History WMG / ForBetterOrForWorse

He just ''assumed'' she'd get [[KarmicDeath what was coming to her]] soon enough; he wouldn't have to lift a finger to speed it on. That she divorced him instead of getting herself killed ''still'' shocked him because he had assumed that [[EvenEvilHasStandards she'd stay with him even though he made no effort to help their marriage work]]; that's just the way he thought the world worked.

Fortunately for Therese, since Good People sit around and wait for opporunties to be handed to them on a silver platter, Anthony was still patiently waiting for a suitably hardened criminal to drop into his lap before making the arrangements. As a result, ''eviiiil'' Therese beat him to the punch by hitting him with divorce papers and taking off on her own, having the sheer ''nerve'' to [[KarmaHoudini stay alive instead of dying for her 'sins']]. The cheek of that woman--!

[[WMG: Everything after April falls into the stream is a FixFic written by Michael to cope with [[DeadLittleSister losing his baby sister]].]]

[[WMG: ''ForBetterOrForWorse'' is set in the same universe as {{Jericho}}.]]

''Stone Season'', judging from [[AllThereInTheManual its samples]], is a 'Poor Woman [[DeusAngstMachina In Misery]]' slogfest in which the [[DesignatedHero heroine]] passively endures her CompleteMonster husband's insanely over-the-top abuse until [[LaserGuidedKarma he's finally removed from the equation]] through no effort of her own. Anti-male ''and'' anti-femimist; a perfect fit for Lifetime's brand of "entertainment"!

The strip also established that he was having Elly read over his manuscript as he wrote it. While she enjoyed the torture his female lead went through, finding it "appropriate" since she views ''herself'' as a martyr, it eventually sunk in that Michael might be aiming for a DownerEnding that took her torment to a logical conclusion with her eventual demise or, worse, being stuck with her CompleteMonster husband forever. Elly impressed upon him the need for the story to have a "[[EsotericHappyEnding happy ending]]", leading to the DeusExMachina he eventually came up with.

[[WMG: SocialServicesDoNotExist in FBOFW]]

* She ends up living in Calgary and becoming friends with the one person that can sympathise with herd: April.

* The last one, that he's not white, is a favorite direction people take in {{Fix Fic}}s, to have April pair off with someone with a different ancestry or even someone non-Canadian.

By his own admission (though he didn't ''recognize'' it as such), Anthony is extremely passive-aggressive and tries to manipulate others without understanding how they tick. He has a narrow, conservative mindset and doesn't know how to deal with alternate points of view. Therese's reluctance to start a family stymied him because he adheres to AcceptableFeminineGoals Thus, he lied to her, expecting that [[UnfortunateImplications her female instincts would override all her stated plans and wishes]] once [[BabiesMakeEverythingBetter their child was born]]. When Francoise was born, he was stunned when Therese did precisely what she ''said'' she would do and expected him to keep his promise to her... He made ''her'' out as the villain because she wasn't doing exactly what he wanted without being told.

Throughout the strip, Elly has attempted all sorts of things to escape the tedium of being "just a {{Housewife}}", something she's repeatedly shown to hate despite [[AcceptableFeminineGoals it supposedly being the only real gauge of her worth]]. She also constantly assumes and fears John having an affair. Factor in her blatant {{Hypocrisy}} and the strip frequently [[HypocriticalHumor showing said hypocrisy]], and we come to the conclusion that Elly may have done exactly what she fears ''John'' might do to her: had an affair. Given her wishy-washiness, it likely didn't last long... just long enough that she felt guilty enough to sleep with her husband shortly afterwards. (Given the unusual interest she takes in [[CasanovaWannabe John's friend Ted]] in the [[AllThereInTheManual monthly letters she writes]], we can [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys safely guess as]] to whom her partner was.)

He pleaded for Elizabeth to "wait for him", yet Therese was vilified further for ''daring'' to divorce him. But if he wasn't planning to divorce Therese ''anyway'' so he could get together with Liz, he must have had some other plan in mind for getting rid of his unwanted wife... [[InsaneTrollLogic Thus]], MurderIsTheBestSolution. Therese was always going to work instead of [[StayInTheKitchen staying home]] [[AcceptableFeminineGoals like she should have been]]; therefore, an oh-so-tragically-random mugging in the parking lot and her brutal murder would only be [[HoistByHisOwnPetard her just reward]] for ''[[AmbitionIsEvil daring]]'' [[AmbitionIsEvil to have goals and dreams outside]] her assigned gender role. Plus, this would mean they'd get the insurance money, ''and'' he'd come off as an [[SympatheticSue even more tragic character]], the poor pitiful widower left raising his baby girl all by his lonesome self... until Liz got her act together and threw herself into his waiting arms.

At some point in the future of the Foobiverse, April begins therapy sessions to cope with years of being TheUnfavorite. She is a somewhat UnreliableNarrator who paints herself as the OnlySaneMan, Elly as a SmugSnake with a martyr complex and a need to control her family, John as a useless buffon obsessed with trains, Michael as a {{Jerkass}}, Elizabeth as a whiny, [[ItsAllAboutMe self-centered ninny]], and so on. She ''despises'' Anthony, and this comes through in the sessions as she describes him as a NiceGuy InNameOnly who her family raised up as the Best Man Ever for no reason she could clearly see. They ignore her "wisdom" and treat her horribly for no reason whatsoever. Only occassionally do we see April admit that she might have been in error, as she relates her clashes with Becky and her other friends.

** Actually that scarily links up with Lynn herself. And that makes sense:Anthony probably broke up with therese and wasn't as to blame and Micheal would never put his family at risk to go after something he had a backup of, those were just Aprils hatred of them:Anthony was Elizibeth settling and Micheal was always the faviorite.

When Elly learned she was pregnant with April, she immediately went into shock, declaring "[[ButICantBePregnant But I Can't Be Pregnant!]]" This was because she actually wasn't certain who the baby's father was... but was secretly terrified that it wasn't John. She's never known for certain, because she doesn't have the guts to try and find out. This is why she openly despises and neglects April: she sees her as a constant reminder of her affair, and worries about the truth coming out.

** Could be. Or...well, on TheTrumanShow the director tried to manipulate events so Truman would fall in love with a woman ''the director'' chose, and when he fell in love with a different woman, that woman got fired. Could be something similar here, with Anthony being the person the directors arranged for Elizabeth to marry, and all the other men Elizabeth genuinely loved until the directors forced them into being scum so Elizabeth would marry Anthony. This would explain both his BigDamnHeroes moment (make Anthony look heroic so Elizabeth would fall in love with him) and all the shilling by everyone else. This ''might'' even explain his marriage to Therese; have him marry someone that makes Elizabeth look good so everyone's glad when he divorces her and marries Elizabeth. That, and they found ratings went down during Michael and Deanna's courtship since it was so boring. (Yes, they arranged Michael's marriage too.)

[[WMG: The entire series was a [[TheTrumanShow Truman Show]]-like reality show centered around the Patterson kids.]]

April went on to have a fulfilling career in Calgary as a vet. Yet there was no mention of she and her 'country boy' having children (or even really being married). Well, that is just not right in Elly's eyes, and she would constantly be asking April when they will get married/when will they give her more grandkids, cause you know, that's what April's SUPPOSED to do, get married and have kids. Of course, April could very well be childfree but that'd be 'abnormal' in Elly's eyes.