Bittersweet Candy Bowl

She doesn’t say no

Me toooooo

Augustus was playing 4D chess, David was playing freaking 40D chess. This only fuels my headcanon that David is an absolute genius but because he’s so socially awkward/immature, he comes across as a bumbling idiot to the rest of the group.

Love how he subtly called him out.

I mean all the people outside right now (other than Lucy?) dislike him right now so they don’t really care.

Someone may notice that even if they didn’t immediately call it out - but when I was in high school, plenty of kids didn’t eat lunch, it wasn’t a huge red flag.

Sometimes I was just still full from breakfast (and first lunch period was like 10:30 or something), so I’d have a light snack or just skip it and eat a fuller meal when I got home in the afternoon.

We the readers have seen evidence that this is another unhealthy decision Mike is making, but his peers might not jump to that conclusion immediately.

even if people have caught on that there’s a problem it’s not very likely a bunch of teenagers know how to even start correcting a pretty bad disorder, and I doubt David wants to try that right now anyway

like of everyone, the best effort to fix it so far was when Paulo chucked an apple at him, they’re not good at this

see this is what i was worried about the whole BPD/Co-dependent Lucy shit she’s going through latching on to yet another person, i know Augustus was there for her but his actions and her reactions are not the most helpful if they want Mike to be a better person

Auggy and Lucy have been very good for each other. He’s come out of his shell a bit and has allowed himself to be cared for; she has a friend who looks out for her while also setting firm boundaries. The main issue with them being an island until themselves is that there’s no one else to counter these assumptions Augustus has made on Lucy’s behalf. Lucy’s in a bad mood but doesn’t want to talk about it — Augustus believes the cause is Mike being there. That’s why it’s so good David stepped in here as a third voice here.

More nervous laughter than a chuckle.

Fair! I’ll take it over the usual pouts or scowls from the last few pages.

@ShiNo I don’t think Lucy or Augustus care about helping Mike, which is normal considering Mike hasn’t bothered thinking about how he carelessly goes around messing with Lucy’s feelings whenever the opportunity presents itself

yyeeeaaahhhh….. lmao

Because it’s a fun theory, teehee

Haaaa I didn’t mean to sound pretentious. 😅 Ofc everyone can have their own theories 🌸. I just had strong opinions on that one particularly, and wanted to share them.

It certainly doesn’t have to, and I personally hope it doesn’t. But there’s been some artistic decisions made specifically surrounding Mike’s scarf in particular that can be seen as potential foreshadowing. And it’s not just that Mike is going through depression, he’s actively being made to believe that everyone is better off without him, and he’s internalized that for almost a full year. He genuinely believes he’s an irredeemable monster at this point, that despite his best efforts, he hurts everyone around him and is a burden they have to deal with. And here is is, listening to David saying that all his friends are way more likely to choose Lucy over him. Hell, even James seems ready to leave Mike behind. So now here Mike is, effectively isolated from his entire support system. Stuck outside, alone, not even eating, for a full hour, with nothing but his thoughts to occupy his time. Obviously from the outside looking in, we know he can get help, make new friends, or find ways to connect with friends away from Lucy. But from his perspective? I doubt he’s gonna see many options left.

@Alec Funnily enough, it might be the best thing to happen to him. They aren’t good for him and they haven’t been as good to him as some of the people here like to think. And honestly, if James is this fickle, Mike doesn’t need to be around him either. Of course, this is the knowledge of an adult. Mike is a mentally ill teen with increasing instability. So things will get worse regardless before they get better.

unfortunately none of them honestly care

So Mike deserved to be kicked but Augustus doesn’t deserve to be hurt when he’s the one that started this?

That’s WHAT I’M SAYING, IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE TO SIDE WITH LUCY KICKING MIKE IF WE ALSO SHAME MIKE THROWING DOWN AUGUSTUS!

how the heck did you get that i was ok with either being kicked, you’re either ok with both being hurt or neither being hurt

I was extremely tired. My apologies.

Eh. Most of that “friend” group has taken turns being shitty to Mike. Why would it stop now?

David makes good points a lot of the times, and helps more often than he hurts, but yeah, he’s not exactly the best person. He’s gotten a lot better over time, but I’m still not super thrilled over some of his actions in the past. A couple that still color my perception is how David basically worked alongside Paulo to give Mike a complex regarding cheating, as well as how David encouraged Paulo to start sleeping around when Tess tried to turn him down gently, straining his relationship with Tess and Lucy at the time. I’m absolutely here for David helping Lucy heal and reconnect with her friends, who DO love her and want to see her heal. But yeah, intentionally or not, he’s doing more to push Mike to the breaking point in the process.

He assaulted Paulo and screamed at everyone else. He doesnt exactly deserve niceties after they tried helping him.

Paulo the same guy that was an asshat to him? Let’s be honest, buddy deserved a bigger asswhooping. Y’all are soft lol. Where I’m from, if you bully someone, then you shouldn’t be surprised when they snap back.

No one deserves being assaulted, period. It wasn’t okay when Lucy did it, it wasn’t okay when Abbey did it, and it wasn’t okay when Mike did it. The only time violence was ever warranted in this comic was when Lucy and Mike fought in self defense against Alejandro. And to be clear, that’s not assault, that’s defending yourself FROM assault. In this chapter, both Mike and Lucy lashed out violently when emotions flared up, and neither of them are in the right for doing so.

Last I checked, he’s still on pretty good terms with Paulo and Daisy. But I doubt he thinks that.

Them, yes. But the group as a whole haven’t exactly been great friends to him. Quite honestly, he should’ve separated himself from them a long time ago.

He attacked pretty much everyone in the group. How is that their fault?

Lol. You need a reread. Look at the previous chapters. Like when they shamed him for not dating Lucy because he was with Sandy. Or all the other times they put him down.

guess we’ll also remember the time he assaulted Paulo, and Paulo was the one who had to make amends first. or when he blew up at everyone at halloween, basically forcing Daisy to apologise to him for being upset that an old friend of hers forgot her

Mike does not get where he is by being innocent. the second anything goes wrong for him he gets deeply, unacceptably unpleasant, and it’s a miracle the worst he’d gotten for it before now was Sue telling him off once

Yeah seeing as Paulo started that by snatching Mike’s phone from his hand, I think him apologizing is fairly warranted.

funny how I included both times Paulo stole Mike’s phone, and you focused on the one that was less justifiable. almost like Mike’s bouts of rage were actually unacceptable or something

No you didn’t. But let’s pretend you did. Point out where.

“or when he blew up at everyone at halloween, basically forcing Daisy to apologise to him for being upset that an old friend of hers forgot her”

which ended with Paulo stealing Mike’s phone again, calling Sandy and telling her to actually talk to Mike every so often. and then Mike couldn’t form a coherent counterargument, because Paulo was right that Mike kept taking his Sandy problems out on everyone but Sandy and they didn’t deserve that shit