Thread 150051590

It's been almost four hours since the page drop. Are we finally dead?

Something something Mike sad edition.

Website: https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/
Booru: https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/candybooru/
Previous thread: >>149994176

>>150051590 (OP)
Loving James' and David's banter. Poor Mike could use a group hug from them. I could've dropped the thread but waited for someone else to.

>>150051590 (OP)
>It's been almost four hours since the page drop. Are we finally dead?

More like:
>did you know that Mike is lonely and regrets his decision to let James go?
>this was news to me and so i find this page utterly fascinating
and to everyone else it's just more of the same. James and David aping Mike and Lucy's old dynamic is new, I guess, but obviously it's yet another knife to stick in his kidney. That's not exactly novel. Now, this does make me wonder if that one spoileranon some threads ago was legit and Mike will moan that he should have taken Lucy back while she hides out beneath the bleachers. Because this is starting to look like a setup for just that.

>>150051590 (OP)
>Are we finally dead?
Yes. Why have you disturbed the quiet of our grave?

>>150051590 (OP)
I get that Taeshis trying to say Mike and Lucy are so alike but Lucy being a clingy obsessed weirdo with Mike made sense because she was in love with him for years, Mike literally just met James why is he suddenly so pathetically attached to him?

If the POTTERY continues I assume Mike will tell James he's open to cheating now but it's too little too late so James repeats all the shit Mike said when Lucy confessed

Le consequences of le actions Mikeyy
Never forgetti you gotta regretti
And some other bullshit

Anyway I think Mike is in this acene sad that James didnt even consider him to give the book or the article to talk about. Whatever, when are we going to drop this depressiofest?

>>150052271
James was leagues better than any other friend Mike's ever had. Maybe even the first non-toxic one, discounting young Sandy. So I don't blame Mike for being so distraught now that all that sweet attention is now hyperfocused on a rather unworthy David. But on the other hand, this parallel Taeshi draws between Mike and Lucy does not work very well. We are told that Mike is a needy person, and he has now been portrayed as such...but that trait came out of nowhere. His struggles were always of a different nature while this is just a loose copy of a Lucy problem hastily grafted on.

Mike did not obsess over Sandy thanks to his own bout of oneitis. It was because, back in they good old days, Sandy was the one person who took his feelings seriously. Paulo and Lucy sure as hell didn't. Daisy refused to take no as an answer. The rest of the friend group generally took him for granted. But, if I had to guess, righting the wrongs of Mike's friends is not something that interests Taeshi so she came up with an easier, more thematic alternative. One that allows her to keep torturing Mike while pretending his friends were always there for him. Or maybe she will surprise me by portraying his oneitis as a recent development fueled by a semi-reasonable distrust of everyone else.

David can suck his own dick

Are the boorus down permanently?

>>150052361
>Mike is in this acene sad that James didnt even consider him to give the book or the article to talk about
Worse, David does not give a damn and is treating James like a pest over it. After he clicked so well with Mike, what does James see in David?

>>150052538
I think all the major problems with this comic, the real "what the fuck are you doing?" moments, stem from the same root: the Paulo Showa Era of Vol. 5 was an incredibly stable local minima. All the main plot threads had been conclusively wrapped up, every character left in Roseville more-or-less had what they wanted, and the few potential spark-points left were low-stakes and revolved around secondary or tertiary characters rather than Lucy & Mike.

So the only solution Taeshi could figure out was to (re)introduce problems - and she wasn't patient enough to set them up carefully, because the comic had already been in the Pauloshow for most of an in-universe year, and out of universe an entire volume and SEVERAL years. Hence, Taeshi started inelegantly dynamiting forwards: bringing Lucy back with nary a scratch and twice the hostile disdain, dragging Paulo's character arc backwards to being a jackass fuckboy, having Mike get all depressed and start lashing out again, and retconning Sandy into a vapid mean girl who LOVES the glitz and glamour of being a model.

>>150051606
>A future panel from the webcomic Bittersweet Candy Bowl. Mike is staring at James as he sticks his tongue out to someone off-panel, with sad possessive eyes.
>some fag in the stream who read it early said the chapter was "gross like Fork in the Road"
oh no Mike's going to pump and dump James.

>>150051590 (OP)
If Mike had accepted James’s confession, would he still have been immediately cucked by David when James saw him run faster? Or is James capable of being loyal if you lock him in?

So obviously the correct answers for Fuck/Marry/Kill with the main 3 girls are: fuck Daisy, kill Lucy, marry Sue. I think that's pretty uncontroversial.

But what about Fuck/Marry/Kill: Mike, Paulo, and Abbey?
Personally I think the "correct" answer is fuck Mike, kill Paulo, and marry Abbey.

>>150053414
I think James is just flighty in general; that's what the rest of the running team, including his ex, said.

>>150051590 (OP)
>Are we finally dead?
I thought BCB finally got banned from /co/, but here we are.....again....

>>150053060
>After he clicked so well with Mike, what does James see in David?
David's fast and a single-minded airhead like James. David also hasn't shot James down. And I guess you could say David always speaks his mind and is true to himself unlike the rest of the cast. So, that's something. I guess.

>>150053570
He always looks like he has bat wings on his head in this panel

>>150053190
>dragging Paulo's character arc backwards to being a jackass fuckboy
This was already a problem during the Paulo Show. One of its defining features came to be the reset button.

>All the main plot threads had been conclusively wrapped up
Can't say that I agree with this either. The Mike/Lucy situation never wrapped up, it just got put permanently on hold, unresolved, and most readers back in the day wondered when Lucy was going to show up again.

>Taeshi started inelegantly dynamiting forwards
Now here is one real reason for the comic's current state. Taeshi used to be fairly careful as a storyteller, but ever since Lucy's return she has made a lot of mistakes and strange choices. Even if Lucy had behaved like a girlboss right out of the gate, I feel like younger Taeshi would have portrayed that as overcompensation rather than a good thing, for example. This ties into the second major reason for BCB's downturn: Taeshi is indulging herself in a fairly reckless manner. Younger Taeshi would probably not have reveled in dragging Mike through the mud or tormenting him, and she likely would have given the readers more reasons to hope he got better.

>>150053302
>some fag in the stream who read it early said the chapter was "gross like Fork in the Road"
Mike's going to do something really stupid and be vilified again, isn't he? Because I do not think this person was talking about how Fork in the Road was misery porn designed to up the Lucy sympathy.

>>150053593
His scarf in the first panel makes him look bald in the second panel too.

>>150053613
Lucy trying to kill herself and moving away was about as decisive as it gets, it took multiple enormous ass pulls and a character reset to get to a point where their "story" could continue, there was no reason for either of them to ever interact again in a realistic sense
Mike was in a happy dramafree relationship, Lucy was finally forced to move on, it was over even if it was a sad end

Wow, imagine paying for this fucking garbage and nothing happens. Like, ever.

But hey, maybe if Taeshi pens 3000 pages of Mike looking BIG SAD about not choosing Lucy over his cunt of gf Goldie.. I mean Sandy - maybe she'll finally have had enough vengeance upon Suitcase I mean Mike to satiate herself.

Like maybe in her 50s when she's milked this cow dead and dry she'll sit back and be like "Hmnn yes, maybe spending 2/3rds of my life malding over SonicxAmy forums in the outlet of a webcomic was possibly a poor life decision. But then again, I did milk thousands of dollars out of those autistic teenagers."

>>150053613
>This was already a problem during the Paulo Show.
Oh, I'm not saying the Paulo show was free of major problems; it had it's own fair share. And the extreme stability WAS boring and dumb in itself. But the comic as a whole wore itself into a deep groove, and the weird bullshit since is the result of Taeshi trying (and largely failing) to work up enough speed to escape that pit, if you follow my analogy.

Like, Lucy returning and being just as mean as she ever was, Sandy ghostingdespite her texts and calls taking up more panels than they ever did prior/cheating, Mike and Paulo being at each other's throats, EF and everything since, it all strikes me as Taeshi having written herself into a very small corner and trying to flail together enough drama/chaos to reset things, as if that won't just make it worse.

>>150053726
The accuracy of these statements leaves something to be desired. Realistically, Mike (being Mike) would have suffered immense guilt over what happened and it was never resolved. We were not given the details of Lucy's attempt until after she returned. Paulo never got over Lucy after being left high and dry. Lucy's departure was not a plot conclusion but an amputation. Nothing in particular was required to bring her back, either, aside from a basic explanation that we still have not received. The asspulls have certainly increased since her return, but all in service of a very particular story that Taeshi wants. That does not mean it is the only story that could be told. Indeed, all she had to do was bring Lucy back and let things shake out naturally. But that is is not what she did, and the narrative has continued to suffer for it.

>>150053861
>Lucy returning and being just as mean as she ever was, Sandy ghostingdespite her texts and calls taking up more panels than they ever did prior/cheating, Mike and Paulo being at each other's throats
The really frustrating thing is that most or even all of these examples could have worked well if done with some competence. It is easy to imagine Lucy, for example, trying to put up a strong front to protect herself from Mike, who had shown he could tear her emotional guts out. Being Lucy, her strategy is to act like a frigid cunt. Fine, that's regression but reasonably in-character. But it was treated as a good thing and hence the execution was bad. Likewise, Mike and Sandy could have drifted apart as time went on just because they live in two different worlds. I might even be okay with her cheating on Mike so long as Sandy was still treated like her old self. It's more tragic when a sympathetic character royally fucks up and regrets it but cannot undo the damage and accidentally makes it worse by trying. As for Paulo and Mike being at each other's throats, I can see Paulo reverting to Lucy simp mode just because of that damn reset button. But that also presents a good opportunity for permanent character growth once she knifes him in the gut. Sperg Mike is not something I have ever been happy about because cold cutting Mike would have been more in-character, but it's also easy to imagine him getting more and more cynical when--as he predicted--all of his friends end up siding with Lucy while they butt heads.

>>150053447
I'd fuck and marry everyone (as adults). Kill Alejandro and Toby, and Abraham Sr and Roger. Or better, whip them to death in a sex dungeon.
>>150053190
Whether or not you like Bittersweet Candy Bowl, it's hard for any creator to abandon their magnum opus so I imagine Veronica will just make more and more even after concluding an arc.
>>150053726
Ending the story at Breaking Up or Happy Hour would've been thoroughly sad from an emotional point of view but it's nice to get a continuation. I do stand by that any story has potential to be top tier depending on how much effort and passion is put into it. Theoretically Bittersweet Candy Bowl or any other story could go on for an eternity depending on how investing the original or any fanfiction author makes it. Any story in general for that matter, whether the writing is good or bad, the existence of the universe means time will flow and plot events will occur. Hell we could follow Veronica's universe all the way till it crunches and bangs into a new one. I trust her to keep it investing.
>>150053642
I wonder what "gross" means in said fag's mind. Badly writting, undesirable character decisions? Something subjective we can't guess? Whatever, I like Fork in the Road, it's one of Veronica's actual good B.C.Is. So if that quality is comparable to this chapter, I'm down.
>>150053928
Lol, of course we were given details. Like Madison said, everyone knows Lucy tried to off herself. I still the the closest plausible explanation is family plus Augustus, and possibly rubbing into Mike's face how much she doesn't need hi.
>>150053853
Well when you dedicate a significant portion of your life to something it's hard not to stick with it no matter how it turns out.

>>150054088
>the closest plausible explanation is family plus Augustus
Both have been offered as explanations in the past but neither makes much sense. Lucy kept treating her family like unwanted pests and was surprised that Augustus would still be around.

>and possibly rubbing into Mike's face how much she doesn't need hi[m]
That I could buy. Or rather Lucy proving it to herself.

so are they gonna have an orgy or nah

>>150054149
"And then Lucy comes back to Roseville High."
"Oh really, how come?"
"Eh, I got a few ideas but the characters don't explain it clearly."
"Oh, well I'd like for them to-"
"No."
>>150054300
> The comic ends with an Avengers: Endgameesque high-scale conclusion and the characters celebrate with an explicit teen sex orgy.

Assuming Veronica will go that deep.

>>150053190
If I became BCB's editor, I would seriously tell Tae that she HAS to end this story in a couple chapters.

It's been basically the same thing ever since Lucy came back and what has happen?

Mike joined a track team and PauloxDaisy became a thing.

That's pretty much all of that if you exclude the "Mike is sad" stuff.

I know she's been writing this for over two decades, but barely anything has happen. Seen she still likes to write BCB, I would tell her to book end the Highschool stuff and then go on to them out in college or something like it, so then she can properly introduce new story beats.

>Like Lucy struggling on what she'll be as an adult
>Mike moving out of town for University or Sandy
>Sue slowly finds out that college isn't for her
>Paulo tries to find a better line of work to put food on a table (probably learns a trade)

There is a lot she could do with this idea.

Then either resolve the Alejandro story line, that's been a waste since before the Chibi Art style started, or try and make him bigger of a threat, I don't know make him a member of organize crime or some shit.

>>150054062
I could buy Mike lashing out like he did. It happened before, both before and immediately after Lucy jumped. But that was interesting largely because one could still sympathize with Mike; even though his hostility was misguided and counterproductive, it was clear WHY he was madge. There's no fun to be had in watching characters just be dumb assholes for no clear reason. But from the start of Vol. 6 through to now, motivation is opaque or nonexsistant. One can headcanon up vague rationales for why characters did what they did, but they're all pretty flimsy even when Taeshi isn't making massive retcons:
>Lucy came back all "fuck u guys, we're not friends" to prove to herself she'd gotten "better"?
>Mike got depressed and start flipping out because he felt guilty/stressed about Lucy?
>They're all secretly psychic?
>Paulo has anterograde amnesia which can only be temporarily mitigated by head trauma?

Ultimately, I think the answer to "Why" is not because of any logic internal to the characters, but because that's what was needed to happen to make the plot happen.

>>150054507
Jumping forwards wouldn't actually fix anything. If _I_ were BCB's editor, I'd post an "under construction" announcement on the frontpage, saying that the comic will be undergoing some rewrites in order to rationalize 20+ years of story, please understand. It's not like the precedent hasn't already been set. The only chapters that need to be straight-up removed are EF and the soggy bitch intermission. Everything else can be toned down, or propped up via clarification.

>>150054942
Doing an hiatus would probably ruin all the little momentum BCB has.

Taeshi just needs a concrete target. It just keeps flip flopping between Mike with Lucy and Mike with Sandy that just getting sick to our nerves.

That's why some people here joke about Mike getting on with his sister, 100% time more interesting that this stupid love triangle.

>>150055275
That's hilarious from our perspective but in universe he's basically searching for C.S.A.M, we can interpret the cartoonish art style as photorealistic to them so from his P.O.V, he's searching for erotic depictions of real people (who are characters from our perspective), and his half-sister and her friends for that matter. E621 wouldn't host such content though. Feel like 4chan might though.

>>150054507
>If I became BCB's editor, I would seriously tell Tae that she HAS to end this story in a couple chapters
My approach would be different because frankly after all this time, we'd better get something worthwhile out of the comic. I'd tell her to give me whatever upcoming chapter ideas she has, then explain how each chapter is absolutely critical for the story to progress. If she can't give a satisfying answer, it goes into the bin. Her options are to give it a rescue rewrite or come up with a better idea. Then the comic should truck along to a proper conclusion.

>>150055275
>Mike really wishes he had a VPN right now.

>>150055180
>That's why some people here joke about Mike getting on with his sister
>joke

>>150054942
>Ultimately, I think the answer to "Why" is not because of any logic internal to the characters, but because that's what was needed to happen to make the plot happen.
Ultimately, yes. But based on her past comments, I do think that Taeshi talks herself into believing these are choices her characters would make under the circumstances. She rarely spells out her reasoning, and it would probably not stand up to scrutiny anyway.

>>150055446
Nah it just means bcb in universe is very lax with csam or its legal. That or its why Mike Is worried, since Paulo is looking it up on his computer or why Paulo knew about the site in the first place.

>>150055668
Yeah, we like the fics and the art, but I doubt anyone here would actually go

>"Yes, Taeshi, make an incest story arch"

>>150055643
>Paulo... Why do you have an inkbunny account?

>>150055762
Incest arc would have better romance than all of bcb tbf. Not even joking.

>>150055762
Yeah this >>150055801

>>150055781
>"FBI OPEN UP!"
>the party downstairs dissolves into panic and screaming as the front door is blown off its hinges
>a flashbang grenade goes off in Chris' crib

>>150055801
I liked it when Daisy tried to seduce Mike at the carnival.

>>150054341
>"Eh, I got a few ideas but the characters don't explain it clearly."
This does read like a puzzle that Taeshi put off to the side and never figured out how to solve. Which is strange to me; surely any other writer could whip up something halfway plausible. Even we here on /co/ have done that much.

>>150051606
Eat it, Mike, you pussy. You could have had James.
Now all you csn do is go SIMP for your phone GF while she gets tailed by her manager,

>>150055849
True but we are never getting anything fun like that again.

>>150056068
Thinking about it further, you know what was fun about that entire situation? A lot of things. There was good, solid build-up. We understood where Daisy was coming from. Something was going on with Augustus but we could see why she gravitated toward him. Her attempt to seduce Mike was stupid but it made all the sense in the world and when she failed, I felt bad for her. Yeah it was a terrible thing she tried to do but damn I kind of dug that side of Daisy. She was indulging her inner darkness and looking cute doing it.

>>150056155
Yup, really showed she had an underhanded side to her without being malicious. Part of klme wanted her to succeed too. Though it wouldn't have been good for her to have done Abby dirty like that, though she still does him dirty later.

>>150054341
>"Eh, I got a few ideas but the characters don't explain it clearly."
>"Oh, well I'd like for them to-"
>"No."
This is the most negative I've ever seen you be about BCB. Usually you pretend it's a masterpiece.

>>150058186
Oh, it's just a sarcastic humorous parody. I still think Veronica had existing (albeit not explicitly confirmed) in-universe reasons for Lucy returning. The comic is masterpiece of literature as always and my biggest inspiration. I hope it lasts an eternity, beyond the boundries of space and time so that it's legend can live on in the memories of inhabitants of the next universe.

>>150058186
But the writing in a good fraction of the B.C.Is and the old omnibus piss me off, that's about as negative as I can go.

>>150058350
Its*.

>>150058350
Also I don't pretend, the love is genuine.

>>150058459
Been told that Molly randomly seduced Paulo in this. True O.T.P.

>>150058459
I'd love to draw ship art of Paulo's half-sister either with him or with Molly. His half-sister, her friends, and Molly gangbanging him would also be great for a /trash/ thread. Throwing them out there for anyone who wants to try.

>>150055762
Paulo x Rose fans losing right now (me)

>>150055180
I don't think doing some necessary rewrites to clean up the contradictions and nonsense would REQUIRE a hiatus. Most of the work could be accomplished just by editing dialogue, moving panels around, and cutting stuff. Both EF and the soggy bitch intermission can be excised and debrided without losing any narrative function. A lot of Paulo's dickery can be fixed by removing the pages at the end of chapters where he goes "syke, I'm still a dick". Edit Mike and Lucy's dialogue to be less overtly hostile so them still having a crush on each other doesn't seem like total insanity.

One would need to transfuse some "intermission" chapters as needed to explain stuff like what Lucy was doing while away, why Mike and Sandy started to drift apart, or why Augustus is now cool with being Lucy's emotional support boy. But again, precedent is there; there have been flashback chapters in canon. Sure, they sucked, but that's because they were clumsy retcons that broke continuity, buried ideas, and were too long. Expository flashbacks CAN be fun and interesting, they just need to make sense and not drag on.

The only redraws of existing content would be minor things, like replacing a few panels, cleaning up editing seams, and giving back the character's eyes.

>>150053060
Reciprocal attraction. David is bisexual after all.

>>150055801
Well, an incest arc would give BCB an "holy shit what the fuck" boost in readers for drama.

Better than Lucy and her bullshit.

Yeah fuck it. Have a chapter where Mike makes out with his mom or something.

>>150052161
I'm sorry...

>>150051590 (OP)
>Cum cat
>Piss cat
>Shit dog
Can't unsee.

>>150060599
Kind of like Naylor's story? Which I have yet to read. If Veronica wanted to she could really push for MikexHaley, LucyxJordan, even AbbeyxMolly. Mike making out with Ellen and having to spend the rest of the story hiding it lest Ellen get arrested for grooming her teenage son would be emotional.
>>150061153
Don't be sorry. I'd do it too. Legendary B.C.B Never Dies.

>>150060433
David seems less attracted to him than "straight" Mike though

>>150061168
Your cum shouldn't look like that.

>>150062218
>naming Finn and Felix together specifically out of all the track team guys
Did they get shipped outside of /co/ or is Taeshi lurking?

>>150062312
People think Taeshi DOESNT lurk?

>>150062969
Of course she doesn't. Taeshi will not subject herself to the most mild of critiques in her own domain.

>>150058459
She looks cute. I want to break her

>>150062312
It would be just like Taeshi to have Mike actually do what she insists the right thing is only to end up third wheeling again for a newly paired up Finn and Felix.

>>150059868
>Both EF and the soggy bitch intermission can be excised and debrided without losing any narrative function
Getting rid of EF would be a challenge because then Mike goes from angry and hostile to apologetic and sad for no reason. Licy likewise goes from mostly aloof to more emotionally erratic and openly mean.

>>150061589
Shut the fuck up Al

>>150063026
Either her or Suitcase lurk these threads, considering any spoileranons get quickly banned from the patreon.

>>150063604
Suitcase is a much more plausible candidate but another possibility is a dedicated delegate from the discord.

>>150063708
I wouldn't be surprised if there's someone lurking here to report leaks and earn good boy points with the cult

>>150062218
>Even though Aug was being a prick for demanding this Taeshi will distort reality until he's in the right just to make Mike more miserable.
Suitcase please just keep your wife away from the keyboard...

>>150063993
I think it's another example of her sarcastic form of humor. And possibly disdain for Mike's suffering.

>>150058459
Think she’ll have a relationship with her cousin (Abby/Jasmine’s kid)?

>>150062218
>haha Mike is soooooo stupid for hoping this will ever get better lol
>doesn't he understand i gave only to take away?
Though Mike probably would be better off just trying to cultivate friendships among the running team.

Can we report Taeshi to ICE?

>>150064740
>Writes it down.
Also, cute art.

>>150063156
>Lucy likewise goes from mostly aloof to more emotionally erratic and openly mean.
I don't agree; that may be what was intended, but post-EF Lucy is significantly LESS hostile. Pre-EF Lucy was all "I'd rather kill myself again than hang out with Mike", screamed that Paulo never had a chance, mocked Daisy for being a slut, and seemed to deeply resent Sue for no reason. Post-EF Lucy just gives Mike a wide berth rather than openly sniping at him, and is a LOT nicer to her friends; she actually acknowledges that biting Paulo's throat out when he tries to talk to her is fucked up, for instance. She's still cold and kind of prickly, but she's not acting like a straight-up bully anymore.

But regardless, I say that one doesn't need a night of total nonsense to set Mike and Lucy spiraling; they already were, just let them follow their natural trajectories. As they get further into the school year they get tired of keeping up appearances, their coping mechanisms start falling apart, and having to see each other at school keeps pushing their buttons. I'd also soften up Lucy's aforementioned hostility post-return and make Mike's fits of anger less pronounced and sudden. Main characters acting like abrasive assholes to their friends for no reason is not sympathetic or likeable behavior.

>>150065042
I don't think that Post-EF Lucy was any better, given what she did to Paulo during Double Down, but I can see where you are coming from. All the same, she does go from aloof and above it all to more emotional and without EF it'd happen out of the blue. As you say, the spiral could naturally happen, but EF would need to be replaced--possibly with multiple chapters--and not simply cut out. The changes immediately post-EF are too stark; take for example Mike sitting there and taking Augustus' verbal beating instead of flipping out and telling him off.

I completely agree about softening up both Mike and Lucy beforehand. They became cartoonified versions of themselves and have yet to recover.

>>150064963
You want the pages to be even less frequent?

>>150065573
I just want it dead

>>150063993
It's so funny how you guys think asking someone to hang out with one of their two other friend groups for one period is wrong, especially when it's for the benefit of a girl Mike claims to care about and feel guilty over.

>>150065727
Of course not, because that was not the request.

>>150065760
>Augustus wasn't asking Mike to hang out with his other friends for lunch period
I'd love to hear what surely delusional interpretation you got from it.

>>150065857
>I'd love to hear
That's clearly not the case since you have already labeled my take as not just wrong but "delusional." Meaning that you will not listen and therefore any attempt to discuss this with you would be pointless.

>>150065857
Augustus from pov only knew about james and David. At the same time it is a completely unreasonable request since those few minutes without Mike won't actually do anything to fix the issues Lucy is having since they share classes. It's not even a band aid, it's a wet wipe. Especially since Lucy mom asked Augustus to tell her if anything is wrong. All Augustus is doing in this is trying to keep a lid on something he has no idea about since he kept to the confusion that 30m without seeing Mike would help when he has zero idea what set her iff. In story this isn't the first time this has happened either aka there little sleepover had the same issues. Also it would better to move Lucy somewhere so the chances of seeing Mike decrease vs talking to the guy.

>>150065931
>I literally just bring the explanation from the comic
>ummmm actually that's not what happened
I wasn't actually interested in hearing your ten thousandth schizo headcanon, you're correct.

>>150065273
The specific example of Augustus' talk with Mike could be covered by a short intermission chapter somewhere around Witch Hunt, explaining why Augustus is now OK being Lucy's live-in-emotional-support-boy when he was so emphatically against it before she left. I imagine it showing his thought process as something like:
>Wow, Lucy's family is really nice. This could be the opportunity I need to get the hell out of here.
>But wait, they don't seem to know about Lucy's issues? Oh wait, they do, they just don't know what to do or say about them.
>They give her a lot of free reign, and they aren't seeing the way she gets all moody and tense whenever she sees Mike or her friends talk to her.
>Well damn, I guess I have to handle it myself. Can't have the sweet beloved dumbass doing another flip because green-eyes won't fuck her.

So then instead of the creepy "you owed Lucy something after that night", which is weird femcel shit, Augustus is appealing to Mike on the basis of "Lucy's putting a lot of effort into seeming alright, but she's CLEARLY not, you and I both know it, and I think seeing you is making it worse.". At which point Mike's extreme sympathy kicks in, he switches from frustration with Lucy's nonsense to pitying her, and agrees to keep his distance and be extra nice.

In general, I think the transition to a colder, more distant attitude in both Mike and Lucy would be a lot smoother without them being such massive pills beforehand. Them both having a period of intense irritability and anger before the depression really sets in IS realistic, but it's narratively awkward. Especially since they AREN'T actually diagnosed with clinical depression in-universe.

>>150065727
>Please tell me if my daughter is about to kill herself
>No
>BTW Mike don't come outside or else Lucy will kill herself again
Augustus is a wussy piece of shit who is using Mike as a scapegoat for why his precious Lucy yelled at him

>>150066022
>I wasn't actually interested
Yes, that is what I just said.

>>150066017
>Augustus from pov only knew about james and David. At the same time it is a completely unreasonable request since those few minutes without Mike won't actually do anything to fix the issues Lucy is having since they share classes
Lucy didn't have a PTSD flashback over being in class with Mike, she did have one after hearing Mike outside though
there is no reason Augustus wouldn't be smart enough to realize there's a difference and asking him to change, not that literally any of that matters when the case is as plain as day for Augustus' motivation and his request.
>Also it would better to move Lucy somewhere so the chances of seeing Mike decrease vs talking to the guy.
You think Lucy's supposed to move when she's already eating outside to avoid everyone, not just Mike?
Despite how ridiculous it would be to discuss a place even more secluded than the alleyway she's already in, Mike has other friends to be around, friends who won't just ignore him and slobber over another guy like David is doing.
This is going to devolve into some "don't tread on me" argument about how Mike is free to do what he wants, which sure, he is, but Mike claims to care and this is such a non-issue for Mike to just go to one of his other friend groups that you can't make the case he actually does care.

>>150066017
>>150066125
You should not give her attention. She only ever does this to stir the pot and will never argue in good faith.

>>150066034
I could see those adjustments working out well enough. Better than what we got, at the very least.

>>150066017
>those few minutes without Mike won't actually do anything to fix the issues Lucy is having since they share classes
This would be the case no matter what Augustus wants to believe. If Mike being out on the field is a problem when sharing classes with him is not, that speaks of much deeper problems that 30 minutes of extra non-Mike time could never solve.

>chapter description: Oh, I know this story!
Alternate description: Taeshi visits the Pottery Barn and demands their entire stock.

But in all seriousness, I am morbidly curious to see what Taeshi's idea of peak irony looks like.

>>150066450
>that speaks of much deeper problems that 30 minutes of extra non-Mike time could never solve.
That is why I brought up Lucy's mom in the first place.Last time Lucy got extremely upset she jumped off a building. There is no telling what method she could try next to try and make sure she stays dead. Plus none of the adults even know of the alej issue. They don't know anything of what is up.

Wait scratch that, if anyone knew what is up with lucy she would be back In a pysch ward or moved again. It would move the issue from Mike to her seeing all her friends alongside her potential rapist. The adults finding out about the almost rape would be one thing but Lucy telling any adult or anyone about her dreams cannot end well. One thing to picture them abandoning but having them walk side by side with the guy would be questionable and upsetting from her friends pov and disastrous from the adults. Mike weirdly was still missing from that line up right?

>>150051590 (OP)
Mary lost her stuffed rabbit. This is an Avengers level threat.

>>150066875
>>150066980
I suppose that if Taeshi wants to make good on this newly reintroduced notion that Lucy psychologically needs Mike as a protector and savior, Augustus' well-meant but poorly conceived methods of helping her will blow up his face. It is plausible enough that Augustus believes bringing the mother into this equation would destabilize Lucy further. White Cat is very stubborn and easily feels betrayed, something that would shut him out. So he will have to handle this himself. Augustus, understandably enough, sees (or prefers to see) Mike as the instigator and ongoing source of Lucy's problems. Ergo if Mike contact is minimized, Lucy should get better. But assuming there is no Alejandro-Mike hybridism in play, then Mike is indeed a conspicuously absent would-be antagonist in Lucy's alleyway nightmare. There remains the possibility that Lucy does not see Mike as an oppressor or threat--which would seem to contradict her attitude during Link Play, but frankly that does not mean much anymore. If this is truly the case, then seeing Mike running around only upsets Lucy because he is no longer by her side. So the further Augustus pushes Mike away, the more he accidentally exacerbates Lucy's underlying problem. Augustus turns out to be a flawed replacement and Lucy will not get better until Mike retakes his proper place.

Of course this could also be a setup for the reverse: Lucy's hangup has evaporated, Mike really is all of the problems, and Augustus is the only guy she will ever need. Mike will be told this to his face, shattering any delusions of importance and leaving Gray Cat to die in an emotional ditch.

>>150067098
This made me feel sad and it shouldn't have.