MIKE NO. TURN AROUND AND KEEP RUNNING. SHE'LL JUST SUCK YOU BACK IN.
>The previewlmao what fucking whore
BEGONE FOUL TEMPTRESS. THOU SHALL NOT CORRUPT HIM ANY FURTHER.
Mating press on the track field.
>>154802452>She's actually going to force herself on himI mean we all knew it was likely to happen but it's still bewildering somehow
>>154802452Dead Polo, no one but the queer crew shows up to the funeral?
>>154802432But you aren't doing anything?
>>154802452Our guy is the only one capable of helping Mike now.
>>154802503Either Barbarian or Flowery could set Mike straight
>>154802432Girl stop
>>154802488Wow holy shit, I don't even wanna see this dogshit novella BCI. It beggars beliefe and seems to rely on cheap ragebait.
>>154802523Time to goFuck shit up Don't forget about it
>>154802488What a bitch
>>154802488>Shut the fuck up Daisy this isn't about youNot biased at all Taeshi
>>154802488At least your mother fucking showed up to your funeral.
>>154802488lmao why would she care enough to even attend. Deadbeat parents don't give a shit.
>>154802432I thought it would take Mike turning and jogging away to jolt Lucy into giving chase. But throwing herself against him in lieu of actually explaining herself is plenty enough in-character.
>>154802432>>154802452
>>154802563Gotta keep up appearances. Or maybe Taeshi is trying her hand at redeeming an unlikable character. Her track record with Augustus bodes poorly.
>>154802592Oh shit she's gonna try to rape Daisy
>>154802452I hope it transitions to him just looking dead inside if not "No Way Fag"ing her
>>154802623If taeshi wasnt so cowardly and retained her old brand of humor, she totally would pull that off as a april fools joke
>>154802563Gotta make sure she doesn't have to worry about alimony
>>154802592Remember according to her Abraham Sr is the victim
>>154802562Truly we're hitting the meta with the at least your fucking mom loved you meme
>>154802658Do you have that old post?
>>154802562
>>154802623Unenthused Mike allowing Lucy to hug him without reacting seems to be the most likely route, unless Taeshi wants to subvert her own animatic. The aftermath is up in the air, but I lean toward naked Eternal Flame pottery where Mike gives Lucy her desired asspats and gently coaxes her back toward the cafeteria. Which is far less entertaining than him punching her in the phantom injury and drive Lucy away for her own good, but it's far from a perfect comic.
>>154802432All it took to break Lucy was showing her patience, affection, respect of her personal space and giving her time to use her big girl words (which she didn't, she's doing the equivalent of a toddler asking you to pick her up after she got scolded for throwing her plate to the ground)
>>154802658>>154802668I assume this is a meme based on Taeshi's general abuser apologia. Her takes can surely only get so insane.
>>154802488>Hmmm>Nope, still don't fucking love him. Let's go
>>154802432>>154802452>>154802468Eh predictable. I bet They're gonna kiss for one and a half pages, and then either Mike will push her away or she will see he is not reciprocating and move away.Mike will then either turn his back and keep on running, or otherwise just leave. Either way, the scene ends with him leaving and she crying out his name.bonus points if one of her lackeys comes over and, seeing that she is crying, blames Mike over it.>>154802488The fuck, even for BCB standards this dialogue feels completely unnatural, at least judging by what we can see on this page.Can you imagine in a real funeral, one of the kid's friends bawling over the casket, and an adult berating them for crying?Do these characters have no real human emotions?
>>154802737Plot >>>>> characterization.
>>154802685If you want to make this maximum drama then keep the pottery of the play, it's obvious no matter what Mike does or what Lucy says she won't leave him alone and will always be this tsundere mess for him to deal with, so have Lucy offer a truce to start from the beginning, she'll make things clear and will stop being hostile to him, she just wants things to go back to the old times, and he'll say something like "I think I'd like that". Then he doesn't show up to school the next day, nor the following days. You know where I'm going with this
>>154802488>Crying?? At a funeral? For my son? Ugh how rude and dumb!
>>154802432>>154802452>it's happening again
>>154802775We have the divorce arc where it's all Mike's fault to get through, so that's impossible.
>>154802775Sure though I think a hard "No." would be more stunning than pottery.
>>154802432>>154802452MIIIIIIIKE YOU HAVE TO DOOOOOOOOODGE
>>154802737>Do these characters have no real human emotions?Given bow taeshi writes Lucy, I genuinely believe she has no idea how people act. She's like Zuckerberg, a pale imitation of a human being.
>>154802488Ah so that's why Paulo likes Lucy.
>>154802785Who says that's not happening in the background? Or that it happens over his dissapearing? It could work and would give the family an excuse to go radio silent the same way no one wanted to tell Mike what happened >>154802791Yes but think of the slow burn of Lucy realizing what Mike did and maybe even introspecting that all those jabs at him about her own suicide attempt could have fucked him up
>>154802838Only if some third party is the one who saves Mike for complete parallel.>Some punk chick saves him and they hook up much to Lucy's confusion, sorrow, and rage.
>>154802432>Mike is just standing there staring at her, and she continues to freak out.What the fuck does she mean by:>I can't do this anymore?This weird teddy shit is what you've been doing since preschool.He wasn't even doing anything to her and just said she should leave, after she was bullying him almost the whole time the last time they talked. Which included afterwords, socially ostracizing him. What the fuck does she want?>>154802452Mike shoulda tried running the second she started crying.
>>154802852Almost, how about instead they don't hook up but start one of those very close friendships, imagine how fucking furious would Lucy be if the person that actually makes Mike feel more like a person again doesn't even want to fuck him and, gasp, just likes him with no hidden agendas!
>>154802785>Mike's guilted into returning to the table for Lucy's sake>divorce arc commences>Sandy keeps yapping about her stupid modeling career and can't relate to what he's going through>Lucy keeps grumbling about Sandy and is generally another drain to manage>the table keeps glaring daggers at him or are visibly uncomfortable>Augustus in particular is fucking pissed>Haley gets in on the bitching because muh golden child complexI wouldn't blame Mike if he finally snapped for real.
>>154802452OH MY GOD HE IS ASSAULTING HER! QUICK, BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF GREY CAT! PUT HIM IN HIS PLACE!
>>154802894I wonder how the cult is handling this development? Lots of "NOOOOO Lucy you deserve better noooo he's just manipulating you by doing nothing Lucy wake up" I bet
>>154802864>What the fuck does she mean by:>I can't do this anymore?This whole thing is just a recapitulation of Eternal Flame or more likely EF was written to counterbalance Lucy's inevitable needy breakdown because that's always been her thing yet parity is required by the plot. As for what Lucy means? It doesn't matter, because she's such an inherently dishonest character. I'm not sure if even bow cat herself knows her own intent.
>>154802946The patron comments lean toward this needing to happen for resolution's sake and "for fuck's sake, Lucy."
>>154802698Kinda, someone sent an anon question from here about it according to her logic Abbey jr was responsible for his mother's death since he was the one that started the chain, and her response was dodging the main issue (blaming a kid for his own mother's death when it was a fucking murder would be a no brainer) and instead going "so what if he committed a mistake as a kid? Would you judge him forever about it?" which not only made Abbey to look like actually responsible but also was a dig against the logic of the letters, again
>>154802873>"WHAT'S YOUR GAME!? WHY ARE YOU GETTING SO CLOSE TO MIKE!?">"What? He's nice."
>>154802852As other anons have suggested that Mike hooking up with Daisy would absolutely drive Lucy up a wall. Bonus points because Paisy is kill.
>>154802852>>154802873>>154803004Literally half the reason of Amy's conception.
>>154802432DEAR GOD SHES GOING IN FOR ANOTHER KICK!RUN MIKE!
>>154802452>>154803147>It's not a hug like people are thinking>She's going for the nut punt
>>154802432>the last time we met I kicked you in the gut>but hold me i am sad
>>154802432>It hurts me more to see you like this than it hurts you!
>>154802623I expect;>Michael>...>Michael>I didn't want you to die
>>154803177It's 50/50 whether she does this after Mike presumably doesn't reciprocate. Lucy's response to other people not following the script is either a pity party sobfest or self-righteous abuse.
So under the Master Manipulator Michael Scarfcat wants Lucy to pine for him forever read of the comic, why did December happen?
Hey, the bubbles around Mike's head are gone.
>>154803531I think the so-called reasoning is that he grew tired of Lucy's attention after Sandy came into the picture, got mad at bow cat for defending herself from his vile predations, and callously cast her aside as part of his self-righteous narrative. That feels like something a Lucystan would come up with.
>>154803543The energy recharge animation has ended; Mike's energy bar is now at maximum, and he can launch a level three special move.
it's just going to be that le funny joke page Taeshi posted that time
>>154803635Lucy gets sexual, abusive, or sexually abusive when needy, so there are options. She could just complain and whine to Mike the whole time, but it would be kind of amusing for her to drop her own equivalent of the scarf line to reel him in and it doesn't work.
>>154803696There are a billion entertaining/interesting possibilitiesbut it's just going to be that le funny joke page Taeshi posted that time
>>154803727So Lucy follows the script by not kissing Mike.
>>154802452MIKE YOU GOTTA PIMP SLAP HER AND GO BE GAY WITH THE TRACK TEAMMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKEMICHAELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
>>154803635Thinking back it's kinda crazy Tae spoiled the end of this chapter twice.
>>154803773>the chapter is going to end with the hug and not something far dumber than anyone here has imagined
Based. Just needs some dialogue
>>154803823More like STD
>>154803635I know what you mean but I hope it's the Daigo parry
>>154803531don't try to comprehend it anon, that's how it does psychic damage to you
i miss when we got leaks
>>154804463LITS literally killed the leaks.
I pray that one day Taeshi will get a genuine friend and learning what friendship is will kill the comic once and for all
>>154804692That would require someone who would put up with her antics long term.
>>154802488
So what is it that Lucy can't "do anymore"? Pretending she hates Mike? Stay away from him? Handle the weight of her misdeeds? Holding her bladder? Is this going to be some sort of "wanting you is bad for me because you're an awful manipulative person who Deserves everything you get™ but I can't help it and that's my very relatable and forgivable character trait? What?I don't see any way in which LitS can be justified enough to let Lucy just strut back into a platonic relationship with Mike
>>154804972She probably doesn't even know herself at this point. Most umbrella answer is probably "things not being as they used to be before Sandy"
>>154802488I hope Paulo's dad knocks the shit out of her new man to assert dominance.
>>154804972>Eternal Flame>Mike’s motivations are nonsensical>Victim Complex>Lucy’s motivations are nonsensicalPottery
>>154805137I don't like the implication that Mike might go back inside expecting things to get better now but Lucy refuses to acknowledge a truce and Augustus gets him kicked from the cafeteria while Lucy is troubled because actually she didn't want that to happen
>>154804972Given it's Lucy we're talking about, I'd say it's more about "pretending" she hates Mike. That is, she was absolutely 100% a spiteful, envious, self-righteous fuckhead who framed herself as the poor unfortunate victim to feel better about how she handled that. It seems a tad unlikely she'd own up to that fact on her own if allowed to keep making excuses. So most likely this is about her pushing him away, maybe throw in the sentiment that she never actually wanted to see him suffer.
Many might fall in the face of chaos, but not this one. Not today.
>>154805137Technically Mike had some sensible motivation, it's just we weren't given access to said reasoning until later with Sandy essentially guilt tripping him. Ironically, a precedent set by Lucy guilt tripping him with the suicide stuff and bringing it up knowing he was around. Lucy continued to cuck herself both directly and indirectly.
>>154802432Why hasn't anyone mentioned how horrifically huge Lucy's arms are in this page?She looks like Popeye over here
>>154802488>Nice of you to finally show up in his life. Oh, wait...
>>154806090you build a lot of forearm strength jerking yourself off all day
>>154802452Bitch is nuts. What's it been? Like a week?
>>154802432Fuck this bitch! I hope Mike tells her off! She's the biggest reason his life is so horrible and she doesn’t deserve any of his time.Of course Taishi has to force this shit on us. Forcing it is the only way to make it happen. Just like Paisy, Pussy, and any of these other pairings. For fucks sake just let them grown and be happy on there own. I know Taeshi can't possibly understand this but you life and happiness is tied entirely to just one person.
>>154806759>PussyWhich one is that?
>>154803823What is this?
>>154802488>Paulo dies>Mom shows up just to talk shitFucking based.
>>154806781I meant Pucy, but I had put an s in there and my phone changed it to Pussy. A more adequate name for PusloxLucy though.
>>154807250Now I'm actually curious about what how bad this actually goes. I know i shouldn't be. But I am.
>>154803543>Lucy lets the dizzy wear off before she commits to the grabNo wonder Mike always kicked her ass in fighting games, she's such a scrub.
>>154802452Is this an oshi no ko reference?
>>154807454>>154802488Ah shit. I mean this.
>>154807295>"How dare you only show up to your son's funeral, after abandoning him in his life!?">"What's the problem? Of course my stupid loser son was likely to die young, that's why I cut my losses."
>>154802488>Alright, kid is dead, glad I kept his insurance up and running
>>154802432>>154802452>mindbroken>unwilling>forced upon>the comic will still make it be his fault and will only make him suffer even moreAt this point Paulo would be better off if Lucy stabbed him and he fell over and died. He'd be free and at peace. Maybe that's why it won't happen.
>>154807295Gimme a minute, I'll read it and give a synopsis.
>>154807569>Paulo would be better off if Lucy stabbed him and he fell over and died>Paulo...Did you mean Mike?
>>154807591Yes. That's also Mike's fault.
>>154807591No no, let's hear him out
>>154802432>"I">"I">"I">"I"Lucy refers to herself four times on this page.This is meant to show us how much she cares about Mike, which is of course also why she did picrel to him the last time they spoke and then immediately tried to drive a wedge between him and his best friend behind his back.>>154807599>>154807635Lucyspace was solidified with a suicide attempt - perhaps a mutual suicide pact is the only way to escape.
>>154807655The page itself is annoying but Augustus' face in this panel infuriates me
>>154807655>>154807686Ah, just to be clear, when I said "this page" I meant the new one.Mike's the one talking when Lucy shuts him up with a gut kick.
>>154807706Thank you for clarifying, because the page you posted had Mike whining about himself being the victim I thought that's what you meant.
oh i get it. lucy was being mean to everyone because she wants someone to push back.
>>154802432Is she… is she about to rape him? What the fuck
>>154807746Hasn't she literally said "I don't want choice" before?
>>154802488Showing up to your dead kid's funeral after you abandoned him and scolding his girlfriend who knew him better than you did for being SAD is certainly a bold strategy.
>>154807774I think it's a good way to get slapped desu.
>>154807828Waiting for anon's summary because if something close to that doesn't happen I'll draw it
>>154807746>>154807758>Mike slaps Lucy out of the blue>she is both shocked and incredibly turned on
>>154804463Same. Can someone leak the next page please?
>>154807975That presumes LitS did not convince every potential leakanon to abandon the patreon in disgust.
>>154802432>>154802452Imagine if Mike kicked her in the gut...
>>154807774To be fair the description said this after the car crash when he was with Matt, so no relationship yet
>>154808043Oh well still it's someone who deeply cared about him.
It appears that with Nolan's Odyssey, so too do I reappear as Odysseusanon.1/3Opens with Paulo's mom being a bitch to her daughter, whose name is apparently Clara, for dicking around at swim practice. Paulo's dad then calls, and Mama Paulo is like "Fuck off, giving him money for his birthday was a one-time deal you broke ass bitch". She then falls to her knees in shock at learning of her son's passing as her daughter asks what's wrong. Next scene is her driving to the funeral, deep in thought and angsty about how everyone at the funeral is gonna think she's a total bitch and the worst mom in the world (I dunnoe why she would think that, she has no idea how old Paulo was, which is clearly top-shelf momming). She then mentally bitches about how Paulo's dad is a college dropout alcoholic who Mama Paulo felt babytrapped by him and so ended up in affair with her current partner, and then blames Papa Paulo for failing in his singular responsibility of keeping "his son" alive.ext scene is Paulo's dad greeting them and thanking them for coming, and Mama Paulo says "Obviously I'd come, he was my son" and Clara chimes in that she saw ducks on the drive, and Paulo's dad says that he's jealous and wishes he could have seen them and asks if they were big. Enraged to see competent adult-child interaction, Paulo's mom barks that they'll be going to their seats. Daisy's screeching up a storm inside as Abbey tries to calm her down, Matt blames himself for not driving, Jordan bemoans not springing for a limo, and Jess regrets being out sick. Paulo's mom bitchery ensues, then Abbey reaches out an olive branch and says not to hold it against Daisy, as she's just grieving someone she knew for a very long time.
>>1548080642/3 Rachel rocks up and says Daisy doesn't need to be sorry for being upset as the two of them stare daggers at Mama Paulo. Rachel then breaks down into tears as Mama Paulo sadly looks on and thinks about how Paulo made a lot of good friends and wonders what kind of man he was growing up to be. Papa Paulo delivers a pretty sweet eulogy (Noparentshouldhavetoburytheirchild.theoden), Mama Paulo thinks about how it didn't have to go this way and she could have been more of a presence in her son's life, then looks over at her daughter Clara and promises she won't allow anything to happen to her. She then gazes at the casket and ponders what his favorite song was, his favorite drink, whether he still likes grape juice, and how she missed it all, then thinks about how Paulo always favored his father over her. Daisy then comes in from behind and is like "Aight bitch, what the fuck are you doing here, because you certainly weren't fucking here in his life up till now." Paulo's mom's gives the usual deadbeat parent bullshit and says she never abandoned him and claims Paulo never reached out to her and how she provided so much for him, to which Daisy responds with "Except with fucking love" and how that shit absolutely destroyed him inside. Abbey and Paulo's dad try and calm Daisy down, and Daisy yells at Paulo's mom for even daring to fucking show up, to which Mama Paulo asks if Daisy was his girlfriend or something and to show some tact as she's speaking to his mother. Daisy then responds that she loved Paulo, and still does, giving Abbey quite the heartbreak. Abbey then sighs in resignation and walks away (I am so fucking heated right now), as Daisy yells at Mama Paulo to just fuck off.
>>154808018>Mike punches Lucy in the magic phantom injury to drive her away>he recognized the little hints back when she kicked him because Mike just knows Lucy that well>this is meant to prove they were made for each other
>>154807992Took me a while to realise wtf lits is.
>>1548080763/3Mama Paulo then asks if Paulo would have liked to know that his friends threw tantrums and made an absolute spectacle of his funeral, to which Lucy teleports in and says "Oh he'd fucking love it" with a smug smile (I'm even more heated right now somehow). The lunch table crew all agree with that assessment and chuckle at it, Mike is also there but says nothing but is included in the laughing with no sign of tension between him and Lucy, which I'm actually okay with because I've seen plenty of hatchets get buried at funerals along with the corpse. Paulo's dad tells Paulo's Mom to chill the fuck out and let the kids grieve as they're deeply hurt by the death of their friend, to which she storms off muttering about how spineless he still is. Car ride home, Paulo's mom's husband asks if she's alright, to which she asks why she wouldn't be, to which he responds "Well that was your son's funeral" and she gets pissed and says "I was being sarcastic, of course I'm not fucking okay", but at least there's a silver lining in that she'll never have to talk to Paulo's dad ever again, to which her husband says "And we'll have another $2k a month" and she laughs and says "However will Rodrigo survive without me?" She then sinks back into thought and says that none of them will ever understand how hard she's had to fight to get where she in life, but at least she'll never have to talk to any of them again. Not Paulo's dad, not his friends, and after a moment, tearfully adds "Not Paulo" before thinking about how he was practically a stranger to her that she never got the opportunity to know, but she's got her family that she's sacrificed so much for now, a family that she loves and will keep safe, and how she deserves that.
>>154807635The idea of Lucy stabbing and killing all her worshipers would be pretty based and the logical direction to take her character.
>>154808078lmao I can imagine her blushing through the tears and spit after getting that utterly psychotic realization while dry heaving.
>>154808064>>154808076>>154808089Well them driving her off is good enough for me and she's never going to show up in the comic anyway.>to which her husband says "And we'll have another $2k a month"Christ that's vile, fuck her husband too lol
>>154808128Well, her husband did get into a relationship with a married woman who had a child and helped her then abandon that child, so no surprises there he was a bastard.
>>154808089Ok last part is just fucked up.
>>154808064>>154808076>>154808089What is even the point of all this? That horrible people throw pity parties for themselves, or are we actually meant to sympathize with this wretched creature? The usual anachronistic bullshit is annoying too, but the central thesis is the real point of bafflement.
>>154808173>What is even the point of all this?It's Tae's way of showing us who Paulo's mom is while also saying that we shouldn't hope for her to show up in the main comic. You're clearly not meant to sympathize with her, showing her internal thoughts and motivations doesn't mean she's sympathetic. Someone like her isn't going to have a change of heart because a bunch of kids she didn't know yelled at her.
>>154808128>evil selfish bitch is evilSuch character insight. Much wow. One of the BCIs of all time.
>>154808202>It's Tae's way of showing us who Paulo's mom is while also saying that we shouldn't hope for her to show up in the main comic.That's pretty stupid as said message is only viewable by a minority of her readers. We already knew she wasn't sympathetic on account of her abandoning her own fucking kid. It didn't need elaboration.
>>154808231Well I can't help you with that
>>154808238There's nothing to help, it's just the plain truth.
>>154808216Why are you replying to me?
>>154808264Because this is 4chan and that's how free will works.
>>154808231>Why does a piece of side content concern itself with things that won't be addressed in the main storyAutism?
>>154808353>did you know that Hitler was evil and water is wet and smoking is bad for you?Truly a PSA worth paying good money for. I can't see why anyone might think otherwise.
>>154808089>Lucy teleports in and says "Oh he'd fucking love it" with a smug smileAnd then everybody clapped
>>154808173Reread the part about "sacrifices" and never having to deal with other people and the regret she can barely hide of the one person she can't make it up to anymore, and ask yourself who it reminds you of
>>154808417It's kind of weird how little play it sounds like Lucy gets in this BCI, given her history with Paulo. But I guess that would distract from the Paisy angle?
>>154808445It just sounds like general BPD shit. I don't think even Lucy's gone that far down the rabbit hole.
>>154802452>Lucy glomps MikeI wonder if he smells bad right now and she's going to regret that.
>>154808466If you were to read it with a very jaded point of view and look for an agenda>it's free good girl points for Lucy to drive the current narrative >pushes Paisy further although it accidentally reminds everyone that she's only using Abbey>It's a non canon sob story for Paulo, who we know Taeshi is still doing PR forAside from that there isn't much going on
Clara will not recieve love too.
>>154808504Perhaps but it explains why he has a type
>>154808652Despite the happy Facebook pictures, it sounds like her mom is a mean bitch to her as well.
Paulo will be a cuck like his father lol.
>>154808656If so, that just makes it all the more confusing. Okay, so let's say the mom's meant to be a hatesink. If she's also meant to echo Lucy in personality, that would strongly imply these are negative traits that bow cat should grow out of. But Taeshi's been running interference for Lucy's behavior as of late, telling readers they should feel empathy toward her and not desire to see her punished, etc.. So I half wonder if this BCI also operates off that empathy-for-assholes logic.
>>154808064>>154808076>>154808089>Dies like a bitch due to driving distracted>Daisy and the ones in the car are the only people who care other than his immediate family>Lucy (who he loved at this point) making jokes at his expense and everyone laughs>Mom still doesn't fucking love himHoly shit, get fucked Paulo lmao. Even Mike's hypothetical death BCI was more dignified, at least there the "everyone is better off without him" was framed as a joke.
>>154808778>guy with his tongue sticking out in the backgroundAlright, that got a smile out of me.
>>154808635>she's only using AbbeyI will not lie, the wounded look before the defeated "I don't know what I expected" face he gives will haunt me. He just leaves and isn't in the group shots later, so dude clearly walked home after that. Why does Taeshi so torment him so?
>>154808778Clover clearly has competition, because this man absolutely wants to Devin to pin him down and hatefuck him senseless.
>>154808089Do Lucy/Rachel/Mike dress up for the funeral or do they go to one of their best friend's funerals completely naked like bums?
>>154808992Paulo requested those three specifically come naked in his will
>>154808992They are dressed in funeral clothing. I actually struggled to figure out whether a character was Mike or Jordan because of it.
Share it?
>>154808938Abbey x Daisy was destined to fail so Taeshi needs to really hammer that point home. Dignity is for beloved assholes.
>>154809026Default BCBeanface strikes again.
>>154807655Mike and Lucy realizing their friends are stuck in a sisyphean time loop and committing a suicide pact to free them would be pretty kino.>I've been having this strange feeling.>Like everything that happens, already did.>Like we're the only two people in the world that matter.>I know you've noticed it too.>Our friends... they'll never be able to move on with us alive.>This solipsism, this deja vu, it has to end.>We're puppets, you and I. >And it's time we cut our strings.
>>154809047Why would Lucy give a shit?
>>154809026I may be asking a lot but please describe Lucy and Rachel's funeral attire
>>154809047Actually I meant between him and Paulo - Lucy's not selfless enough to free anyone from Lucyspace, least of all Mike. Most of the plot since it happened (and actually a not insignificant portion before it) suggests she only attempted suicide to get attention/her way.>>154809066She'd 100% try to get him institutionalized to keep him from "escaping".
>>154809066She's being dragged through hell too. Every time she thinks she's achieved some stability, the puppeteers hands yank her about towards hysterics and madness. She can never be happy, no matter how good she has it, because that's not her role. She has no peers, because around her everyone is reduced to the level of a simplistic NPC, a few canned lines and reactions that never change. No matter how hard she tries to break away, even up to trying to kill herself, everything just resets back like some purgatorial nightmare. Nothing she does matters unless it's with Mike, who she despises. Killing themselves together is the only way they can be free.
>>154809087>Mike and Lucy gain narrative awareness>guilty scarfcat thinks they should kill themselves to free everyone else >or at least leave>they can get along fine by bending the plot here and there>bow cat believes they can and should rule together as gods>they can do whatever they want!>and it's not like Sandy can please Mike now that he knows how this all works>culminates in a showdown>terrified Mike tries to end mad goddess Lucy while she does her best to incapacitate and trap him
>>154809087>Actually I meant between him and Paulo - Lucy's not selfless enough to free anyone from Lucyspace, least of all Mike. Yes but that means th space would wapr itself to keep Mike alive.>Mike & Paulo try drowning in the river. Mike survives, but Paulo doesn't. Guilt tears into Mike, and Lucy gets him when he is at his lowest. He's now married to Lucy & the guilt over what happened to Paulo will never vanish.>Bad Ending: Together forever. Paulo might be able to escape via death, but Mike sure as hell can't.
>>154808202I dunno, I kind of like Paulo's mom. Her open and total disdain for her estranged son and husband is funny, and she managed to escape the hellpit that is Roseville to start a healthier, happier family, free of the morass of bullshit that centers on that cursed town.
>>154809116I dunno, Lucy's proven she can get along mostly fine with the occasional five minutes of "suffering" followed by emergency asspats. Her only real chronic problem are those nightmares.
>>154808089The image of everyone cheering as Lucy delivers her one liner while Paulo is unceremoniously let down into the earth like Grimes in that Simpsons episode makes me laugh
>>154808635>it's free good girl points for LucyI'm honestly not sure how to read her line as anything other than her being such an asshole that she's agreeing with Paulo's mom while she crashes her own son's funeral.>pushes Paisy furtherMore like pushes daisies, heyooo. Jokes aside, this I kind of agree with, but "I still love my late boyfriend" said at their funeral is not totally out of left field even if they've since gotten with somebody else. It's one of the few contexts where it's not that bad as a comment.>It's a non canon sob story for Paulo, who we know Taeshi is still doing PR forThe "abandoned by his own mother" thing is absolutely canon. As far as BCI characterization goes, this one seems relatively canon in general, because...>>154808466...The ACTUAL jaded/cynical read is that it's using a hypothetical alternate universe scenario to take the place of spending time characterizing his mother in the actual comic. The implication in the comic itself is fairly strong that this really is what his mother is like.>>154808216>>154808231The truly ENLIGHTENED read of it is that it could only work in a BCI because adults are not allowed to be actual characters in BCB proper.
>>154809191It's Tiff again if Jordan even got his way with her and had a teen pregnancy, but Jordan has the "whitecat" factor so he can't score
>>154809202Think about it from Lucy's perspective, though: Cosmic force beyond her control has dictated she is never allowed to move on from the childhood friend who rejected her. She's tried changing social circles, rebounding, killing herself, changing schools, telling him to fuck off, treating him like a stranger, treating him like an enemy, treating him like an ex, and STILL they're dragged back together against either of their wills. The night she goes to that goddamn tree, he shows up. The day she goes to the arcade, Mike also decides to. She goes outside and suddenly he's joined the track team; she goes inside and suddenly the unseen hand forces her to have panic attacks until she gives up and goes to him.Lucy is stuck in groundhog day, but the person she has to sleep with in order to break the loop is someone she can't fucking stand, and who hates her almost as much. She fucking hates her life. By killing themselves in order to break free, Lucy can finally die, and with the grim satisfaction of knowing that Mike is dead too.
>>154809303>because adults are not allowed to be actual characters in BCB properPaulo's mom doesn't sound like a character. She sounds like the kind of not-political cartoon Taeshi likes to pretend are characters.
>>154809303>I still love my late boyfriend This is before Paisy chronologically, she's confessing her love for a dead guy in front of her boyfriend and all their friends
>>154809393Didn't realize that. Still probably the most reasonable context to say something like that, but yeah that's way worse.
>>154809366I don't think Lucy has the self-awareness to care about this. The shared realization will only isolate Mike from everyone else while pushing him and her together. So long as she could get what she wants (and keeps getting handed additional victories by author fiat, can't forget THAT pattern), Lucy would use the opportunity instead of throwing it away. Or, more accurately, wait until Mike inevitably falls into her lap for lack of other options. Finding out she is THE designated victor would certainly make her feel plenty good.
>>154809393>>154809411Friendship type love certainly exists, but perhaps not in BCB thanks to Taeshi's own beliefs. Otherwise I could easily believe Abbey took Daisy's declaration the wrong way because of his own hangups.
>>154809392Can you honestly tell me any of the cast are all that much deeper? Keep in mind the standard of "character" we're talking about in the main comic, too.
>>154809503Why should that matter at all? The current cast are suck ass slaves to plot or shitty assholes who win everything. Adding more of these lousy "characters" wouldn't a positive.
>>154809189McCain would've known that the suicide pact "escape" was just a trap to further isolate Mike.But if we're being totally honest Lucy wouldn't want Paulo actually dead, since then she can't tap that, and her hots for him are well-established. Braindead/comatose, though? Perfect for her purposes - and he can't run off with Daisy. Daisy she might truly want dead.
>>154809321>Here lies Lucy's little brother. He never scored.
>>154809295Didn't expect FUGA here
>>154809541Paulo wouldn't act any differently if he was lobotomized so i don't know how much Lucy can do
>>154809658The whitecat factor sounds like that problem from Malcolm in the middle all the males of their family were predisposed to have where one way or another they're pathetic and unlikeable when it comes to finding a partner and they need someone with a very specific set of traits to be immune to them >Sam is a stone cold autist the likes to feel resentment towards a little kid for hanging out with her sister, possible siscon, will die alone by his own hand unless he finds someone that forces the relationship on him and they butt heads constantly >Jordan is pathetic, a natural simp, shorter than his younger sister, dumber too, delusional about finding a partner. Will die alone or find himself a sergeant wife that can make him useful and love him for that>Lucy is a case of BPD with legs, extremely picky, has no real friends, trusts no one, can't be trusted to be on her own. Will die alone by her own hands unless she finds someone with a people pleasing complex that gives up their life to accommodate hersThe only immunity is incest, which explains a lot of things actually
>>154808173I do have a degree of sympathy for her. She's a raging bitch, but she was devastated by Paulo's death and she will go to her grave bearing the weight of regret about just how badly she failed him as a mother.>>154809079Just a pair of black dresses. Lucy's has long sleeves and looks like the pic, though I can't be certain as to the length as we never get more than an upper torso shot; Rachel's is sleeveless, is pretty heavy on the cleavage, and has a frilled skirt; Daisy's honestly might be her Made Fresh date outfit, except the dress is fully black and the sweater is grey, shorter, and tied at the front; Tess is there too, she's got what seems to be a black ribbed minidress with leggings.
>>154808089>"And we'll have another $2k a month" and she laughsFucking vile.
>>154808417Pretty much yup. I'm now realizing that Mike, not Jordan, was the first to say "Yea, Paulo would enjoy this." before Rachel and David ruled in and everyone started laughing together to Mama Paulo's annoyance.
>>154802432MIIIIIKE! GET OUT! GET OUT OF THERE!! MIIIIKKKEE!
>>154807992Doubt it's that. Suitcase has already banned the existing leakanons, and /bcb/ doesn't really get any new readers, so we're not getting replacements. I'm actually amazed we even had a BCI person still around.
>>154810259Sam doesn't strike me as a suicide risk, he strikes me more as a serial killer risk. His victims would all be blue eyed white furred girls, found dead with "whore" scratched into them.>>154810857More like fucking based.
>>154808913>Matt and Jordan suffer no lasting effects from the same accident that killed Paulo>With the loss of Paulo, his mother promises that she will be better to his sister>Abbey realizes that his relationship with Daisy will not bear fruit and, without Paulo to convince him to give Daisy a second chance, he may move on much sooner>Mike and Lucy possibly bury their hatchets>Paulo and Daisy are saved from PaisyExcept, obviously, for Paulo's father, this timeline makes it seem like everyone came out a winner in one way or another.
>>154811018No. Paulo is shit but soulless traitorous whores are still soulless traitorous whores. Her SO can also fuck a garbage disposal. Maybe the kid will turn out fine in spite of those two.
>>154811028Not to mention that Sue no longer has to put up with Paulo belittling everything she does, and, without Paulo, David will probably end up leaving the group.
>>154810645>Tess is there tooAh, it's good that she at least came for a funeral, since, apparently, "it's impossible for her" to keep in touch with or visit her friends and family since she went to college.
>>154811028>Paulo dies>almost everyone's lives dramatically improveGood old unintentional Taeshi messaging.
>>154811345Beautiful
>>154807204Latest upload ro the nsfw booru, cropped for obvious reasons>>154809079>>154810645Lucy needs to be made to wear more dresses by weird comic circumstances
>>154811028>except their friend being dead>doesn't happen>already happened in the main comic>not a good thing>memeSquare peg round hole
>>154811079>without Paulo, David will probably end up leaving the group.I cannot overstate what a huge benefit this is. Remember, David has a hand in every single problem in the comic, and I'm not even exaggerating: >got Mike & Lucy nearly killed, leading to Lucy's thalassophobia>gropes and catcalls Lucy and encourages others to do so>bullies Mike for being a "cheater", for not getting with Lucy, and for being "fruity">gets Mike & Lucy nearly killed again, leading to Mike's conclusion that Lucy never really loved him>mindfucked Paulo into bailing on Tess, getting dateraped by Jess & Rachel to prove he wasn't gay, and dating Jasmine to prove he was a player, thus wrecking the reputation and relationships of everyone involved>bullies Daisy for being frumpy & a nerd>texts dick pics to Mike's phone>throws gas onto Paulo's gay panic>crashes Mike's date with James out of spite, drags along Paulo and Daisy to ensure they get a turn in the humiliation ritual too>mocks Sue's play over and over until she cries>mocks Mike for being useless/worthless/awful over and over until he's deeply depressed>browbeats and mocks anyone who expresses care or concern for his victims>sees an opportunity to exile Mike from the social circle entirely, immediately takes it>takes Lucy back inside, where she immediately starts causing/having problems because she hates everyone there>rigs an impromptu trivia contest>takes every opportunity to mock, belittle, kick people when they're down, and joke at their expenseDavid is a cancer, a cultist of chaos who causes suffering without remorse or restraint. He has dedicated himself to the service of Taeshi's whims in exchange for power: He exists to cause, prolong, and exacerbate problems, and he revels in that task with a sickening sadism.
>>154811028The moral of BCB is that if a friend or relationship sucks, cut your losses and never look back, you're better off without them. Think about it: Tess, Jasmine, and Rachel dumped Paulo and didn't stay in touch, and they're doing great. Abbey dumped Daisy and left, he's better off. Rose (Paulo's mom) left her son and husband and it worked out perfectly for her. Every BCI where a character dies, everyone else is better off without them.Meanwhile every time characters choose to stick together out of loyalty, it just makes them miserable and turns out to be a bad idea.
>>154802432This comic is highly satanic because it implies cats have souls
>>154808089What makes me really nervous is that i’m not sure Taeshi doesn’t think Paulo’s mom is a bitch.Perhaps deep inside (or explicitely) she thinks she’s an strong independent woman or something. I wouldn’t put this past her
>>154808076>Papa Paulo delivers a pretty sweet eulogy (Noparentshouldhavetoburytheirchild.theoden)This was probably the highlight of the chapter for me, since I'm very sentimental for father-son moments. I'll post it if you guys want and the thread's still up when I get home from work.
Scene was never my scene in highschool, if it's not obvious, but I wanted to try to give Cookie a dip.
>>154812184Yes please.
>>154812722Cute Cookie, anon
>>154812113She's a liberated woman who does not get dragged down by the presumably one night stand drunk that tried to baby-trap her. If you don't hate paulo you hate all women
>>154812800>What can you say about Paulo>He was Paulo
It's kinda funny that Lucy is no different than a screeching toddler now, genuinely no mental difference.
>>154813321That's an unfair comparison, screeching toddlers have parental supervision.
>>154813367And Lucy canonically can't function without a handler, so a fair comparison would be a toddler without their parent.Kinda makes Mucy pedophilic/incestuous in terms of the dynamic.
>>154813321The difference is that toddlers will show full intent before throwing a tantrum, be it yelling in advance they don't or do want something and getting frustrated or laughing in a manic fit because they think what they're doing is playing and can't understand that they'll get scolded for it, Lucy doesn't give you that she just runs to you and does a triple salchow to land belly up and starts crying and it's up to you to find why. She's more like a baby
>>154813428Yeah, she's unbearable to watch because she's exactly like an infant in a teen's body, which makes the comic really shitty and unintentionally misogynistic.
Mike is going to have intensive panic attack and faint, since every possible action he can take will hurt Lucy. Its the only way to make Lucy learn.
>>154814076I lean toward him undoing December by reassuring Lucy that the table at large loves and will always support her. This will ignore that Lucy already suffered dream-related trust issues established by retcon, naturally. I only predict as much because Taeshi said we aren't getting more dream shit in the future, implying the underlying trust issues are fixed.Unless Mike gives her something more pertinent to worry about instead, I guess.
>>154808064>>154808076>>154808089Holy fuck that's so fuckin much to unpack here, where to even begin? Well Paulo's mom (I'm gonna call her Paula) is a grade A BITCH. Like holy shit, you all thought Lucy was bad, this is a grown ass woman who acts like some Russian mail-order bride. It's very concerning how taeshi tried to make her appear sympathetic, but there's no way to have any sympathy for a monster like Paula, she married someone who's first thought was having 2k being freed up now thanks to her first kid dying.Then there's the cast, I'm surprised Paulo's dad kept it together for the entire funeral, either he's made of sterner stuff or taeshi just doesn't care/know about how grieving, single parents act. It felt like he wasn't attending his baby boy's funeral honestly, he was just there for a friend. Abbey can't catch a fucking break even in BCIs kek, his then (ex?)girlfriend professes her love for his bully, and he'll live with that for the rest of his life.Also, shocking that Mike or even fucking DAVID, barely had a presence. I argue they were stronger friends than fuckin MATT of all people. I guess in Mike's case, this was before they had that heartfelt talk during New Years, but still.My takeaway from all this is that taeshi this BCI was just abysmal, ragebait dogshit that doubles as cheater apologia.
>>154814076>Faints>How dare Mike make Lucy worry and feel bad! That monster!There is no winning so either bail as gracefully as possible or go scorched earth for the fuck of it
>>154814183>Paulo's mom is a cheater and so ontologically evil>however she's also an asshole and therefore deserves reader empathy
>>154814120>Undoing December That'd be amazing just for how unhinged it'd make Lucy look, putting more weight on the words of a single person than on the actions of many, turning on a dime, the better example of Lucy's character
>>154814417Actually if Paulo wasn't born and become such a disappointment his mother wouldn't have left so it's his fault this happened and his mom is just a victim
The whole table are just a bunch of bumbling lobotomites who worship Lucy and cum at the thought of her holy name or being beaten bloody by her.
>>154811422prolly the sperg who always gets triggered over paulohis reading comprehension was never the best
>>154814423While you're not wrong, I'm sure the intent would be far kinder to Lucy.>oh woe is she>tricked into this wretched mindset by the vile Michael Scarfcat>all because he fostered her dependency issues for his own selfish gain>then cast her adrift when she needed him most>now he seeks to undo his great sin>at long last a step toward doing right by Lucy the ever-innocent
>>154811079>>154811667yeah nah there's zero chance david would abandon his favorite targets of torment.thinking he's there because of paulo is a misreading of david's "character" (and his purpose to the author, which is a contrived plot driving tool)
>>154814120>implying the underlying trust issues are fixed.I find the most glaring issue to be how Mike reacts to Lucy's suicide, which has been a long downward spiral. When Lucy comes back, he wants to talk to her, but Lucy tells him to fuck off. EF takes place and resolves, making Mike miss his chance to talk. Mike makes a deal with Augustus to not try to talk about it anymore, for Lucy's sake. Everyone abandons Mike for being a monster that hurts others. And now it seems Lucy is going to hug him, which gives Mike no path to avoid hurting Lucy.I must be missing something. Twice Mike has almost died and it wrecked Lucy each time. Mike almost kills Lucy, and Lucy hasn't let him resolve it for - over a year?
>>154814553Well yeah, I count on Taeshi trying to twist it as she pleases, but the no cultist readers are getting more wise about it and she's even sharing the posts of that one account doing neutral deep analysis of the narrative, so it's going to be a case of following what's on the text instead of what the author comments
>>154814596It probably depends on how Taeshi prioritizes which "sin" should be undone in which order. Or whether she wants to address one in particular at all. She has been dancing around the suicide attempt for a while now, mostly using it as sympathy fodder for Lucy but refusing to play out the obvious consequences. Maybe she's keeping it in reserve as a tactical nuke, or maybe she is just plain afraid to deploy it. In which case she can just focus on other dumber matters for Mike to fix while pretending there is no elephant in the room.
>>154802488I'll give her props for at least she showing up to the funeral. My cousin's father was sort of in this situation but with the roles reversed, he was called up after the suicide and said he couldn't make it to the funeral. Cousin always resented his dad for abandoning him. But on the other hand Paulo's mom is being a fucking cunt, maybe she should have stayed honest about not giving a fuck about her son.
>>154814784It's probably on her best interest to keep it as a deterrent, the only reason we see it as a nuke is because Mike's culpability is implied, but he never attempted to push her to suicide or similar, he was just the reason deep down, and even Taeshi might be aware of this, if she pulls the trigger she has to write WHY Mike made Lucy jump, and she might not have an actual good reason if her writing is to remain consistently inconsistent, if she blames it on Mike as wanting it she's burning her ticket for her end game couple, and if she says it was all on Lucy for having such an awful copping mechanism then she'll be putting her self insert under the spotlight. So to avoid the hounds of Roseville from chasing her she's just ignoring the plot point exists and leaves it as a looming danger people should be aware of but not think too hard about
>>154814826If you want to give it a colder read she went there also with the excuse of getting the correct paperwork to cancel paying alimony since that seems to be what the husband cared about. Not saying she didn't feel guilty but could easily deflect with that
>>154802432>Lucy's mom: "...and you KISSED HER? ..WHY?? ARE YOU GAY OR SOMETHING?"
>>154814517Well, I'm not that anon who spergs about Paulo. I like Paulo in general. My comment is more just me having a bit of sadistic fun with the malicious comment about how most people's lives will improve with Paul's death. Not everyone who makes fun of a character has some kind of agenda against that character.
>>154815028lmao
>>154815028As long as you live Roseville won't rest easy! I am the friend of justice here to finish what I started!
This post was kind of funny; most of the questioner's question was him accusing Mike of being practically a misogynist, and most of Taeshi's response was her saying that Lucy is a fool who could have won Mike over years ago if she had been kinder.
>>154815328>Mike a misogynist that only took interest in Lucy's body>Would be tipping a fedora This has to be one of you baiting her, no way someone actually sees Mike like that, that guy is borderline asexual
>>154815328>has the capacity to be kinderA largely informed attribute, at this point. Lucy defaults to gaping asshole mode and doesn't even notice because she thinks she's being nice, according to Taeshi's commentary.
>>154815526I supppse it could be a fan trying to reconcile Taeshi's narrative paradoxes and this is the result.
>>154802488In this Paulo is dead reality I wonder if Mike will claim the dead Somali's fuck boy status and get the harem he's always deserved.Think about it now that Paulo is dead Mike is going to be the complete center of female attention at the lunch table now. Paulo's death apparently led to Mike burying the hatchet with Lucy, and now that Pollo's gone Mike will be the soul target of Lucy and Daisy's affections, Sue now has one less cat in her life to argue with, etc. Better yet David will probably be to depressed to ever bully or isolate Mike ever again.
>>154815843It's a shame that pre-breakdown Taeshi's not around anymore to write BCIs. I'd have liked to have seen her more objective projections about where these alternate universe scenarios might go. Instead we get modern agenda pushing at best.
>>154815649I was going more about being someone from here because it's such a dumb take it has to be a Trojan horse to get her to answer to the rest of the question, and I guess it worked
>>154815843>force ghost Paulo whispering in Mikes ear to become a slut so he can jack off in the afterlife (his eyes never leave Mike)
>>154814183Her name is Rose Miur.And I'm being partially facetious, but only partially, when I say that I almost have to admire her. She's a character so horrifically based as to straight up go "I don't love you or our son" and leave, to have a better family and kid that she does love. It's a level of selfish self-awareness that I can't help but kind of love. She had a problem, and she cut like a scalpel directly to the most efficacious solution for herself, utterly indifferent to the collateral damage she did because it was to people she already decided she didn't care about.I wish the main characters had a fraction of that decisiveness.
>>154812800>>154812184>"What can I say about my Paulo? He was always a major handful. Coming home at all hours, sometimes with bruises, since he was, I dunnoe, seven! And his homework...his homework! I'd get into arguments with him. I didn't want him ending up like me, haha." >(Very angery, bitter looking Mama Paulo) >"But I was never worried." >(shocked, somewhat crestfallen looking Mama Paulo) >"Because when my Paulo had a goal in mind, he always found a way. First thing he asked me on his 16th birthday was 'Hey, Dad. Be my reference for this job.' Actually, I'm pretty sure that campaign of his started a year into middle school! He was so happy at his job. My boy really wanted a car...put all his money into his savings. I couldn't have been prouder. He'd have done some amazing things, my Paulo>Empty, mournful stare by Mama Paulo>...That's all I could....all I could write. I love you son, and I'm really...gonna miss you." Papa Paulo then breaks down into tears.
Does anyone have leaks?
>>154815526gen z teenage girls are bizarrely afraid of men and male sexuality.
>>154814183Maybe I'm not describing it too well, but it never really lost track of the fact that Paulo's mom is a raging bitch who abandoned her son because she felt like her potential was being stifled. There are sympathetic elements to her, but those mostly serve to make sure she CARES about her failures instead of shrugging them off and that even if she consciously is deflecting blame, her subconscious knows there will be no absolution for her sins: she did love her son but still chose to run away and abandon him, and he died feeling completely forsaken by her. She will rightfully carry that weight until her own death relieves her of it.
>>154817153>There are sympathetic elements to herThere aren'tNo idea why some people make such great allowances for, I suspect, female characters.
Sex with paulo's mother
>>154815028Gem alert
>>154817125Look at this raw sexual energy, the predator lurking in the shadows to assault an unsuspecting girl, the testosterone pouring from every pore clouding his mind and turning him into a sex beast with no other objective than to take what's his. High impact sexual violence
>>154817229Consider how Taehsi likes to say Mike is a "Master manipulator." , This small form is more like a weasel, coiled and ready to strike.
>>154817174Paulo x his mom
>>154817269Look at Mike in the first panel of the latest page, that definitely the look of "oh yeah, everything's coming together"
>>154817229That's a known criminal, ma'am. Be very careful walking around at night, especially near any trees.
>>154817229Something about that image inspires a murderous hate. I want that thing dead.
>>154817341just look at that brutal, monstrous being
>>154817357It's the faux-pathos, I think. The whole "just a wittle cweature" bit/aesthetic always irritates me.
>>154817376you've got a classic case of cuteness aggression
>>154817399I don't find it cute, though, I find it hateful. A real kitten is cute, but a drawing that's aiming for cute can overshoot into just being annoying, you know? It comes across as cloying and artificial.
>>154817431well both of those pictures are just redraws of existing memes, both for the purpose of making fun of mike's meeknessyou seem to be projecting some kind of intention to mike, as if he himself was going out of his way to manipulate you...wait a second.... Taeshi??
>>154817357Incredible! He's using a distress signal to manipulate and distract surrounding people into feeling sorry for him! Better kill it with hammers
>>154817446That's what I hate, Taeshi's blatant attempt to push "feel bad for ____". It's manipulative on a meta level; she can't WRITE sympathetic or likable, but she CAN kick a character around and draw them being sad and pathetic until the audience feels bad for them.I hate how these threads are aware enough to call this trick out when it's applied to Lucy or her posse, but then with Mike they swallow it hook line and sinker.
>>154817509I'm not falling for it, I know it's you taeshi
>>154817229I'm not saying Mike oozes sexual energy, I'm saying gen z teens are so afraid of men that they are paranoid when it comes to the male sex in general
>>154817509Anon I think you're taking the way people talk about Mike too seriously, you read them defending him from the standpoint of someone outraged that a character who's already down is being dragged further through the mood as some sort of defense that encompasses the whole character and ignores it's flaws and problems. If the imagery of Mike as a beaten down puppy is a thing is as response to the author's comments about him as something more evil than it actually is. Don't take jokes and flustered people as all the character analysis there is
>>154817699I know, I just find it humorous that someone would say that about a character that's one inch of hair from looking like his sister
>>154817816Oh come on, anon. Mike doesn't look that feminine.
>>154816844she also carried Paulo to term and then let second thoughts over that completely consume her life choices after giving birth to him, so she can't be THAT decisive
>>154817165i'm with you on thisshe's an oblivious psychopath throwing a narcissistic tantrum at her child's funeral, despite abandoning said child - how in the FUCK do they see anything sympathetic? is all it takes a woman making a sad face?a person who makes life choices like that is only sad because she's embarrassed by how fucking awful she looks. she sure as hell ain't grieving. this is the kind of person you don't invite to anything ever, least of all something important.
>>154817965Not until he starts taking those pills Sandy and her boyfriend want him to take
>>154817727The imagery of Mike as a beaten down puppy is something Taeshi started, though. The reason it bugs me is because it's Taeshi trying to have her cake and eat it too by simultaneously pushing "Mike is manipulative and at partial fault for all these problems" AND "Mike is so sad and pathetic, c'mon, feel bad for him, he's just a little guy". It's the same shit she pulls with Lucy or Paulo, because Taeshi can't write "flawed" without overshooting into "unbearable asshole", and she can't write "sympathetic" except by showing them as a miserable sadsack.
>>154817965Mike legit looks like he already has two X chromosomes.
>>154813249>>154814447These but unironically. If Paulo wanted his mom to fucking love him maybe he shouldn't have been such a fuckup disappointment. Sucks to suck, good for her for cutting her losses.
>>154818579Fair, it's par with her need to exalt assholes as fun to write and honest but never commit to the characters being such by always giving them reasons why actually they were being morally righteous so no assholes here ma'am
>>154817295Could Paulo really satisfy an older woman, his mom no less?
>>154818579One of my biggest complaint about Taeshi is that she does not write characters who actually deserve sympathy, just relies in her audience being full of morally pretentious tumblrites who just want an excuse to fawn over their preferred characters. Now I do believe that Mike does deserve actual sympathy, but that's mostly modern Taeshi cashing checks her old self wrote.
>>154818654Ok you have a point, he does look a woman here.>James wasn't actually gay, he wanted the Grey tomboy.
How many of Sandy's side pieces smoked?Did Mike pick up smoking because Sandy likes guys who smoke?
>>154802432this looks like a nortubel comic
>>154819044It did seem strange that Mike picked up smoking. I assumed it was due to stress and his nonfunctional liver precluding alcoholism. But this explanation does fit with Sandy's surface level concept of maturity.
>>154817153You know why she was so mad at everyone at the funeral? Because her grief for her own son couldn't even match theirs and she knew what a vile cunt it made her look. Like damn why'd she even go?
Taeshi finally answered my question, so for the anons who were in a few threads back, curious about what her answer would be to the question of Mike continuing to run on the field, here it is.
I can't believe people still read this shit, what is wrong with you?
>>154819371I like being angry
>>154819279Another dastardly scheme by the vile master manipulator, Michael Scarfcat! His excuse to Paulo was that he couldn't let David show him up, thus implicating Taeshi's most precious angel when he collapses! The clever fiend!
>>154817165>>154818303A mother grieving her child is absolutely something deserving of sympathy, though >>154819244 is correct and there is no small part of agitation that she so estranged herself from her own son that she can't match the grief of his friends, and such narcissistic self-pity is revolting. For her, regret over her decisions holds more pain than burying the dead, and that is pitiable. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying she's a good person and deserving of a hug and a "there, there", every bit of her regret and remorse is something she 100% earned with her bitchery and outright dereliction of her responsibilities as a mother and if I were in Paulo's dad's shoes I would fucking lose my god damn mind on her for having the fucking audacity to show up with her new family in tow and tell others how to grieve, but she does get some points for at least genuinely feeling sorrow. Her last thoughts are wrong though; she absolutely does not fucking deserve a happy family just because she couldn't be fucked to fix the last one she broke.
>>154819279I'm not a weeb. What does this mean?
>>154819841Mike is apparently suicidal and wants to end his own life in a way that doesn't seem like it was intentional.
>>154819371I'm just hear for the butthurt
>>154819864Why not just become a bug chaser?
>>154819371hating with others is fun
>>154819841He's going to waste away, die from exhaustion
We should be grateful Paulo's mom won't ever play a meaningful role in the story look at the discussions she's kicked off lol
>>154819982We had a beautiful glimpse of a world where the Paulo show was done for and all you can focus on is a mildly interesting discussion?
>>154819790no, anon, with a narcissist that's not regret over decisions - they don't make that sort of abstract connection. they're literally just unhappy they look bad. that's all there is to it.you shouldn't overthink narcissists, they are exactly as shallow as they appear. she wasn't grieving, she wasn't regretful, she DEFINITELY wasn't remorseful - she was lashing out because she was embarrassed and lashing out is what embarrassed narcissists do.she likely only went for the attention in the first place, whether consciously or not.>Her last thoughts are wrong thoughyeah, because she's not grieving OR learning anything - she's going "aren't i so special and wonderful for 'learning' this lesson and 'improving'" to herself over work she hasn't done and isn't going to. it's wrong because it's nothing but self-aggrandizement, because that was all she was there for in the first place.if she regrets anything at all, it's only going to the funeral, only after she's made a fool of herself, and even then only because everyone there notices her making a fool of herself and don't coddle her about it.
>>154819960I don't see how entomology is going to solve his depression
>>154819982Part of the issue is that everyone pretty much just has to go off a single person's recap of it, so what nuance Taeshi might have been able to convey through artistic choices and framing are lost.
>>154820058There's not much nuance in >>154802488.
>>154819954I feel like Lucy would react poorly to the blue scarf being desecrated at this point.
>>154820058>Taeshi>nuance
>>154820058Taeshi's idea of nuance is cutting an important chunk of the story which without a lot stops making sense and feels pulled out of her ass because "the audience should get it ;)", just like Eternal flame
>>154820269We haven't had a thought bubble since double down.
>>154820290Such writing conventions are surely beneath a storyteller of her caliber!
>>154820290Yeah?
>>154820329I thought that was double down, right?
>>154820290The economy is fucked, it used to be that you could get a thought bubble every two pages and each chapter would have a narrator at the start, nowadays you have to slave yourself on the nuance mines to earn enough context to bring to the author, who manipulates the exchange rate and gives you a "fact" and then you have to spend the night trying to fit this fact into the story by yourself before the author throws a stick of dynamite down the mine just for fun. My brother went looking for evidence about Lucy's motivations and we haven't heard of him in a month
>>154820404Kek
>>154820013It's kind of fucked up how every time Taeshi writes a major character being dead or missing, everyone else is better off or just doesn't care.>"what if Mike never existed" has everyone else doing comically well as a joke (BCI)>The period where Lucy was gone was the most upbeat and relaxed portion of the comic's entire run, with everyone else having a fun rest of the year and summer (canon)>Lucy dies, everyone goes on to live happy and fulfilling lives while she looks on in ghostly envy from the metaphysical cuck chair (BCI)>Daisy is indisposed/absent for various reasons, no one ever notices or cares except Abbey, and even he breaks up with her and no longer cares (canon)>Almost everyone Paulo knows dumps him, stonewalls his attempts to reconnect, and regrets getting to know him in the first place (canon)>Paulo dies, funeral is an embarassing clownshow where jokes are made at his expense (BCI)
>>154820269>>154820290That she's no longer competent of nuance in the main story is beyond dispute. She does still show elements of skill in the BCIs though.>>154820404It turns out the thought bubble economy is still thriving, it's just Paulo's mom was hoarding them. Like 80% of the words in the BCI are thought bubbles.
>>154820522she spent as much on thought bubbles as Paulo's dad did on booze.
>>154820522>She does still show elements of skill in the BCIs thoughPost examples.
>>154820522>>154820545Worse, now that she has another $2,000 a month, she can now acquire more than 80% of the thought bubbles. At this rate, she will soon have a total monopoly on thought bubbles. Rose is a threat.
>>154820640Stop sending thoughts and prayers! You're crashing the market! I can even see why she dropped Paulo and her character motivations!
>>154820573NTA, but Icebreakers (Paulo and Sue don't fucking hate each other) is a weirdly competent character study and meet-cute. The Mike and James one is also pretty good.
>>154820917How so?
>>154819044>Maishul, you need to start smoking and wearing my father's cologne or I'm leaving you
>>154821123Do we even see her dad? I can't remember
>>154818671>Man being an asshole rocks>Consequences of my actions?>Those make >ME< sadMaybe the apple didn’t fall far from the tree
>>154821333The tree just ran away from the apple
>>154820043Someone just having a narcissistic freakout from embarrassment would not have her thoughts constantly turn back to how little she knew her son and how she'll never have the chance to bridge the distance now or quietly reflect on memories of his childhood favorite drinks and snacks and wonder if they still were. The bulk of the chapter is her alone with her thoughts, not yelling or arguing with others.>>154821368Incidentally, the tree's new apple is a big fan of apple juice.
>>154821842the freakout is her response to others, but even internally her framing is still entirely about herself. she does not think about the harm she's done at any deeper level than the fact that SHE "missed out on it" and SHE "won't have the chance to ask." she could have asked anyone else at the funeral for those answers, but she doesn't actually care any more than she did before and asking would make her look worse. her image is more important to her.the empathy that another person might feel with the same thoughts just isn't there, and it's not implied either. she's not even slightly sympathetic, and Clara is not in good hands. she's a malignant narcissist almost to a T.
>>154808778what exactly is the smug creature on the ground supposed to be
>>154822105I think he's a ferret.
I find it funny in a cosmic sort of way that >current pageis supposed to be this big dramatic moment, but everyone's burned out and doesn't care. Most of this thread is shitposts about paulo's mom or other unrelated tangents.
>>154822325why are his eyes like that
>>154822418It's hard to care a lot when the hug was spoiled on purpose, Lucy getting like this is only interesting if it sticks and produces any kind of difference to the plot, but no one's expecting that after Eternal flame showed how easy it was to undo that and LitS showed how far she's willing to go out of spite. Like this is literally part of a very predictable cycle to the point it has a drawing
>>154822418The hug was spoiled, so we're just waiting to get to the aftermath of that. Paulo's mom is new, and since it will never likely matter to the main comic Taeshi felt free to actually put thought into it.
>>154802452Reject the witch and be free, Grey Cat.
>>154822418The fact that the reason Lucy is even like this is a huge combo of unexplained and contrived bullshit doesn't help, there's no reason having a supportive group of friends willing to be patient with her and wanting to include her in their fun made her have a panic attack
>>154822418it's kinda majorly undercut (and contradicted) by what she was doing during and just before Line in the Sand. it's also another example of Lucy straight up working as a character if she was portrayed as a villain. isolating and beating on Mike, then cornering him alone at his lowest with crocodile tears so she's the "only one he can turn to" - it's classic manipulative abuser shit
>>154822418Nothing's happened yet, we already knew it was going to come down to a hug because why else would Lucy run out to the tracksave your dooming for when something unexpected happens
>>154812722Cookie's great. I wish the anon who came up with her was still around. They made Paulo a lot more likeable that Taeshi manages to.
>>154822465Possession.
>>154819790>A mother grieving her child is absolutely something deserving of sympathyAbsolutely. Shame that's not the case here.
>>154822481If they could just have some bad, unfulfilling sex they could finally get over each other and move on. Mike just needs to make sure Lucy won't baby trap him.
Abbey would totally he MAGA in BCB TNG
>>154824198Oh look the nerd squad is mentioned here
>>154824198Taeshi just can't stop flanderizing / shitting on Abbey for five minutes, huh.
>>154824198>Politics with Sue and Abbey When has Abbey ever been political in the comic? Like, what makes him suddenly right wing? What is this?
>>154824456Because the debate apparently, he wanted bullying to be suspended and Sue didn't and she thinks he's a right wing nut. It doesn't help that Abbey really has a tendenancy to be overly judgemental to the point where I think he's doing some crazy ass crusade. But this is also the same crazy ass wacko kid who thinks that his dad deserves the death penalty so are we really that surprise?
>>154824507>But this is also the same crazy ass wacko kid who thinks that his dad deserves the death penalty so are we really that surprise?That's understandable though
>>154824507You mean the abusive asshole dad that killed his mom?
