Bittersweet Candy Bowl

OH HELL YEAH!!!!! I LOVE WHERE THIS IS GOING!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH

I love the spiky animation on the tail

MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY MIKE. W O W

You said it, Lucy!

God I wish she punched him…

Lol, why? That would just be a regression of the hard work Lucy's done up to this point. She's learning to use her words, and she did that really well here! Sure this is awkward but by saying that they'll talk again tomorrow, she's given them both time to think about what just happened.

Lol ok

@JHC

Exactly! Lucy literally tried to kill herself because Mike told Lucy that her personality would lead everyone she cared about away. And has been stated ad-nauseum, Mike was EXTREMELY out of line to say the things he did, but at the same time... he also kinda wasn't wrong? Or, more succinctly, he correctly identified a core fundamental problem in Lucy's personality. Lucy has been a MUCH better friend to everyone in the group, INCLUDING Mike, since her time away. I suspect she had a long time to reflect on herself as an individual and grow. I could be misremembering, but the ONLY time since her return I recall her hurting ANYONE was when Paulo literally pounced her when she returned and made a comment on her breast size, after which she swiftly kicked him off her. (which, honestly, Paulo and Lucy just seem to be a bit more comfortable being physical with each-other like that) Remember, she didn't even hit Mike durring dodgeball to win, she just caught the ball Mike threw to end it. So yeah, despite everything being wrong in these last couple pages, Lucy shoving him off and telling him to snap out of it and think things over himself instead of throwing fists and elbows is a MASSIVE improvement to her character. She's still strong enough to enforce boundaries, but is no longer using excessive force to deter others, and is instead explicitly stating those boundaries to others clearly.

So... yeah. tl;dr: Lucy just showed the extent of her growth and restraint here that she's been developing since she left Roseville. That's not disappointing or weak, that's strong and admirable.

Fucked up

That last panel is so funny and adorable.

GASHJDJSHBDNFKSB idiots /lh

AKSBAIDBAKDB I LOVE THESE DUMB KIDS

This is a roller coaster. I want off.

But i also want to go again.

Welp, we got to my goal eventually, Mike DOES need to sort himself out.

I wonder how all the people who over reacted assuming how Lucy thinks and feels are doing rn

Seriously. SO much general assumptions for both these characters' mindsets when we REALLY don't have much to go on. When emotions are high, logic and reasoning falter. Really glad Lucy was able to pull herself together here and make the right call to give them both time to process.

Lol

How did this end up so damn cute?! They both seemed to enjoy it too ehehehe

I'm pretty sure the last panel is by far one of my favorites in the whole comic lol. it's just so awkward but cute ahaha

"We'll talk tomorrow"

*Have to the same direction to get home*

Pfffahaha

Don't do anything else stupid on the way back, you crazy kids~

Yes...! Finally! Conversation! I was right!!!!

Wow, they really rescheduled the conversation until tomorrow and didn't start the drama right here. Bcb characters can make the right decisions lmao

The emotional whiplash couldn't be higher and I am all for it

She still very much likes him, just scared of being hurt again. I don't blame her and I am going through the same thing right now. Still very much love and care about my kids dad but there's so much hurt and I'm scared of getting hurt again so arms length at all times

Stay strong and redirect that love to yourself, hard to do but will be very rewarding.

Oh my lord, these cuties!

Lol the awkward we have to go the same direction still walk. Not surprised it went this way and it’s good to see a little bit of the old Lucy’s attitude.

Ok this ended better than expected

Well, a new beginning i guess.

For these last few pages my thesis is, and have always been, they love each other and Mike is sincere, for me this page comforts me in my idea which is that Mike just didn’t know what he was doing, as he said, he doesn’t know (I dunno) why he said that (the wrap). Also his reaction is not that of someone who has just taken advantage of someone, he is surprised because he did not expect to say that and especially to kiss him. It was just two people who let their feelings speak. And Lucy is right to tell him to take a cold shower so that he has the ideas in place for "tomorrow".

In short, this is my view of things, did not hesitate to say against me! The debates are made for this :)

@NasaExploration

I wouldn’t doubt that Lucy still loves Mike deep deep deeeeep down regardless of reasoning. Obviously Mike still loves her!

At the very least, Lucy has shown instances of being concerned about Mike since she came back, but she’s been doing it at a distance and rightfully so. (examples: like when she kept looking back and hearing in on Paulos and Mikes conversation, and gives Mike advice (c105/p23) or when Lucy looks at Mike with concern because it looks like she does want to say something to help him (c110/p7)

I gotta ask though, why DID Lucy actually insist on moving back to Roseville? Granted her mom mentioned that she “just wanted things to be normal again” (c103/p2) but like there’s so much her mom doesn’t know about her daughter and there’s nothing ‘normal’ for Lucy to come back to. When Lucy came back to Roseville she didn’t expect to run into Augustus, and she pretty much emotionally separated herself from the people she once called her friends. (examples: c95/p28, and c96/p24, c100/p24) She had the mentality of staying far from her old friends and Mike as much as possible because that is what she believed Mike wanted. She would have essentially came back with the mentality of a completely blank slate. But she already had a blank slate with the school she went to when she moved in with her aunt though?

So, what exactly was the incentive of her coming back at all? Her parents and brother, maybe? Her pets stayed behind or went back with their own families so that’s a no. Or hell, maybe she just hated her new school so much that she’d rather be at Roseville where her emotional Lions Den is?

But I think it might have to do with her holding onto the closely guarded hope that maybe, MAYBE things between her and Mike could be better again and they can be close friends as well as have better friendships with everyone else as well. Dee, deep, (deeeep) down, anyway.

Obviously pretty much every interaction her and Mike had since she came back is contrary to that theory but this page makes me pretty curious. She tenderly held his head as they kissed and her furiously blushing and heavy breathing in this page tells me it’s something she’s been wanting for a very long time and it’s emotionally overwhelming that she finally got it. Also, she could have easily defended herself from Mike without emotional restraint if she had to. We all know she’s more than capable of kicking him two football fields away (like she does to Paulo c95/p9 who never hurt her unlike Mike lol) and perhaps the fact that she actually wants to talk tomorrow means she finally got her spark of hope ignited? However, this hinges completely on my belief that Lucy’s wasn’t going to commit suicide until Mike told her he wanted to start things over right before she had to move away which triggered her into thinking that no one would care about her in the new place and her moving away wouldn’t allow them to start their friendship over.

But like, just because Lucy matured quite a bit over the course of the comic doesn’t mean she’s immune to mistakes or teenage hormones. So take everything I say with a grain of salt like always. LMAO

Tl;dr: Yeah they totally still care about each other, even if it’s deep down and I think it might be the reason why Lucy came back to Roseville.

I completely agree with everything you said. I had never really theorized on why she came back and what you said is an innate rationality! So thank you so much!

The definition of "This must never be spoken again, but I enjoyed it."

I really love the humorous note that this scene is ending on. It’s a great way to break the tension! They are hilariously awkward.

At the end of the day these two are a pair of teenage goobers, both of them sometimes make selfish and foolish decisions….sometimes they make them together, lol!!!

Pfffffff OK glad the tension is over XD

Yeah, I'm okay with both of their character development here.

Forgiveness is a skill that is born of and exemplary of maturity, and Lucy and Mike are both growing up to have that skill. I kinda think they both realized that the other is trying their best.

With luck this will be an episode that they both look fondly on in the future-- even if they're not together.

Still unclear to me who initiated it- mike approached but he seems surprised it happened. I love that i cant tell it makes this so much more juicy.

Oh, it's pretty much guaranteed Mike initiated it with everything leading up to the kiss, but it seems more or less consensual at first. If I had to guess, he was probably more surprised after Lucy broke it off because it snapped him out of his emotion-filled mindset enough to realize what he just did. Kinda adds more evidence that he wasn't thinking clearly here due to high stress and emotions, and I can't wait to see more of them talking after this. It's gonna be interesting, especially if Sandy's opinion of Mike's life is no longer on the table.

This is a reminder that these are just lonely horny teenagers. I hope this works out properly

Drama and scandals aside.. can we all just appreciate how freaking amazing the art has gotten over the years? Them acting normal for a second just got me thinking ... wow

Seriously, way to go Lucy! Talk about serious character growth! Seriously starting to rival Paulo in how far she's come at this point! I can't wait to see the rest of this conversation play out the following day, so they can talk out their feelings rationally and come up with ground rules and a plan moving forward. Yeah, they need to take things slowly due to their history, and seriously consider if it's even a good idea to officially start a relationship in the first place, or if it'd be more beneficial to start by simply mending their friendship first and seeing if it goes anywhere from there.

That was pretty humorous, man these two teenagers are hopeless, but I do like where this is going

I'm still not a huge fan of where this is turning out :/ I feel like Mike shouldn't be forgiven so easily and I hope Lucy remembers that he HASN'T been right at all. I really hope this doesn't turn into a "I was that way because of Sandy" because that's not fair to blame Sandy. Sure, Sandy might be a reason he acted to horrible, but he still CHOSE to act horrible; ESPECIALLY to his 'best friend'.

Lucy was mean spirited, and definitely needed some self reflection but Mike has outright told many people he "wished she'd just kill herself" and said that he hated her. You can't just... forget those words were said or those emotions were ever felt. Mike is rebounding and hard and I hope Lucy doesn't get caught up in these emotions.

Also can we point out that Mike got SO pressed when Lucy rebounded with Paulo. But yet now that he's doing it with her it's suddenly okay. Mike is a hypocrite and Lucy doesn't need to fall into it so easily. I hope she thinks on how horrible he's been, not only to her but everyone around her. I really hope his toxic behavior isn't swept under the rug because the 'evil-doer Sandy' is gone because that's really no fair to Sandy when Mike acted that way of his own accord.

If he acted out while dating Sandy who's to say he wouldn't act that way with literally ANY other relationship. Mike. Shouldn't. Be. In. A. Relationship.

He was SO nasty to Lucy. You don't just say and do the things that you've said and done about a person with no reason. Not only has he spoken badly to her to her face, he's also done it BEHIND HER BACK. I truly just.. don't believe Mike loves Lucy.

He wants control of something in his life and Lucy is giving him something right now. I just... can't fathom how somebody could treat someone the way they have and then do something like this unless it was a rebound

I‘m just waiting for Augustus to lose his shit over this tbh :/

I agree with most of your points, and do hope a lot of Mike's grievances and behaviors get dragged into the light when they next talk. HOWEVER, it's worth noting that Sandy isn't exactly a paragon in this situation. Sure, she's not evil. Far from it. But she did do two key things that nudged Mike down this path.

First, and most readily apparent due to how frequently it's brought up, Sandy just flat out started ghosting Mike. Now, while this wouldn't be an issue for those who already have a pretty solid friendbase, Mike's foundation had been getting pretty rocked before that point. It didn't help that Mike had this perfect image of Sandy that could do no wrong which he was already obsessed with, it didn't help that Paulo was constantly causing fights in the group at the time due to his womanizing, and it ESPECIALLY didn't help that Mike started getting slammed with being called a cheater for being close with Lucy while technically in a relationship with Sandy, something even Paulo and David ribbed him for, likely causing Mike to stop seeking supplemental affection from those around him to replace what Sandy just flat out stopped giving him after a point, which in turn created stress and anxiety to build now that he wasn't even getting regular affection from his actual girlfriend.

Which brings me to my next point, Mike had no other way to cope with his stress and anxiety OTHER than Sandy. As was already mentioned, he couldn't readily accept affection from his friends without being labeled a cheater by everyone at the school. On top of that, Mike had plenty of hobbies he could have used to alleviate stress, but he gave them up. Why? Because After Sandy visited, Mike started showing her all the other things he was passionate about, and she talked down about every. Single. One. She called all Mikes hobbies, the things he personally found joy in outside of relationships, childish and immature, and not wanting to seem that way around his idol, Mike just cut all his hobbies out of his life cold-turky, with absolutely nothing else to replace them.

Now, of course, it's extremely unlikely Sandy INTENDED any of these outcomes. After all, she's just a teenager herself, and is far from the perfect being Mike built her up to be. Even if unintentional however, it is important that her actions ARE what started Mike down this path of self-destructive behavior. He didn't start it alone, and as has been pointed out in December, he didn't even start hating Lucy until Sandy said she didn't like her.

In conclusion, Mike is still ultimately responsible for his actions, because as you mentioned, it was still HIM deciding to act on his assumptions of what Sandy wanted. But it's hard to say Mike can't be in a relationship with anyone else because... well, we can't say for certain if Mike would get this way while in a relationship with anyone else. At the very least, we know Lucy shares a LOT of his old hobbies, as we saw them playing games and having fun together quite a bit before Sandy entered the picture. Would Mike start acting differently around all his other friends if Mike saw Lucy more as a partner than a friend? Again, it's hard to know, because the only relationship Mike has had at this point has been long-distance. But if Mike was telling the truth about his scarf, we might already have his answer, as that stands to imply that Mike actually did think of Lucy romantically before Mike got in contact with Sandy again, and his dynamic with his friends back then seemed significantly healthier.

Agreed, like I get they are hormonal teenagers, and yes they have always been rather obsessed with each other. But how are we going to move away from her saying “please, I’d rather try to kill myself again” when Augustus teased her to whisper sweet nothings to Mike? Maybe it was a defense mechanism, but it’s in this very chapter that he talked about Lucy behind her back and that she was dejected that he thought so poorly of her and her feelings toward him. He’s still being selfish and really reckless with his own emotions and feelings toward her. I just hope she doesn’t forget he’s not entitled to anything she has to offer just because of lingering feelings and the growth she’s had.

I agree with a lot of things here but I will say that I like where things are going as I have faith that Mike won’t be forgiven so soon. I think that is why Lucy is opening the dialogue between them for tomorrow when neither of them aren’t high on emotions and hormones that caught them both off guard. I have faith that things won’t go back to normal and that some important events and discussions will take place before that happens.

I am hoping that once Lucy allows discussion between them that they can finally have important dialogue about the gravity of the air between them. I know that Mike attempted this talk with Lucy (c96/p24) but plenty of things went left unsaid on both sides. Maybe once Mike realizes the gravity of the situation that he’ll realize just how horrible he was and will finally back off from Lucy and give her the space she deserved since day 1 of coming back. Or maybe perhaps a mutual understanding will come of it and they really can start things over like the both of them wanted before Lucy had to move away.

Either way, we can’t deny that Mike is obviously a very emotional kid with a lot of feelings going on and has some self-reflection to do. Lucy also put her foot down that she doesn’t think she should be with anyone right now. (c97/p23) and I don’t think one, hormonally charged kiss is going to wash that all away instantly.

Mike: ……….Want to kiss again?

Lucy: Okay.

The Mike X Lucy Ship: Don't worry, I'm still here.

This is so much like the anime trope "Don't follow me!" "We live on the same block! I'm just going home."

Thank you for finally making the right decision, Lucy!!!! A shame all of THAT 👀 had to happen before you spoke up, but maybe Mike will learn his lesson and sort himself out. Maybe. When Hell freezes over, probably. When pigs fly, perhaps. When… okay you get my point.

Holding out hope, but damn if this kid doesn’t have a bad track record for sorting himself out and making any decision other than the worst possible for everyone around him re: emotions.

All this happening but im still holding out for LucyxAugustus. Dont judge me lol

*kicks and rolls around girlishly* hehehhehe Yes....

YEAH EXACTLY THINK ABOUT WHAT U DUN MIKE, YOU NEARLY KILLED THIS GIRL ALREADY, WHAT THE, GO TO YOUR ROOM. FOREVER PLEASE.

*about face*

WTF LUCY?! WHAT. THE. EFF. WHAT'RE YA DOIN? Hopefully you come to your senses tomorrow ya romantic fool. Shush your entire head... sheesh.

Lucy I know you're there for each other but jeeeeeeeez is it really on just like that!? Without anything? He shouldnt go through suicidal ideation, thats just hell that should never be true YEA SUPPORT YOU THERE... but IM JUST CONFUSED AT THE EXTRA! What! ... WHAT!

WHATCHU BRINGIN MIKE, HOPE YOU GOT HEARTFELT WORDS FOR THAT THING YOU DID AND HECKIN HECK! WHAT!

This is happening isnt it? Its not the... worst pairing, its cool if it is. But Lucy has some ranting to do thanks but POP OFF LUCY, SPEAK YO MIND, this is ridiculous and ok but wow what the. Eff. You got time you live basically in the same direction. Pleeeeeease speak dont leave us waiting, like WOW SO NEEDS ADDRESSING you nearly died and that is NOT negligible in the slightest hun, CLEARLY NOT STABLE. PLEASE SPEAK NOW ON THIS ABSURIDITY. PLEASE.

So dumb. . .you both need to talk at least a bit NOW like what? What. What is happening XD

Whut, laughing so hard rn WUT

I edited like two times im still laughing in utter confusion, here and there. Like i get it. Entire reason Lucy decembered on us is cuz mike was shown at least to not care one bit. Piece a. Lucy is healthier now and knows she should focus on herself. Piece b. WHERE DOES PIECE C FIT???? sandy breaks up with mike so he kisses lucy to not feel alone and dead inside BUT WHAT TF LMAO OMG JEEZ this is so wrong

GO TO YOUR ROOM MIKE N THINK OF WHAT YE DONE and come out blazing if you ever come out

She's got about .02% therapy and she's the boss.

Well its much much more than nada