I'm beginning to think that maybe Anthony's wife has a good reason for her attitude...

[conuly]

I sure wouldn't want my husband hanging out with somebody who thinks the only way he can be part of her life is if they have an affair.

I mean, why can't they just go out for coffee? Surely it's still legal to have married friends?

But no, Elizabeth's first assumption is "OMG SEX!"

She's clearly insane, and I want her away from any guy I might possibly be interested in ever.

Comments

[interactiveleaf.livejournal.com]

I don't know. She didn't say "I don't want to have sex with a married man," she said "I'm no home wrecker." This, to me, doesn't necessarily carry an implication of sex; it just carries an implication that whatever it is they're about to do, from sex to drinking coffee, is something that his wife wouldn't approve of and would be angry about if she found out.

It's obvious to me that E doesn't mind talking to him, because, well, that's what they're doing. "I just want to talk," he says, and she chirps back with "OK!"

But then again, maybe deconstruction of individual comic strips is a waste of both our time. :D

[fascinoma.livejournal.com]

Personally - even drinks is suspect. I'm all for male-female friendships, but when I'm in a relationship, the general policy is - they have to know me. We have to be acquainted. The moment it becomes a "secret meeting" it crosses the line.

[ancarett]

Given the previous reactions of Anthony's wife, any kind of relationship between Elizabeth and Anthony, even meeting for coffee, would be "home-wrecking." His wife is batshit-crazy jealous. With some cause, it seems, since Anthony is still carrying a torch for Elizabeth.

She needs to get back with her old helicopter-pilot flame.

Gosh, I'm pathetic, aren't I?

(BTW, Lynn Johnston lives relatively near to us and sometimes shops at our mall bookstore, leaving behind autographed copies of her books for sale. We've accumulated quite a few.)

[rainbow-goddess.livejournal.com]

On the one hand, Anthony didn't say he wanted to cheat on his wife with Elizabeth, and it was silly for Elizabeth to think that. On the other hand, as someone else pointed out, Anthony's wife is a little on the cuckoo side and would think that Anthony even talking to Elizabeth meant "affair." On the gripping hand, Anthony is right in a way -- he has no home life. But that doesn't mean he should start cheating on his wife. If he really feels that way, he should start divorce proceedings or at least see a marriage counsellor.

I wish there was a FBOFW community.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

I'm more in agreement with your perception of it...and with the physical way he's been reacting and the things he's been saying, I can see where she feels he wants to be more intimate with her (if even emotionally so).

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

There is a yahoo mailing list.

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

There's one for mocking, but that may not be what you're looking for:

binky_betsy

[leora.livejournal.com]

I haven't been following the strip, so I can't put it into contexrt. I think though there are two factors to consider that haven't been mentioned yet:

a) tone of voice could have made it clearer what he meant by be a part of your life and that is lost in the comic, so we have to assume it was more romantic and pushing in that direction

b) Comics sometimes need to kind of abbreviate things for space reasons. You have a short space to get to that punchline, and if you put in all of the exposition in your head, you have a crappy comic. Now, part of doing a good comic is finding a way to make it make sense and get to that comicy ending. But each individual strip is going to have to balance that a bit differently. Sometimes you'll have plot strips that are weak on funny to get you where you need to go. Sometimes you'll be low on explanation and hope the reader can fill in the blanks. But that's the medium, so I think you should generally give it a little bit more leeway. If this were a book, then that would say more about the character's personality.

[sparkofcreation.livejournal.com]

I agree with some of the folks above—I read it as him having a major realization that he missed her and wanting her to be a bigger part of his life (I mean, going to look for her at work just to tell her this? if he wanted to go have coffee sometime, he would've emailed). And he did just say a bunch of obviously more-than-friends things (like "Maybe I never had anything to fight for before" and "I'm not forgetting what I came for. Let's go").

I thought Liz jumped the gun a tad too, but if my high-school boyfriend were to show up at my job and say he'd realized he wanted me in his life, I have to say I wouldn't think he meant as friends. Like I said, if he meant "we should hang out more often, how 'bout coffee?" he'd email me or IM me or call me or maybe drop by my house if he happened to be nearby.

In any case, I didn't read it as her having jumped to "OMG SEX!" I read it as her having jumped to "He's unhappy with Thérèse and misses what he and I had together [and I'd like that but I don't want to be the cause of their splitting up]." Which I think is an altogether logical reading—not the only possible one, but logical. And I read her response as "If you're unhappy with Thérèse, you need to work that out, and don't turn me into an excuse."

The Anthony-and-Thérèse-are-on-the-rocks, Anthony-is-carrying-a-torch-for-Liz storyline has been being set up for a long time. I like Anthony, and I think he's genuinely torn. And I think Liz knows him well enough to see that.

Though I think the line itself ("I'm no homewrecker!") was very unnatural.

Seconded.

[marveen.livejournal.com]

I saw that in the paper and had a BWAH?? moment myself.

[sporks5000.livejournal.com]

Some people are sexaholics. that's just the way it is. If the guy that you're interested in is stupid enough to have sex with someone like that, then either they're a sexaholic as well, or they're stupid enough tha tperhaps you shouldn't be interetsted in them.

[interactiveleaf.livejournal.com]

I don't know. She didn't say "I don't want to have sex with a married man," she said "I'm no home wrecker." This, to me, doesn't necessarily carry an implication of sex; it just carries an implication that whatever it is they're about to do, from sex to drinking coffee, is something that his wife wouldn't approve of and would be angry about if she found out.

It's obvious to me that E doesn't mind talking to him, because, well, that's what they're doing. "I just want to talk," he says, and she chirps back with "OK!"

But then again, maybe deconstruction of individual comic strips is a waste of both our time. :D

[fascinoma.livejournal.com]

Personally - even drinks is suspect. I'm all for male-female friendships, but when I'm in a relationship, the general policy is - they have to know me. We have to be acquainted. The moment it becomes a "secret meeting" it crosses the line.

[ancarett]

Given the previous reactions of Anthony's wife, any kind of relationship between Elizabeth and Anthony, even meeting for coffee, would be "home-wrecking." His wife is batshit-crazy jealous. With some cause, it seems, since Anthony is still carrying a torch for Elizabeth.

She needs to get back with her old helicopter-pilot flame.

Gosh, I'm pathetic, aren't I?

(BTW, Lynn Johnston lives relatively near to us and sometimes shops at our mall bookstore, leaving behind autographed copies of her books for sale. We've accumulated quite a few.)

[rainbow-goddess.livejournal.com]

On the one hand, Anthony didn't say he wanted to cheat on his wife with Elizabeth, and it was silly for Elizabeth to think that. On the other hand, as someone else pointed out, Anthony's wife is a little on the cuckoo side and would think that Anthony even talking to Elizabeth meant "affair." On the gripping hand, Anthony is right in a way -- he has no home life. But that doesn't mean he should start cheating on his wife. If he really feels that way, he should start divorce proceedings or at least see a marriage counsellor.

I wish there was a FBOFW community.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

I'm more in agreement with your perception of it...and with the physical way he's been reacting and the things he's been saying, I can see where she feels he wants to be more intimate with her (if even emotionally so).

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

There is a yahoo mailing list.

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

There's one for mocking, but that may not be what you're looking for:

binky_betsy

[leora.livejournal.com]

I haven't been following the strip, so I can't put it into contexrt. I think though there are two factors to consider that haven't been mentioned yet:

a) tone of voice could have made it clearer what he meant by be a part of your life and that is lost in the comic, so we have to assume it was more romantic and pushing in that direction

b) Comics sometimes need to kind of abbreviate things for space reasons. You have a short space to get to that punchline, and if you put in all of the exposition in your head, you have a crappy comic. Now, part of doing a good comic is finding a way to make it make sense and get to that comicy ending. But each individual strip is going to have to balance that a bit differently. Sometimes you'll have plot strips that are weak on funny to get you where you need to go. Sometimes you'll be low on explanation and hope the reader can fill in the blanks. But that's the medium, so I think you should generally give it a little bit more leeway. If this were a book, then that would say more about the character's personality.

[sparkofcreation.livejournal.com]

I agree with some of the folks above—I read it as him having a major realization that he missed her and wanting her to be a bigger part of his life (I mean, going to look for her at work just to tell her this? if he wanted to go have coffee sometime, he would've emailed). And he did just say a bunch of obviously more-than-friends things (like "Maybe I never had anything to fight for before" and "I'm not forgetting what I came for. Let's go").

I thought Liz jumped the gun a tad too, but if my high-school boyfriend were to show up at my job and say he'd realized he wanted me in his life, I have to say I wouldn't think he meant as friends. Like I said, if he meant "we should hang out more often, how 'bout coffee?" he'd email me or IM me or call me or maybe drop by my house if he happened to be nearby.

In any case, I didn't read it as her having jumped to "OMG SEX!" I read it as her having jumped to "He's unhappy with Thérèse and misses what he and I had together [and I'd like that but I don't want to be the cause of their splitting up]." Which I think is an altogether logical reading—not the only possible one, but logical. And I read her response as "If you're unhappy with Thérèse, you need to work that out, and don't turn me into an excuse."

The Anthony-and-Thérèse-are-on-the-rocks, Anthony-is-carrying-a-torch-for-Liz storyline has been being set up for a long time. I like Anthony, and I think he's genuinely torn. And I think Liz knows him well enough to see that.

Though I think the line itself ("I'm no homewrecker!") was very unnatural.

Seconded.

[marveen.livejournal.com]

I saw that in the paper and had a BWAH?? moment myself.

[sporks5000.livejournal.com]

Some people are sexaholics. that's just the way it is. If the guy that you're interested in is stupid enough to have sex with someone like that, then either they're a sexaholic as well, or they're stupid enough tha tperhaps you shouldn't be interetsted in them.