Bittersweet Candy Bowl Forums

That's pretty cool how the phone was a Chekhov Gun, albeit a long one (Chekhov's Rifle?). On another note, I can relate to how you feel Smokey. She's willing to cut ties with her best friend in order for his own
happiness. Sure signs she's matured.

well, "best friends" in her mind, at least

I'm sure Lucy's words were genuine, although I wonder if she sent that text legitimately expecting Mike to never see it. Maybe all Lucy wanted was to have some closure with Sandy, but I can't help but speculate on whether or not she assumed Sandy was going to follow up with Mike on the text. She didn't exactly need to send a text message if she just wanted closure on their friendship in her own mind. Using Sandy to indirectly convey her message to Mike might make the difference in him forgiving her at some point and perhaps salvaging their friendship.

All of that might not even matter depending on how Mike reacts to this. Hopefully he feels Lucy is being genuine, so he can stop being a big baby.

It's been three updates and my theory still is possible.

I know I can be wrong but did Lucy say something a long time ago that it dose not matter if mike chooses sandy over her? Or am I just confused

Lucy did say a couple of things to that effect, for example panel 10 of this page, or the song she sang on this page. It's kind of a façade though, in that Lucy did have feelings for Mike but she was always trying to hide them. I mean, just look at how she told Yashy that it didn't upset her that Mike was taken, when her body language clearly indicated that she was upset.


Moving on the current page... "He's only like this because of me." That was the truth Lucy realized in "December". And she's made it clear that she'll leave Mike alone from now on. I'd expect Mike's response to be one of mixed feelings. Still angry at Lucy, but also kind of relieved that he might not have to deal with her again.

I do wonder how this will affect the group interactions when school starts again though. Will Mike still choose not to sit at the same table with Lucy and the others? Certainly the group will notice that Mike and Lucy are more distant from each other. And what about the play? Would Mike and Lucy keep things professional and carry on, or would Lucy resign her role in the play so as not to bother Mike? In any case, Sue isn't likely to achieve her goal of getting these two to be friends again. They really do need to spend some time apart.

Of course the above assumes that nothing bad happens between Mike and Sandy. If the two were forced to break up, Mike would be a total wreck. Sue might end up having the understudies play both leading roles. That might actually be an improvement where Mike is concerned, since he's not that great of an actor anyway, but heaven forbid that Katie is Lucy's understudy...

I don't give a shit what she said: she didn't have any fucking business using his phone, much less texting his girlfriend. Not to apologize, not to justify herself, not even to try to help his relationship with Sandy. If you don't know better than not to fuck with someone's phone, you're a fucking idiot.

Note to self: Do not mess with Jerk's phone or you will fuckin' die.

Well Jerk, maybe next time the two of them cross paths, he'll give her a black eye for it. Would that make you feel better?

I'm sure Mike will overlook it after being freed of Lucy.

This post has been edited by Vigtyr: 09 July 2012 - 11:23 PM

That was quite sad to read from that page and touching at the same time.

Just hoping this would cause Mike to reconsider his recent actions towards Lucy and at least apologize to her in person and just moved on, for their sake.

ChewySmokey, on 09 July 2012 - 11:06 PM, said:

Nah, he has to get Tess or someone to give her a black eye so he doesn't commit Violence Against Women.

Jerk, on 10 July 2012 - 12:57 AM, said:

...or Abbey, to be more appropriate (or ironic)

Look at my avatar. Do you know who did that to him? Daisy.

He is wallowing in his own urine.

Regarding Lucy, that shrimp-dicked faggot would lose the fuck out of that fight.

Oh yeah, he would totally get an ass-beating in a straight-up fight, but the best he could get in is a sucker punch to the eye and then run like hell because he is faster than her.

That's because she's short and fat and can't waddle run as fast as he can..

Aw, the tsundere has morals.

The end of the text: "P.S. I'd be willing to be in a threesome."

Regarding the new page:

Yep, I knew it. Mike HAS to go and ruin his fucking visit with Sandy by acting like an ass. I get that he's upset, but you just know where this is going...

Taeshi would rather light a candle than curse the darkness
After populating the darkness with idiots and gasoline

Christ I love that video.

Is that guilt in the last panel? I can't tell, but he shouldn't feel that way.

It better be anger.

This post has been edited by Murderer: 11 July 2012 - 04:22 AM

Mike, Mike, Mike. How much time do you have to spend with Sandy tonight? Don't waste it talking about some other chick! Relish in the moment! Talk about happy things and stuff my goodness.

Bitterbitter candy bowl.

Oh god. Why do I get the feeling he's going to put his relationship with Sandy on the rocks and then blame Lucy for not being able to handle his shit? That's going to be hilarious.

No one likes being the bad guy.

I feel for you Mike. Let's just ruffle our hair, make some false promises, and bang Sandy okay?

With a little tweak, my theory is still plausible.

Murderer, on 11 July 2012 - 04:21 AM, said:

Well seeing how it's Micheal, and the BCB community "loves" when he's mad. Yeah, I'm guessing anger.

Ellie, on 11 July 2012 - 04:29 AM, said:

Lucy sent the text (behind his back, to the girl he likes, using his own phone), Sandy brought it up (despite the text explicitly and in no uncertain terms stating that Lucy was the reason Mike is so angry, which anyone should be able to tell would make it a sore subject), but of course it's Mike's fault that the topic has shifted to it!

Do you get why he's so angry yet?

I swear reading the readers' comments on these comics has contributed more to any feelings of misogyny I now have than everything else I have dealt with in my life, combined.

Maybe in the previous panel there could be a slight guilt, and that might be the cause of the annoyance in the last panel. I wouldn't call it anger yet, althought it can easily become anger by monday!

EDIT: bitterness! i'd say what Michael's showing in the last panel is bitterness.

This post has been edited by Cavara: 11 July 2012 - 08:21 AM

Dreyfuss, on 11 July 2012 - 05:42 AM, said:

Webcomic comments helped you realize you're gay.

We're all here to support you in your time of need.

Your hot, sweaty, grunting time of need.

Jerk, on 11 July 2012 - 06:57 AM, said:

Oh Jerk, you've always been there for me

Unf unf unf.

Dreyfuss, on 11 July 2012 - 05:42 AM, said:

Whoa Whoa Whoa, let's not get ahead of ourselves here. I stand by Mike in his decision to leave Lucy as a friend, and in all honesty I never shipped them to begin with. It's not Mike's fault that the conversation shifted there, and I totally get him being upset about the text. I would be mad too, but if I was with a long distance SO and had no idea when I would see them again I would really try to save the drama for a phone call, or at least try not to be too openly pissed the whole time you know? I don't think Mike is a bad guy, he's just a young fellow who dealt with a lot and hit his breaking point.
But yeah, I wasn't standing up for Lucy or bashing Mike. Sorry if it came across that way.

Oh yeah, I know what you were getting at and you're right, it would be best if he dealt with this another time. What I find unfair are the expectations. Mike isn't following the one exact ideal path that will make everyone happy and bring peace and love to the whole world forever and ever? Jeez Mike, won't you ever learn?

What you've got here is Jean Valjean freaking out because Cosette delivered a message from Javert, and the audience is making Jean out to be the bad guy because "Javert's only trying to turn over a new leaf!" No, trust me, this story would play out exactly the same way. Lucy isn't going to change until she goes through a much bigger revelation. She's overreacting and being as nice and accommodating as possible so Mike will forgive her and she can have her comfort zone back. It would help them BOTH immensely if they spent a few months as far from each other as possible.

I'm not mad at you, personally, it's just a good example of the way everyone singles out Mike for not reacting appropriately and sugarcoating what he's reacting to.

This post has been edited by Dreyfuss: 11 July 2012 - 08:16 AM

wacko, on 09 July 2012 - 05:02 PM, said:

The problem is that this ISN'T the truth at all. Mike is this way because Mike is a moody teenager. Mike's current behavior is in part because Mike developed an entitlement complex after Sandy told him he was being abused and that he deserved to be treated better. She told him that he was being used and abused by Lucy, and in the end, he bought it. The trouble is, he never really was. Its true that Lucy used him as an emotional crutch to some extent, but it is worth noting that Mike himself is not very good at taking responsibility for his own actions, particularly of late.

Quote

If Lucy ever tells anyone what happened, Mike will have no friends. That would just be the end of it for him.

Quote

Yes, we all know the school play will be ABSOLUTELY PIVOTAL.

Though to be fair, conservation of detail says that yes, it will be.

Titanium Dragon, on 11 July 2012 - 08:27 AM, said:

I doubt it. Lucy's already admitted to her part in this situation, so she'd likely admit what she did in front of everyone else. It wouldn't obliterate him specifically because neither of them are blameless.

I doubt any of their friends would take an extreme position, they would probably try to find a way to fix things and have them reconcile.

Oh no, Paulo will take an extreme position and flip his fucking shit.

Daisy of course won't leave Mike, and Paulo will be feel a little betrayed and hell go to Lucy to "console" her and end up breaking up with Jasmine and then these two little factions will form with Mike, Abbey, and daisy versus Paulo and Lucy (perhaps David although god he's a damn wild card). Jess and Rachel say fuck this shit while Sue, Amaya, and McCain watch the ship burn.

Assuming Lucy told her side of the story anyway.

And I thought through more than Paulo flipping his shit before going into a typing tangent.

Lucy will probably admit, she already has. But if Mikes reaction in the last panel of the comic is anything it's exceptionally doubtful he'll admit to any wrong doing. Can't exactly blame him though.

Double post, sorry

This post has been edited by Ace: 11 July 2012 - 02:01 PM

Mike believes the victim

This post has been edited by spikespiegel: 11 July 2012 - 02:40 PM

I don't know what the last panel could be but we'll have to wait to see what happens.

Also am I the only one that's read the FAQ page and notice a change to it. I'm not saying what it is but just tell me yes or no if you noticed.

Let me guess; another victim of the final question on the about page.

Sandy is being eminently fair and reasonable in all of this, so kudos to her for that. However, in the last panel Mike is becoming dangerously close to being passive-aggressive towards Sandy as well as Lucy. He can definitely hold a grudge; he can't simply let things go. I wonder if his immature behaviour would cause Sandy to reconsider her views of Mike? If so, that would be a twist in the story I hadn't considered.

Titanium Dragon said:

Are you saying that the way Lucy treated him over years wasn't abuse? Yes, Lucy used Mike as an emotional crutch, but not only that, she also physically hit him (hard!) and insulted him on numerous occasions. That's not how one should be treated by a friend, and Sandy was absolutely correct to point that out. Mike deserved to be treated better than that, if Lucy was indeed his friend. That's not entitlement, that's just called treating people the way you'd want to be treated.

Where I'd fault Mike in all of this is in not having stood up for himself long ago. He willingly accepted the abuse for years, thinking that he was the only person who could ever support Lucy. Yet once he realized he was being abused, instead of sitting down with Lucy and talking to her about how she was hurting him, he instead decided to ignore her and keep bottling up his feelings until he finally exploded at her. And that's where I'd say Mike is your average teenager: he chose a poor way of handling the situation, and now he's reacting in an immature manner instead of letting things go. Eventually he'll learn from his choices, though that may take some time due to his character flaw of carrying a grudge for a long time.

Titanium Dragon said:

Lucy has said she'll stop bothering Mike. So I'm thinking she won't tell anyone, because she won't want to stir up more drama. In fact, the drama seems more likely to come from Mike now; in his sulkiness, he may isolate himself from everyone else, and they will wonder at that.

Titanium Dragon said:

Hey, I can speculate, can't I?

Vigtyr, on 11 July 2012 - 03:39 PM, said:

Yes but I will say I am a surport on that question but I'll just have to wait and see.

As always, Mike sure is reluctant to admit his own faults and that kind of attitude will cost him his friendship unless, as Sandy points out, talk with Lucy, at least for her sake.

As for Sandy, its nice to know that she can be quite perceptive and Mike is lucky to have someone like her around. Just hoping that Mike wouldn't take her for granted.

Nimbus26, on 11 July 2012 - 04:17 PM, said:

Mike is like the common awkward teenager in us all, save for the fact that he gets really hardcore protecting his friends (managing to kick Lucy back onto the rock bridge thing was completely amazing). However because he is the average teenager he's going to be immature. While I agree that Mike is dumping too many of his problems on Lucy I also strongly believe that Lucy has done an equal amount of damage to him as he has done to her, albeit over a shortened period of time.

It is something of a large character flaw that he can get so worked up over something that he loses all sense of common decency...

What Mike did was inexcusable but it is also forgivable and fixable. Both of the last two key words are something I hope will be the subject of the next few chapters. He's just a teenager (but then again so am I... should I really be commenting about this?), he needs the time to realize that not everything revolves around him and his girlfriend.

(Though I don't think that the turning point of anger was when Sandy told him he is being abused. I think this has much more with the fact that Mike loved Lucy for a period of time, truly regretted rejecting her, but only got a middle finger stuck in his face when Lucy tried to rebound off of Paulo. He probably convinced himself that Lucy never like him as a person at all, only a stress doll and a crutch to support her problems. As mentioned. You have to admit it's going to hurt seeing someone who "liked" you confess, with that someone being a long time friend, and the minute you reject them they try to sleep with one of your other friends... not the best situation for understanding to brew in.)

This post has been edited by AllJustShadesOfGray: 11 July 2012 - 08:23 PM

I wonder if people realize that Mike usually does seem to get all the crap from his friends? ESPECIALLY if it is down to him and Lucy? He literally is always labeled as the bad guy, for example when he rejected Lucy people jumped down his throat for not excepting even though he has a freaking girlfriend already(other than Paulo). I can understand Mike's bitter feelings about "I'm the bad guy once again, huh." I mean geeze he can't even win with his girlfriend.

I think that Mike should apologize to Lucy only because he was overly harsh(though I still think she deserved every bit of it and was kind of asking for it anyway), and they should leave it at that. For now, that is. I don't think them trying to rekindle their friendships immediately after apologizes would be the best idea, maybe they really need a break from each other.

Carmen, on 11 July 2012 - 08:34 PM, said:

Eh I don't think Lucy had it coming... though the atempt to rebound off of Paulo was pretty bad she was trying to make up for everything. Of course Mike being the average teenager wouldn't pick that up. >.> I just hope it ends up good.

This post has been edited by AllJustShadesOfGray: 11 July 2012 - 08:43 PM

Actually no one criticized Mike this time. It looks to me that Sandy is somehow apologizing instead, something in the lines of "I'm sorry that my words have carried you so far as to lose a friend entirely, I did not mean it, I think you can still recover this friendship if you talk to her, and I would be ok with that as long as she is nice to you".
This is not something crucial, but it is a detail that can lead you in the doubt: is this just one last remark from him, and Michael is going to be allright now, or is that last panel the beginning of some more drama? This is a subtle form of cliffhanger in my opinion, and God I do like it!

I wonder if any Sandy haters can keep it up? She's really sweet and sensible. Mike is really being immature about all this, though. I want to know who Sandy was texting a few pages ago, though.