial, but that is simply not possible for a Patterson. The comic strip is heading toward a “Go for Anthony, because he’s the childhood sweetheart” reason, but I really wish the Pattersons would address a real reason for rejecting Paul and pushing Anthony, other than that. Paul has been presented as a little too needy, and it would be interesting to see Elly or April pick up on that and talk about it among themselves and to Elizabeth. But I fear I may be asking for a level of sophistication beyond that of our beloved Pattersons. From the clues given, Paul will be rejected because he:
a. Is messing around with Susan Dokis, and
b. Did not actually apply for his transfer, even though he told Elizabeth he would.
These are good reasons for a break-up, but they simply do not mesh with Mr. Wright, the guy who was practically gushing over how much he loved Elizabeth. The Mr. Wright, they presented, would get the transfer and leave Susan Dokis alone. On April’s Real Blog, I have been walking that tightrope with the good constable ever since the end of last May.
Only one other item. I had grown accustomed to getting a FOOB foefiction on a fairly regular basis from ellcee at her St. Eleanor of Milborough site, but ellcee has dropped off the face of the earth and is apparently not responding to e-mails. Tonight, qnjones as Elizabeth dropped a line about how her cat went to hide in the central vac of the house, and my brain started to churn about a foefic I had been thinking about ever since I went back through the old August, 2005 Liz / Howard strips today. Pictorially, it looks like Howard is trying to give Liz a hug, and she beating the stuffing out of his face. It made me wonder, what would have happened between Liz and Howard, if Liz had accepted his invitation of a date and why didn’t she accept his invitation. She had no boyfriend, unless you count Warren, which you really can’t since Liz was already dating Paul for 3 months when she dumped Warren. The big difference is that Howard was cruder and much more aggressive than the other boyfriends. My initial thought was to do a FOOBish parody of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, with Shiimsa playing the part of the Lion, Lynn Johnston as the Witch, and the Central Vac as the Wardrobe. But the more I got into it, the harder a time I was having in tying the ARB characters to all the books’ characters. So I opted for a meet and greet between Howard, Becky and an otherwordly Elizabeth. It was fun to write, and I hope satisfied my foefic needs for awhile.
posted by howard at 1:37 AM
4 Comments:
I've already posted in the love thread, but I'll also say it here, I loved your "Kitten, Witch of Corbeil, and Central Vac" alternate-reality tale. Wonderful, Howtheduck! :)
Oh, and I love the late-night dispatches from Mike and Liz--it gives a real feel of these characters keeping April apprised and saves me from more contrived methods for April having access--pretty much I'd have to have April say, "Mike told me" or "Liz told me," etc. And this way, we can see the telling. :)
I am glad you like the late-night dispatches. I worry about stepping on your snarking toes for your daily Blog entry, so I feel better.
I liked your followup to it in your Blog entry this morning, with Shiimsa jumping into the alterna-Howard's arms.
I'm glad you liked the follow-up. I was concerned that it was a little on the condensed side, but the entry was already going to be pretty long. :)
Many times shorter is better, at least when it comes to writing. But if you are inclined to do a longer treatment, the Central Vac alternate-reality is right there in April's house.
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