For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for May 06, 2020

To go along with Fiona in the first panel, my father’s family was asked to smoke outside when they visited us (Dad never smoked in his life even BEFORE he joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which abstains from tobacco).

I really hope this story line, and Fiona, ends Saturday.

I know it is only a comic & meant to be funny, but she & her cat would be out the door by now at my house.

Fiona’s not a HELPER she’s a NOT-HELPER! ;/

I think a lot of this problem with Fiona could be solved if John or Elly sat her down and told her the rules of the house, and did not leave Michael or Elizabeth to be the enforcers:

1. No smoking

2. Keep your cat off the curtains.

3. If you make a dirty dish, you must clean it immediately or Elly will lose her mind.

I know there is a certain passive-aggressive satisfaction in playing the part of the victim, but you can’t criticize someone for breaking the rules, if they don’t know the rules.

this is a disgusting situation looking for an abrupt end! END IT!

Fiona is just freeloading until she lines up a job and apartment. She has no intention of helping out in any way. She is a professional moocher. Elly needs to demand that she leaves.

I know this is a comic strip, the sad thing is that there are subhuman people who are actually like that.

The fact is people like Fiona DO exist and have no idea they are in the wrong.

Toss her out! Toss her out! Toss her out!

This (Fiona) too shall pass. Like a kidney stone, but it will pass.

Dr. Patterson, you must get rid of your cousin since she did not keep her word to help out and she just lazes around the home. Smoking not allowed my home as a longtime former smoker.

Smoking in my house would have ended it for me. Not even my mom has been brazen enough to try that. And the cat would be kindly escorted (probably tossed) outside.

I asked my best friend and his wife to leave after the feet went up on the new furniture.

With relatives like this, who needs enemas?

Lynn’s Comments:

Making Fiona a heavy smoker, gave me an outlet to rant against smoking.

I have a feeling it is going to take a while to get to the point where Fiona is ‘helpful’.

So does EVERYONE.

My mother used to pull this trick on me… “but the window is open a crack”, just like Fiona. It just showed me her lack of love and respect. Hurts when it’s your own mother. I would say no when she’d ask visit, and why. She just couldn’t do as I asked, so she stayed home. She pretty much smoked herself to death there, eventually.

One big reason Elly isn’t looking well is….YOU!

I read this strip for my daily chuckle, NOT to get irritated.

I don’t know if homicide is allowed in family comic strips, but it would certainly be justifiable.

Comic- supposed to be funny, or at least insightful. PLEASE STOP THIS!!

Skipping this strip for the duration.

Maybe this is all a nightmare…

Time for Ellie to snap …" thats it….out!…GET…..OUT…NOW…&*%$!…and take that flea-bitten animal with you…"…of course, Fiona’s response will be “…humpfff…I’m never coming back here again!….don’t call me when you need help…”

look in the mirror Fiona and see the reason why!

Nothing funny, nothing humorous.

Smoke in my house and you’ll get water poured on your head

I think I’ll skip reading this one until Fiona is gone!

I agree I can not take much more of Fiona!

I would have kicked Fiona out the first day … just sayin’

Or The Husband’s Dead…

For $10,000 the problem will go away.

For some reason, I just don’t find self-centered, loud-mouthed bullies funny anymore.

Fiona needs to go and in any way at all. Don’t be nice.g

Fiona needs to go and in any way at all. Don’t be nice.g

She’s a nightmare! I don’t care if she’s family. She leaves tomorrow. Period.

OMG, lay down some rules or throw her ass out.

I’m very engaged in this story. (I Don’t normally) But have been very eager to know what happens each day!

Quit telling her what she is doing that you don’t like and tell her to fix the problem immediately (and if she doesn’t ask/tell her to leave.)

I can see how Lynn was having a lot of fun with Fiona. Thank goodness for Lynn’s talent to bring out those feelings in her readers…

It’s like when you have a blow up after a long and simmering time of holding your temper and then you reach the final straw! And all of this is coming out in these drawings. I must say it’s great.

I can also imagine people cutting out these strips and mailing them annonymously to their clueless relatives who might have done any one of those awful things, because somehow, I just can’t imagine someone telling off a relative -to their face- how awful they are…

Rude much?

You don’t realize the cartoonist is showing you that are ALL “Fiona”… in someone else’s eyes…Oh yes you ARE!…

Who Isn’t…Even the goody-two shoes who are “considerate” to a sickening degree.WelcomeCome, visit, enjoy, and mind your own business and then leave before you start to smell like yesterdays fish….Benjamin Franklin said it 200 years ago…

If I counted right, 19 more days of this story line.

Houseguests, like fish, tend to smell bad after three days.

Hey Lynn! Or Lynn’s people reading this! Drop this arc, or loose us for the next 19 days. As you can tell from the comments…we hate it.

I heard a line from Hoobastank as soon as I read the first three bits: “And the reason is YOU!”

She last appeared on May 23, 1991, so I’m not reading again til then… ugh!

Did you notice which way Fiona’s smoke is going BECAUSE of the open window? Lynn is a great artist and planner to add that little touch.

Earlier would suit me fine!

Put that witch back on her broom and hit the blastoff button!

Gosh I love all my family!

Elly – you are going to have to do the deed of saying enough and telling her to hit the road. John is not man enough to do it. My Mom smoked when my oldest was just a baby and her apartment smelled like a cigarette. The first time we visited her in her apartment when my oldest was 6 months, he tossed his cookies (we think it was the smoky apartment) and I told my wife afterward we’d only meet her outside of the apartment for future visits.

Spoilers here: This is Fiona’s life backstory, and its really fascinating. Lynn Johnson wrote a LOT of backstory for this brief seemingly one-dimensional character. You’ll have to see for yourself. If you’ve already read the strips that follow this than feel free to go have a look. I was painfully reminded of hoe nothing is quite what it seems. https://www.fborfw.com/features/hybridwho/index.php?id=Fiona%20Brass

Dirty deeds done dirt cheap.