Bittersweet Candy Bowl

Oh damn. She really spiraled, huh? <:(

and (assuming this is a flashback) all this even before she learned that Mike got back together with Sandy :(

@AlisterTX

Pretty sure this takes place AFTER she found that out. She was happy before that, thinking Mike was done with Sandy and starting over with Lucy.

@Kash that is the one thing bugging me, how hard it is to decipher the sequence of events in this chapter. Author's note a couple of pages back on site kinda implied it is a flashback but it's super murky. I think it is and somehow this scene ends with Lucy getting bolstered back into optimism, only to roll into school the next day and get crushed all over again.

It’ll be okay, baby. It’ll all be okay. Auggie has the best support

auggie comforting her is mending the giant tear in my heart the last two chapters have caused

i still ship it i dont care 🙃

Lucyyyy D': the last panel is so soft...

The point of healing yourself is not only to repair the damages you sustained through the pain, but to instead change how you will deal with it when you are inevitably faced with those challenges again.

AH MY HEART HURTS

Awwww I’m glad they have a healthy friendship

the way augustus lies on top of her to comfort her is so sweet he wants to let her know even if he's harsh and mad at her he still cares ;-;

LOVE THEM SO MUCH

Lucy has really come undone <: ( my heart…it’s going to be ok. I can only imagine how baffled Augustus is feeling right now.

*Augustus as Best Boy intensifies*

also, as sad as it is to watch Lucy like this, I think it's a vast improvement over the numbed out, disconnected zombie mode she was in at the start of the scene. She's actually feeling her emotions, even if they're painful, and crying them out instead of trying to bury them with a distraction. Gus calling her out may have been the catalyst for the tears, but it isn't really what's fueling them.

If I get a chance to request some art I'm going to request everyone in the main cast standing around Mike in a circle and kicking him.

Cathartic and all but recent chapters have made it pretty clear that almost that exact situation was crucial to causing this whole mess :(

Augustus and Paulo are best bois.

I can't imagine it's great to have to go straight into comforting Lucy after what she just pulled :( I totally understand her reaction and I don't think she's doing it on purpose or anything, I just feel bad for Augustus. anyway this is HUGELY heartbreaking to see after watching Lucy kick so much ass in her recovery 😭 I suppose this is a good reminder that recovery isn't linear and that a traumatic experience can REALLY set you back. but man, this is so hard to watch

I felt that way too :( I don’t blame Lucy for spiraling into sobs like this and it’s clear she is hysterical/not thinking straight, so I doubt she’s trying to outright manipulate him. I think Augustus can tell that too which is why he switched gears, but it really sucks to be put in that situation. Wish I could give him a hug.

Lucy baby :( Augustus is such an amazing friend. And here’s why, he knows that she’s spiraling like she did before- he knows this but he still sets boundaries but also understands that his friend is suffering. He doesn’t push her away, he comforts her. They are what a relationship should be. She messed up and made a mistake, he’s firm on his boundaries. But- that being said he still wants to support and help his friend after she realizes she messed up.

I know Lucy does some sort of martial arts, but I think it would be good for her if her parents get her a punching bag. Speaking from experience, having something just there to let out emotions good or bad is very much stress relief. Plus extra practice for when they meet Alejandro eventually again 😒

Augustus is doing what Lucy needed back in December. She needs time to grieve and to heal, but she also needs to be firmly reminded that she can't *use* other people to do those. Augustus is a really good friend here and while I don't think the two of them should "end up" together, they do very good things for each other.

It's funny to think that we all thought December was the rock bottom point in Mike X Lucy. Both of them went and got steamshovels and are competing to see who hits the earth's molten core first.

I agree with your first bit but I don't think many thought December was rock bottom because, after that, Lucy was pretty removed emotionally from the friend group and then her *attempt* after the play before leaving was even lower. Meanwhile, Mike was getting worse and worse in regard to his relationship with Sandy and blowing up at any and everybody about it...

It was hard to see things getting any better with them when she came back.

That last panel ;_; .. straight through the heart…

I guess the mark of an effective scene is how deeply I feel with them, huh? I feel ill.

And just to elaborate a bit on why: It's sweet how Augustus is trying his best to comfort Lucy, but there's not a lot he can do. Lucy's devastated to the point where she says out loud she wants to die, and Lucy NEVER says how she's feeling unless it's too much to keep inside. God. It's all painfully real.

Healing is working in progress... This is what Lucy needed. Aug get her right. Just can't. Oh Lucy don't sell yourself short. Just relax okay. Things getting better.

It is gutwrenching to see Lucy put in this state by Mike's actions and how much trauma they brought back even before he delivered the finishing blow the next morning. Considering she saw this coming, and how she already kind of knew she was used, it makes sense. But god. It hurts to see such a bad relapse when she was doing so well and trying so hard and doing so much right for so long.

Seriously is she seeing a therapist? She tried to kill herself like a year ago in universe, she needs one.

I know that feel, Lucy. It sucks but you get through it. You have so much of your life to experience with other people.

Such an amazing friend, a friend Lucy needs. Someone who will communicate their boundaries, forgive, and be there even if there is a screw-up. She'll be able to get back on her feet, when you spiral sometimes all you need is a firm anchor to get you back.

Aww ;-; The hug at the end..... very accurate to how it feels. Being comforted by a friend. Also, I hate to say it, but Lucy's expression in the second panel makes her look gorgeous, despite the sad context!! Good job Vero :) u really do her justice (probably cuz she's ur character lmao) ALSO parallels to Mike being like "I'm really sorry... I'm a bad person..." etc etc etc. They might as well be fraternal psychological twins at this point!!! Different yet similar, mind-wise.... omg give them therapy now !!! I often feel like Lucy does in this page, but my friends are often there to support me like Augustus is, so.... yeah. Hope she pulls through <3

Second panel reminds me of volume 3 depression zone lucy

What a touching page. I know it would be good for them to stay platonic but man, I ship them so hard man. They are just SO GOOD for each other...

Awkward sibling hug! Pat, Pat.

augustus really is the kind of friend lucy needed all along

As someone with depression that line "I wanna die so bad" hits hard and true I'm glad Augustus is there.

Augustus: No you’re not.

Lucy: I know. “sob” “hic”

oof

And at this moment, as August lays on top of Lucy, Sam walks in...

being a teen sucks

Having a crippling mental illness or two also sucks