Nothing ever happens edition.
>>154247215>This is Mike's fault somehow
>>154247215Oh my god this shit is not as interesting as Taeshi thinks it is. You've shown her bothered by it already, just pick up the fucking phone and take your bogging like the rest of us!!
Nothing, but still better than Paisy. Anyway, post AMAYA :D, it would be a better use of our time here than discussing L*cy.
Why does Augustus even have that phone except so the demiurge can make her avatar feel bad? He doesn't use it, and apparently he's not keeping it on him.
>>154247332Amusement over the idea of pissing off whoever is calling (probably Al). Nevermind this is likely what is bringing on the nightmares. Nah that had to be Mike.
>>154247215Go on, Lucy! Pick it up! Tell them where you live! You know you want to!
>>154247270But then she couldn't drag this plotpoint out for another half-decade or so.>>154247332As a canonical wimp who couldn't outfight a preschooler, Augustus can only feel victorious after manipulating someone else or imagining a win. Edging his old boss falls into the latter category.>>154247345Yeah but Augustus the master manipulator is too stupid to recognize that fact because Lucy is so good at hiding it from him.
>>154247231Augustus would be slightly more interesting if he was confronted about the phone thing, rationalized it as another Mike sin, but this was treated as wrong-headed as it sounds.
>>154247215I am actually mildly impressed with that first panel? Is Tae studying angles now? Is BH rubbing off on her?
>>154247332>>154247345I don't get why he doesn't just change numbers.Maybe he thinks that if he did or if he did something like blocking his number it'd make it a clearer statement that he is purposedly avoiding him, thus compromising himself in case he ever comes across Alejandro again.Not that'd make any difference, Alejandro would beat his ass anyway.
>>154247790She probably traced it. Taeshi has been allergic to genuine improvement of her skills for a very long time now.
>>154247843>I don't get why he doesn't just change numbersBecause then he couldn't get off by refusing to answer his phone whenever the thugs call. Changing his number is a one-and-done victory he cannot repeat.
>>154247790Yeah to be honest I did like some of the art on this one, there're some nice angles, and I did like the contrast between the darkness of the room and the light coming from outside of it.Lucy's proportions are a bit munted as usual, though.
>>154247215Lucy's mouth is door knob height. She doesn't even need to get on her knees for you!
>>154247626Taeshi got pissy that people acted like Augustus was being an asshole in LiTS, so I wouldn't be surprised if she's playing dumb about that to avoid confronting the fact that not only was he a manipulative asshole, but his fake-ass reason wasn't even his target's fault but rather his own. Lucyspace is in full effect here.
>>154247918This is what I mean. Taeshi just traces pictures of interiors then slaps her badly proportioned characters in without regard for how poorly they fit. It's The Good Dinosaur syndrome but worse because at least Pixar scaled their goofy cartoon dinosaurs to the realistic environments surrounding them.
>>154247843>I don't get why he doesn't just change numbers.Because he doesn't realize that Lucy's having traumatic nightmares because the Rapeman Hotline is in her basement, because the real reason he shouldn't get into college is because he's very stupid.
>>154247986I'd like to believe Taeshi thought her routinely self-righteous Mike-hating audience would naturally cheer Augustus on before she rugpulled them with facts and logic. But she's been too self-indulgent for me to actually believe that.
>>154248003To be more fair than Augustus will probably ever deserve again, Lucy getting nightmares because of the phone that Augustus never answers is also pretty stupid. This all hinges on Lucy giving him absolutely zero context for her nightmares, of course.
>>154247215>I bet Mike is behind this
>>154248099While I understand that Lucy, who was trying to FUCKING DIE and was in extreme pain was still more scared of Augustus contacting Alej than she was of death, so maybe mister master manipulator could have pieced it together that it is not a topic she's comfortable with just ignoring and instead it's something she's terribly afraid of. But nah, Lucy is so self sacrificial that she'd bearing the mental anguish just so Augustus can laugh at the idea that Alejandro is still pretty much very interested in continuing his search and has not given up despite months of being ignored, which I'm sure Lucy is ok knowing
>>154248099>Taeshi either has no idea what's causing the nightmares or changes it on the fly depending on which character she feels like making responsible for it.This is the most likely reason.
>>154248391It's still stupid that her nightmares start with characters that have shown time and time again they are on her side, and should rightfully be equally as traumatized as she is (I think Sue got the worst of the beatings if I remember correctly) as part of the problem, it doesn't make her look good no matter how much you rationalize it and only adds fuel to the fire that she's ok hanging with them despite her nightmares, but Mike who doesn't even show up in them deserves to pay for it
>>154248477I headcanon that Mike remembered nearly being killed, and Lucy's subsequent abuse of Mike either gave him flashbacks to nearly having his skull caved in or made him feel helpless in the same way.
>>154248477That's the part that bothers me most. Lucy didn't step in to defend her friends until after Sue, Paulo, and Mike had all gone in trying to defend each other and gotten beat down. When she did, she relied on false flirting (including talking some shit about her friends) to get the opportunity for sneak attacks, rather than coming in swinging like the others did. And while Mike listed Paulo, Sue, Daisy, AND Lucy in his "this is for ___!" combo, Lucy only mentioned Mike (who had gotten knocked out because she was slow to act).To me it seems like Lucy on some level knows she failed her friends, but is rejecting and projecting that feeling.
>>154248391The nightmares were poorly thought out like the reason for her return in the first place. She gave them to lucy to try and explain why she might be acting like she does, but it hinges on people not remembering what actually went down with alejandro >>154248743>To me it seems like Lucy on some level knows she failed her friends, but is rejecting and projecting that feeling.That wouldn't be a bad route to take. But that would mean Lucy has to admit fault and Taeshi seems allergic to doing such a thing.
>>154247215Wow I was wrong. She doesn't even go back upstairs, she just does nothing and it ends there. Bravo Taeshi.Also really fucking stupid of Augustus to just leave it there, what if someone like Jordan or Carol one day decides to go downstairs and answer the fucking thing? What then oh great and powerful Augustus? Let's see you "mastermind" your way out of that one.
>>154247270Yeah I dunno anon, there's retards in the discord who insisted before (like at the end of Made Fresh) that Augustus's phone wasn't what was bothering Lucy. Yes that was the copium from the Augustusfags, I shit you not. This page should hammer in the fact that yes, Augustus turned out to be the culprit and Michael.
Well this Chapter sucked. What do we have in store for the next one, more Mike suffering?
>>154248477What gets me is that Lucy holding this subconscious grudge against her friends is not unforgivable IF it's made out to be a result of mental illness. She would not be able to help the crossed wiring in her brain. What Lucy CAN do is choose her response. If Lucy actively struggled against the natural distrust she feels, understanding that it's actually fucking insane and unfair to her friends, that might be kind of neat. Worth some actual sympathy, even. But instead she just defaults to self-righteous bitch mode and has only once or twice regretted it. Lucy caving to her resentment left and right, without consequence, eliminates any note of tragedy from her character. As you said, Lucy just comes out looking like a stupid spoiled brat.
>>154248896>What do we have in store for the next one, more Mike suffering?Better than Paisy.
The chapter tagline "Winning at all costs" refers in part to Augustus' "win" "costing" Lucy her peace of mind, doesn't it?
>>154248786>That wouldn't be a bad route to take.It's the only sane way I can think of to explain Lucy's fucked up complexes. She's taking a feeling of "I don't deserve friends because I failed them", and metabolizing that feeling into her preexisting abrasive view of things: "I don't need friends because they failed me". By framing it that way Lucy can avoid falling into depression and death spiraling again, at the minor cost of making herself completely unbearable.The irony is that by trying so hard to escape guilt and depression, Lucy is inadvertently making herself reliant on it. By constantly repeating "bitches and whores, idiots and fuckups, you've all failed me" in her head, Lucy is being so unpleasant that the only reason her friends tolerate it is because they remember how depressed she got and feel guilty. So they're extra nice to her in an attempt to compensate, and out of fear that it might happen again if Lucy feels rejected.
>>154248999Of course! You thought the Sue chapter was going to be about Sue?
>>154249069I disagree. Another sane way is to just accept that Lucy is a terrible person. That she is so unbelievably self-centered that she absolutely believes her friends failed her and that they deserve her scorn, yet she does not want to be lonely and does enjoy their company. Which is a personal weakness she must deny to herself. Her friends meanwhile cope through misplaced empathy and unwarranted understanding.
>>154248975>Mike suffers so we don't have toTruly, the most evil manipulator. Doing nice things for people just so he can feel like a hero.
>>154248999>>154249111>Trips of painful truths.
>>154248844tbf it'd be kinda rude to answer another person's phone
>>154249219We need to ask whether Carol is stupid enough to do so.
>>154249069the main thing stopping this is that Taeshi fails to show Lucy in any sympathetic light that's not forced as hell.Her weird attempt to do so after LitS just made Lucy look worse. She can't organically get people to feel bad for Lucy because she keeps straying away from having Lucy accept fault and consequences for her actions.Even the "Lucy is gonna suffer! trust!" stuff is most likely going to be a flashback to whatever boy she messed with but not have any bearing on the current group.
>>154248896It has been foretold to be so.Anyways, I bet 40 spaceyuans that Mike's suffering will somehow once again be subsumed into the Pauloshow ooze.>>154249132Fair enough, but I wouldn't count that as "explaining" Lucy. Rather, that would be the absence of an explanation: the twist is that there is no twist, no deeper motive, Lucy is just shallow and selfish.>>154249219Not if you know them well enough, I wouldn't think. Even if Carol or Jordan or whoever just went "Hi, sorry but Augustus is out right now, try calling back later?" to get the phone to quit blowing up, that would still be enough to fuck Augustus over. It's not like he's ever explained to the family "I'm affiliated with a gang which has a hit out on Lucy, that's why I initially befriended her, they still expect me to report but I'm ghosting them.".
>>154249277She's a bad mom but in a neglectful way, so she wouldn't pick it up.
>>154249219Yeah, it's kind of rude, but it's reasonable to answer the call since he's out of the house and it might be an urgent call.
>>154249377What about Jordan?
>>154248999Well I think if we are up for more Mike suffering yet not ready for the killing blow yet.the chapter will actually involve the track team having to decide on what's best for the team and the current competition, if sticking with Mike who has been falling behind due to malnutrition and has been missing practice and tell James to shut the fuck up, or ask Mike to stay benched and put all their hopes on the meme dog of narrative dissonance to win, and most likely choosing winning over Mike, who agrees it is the right choice for the team while giving his fake pained smile and leaving the uniform in the changing room while leaving the team for good. The POV will change to Paulo who is watching the race because his very best friends who he cares a lot about (and Mike) will compete, and he'll notice he's nowhere to be seen. Then the rest of the chapter turns into the Paulo show about how Mike is ruining his enjoyment by not participating
>>154248844I expect one of Taeshi's sparks of genius and suddenly the whole family already knows about Alejandro and to not answer the phone, they just decided to do nothing about it for Lucy, and they'll forget all about it in less than a week, just like the suicide attempt being a secret until it wasn't until it was
>>154247854I don't really care if she traces I'm just mildly impressed that she did something a little different. Proportions are still fucked though.
>>154249914She's been doing this for a while, though.
>>154249567>Well I think if we are up for more Mike suffering yet not ready for the killing blow yetYeah, it's still too early for the combo of divorce and Sandy's visit, and while Paulo being a terrible friend and leaving the team are good options with the pattern of Sue chapter -> EF chapter, Sue chapter -> Lits chapter, I would expect some controversial Mike and Lucy drama even though Lits happened recently.
>>154247215>GOD I WANT TO BE GANG RAPED>I WANT A BUNCH OF MEN TO THROW ME IN A VAN AND ABUSE ME>FUCK YOU AUGUSTUS HAVE SEX WITH ME ALREADY >IM PICKING UP THE PHONE AND TELLING HIM TO MEET ME THAT HE IS A PUSSY AND WOULD NEVER HURT A WOMAN>I TOLD HIM I STOLE YOUR PHONE >GOD THIS IS GOING TO FEEL SOOOOOO GOOD
>>154250061I forget, which chapter did Taeshi say would be Mike's "darkest hour?" It was 130 or 133, right? It would be pretty fucking funny if Taeshi did bring all of those things crashing down on Mike's head all at once. Just a parade of trauma that dramatically outshines all of Lucy's problems and leads to a second parade of blog posts.
>>154250102>One hour later>Augustus it's all your fault I was gangraped
>>154250493133 is where things get better for him, so probably 130-132.Hope the hug doesn't happen though, Mike should be able to be written out and recover for a long while away from his abusers.
>>154250603I think the hug should happen but as a subversion. Or, depending on how you look at it, pottery/a time loop. Lucy finally works up the "courage" to forgive Mike or just throws herself at him because Augustus managed to disappoint her, but Mike pushes her away. Oh the tragedy; if only Lucy had parched his thirst with her gamer girl bathwater back when Mike was still begging for her friendship.
>>154250642I'd prefer it if the speech on how Mike was always horrible and hurts his friends makes him push her away "for her own good". She either has to admit that her and Augustus were wrong, or accept this new reality.Seriously, Lucy shouldn't be involved with Mike's recovery in the slightest.
>>154250512I legit was going to add that but had a brainfart and hit post
>>154250964>I'd prefer it if the speech on how Mike was always horrible and hurts his friends makes him push her away "for her own good". She either has to admit that her and Augustus were wrong, or accept this new reality.Honestly, I do think that is probably the best way this could possibly go. Taeshi either tricks herself into thinking she can sustain her interest without Goldiemalding and the comic dies soonafter, or the narrative is turned on its head when Lucy has to admit fault and put some work in. Which I assume would be some trite little speech at most, but it's better than Mike crawling back to her on hands and knees.With ever so much caution, I do take Mike's total lack of enthusiasm during the hug as a good sign. It doesn't look like a setup for any heartfelt reconciliation, at least not on his part. Mike does not look glad, nor hateful. It looks like he feels nothing, and I like the idea that Lucy can no longer wring a single fuck out of him.
>>154249914I agree, anon. It's still nothing, but it's a better nothing than "one big panel spread where 90% of the page is darkness with a noise pattern", which is what I was expecting.
>>154250493>It was 130 or 133, right? It would be pretty fucking funny if Taeshi did bring all of those things crashing down on Mike's head all at once. Just a parade of trauma that dramatically outshines all of Lucy's problems and leads to a second parade of blog posts.Would it be another round of "Mike deserves it!" or is it "Well, everyone involved was assholes!" like at the start of the LitS damage control? Either way i think it might actually turn off her readers because of the sheer cartoonishness of it all
>>154251969"roughhousing"Well that's another word for prolonged physical abuse.Doesn't help that everything the asker sent was wrong regarding December.
>>154251927I think under those circumstances, it would be Taeshi equivocating Lucy's oh so awful personal torments with the hurrican of soul-destroying bullshit she just put Mike through. So what if she has no sense of proportional retribution, they're totally equal in punishment! And also this is not a moral story with karma! NOBODY SUFFERS MORE THAN LUCY OKAY?!
Michael Greycat has a tiny penis teehee~
>>154252019I can actually believe that Mike felt both guilt and annoyance for still kind of wanting Lucy at that stage. But frankly she had dug her own grave by that point so the outburst was legit. Anyway, it's no surprise that Taeshi has conveniently forgotten the emotional abuse angle. Oh no wait, these days she thinks it was just self defence. Right, sorry. How silly of me.
>>154252104If you were a true BCB scholar like myself, you'd know that Abbey is the one with a micropenis. Go back to school, kiddo. Then perhaps one day you will begin to scratch the surface of the literary triumph that is Bittersweet Candy Bowl.
>>154252106It just pushes the idea that victims are in the wrong for lashing out at abusers, which is a really annoying trend in media nowadays.Seriously, Lucy physically and emotionally abused Mike for a decade. Him leaving his abuser and not being pleasant to her doesn't make him the bad guy.
>>154252171>which is a really annoying trend in media nowadaysWhere else is this BPD bullshit happening?
>>154252193TADC fanbase with Jax at the very least.
>>154252171>Seriously, Lucy physically and emotionally abused Mike for a decade. Him leaving his abuser and not being pleasant to her doesn't make him the bad guy.The worst that can be said is that his speech in december was harsh, but even then he realized it was a mistake and apologized. Not only did he have no clue Lucy was gonna jump, but the comic never proved his rant wrong. It just decided to eternally punish him for daring to get fed up with Lucy's bullshit. Yeah he lashed out when she was trying to change, but it's understandable. That was like, one day or so going up against a decade of abuse.
>>154252156Does Lucy have the biggest clit?
>>154251260>>154251927I bring this totally real and true leak of the upcoming chapter that Taeshi herself DMed me, this is the page just before Lucy hugs and kisses Mike.
>>154252299The biggest cave. Accomodating Paulo's larger than average schlong while staying in limp dead fish mode suggests volume to spare.
>>154252156What the fuck even is that response supposed to mean? When even Taeshi's brown-nosers are saying she's doing a shit job at getting anyone's points across you know she's fucking up hard.And she won't admit this ever but Mr "lolsrandom" David would've been far more likely to fall into that early on r/atheism and fedora culture.
>Next chapter is called Victim ComplexLmao, it's so overit's a chapter about marginalizing Mike's problems.
>>154252730God Fucking Damnit.
>>154252730I'd fucking welcome it if it led to Mike actually fixing his shit and standing up for himself but it'll just be more misery porn to be solved never because Taeshi will die before she finishes this dogshit.
>>154252156She brought back watercolor just to insult someone.
>>154251969>Do you think if Lucy wasn't a cunt which made him resent her, Mike would have been more inclined to have a relationship with her?>"Uh no! He would have found other reasons to hate her and want her gone because Mike bad"Taeshi answering her blog.png
>>154252814Let her continue. I want to see what happens when this comic reaches a larger audience.
>>154251969I enjoy how every so often Taeshi confirms that there's nothing Lucy could've done to make Mike choose her over Sandy, while also saying this is romantic somehow.
>>154252156>Both sides have a point.No, they really don't. Lucy's side has no points. She's just mad she didn't get Mike after she fumbled.What's this picture even supposed to be as an answer? Did she use it wrong?This does point out the problem with the tumblr blog though. She wont put important stuff on pages and leaves it for the blog. If nobody reads the blog then they end up getting a different version of what she intends. At the same time, you can count the comics as a different version of what ever she tries to use the blog to clarify. It makes both sound unreliable.
>>154252730I feel like this is going to backfire in her face if this is about Mike and his issues.She's going to fuck up showing that Mike has a victim complex/main character syndrome and then wonder why people "Just Don't Get It"
>>154251969This doesn't make sense because a large part of why the friendship fell apart WAS the physical abuse.If she wasn't beating his ass when she could then he would have tolerated her more. This is a stupid way to explain it because its like she just HAS to do december no matter what.
>>154251969I like how Mike needs to have an excuse not to be friends with Lucy (who is awful company in general, but especially for Mike ever since he hooked up with Sandy)
>>154253210It's like how Mike apparently can't adapt if he moved to a new school. He's gotta bare the load of the friendship or else he suffers from breaking off.
>>154252923It goes both ways, too."If Mike had done things differently could he have avoided Lucy crashing out?">"Nope, Lucy's always been a mess, nothing Mike could have done would get her to open up or stop obsessing over him""If Lucy had done things differently could she have avoided Mike crashing out?">"Nope, Mike's always resented her, nothing Lucy could have done would win him over or get him to trust her as a platonic friend""Why are Mike and Lucy interested in each other when they make each other miserable and are happiest when the other's not around?">"Heart wants what it wants!"
>>154252681As I recall, this reply caused said fan to snap at her and Suitcase, essentially calling them a couple of immature losers who feel free to mock their own supporters for no reason.
>>154253318Well, they weren't wrong.
>>154252730>>154253157>brings the wrath of heaven down upon Mike's head>"lol get over it Mike your problems are nothing compared to how much Lucy suffers">another 13 trillion more asspats to bow cat
>>154253265It boggles the mind sometimes how Taeshi has accidentally created one of the most psychologically resolute characters I've seen in a long time and somehow consistently she underestimates just how much he would thrive if the chains of his current toxic social dynamics were taken off him.
>>154253302and somehow these two are going to be endgame. At least everyone will be angry about it
Thank God for ragebait Tumblr posts, I thought we were going to have to subsist on a thin stew of absolutely nothing until Friday>>154251969Any Mikehaters want to translate this for me? What else was there that was standing in the way of their relationship?>>154252730Look, I doubt anything good will happen to Mike, but Tae uses these chapter titles as puns a lot. I doubt it's going to be about someone with a literal victim complex.
>>154253624>Any Mikehaters want to translate this for me? What else was there that was standing in the way of their relationship?you could say the verbal abuse and her having a security blanket problem where she'd go for paulo if Mike wasn't around. But the physical abuse was a large part of it and what kicked off the whole falling out.If Lucy had stopped just that then at minimum Mike isn't as willing to just cut her off like he did. For some reason Taeshi seems dead set on Mike hating Lucy even when one of the main reasons isn't there.
>>154253624>Look, I doubt anything good will happen to Mike, but Tae uses these chapter titles as puns a lot. I doubt it's going to be about someone with a literal victim complex.For years now the chapter's title almost always describes exactly what happens in the chapter
>>154253146Taeshi is a contrarian and she doesn't want Mike to be supported by fans but she also doesn't like too much Mike hate
>>154247215>Lucy's face when the classroom is so quiet you could hear a pin drop and the vibrators in her pussy and ass turn on to max
>>154247215>Mike after being branded a pariah and being completely isolated from society.>unbothered. moisturized. detached. in his lane. focused. transcending.>Lucy after getting literally everything and everyone eating from her hand>rattled. parched. miserable. lost. aimless. wilting.lmao how the fuck do you manage to lose by winning?
>>154253445Alejedly, anyways. It's always possible Taeshi has or will change her mind again and swerve in some random direction. Maybe she decides that actually Pucy is good again. Maybe she gets a wave of nostalgia and resurrects LiamXLucy. Maybe she indulges in the "slutty sizequeen" bit and makes LucyXDavid happen. Skies the limit when you don't give a shit!
>>154253624>Thank God for ragebait Tumblr postsSpeaking of which, a second ragebait hit Tumblr, also: "Accidents should make people have to face punishments forever now?" It's really funny that she uses that as a defense, considering everything that happens to those not favored by the demiurge.
>>154254288I'm surprised she even fell for that one, spam Amy's at her until she realizes what Amy represents. Now that meltdown I wanna see!
>>154254288Ask her if she'd be more sympathetic towards Mike if he was openly and intentionally manipulative and tried to rape someone just like her precious Auggie.
>>154254288a very large majority of your comic is about a guy's life going to shit because he told his abuse to piss off and she decided to try and kill herself AFTER he apologized. You just justified it by bringing up some letters that happened when they were in middle school at most.Stop this, Taeshi. Get off the blog before you make yourself look worse.
>>154254398Ask her yourself you fat pussy, the asks are completely anonymous.
>>154254288>SHould they be punished forever because of something they did in the past?That is what's happening to Mike and has been for over a decade. Nobody can convince me she's just screwing with people or that she's doing a bit. She gets mad at people wanting Lucy, Augustus, James, and David to face karma for LitS because that shit just happened in and out of the comic's time. She only dances around this because the readers were supposed to side with "Team Lucy" but instead she had people rightfully going "What the fuck?"
>>154254440Link it fag.
>>154253265I love that answer because it's like shooting herself in the foot>Uh Mike would not do well on his own, but Lucy would!>The comic shows Mike finally being able to have some respite in exile because he no longer has to deal with anyone while Lucy is breaking down in her ideal world because she can't fucking tell someone that already does everything she asks him to to turn off his fucking phoneIt really shows the comic and her headcanon are completely different things
So is there any actual honest to god reason for Augustus to keep the phone? He could have chucked that shit because its been months since he's been staying with Lucy.A grown man carrying a grudge over some teens from a year or two a go is already really stupid, but wouldn't Alejandro have checked if he's given them no answer after all this time? Taeshi likes to say "Teens are stupid", but there's a limit. Any of them would have gotten rid of the phone by now.
>>154254565Assuming it's Al, he's doing it's to get his jollies over the thought of them seething on the other end of the line and being too retarded to track him down or do anything at this point but call him repeatedly for nothing. Augustus basically hit the fucking jackpot having a family of well off retards take him in and all he has to do is tard wrangle their daughter before he fucks off to college. Now a story beat would be him eventually slipping up (because really he is just a dumbass who is in the good graces of the plot manipulator) and his old crew finding up to whoop his ass and get the ball rolling on plot progression, but this writer is unlikely to have that happened since she's already said the edgecat is exempt from consequences.
>>154254496https://bittersweetcandybowl.tumblr.com/Go ahead and spam her as much as you like, but if you want her to post your question, try putting some effort into the question to disguise the ragebait.
>>154254547A moment of respite. A chance to steel oneself against the coming horrors.
>>154254288>someone put my comment word for word and sent it to Taeshi
It really is a shame Taeshi refuses to openly interact with us anymore. We'd be such a devoted fanbase if she threw us a few bones every now and again, like a few panels of Mike enjoying eating a sandwich or laughing while playing the MMO with his friends.
>>154254665Bait launched, captain!It's actually less inflammatory than >>154254288 once I preened it a bit. I wonder if she's more likely to react to direct challenges though given she actually responded to that one.
>>154254910Yeah, that's happened a few times that I can remember: someone is taking comments from here without any modification or adaptation and sending them to the blog as questions.
>>154254612You know what would be fucking cool? If Alej was blocked by Augustus right away, and this is him using a burner phone to induce fear on Lucy. It's the only kind of explanation that makes sense: Augustus knows Mike is going to bend easy and Lucy is quite easy to manipulate as he has done already, by stupidly directing Lucy's attention to Mike and his exile he makes sure the phone stays in second plane. No one knows about the phone and Lucy can't say anything about it or else she risks her parents taking away her new teddy bear. I know Taeshi is too scared to turn Augustus the fan favorite into an actual villain but oh well
>>154255025>Bait launched, captain!Thank you for your service, soldier o7.
>>154250493>It would be pretty fucking funny if Taeshi did bring all of those things crashing down on Mike's head all at once. Just a parade of trauma that dramatically outshines all of Lucy's problemsLET THE BLOWS RAIN UPON ME! I WILL NOT FALL!
>>154253624I think that Taeshi wants to believe Mike did not have any legitimate reasons to hate Lucy. Notice how she downplays the physical abuse as "roughhousing."
>>154255169You should make one of these treating the ragebait asks as like an enrage spell or whatever idk how the magic system of the property these are based on works.
>>154255170I really wanna point out this out to her, but I have a feeling some anon might have already done that and she's just deciding to ignore it
>>154255170Which is especially bizarre because IT WAS HER FUCKING PLOT POINT IN THE FIRST PLACE! We all would have written that shit off as early story violent tsundere animeisms if she didn't have the story go "Yea, all that shit was not okay. It was actually hurtful and upsetting to him."
>>154255194That can be arranged.
>>154255194
>>154255499Fuck, I should have cropped around Taeshi and Suitcase's heads a bit better.
>>154253959She's a trooper, working hard to keep Augustus safe, not like she's enjoying it or anything!
>>154255306Well she wrote that play before getting addicted to Lucy asspats harder than crack cocaine.
>>154247215>>154255719It's very brave of such a small girl like Lucy to face the big, hard task of beating off Alejandro all by herself. She's taking the heat and the load herself so that her friend(s) can rest easy. She's even waiting until she's all alone so her family won't catch her or interrupt!
>>154256494She's such a good friend! I'm sure she can handle the task, it would be a shame if her hottest friend Sue would need to step up and pick up the slack!
>>154256494Listen, it's not like Lucy WANTS to be taking loads of Alejandro's baby batter directly to her womb multiple times every day, she just knows giving Alejandro children is the only way he'll calm down and finally leave her dumb friends alone, they should be thanking her but she's too selfless to ever let them know of her sacrifice
>>154254124>lmao how the fuck do you manage to lose by winning?Clearly, it happened because she never fucking wanted it!
>>154255306IIRC she was having her own breakdown IRL around the period where Lucy jumped. When she got through it, she started seeing more of herself in Lucy.Lucy coming back girlbossing was explained as Taeshi being ashamed of how "Weak and pathetic" she looked in December and wanting to fix that.
>>154254288Now that I reread this, what accident is she talking about? Was beating his mom to death an accident? Is she actually excusing Abraham Sr?
>Lucy cucks herself by the end because all she's left with is empty husk Mike, instead of him when he was full of lifeAll of this could have been avoided if she didn't play hard to get.
>>154255170>It's easy to blame the roughhousing going too far for the death of Abbey's mom, but if he had stopped earlier she wouldn't have had a lot of excusesMaybe his dad was the victim here all along!
>>154254288This only applies to her favorite characters. Anyone else gets a century of humiliation because they said something mean when they were ten years old
>>154258424>>154258327I genuinely believe she'd finish the "unfinished Abbey chapter" and make it about how that meal Charlotte cooked forced Abraham Sr.'s hand. The story always sucks abuser's cocks after all.
>>154258637>Bitch, this chicken is cold!
>>154258659I do truly think she'd portray him as the real victim nowadays.
>>154258637>>154258856The fallout from trying to make Abbey's dad sympathetic, just trying to justify why he acted like he did, would be something she really couldn't handle.
>>154258424>>154258637>>154258856Maybe his mom should have known better. Maybe he was just masking and didn't feel at ease with her. Maybe he was just defending himself against her using him to make herself feel better. Maybe she was just looking for an excuse to give him the cold shoulder. Maybe he was too sincere for her while she was more nice and manipulative. Maybe he just wanted to help, and she was asking for it anyway. Maybe at least her kids fucking loved her. Maybe I feel bad for her husband
>>154258897>>154258929Implying she wouldn't be willing to deal with the fallout due to her inverted sense of morality. Seriously, I do think she'd try to justify it now because she shames victims and praises abusers.
>Abbey's dad did nothing wrong! Cool, we're doing this today.
>>154258929If BCB went on long enough do you think we would get a mini arc with Abbey visiting his dad in prison and his dad saying "At least your mother fucking loved you."?
Actually, now we have a preview of the next page, and judging by the color of the snowflakes/stars, we're going to start with a flashback/nightmare in the alley. So the chapter title is about Lucy or Bait, kek.
>>154258993>weIf A=B and B=C then A=C, I'm just applying the author's logic to other characters >But Abbey's dad had anger problems How do you know he wasn't lying?
>>154258993Yes.>>154259125Exactly as you said, I am just applying the author's morals to other situations she would like to change later on. It's my favorite brand of ragebaiting Taeshi and I might've started the trend by posting on how Abraham's beatings were how he expressed his wonderful love.
>>154259081>another alley flashbackMy Goddddd move the fuck on already, dont see paulo, mike, sue, augustus or daisy obsessing over this but somehow alejandro still lives rent free inside Lucy's head. To be fair Lucy is around the phone and augustus but still its getting annoying, how many more flashbacks/dreams do we need.
>>154258987If its within her own fan circle then maybe. But it feels like it would be the one thing that breaks the containment barrier and drags in people that haven't heard of BCB before and their first notice of iti is trying to justify abusers and victim blaming.
>>154259243If it's from anyone else's perspective about them being beaten, then it will all be forgiven.
>>154259125>>154259161I get what you meant, just a funny turn of events is all.
>>154259081>I don't think you guys are feeling bad for Lucy enough! Don't fucking forget who you're supposed to root for! Don't you fucking forget!She pulled the same thing with LitS, making sure you had a reminder of just how much Lucy was suffering before moving to the actual focus so you got there already biased, so this might as well be a Mike chapter with a kind reminder that "others have it worse"
>>154259268I'm also projecting from the time I got ganged up on and had my head repeatedly bashed into a concrete pillar as a kid, so yeah.
>>154258987Maybe she could try pulling that on her cult and cause another schism, but she is already courting Tumblr and that would be putting a target on her back. All it would need is any of them digging shit out of pettiness and finding out how she and Suit talk shit about their transgender friends and kaput there goes that limb
>>154259390You got the screenshots? I'm willing to start it.
>>154258327I'd guess she means that Abbey getting nosy accidentally (from his perspective) pushed his dad over the edge. So he couldn't be held accountable because it's not like he goaded his dad into murder on purpose.
>>154258327It was a deliberately inflammatory comment meant to highlight how this issue is pervasive in BCB. Taeshi has been trying to minimize shit like Augustus trying to rape Daisy for years and that comment was applying that same logic to Abraham.
>>154255499>>154255515It gets the point across well enough.
>>154259630I meant it the context >>154259605 talks about which makes more sense, but still it's a bullshit answer that she is willing to accept the idea of blame for Abbey when perhaps the fault should be on his dad being a wife beater
>>154259081I feel like this will be a turning point in the comic. Taeshi will either step back and admit that *maybe* Lucy is being just a little unreasonable and could use a slap on the wrist...or go full gibbering BPD maniac and crucify Mike in front of an increasingly disgusted readership.
>>154260177Considering rape attempts by her favorites are handwaved away, probably the latter. The only way Mike can "atone" is through his death.
>>154260177We all know which one she's gonna pick
>>154259900I don't generally approve of deliberate ragebaiting or "raids" or any of that, but what do you expect? Taeshi doesn't like Abbey. She'll never "entertain" any argument that Lucy or Paulo are at fault or shouldn't skate past consequences the way they do, but of COURSE she'd be willing to briefly "entertain" the idea that Abbey's trauma is his own fault. Especially when that idea is clearly being presented in bad faith in order to canard an indirect attack on characters she DOES like. Remember, Taeshi enjoys fanning the least-charitable interpretations of Abbey and his actions; "he's being sexist", "apple doesn't fall far from the tree", "he's a hypocrite", and so on. And that's when she's not straight-up mocking Abbey or using him as a stand-in to say "your opinion is cringe", as seen in this old blog post >>154252156 from the watercolor era or other, more recent ones.
>>154260344Taeshi already demonized Mike over the love and care he once showed her fursona, accusing him of selfish motives that earned him Lucy's abuse. So I do kind of want to see how far she can take this obviously good = secretly evil bullshit, and how much of it her audience is willing to swallow.
>>154260525I will never forgive retard writers that made this subversive twist villain shit the norm. Can't have any genuinely decent characters without some midwits making them evil for no reason.
>>154260177Alternatively the most likely outcome: nothing happens. This flashback will be some pure filler bullshit.
>>154260344Yeah, she'll veer it off the rails and accuse Daisy or something. I wouldn't say no to Paulo getting told he needs to stop being a soggy bitch, unless Lucy is the one up on that soapbox.
>>154260664Taeshi needs to employ her double meaning somehow. If you are right it's probably just going to be Lucy's retconned Mike replacement getting condemned for white cat's sins.
>>154260679>Daisy was actually the one manipulating Augustus into trying to rape her so she'd feel wanted.
>>154259081>>154260664Watch it be a fake-out and it's not even a flashback, it's just February snow or something.
>>154260815I wonder what the chances are that Lucy "facing her fears" (without actually picking up the phone) will trigger a flashback in which she remembers that Mike kind of put his life on the line to save her and so probably isn't Hitler. Pottery with Sue's play, when Mike was reminded that, uh, Lucy was pretty and had a nice singing voice? It's actually really funny how that chapter did not try to emphasize the better parts of her personality, come to think of it.
>>154260394Well I know that and you know that, but it's still bad optics for her because Abbey is the only character that can one-up Lucy in the "suffering" department with not made up or self inflicted problems, which is why she tries to sweep him under the rug when able. It shows the special treatment that, while we already take it for granted, comes as irritating to the new readerbase she's been courting
>>154259412I think anon is mixing up the time they were shittalking a patron
>>154261133Despicable
>>154261133Trying to maintain a friendship with these two sounds exhausting.
>>154260698Taeshi's been talking herself into how Augustus COULD fall for Lucy, and how his love for Daisy was just a product of circumstance and naivety rather than "truly romantic". It's very possible Taeshi turns on Daisy and tries to frame her as being a manipulative whore who's jealous of Lucy. ESPECIALLY if any upcoming plots put Daisy in opposition to the Lucy/Paulo axis of pitybegging bullies.>>154260922In begrudging fairness to Lucy, the play chapter did also include her being "nice": complimenting Sue's work, giving Paulo a cheat pity-fuck, refraining from sniping at or bothering Mike, all while taking her role seriously and performing without any mistakes or problems. Mike was already considering offering an olive branch to Lucy (because Sandy is a benevolent and generous patron who councils her knight to show mercy even to those rivals who trespass against her by trespassing against him), the play was just the first opportunity he got to do so that wasn't blocked by Jordan or Lily.
>>154261276I would sincerely enjoy that.
>>154261276"Did you see what Daisy wore to the carnival? She was practically asking for it!"
>>154260922>oh yeah that guy literally jumped off a bridge to save me among other things guess I should ease up on the physical and emotional torture a scootch>wait fuck he's already a husk, whoopsie
>>154261542Tragic pottery, except Mike does not leave town for over a decade IRL and recovers inside of two chapters because Lucy can't be allowed to blame herself for one moment longer.
>>154261575I want him written out for several years while Lucy "suffers" in a retroactive flashback.
>>154261601Imagine if Mike "getting better" was just him fucking off out of the comic because Taeshi has a pottery addiction. I'd have zero investment left. Glorious freedom.
>>154259081>alley trauma flashback>it's from the perspective of the random boombox mike smashes>cut to Alej still trying to fix it ten years later, looks sadly at his "music to get extremely belated revenge to" mixtape
>>154260815>it's just February snow or somethingNah, in the image the snowflakes are in the color tone that are normally used during alley nightmares, so the chances of it being bait are small.
>>154261635I just hope we get nothing with Mike from chapters 134-144 with Lucy's pitybait "suffering". We both know abusers and sex predators in this comic never face consequences while the victims are demonized.Can't wait until chapters 130-132 are done with, fuck this shitty webcomic and all the retcons and twisted morality.
>>154260989Abbey's been a source of contention for a while. AgentChimendez was a mod or something, and fell out because they liked Abbey. Back when AbbeyXDaisy was falling apart, they posted a whole essay (with citations) on how he was character assassinated in order to give Paulo an excuse for being an asshole. I might be reading too much into it, but it seems to me that there's still an undercurrent of tension between her and Taeshi to this day.>>154261575Obligatory "Many fall in the face of chaos, but not this one, not today".
So was Abbey really sidelined because Taeshi couldn't figure out what to do with him? Or was it paulo and daisy related reasons?
>>154261737>whole essay (with citations) on how he was character assassinated in order to give Paulo an excuse for being an assholeYou know where I can find that?
>>154261799Yes to both.
>>154261737>Back when AbbeyXDaisy was falling apart, they posted a whole essay (with citations) on how he was character assassinated in order to give Paulo an excuse for being an assholeAbbey x Daisy was always weird to me because somehow Daisy just couldn't tell Paulo to fuck off. None of hte other girls had a problem doing so while single, but she can't even stick up for her boyfriend. Paulo is retarded anyway for messing with a guy with known anger issues and then getting surprised when he hates his guts.The mom thing was totally made into a "Get out of jail free" card because Paulo really had nothing that could put him above Abbey morally.
>>154261940I still hold the argument that what Paulo had is distress that someone could see their mother in such importance that they decided to conduct themselves in their memory while he was a motherless asshole that coped with being abandoned by hitting on girls to show he could get the attention he wanted, others just suck
>>154261635>Imagine if Mike "getting better" was just him fucking off out of the comic>>154261679>I just hope we get nothing with Mike from chapters 134-144 with Lucy's pitybait "suffering".Unfortunately or fortunately, Mike isn't going to leave the story's focus; we're going straight to the Isano Mucy show.
>>154262265"Current Arc" could mean the Mike suffering arc, but I just want Mike gone for a while even if it's for trivial bullshit. Lucy's supposed to "suffer" until chapter 144, and Mike is supposed to get a bit better in chapter 133, so I want 11 chapters of no Mike.
>>154261804Knock yourself out:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ACF1tbv_BMgUnKT4tbO0tl2wzq_ACBxEAnz6Lc_DPwY/edit?tab=t.0Fannel guy made videos talking about the essay and linked it there.
>>154262285There is no escape or intervention in this place, Anon the miasma is coming.
>>154262334Motherfucker. I'm just here for Amy art because this webcomic is utter dogshit.
>>154262311>170 pagesI don't disagree, but god damn.
>>154262128>>154262334>Mike...being insaneIt's time for another rolicking round of What the Absolute Fuck Did Taeshi Mean By This? Is she saying that Mike crazy because he>A) does not up and leave for greener pastures?>B) keeps hitching his wagon to Sandy when the clearly superior white cat is right there?C) hyperfocuses on one super special friend at a time?or is itD) none of the above, because Mike's descent into madness is yet to come?Please oh please let it be D. This Goldiemalding nonsense has been so trite thus far. Spice it up! Really fly off the rails! If the old Mike must be destroyed, color his metamorphosis green (for goblin, and not the sperg kind).
>>154262285>10-ish chapters of Lucy suffering>Mike "gets a bit better" in 3How much do you want to bet his depression sidelines him so that Mike cannot distract from the Lucy pitybait parade?
>>154262311This is a well constructed argument, if a bit much. I doubt Taeshi and Suitcase even read a few pages and just brushed it off
>>154262600>>A) does not up and leave for greener pastures?She seems dead set on telling people that Mike would crash and burn if he went anywhere else. The guy that's too nice for his own good is somehow unable to adjust to a new area away from the drama of Lucy and her circle
>>154262915Oh I'm sure that Mike would indeed crash and burn elsewhere, with other people. Remember when he started hanging out with James instead and just promptly crashed out? I don't remember Mike having the time of his life at all. That's definitely not something that happened in the comic. Remember when he got along really well with Stacy and the MMO group in general? Me neither.
>>154262662Again, I find it hard to believe that Mike will be sidelined with Taeshi saying that this arc we're going into is Mike and Lucy's show, however, yeah, the factor of him improving a little at the beginning is suspicious, a terrible option to resolve this disparity. I remember a while ago some Anons discussing the possibility of a broken Mike being given to Lucy as a reward, and an Anon commented, what if the opposite happens and a broken Lucy is given to Mike as punishment?
>>154263012>what if the opposite happens and a broken Lucy is given to Mike as punishment?How exactly would that work? It's been hammered into Mike's head that he needs to stay away from Lucy because he's a horrible abuser for>checks notesgiving an ongoing flying fuck about her wellbeing and hoping she'd come around. In any case, why would Mike accept the position of Lucy-tender when Augustus is around and everyone but maybe Paulo agrees that Mike is bad for Lucy?
>>154262915Taeshi can't tell anyone shit because she retcons things and changes character traits whenever the hell she wants. Mike could stop hanging around with these toxic assholes and befriend the rest of the track team anytime she wants, she just won't. A strong Mike would reject both Lucy AND Sandy and she can't have that.
>>154262915>He would crash out if far from home and not adaptSounds like home abuser rethoric, saying someone can't have a happy life on his own because he "needs" to be here
>>154262600You were right to fear the world. It has gone mad. The gutters brim with poets, and decency lies burning in the street. But this is not a time for heroes. Look instead to those battered souls who have known fear and failure in ample portion, who know that there can be no bravery without madness, but rise again to reclaim a glimmer of hope from the spreading stain of the Bittersweet Candybowl.
>>154263082If the problem is that Mike always needs a special someone to focus most of his caretaking and attention onto (which I believe to be the one potentially valid angle here), Taeshi has already demonstrated with James that Mike can find someone else just fine. Would that outcome have changed if James hadn't lovebombed Mike to hell and back? If so, Taeshi has failed to make a convincing argument, because I'M THE ONE COMING UP WITH IT ON HER BEHALF. She just says shit and expects everyone to smile and nod. It's literally "who are you going to believe: Taeshi, or your own lying eyes?"
>>154262334I'm actually very excited to see how Taeshi will fuck up James more than he already is, she can't write a satisfying (or coherent) sequel chapter to save her life, remember Paulo in the closet?
>>154263213>tries to give James a sympathetic backstory so readers will quit saying he's a flighty backstabbing asshole>makes him look like even more of a retarded self-centered slimeball because he should understand how it feels but learned absolutely nothing and offers none of the same mercy he got to Mike
>>154262600I'm not particularly fluent in Taeshi's particular brand of apologetics, but I think she sees Mike as causing the drama. If Mike had shut up and not kept crashing out on his friends, then he'd still be inside and doing fine, Lucy would still be pretending to be an edgy loner with Augustus, and the situation would be stable-ish.Instead, Mike spent months being salty and taking every bait that Lucy threw out, leaving him on thin ice socially and emotionally. During EF Mike trashed his room and ran outside, where Lucy mysteriously spawned in. It's been years and it's still stupid as fuck; Lucy's family is hesitant to let her walk home alone, but she's alone, on a winter night (like the one she killed herself on), near the anniversary of her attempt. And that's not even getting into the implication that Lucy regularly goes to that tree just to mald. EF is such a clusterfuck. Anyways: Then Mike proceeded to beg for pity until Lucy gave in, then they both switched gears into being weirdly flirtatious for no reason. Then Mike took Sandy back anyways.It's stupid as fuck, but Mike is technically the architect of his own misery. He had plenty of opportunities to solve his problems, or at least go "thank you for offering to talk, Sue/Daisy/Paulo/Sandy, I've been feeling bad and it's good to know you care". But instead he kept self-sabotaging, out of guilt or whatever. I dunno, Taeshi can't write coherent character motives for shit.
>>154263189Also consider she conveniently introduced Augustus when Mike was about to confront James about his change of attitude, skipping a conversation that would have put a dent on the whole tirade>Hey James, it feels like since you felt for David we haven't been hanging like before. Was it something I did?>Oh no, here, to be honest I want my ass ravaged by that dog>Oh ok man, I can give you guys some alone time>Thanks Mike, I owe you oneIs that really so farfetched?
>>154263242So basically, what we are to take from this is that after Mike's apology to everyone and shifting into hyper-meek mode:>Sue still held onto her grudge b/c spergfits>Daisy was blowing smoke up Mike's ass about forgiving him and being on his side b/c spergfits>Paulo cares but ultimately picks Lucy b/c spergfits even though those do not seem to factor in at allIs that the argument Taeshi is supposed to be making here?
>>154263284>Is that really so farfetched?So long as Taeshi can keep Mike's mouth shut, she can put any words she wants into it.
>>154263242To be clear, this "haha Mike sure is crazy and self-sabotaging" bit that Taeshi does rings hollow when she's the one writing it. She could easily frame it so that Mike is at fault but still sympathetic, if she wanted to. But she keeps A: putting Mike in implausible no-win scenarios, like James lovebombing him, Lucy automatically teleporting into an interception, or Augustus ambushing him with accusations and demands. And B: having Mike do shit that's totally indefensible, like crashing out on his friends for no reason.And the stuff Mike does isn't causally related to his suffering. Mike's not out from the table because he was a bitch to his friends, he's out because Augustus and David tag-teamed him into the dirt and Lucy guilt-tripped away any questions. It doesn't come across as Mike creating his own problems, it just comes across as him getting kicked around by random "comeuppances".
>>154263284The alone time angle was fucking retarded anyways, even she noticed the backlash and made a lampshade joke about James just being too fucking stupid to think to ask to hang out with David AFTER school... yet he doesn't apologize to Mike for blaming him about that because of course not.
>>154263457>She could easily frame it so that Mike is at fault but still sympathetic, if she wanted to.I think that's what she's been trying to, officially. But Taeshi cannot approach the task dispassionately and her sense of objectivity is largely imagined. She does not even try to condemn Mike over the situations she herself engineers, like those crashouts. Instead it's over shit like letters from way back in volume 1. If Taeshi lives in her own little world governed by sins and virtues that do not make sense to most people, her shots at moral equivalency are akin to Chick Tracts written by aliens.
>>154263409The argument is that -------------------------------- Mike bad --------------------------But really it all boils down to Mike being the only character who should have known better and be responsible for everyone else's feelings, in the comic where being a selfish asshole is lauded as being morally righteous
>>154263587Then obviously the only solution is for Mike to turn into the biggest asshole of them all! Once he stops pretending to be a good person and makes everyone else's life a living hell, he'll be the biggest charmer in the entire cast!
>>154262311>We the readers know Daisy is the one girl that Paulo won’t touchEven funnier in hindsight
>>154263657I really hate how early on a sweet cute Paulo x Daisy romance was set up and how unbelievably hard Taeshi fumbled it.
>>154263409No, I think the argument Taeshi's making is that after Mike's apology to everyone he could still have stabilized and avoided this outcome, but made a series of bad decisions (acquiescing to Augustus's "request" post EF, trusting James despite the red flags, agreeing to stay inside then not doing so, following James outside while he was hyperfixating on David, losing the verbal/physical challenge). Which ultimately ended up giving Augustus and Lucy an easy checkmate.But like I said above, this argument isn't particularly compelling, because the effects don't follow from the causes in a way that makes sense. Taeshi's writing is so chaotic that the idea that Mike "should have known better" seems ridiculous; Sure, there's shit Mike's done that was objectively shitty or stupid, but how was he supposed to know that Augustus would keikaku up a plan in which Mike gets Lucy kicking him in the dick, James does a "I feel bad for your girlfriend" 480 spin, and David returns Lucy to the table in his absence?
>>154263676So, basically, Mike is being punished for>not being psychic (as everyone who predicted that James was a trap did so from a strictly meta perspective)>lacking a spine (caving to Augustus' demands)>being psychic (because somehow he knew that James was just trying to get time alone with David and cockblocked him anyway)>having a spine (resisting Augustus' demands)Is that about correct?
>>154263639You really have no idea how badly I want "done with it" Mike.
>>154263639That's something I expect from Paulo, but not from Mike, he wouldn't do anything that would give problems to his family
>>154263785No, the constant cope fics in this thread about Mike becoming a Rick and Morty character gives us a pretty good idea>Mike le lightning rod becomes sardonic wit man who is done with bitches and whores
>>154262949>Remember when he got along really well with Stacy and the MMO group in general? Me neither.And that's why they got written out. Can't let Mike have an out from table drama.
>>154263568I also think that's what Taeshi thinks she's doing. But like I said, the causes and effects don't match up. It isn't "Mike is rude to someone, they're mad at him", it's "Mike is rude to someone but they forgive him (optionally with a brief speech on how Mike is nice, patient, a great friend, an impressive guy, etc.), then Mike gets sucker-punched by a third party". So nobody's happy. The Mikehaters rightfully go:>"what the fuck, why do Mike's friends keep singing his praises when he's such a dick to them?"and the Mikefags rightfully go:>"what the fuck, why is Mike getting sucker-punched by people he hasn't done anything to?"
>>154263837But anon, his family problems are only happening because Mike goes along with the lie that he's this flawless golden child. Can't you see how much that hurts Haley? If Mike cast aside his mask, then his mom and dad would, uh...yeah I'm really not sure how Taeshi could link "good guy Mike" with "the parents are divorcing and it's all his fault." Does anyone have any ideas how a BPD-addled nutcase might try to justify jackassery as the grand panacea here?
>>154263852You clearly have too low of an IQ to understand Rick and Morty.
>>154263676>David returns Lucy to the table in his absence?You know, I wish Taeshi would be upfront about David not liking Mike in the actual comic.Like, when Paulo is worried about Mike, david is offendeed that he cares about that more than Lucy. Side by side it's easy to see how Paulo would pick mike over david because David can't take things seriously at all. his Meme stance makes him unreliable or too chaotic. But taeshi should have leaned into David hating Mike because he knows this instead of "Look at the wacky meme guy! He does things that have serious consequences but he's just a silly lil guy XD!"
>>154263889>It isn't "Mike is rude to someone, they're mad at him", it's "Mike is rude to someone but they forgive him (optionally with a brief speech on how Mike is nice, patient, a great friend, an impressive guy, etc.), then Mike gets sucker-punched by a third party".But anon, don't you remember what Taeshi said? Karma is not a thing in this comic.
>>154263940>You know, I wish Taeshi would be upfront about David not liking Mike in the actual comicWoah now, that risks chaining the resident plot device down with an established character trait!
>>154263784Among other things, yeah. Being an asshole for no reason is sympathetic and likable, but failing to solve no-win scenarios is an UNFORGIVABLE OFFENSE, or something.
Personally, I think Taeshi had at least some idea that the table would never take him back if they linked Mike telling Lucy to fuck off with her suicide.Even if mike departed them while firing his own deep cuts on them on the way out, it would be such a thing where them accepting him again would take a long time if it ever happened.So she flip flops on how many know and how serious it gets treated and ends up coming up with stuff like LitS to get Mike exiled, but in a way where he can come back to the group.The problem is that his way back into their good graces is most likely going to be him begging Lucy to forgive him.
>>154264031>when the suicide nuke is too powerful so you have to invent the downscaled bullshit bomb instead
>>154263852I don't want rick and morty shit, I just mean whatever those other retard cats are doing, ignore them, pretend they don't exist. Lucy especially will go fucking insane from that.>>154264031Didn't she imply that during that drunk party or whatever Mike told them it was his fault and then Paulo punched him?
>>154264081Remember that next to nobody knew about Lucy's suicide attempt. Until the whole school canonically did, and then Taeshi confirmed on her blog it's actually still just a few people.
>>154263912Anon, Taeshi seriously expects people to find James sympathetic because he's assblasted that Mike's cockblocking him, while also loudly telling everyone "DON'T WORRY, DAVID WOULD NEVER GIVE UP ON PAULO/LUCY TO FUCK JAMES!" there's no causal logic here, she's even said Mike's abandoning Paulo and not the other way around.
>>154264117Isn't it great when she reveals shit just to retcon it to be buried again so it can be used for more drama later?
>>154264195>she's even said Mike's abandoning Paulo and not the other way aroundShow me. I want to almost enjoy my anger.
>>154263912Allow me>Parents don't put much effort into Mike because he's "fine" on his own>This puts a very high bar he has to reach every time>If this image they have of him crumbles they will start getting stressed out and blame Mike and each other for not living up to standard >If only Mike was someone like Lucy that was obviously unreliable and selfish they could have talked things out from the start instead of believing he was the evidence of things working out>Thus Mike bad
>>154264195she never puts important shit in the comics. It's all on a Tumblr blog she probably didnt even think of an answer to until asked
>>154264195>he's assblasted that Mike's cockblocking himWhy not try to suck David's dick after school? You know, like tried with MIKE.Lampshading it doesnt make up for bad writing. For fucks sake, the after-school homewreck was shit James came up with and planned. There is no reason not to do it again with Mike, even if James is dumb. That isn't dumb, that is dementia.>>154264323That sounds completely retarded, infuriating, but in line with what we have seen. Thanks for the ragebait. They'd be dogshit parents if they tried that shit.
>>154264243I'm too lazy to screencap and Taeshi rambles.>Veronica: I found the response very fascinating! I did not expect people to bat for Mike so readily and eagerly to the point of villainising Lucy and Augustus (and even James!)! >To a lot of people, the sulking is more than enough! He still uses Lucy when convenient and spirals when he can’t, he still wants James/Paulo/Daisy to pine for him even though they’ve all moved on. He assumes they’ve all abandoned him when there’s no evidence of that. Say what you will about James’ one-track romantic mind prioritising David, but James has never actually been bothered with Mike joining him and David. He is HAPPY to see him! He is HAPPY for him to be around! (and then Taeshi weaponizes this against Mike)>For someone who thinks people leave you if you’re rejected, he sure is mind-reading Paulo and Daisy in particular, assuming they’re all gonna "leave him" like James. Like Lucy. Even though they left him not because they stopped loving him. But that’s the reason to him. >He hasn’t even given Paulo and Daisy a chance to leave him! He’s left THEM!So Mike's at fault for not waiting for Paulo to shitcan him, even though Paulo already promised Lucy and she cashed in. BPD means anything and everything will be used against you.
>>154264386>James has never actually been bothered with Mike joining him and David. He is HAPPY to see him! He is HAPPY for him to be around!Why does she lie so blatantly?
>>154264437Anybody got the version of this where the skeleton runs by in the background
>>154264437Because she's a BPD psycho. To her James being happy to see Mike is a DEBT he can call in at any moment, not any sort of real friendship. Mike being included obliges him to the other person, Mike including them does not oblige them to him. Mike has no moral claims on anyone in her mind.
>>154264386I'd really love for someone to challenge her to show where in the comic does her headcanon appear, force her to either admit she makes shit up, show how far from reality her takes are, or goad her into editing old chapters so blatantly it's obvious she has no respect for the readers
>>154264381Making James too stupid to live certainly was a choice. One that made his umbrage taken with Mike look pretty suspect. Which is more likely: James is correct about Mike, or that James is a braindead moron who read a demonizing motive into Mike's actions?>>154264386I still don't see how Mike is supposed to have left Paulo or Daisy. Functionally, what between them has changed? Is Mike not trying to hang out with Paulo or Daisy as much these days? I don't recall any evidence of this happening aside from Mike looking glum once he finds out about about Paisy...which he then goes on to run interference for, stopping James and David from blabbing like the retards they are. I sure don't see that as abandoning either cat.Fucking hell, she accuses Mike of mind-reading but LITERALLY EVERYTHING HE FEARED CAME TRUE. I thought his assumption that James would leave him with everyone else in favor of Lucy was just Mike being paranoid BUT NO. IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED. Mike is a true psychic.
>>154264570>I still don't see how Mike is supposed to have left Paulo or DaisyIt doesn't matter, that one is a loaded statemen. If Mike doesn't rely on them is because he abandoned them and doesn't consider them friends, Mike bad. If he does approach them and rely on them then he's using them to feel better, being a third wheel in their relationship effectively cockblocking both, can't let go that Paulo nor Daisy are into him anymore, Mike bad
>>154264526You'd need ask the question in a plausibly fan-ish way that still bruises her ego hard enough to bait a reply. Otherwise she will discard you as a hater.
>>154264526Just be like "heeeyyy you like said this character felt this way but like wheeere is that shown????"
>>154264661Oh yeah, good point. There are no winning moves for Mike. Taeshi will just look at whichever actions he takes and assign the sins committed post hoc.
>>154264661>Mike not looking after ChrisHe's making Haley do all the work, Mike bad>Mike looking after ChrisHe's making Haley look bad and hogging all the praise (for not fucking off without a word), Mike bad
>>154263639Would be fun but that isnt really who Mike is. At worst he'd just go full detached and a degree of apathy so if any if the gang came to him for support he wouldnt offer any. Like the shit with Paulo hijacking his pc to bitch about his mom, Mike wouldnt offer words of comfort to him and instead go something "Taking my pc back now." and clicking off the page he was viewing
>>154264737Pretty much, if the evidence is not in the comic the crimes are limitless >>154264772>I don't have a mouse, you destroyed it on new years>Don't expect you to replace it, no
>>154264772>Would be fun but that isnt really who Mike isI have this funny feeling that's why Taeshi is breaking Mike down as a character--so that she can mold him into some heinous new thing that better suit(cases) her sensibilities, if you catch my drift. Because otherwise, yeah, I agree with you. Disssociation and detachment seem like the most natural outcome given his character and, frankly, how Mike is behaving right now. Which is inconvenient to Taeshi. I think that even she cannot envision any other way to fundamentally rewrite Mike into the kind of "charming" asshole she loves.
>>154264386>>Veronica: I found the response very fascinating! I did not expect people to bat for Mike so readily and eagerly to the point of villainising Lucy and Augustus (and even James!)!What did she expect? Augustus ambushed him, Lucy kicked him, James ended up being a snake. Even if you can justify the white cats and David, you can't justify James beecause of how he had been with mike up until the end of the movie date. >>To a lot of people, the sulking is more than enough! He still uses Lucy when convenient and spirals when he can’t, he still wants James/Paulo/Daisy to pine for him even though they’ve all moved on. He assumes they’ve all abandoned him when there’s no evidence of that. Say what you will about James’ one-track romantic mind prioritising David, but James has never actually been bothered with Mike joining him and David. He is HAPPY to see him! He is HAPPY for him to be around! (and then Taeshi weaponizes this against Mike)Mike doesnt want them to pine for him romantically. He wants them to not throw him away once they can't get romance from him. This is what James did and is why he's hated so much that even her fanbase doesn't like him. James was also never happy to see Mike post movie outing. he tolerated him at best but was so focused on david that he let it slip that the team didn't need Mike anymore>>For someone who thinks people leave you if you’re rejected, he sure is mind-reading Paulo and Daisy in particular, assuming they’re all gonna "leave him" like James. Like Lucy. Even though they left him not because they stopped loving him. But that’s the reason to him.James left Mike because he couldnt' return his feelings. Lucy's spiteful to mike because she can't have him romantically. Him thinking Paulo and Daisy will leave him too after LitS is in line with how his life has been going since that.
>>154264903Closest would be taking a bit of the sociopath angle in the detachment lens. Like if Lucy pulled the "you pushed me to attempt suicide!" card he'd just go "Okay." in the most neutral manner
>>154265014>What did she expect?Probably for Lucystans to circle the wagons and villify Mike as per usual. It had been the pattern for the longest time, and her she was serving them up exactly what they wanted on a silver platter. She just failed to realize that her outlook is fundamentally insane, that she has not put in nearly enough legwork to back up her claims, and that the optics were thus absolutely terrible.
>>154265028I would absolutely take that. What a breath of fresh air. No feelings of guilt, nor of malice. No more regrets nor wishes. Just the numb relief of emotional oblivion. Merely what is and what is not.The peace of ego death.
>>154265014>Mike doesnt want them to pine for him romantically. He wants them to not throw him away once they can't get romance from him.Even in her own story, that's clearer. She can't even put this "I want you to pin forever" idea down onto her pages.
>>154265275God, this whole shit storm about Mike going outside makes me hate Augustus. The fact that Taeshi has to go "This isn't a story about karma" when someone brings up him paying for that makes it worse.
>>154265275I wonder if this is a result of the cult rushing to patch the holes in her writing with headcanon and Taeshi failing to understand that it doesn't work when SHE does it.
>>154265080It was funny actually because it DID work but in such a small scale that the few people that came out calling for Mike's death triggered a schism on the discord, everyone racing to be the most morally correct person online and being shocked about wishing the death of a teenager
>>154264195James flipped on a dime after wanting to be a homewrecker. Bro sucks.
>>154265028Mike simply needs to embrace the CHADsault path>L: "Mike you monster! It was YOUR fault I tried to kill myself!">M: "Okay.">L: "Have anything to say about that!?">M: "No.">L: "...Damn you are hot. Take me now!">M: "Okay.">[One plowing later Lucy is satisfied and Mike is just sitting there with a neutral expression with an after sex smoke]>L: "Ahh...I love you Mike.">M: "Okay.">L: "...Uh heheh...Do you...You love me too right?">M: "No.">L: "Hu-huh?? Y-wha-dj---You fucking bastard! Get away from me!!!">M: "Okay." >Mike leaves with a neutral expression while Lucy spergs out and cries over the whole event.
>>154265460>everyone racing to be the most morally correct person onlineSee, I think this is a big problem Taeshi's got on her hands. When she writes ambiguously, her moralizing tumblr fanbase can read whatever unforgivable sins or get-out-of-jail-free excuses they can imagine into a character's actions. But this time Taeshi came out swinging with the recipts clutched in-hand and...well, there was just no wiggle room anymore. Her readers might be dyed-in-the-wool Lucyfags and Mikehaters but even they could come up with shit that sounds halfway plausible. It was a total inversion of "heartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point," and it's probably going to keep getting worse.
>>154262285, mike will probably only get a bit better so that he can be thrust harder into the next despair pit awaiting him. Just like when James showed up and love bombed him. Torture is more fun when you give them a little hope and take it away instead of constant uniform suffering
>>154265655Seeing hardcore Mikehaters go "wait, this is kind of fucked" is kind of a weird feeling. There was a level of plausibility to blaming Mike back when Taeshi was keeping everything ""ambiguous"" and he was crashing out on someone once per chapter. But then Mike apologized and stopped acting like a shit, while Lucy's just getting crazier and more vindictive over time. Even the most ardent Lucy defenders are starting to go "this isn't really on Mike".It's like a mirrored repetition of the feeling I got when these threads started getting some anti-Mikefags. It's a breath of fresh air, and a mix of excitement and apprehension for the shitstorm gathering on the horizon.
Don't forget how Taeshi says Mike was projecting Lucy onto James and NEVER showing him do that in the actual comic.
>>154265945I think she could have backed up her argument better if James had not been such a massive lovebomber. Him courting Mike's investment in Jamescoin introduces confounding factors. But even if James had been more chill, how exactly could Taeshi show Mike treating James as a Lucy 2.0? What does that even mean in the first place?
>>154265903> Mike will probably only get a bit better so that he can be thrust harder into the next despair pit awaiting himIs the divorce and the family's completely falling apart the thing that will break him?> Starving self>No friends you can rely on>He has been gaslighted to believe he is the evil abuser>No good relationships with anyone outside of family>When is the last time his sister wasn't glaring at him?He is pretty low now. Is Taeshi gonna try and create a new character to love bomb him, or is she gonna use some of the existing cast to do that instead?
>>154247215I wish Mike would just kill himself and get all of this over with.
>>154266077Paulo will be his hopespot, lifting Mike up out of the pit of despair...only to find out Lucy tried committing suicide. His righteous response to this 100% novel information that has never been brought up before is to shove Mike back down into the pit and drag a stone atop it.
>>154266122But you'd still have so much Lucy pitying to do, anon! Can't you see how much her friends and security blanket traumatize her? And what about the thrilling highs and lows of Paisy?!
>>154266163The story becomes about Mike in Hell learning the demonic ways.
>>154266142I love that if only because Paulo was the first person to confirm he already knew about the suicide attempt. Taeshi making him forget all of it out of nowhere would give me a hearty laugh
>>154266045I don't even think she knows. It sounds more like it ties into her idea that mike has main character syndrome.
>>154265080we all knew james and mike wouldn't last long. But nobody expected her to Speedrun it like she did. Mike literally did nothing wrong that whole time so even people that hated him couldn't find any fault for him with how James turned out.the cope justifications on the blog after didnt help
>>154266624>Mike literally did nothing wrong that whole time so even people that hated him couldn't find any fault for him with how James turned out.Well, there were a few Mikehaters who kept going on about how Mike broke his promise to not go outside, even though it made them sound like the kind of people who'd defend banks giving out predatory loans that aren't even profitable.
>>154266298You know, sometimes it feels like Taeshi is trying so hard to find something worth condemning Mike over--balancing his books against Lucy's--that she throws everything against the wall to see if it sticks then declares that it does.
>>154266748>if you had a problem with Mike ratfucking his promise to go beg for James' dick you are [retarded analogy]wew
>>154266748it was a stupid request in the first place and even if he did follow it, augustus would have been requesting more unreasonable shit from Mike. It was basically just Delaying LitS if he did listen.
>>154267703>t. bankcuck>>154267864It does beg the question as to what Augustus is going to do once Lucy's nightmares just...don't stop. What, was that not the point and he was just mad that Mike dared intrued on Lucy's public safespace?
>>154268069i Doubt taeshi will show it because it runs the risk of him realizing that he fucked up. She seems to be avoiding that. Despite the fact that his phone, and by extention, he himself might be causing the nightmares anyway.
>>154268069As in most cases the answer is that he will just not acknowledge it and ignore it unless directly confronted point blank about at which point he'll either pass the buck to Lucy or pay empty lip service
>>154265625Autopilot Mike
>>154268225>>154268255The sad thing is how this would be a pretty decent setup for some character development Augustus sorely needs after devolving into Lucy's personal eunuch. But that can't happen because Taeshi and other absolute retards thinks he was in the right.
>>154266045>What does that even mean in the first place?A best friend with romantic intentions that Mike will never reciprocate (he might sometimes but then they won't), who Mike can compete with verbally and physically but usually win against because they're dumb, who is monofocused on Mike to a creepy degree, clingy, but will also drop Mike at random in favor of obsessing over other crushes.
>>154268511When your reason for why a character is mad is this convoluted you really fucked your writing.
>>154269350I was mostly bullshitting. It's really easy to draw parallels by abstracting things out far enough. I could make the case that ANY two characters are equivalent.
>>154269762Do Mike and David.
>>154269942Unrealistically dumb and useless, but too "fun" for le demiurge to be granted oblivion (The canon shall envy the fancharacters). Blessed with anime meme powers, most prominently impossible athleticism, but only when the plot dictates. Act as Paulo's "rivals" but also his emotional support. Hurt others through a combination of obliviousness and malice but never "means" to take it too far (even though they often do). Fixated on the wellbeing of their friends and will try to help even when their help is counterproductive. Accidentally(?) gave their best friend the worst advice possible at a critical moment. Have a weird relationship with causality due to being marked by le demiurge, most obviously manifested in the absolute vacuum of karma they occupy, but also by premonitions of the future and knowledge of events they weren't there for.It's easy when you zoom out far enough and cherry-pick what you need. Of course, it also helps that Taeshi tends to mix-and-match the same grab bag of ideas.
>>154265625>Its a Mike suddenly kills Paulo because the sun was too bright episode
Bump.
Does Mike have any good friends?
>>154272063No and the plot refuses to allow him to branch out and try to make one without it being a trap
>>154272063Nope, they'll all pick Lucy if given the chance. Fuck this BPD revenge fantasy story, and fuck this shitty self-insert Mary Sue bullshit with constant retcons.
>>154272063No, at least not at this point, though I'm not sure if he ever did have any real friends, they were all just kinda there.It's strange how they all just vanished. You'd expect them to at least show some concern for him, but they're all happily kissing Lucy's ass as if nothing happened.Worst of them is Paulo, Mike's theoretical 'best friend', who wouldn't hesitate to throw him under the bus 100% of the time a girl is involved.I get that Stacy has her own clique and all, but Why isn't Abbey worried about him? In theory he shouldn't have much reasons to have anything against Mike, and he isn't traditionally a Lucy stan, either.
>>154272186The plot mandates the suffering and eternal villainization of Mike until he gives his abuser his body and listens to his "betters" (hint: his abusers)
>>154272063He has me
>>154272063The James thing proved that he isn't allowed to. The track team is there but they're minor in the grand scheme of things. They wouldn't be able to do much and we haven't even seen their reactions to anything post LitS.that and blog answers have shown that Taeshi actually gets upset if you mention Mike getting away from everyone that hates his guts and trying to start new. He can't escape this hell she's created for him.>>154272186>Why isn't Abbey worried about him?Because nobody can worry about Mike. Yeah mike's sister is friends with his group but she's on track to start hating him and say some soul shattering stuff to him too. So she wont bring it up
Boy oh Boy I can't wait for Taeshi to have Haley crash out on Mike and then we have to sit through ten blog posts about how "No, she had her reasons that I totally never showed on the comic page! I'm stating them here! There's justification! You aren't supposed to hate her!"
>>154272589>Taeshi actually gets upset if you mention Mike getting away from everyone that hates his guts and trying to start new.Absolutely insane. Probably won't even let him enjoy any sort of solo hobby either(Lucy suddenly interested in it and kicks him out)
>>154272589As far as the track guys I think the only thing that's been implied is that Mike has been skipping practice and James is worried the other guys are going to tear into him (James) so they might be getting an idea that James pulled some bullshit to cause that.
>>154272756As they should. James rape punishment when?
>>154272756Which Taeshi will never actually show because it means facing and admitting to James being a total snake which wasn't her intent.
>>154272589>>154272756Taeshi would find some wat to drive a wedge between the team and Mike. I think we've seen plenty of evidence that she can cook up some real vile bullshit.
>>154272865Probably, but I feel the more likely route will be Mike just quitting "for the good of the team" or something before any blow ups happen
>>154272832what WAS her intent with James then? Because if you aren't intending to show he's shitty with how he handled Mike, you have to be a special kind of stupid to not know how that would look to the average person.
>>154272935For him to look like a totally reasonable and correct person for turning against dastardly grey cat and siding with the righteous white cat I assumeShe just didn't count on her usual Lucystans and everyone else to near unanimously go "No, wait, that's fucked up."
It'll just never be enough for Taeshi, fuck this shit. If she wants to constantly demonize abuse victims while sucking off their abusers, then I'm done.
>>154272935I do wonder how much of the James fiasco Taeshi cannot objectively understand because she's too deep in the Goldiemald. As opppsed to her knowing plenty well and stubbornly mashing the gaslight button because Mike Bad is all that truly matters.
>>154272889That probably depends on how long it takes Taeshi to actually do the cooking up. We don't know for how long she was sitting on the James thing, nor the construction period. If she's got something in the chamber or is just throwing out any accusation thst comes to mind, Taeshi will happily demonize Mike. Otherwise you are probably right and Taeshi will just avoid or edge the subject.
>>154272935James is what it looks like when you have a Lucy with no history or trauma to excuse her BPD bullshit. Taeshi is so used to writing from Lucy's issues being mostly valid that when she whipped up a gay Lucy she expected the reaction to be the same.Author be cray-cray, yo.
>>154273305But James is habitually unbothered and nice, or at least sociable, as opposed to Lucy's default Sandymalding sour ass. He doesn't seem to be a Lucy but rather an obligate cheerleader.
>>154273331I just meant that in reference to his reasons for snapping at Mike like that which felt like it came out of nowhere, not his personality overall.
>>154273369That's also what I mean by cheerleader. It really did not feel like James at all but rather that Lucy had assumed direct control. A gigantic problem is that James' accusation made no sense based on the evidence. Augustus made a wild accusation with nothing to back it up but James treated it like an obvious fact. There is this major logical disconnect that leaves everyone involved looking insane, stupid, or wanting an excuse to be rid of Mike no matter how flimsy. James' parting shot only looks good if Mike is genuinely horrible.
>>154273596But Mike is a genuinely horrible master manipulator, he gets what he wants by... being nice?
>>154273630Mike got to feel good about himself whemln taking care of Lucy and so was therefore manipulative, or so I gather. The whole projecting Lucy onto James thing only works on an extremely reductive level, i.e. a friend who Mike preferred to hang out with. So by definition every best friend Mike could ever have is a Lucy replacement and fucking hell it's really just another copy-pasted Lucy issue, huh?
>>154273092as its been said before, the version of BCB in her head and the version of BCB she actually puts onto pages online are totally different.I wouldn't even say this specifically related to Goldie. What James did comes across as bad if you just understand people on a basic level. There's no way what James did to mike has not happened to taeshi at some point IRL.
>>154273596if anything, Lucy kicking Mike when he tries to actually explain himself should have raised red flags. Some rando coming out of nowhere talking shit is already sketchy as hell but then the girl kicks him when your accused "Friend" tries to explain should have cancelled the whole thing out.
>>154273760>Do the community a service(Occupy Lucy's attention)>Feel like a hero, yet?>This is bad to BPDgoddess
>>154273596Yeah it really made no sense>Rando edgecat he doesn't know starts throwing accusations as his supposed bro>Bro tries to defend himself and edgecat being an obvious faggot with his antics>Girl, who his only exposure to was her being an unpleasant cunt to him and everyone around her starts spouting dumb non problems>When bro tries to defend his case, she assaults him before he can even get a word in>Instead of helping his supposed bro he immediately sides with the person he doesn't know and the person who was not only a bitch but now just attacked the guy before he could defend himselfJames is a retard and a slut. Though I guess that is something he shares with Lucy
>>154273930>Feel like a hero, yet?Welcome to hell, Mike.
>>154273630Unfortunately he lives in a setting where the author thinks everyone's true self is being a prick and being nice is always a mask to angle for something or to selfishly make one feel good about themselves.
>>154274113My favorite part was Taeshi saying that if Mike wasn't guilty he should have explained and defended his story himself right there and then, like she expected him to ask Augustus to hold on for an hour or two to expose his side to James, in the middle of a hostile prodding that Augustus himself said was bullying until he gave in.According to Taeshi if you can explain your side while being beaten down by people with their ears plugged then you're admitting guilt. Maybe he should have said he never wanted it, that seems to work
>>154272063He does (non-James track team, select members of the Swordsvale crew, Tess previously) but it seems like the closer he gets to somebody the worse of a friend they become.
>>154272958I think I understand the Lucyfag mindset to an extent. Given their history, it makes sense that Lucy would fucking hate Mike and want revenge; it isn't FAIR, given that she started it, but it makes sense. But with characters like Paulo or James, there's no history that puts Mike on thin ice with them, no reason for them to have it out for him or throw him under the bus. In prior interactions, they claim to have Mike's back come hell or high water. So them going "actually fuck Mike, Lucy #1" comes across incredibly shitty, even to Lucyfags.
If Mike has a friend who might want to fuck him but he doesn't want to fuck them it's abuse.
>>154274423Also, even the strongest of Lucyfags seem to be reaching a point of throwing up their hands and going "I dunno, I guess she's just crazy", as their every attempt to parse out what Lucy wants or what her problem is gets shot down, either in the comic itself or by Taeshi responding with "lol that's stupid, no".
>>154274423I assume that it didn't help how the accusations did not actually make a lot of sense given the evidence. Lucyfags can talk themselves into believing a lot of heinous shit about scarf cat, but here the universe treated completely unsupported assertions as gospel truth. The emperor, as they say, had no clothes. When anyone pointed out how little sense any of this made, no coherent counterargument was possible. The reason why Lucyfags, Mikehaters, or just obligate shit-stirrers hyperfocused on Mike breaking his promise to not go outside is because that's the only "sin" based in observable reality.
New page
>>154274715Comment and preview. Maybe "victim complex" is actually referring to Lucy?
>>154274728I hope so, it'd show for once that she acknowledges it
>>154274737>in another ten chapters or so things should be in a *much* different position..What did she mean by this
>>154274715Get ready for 5-10 pages of yet another pretentious attempt to be artsy and dramatic while repeating vague information that we already fucking know. The only upside to this is Lucy suffering, and it's not even happening in the real world.
>>154274715Fucking nothing as usual. Unless you take this as a rape fantasy and Lucy wanting to get railed against a dumpster in some bumfuck alley that reeks of piss.
>>154274728>the last time we're seeing Lucy's nightmaresOh thank fuck. This shit is beyond tired.>Maybe "victim complex" is actually referring to Lucy?That's the obvious setup but Taeshi always has some double-meaning waiting in the wings. Given that Taeshi keeps trying to excuse Lucy by blaming the people around her, I absolutely do not believe the fursona will suddenly be assigned basic cuplability.
>>154274715CRAAAAWLING IN MY SKIIIIIINTHESE WOUNDS THEY WILL NOT HEEEAAAAL
>>154274728>or a whimper, from the look of itI am becoming increasingly concerned that Taeshi may have actually read Second Confrontation.
>>154274728>in another ten chapters or socool so in 2028
>>154274715I AM SAD! I AM SUFFERING!
>>154274861It turns out the only thing Lucy actually fucking wanted... was Alejandro.
>>154274728No no, a bang is ok Taeshi, it's what Lucy would have wanted
>>154274715>>154247844
>>154274715Hope we get cartoonishly evil NIGHTMARE MIKE out of it. Would be funny
>>154274870>"endgame" of this particular arc>10 chapters longCoinflip time. Is this going to be the mother of all Taeshi's patented narrative traffic jams--in which storylines neglected over the years are packed into a high-density farce--or another "dramatic" nothingburger dragged out long past it's expiration date?
>>154274728
>>154274937This being the last nightmare (assuming Taeshi doesn't backtrack thanks to a lack of standards), I assume we'll get something far less interesting but more final. The phone will be smashed or thrown away or just leave the narrative entirely. Mike has not directly factored into the dream at all. The only role implied might be his absence.
>>154274971I can already tell this chapter will be infuriating to anyone not riding high on Taeshi copium.
I'd rather be shitting my brains out after my third cup of coffee than read this stupid chapter.
>>154274971Alright place your bets, does "Victim Complex" refer to Lucy finally losing people because of what a miserable cunt she is...Or is it Mike continuing this "woe is me" attitude and not defending himself as even his own family starts blowing up at him?Or the hidden 3rd option which is Taeshi just thought it sounded cool and nothing happens?
>>154274715>The alley AGAINGet some new trauma, Lucy.
>>154275010It's called victim complex because Lucy is such a victim and also complex, but she doesn't have a victim complex because she's too girlboss for that and overcomes her ptsd epic style
>>154274978I suppose. Shame on me for hoping for something at least somewhat entertaining out of these retarded nightmares
>>154274728>Turns around>Freddy Fazbear
>>154274978Mike is presumably not in the nightmares because he actually did save her from Alejandro
>>154274728I think (and hope) victim complex will be a parallel between mike and lucy, even if it makes more sense for mike they both have unreasonable victim complexes. I wanna see lucy confront how her percieved persecution that really stems from from childhood/alejandro trauma has resulted in ACTUAL harm to the people around her, and for mike to own up and be honest about how he feels instead of pretending to be fine and feeling bad for himself. Lucy knows that alejandro is the real reason she feels bad right now, maybe the constant secondhand exposure to him from augustus will lead her to confront how she treated mike and her friends because of that. I wanna see them both get tested this chapter.
>>154275061Maybe it'll show Mike on Sandy's leash not interested, or not able to save Lucy from her situation?
>>154275076Pfft after LitS where she was latching onto the hypothetical actual source of her trauma like a teddy bear and surrounding herself by the people she is supposedly having nightmares about and hates I doubt it. Bitch is just going to dig herself deeper like she always does.
>>154275089Maybe she has the nightmares because she feels like not having Mike means she's not protected since she still subconsciously sees Mike as her ultimate teddy bear protector she can't live without even if she hates him
>>154274883>thats what lucy wants deep down>all along turns out its a nightmare entirely because it ends with alejandro having a small dick
>>154275076Not exactly a complex when everybody will leave him for Lucy at a moment's notice.
>>154274728This reads like she's missing a coma >Final time (as in the arc), you get to see Lucy's nightmare I don't think Taeshi has it in herself to solve such a problem in a single chapter when she needs 2 to check a goddamn phone
>>154274978I think he was in one of the early nightmares, at least. None of the recent ones. If the big reveal is Mikejandro she gets a month of Patreon out of me just for something that funny.
>>154273760Continuing this thought, I think a lot of what's gone down is Taeshi trying to conjure up pottery/moral equivalance between Mike and Lucy. Pretty much everything Mike's being condemned for are things Lucy herself has done. Maybe this is supposed to absolve Lucy, perhaps it's meant to establish they're "made for each other," or it might just be plain old spiteful vengence from a mad creator. There are, of course, some obvious problems. For one thing, Mike suffers his own separate dysfunctions which largely do not match or even rhyme with Lucy's own. The biggest exception is his obsession toward Sandy. This was shown way back in volume 1 so has been a longstanding part of his character. Mike had good reasons to pine for her, Lucy had good reasons to pine for him--actual workable pottery, right there on the spinning wheel. If Taeshi is addressing this angle, she's muddled her message beyond recognition. What she HAS clearly chosen to focus on is not backed up by the comic and relies entirely on word of a highly unreliable god.The second problem is that Lucy's attatchment issues, her lingering obsession with Mike, her refusal to fuck off when scarf cat was interested in someone else, these on their own are not what she has actually been condemned over. Yeah, they're lousy coping mechanisms and self-destructive behaviors, but Lucy's actual sin was being a stupid careless asshole and refusing to stop until it was far too late. But Taeshi thinks being a jerk is charming and so will not hold Lucy accountable for THAT. No, no, it must be bow cat's oh so tragic attachment issues that were to alone to blame. But they weren't back then so they're not right now. They also do not suddenly get worse when clumsily stapled to Mike, someone who at least tries to be much nicer on a consistent basis.
>>154275061That seems somewhat logical to me, so I have to assume that is not the canonical reason. My faith in Taeshi bottomed out a while ago. But on the other hand, let's assume that Mike's absence really is a factor in Lucy's nightmares. If that is the case, why is this going to be the last time we see them? They must cease altogether because otherwise Taeshi would keep milking them for bow cat pity begging. Okay, so why would the nightmares cease? It must be that circumstances behind them change. So, what, does Lucy's viewpoint toward Mike (that he's undependable and so will not save her) suddenly change inside of one or maybe two chapters?
>>154274715Third page in a row where nothing happens
>>154275182>everybody did leave him for Lucy at a moment's notice.That happened onscreen. It didn't even take much prompting at all. Lucy cashed in on everything she outright rejected, and instead of telling her to pound sand, Paulo sat down like a bitch and now agonizes over this promise. Daisy, who had heard that shit did nothing, and Lucy has Nothing on her.
>>154275191>If the big reveal is Mikejandro she gets a month of Patreon out of me just for something that funnyWe did have some anon a while back who was sperging out real hard over the possibility, declaring that everyone who thought that might happen was a complete retard. If that was Suitcase running interference for a very predictable Taeshi move, THAT will be funny.But they are still not getting any of my money.
>>154274715Is that the place where the evil street cat raped her? Is she going to get on screen raped in the next page?
new bh
>>154275462Fauna is an excellent hybrid of Sandy and Lucy. Mary's got more of a hypothetical-daughter-of-Lucy-and-Mike thing going on. Reserved, capable of sweetness, and still a violent little psychopath.
>>154274715Nightmares about the Windows maze screen saver?
>>154274715>>154274728So what is the most unsatisfying, obnoxious way this chapter could play out?
>>154276131Lucy gets pissed at Mike for something he did in the dream and she takes it out on irl Mike.
>>154276167This is all written by a crazy woman so that's not only a possibility but quite likely.
What was the turning point where Lucy became insufferable? When she returned after the splat? Or is there a case to be made she was irredeemable earlier?
>>154274715Am I the only one who laughed at this?
>>154276399The AI strikes again!
>>154276399You don't have curved bones?
>>154276131Lucys' resentment of Paulo, Daisy and Sue is revealed and they accept that they need to do better.
>>154276271>What was the turning point where Lucy became insufferable?when she returned for sure, there is an unnecessary bitchiness to her
>>154276399I can't blame taeshi, I want to bend Lucy's bones into unnatural shapes as well
>>154276271Ever since she came back
>>154276640Sexual assault is FINE if he does it.
>>154276544Congratulayions, you found it. I was trying to think of an answer to that anons question but nothing I can think of is as annoying and pointless as that.
>>154276640Augustus leading Alejandro to Lucy would've been just desserts, the image rehab Taeshi gave him was such a fuck up.Congrats bitch, you pushed away everyone who cared for a known rapist everyone warned you about because he knew how to hit your buttons.
>>154276640this shit was how I knew Taeshi had no idea why Lucy would come back and that she ain't learn shit. She didn't know Augustus was still there, so it looks like her idea was to come back, push her friends away, shit on Mike as payback ,and then just do nothing but be alone forever.
>>154276271I also agree that it happened only once Lucy returned. Back in the December era, she demonstrated a new thoughtfulness toward others (or at least a desire to be something more than a total parasite). After her return, Lucy's random acts of selflessness read like attempts to counterbalance her noticably shittier core attitude.
>>154276640Lucy came back girlbossing because Taeshi said she thought Lucy was too "Pathetic" during december and it made her look bad.
>>154276544Oh that's a good one>Lucy lashes out at everyone because wuh oh dream triggered>harps on about how each of them has failed her>friends get upset and grouse about how unreasonable Lucy's attitude is>David or [insert walking plot element here] declares they are all wrong too feel that way>Lucy's situation is complex (geddit?) but she's the *real* victim here (GET IT?!)>they all apologize to Lucy for being so unfair and not supporting her hard enough
>>154277024Taeshi's intentions keep backfiring on her, so I cannot wait to see how she tries to break Mike in her usual "you should feel sorry for Mike but not TOO sorry because he's actually a wretched sinner who cannot make a winning move" kind of way.
>>154276271For me it's EF. I've bitched about Lucy in these threads, and how her family making her change schools then bringing her back less than a year later doesn't make sense. But given that she DID leave and come back, her having a chip on her shoulder and resentment makes sense. Revenge against Mike (for his retaliation against her abuse) isn't a noble motive, but it is an understandable and relatively sympathetic one.But her going "nevermind I didn't mean it, now that Mike's begging for pity and comfort I'm back in" during EF just makes her look insane. At best she's a tabula rasa who just mirrors what she expects from others; when Augustus is Lucy's #1 she's an edgily hostile loner, when Mike is in Lucy's good graces she's slightly sarcastic and "totally not flirting", with Paulo Lucy's a bully and a slut who's desperate for affection to patch up the hole in her self-worth. At worst, she's a manipulative parasite who heard Mike say that Sandy was out of the picture and immediately switched tacks from "fuck off I hate you" to "poor Mike, you deserve better".
>>154277135Technically she did tell him to fuck off after the Sandy reveal. But I am under no illusions about the aftermath--if Mike stayed single, Lucy was going to zero back in on him pretty quick no matter what.
>>154277135The EF threads were entertaining with the rage>tfw she said how she never wanted to see Mike suffer
>>154277455I think it was along the lines of "do you think I wanted to see you suffer?" or something like that. The spirit of absolute horseshit pervaded regardless.
>>154277455Should have taken her at her word>Mike I want you to suffer, just not where I can see it!
>>154277455No, the printers got this all wrong.>I never want to see mike. Suffer!
>>154277455>tfw she said how she never wanted to see Mike suffer>tfw that never happened
>>154277135>>154277182Lucy could have actually fucking won if she wasnt an all or nothing retard. Yeah he's back with sandy but his heart isnt in it.Had she played her cards right, he would have given up and gone to her. But no, if she cant have him romantically then she can't have him at all
>>154277182Another Flame confirmed that absolutely. Prior to EF, I could appreciate the idea of Lucy going "Fuck Mike, gives me the cold shoulder, tells me I'm a parasite and he hates me, we'll see how he likes it". I didn't root for her (she was also a bitch to her "former" friends who'd never done anything but support her), but I'm not so blindly pro-Mike that I found her utterly despicable. But then EF revealed that she was always holding a flame for Mike, and her problem wasn't Mike's moodswings or tantrums or failure to mend what he'd broken, but that he was romantically unavailable. Making Lucy a total liar/hypocrite and wiping out any sympathy I had for her.
>>154277455That line was never actually there, it's a collective hallucination born of conflating the dialogue across a couple different pages into a single nonsense statement. The sentiment was there, but never so blatantly stated. This isn't even a Taeshi retcon, you can look at the desuarchives of the threads and the line never showed up. (Although Mike's original dialogue/expression was saltier, she modified it from something more akin to "I bet you're happy being proven right" so he'd come across more downtrodden and less angry.)
>>154277974I see no functional difference between "you think seeing you like this would make me happy!?" and "I never wanted to see you suffer."
>>154278042>it was real in my mind
>>154278057But we're not talking about your imagined counterargument.
>>154278042The difference is that the former avoids being a lie by not making a statement of intent. It's a rhetorical question about what Mike thinks of her, and by framing it that way Lucy's implying an answer, but not actually providing one. Lucy could say "Yeah it makes me happy to see you suffer, I never said it didn't.", and she wouldn't technically be contradicting herself.The latter on the other hand would be an explicit statement of intent, and one that conflicts with her behavior before and since.
>>154277974Why didn't she just draw Lucy's eye in the last panel? She already had a pronounced eye brow and cheek. Just finish the job and draw her eye, damn!
>>154277974Eh similar enough. Point is the statement was comical levels of bullshit and the reactions in the threads to it were fun
>>154278183It's crystal clear Lucy telling Mike he's in the wrong for thinking that. She tries storming off in a huff on the same page. Any ambiguity must be imagined by the viewer.
>>154278203It's Taeshi spamming the "dramatic" button.
>>154278222Not according to the laws of verbal contract as compacted by the arbiters of truth, anon. Lucy didn't speak her intent, while Mike foolishly did, thus committing a lie under the eyes of the stars and aldtree.
>>154278203Because Taeshi is a hack and saw stuff like Sonic's monoeye and anime wiggle-hands and went "if they can do it so can I!" without understanding that those things were weird-looking shortcuts even in their original context, not examples to be emulated.
>>154273760Why does Mike have to suffer from both his own issues and the shit that is projected(copy-pastied) from Lucy. Only thing not attached to him is that his family randomly is falling apart and the guy who tried to sexually assault him(carson) was the same age.
Fauna's mother has changed a lot; I wonder if something happened.
>>15427873020 years will do that to ya. Also her daughter died and her son is a depressed self-loathing adulterer.
>>154277786>Lucy is too retarded to suck it up for a bit and be a scheming woman pulling a man away from his LDRThat's kinda funny.
>>154278974would have been the easiest slam dunk in the world. But no, she's gotta be Lucy.
>>154278730Yeah, she got a lot hotterHer dad just changed shirts
>>154278974Taeshi had no confidence she could tempt Suitcase away from Goldie and thus Lucy cannot put forward the effort that Taeshi herself never did. Mike must simply fall back toward Lucy, which is what Taeshi wants to believe would've happened with Suitcase in the event Goldie never vanished. Otherwise Taeshi must not be worth it.
>>154279193Ok great so this whole comic is just waiting in angst until Sandy has had enough of Mike, drops him, and Lucy swoops in to lick up the scraps that are left. Or Mike to go to Lucy as his rebound if things go the opposite way.
>>154277786 >all Lucy had to do was stick around as Mike's backup girlfriend and wait for him to dump Sandy, which he's proven he will literally never do
>>154279349Well all she really had to do was accept his friendship in that moment, be nicer, and pursue literally anyone else romantically. But she’s hyperfixated on Mike and has to be the first in his heart.
>>154277786No, taking Sandy back at all was pure horseshit. Didn't matter what anyone did the characters weren't in control.
All Lucy had to do was not stop at the kiss in EF and commit to babytrap Mike.
>>154279286>so this whole comic is just waiting in angst until Sandy has had enough of Mike, drops him, and Lucy swoops in to lick up the scraps that are leftProbably not. Taeshi's big hangup is over how Suitcase chose Goldie over herself, the silver medal apparent. Sandy dumping Mike is functionally no different except that scarf cat is all the more pathetic for it. Lucy remains that silver medal, the default second choice. Eternal Flame could never have led to what Taeshi would consider a satisfying conclusion. In order for Lucy to win the Mike Bowl, scarf cat must get rid of Sandy of his own accord and realize that Lucy was always the one he truly wanted. Vomit-inducing as that might be.
>>154279349Why would Mike dump the clearly superior option? Sounds like another self-inflicted Lucy problem.
>>154279560Lucy had a variety of options:>Reject Mike's limp apology and stay mad rather than holding out some kind of Eternal Flame for him>Reject Mike's denial and go "you're lying, you did hate me, you directly said so, go seek comfort from someone you didn't call an unlovable parasite">Reject Mike's flirting and stay distant rather than going "oh wow watching Mike cry salty tears about how Sandy broke up with him is so romantic I can't resist his wiles">Pull Mike into cheating (he's clearly amenable, what with making out with Daisy and putting up only token "I haev a girlfriend" resistance to James)>Accept the situation and stay friends, pursue someone else (Paulo would still suck her toes if she let him)>Accept the situation and stay friends, stay single and just play videogames and shit>Reject the situation and go back to the status quo ante stultitiae of being an edgy loner but being beloved anyways without trying to rape Augustus or taking out frustration on PauloBut just as Mike is doomed to always do the dumb thing and be hated for it, Lucy is doomed to always do the dumb thing and be pitied for it. Neither of them can ever calm down, back up, and go "wait a moment, I don't have to do this dumb thing".
>>154280672I support the options that leave Lucy off on her own, out of everyone else's lives as she supposedly desires.
>>154280672The secret biggest takeaway from FITR2 is that Lucy and Mike are the worst thing in each other’s lives and they would be happier if they just never spoke again.
>>154281486The actual worst thing in either of their lives is Chloe's awful literal mop of a hairstyle.
>>154280409>In order for Lucy to win the Mike Bowl, scarf cat must get rid of Sandy of his own accord and realize that Lucy was always the one he truly wanted. Vomit-inducing as that might be.Worse, I was thinking about this day, how the story will now focus mainly on Mike and Lucy and their craziness, the possibility of Mike not only breaking up with Sandy because the magic of their relationship is gone, but also because his situation with Lucy will improve after this arc.
>>154281988Taeshi has built up so much stupid drama between them, much of it forced and nonsensical, that I do want to see her grand solution play out. Given how EF and then LitS went down, I expect a massive escalation of the absurd.
>>154281486I thought the secret takeaway was that Mike and Lucy are both highly susceptible to babytrapping, and want nothing more than to be a stay-at-home parent for a spouse who will provide the control, discipline, and stability that they lack.
>>154282198>I do want to see her grand solution play out.I got a way that is pretty retarded.>Alej either does something for once and figures out where Lucy goes to school or lvies case someone in lucy house, or Lucy does something retarded.>Lucy gets kidnapped, but Mike sees it.He both calls the police and tries to follow, gets his shit knocked and taken along.>some dumbshit happens where Mike manages to get free after ALej works him over>Mike somehow gets the upper hand and beats Alej to death with a weapon and he frees Lucy.> Popo shows up at their location cause Augustus lead them there, Mike avoids charges cause he was blatantly in a life or death situation with a goran man beating him, aka self-defense, and is a minor.There, now Lucy bullshit is wrapped up. Mike now has something permanent over his head. Lucy or anyone can bring up to say Mike is bad, and that plot point is wrapped up in a body bag. Bonus points if it somehow stops Mike's family from falling apart.
>>154283728if you want you can even let it ride and springboard that plot into the endgame of the comic too with something like>mike stuck in the hospital for a while after nearly goddamn dying>lucy catches word of mike still being depressed even with his "friends" visiting him>turns out sandy is still too busy bitching about how many cocks she has to chose from to even send a postcard to him>lucy goes to visit him against the cast's advice like a callback to what happened with her post ketchup attempt>obviously because shes better and smarter than mike, and not because her pets indirectly fucked him over for life by telling him not to go see her at the hospital that time>ends with a repeat of mike's first breakup with sandy but it doesn't get undone in the next page
>>154284091Now that you brought up that I wonder if Lucy ever got angry at Lily for keeping Mike from seeing her and that's why they "stayed behind"
>>154284187Its possible yeah, but with how taeshi's writing has been its hard to say if she just forgot about that entirely, is ignoring it because it makes mike look worse or is keeping as some sort of 'secret plot twist" to make lucy not look bad by making her a victim again.Or the 4th option which is that she remembers it but her explanation as to what would have happened is some bullshit like when someone asked how it would have gone down if mike walked into paulo and lucy pityfucking before the stageplay
>>154283613Al's pet beat up Sandy's pet again...
>>154283728I feel like Mike killing anyone, even in self-defense or to save someone else, would seriously fuck with his head. It's not even something to hold over him--he'll spiral all on his own. Gee, if only there was a certain white cat there to catch him on the way down.
>>154284622>I feel like Mike killing anyone, even in self-defense or to save someone else, would seriously fuck with his head.Well, yeah, this is why I said beaten to death and not shoved away, and Alej falling to his death. It specifically to stain his hands.>Gee, if only there was a certain white cat there to catch him on the way down.I don't know whether that is disgusting or not.
>>154284801Lucy breaking down Mike until he can't say no was the plan all along though. Her "catching him" ie, taking advantage of his psychological state is no different.
