History YMMV / ForBetterOrForWorse

* {{Anvilicious}}: Frequent, and not at all subtle, especially in the later years. How much of it can be justified by SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped is a matter for considerable debate among the readership.

* CreatorsPet: Anthony, at least in terms of his suitability for Elizabeth, to the point of frank obsession. Both of Liz's parents go on about Anthony's wonderful qualities at various points, her friends eagerly ship them together (all of this quite openly during the period he was married to someone else) and at one point Johnston even discusses the subject in one of her Anthology collections, speaking of how it's those skinny nerdy kids that end up the most attractive and the "best catches". Later on, facing a fierce backlash from her readership who felt that Anthony was just ''too'' boring--especially in comparison to the attractive and exciting other men in Liz' life to that point--Johnston wrote a lengthy defense in which it turns out, again, that Anthony's blandness is in fact the very reason everyone should love him; he has solid prospects (as an accountant!), the Patterson parents know and approve of him, etc. etc. Basically, Anthony Caine is Lynn Johnston's Ideal Husband, and--understandably enough under the circs--you mess with that fantasy at your peril.

* AccidentalAesop: It happens a lot. Favorites include: "a woman's duty is to become a {{Housewife}} even if you hate it", "children are horrible monsters because you have to take care of them and they want you to show them love and affection instead of [[ItsAllAboutMe spoiling yourself rotten]]", "men are pigs, but not having a husband or family means you're a complete failure as a woman", and "stealing another woman's husband away is perfectly fine".
** Given that at no point does anyone ever stand up to Mira Sobinski's overbearing behavior, it's rather obvious that Johnston wants the reader to believe this - "No matter how unreasonable or difficult your mother is, you must always accomodate her even when she's being nasty to you and everyone around you." Given that Johnston herself is apparently a very controlling parent of her now-grown children, one wonders if she was possibly nervous about giving any indication that standing up to your parents is ever acceptable.
* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: The author's viewpoint is that Thérèse is a cold, calculating shrew with severe and unreasonable jealousy problems who, despite Anthony's being a loving and supportive spouse, distanced herself from him and their child, cheated on him, and cruelly divorced him. But it's possible to make a solid case that Anthony was manipulative and overbearing, pushing Thérèse towards things she didn't want (a house in the suburbs, a baby, giving up her career to become a {{housewife}}) and being a whiny little bitch when she insisted on doing what she'd planned to do, such as go back to work after Francoise was born. There's textual evidence to support the thesis that Thérèse's "distance" was postpartum depression which Anthony did nothing about. Additionally, Anthony was emotionally unfaithful to Thérèse from the get-go, pining after his ex-girlfriend Liz for his entire marriage. Anthony and Liz's wedding occurs at the end of the strip's run and would seem to justify Therese's jealousy.

** Is Elly Patterson a long-suffering mother who never receives due praise for holding her home and family together, or does she deliberately make things more difficult for herself because she has a martyr complex? Are her children completely uncontrollable brats, or is she too self-absorbed and caught up in [[{{Wangst}} self-pity]] to tend to their emotional needs? Is she the OnlySaneMan and a true gift to her community? Or is she a complete ControlFreak, a pillar of negativity and hatred imposing her twisted vision of what's 'good, true and right' on everyone around her? Did she raise her family well, or cause them to turn out as nasty and self-centered as she? SympatheticSue, or VillainProtagonist?

* PuritySue: Mike gets a $25,000 advance for his first novel, from the first publisher to whom he submits it, despite having no agent (theoretically possible, especially if you're Canadian). Nine short months later (this often takes ''two years'' to go from a single manuscript to book stores), his second novel is already a best seller and he has a movie deal lined up. Thing is, the excerpts of the novel on the [=FBorFW=] site are just plain terrible...
** For the non-writers out there, it's not uncommon for a first novel to go through dozens of publishers, even with an agent to fine-tune it, usually having to go through the same publisher multiple times. And a $25,000 dollar advance is ''huge'', considering $50-60,000 isn't bad for the total payment an author gets from a book.
** What really made Michael's book deal totally unbelievable was that, on top of the $25,000 advance, his publisher also gave the book a large expensive publicity campaign. One of the frustrations of the real-life publishing world is that publishers will usually spend lots of money to promote new books by established authors who are already famous (and books by celebrities), but publishers will almost never pay for publicity campaigns for new authors who would actually benefit from the publicity.
** Also Anthony, who everyone in the strip considers a saint, the only man Liz should marry, despite never doing anything worthy of being shilled by her parents, her friends, the author... did we mention they even did this kind of thing ''when he was married to someone else?''

* ThirtySuePileup: Elly, Elizabeth, Michael and Anthony.
* UnfortunateImplications: The token gay character grows up to become a florist. The same character in re-run strips, younger but now re-colored with dark skin (being half-white is less controversial now than in the Eighties), is shown encouraging Michael to shoplift.
** Many negative characters are those coming from "broken homes", or had single parents. In one strip, some vandals of the Patterson property were revealed as two kids from "good homes" (Elly was shocked that they could be involved), but a third kid talked them into it.

* CreatorsPet: Anthony, at least in terms of his suitability for Elizabeth, to the point of frank obsession. Both of Liz's parents go on about Anthony's wonderful qualities at various points, her friends all open ship them as a couple (all of this quite openly during the period he was married to someone else) and at one point Johnston even discusses the subject in one of her Anthology collections, speaking of how it's those skinny nerdy kids that end up the most attractive and the "best catches". Later on, facing a fierce backlash from her readership who felt that Anthony was just ''too'' boring--especially in comparison to the attractive and exciting other men in Liz' life to that point--Johnston wrote a lengthy defense in which it turns out, again, that Anthony's blandness is in fact the very reason everyone should love him; he has solid prospects (as an accountant!), the Patterson parents know and approve of him, etc. etc. Somehow, to an audience of women tired of the same "Nerd Gets the Girl" stuff from male writers, this just did not go over well.

** As you can see, the {{Hatedom}} has taken this trope and run with it, inventing various interpretations of all the different characters. For instance, one [[WildMassGuessing Fanon theory]] claims that Elizabeth was constantly making Deanna refit the wedding dress because [[spoiler: she was trying to hide a baby bump.]]
* {{Anvilicious}} / SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Sometimes there are some rather anvilicious moments in the strips...yeah, she can go on AuthorFilibuster moments, but there have been a couple of these where they really needed to be said. Especially about Grandpa and Shannon; since these actually happen in real life.
* CreatorsPet: Anthony, to the point of fan obsession. Both of Liz's parents go on about Anthony at various points, and Johnston even discussed him in one of her Anthology collections, speaking of how it's those skinny nerdy kids that end up the most attractive and the "best catches" later on. Essentially, Lynn views Anthony as the Ideal Husband. Using Anthony in this manner, on an audience of women tired of the same "Nerd Gets The Girl" stuff from male writers, did not go over well.

* NeverLiveItDown: Anthony's actions immediately after rescuing Elizabeth from a violent assault by the man who's been stalking her for some time. Instead of then taking Elizabeth to the police to report her attempted rape, he first announces that "he's never had anything to fight for until now" (this, from a man with a wife and ''brand-new daughter''), then takes her to a park and proceeds to go on a whiny diatribe about how horrible ''his'' married life has become ("I have no home!"). From the context, this is mostly because his wife refuses to be a stereotypical stay-at-home mom. And all of it is explicitly an effort to guilt-trip the presumably deeply shaken, vulnerable Elizabeth into waiting for him. Apparently Johnston designed the entire assault plotline simply as a means to give Anthony an old-fashioned BigDamnHeroes moment, complete with StandardHeroReward, and until the inevitable backlash erupted had no idea that she was instead turning him into a {{Jerkass}} of the highest order. Not surprisingly, when the Anthony/Elizabeth relationship strips were later collected on the website, these particular scenes were quietly omitted.

* NeverLiveItDown: Anthony's actions immediately after rescuing Elizabeth from a violent assault by the man who's been stalking her for some time. Instead of then taking Elizabeth to the police to report her attempted rape, he first announces that "he's never had anything to fight for until now" (this, from a man with a wife and ''brand-new daughter''), then takes her to a park and proceeds to go on a whiny diatribe about how horrible ''his'' married life has become ("I have no home!"). From the context, this is mostly because his wife refuses to be a stereotypical stay-at-home mom. And all of it is explicitly an effort to guilt-trip Elizabeth--remember her, the young woman who's just been violently assaulted by her stalker?--into waiting for him. Apparently Johnston designed the entire assault plotline simply as a means to give Anthony an old-fashioned BigDamnHeroes moment, complete with StandardHeroReward, and until the inevitable backlash erupted had no idea that she was instead turning him into a {{Jerkass}} of the highest order, even to fans who were otherwise all for the match. Not surprisingly, when the Anthony/Elizabeth relationship strips were later collected on the website, these particular scenes were quietly omitted.

* NeverLiveItDown: [[CreatorsPet "I]] [[{{Wangst}} have no]] hoooooome!"

** if you ever read the 'supplementary materials' on the official website... it's actually '''worse''' (no pun intended). Anthony and Therese's fathers basically set them up and force them together. At one point, Anthony's father tells him that 'Therese isn't the kind of woman you just mess around with - you don't do something with her unless you're willing to back it up' (ie marriage). The incident that prompts this sterling parental dictate? Anthony and Therese both go to the same music festival (each as part of a group of friends!) meet up ''by chance'', and spend some of the weekend hanging out and renewing their childhood acquaintance through their fathers working together. It's very clear that nothing more intimate happened than dancing together (in public) and sitting side-by-side talking (again, in public with witnesses).
Later on, when their relationship has 'progressed' to an occasional public dinner (and nothing more) they're both pretty much ambushed by their fathers and told they have to marry to avoid scandal (note: according to Anthony's 'behind the scenes letters' they haven't done anything scandalous... by ''Edwardian'' standards). It's pretty clear that Therese's father wants a male heir to take over the business, and Therese is going along with it because she wants to make her father happy, and that she hopes to change his mind about her being the best candidate. Anthony is going along with it... um, as far as I could tell, because he has nothing better to do.

** Jo Weeder's [[AmbitionIsEvil father is depicted]] as being a heartless, soulless authoritarian because he pointed out that Weed would have to be exceptionally fortunate to make a career of photography. He joins Mira Sobinski and Gavin Caine in a rogue's gallery of allegedly awful parents whose crime was expecting their children to work for a living instead of passively waiting for miracles to solve their problems like the Pattersons do.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: The author's viewpoint is that Thérèse is a cold, calculating shrew with severe and unreasonable jealousy problems who, despite Anthony's being a loving and supportive spouse, distanced herself from him and their child, cheated on him, and cruelly divorced him. But it's possible to make a solid case that Anthony was manipulative and overbearing, pushing Thérèse towards things she didn't want (a house in the suburbs, a baby, giving up her career and becoming a {{housewife}}) and being a whiny little bitch when she insisted on doing what she'd planned to do, such as go back to work after Francoise was born. There's textual evidence to support the thesis that Thérèse's "distance" was postpartum depression which Anthony did nothing about. Additionally, Anthony was emotionally unfaithful to Thérèse from the get-go, pining after his ex-girlfriend Liz for his entire marriage. Anthony and Liz's wedding occurs at the end of the strip's run and would seem to justify Therese's jealousy.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: The author's viewpoint is that Thérèse is a cold, calculating shrew with severe and unreasonable jealousy problems who, despite Anthony's being a loving and supportive spouse, distanced herself from him and their child, cheated on him, and cruelly divorced him. But it's possible to make a solid case that Anthony was manipulative and overbearing, pushing Thérèse towards things she didn't want (a house in the suburbs, a baby) and being a whiny little bitch when she insisted on doing what she'd planned to do, such as go back to work after Francoise was born. There's textual evidence to support the thesis that Thérèse's "distance" was postpartum depression which Anthony did nothing about. Additionally, Anthony was emotionally unfaithful to Thérèse from the get-go, pining after his ex-girlfriend Liz for his entire marriage. Anthony and Liz's wedding occurs at the end of the strip's run and would seem to justify Therese's jealousy.

** Is Elly Patterson a long-suffering mother who never receives due praise for holding her home and family together, or does she deliberately make things more difficult for herself because she has a martyr complex? Are her children completely uncontrollable brats, or is she too self-absorbed and caught up in [[{{Wangst}} self-pity]] to tend to their emotional needs? Is she a complete ControlFreak, a pillar of negativity and hatred imposing her twisted vision of what's 'good, true and right' on everyone around her? Or is she the OnlySaneMan and a true gift to her community? Did she raise her family well, or cause them to turn out as nasty and self-centered as she? SympatheticSue, or VillainProtagonist?

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: The author's viewpoint is that Therese is a cold, calculating shrew with severe and unreasonable jealousy problems who, despite Anthony's being a loving and supportive spouse, distanced herself from him and their child, cheated on him, and cruelly divorced him. But it's possible to make a solid case that Anthony was manipulative and overbearing, pushing Therese towards things she didn't want (a house in the suburbs, a baby) and being a whiny little bitch when she insisted on doing what she'd planned to do, such as go back to work after Francoise was born. There's textual evidence to support the thesis that Therese's "distance" was postpartum depression which Anthony did nothing about. Additionally, Anthony was emotionally unfaithful to Therese from the get-go, pining after his ex-girlfriend Liz for his entire marriage. Anthony and Liz's wedding occurs at the end of the strip's run and would seem to justify Therese's jealousy.
** WordOfGod is that childless career women are cold, selfish, self-centered wastes of space and that the only women who matter are full-time wives and mothers. The character of Connie (Lawrence's mother) was originally created to show this, but the author soon saw her in a sympathetic way and abandoned her plan - only to revive it with evil, evil Therese. Therese may also be evil because she is French-Canadian and attractive.

** Thérèse and Anthony again, though it goes both ways a little. Thérèse is portrayed as horrendous for not staying home with her daughter, but going back to work after maternity leave, which is ''is what Anthony agreed to'', not to mention she is making more money than he is, and would be the better provider in a one-income family. Even worse, Thérèse is rightly portrayed as wrong for cheating on Anthony, but Anthony cheated too, if not outright physically. He specifically asked Elizabeth to "wait for him" (right after the AttemptedRape, no less - classy), which is not that much different. He then sits around waiting for Thérèse to cheat on him so he looks like the good one, instead of being an adult and admitting to her that their marriage isn't working. Though this last is TruthInTelevision - it's a massive step that most people would be reluctant to take.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: Therese.

* CreatorsPet: Freaking ''[[http://shaenon.livejournal.com/29475.html Anthony.]]'', to the point of fan obsession. It did ''not'' help that in her rush to portray Anthony as Liz's destined knight, Johnston made the serious miscalculation of having him literally stride in and rescue Liz from a sexual assault -- claiming that he "never had anything to fight for until now!" ''while he was still married and a new father''. He followed that up a strip or two later by taking a badly-shaken Liz not to the police station, but to a park, where he sat her down and begged her to 'wait for him' because he "had no home!" Even among the marriage's most ardent supporters, he never quite lived down the implications of this storyline.
** Especially {{Squick}}-y in the case of Liz' father John, who dotes on the boy to the point where HoYay is the only explanation. In fact, both of Liz's parents go on about Anthony at various points, and Johnston even discussed him in one of her Anthology collections, speaking of how it's those skinny nerdy kids that end up the most attractive and the "best catches" later on. Essentially, Lynn views Anthony as the Ideal Husband. Using Anthony in this manner, on an audience of women tired of the same "Nerd Gets The Girl" stuff from male writers, did not go over well.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Readers are meant to [[UnintentionallySympathetic despise Therese]] and [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic sympathize with her 'poor husband/ex-husband' Anthony.]] It's ''very easy'' to go the other way round, especially since a lot of fans online were either childfree or disliked the whole "you must have children and love them or else you are are unsympathetic" thing.
** Elly is a VillainProtagonist

* StrangledByTheRedString: Liz and Anthony.

* {{Anvilicious}} / SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Sometimes there are some rather anvilicious moments in the strips...yeah, she can go on AuthorFilibuster moments, but there have been a couple of these where they really needed to be said. Especially about Grandpa; since this actually happens in real life.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: April befriends some kids who are special needs, and one of them ''really'' drops an Anvilicious speech. However, even in the time it was published (2004) That anvil still ''really'' needed to be dropped.

** When the Pattersons are moving into their neighbours' house and selling their old house to Michael's family, April takes issue with the fact that ''she'' still lives there, too, and they aren't even taking her into consideration. She's distraught with both offers of staying in the house (Wherein she will be Michael's live-in babysitter.) or moving into the basement of the neighbours' house. April's friend tell her she has a pretty sweet deal out of it, and while April seems to be portrayed as being in the wrong, one can't really blame her for feeling a ''bit'' distraught given the major change that happened with her consideration being placed in.

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: Where to begin? "A woman's duty is to become a {{Housewife}} even if you hate it"? "Children are horrible monsters because you have to take care of them and they want you to show them love and affection instead of [[ItsAllAboutMe spoiling yourself rotten]]"? "Men are pigs, but not having a husband or family means you're a complete failure as a woman"? "Stealing another woman's husband away is perfectly fine"?
** If you're a man and your wife tries to tell you to cut up your sandwich or wear different clothes, she's a horrible harpy and you're so put-upon. [[DoubleStandard If you're a woman]] and your husband makes you have a baby you don't want and move to a place you hate, you're a horrible harpy for being upset by it.
** If your [[ChristmasSpecial family doesn't appreciate you]] and won't admit that you're trying your best, fake your own death; they'll change their tune in a hurry.

* CompleteMonster: A handful of characters are shown to be purely rotten, like Elizabeth's potential rapist at work. Certain other rotten types include the nasty girl at Elly's workplace, who stole from the company, threatened April with physical violence, and tried to sue the store when she was justifiably fired.