Bittersweet Candy Bowl

I know ^.^
It’s what keeps you guessing and coming back to see :3

Is Mike an asshole?


I say IT’S A MYSTERY.

When I saw the hate in his eyes when Lucy was hugging him, I knew things were about to pick up.

Yeah….the whole time she is crying he looks distant and kinda angry.
All he said was sorry.
I’m piecing it together….little at a time.

Duh…. Maybeh it’s cuz Mike …. I have no fucking clue… maybe saving Lucy’s life was the last straw for him? He realised that to Lucy he was only a protector, he realised she was CLINGY AS HELL?!? help me out people!

I think it was possibly because he was the one who saved her ass and fell down god knows how long into a river, and he’s the one who had to say sorry.

Mike is not a ahole (not intentionally anyway), Mike is just Mike, and as such doesn’t always give though to the feelings of others until it is far too late.

AVAST: LONG A-POSTING INCOMING (goddamn third time this week)

Today in gov class we talked about four contentious issues: welfare, environmentalism (clean energy), Afghanistan, and illegal immigration. Heated arguments ensued, with both sides strongly supported with evidence and rhetoric. Compromise was near impossible.

Then I came home, hoping to be able to do some mindless stuff where I don’t have to watch where I tread with my opinions.

But then I came into this thread.

Ahum, returning to the topic:

Honestly speaking, would any of you actually grow very intimate to the comic if Mike didn’t act like a jerk after Acapulco? Or if relationships were very simple and congruous with every other relationships? BCB touches upon many issues that can and does happen in the world of LOVE, and amazingly, doesn’t have to employ overdone antics like cancer or the mafia to do so (unlike a lot of soap operas). Except for abortion.

And that’s why I love BCB. Not because of abortion (no), because we can basically see ourselves in the same situation. Well, not exactly the same, but basically the same entanglement. I mean, sure, it’s rare for a girl to actually hit guys constantly, but we can all relate to a girl (or girls) who insult or shun us verbally or otherwise (dealing pain, but not in a physical way). Now it’s totally possible for that girl to actually have a crush on you, and it’s also completely possible for you to be in a long distance relationship with another girl. Add in more people in similarly entangled situations, and you basically get your own, custom-made BCB drama.

Compare yourself with the characters! I’m surprised the protagonist actually acts without the compassion or sense of justice of a deity (wade through web comics, and you find yourself with more than enough examples of inhumanly good protagonists). Personally, this is what draws me to this specific comic. Not because of its cutesy stuff (although it is a big factor, too), but because of the realistic situations that make you go BAWWW.

Hey, I just realized. If Sandy breaks off with Mike, and Lucy becomes completely disinterested with him, Mike essentially becomes a tragic hero: unparalleled retribution for a mild act of rudeness.

Or maybe I should just shut up and stop analyzing BCB from a literary point of view.

Oh, it’s this debate from the IRC.

I think Tsukaiz is right on the bat here. Remember whe Mike was repeatedly beaten and called a cheater?

I think that while Mike could’ve reacted better, he did the right thing in staying faithful (dear god, that sounds strange passing the keyboard of a staunch MikexLucy shipper). That said, however, I think that the shit is about to hit that fan around Sandy and Mike. If you recall Sue’s comment about seeing Sandy somewhere before, coupled with Daisy’s comment about remembering Sandy as always going where there is help; nope, stopping there. ‘Neeway, I don’t feel like Mike is an asshole, he just doesn’t think straight.

To tell the truth mike isnt an asshole but he is ignorant

Mike’s the kindest and best character but, for some twisted reason, he has to take crap from everybody. And shame on everyone who thinks Mike should just be okay with it and act like everything’s all peachy. He’s not acting ass-holeish, he’s just acting out-of-character for pretty good reasons. He’s fed up with how he’s treated when he’s always so nice and stuff. Not to sound egotistical, but I can relate to Mike on this. He’s still less of a jerk than most of the other characters. Plus Taeshi did a good job of making her characters more 3 dimensional than 2 dimensional.

PS: I didn’t read through the whole thread, too lazy and I’m multi-tasking with a plethora of distractions. So sorry if I’m just repeating what anyone else said.

I get it now, He is all bitter because after he almost died to save Lucy, all she did was bitch at him instead of being gratefull.


oh and I hate the people ho are all “I hate Mike” all because he was bitter to Lucy for like a few chapters when Lucy has been a bitch to Mike for like, oh I don’t know… THE WHOLE F***ING COMIC while Mike HAS BEEN A GOOD GUY DURING THAT SAME TIME. God why does everyone take Lucy’s side!?! Are about a half of you people HIGH?!?!

I still say IS A MYSTERY.

@Ark: everybody always takes the cute girl’s side.

Right Taeshi?….WINK

It’s not Mike the new Scarf + Sandy = Mean Mike

@Shimmer: Ah! So the new scarf is to blame! Lucy merly needs to burn it and MikexLucy will be a sure thing…what’s this about a person named Sandy?

I hope you are not proposing that we burn her as well? ^_^

BURN THE WITCH
And how can you not know Sandy?
Do you actually READ this?

i think nameless was being sarcastic

*looks back at comic* hmmmm…. nope it’s definatly not just the scarf because he was still a good guy at that time….

Here’s what I think. If Mike was aware of how much Lucy has cared all along, and the feelings that she had for him underneath her tough outer skin, and he still acted the way he did to her, then we’d have a right to call him a jerk.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t aware. He probably still doesn’t believe Lucy when she told him that she loved him. He only believes in her tough exterior and doesn’t think that she has any loving or caring feelings for him in the least. He was never very aware of those caring feelings of hers in the first place. He feels like he’s just been used by Lucy all along, and naturally, that’s made him bitter. Therefore, his actions may be unfair, but only we, the readers, know that because we had the opportunity to see both sides of the story. If we were just seeing this from Mike’s point of view, we’d be all like “Who CARES if she claims she loves you? Get away from that crazy b****!! o_o”

Believe me, I badly want to call Mike an insensitive evil jerk, but looking at the whole situation, I see that I can’t do that until he becomes aware of Lucy’s true feelings. Then I would be able to judge him on the actions that he makes after realizing how much Lucy cares. But for now, Mike and Lucy have just had a terrible misunderstanding that has possibly damaged their relationship by a lot.

In the comments made while reading “Another Path” I was talking to Hoheh, who made a good point. Lucy was very selfless in Confrontation, and she wasn’t only protective of Mike, she was pretty much standing up for everyone. Daisy and Mike were the only ones who really recognized that. So did he just forget that event?

I don’t think Mike forgot about Confrontation, he just sees even that event as an example of Lucy’s over-dependency on him, that the only reason she stood up for him like that is because she needed him, not because she cared about him. That’s what’s really sad. Lucy could have gotten seriously hurt, or killed. Mere dependency couldn’t have driven her to put herself at such a risk. However, that’s one event out of years of angst, and Mike seems to be convinced that the downsides of his friendship with Lucy outweigh the benefits. 3= Also, Taeshi said here that Mike only started to get really angsty after the whole scene at Acapulco. I’m starting to think that, up until then, Mike saw himself as being in-debt to Lucy after what she did for him in Confrontation. And after he risked his life for her in Acapulco, he began to think that their score was even and he owed nothing to her anymore. Whether that decision was conscious or subconscious, though, I don’t know.

I just think Mike is tired of crazy love situations.

Daisy was on the verge of rape and sexual harrassment. Lucy is a stonesthrow from homocidal. Sandy is ridiculously far away and memories of her are fading very rapidly, but she still talks with him just enough to keep interest.

So from that, you have:
A: Try your luck with someone who’s emotions and actions have been as reliable as a two legged donkey on stilts who could potentially ruin your relation ship with option B and then just break up over something stupid within the week, leaving you alone.

or

B: Wait it out with Sandy, see if something pulls through. She’s sensible enough to either let you go gently or stay commited and really make something of all the effort of a half-decade of long distance commitment. Worst case scenario, you break up, cry about it a lot, and then either go for plan A in the hopes you weren’t a total dick this whole time, or move on entirely.

You pick which one sounds less risky D:

People take Lucy’s side because she’s tiny, cute and, lately, vulnerable.

Fuck the Mike haters!

Hell yeahs Jerk and Happe! Sorry if Mike doesn’t like pulling girls along after him when he’s in a relationship, I mean my god can you be an any douche bag?

@skygaze: i agree with you completely.

:|

When I start forming my harem, LaComi has an open invitation.

In my opinion, Mike’s always had to put up with a lot of Lucy’s antics and weird behaviors for the better part of his life, and a person can only take so much crap. His fuse has been getting shorter and shorter over time to the point where he snaps at Lucy as soon as she starts being hostile towards him, whereas in the past, he would usually just kind of sit there and wait for her to finish. He’s just plain MAD right now.

Now, why would he be mad at Lucy? I’d say he mainly feels that she’s being a hypocrite: Lucy has acted like a major jerk towards Mike throughout their relationship, yet she expects him to always be there for her and be a perfect friend/potential boyfriend, and as soon as he starts giving her a taste of her own medicine, she’s bawling all over the place and trying to sleep around.

Does he still love her, and he’s just being bitter and trying to hurt her? That’s up to the authors to decide, isn’t it I’m sure everybody’s rooting for some sort of positive ending between the two, whether they end up back as friends or as something more, but it brings me to my next point - it could really just be possible that he just doesn’t feel like Lucy is worth loving. Too much of a chore/hassle, however you want to put it, and not enough love back.

I also think he doubts her sincerity and feels betrayed by her, mainly because of her attempted ‘rebound’ with Paulo, and because he views her as being selfish in general- Mike thinks that she nearly cried herself into psychosis whenever he nearly died because she was afraid of losing him. Not because of HIS actual death, because of what he would have to suffer, but because she would lose her best frenemy in the world. In his mind, she could care less about his worries and misfortunes as long he’s healthy and happy enough for her to abuse him whenever she sees fit.

Now, on the other side of this, we have Lucy and her reasons for acting like this. “Insecurity” sums it up, more or less. She’s loved him for a long time and always been afraid of revealing her feelings, afraid that she could lose him or that their relationship would change for the worse.

So really, this whole dramatic episode going on between Mike and Lucy- it’s not either one’s fault entirely. They’re both to blame, at least partially, for the emotional storm that they’ve brewed up. It’s not as simple as them saying “I love you” and “I love you too”; they’ve always had a unique relationship to begin with, and mixed in with a lot of the normal drama of growing up.



ANYWAYS: Basically, no, I don’t think you could sum everything up and say Mike is an asshole.

I agree but you can’t blame Mike for believing that he was just a safety blanket to Lucy, she did nothing but hurt him both physically and emotionally, and always ended up expecting his friend ship, as was said by other forumers, if it hadn’t been for Zach’s intervention, it would have continued until she snapped Mike’s second stick, leading to some sort of total rage or some sort of insanity. Everyone forgets that Mike DID love Lucy but she killed those emotions… or at least, set them to sleep as you can see them reawakening during the past few chapters. I also wouldn’t blame Mike for believing Lucy’s confetion wasn’t sincere especially after she tried to sleep with Paulo(Thumbs up for Paulo for being responsable and denying what he has wanted for a long time!) which showed how clingy she was and that she would try to find someone else when Mike pushed her away.

Tee hee, I feel demonised. ^_^

why?

That is good to know Jerk, I’ll keep that in mind, thanks. You were the first guy in my ever growing harem, in case you wanted to know.

I already knew, LaComi. I already knew. :]

you know, as much as I support MikexLucy, when I think about it now, Lucy doesn’t deserve Mike as a boyfriend, he loved her and she pushed him away and then when Mike sopped loving her she was all: “I know I have been a bitch to you for all your life but now I realise that I love you and you should love me now without question.” how does she honestly expect him to still love her?

Its funny because Love doesn’t have to mean anything sexual.

Why couldn’t he love Sandy in “that way” and love Lucy simply as someone he deeply cares about. Besides I dont think Lucy even cares about Mike in “that way” she just wants to know he cares about her.

I don’t hate Mike, but he is acting like an asshole. His behavior is entirely justified, but that doesn’t make it any less “asshole-y”. I would even argue that in life, certain situations require you to act like an asshole. But the fact remains, that however justified, his actions are not deemed socially acceptable, so he is acting like an asshole.

I think alot of people think he’s an asshole due to the fact the through out the hole series we’ve seen him put up with her treating him very urm poorly to put it nicely for a fairly long while.
then him almost dieing for her I geus in my eyes was the tiping point where he truely noticed and asked himself”why am I still putting up with her?”
Also I think mike treated the situation with lucy confessing her love for him pretty well with the fact that he was terribly fet up with her and has a girl friend.
but after that he was quite rude to her though I have to admit that

@seadogs123 : But they hardly spoke to eachother after that… and considering he caught her climbing all over paulo like 3 minutes after she got turned down, I think he was really suspect of her sincerity, as I would be too. She’s also prepetually used this “YOU DON’T CARE ABOUT MY FEELINGS WAH!” thing in public since then to kind of guilt him and it’s obvious he’s not putting up with that shit either. Yeah, he’s not doing anything to make it better, but then again everyone has a breaking point and when you play with fire, you shouldn’t be mad at it when you get burned.

Like I said, Emotional pain is Like a scar, it’ll heal, but it won’t heal completely. I think It’ll be hard for Mike to feel love for Lucy from now on. And the whole “YOU DON’T CARE ABOUT MY FEELINGS WAH!” thing might have worked if ,oh say, SHE GAVE A SHIT ABOUT HIS FEELINGS! But no. That sir is just another example about how, as Null pointed out, she is a hypocrite. It just goes to show that Lucy doesn’t deserve Mike’s love and that if I saw MikexLucy in the comic I’d be all “aww… they finally love each other…” Then I’d be “FUCK! MIKE HOW CAN YOU LOVE THAT WHORE!” then the two halves of my brain would fight and i’d be in a coma for 9 months.





….Anyways…

I can’t stop the pain inside me. I know you’re gone, but I keep hoping you’ll come back. Why can’t my heart accept what my brain already knows. I treated you like shit. I took you for granted. You had every right to leave me, and no reason to stay. But that doesn’t keep my heart from breaking, it doesn’t keep me from crying myself to sleep every night, and it doesn’t keep me from wanting you back. I know I deserve this pain, and that you deserve better than me. But it doesn’t matter. I… I can’t stop loving you, even through the torment of your absence I can’t keep myself from wanting you. But you are the one thing I can never have. And I just can’t forget you. It would be best for both of us, but I can’t. I just can’t.

Whoever was ‘Lucy’ just now…. good acting =D

Anyhow, I do think that Lucy really cared about Mike, but she was so insecure about her feelings for him that she covered it up with attitude…. a little too much attitude, and it bit her in the back in a very tragic way. She didn’t know how to act properly around someone she loved so much and so, she treated him badly, not realizing how abusive she had become just to hide all those feelings. *shrugs* It’s too bad.

Thank you Skygaze. I aim to please, most of the time.

But yet you fail consistantly!

That’s the beauty of it.

Indeed,I suppose it is

If you cannot hope to succeed, at least have the courtesy to fail in a humorous fashion so the rest of us can have a good laugh.


^Words to live by.