Bittersweet Candy Bowl

Mike’s got the same look in his eyes where he tried to kiss her on the bed when they were kids, while Lucy’s eyes return to December emptiness

She seems hurt by how much she loved him and how he went about it way back… and that hurt looks to be returning for the first time since she returned to Roseville

This is what i wanted to say! I agree with you 100%

The whole like… moving towards her, narrowing his eyes like that, and the disrespect for her physical boundaries… we’ve seen it before. And the empty look returning to her eyes before she looks like she’s about to cry, it’s definitely indicative of what seems to be the most intense emotional state (regarding Mike at least) that she’s known since returning to her home town. There was also the time where Daisy yelled at her about how she wanted men’s attention/advances. But that wasn’t about the December hurt she went through with Mike. Definitely seemed to be more about all the unwanted stuff from men, including/especially the alleyway attack.

I attach a special interest to the eyes as for example in the Webtoon Lumine, I advise you otherwise. Nevertheless you quote December but unfortunately we do not have the same conditions, in December it is really this «I hate you», «Nobody loves you» and so on. Here we have the opposite, it has like eyes that sparkle, not of fear, but as a relief or I do not know too much. Because still Mike managed, in my opinion, to rebuild friendly bases with Lucy and he’s not dumb enough to break everything like that without any valid reason.

So for me there are two possibilities, either he wanted to finish on a good note, yeah because when you say something like « You know the thing I’ve been wearing for a few years now, and well, the color is not random, it’s the color of your eyes~~ » it’s like he gave his life to her, because now that he’s “released” from Sandy he can really admit the thing “I love Lucy”, because for me, yes, he loves her and he still loves her but he hated himself to have two people he loves without really knowing what to do and so, to come back to my possibilities of ending, just go in mode «Have a good night» or then to take back your idea of “He has the same eyes from when he wanted to kiss her on the bed” just to be gone into a madness like Lucy in “Another Shoulder” (Chapter 52).

Or, to conclude all of this, he does it on purpose, but as I said before, I think he’s smart enough to understand that he’s going to break it up again and that since his recent break up, as I said before, he’s freed from this omnipresent thought “I cheating on her (Sandy) if I talk to Lucy” and now he cares a minimum of her.

Here is my opinion on your comment, do not hesitate to tell me if you have a few opinion to reply to this :)

Don’t. OH NO

Mike noo…

ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW

RUN!!! Lucy you are not a rebound!!

Urggggg this DUDE….

LET THIS BE A BAD DREAM

ohhhhhh noooooooo

Whoa, wait! What is going on here?

MICHAEL NO YOU DO NOT WANT TO GO OFF OF THIS REBOUND

Right to jail. Right away.

Mike. Buddy. Stop. Quit while you’re ahead.

Mike: I want your eyes, Lucy! (pulls out a icepick)

Lucy: (gulp)

Buddy *NO*

I know that Mike wants to rekindle their friendship but DUDE… don’t go rebounding on her ‘cuz you’re taking things too fast.

The last panel is kind of unsettling. I love it.

Zeus: WISE FWOM YOUR GWAVE!!!! (The Mike X Lucy ship resurrected)

WEWEASE THE KWAKEN!

It took a while to iron out the wrinkles from the cringe I made reading this page

This seems very weird like hes about to make a move on her….dude dont so it

Ok time for everyone time to stop and go home! Mike, your family is probably worried about you! Lucy, he’s clearly not in a good mental state and it is time to ignore and leave before you get hurt further!

feel like there’s going to be more unwanted physical contact. he hasn’t respected her boundaries once.

Dammit Mike. Now you’re being unfair and cruel to the poor girl. Emotional state or not I desperately want Lucy to sock him in the chin. (I know she’s trying to grow and not hurt people but gdi the kid needs a smack to get his head on straight)

That being said I hope she does recognize this is a rebound and rejects him. He was sobbing literally like two minutes ago. It’s unhealthy for her but also…wow Mike you got over that fast you need some therapy

I take back what I said fuck you mike. You were doing the right thing and then you decided to fuck with her head. Fuuuuuck yooooou.

I honestly feel like as a reader, he’s fucking with MY head. ? Like baby boy what is you doing oh nooooo

Is it just me? Am I the only one who wants to throttle him and toss him down the hill? ✋

On one hand I realllllly want her to punch the heck out of him, but on the other hand she has worked very hard to stop being violent but like… enough is enough. Mike has somehow lost even more of my respect.

This whole exchange better be followed up with Lucy quoting The Godfather: “You didn’t need a friend like me. But, now you come to me, and you say: ‘Lucy, give me a chance.’ But you don’t ask with respect. You don’t offer friendship. You don’t even think to call me Godfather.”

LUCY. RUN.

if he’s going in for a kiss or something funny like that he fully deserves an imminent suplex

This is an entire barrel of yikes.

Lucy, run! Dear LORD

It’s not about the sincerity Mike. It’s about the back and forth. Lucys clearly still hurt and confused by his mixed signals over the years and especially since she’s come back to Roseville. He’s got to take making amends with Lucy more slowly. He’s acting in alignment with emotional selfishness and self-centeredness.

I’m just gonna put this in here since I didn’t see it anywhere in these comments, “BRUH”

(fear)

Obi-Wan Kenobi: Run, Lucy! Run!

mike stoooop ??

I really want Lucy’s yellow scarf to represent moving foward or hope.

He is going to force a hug or a kiss on her. :/

Can someone please show up

Maybe even Mike’s sister…

I don’t care who just someone needs to intervene. Someone or something needs to break this moment. Something outside of these two. I don’t think Lucy can even move from that statement.

I’m kind of hoping for a well timed “Haley Interruption” too lol, just to snap Mike out of it right now. I know he’s hurting and not thinking straight but woof, this is not the way buddy!!

I hope Sam or Augustus come looking for her and beat the shit out of Mike.

It would be funny if David showed up and mede things awkward.

This also just confirms this:

Lucy- Does what I say even matter?

So true, clearly it doesn’t.

Does everyone have their ball slicing blade sharpened and ready? Yes? Good, see you Wednesday!

I can’t be a fan of Mike since ‘December. ‘ He needs time to heal, and he’s just hurting Lucy in the meantime. (Run Lucy!)

Oh boo, fuck you.

you fucking suck mike

I know I’m a MikeXLucy fan but dude, Mike, don’t fucken kiss her right now.

Oh this is actually The Worst Thing he could do.

I-

WHAT?

Mike, stop. Go to jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. But in all seriousness…I fucking knew it. Mike, you’re gunna regret saying how you feel so soon……..

PUT THAT THING RIGHT BACK WHERE IT CAME FROM OR SO HELP ME

God. Shut the fuck up Mike. Also boi, that better not be you taking a step towards her in that panel LOL LUCY PLEASE HIT HIM

No. This is gross. Mike is being disgusting and narcissistic. Gaslighting and abusive yet again. It is all about HIS feelings and Lucy is the one paying for it again!!! We need an adult!!!

All I have to say is: Mike nooooooooo don’t be foolish ? Now is not the time!

Hoping that maybe next page will feature Haley rushing in, finally managing to track him down, and dramatically interrupt Mike before he can do….what it looks like he’s about to do, lmao. Maybe?? Maybe??

Mike. You’d best back up. Now is the time to take 3 steps back, turn, and head for home. Don’t make this bad decision, Lucy doesn’t need this.

I genuinely don’t think even Mike knows what he’s doing right now….. instinctually he wants her to think about him and is okay with her getting confused. He wants to be important to her. I hope he doesn’t do anything more than this right now though.

thanks i hate it!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Maaaaaaan these are kids in high school. I think Mike is doing something that’s been long over due. And whatever happens happens. (Also I’m completely biased as a long time MikexLucy fan)

No. nope . no. Nope Fuck you, go home.

Nnnnnope. Nope. Stop the madness.

OH NO

OH NONONONONO

This page makes so much sense now https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c51/p2

Reading through that whole section again makes Mike’s temperature change for so long make so much more sense.

Mike was attacked by the entire friend group for not returning Lucy’s love. He’s a fucking kid. He shut down. If folks had left it alone, there’s the possibility he would have had a very different reaction over time. It made him double down on the Sandy thing, when it was clear he was actually very conflicted on it, despite telling Lucy no in the moment.

I genuinely have followed the story for years and have forgotten some of these things too.

Think most people screaming about Mike making a mistake right now need to re-read the story.

Wrong time to kiss her, obviously, but it’s not some monstrous move that shows how evil Mike is.

Yeah, that whole chapter treated both Lucy and Mike like shit. Their friends cornered the both of them into talking about something they clearly didn’t want to, and then completely curbstomped on Mike by being over-the-top and accusing him of “dragging the drama out” as they completely kept ignoring the fact he was trying to stay faithful with his long-distance girlfriend. They put it upon themselves to put Mike in the spotlight and make him look like the bad guy. As if Lucy was entitled to his feelings and he had no say in it.

I agree that things probably would have ended up so differently if Mike and Lucy weren’t put on the spot like that. At the very least Mike and Lucy could have talked it out more in private, and ironed their friendship a bit more at a natural pace without Mike feeling like he had to be defensive about being in a relationship. What an utter mess, lol.

I agree with a lot of this <3

Even with how their friend group reacted and cornered them both, it doesn’t excuse the actions that Mike took and the damage he did to Lucy in December. Yes, he is a kid, yes he was being faithful to Sandy which is fantastic, but he belittled Lucy, made her feel like she was worthless, friendless, unlovable, parasitic and told her he hated her. There is a limit to how much can be swept to the side and moved on from. Now he dares say that he never stopped caring and brings up the scarf and how it reminded him of her, ALL within probably 1 hour of Sandy dumping him??? This is just gross. He hasn’t changed at all and he hasn’t even been properly forgiven by Lucy. Sure she wasn’t the best person but she at least has worked on herself while Mike has gotten meaner, shorter tempered and down right paranoid. I am not against these 2 being friends but Mike is just out of line entirely here and getting way ahead of himself. And Lucy is probably so conflicted and unsettled… this is all uncomfy.

Too soon

*facepalm* Come on Mike…get your sh*t together first.

DAMMIT MIKE, YOU HAD ONE JOB. This isn’t how you bury the hatchet! AAAAAAAAA!!!

just when i thought this interaction couldn’t get any more BANANAS

Annd Mike continues his constant pattern of crying to Lucy as an emotional backup when Sandy is out of the picture. When Sandy was around he didn’t give a flip about Lucy and even said so.

*flips table*

Mike’s rebounding hard.

God DAMN, her face… that’s just heartbreaking. Like, what the fuck is she supposed to do with that? Fall into your arms? Mike, you fucking tool. Go soak your head.

Ughhhh Mike NO. This is the Worst time to do this. Lucy is going to need to talk to her therapist about this because this is rough.

Don’t. Mike don’t play with her emotions, especially if it’s just beause

CAN YOU NOT

Oof.

But also… MIKE THIS IS LIKE 2 YEARS AGO YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT. SHUDDUP, ITS IRRELEVANT BY NOW.

Was that scarf a lighter shade of blue than this one?

I am a MikexLucy fan (but I also like Sandy XD ) and rereading through Eternal Flame, I am okay with the way this is progressing. Earlier today he was feeling miserable about Sandy not texting him back, had his habitual, dysfunctional defensive reaction to his friends, but kinda snapped out of it due to Lucy’s response which got him dwelling on his past feelings for Lucy and his regret at how he had treated his best friend (he pushed her away hardest because she cared the most and confronted him about talking to Sandy about his hurt feelings the most) He is aware he is slowly doing this to all his other friends as his pain becomes more obvious and they speak up more out of care for his well being. So even though his call with Paulo immediately proceeds him desperately calling Sandy, I would say all of these things are on his mind. He might even have started considering giving an ultimatum to Sandy as things have just been deteriorating for him.

You can clearly see a change in him when he talks about a weight being lifted: he probably felt partially trapped because he used to be Sandy’s only support when things were going bad and still felt she needed him, but Francis took over now and has for months, so he probably is releasing all the negative pressure he had been feeling building up between him and Sandy. All that time she wouldn’t talk to him, I don’t think he’s just lonely, he also is feeling bad that he’s not able to help and support her, and thinking how sad it is that she’s so busy she can’t even get help from him. Now he is seeing it in a completely different light. I think that’s why he can let go so easy and quickly move on to focusing on his feelings for Lucy he was remembering just earlier that day.

A lot of people say he hasn’t done the work to acknowledge what he did to her. If you look at the page after her response in class earlier today, and all the previous times in other chapters when he’s been introspective about her (like after her attempted suicide) he gets that he was wrong and that she was a true friend. I was kinda surprised when he confronted her after she got back and she asked what he REALLY meant but he was speechless, but I guess I chalk that up to his shock at her changed demeanor and guilt, not knowing what to say. So yes, he hasn’t lectured Lucy on how wrong he was in great detail, just yelled I’M SORRY a lot, but mentally he HAS gone through it.

Lastly, I want to second Borkzilla about how telling it was that Mike was so conflicted when Lucy finally confessed her feelings to him. This, plus all the flashbacks of him remembering all the good things she did and why he really DID like her (not hate her) ties in with this chapter being titled Eternal Flame and why I’m totally cool with how things are progressing. I think Taeshi’s pacing is excellent and it helps to reread the previous 10(!) or so pages with each new page instead of waiting days in between. I agree with others that I hope its not an immediate kiss tonight, maybe a reach out and hold her hands for a bit, and then she turns and says she needs to think about this and he lets her go for the evening. But, I dunno! We haven’t had a lot of insight to Lucy’s internal feelings about Mike since she came back. Just the way she talks about him with Augustus and when she tells him off sometimes/gives him advice, but I feel like in those moments she just can’t help herself seeing him miserable. Most people avoid the subject with her so she’s kinda a blindspot.

I’m so dumbfounded by the whole situation i can’t help to think it’s a dream again. Come on. What the actual fudge

Their relationship, even just as friends, got so toxic at one point that she tried to kill herself. And I mean, the toxicity went both ways though some actions were way worse than others. That’s why this situation shouldn’t end in romance. They have a toxic past, it’s too soon after his breakup -not- to be a rebound and there was too much one-sided dependency on Lucy’s part. That doesn’t make for a great foundation for a lasting, healthy relationship.

If they get back together I will destroy the internet

And here we all thought things were going so well. Although I don’t think I agree with the people who think this is a confession. It feel it’s more of a, I never stoped caring about you and kept a reminder of you.

I really hope you’re right, that’s a million times better than a rebound-y confession!