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Description

AUTUMN SPRING - THE WEB COMIC SERIES

based on characters and situations created for the novel Autumn Spring

copyright © 2020, all rights reserved

Episode 16 (Season 2, Episode 3) - "The Argument"

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--------------------

COMMENTS

It wouldn't be fair and not very realistic of me to do the romantic adventure series that I want Autumn Spring to be without Larry and Brandy hitting at least one major bump on the road to what they hope will be wedded bliss at the end of their mutually agreed upon year-long trial relationship period. All couples have major disagreements of some kind sooner or later. It's part of being human. As the old Lynn Anderson song quote says, "I never promised you a rose garden." (faint smile) The real trick is to find a way either to deal with them or work around them; however, when you've got two such strong-willed people as Larry and Brandy involved, such is going to be a major challenge. That's where friends and family come in ... so long as those two have the good sense to realize that they're trying to help them, not interfere with them. That too is another delicate trick in this kind of situation.

This episode is going to be be based partly on my own experiences and that of some of my friends. All the same I know a lot of you have gone through the same thing in your own way and regardless of gender. I think you'll agree with me when I say you either resolve it or you don't - and most of the time when you don't, the relationship eventually goes with it. I have no intention of that happening in Larry and Brandy's case, but having them get to the point of resolution is the ultimate goal of not only their friends and family in the fictional world of Autumn Spring, but of their storyteller as well. (wink)

Zifani's was routinely mentioned off and on during Season One as the most upscale and expensive restaurant in Middleton. It's perhaps not as expensive as some of your more ritzy four-star East and West Coast high-class eateries, but it's very expensive by American Midwestern standards all the same. We're talking US$20-25 (by 2020 measure) just for a plateful of appetizers (!!!). We even got a brief peek at the interior of its old location in the series pilot episode, "The New Neighbor," during the daydream scene in which Larry imagines himself as a Zifani's busboy and he gets spotted by both Brandy and her "Ah-nuld" boyfriend Larry imagined she had back then. I changed sets for Zifani's for Season Two to take advantage of my OBJ port of "mds_olive_garden" and swapped out the sign as appropriate. As you can read and see for yourself, I also went to the trouble of explaining this change in the story.

So why is Jennifer with Richard and not Lester? I will explain later in the episode, but it's built on events that have already happened between Jennifer and Lester before ("The Party," "Beach Party Richland," "The Thing What Lurked in the Drains").

Oh, and if you'll look to the left of the table where Alan, Jodie, Jennifer, and Richard are sitting, you'll see a small tray with several items on it: Alan's credit card (revamped from a REDC keycard), the bill for the meal, and three fivers for the tips from Jodie, Jennifer, and Richard (remember this is an upscale restaurant with pricey meals, so that's probably a 10-15% tip apiece - which is about right). The reason why there aren't four fivers is because Alan added his tip to the bill on the receipt, which he's paying by card. This is how both paying the bill and tipping is done at a lot of such places - or sometimes the waiter or waitress use a small folio, as in the last such upscale restaurant in which I was treated, and everything goes in that. Posing this also gave me a chance to finally use some of my own stock Western Publishing play money in one of my own web comics (big grin). Here's the link:

Jodie doesn't have a wineglass because she can't handle her liquor ("The Party"). That's why she's drinking tea instead. Jennifer has her glass of wine as usual ("Meet the Folks") which she has slowly sipped through the whole meal, Richard asked for tea (which he prefers), and Alan has a small glass of water next to his wine to water it down a bit, so he won't get lightheaded.

Description

AUTUMN SPRING - THE WEB COMIC SERIES

based on characters and situations created for the novel Autumn Spring

copyright © 2020, all rights reserved

Episode 16 (Season 2, Episode 3) - "The Argument"

PREV: NEXT:

--------------------

COMMENTS

It wouldn't be fair and not very realistic of me to do the romantic adventure series that I want Autumn Spring to be without Larry and Brandy hitting at least one major bump on the road to what they hope will be wedded bliss at the end of their mutually agreed upon year-long trial relationship period. All couples have major disagreements of some kind sooner or later. It's part of being human. As the old Lynn Anderson song quote says, "I never promised you a rose garden." (faint smile) The real trick is to find a way either to deal with them or work around them; however, when you've got two such strong-willed people as Larry and Brandy involved, such is going to be a major challenge. That's where friends and family come in ... so long as those two have the good sense to realize that they're trying to help them, not interfere with them. That too is another delicate trick in this kind of situation.

This episode is going to be be based partly on my own experiences and that of some of my friends. All the same I know a lot of you have gone through the same thing in your own way and regardless of gender. I think you'll agree with me when I say you either resolve it or you don't - and most of the time when you don't, the relationship eventually goes with it. I have no intention of that happening in Larry and Brandy's case, but having them get to the point of resolution is the ultimate goal of not only their friends and family in the fictional world of Autumn Spring, but of their storyteller as well. (wink)

Zifani's was routinely mentioned off and on during Season One as the most upscale and expensive restaurant in Middleton. It's perhaps not as expensive as some of your more ritzy four-star East and West Coast high-class eateries, but it's very expensive by American Midwestern standards all the same. We're talking US$20-25 (by 2020 measure) just for a plateful of appetizers (!!!). We even got a brief peek at the interior of its old location in the series pilot episode, "The New Neighbor," during the daydream scene in which Larry imagines himself as a Zifani's busboy and he gets spotted by both Brandy and her "Ah-nuld" boyfriend Larry imagined she had back then. I changed sets for Zifani's for Season Two to take advantage of my OBJ port of "mds_olive_garden" and swapped out the sign as appropriate. As you can read and see for yourself, I also went to the trouble of explaining this change in the story.

So why is Jennifer with Richard and not Lester? I will explain later in the episode, but it's built on events that have already happened between Jennifer and Lester before ("The Party," "Beach Party Richland," "The Thing What Lurked in the Drains").

Oh, and if you'll look to the left of the table where Alan, Jodie, Jennifer, and Richard are sitting, you'll see a small tray with several items on it: Alan's credit card (revamped from a REDC keycard), the bill for the meal, and three fivers for the tips from Jodie, Jennifer, and Richard (remember this is an upscale restaurant with pricey meals, so that's probably a 10-15% tip apiece - which is about right). The reason why there aren't four fivers is because Alan added his tip to the bill on the receipt, which he's paying by card. This is how both paying the bill and tipping is done at a lot of such places - or sometimes the waiter or waitress use a small folio, as in the last such upscale restaurant in which I was treated, and everything goes in that. Posing this also gave me a chance to finally use some of my own stock Western Publishing play money in one of my own web comics (big grin). Here's the link:

Jodie doesn't have a wineglass because she can't handle her liquor ("The Party"). That's why she's drinking tea instead. Jennifer has her glass of wine as usual ("Meet the Folks") which she has slowly sipped through the whole meal, Richard asked for tea (which he prefers), and Alan has a small glass of water next to his wine to water it down a bit, so he won't get lightheaded.