Lucy and her orbiters.

>>153169433
Welp, time to see whether Mike's social exile extends beyond the table.

bump

>>153169522
Beyond most likely. Lucy's harem won't let the evil greycat exist near their goddess.

>>153169433
Lucy is basically a villain now, even if she's not trying to be. She's ruining Mike without trying and with no remorse. He's the depressed one stuck in a burnt out relationship.

>>153169587
She is trying to do that, if she can't have him then she'll break him enough that nobody an have him.

>>153169522
it absolutely will.

>>153169620
I wish taeshi would just admit Lucy is trying to destroy him on purpose.

It's incredibly obvious and her trying to dance around it just makes it worse

>>153169659
And let her stand-in look bad after months of demonizing Mike and outright contradicting canon?

>>153169659
She sort of did in one of her tumblr responses posted last thread, but it's not like anyone should put stock in those.

>>153169700
Could you send the screenshot?

>>153169433
Why is he fucking blushing in the last panel

>>153169728
Taeshi does not understand that blushes are meant to signify something of emotional import. That or he's falling for Lucy despite literally everything about this situation because BPD power fantasy.

>>153169728
>>153169782
In some anime it also signifies the person is sick in one way or another

>>153169782
I honestly have no clue, I interpreted it as *maybe* some sort of initial awkwardness from seeing the group knowing he is staying away, but even that felt like a bit of a stretch. She uses blushes and certain other things frequently enough where the overuse makes reading into character thoughts hard to tell on the best of days.

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>>153169587
>>153169659
I find it difficult to believe she'll blatantly blame or put Lucy on a bad spot, given how crazy those Lucy fans (which, I imagine, are the vast majority of Patreon supporters) are.

At most she'll get a very light slap on the wrist. Same with Augustus, David, and James. At most what'll happen to them is they'll come to realize that 'Mike is not so bad afterall'... but only when he finally goes back to Lucy. of course.

>>153169902
Yeah, I don't think there will be any consequences for beating, socially isolating, and gaslighting someone because they didn't choose you.

>>153169728
>>153169782
I think it is less bad nowadays, but up until a few chapters ago she'd put those blushes on everyone inconsistently and seemingly for no good reason.

Usually, blushes are either to show embarrassment, sickness (though that one is usually different), or someone being (or trying to be) cute.

>>153169433
I kind of don't care anymore, there's a point where it just feels like she's baiting with these "he's so sad, feel sorry for him" because then she'll jump yelling you're stupid for engaging with that instead of sticking to the narrative where he deserves everything happening to him

Anyone want to start a trash thread?

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The cheating begins now

>>153169902
I dont expect those 4 to get much of anything bad since she already said Karma doesnt apply for Augustus

Kill yourself, Mike (affectionate)

>>153170526
And for David too.

>>153169433
Taeshi isn't even drawing the background characters anymore?

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>>153170485
>You weren't going to say hello to me?
No bitch of course not

>>153170700
I wish she'd release 4 pages with all the time she's saving.

>>153170485
and now the real suffering porn begins

>>153170526
Yeah I agree, which is IMO the worst thing about this comic, how karma only seems to affect specific characters, but not the author's pets.

Augustus in particular is the worst one. Dude was (and still is) an asshole, manipulated and tried to take advantage of others, was nasty and toxic, yet everything goes in his favor, all the damn time. None of those fucks ever gets humiliated or humbled by life, they just get constant praises as being 'adorable jerks'.
I mentioned Augustus, but it applies to David and James as well.

The only other character in this comic other than Mike that does get shat on a bit is Paulo, but even then in a much lesser scale than Mike.
Mike sucks, he is excessively '''kind''' (or what Taeshi perceives as someone being 'kind'), but unfortunately I feel the need to cheer for him due to the circumstances of the comic.

Taeshi is going to do this whole chapter expecting the readers to have sympathy for mike.

Instead they're just going to cheer and she'll get pissy about it, despite her getting mad when anyone showed mike sympathy over LitS.

she has yet to realize you cant just flip an audience's scorn on and off like a light switch

>>153170072
Having the characters mope around panhandling for pity is one of the few cards in Taeshi's deck, which is ironic since this is behavior Mike is criticized for back in LitS.

I kinda hope we get a good look at how the rest of the table reacts, even if that reaction is to not notice him at all. I get a feeling we're in for more of Paulo caring about Mike exactly enough to piss Lucy off without actually benefiting Mike at all.

>>153170306
Does anyone have something to post or would it just die immediately like the last few?

>>153171154
Probably reruns, but I have some Amy and other stuff.

>>153171166
If it's not NSFW, why not post it here?

>>153170072
Taeshi thinks you're supposed to feel bad for people even if they're 100% a piece of shit who brought it on themselves, even Alejandro apparently but she jokes about how he should die anyway, so she thinks you're supposed to feel bad for Mike AND hate his guts and want him to suffer

>>153171256
Amy Sloppa
https://files.catbox.moe/iu867o.gif

>>153171154
I got something to post of the track team

>>153171422
Nice!

>>153171353
Ah well, better to just post it there, then.

>>153171479
I know it's low effort, but to be honest we haven't had any new stuff in a while.

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>>153169522
preview shows they're just pretending he doesn't exist. Unless David decided to go and start shit with him again, which could very well happen.

>>153171503
He doesn't matter to the rest of them (besides Paulo) unless he's stabilizing Lucy.

>>153171503
They're magically failing to notice Mike since not even Paulo reacts.

>>153171128
>>153171655
Paulo doesn't care that much, simple as, he only cares about Mike in contrast to everyone else not giving a shit, but he'd rather pick Lucy than him

>>153171279
That may be so but it feels forced on the reader to reign them like that, people get exhausted of bracing themselves for bullshit, just because Taeshi makes it clear she's not going to hit you doesn't mean you stop flinching when she throws a punch at you. It's tiring and the kind of shit I'd expect Lucy to pull and be sad others scold her for

>>153171503
Reminder no one has told anyone at the table that Mike was exiled by David aside from his stupid "I killed him" comment, so them ignoring him is all on them, making all "actually they don't hate Mike" arguments of the past and present laughable

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>>153169728
Horny

>>153170568
What of he jumps too and also fails and then gets it thrown back into his face and gets accused that he's looking for sympathy when he doesn't deserve it

>>153171655
>since not even Paulo reacts
He's gonna throw a sad/worried glance at Mike and then either David will hog his attention (on purpose or not) or Lucy will glare at him

>>153171905
I wouldn't be surprised if it happened. It'd be incredibly depressing to see, but it would be unsurprising.

Reminder that

1) Mike is currently going through a failed december parallel because his whole social life is being destroyed, while Lucy only had Mike not wanting to talk to her. Everyone else was still throwing themselves at her feet.

2) Mike's december rant about her being a parasite has not been proven wrong. Instead of trying to do so through Lucy learning to become better, the universe just decided to punish Mike.

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>>153169433
>Mike still texting Sandy terse messages about how he misses her
I don't get it, mang. Mike's been burnt out and deathspiraling for like 40 chapters, but he hasn't actually noticeably deteriorated. He's had a guilty conscience, dissociative episodes, depressive apathy, frustration with Sandy, and tired bags under his eyes since chapter 91. He's been self-sabotaging, lashing out, and angry with the ensuing social isolation almost as long. If it's all supposed to be due to Sandy ghosting/cheating/getting epsteined/prattling on, then why does he put so little effort in?

Also, I know that webcomic pacing is often glacial, but this "Mike is sad while Lucy's revenant dunks on him" arc has already taken a decade IRL. They keep suddenly and briefly reverting back to being fine in chapters where they aren't the focus, yet Taeshi keeps lopping those b-plots in favor of yet more pages establishing Mike and Lucy are miserable assholes. Get to them fighting naked in the rain on top of the school already, like god intended.

>>153170485
>I'm going to suck your dick
>No clover, no! That's wrong!
>Omae wa, suckderu.

>>153172351
It's really funny to me how Taeshi dragging out Mike's suffering accidentally makes him look much more resilient than Lucy ever was.

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>>153170568
>Sandy breaks up with Mike again so he tries to kill himself and fails, getting fully paralyzed
>Sandy feels so guilty she vows to take care of him and his parents accept her offer to move Mike into her and Francis' home

>>153171886
It doesn't necessarily have to be hate but could be apathy which just reinforces they are pretty shit friends and/or too focused on coddling Lucy as there is only so much attention to go around and Mike's status quo is being the punching bag who just sorta deals with it

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>>153171655
Mike is already dead, he just hasn't noticed. His mom is still talking to him because she has the greycat psychic gene and is in denial, and that's why her husband and Haley are drifting away from her. Paulo's "choosing Lucy" because Mike's not around anymore, and is offended that David keeps joking about how his best friend died.

>>153172357
Because this is after her cheating was revealed and at this point the relationship is only a thing out of Mike being guilt tripped into it as he doesn't want a December 2.0 happening with Sandy. At this point he is just sort of going through the motions to keep the corpse of a relationship shambling but not really feeling anything for it anymore.

>>153172530
Frankly if she broke up with him (again) at this point he'd probably feel like it was a weight lifted from his shoulders.

>>153170485
damn he's looking submissive and vulnerable

>>153172594
It's probably the only thing keeping him from killing himself, add that the divorce will somehow be blamed on him and after that he has nothing left to live

>>153172594
Mike is full sunk cost, he thinks Sandy is all he's got now, if she broke up again after he sacrificed everything for her he wouldn't survive it

>>153172530
At this point if Mike got broken with again he'd smash the phone with the bonsai tree and ask his parents to let him join the foreign legion

>>153172847
I don't know, self sacrifice with no reward is kind of the ideal Mike state according to Lucy, so that could only push that ship further

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>>153169433
Mike is such a fucking asshole. How dare he harass Lucy like this. Does he have any shame? He should kill himself immediately.

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>>153172572
If Mike's fallen out of love with Sandy and is just going through the motions NOW, then what was he doing back then? He was already alternating over guilty/sad/mad while listlessly moving through his days.

This is what I mean when I say that BCB needs to get on with it. Mike's already depressed and it's not like he's getting any worse or less functional, so what's the po int of the narrative focusing on him having n+1 problems? It feels like the standard first act of a movie, where the protagonists are unhappy with their lot in life before all the actual story stuff starts happening. But instead of 20-30 minutes, it's lasted 10 years. I'd be fine with Mike having a boring, depressing life if not for every other chapter focusing on the sad fuck, but if he's supposed to be a protagonist then have him do something already.

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>>153173002
lol that hand

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>>153173054
Michael "spiderhands" Diamond

>>153172530
Sandy would totally use Mike's broken body as a prop to leverage her new career as a TikTok influencer

>>153174096
Would Sandy record every time Mike cries in his sleep?

I wonder how long Taeshi will keep Mike in this relatively non-reactive state before she gets bored.

>>153174755
What do you mean? Mike's fundamental character trait is his non-reactive nature. He's never been active, and the ~4 times over 20 years he has reacted energetically to external stimuli (That time Daisy tricked him into a date, December, Witch Hunt, and Eternal Flame) have all been rightfully called OOC, lacking adequate set-up or follow-through.

The popular interpretations of Mike among readers who do count those times as in-character are that he's schizo-affective, or that he's a dumb two-faced asshole.

>>153173002
>it's not like he's getting any worse or less functional
Well obviously he's never going to get as bad as somebody who REALLY suffered, like Lucy.

It is kinda crazy though, looking back. We had eyebags Mike back during Daisy's birthday party, and I'm not sure that's the earliest occurrence. There are diminishing returns here for sure. There's an extra difficulty here in that Mike's "Augustus," Sandy, is essentially just a prerecorded message. Hypothetically he could get increasingly dependent on her as he's alienated from friends and family, but he's already completely checked out. Scenes with Sandy are the same as any other scene of Mike being miserable, except there are square text boxes.

>>153175079
>That time Daisy tricked him into a date
The problem with that scene was it getting brought up as example of your other three not being OOC, when in my opinion it was both in character and not really similar to those others aside from the general theme of Mike being angry.

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>>153175079
I'm talking about the "omg so regretful and pained ultra guiltmaxxed" routine Taeshi loves to put him through vs his current emotional burnout. Before he would have walked in and had a minor heart attack seeing Lucy there with everyone, maybe debate whether or not to enter. Now we see he just shuffles past all dead inside. Likewise, he'd be nervous about lying to his mom and making up lame excuses instead of just shrugging his shoulders and going with the flow. What I'm saying is there's not much fun to be had poking a corpse, or somebody who might as well be one.

>>153175520
He's not even close to the bottom, his family situation will continue to deteriorate before he "gets any better"

>>153175629
That's just more pain inflicted, but only so much blood can be squeezed from a stone. And Taeshi's problem is she's gone and already wrung scarf cat dry.

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>>153173002

>>153175807
Then all she needs to do is put hope back into Mike. So it feels bad when shit happens, if only taeshi could control her hatred to make that work.

>>153176434
That's what I'm getting at: How long before Taeshi realizes dead cat walking Mike is no longer fun to fuck with and employs a second James rugpull?

The cask of Amontillado but it's Taeshi sealing Mike inside a wall for rejecting Lucy even though she made him do it

>>153171503
>This page right here should remind the entire fanbase how stupid and petty Augustus starting shit over Mike being outside at recess was.
>But it won't.

>>153169433
>>153171503
Oh god I hope Mike has another sperg moment.

>>153177082
It would be so forced at this point. But then so was his spergout on the track. It's just too handy of a tool for Taeshi to abandon outright.

>>153177082
>Passes by Lucy.
>Kicks the chair out from under her.
>Refuses to react.
Evil shit Mike would be awesome.

>>153177159
I feel like he'd need to finally crack and erupt out the other side for that to happen. But it would be far more entertaining than the certified karma-free torment nexus

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>>153177159
Asshole Mike would be fun yea

>>153175424
I find Mike frustrating on a meta level, because he's given so much focus in the story despite the fact that he never DOES anything. I don't think he's ever canonically initiated an interaction, every event he's involved in was prompted by someone else. I can't even think of any sentiment he's expressed that wasn't voiced or validated by some other character first.
>Scenes with Sandy are the same as any other scene of Mike being miserable, except there are square text boxes.
That's the part I find most confusing. If Mike has fallen out of love with Sandy, then when did it happen? Because he was frustrated and checked out with her even before Lucy came back, and his attitude towards her hasn't actually changed since she admitted to cheating. But if he does love her, then why isn't he more concerned or trying to fix things?

>in my opinion it was both in character and not really similar to those others aside from the general theme of Mike being angry.
It's the weakest of my examples, for sure. My point is just that Mike's reactivity is both semi-rare, and other than December/Lucy, never amounts to anything. I don't actually think it's OOC, I subscribe to the "Mike is schizo-affective" theory, hence the dissociative episodes, paranoia, and vivid semi-prophetic visions. It's only ever a brief interruption to his passivity that's quickly smothered by guilt, gaslighting, and/or mutual apologies.

>>153176705
>with and employs a second James rugpull?
I give it 6 months. Better question: will it be an Existing character, the track team, or a new character?

>>153178497
Thought it was more:
>Before EF
Burnt out and frustrated being ghosted and it being a nothing long distance relationship. Equivalent of trying to talk to a wall most of the time due to aforementioned ghosting. Also mix in Lucy's passive aggressive bullshit and general friend group frustration eating away at him
>After EF
Magic's seriously gone. He's only dealing with it due to a mix of sunk cost and fear Sandy will do something drastic if he bails because he had to experience that with Lucy. The follow up with James' monumental bullshit and the Lucy squad fucking him over again pretty much killed any enthusiasm he may have had left relationships. Everyone supposedly close to him outside of his family (which may also be getting fucked up) have proven time and time again to be shit or untrustworthy

>>153176705
Probably an attempt in a few months but I don't see how it could really work at this stage after what James did. Mike's guard should reasonably be high and he just doesn't want to deal with anyone. I think the better approach would be for him to just fuck off for awhile like Lucy did so the table tards have to deal with her unfiltered with no grey cat lightning rod to tank her insanity for everyone else

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>>153173054
>>153173211
It hurts...

>Anonymous: I'm pretty curious, what's Daisy's opinion on Lucy?
>Veronica: [...] Unfortunately for Daisy, she really wants to be close to people like Paulo and Mike.. to the point she does exert a lot of suckuppy behaviour towards them. She’s not totally natural. But Lucy is. And Lucy gets Paulo and Mike’s attention by being herself.. in ways Daisy finds inherently unappealing and something she could never mimic. [...]

Remember that being nice is always dishonest and being a dick is always honest. Also that Lucy isn't a tsundere putting up a rough front to protect herself, she is just straight up a bitch. Mike picking Sandy over her back in elementary school just prompted her to be brutally honest with him any time he made a move on her.

>>153178654
I assume that, or something like it, is the intended takeaway. But it's not consistent: Mike's dream sequence had Sandy acting like an evil super-bitch way before he got any hints she cheated, and I assume he's not ACTUALLY supposed to be psychic. He acted like Sandy was a burden during their date chapter and when she called prior to EF. And then he's all smiles and "gee whiz I love my girlfriend" when talking about and texting Sandy in the New Years chapter, after EF and meeting James. It's all over the place.

It's not the worst or most jarring inconsistency in BCB's plot. I don't even think it gets third place. But it's fucking weird.

First place is "at least your mother fucking loved you", second place is "Well, until the girl tried to off herself(...) your whole class got hit with the news about that girl the VERY NEXT DAY!", and third place is a shared prize between "I don't fucking like you anymore, okay?" and EF.

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>>153178723
>Mike's guard should reasonably be high and he just doesn't want to deal with anyone.
You see, that is where this person should force Mike to open up and have all sorts of heart-to-hearts. Showing that Mike is both worth loving and that he needs to be clear & resolute in what he cares about vs what others guilt him into thinking and doing. As making compromises has only led to bad agreements that harm him or some shit. No, David rugpulls, just a natural progression, as a positive development in the relationship. Mike even starts to eat & goes to the track team by tuning out the tard and tarddog. A journey to a more assertive & active Mike...THEN LITS 2.0. clothes line him and divorce arc'd.

>>153179221
So just James again

>>153179177
A symptoms of Taeshi running the plot in circles instead of moving on at a reasonable pace and having a limited imagination/low consistency.

>>153179260
NTA but do you really think Taeshi would let a 2nd James hit the towers?

Not even her moat loyal readers would buy something not going wrong at this point

>>153178654
Don't forget that Mike has been gaslit into believing he's a terrible person. His current mentality is not one born from distrust but abject despair built on a foundation of self-loathing.

>>153179260
One must imagine Sisyphus absolutely miserable. Imagine him not even making it halfway up the hill on his best try. And also his meat is tiny and it gets smaller every time he fucks up an attempt, and the boulder makes fun of him for it. What do you mean "why," just imagine it, you're not imagining it right.

>>153179364
I think it's been well established that Taeshi is both willfully delusional and pretty damn stupid.

>>153179221
>>153179395
Lucy's white fur would be an ideal canvas for a dye job. What if, once Jordan and Augustus leave for college, we have Lucy "leave" again, get a semi-permanent coat coloration done at a salon, and "come back" under an assumed identity. She seduces Mike as you outlined, offering nothing but sweet affirmations and building him up, coaxing him into regaining his confidence and pursuing self-actualization.

You may think I'm going for a "then Lucy reveals the trick", but no. Lucy partially undoes the dye wash only after ordering a realistic "freshly skinned fur coat" halloween costume online, alongside gallons of blood and most of a pig from a slaughterhouse. She sets it up so Mike comes home, sees the blood, finds the bathtub with a skinned corpse, and Lucy wearing his girlfriend's skin like a ghastly coat, mockingly asking if he loves her.

Only when Mike THINKS he's reached the apoptosis of despair, when he believes things can get no worse and he's had everything taken from him, will Lucy make the reveal: The girl who loved him, who saved him, his love, life, and happiness, isn't dead - but only because she never existed at all.

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>>153177082
>Oh god I hope Mike has another sperg moment.
It would be somewhat jarring for Mike to explode on the next page without much build-up; however, for that to happen in this chapter, or at least for that moment to begin building up to in a future chapter, would make sense, especially with Taeshi's message on the first page.
>>153177159
Again, it would be somewhat jarring for him to do that, but I could see him trying to slip past Paulo, Lucy, and David and ending up tripping over Sue or her crutches.

>>153179495
and then Mike strangles her to death

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>>153179260
Paulo show and Pasiy have shown we are fucked, Might as well keep the train going on cycles/repetition.

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>>153179498
>omg i loooooove torturing Mike oh my god oh my GAWD
Nothing will ever be enough for this woman. She must have zero control over her own life to be this spitefully vindictive toward her husband's effigy.

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>>153179498
Either have the boy pull his own December, go postal, or have the shitty "redemption" but get on with it already

>>153179764
Can't wait for Taeshi's thesis to be that Mike deserved to have his life destroyed because of those stupid letters. One of the most unempathetic, neurotic ideas ever put to pen outside of fanfiction written by teenage girls. Followed soonafter by her indignant confusion when it is received poorly.

>>153179519
Bcb is an EVA fanfic in disguise

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>>153179950
dont fuccking compare Asuka/Rei to these bitches.

>>153180020
This. Asuka Langley Soryu was actually skilled, psychologically resilient, and fought to the end against hopeless odds. Rei followed orders, but only as she chose to, never on the terms of those who asked. Even Shinji had the wherewithal to push himself to and past the breaking point, and the courage to admit he was wrong and come back from over the brink.

Mike would have gone catatonic in episode 1, and Lucy would have initiated 3rd impact immediately with her wish being to never be told "no" again.

>>153180140
Tbf, their selves before taeshi went crazy would be more resilient. Mike anime bullshit would have helped. I'm unsure if Lucy woulda 3rd impacted or killed herself after or before december.

Fuck are we in a very shitty rebuild version of bcb?

>>153180189
Lucy back then would have fought back out of sheer fuck-you mentality.

>>153172530
Man this story is so sad, the first husband ended up passing right?

>>153180189
In a way December was End of Eva, so yes

>>153173054
>>153173211
Among other things Tae really needs to do research on stylization

>>153179944
>Can't wait for Taeshi's thesis to be that Mike deserved to have his life destroyed because of those stupid letters.


Those letters are the most retarded thing she's pulled out to make Mike look bad. It makes bringing up lucy beating the shit out of him for years a stupid move in hindsight because that's no longer on the table for being grounds for Mike to be mad.

Ever since that jump, she's gone out of her way to find everything to excuse lucy for her actions while blaming Mike for it. At this point She really wants to say "Mike deserved his past abuse" but knows that probably wouldnt fly even with her most loyal readers.

>>153179950
>>153180189
>>153180295
In a way I do see the similarities between BCB and Evangelion, what with Mike being 'nice' and spineless (sort of like Shinji) and Lucy supposed to be sort of tsundere-ish (like Asuka), but it's all done much more inconsistently and terribly, with pointless dramas and no decent development.

>>153180387
Eva having a deadline probably helped

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>>153179151
You think you have seen OOC ragebait? You are like little babby. WATCH THIS.

>>153181001
Rape is good i guess

>>153176376
Is the lunch lady fucking that kid? Because it sure looks like that's what Taeshi was implying.

>>153179151
In her character blurb it says she's smart and kind. I can't think of any time she lied to the boys to try and curry their favor.
>>153181001
Daisy wouldn't know anything about how it feels to be actively attacked by an older man.
Also didn't they literally all get beat up during Confrontation? Daisy got attacked by at least two older men. That's more than Lucy, she wins.
I don't think this is OOC though. Augustus has been Lucy's eunuch for a while.

>>153181025
Remember, Daisy "wanted it", so she is a WHORE who deserves to be shamed for almost getting sexually assaulted. How dare Daisy resent Lucy constantly shaming her for wanting attention and affection. Lucy is PURE, and would NEVER be pushy or desperate with boys, let alone express fondness for a creep just because he showed her kindness once.

>>153181001
>Augustus and Lucy can't get together because... Augustus doesn't like Lucy!
>But since Augustus didn't like Lucy, he really shouldn't like Daisy so he's asexual now
>Actually, he likes Lucy more than Daisy even and would defend his future rapist against Daisy because she's slut shaming! (YOU ARE HERE)
>Augustus has always loved Lucy, what do you mean? the signs were always there!

>>153181001
Damn, now Augustus would threaten his molestation victim over a dumb one on one emotional argument?

>>153181088
>I can't think of any time she lied to the boys to try and curry their favor.
Arguably she tricked Mike into a date, but that was a lie of omission at worst. Daisy's kindness and compliments were pretty much always genuine, so I don't know where this "sucking up" supposedly was. Maybe taking Paulo and Mike's side in arguments, like she did when Mike was crashing out at Rachel's party or when Paulo was being a dick?

Regardless, I find it ridiculous that Lucy is described as "totally natural" given how frequently she puts on a front or lies. I guess
>Denying that she loved Mike
>Pretending to be fine with the existence of Sandy, thugs, or water
>Telling Augustus she isn't charmed by him, trying to be his friend, or planning to kill herself
>Denying that she tried to kill herself when she came back (but everyone totally knew because they got the news the day after because BCB has no continuity)
>Telling Paulo he "never had a chance" (either that was a lie, or she was lying back then)
>"I don't fucking like you anymore, okay?"
>Being all friendly with the table group then going and talking behind their backs with Augustus about how much she hates and wants to get away from them
>Flirting with ulterior motives
don't count as lies.

Well done, whoever generated that Sandy sloppa animation, I like that the mouth still looks BCB style while animated. It's pretty weird to hear these characters voiced.

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>get that monthly Alejandro impregnation tingle
>go to re-read Second Confrontation
>SC's furaffinity got nuked

>>153182308
http://bcbnsfw.space/misc/ff/read.php?id=37

>>153182152
We had a trash thread after all?

>>153182485
No, it's on ai.bcbnsfw.space

>>153182485
https://ai.bcbnsfw.space/post/12178

>>153182511
Canon valentine's day

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>>153180338
The letters hangup is a case of narcissistic delusion crossed with staggering ingratitude. It dismisses every single good thing Mike ever did for Lucy--which includes saving her life--as an act of manipulation. Presumably to mirror how Mike decided that all of Lucy's "love" for him was really just attachment issues...which doesn't even line up because Mike only denied Lucy's love before she confessed her feelings. The hangup also reframes all of Lucy's past abuse as justified self-defense. Poor little Lucy, oh so weak. Unable to tear herself from the side of big bad Mike (unless he looked dead or had rejected her, in which case she'd beeline for Paulo or the local almost-rapist). All she could do to keep Mike's vile claws at bay was hurt him and fuck with his feelings. So you see, she's the REAL victim here. What's a little physical, mental, and emotional harm compared to the dire sin of a child staying penpals with another girl?

The argument this comic now hinges on is psychotic. If Taeshi is trying to balance the equation so that Mike and Lucy someday admit they were both equally bad to each other, I have never seen anyone else this bad at math.

>>153182511
Thanks anon

>>153181001
She keeps to d rive home this idea that Augustus loves lucy, and in a recent answer on the blog, that Lucy has feelings for him.

So then why didn't she show this? Why didn't she show them growing any kind of romantic feelings for each other? Even Augustus doing LitS doesn't mean he romantically likes her. Why does she constantly tell important shit on the blog instead of showing it?

>>153182511
>Sandy's canon hip tattoo
>She says Maishul just how I figured she would

>>153182754
I'd prefer Lucy X Augustus at this point.

>>153182754
Because none of it is real. Taeshi's blog is riddled with inconsistencies. Whether that is because she can't/won't pick a lane or is constantly bullshitting fake answers, the results are the same: Word of god doesn't mean jack when said deity is indistinguishable from a schizophrenic.

>>153182885
I don't. Their entire relationship comes across as a product of castration and brainwashing. Classic Augustus would have quickly grown tired of Lucy's antics and, grateful as he might be for her coming to his rescue, his solution to her problems would not be to indulge her. His only purpose in the narrative now is to enable her worst tendencies even if Taeshi won't accept that truth.

>>153169433
This is dumb. Seems like Mike is just going to have to sit and suffer while nobody notices how bad he's doing.

Why the fuck is Paulo smiling while he's talking to Lucy in the first place? Last time we saw the guy he was magically prevented from going to see if Mike was alright by Lucy activating her Universal reality bending powers. Seems like he should be a little put off by having her attention directly on him. Not to mention him being forced to stay at the table because of his promise is a pretty bullshit excuse for him to stay if he wants to leave. When he made that promise to Lucy in the first place, during one of his most bitchboy moments, he had it thrown in his face, was ridiculed, told he wasn't wanted, and slapped in the face by her. You'd think anyone would consider that promise invalid since it was rejected and used as a point of attack by the very person using it against him at the table. Pretty fucking dumb reason to not check up on somebody you wanted to go see.

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>>153170485
Why did he do it.
Is pussy just better when it's a married woman's?

>>153183352
Rmember that Taeshi thinks Lucy's mentality is justified on top of her preexisting bias toward bow cat. She's made some noise about Paulo's promise being stupid, through Daisy, but that is weak considering how fat cat's opinions can be dismissed as jealousy and Taeshi has shown no capacity to hold Lucy accountable for misdeeds for a long time now. She's always given a sympathetic, "understandable" out, and so Paulo's devotion to her will inevitably be cast as noble instead of fucking stupid.

>>153171503
Every update further proves Mike right. No one is really his friend, they pay lip service unto to him and call it a day. Paulo is the closest but he's too attached to Lucy to matter.

>>153173002
Why's that one guy in the last panel so pissed? Since the only thing Mike is doing is grabbing a snack cup im guessing it has something to do with that. Like dude, there are other blue snack cups, just grab one of those.

>>153169433
Real talk, I think David and Augustus would genuinely be happy to see Mike off himself or get seriously injured. They use Mike as a convenient lightning rod for all the bad stuff Lucy goes through, cuz God forbid she faces her own problems like any healthy individual.

>>153183460
Taeshi inadvertently proved Mike's december outburst correct. Lucy is a parasite, uses others as tools, and Mike's so called "friends" only act friendly with him if he plays nice with Lucy.

>>153183676
I feel like there is some plausible deniability for the friend group but also expect Taeshi to foolishly squander it before she realizes what's happened.

>>153183699
They usually take Lucy's side and give her more grace, so don't expect Taeshi to realize that she proved Mike correct.

>>153183707
She'd probably portray them as taking the objectively correct side but in the same way she had Mike and James immediately buy Augustus and Lucy's narrative. That is, in a very clumsy way that makes that makes the decision look more like a psychotic break or the result of moral bankruptcy.

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>>153183831
Mike's life is a cautionary tale of never letting yourself get gaslight by a girl & your friends, especially in preschool. Cause his mom and Lucy's mom were friends, he was always gonna meet Lucy eventually, cursed existence.

>>153183831
It'd still make Mike be justified in thinking he never had friends, and would validate every ear he had.

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>>153183899
Yes, and that is extremely depressing, anon. That would mean for Mike's entire life, he never had friends, and the only reason he was "liked" was because he was in proximity to Lucy, the same Lucy who beat his ass for looking at her with a smile. It means he should have been happy being nothing but her emotional support toy when she couldn't treat him like a person, cause he wrote letters to another girl when Lucy said she wasn't interested.

It would mean Sandy was an attempt to have a friend or someone in his corner cause no one else was, and over time, this girl turned out to be just a different flavor of cruel & manipulative vs Lucy. With the cycle repeating with James.

This isn't bittersweet or bitter; that's just poison. A terrible narrative choice if your suppose to pretend Lucy and friends are sympathetic or good people.

>>153182018
Even tricking Mike onto a date doesn't really count as sucking up. I guess her having to get bullied into admitting Paulo has bad qualities sorta counts? But that was fairly recent, so what changed to make Paulo start to think Daisy was "real enough"

I didn't even think about all that. Lucy's extremely fake. I hate to be all "reverse the genders" but I feel like the Tumblr side of the audience would immediately see through the "always being an asshole is being honest" thing if it were Luke doing it.

>>153183899
I think it would convince any reader who is not already a dyed in the wool Lucystan but not Mike himself. He'd be portrayed as getting his ironic just desserts and "facing hard truths."

>>153183990
Mike was supposed to be wrong here, but ended up being proven exactly right. Taeshi could have gone the route of Lucy becoming a better person and reconciling, but chose to punish Mike for acting out against his abuser.

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>>153184043
>Taeshi could have gone the route of Lucy becoming a better person and reconciling, but chose to punish Mike for acting out against his abuser.
Yes, but that would mean admitting Lucy was a toxic bitch and not trying to hide and side-step it. I have said this before: remove the suicide, and Lucy can't be sympathetic to anyone with 3 brain cells. Lucy herself created the conditions for freaking December in the first place.

>>153184043
Even now, after all the absolute bullshit she has put to page, Taeshi could at least TRY to fix this by putting Lucy through her own Grow The Fuck Up You Spoiled Psycho arc but is too in love with her BPD power fantasy to go any further than a slap on the wrist portrayed as some grievous wound that changes everything.

>>153181001
Are characters even allowed to dislike lucy without it being portrayed as a bad thing? Madison and daisy are the only ones that dislike lucy for non-antagonistic reasons and both of them are pretty envy centered even though lucy's abrasive nature would be enough for plenty of people to dislike her, yet everyone loves her for it. Lucy calls someone a slut and everyone's all "Awww that's just good ol'Lucy for you".

>>153184266
Lucy is a Mary Sue self-insert until completely proven otherwise after another decade of Mike torture.

>>153184092
>Taeshi could at least TRY to fix this by putting Lucy through her own Grow The Fuck Up You Spoiled Psycho arc


The problem with that is that she would be much more soft handed with it than she's treated Mike. It's why nobody here believes the "Lucy is going to suffer" response she gave on tumblr is going to mean anything. It won't even be a fraction of the BS she put Mike through because she just can't bring herself to do it.

How do you even out over a decade (real time) of torturing a character because he lashed out against the girl that was physically abusing him for years?

>>153183463
I think that's green anon, and seems to be the last of it.

>>153184651
>How do you even out over a decade (real time) of torturing a character because he lashed out against the girl that was physically abusing him for years?
Have another girl beat and or molest Lucy?

>>153184760
A non-pitybait method that is. Maybe have the narrative actually acknowledge the physical abuse, social isolation and gaslighting. I vote for Abbey to flip his shit once Mike is hospitalized or almost dies, seeing the table split up as well.

The ideal situation would be Abbey accusing Lucy of letting Augustus get away with harming Mike after Augustus harmed Daisy, and the group suspects Lucy of siding with Alejandro and the gang after Lucy admits to hating them all and only being at the table for Augustus.

>>153184857
I think the ideal scenario involves Lucy spelling out her letters logic to someone she can't dismiss and getting absolutely reamed over it. She needs to be told in no uncertain terms that her hangup is insane. It is the foundation of her self-righteous spite and the reason she stubbornly refuses to move the fuck on. Destroy that and Lucy has to grapple with the notion that she went too far and is kind of an insane bitch. Ideally that person also slaps her out of another suicide attempt and tells her to actually try making it right instead of chickening out again.

>>153184972
>Ideally that person also slaps her out of another suicide attempt and tells her to actually try making it right instead of chickening out again

This would be a great role for Paulo to take, if any of the lessons from The Paulo Show stuck. Abbey feels like the best choice beyond Tess since we've seen growth and reconciliation from both of them, but Abbey's probably too far removed from Lucy for it to be impactful. So maybe a guest appearance from Tess? Maybe after blowing up on Sue or Daisy?

>>153185033
I considered Paulo for the role but felt that Lucy would too easily dismiss his words thanks to her me vs the world mentality. She already doesn't trust him because of her insane alleyway dream. In general I think she's just too far down the delusion chute for anyone to get through to her save maybe Augustus. But he's not likely to have a change of heart or feel remorse anytime soon.

>>153185033
I think it would need to be an adult at this point. At least normally. Taeshi's made all the adults in the comic useless. Abbey's foster parents weren't, but they got written out because they can't afford to be incompetent.

>>153184092
I find it funny that said hip injury retroactively fucks her after kicking Mike for daring to speak up, there was never concern that she hurt him or of going to far nor of proving she hasn't changed, it was just a grimace of pain

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Ruin has come to my family. You remember my venerable house, homely and tranquil. Gazing warmly from its tranquil place amongst the suburbs. I lived all my years in that modest, post-war household, beloved by family and class. And yet, I began to tire of abusive treatment. A singular, unsettling companion suggested my every action was a gateway to some malicious and cruel spirit. With gaming and schooling, I bent every effort towards the disproval and refutation of those long-held beliefs, exhausting what remains of my spiritual wellbeing on soppy bitchcats and flighty twinks. At last, in the verdant fields behind the school we unearthed those antediluvian accusations of evil letters. My every step unsettled the white cat but we were in a realm of BPD and madness! In the end, I alone remained laughing and despairing in that empty fields of the field. Until consciousness failed me. You remember my venerable house, homely and tranquil. It is a festering wound! I beg you Amy, come into canon, claim your birthright, and deliver my spirit from the ravenous clutching shadows of the Darkest Lucyspace.

>>153184972
That would require her to actually grown up and realize that the universe doesn't have to bend over for her, like that's ever gonna happen

She'll simply get mad and the person trying to get her to understand she's not a good a person will get run over by a car as some bullshit "karma" thing

>>153185689
Is the hip injury some brand new thing like the letters?

>>153185926
Kinda I guess, it's supposed to be a consequence of Lucy jumping off the roof and months of physical therapy not leaving her worse, but also came out of nowhere and was explained as "she knew she was fucking herself up by still exerting herself but she's too proud to admit she had a minor disability

>>153185926
Yeah, it’s new and a method of pitybait. Taeshi already cheapened the twinkling trauma lights enough that it doesn’t matter to the plot. Apparently the mere mention of Mike’s name or a phone ringing will make her go into a frenzy.

>>153186065
I hate to fight my grandfather's war here but why did she come back to Roseville if she hates everyone there, is triggered by being within a hundred miles of Mike, and has not physically recovered. What is there for her in Roseville?

>>153186552
Supposedly, according to some blog post, Taeshi finally figured out a reason why this year. Who knows whether she's bluffing.

>>153185033
Against all odds, somehow: Augustus.

>>153186552
>>153186610
The only reason that might make any kind of sense is that she went back for Mike. Either because she liked him or she wanted to spite him as payback.

Probably both.

She apparently hated everyone else, and she had no idea Augustus would even still be around. But even with that, why wouldn't her parents move away from Mike's. Taeshi's constantly stated on her blog that Mike being anywhere near her is bad for her and potentially everyone else because her bad habits kick in. All of Lucy's agency just disappears when she does something dumb if Mike is around.

If the sheer mention of him activates her having a panic attack, even if he moved back to the same town, why not move somwhere else in that town for the sake of her health?


Honestly, I hope nobody gets their hopes up for Taeshi actually giving a good reason for her return. It took her more than five years to finally figure it out and it can't be anything other than mike related. It's just gonna be some bullshit to make him look worse in universe.

>>153186610
Got my money on "foolish attempt to prove nothing's wrong," that gets portrayed as a tragic character flaw and not one that's making everyone around her miserable.
Either that or "for Augustus."
>>153186757
Graykitty mind control is an interesting option if it, again, doesn't get treated like a tragic-style flaw of hers but something that's hurting everyone around her.

>>153186552
It's funny how uncommon it is to see people assume she went back for her family. It's a good reason, but between the comic underutilizing the families in general and Lucy only seeming to have a soft spot for Augustus, the idea doesn't seem to occur to a lot of people.

>>153186915
She doesn't seem to show fondness towards them, and it's likely that it's about Mike so Taeshi can push Mucy despite demonizing Mike and claiming he was always evil for the past few months.

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>>153186644
That sounds too natural of a development for BCB.
>Lucy's behavior and nighmares worsen after Augustus "solved" the issue
>she won't give him any straight answers
>starts lashing out at him too
>he seems to do less and less right in her eyes
>she keeps guilting him over past sins and getting jealous/pissy when he shows other girls any attention
>Augustus starts to reconsider his prior actions while growing frustrated with Lucy's behavior
>finally discovers her ptsd dreams are happening because of the phone shit
>gets mad that Lucy has been silently blaming him for not figuring it out sooner
>starts to resent her bullshit again
>his lightbulb moment is realizing he's basically Mike 2.0
>gives her a second December but it's meant to be a wakeup call
>tells her that he went along with the letters thing but that it's fundamentally crazy
>not buddy buddy with Mike but holy fuck he knows where scarf cat was coming from now
>she's not actually gotten any better and he's not going to be here for her come next school year
>Lucy wake up and listen to the carbon monoxide alarm already

>>153186971
Unfortunately Augustus seems to enjoy hurting others and using Lucy as a meal ticket.

>>153186817
>Either that or "for Augustus."
I vote this because it requires Taeshi to have forgotten what she already wrote, which is her default these days.

>>153186994
He seems to actually care about Lucy, unfortunately. The meal ticket idea is both more interesting and pure headcanon.

>>153186915
If she's really attached to her family, why doesn't she sit with Jordan? She doesn't seem too close with her mom either.

>>153187016
Taeshi keeps making Lucy X Augustus sound more romantic than Mucy- the least she could do is have Lucy X Augustus happen.

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>>153186944
The dialectic of Lucy has many contradictions

>>153186971
I like to think there's an alternate universe where a version of me is reading this version of the comic, and all I can do is try to be happy for him

>>153187044
I would call it more boring and mandated than romantic.

>>153187044
Well anything sounds more romantic than MxL because they're completely incompatible and don't enjoy each other's company
But you're right she keeps making them very romantic while doubling down that it's totally platonic

>>153187044
Basically any combination of characters is better than the one we got. What's the worst plausible relationship? Augaisy? Even then that could look like "pushy rapey guy learns to overcome his own trauma and find sincere ways to show affection while nebbish smart girl learns to value herself and not let someone smash through all her boundaries just because they might withhold affection," which would at least be a story and not "two people that hate each other are mind controlled into loving each other"

Your weekly reminder that Mucy is inevitably endgame for all time. Nevermind that it's the worst possible choice, it's how Taeshi wants it to happen and so it shall

>>153186757
I assumed it was a pride thing, but again it revolves around Mike

>>153187840
More like the long game, she could at least cut sandy out once and for all and haven them TRY to resolve their issues, but no a square text box is the only enemy in this lovey dovey relationsh

>>153187840
>weekly reminder that people still cope like this
Thanks I almost forgot.

>>153186915
>It's funny how uncommon it is to see people assume she went back for her family


Pretty much everyone's come to the conclusion that, if anything, the family would move for her sake if she really needed it. So coming back for her family never comes up.

>>153187055
The "best" case scenario in all of this is Lucy not being able to get Mike like she wants, either emotionally or physically. Either mike kills himself or he just becomes an emotionally empty shell. Lucy wanted to spite him so hard that she didnt think about any long term consequences of all this.

>>153188336
That is what Eternal Flame was. The aftermath of which poisoned the well on the idea as Lucy has since proved everything she said in such a situation was a complete lie so its pointless

>>153183463
He's shocked and disgusted at Mike's creepy spider hands.

>>153188349
Yeah, obviously it's going to be Paulo x Lucy.

>>153186915
My problem with that is that it clashes with her family sending her "away" in the first place. I get family wanting to all be together, but then why would they send Lucy off to some other town to live with her aunt against her wishes?

Also, on a more meta level, it's yet another example of Taeshi being dumb, because it implies that Roseville has one and only one highschool, which is ridiculous for a town of it's apparent size. Why didn't Lucy's parents transfer her to a different school while still keeping her at home, if they were so worried about how Roseville High was effecting her mental health?

>>153188751
but Pablo is 4 Soo....

>>153186644
>>153185230
This would also be a good choice if her confidant started to get restless over how her family feels about her mental decline that he returned to Hard Truth Sayer. At this point, though, there isn't anything that indicates he's going to turn back into that.

>>153185360
One thing that I wished Taeshi did was establish more of the environment in BCB. I don't think her framing or dialogue is strong enough to convey the complex emotions these kids have, which results in her leaning on Word of God. Giving them adult characters they can bounce off of could illustrate their warped, fatalist or incomplete views. It would also give the audience a more lively world for these characters to live in.

>>153188877
I don't think the world has any more depth than what's necessary for the drama, you argue that the only locations in the world of bcb are the school, Mike and Lucy' houses, and the street

>>153189153
>I don't think the world has any more depth than what's necessary for the drama,
I might have mis-phrased it, but I think that's my problem. A No Exit situation doesn't work, since you have to have either a very novel perspective or strong character interaction. This comic doesn't have either.

>>153188877
The problem is that their issues are so deep that any adult would feel either weirdly sociopathic (Mike's and to a lesser extent Lucy's mom), or make total asses of themselves (Zachary) since anything a good adult would do when presented with these kids ("you two should probably just stop talking, I don't think you're good for each other, does this taste like lithium to you?") would solve the plot immediately

>>153189537
>The problem is that their issues are so deep that any adult would feel either weirdly sociopathic
Abbey's dad beat his mom to death and Paulo's mom bailed to start a new family. There's space for more low-stakes adult fuck-ups. Taeshi can't convey any of that through dialogue, though. You get scenes like At Least Your Mother Fucking Loved You. and tank any sort of emotional catharsis.

It's true that any good adult would try to steer them on a better path, but I think there's a more cohesive thru-line being shown as completely hapless about their kids. It makes more sense why so many of them are completely fucked. If you can't deepen the pool, make it wider, I guess.

>>153189738
It'd be really fun to get a chapter of Mike and Lucy's moms going for a girl's night out together or something, and ending up talking about their kids.
>"Does Haley ever threaten to kill herself if you don't give her space? Is that a standard teen girl thing?"
>"She doesn't threaten to kill herself, but she does tell me to fuck off and give her space."

Actually what would be even better is a PTA meeting. I want a scene of a teacher telling Mike and Lucy's moms that their kids are disrupting class by engaging in passive-aggressive mindgames with each other.

>>153189992
Yeah, i still don't buy that school is going all peachy, mike is barely reactive and his grades haven't fallen AT ALL? do their teachers simply don't care?, there's a scene of mike being lost in thought and getting called out for it, does it only happen that one time, is it reoccurring? who knows

>>153190377
>mike is barely reactive and his grades haven't fallen AT ALL?
Taeshi accidentally wrote Mike being built different. Dead inside yet powering through, unlike her fursona.

>>153190834
Mike's flaw is that he's too considerate, so where Lucy will tell everyone to fuck off and try to kill herself AND get angry at her family for reminding her of this Mike will power on because he would be letting his family down and bringing them grief if he put himself in extreme danger.

>>153191028
>>153190834
There's many better solutions to bpdemons other than thugging that shit out, but i guess when your creator is also a bpdemons you don't got many options

>>153191490
It's literally a fantasy for a BPD person: everyone always loves you, no one gets annoyed at your constant hot and cold and the ones who do are rightfully seen as wrong, no therapy is needed instead the world bends for you, everyone is both too pleasing and too apathetic so whatever extreme you're on you can be a victim, etc
My gf tried to bend herself over to be useful to her BPD friend that constantly threatened with suicide and whenever she would be on the other extreme would scold her for "using her to make herself feel useful". It's a lose lose situation and Mike was right to bounce when it was obvious what part he played

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>>153184025
New double standard just dropped.

I'm tempted to go through and collect all the panels of Lucy literally hanging off Mike/Paulo/Augustus's arm batting her eyes at them while telling them how special they are to her.

>>153191950
Hey! That's my ask!

>Daisy compliments and asks people questions to try and make friends
>This is sucking up
>Lucy is a huge asshole to everyone and they all like her for no reason
>This is genuine

Anyway, maybe we're just arguing about what words mean here, but I never interpreted a genuine compliment as "sucking up," even if you're hoping for something out of it. I told a friend I liked his writing. I meant it, but I also hoped that he'd appreciate the compliment and continue sharing it with me. That's just a normal interaction, right? I'm not taking crazy pills?

>>153192058
I think it's as simple as Taeshi being an asshole who only ever pretends to be nice to get what she wants, and that shapes her worldview whether or not she acknowledges it.

>>153192058
Anon, Taeshi believes people are only nice because they're manipulative and hiding how nasty they really are and assholes are the most honest people around because they don't hide how they are. It's not you, it's the author having a very twisted logic to justify herself

>>153192058
I thought it was a cute idiosyncrasy that she gets gushy about boys (and girls, I guess) she likes. Taking interest in other people and complement them is actually how you build bonds. You're not crazy.

>>153192474
Would be weirdly comical if her view of a healthy Mucy end game is Mike actually becoming a total piece of shit and treating Lucy as such, considering it "romantic"

>>153192503
It's really funny to me how completely unsupportable Daisy's claim of bisexuality is within the comic itself. Her coming out reads like her making up shit to bond over.

>>153192593
Well, she IS married to Suitcase. Her diary comics certainly paint a picture of what that looks like from her perspective.

>>153192616
Every named character is at least bi now. Doesn't help her coming out to Paulo is supposed to be romantic when it reads as more platonic/familial.

>>153192758
Their entire romance feels so artificial and I'm sure it's the result of Taeshi trying to write a standard functional relationship. You know, something she has zero experience with and can only emulate with poorly understood tropes.

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>>153190834
Many might fall in the face of chaos, but not my fucking boy Michael Greycat. Not today.

>>153192593
Lucy wants Alejandro after all

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>>153192058
>That's just a normal interaction, right? I'm not taking crazy pills?
I'm not a sociologist or anything, but I'm pretty sure you're correct, anon. I do think Daisy's attitude tends to be a bit obsequious, given that she talks up how impressive people are even when they really aren't, and how her first instinct when someone is being an asshole is usually to apologize for offending them and offer comfort. But I always read that as Daisy not having the confidence to compare herself favorably to people she likes, or to stand up for herself against them.

Anyways, have a shitty compilation of times Lucy has sucked up to boys.

>>153191950
I mean "Lucy doesn't really try to get people to like her" is a different thing from "Lucy just acts natural."

>Lucy has them at the palm of her hand
Genuinely how could somebody read this post and not come away Daisypilled.

>>153194084
That's what gets me. Daisy is objectively right: the only positive qualities Lucy has over her are being hot and being good at playing hard-to-get.

Daisy has her problems: she can be hypocritical, she plays favorites, she struggles to open up sometimes, she can be untrustworthy. But Lucy has all those flaws but significantly worse, but still gets whoever she wants.

>>153193821
She definitely gasses up people who don't deserve it, but it never feels like she's doing it just so they'll like her. When she says stuff like "Mike's too hard on himself" or "Paulo's so mature" or "maybe Sandy cheated for a good reason" I think she legitimately believes those things. You're right that some of them probably stem from low self esteem.
Appreciate everyone telling me I'm not crazy.

>>153191950
>Lucy wins by doing absolutely nothing
She can always dangle the threat of killing herself again too

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>>153193300
True and canon

>>153191950
Dammit, why is that one aggressively pro-Lucy guy never around when I actually want to hear his thoughts on something

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>>153196053
>lamenting shit that never happened in the first place

>>153195149
>maybe Sandy cheated for a good reason


This was such a wild thing to say. Why would she even entertain this thought if she's more of Mike's friend than Sandy's.

>>153196028
Remember when taeshi was based? Those were the days

Bump

>>153198447
let the thread die please, we have nothing new to talk about.

Gonna ask here since this's basically the unofficial Ventura City Drifters fanclub, I just read it and it's really cute. I'm a bit confused though, I don't really know basketball but these are women's teams yeah? So, how come there are one or two dudes allowed in the teams? Are guys sometimes allowed on if their builds are too nimble/small to make it to the proper men's team or something? Are the characters FtM (or MtF)? Am confuzzled.

>>153196053
Maybe they experienced self-awareness and died of cringe.

>>153197248
Because Taeshi loves to accidentally prove Mike correct about his friends and everything else. Daisy's phantom bisexuality, crossed with this cartoonish overtuning of her usual favoritism, was so hilariously contrived that you just know Taeshi is setting up another forced plotpoint, damn the collateral damage or basic implications.

>>153197248
Well to be fair Soupy himself admitted that Daisy was the character most likely to cheat on their partner if someone was giving her attention that she wanted.

>>153188877
>>but Pablo is 4 Soo....

Pablo is for soo what?

>>153198714
One reason why that Paisy Failstate BCI was so stupid is that Daisy is not the one to wreck it through infidelity. Instead, Taeshi just turns her into an ungrateful Karen.

>>153198608
Yup. Lucy was proven to be a parasite and Mike's so-called friends were only nice to him because he played nice with Lucy. He was later proven right that everyone would abandon him for Lucy.

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>>153188349
He is right though. Coping is not seeing it for what it is.

I've said this dozens of times at this point, but the whole damn comic revolves around Mike and Lucy's dynamic. It both sustains and pushes the whole story forward; the comic would cease to exist if it wasn't a thing anymore. Every other character exists just to support it.The author always makes a point whenever she can to say how she likes the two of them together, etc.

Now that being said, it IS possible that they might not actually end up together, but at any rate it will symbolize the actual end of the comic, since it can't keep existing the way it does if their dynamic doesn't exist anymore.

TL;DR even if they don't end up together, the comic cannot exist without this 'will they wont they' dynamic, so they are bound to each other until the end.

>>153198483
>Gonna ask here since this's basically the unofficial Ventura City Drifters fanclub, I just read it and it's really cute. I'm a bit confused though, I don't really know basketball but these are women's teams yeah? So, how come there are one or two dudes allowed in the teams? Are guys sometimes allowed on if their builds are too nimble/small to make it to the proper men's team or something? Are the characters FtM (or MtF)? Am confuzz
I saw it as teams in this universe being able to be mixed gender if it comes up.

>>153198608
>Because Taeshi loves to accidentally prove Mike correct about his friends and everything else.


She does all this and then wonders why people still sympathetic for mike, even when t hey're not supposed to (LitS)

>>153199155
And she tried to pivot when that anonymous user asked what to think about Mike's anorexia and depression. They're apparently supposed to not view the multiple months of demonization as a sign that this is deserved after Taeshi tried rewriting Mike as the eternal villain and Lucy as the poor victim with no agency.

>>153199237
She thinks people are supposed to hate mike when she wants them to but also feel bad form them when she wants them to.

It doesnt work like that and she ends up getting pissy when people "Just don't get it"

>>153199253
I hope she ends up justifying the beatings and Mike's anorexia and depression. Least she can do is stop pretending she likes Mike at all.

>>153199277
Oh but I do think she likes Mike. It's just in that insane BPD way described way back during late volume 1: Mike is a teddy bear to fawn over and beat up as the mood strikes. Taeshi would be an abusive lover if she had any spine.

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>>153198608
>>153198755
Yes exactly.

Mike's suffering is all the more tragic because he is usually right, yet he is still made to suffer just to satisfy the author's twisted sense of 'justice', or what she believes is cool (being an asshole and a jerk), in contrast to what she believes is stupid (being kind and honest).
Other than the random sperg moments, I don't think he actually did anything wrong.

>Lucy is violent, mean, and dishonest about her feelings
>Mike chooses to be with someone who treats him well
Result: gets shat on by everyone in the comic to this very day for doing so.

>chooses to stay loyal to his GF despite the lack of contact and the distance between them:
Result: gets ignored and cheated on.

>decides to join the track team to distract his mind from all the shit in his life, maybe get some new friends
Result: the one ''friend'' he made there immediately backstabs him as soon as Augustus (who he didn't even know) shows and starts talking shit. Oh, also: gets mogged by David of all people, so he isn't even the star in the track club anymore.

>decides not to disturb Lucy after their falling out, and just live his life without interacting with her directly
Result: Augustus goes out of his way to publicly humiliate and shame him for DARING to exist in the same space as Lucy. (Augustus is painted as being right and a super-duper caring person for doing this btw)


This comic is ridiculous. Maybe Taeshi thinks something like 'nyehehe, my comic makes people feel all sorts of emotions, that means it must be good!' and proceed to give herself a pat on the back, but in reality it's mostly just people reacting to her nonsensical writing, since she tries her damn best to get people to want to cheer for assholes.

>>153199440
One caveat: The rest of the track team does seem onboard with having Mike as a friend, but he was too focused on the lovebomb withdrawl to notice.

>>153199473
Literally any attempt from Taeshi to give Mike a "friend" in the future has already been fucked over by James, and Paulo isn't helping prove Mike wrong when he keeps choosing Lucy.

>>153199510
I do wonder if James will poison the track team on Mike, and what that would look like.

>>153199543
Taeshi would end up making it look like a mass betrayal and make them look completely insane if she did that, proving Mike completely right again. No real reason for them to believe James since they know how he works and discards people and his obvious crush on David.

>>153198751
>Pablo is for soo what?

pablo is 4 soo n dey shuld kiss :D

>>153199543
Based on how it's framed I think the track team wouldn't trust too much of what James says. I can imagine his depression to get in the way of an important race.

>>153198483
It never gets explained in the comic, and it confused me at first too. In RL basketball that wouldn't be allowed, but I assume the XBA is mixed-gender so Sonokido can add the occasional man to the cast

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>>153199575
The logical route to making them reject Mike would be initial skepticism toward James since, you know, they have not seen anything from Mike that would suggest he's a people user. Followed by Mike affirming what James said because he thinks cutting ties with the track team is for the best. And then probably having to act like an asshole to seal the deal since projecting Lucy onto James and being clingy aren't actually high crimes in any sane person's book.

So naturally the route Taeshi picks will be far dumber.

>>153199584
I can see it being less dramatic, they don't take James' side but they also don't let Mike compete and prove himself because he's obviously in a bad mental state and his health looks deteriorated, and despite being friendly this is still a team and they can't put him above David like that. The rejection would be enough suffering without painting a whole group as backstabbers

>>153199473
In fairness, that's a reasonable reaction after his experience with James and his old "friend" group. At this point he is likely checked out on the idea of having any genuine relationships and just wants to get through the remaining schools years so he never has to see any of them ever again.

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>>153199440
I know it is something that has often been said, but imagine if the genders of Mike and Lucy were reversed, yet the events remained the same. The readers would lose their shit. Literally everyone would be united asking for male Lucy to be crucified. I bet even all the Lucy supporters and Mike haters would notice how messed up this whole thing is. Everyone would flock to defend female Mike.

Did Taeshi ever adress this? I think it helps in making it clear how unfair this whole thing is.

>>153200864
No and she wont. Double standards and such. Also Luke in this hypothetical would look like even more of a fag since Michelle would be a good girlfriend unlike Lucy

>>153200943
In this canon he'd rejected Michelle and acted like a bitch about the whole thing for no reason & hit her. Rejecting the cute tomboy CH for no reason & playing wifebeater would make him the gayest cat in this comic, beating carson.

>>153199543
Honestly, after the very intentional mention of Mike skipping track practice and James panicking about it and the way the rest of the team is written, I doubt that sort of poisoning outcome is in the cards. Ive been wrong before though.

It feels more likely that she'll pull something closer to "James guilting him into coming back to track so he doesn't get in trouble and Mike suffering from his lack of eating" or "Mike drops track and James suffers by proxy" or, if she's more concerned about rehabilitating James' image with the audience after LitS, something to do with that instead.

>>153182152
Thanks blood, I found a Chinese AI that lets me storyboard and I can sort of gaslight it into doing NSFW stuff
I've been gone a while and it's kind of reignited the fun of bcb, if (you) got any ideas I can try it while I still have access to this ai

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>>153197248
Because Daisy was trying to piece together what happened from three or so incomplete pieces of information, one of which she wasn't supposed to reveal: "(Mike vaguely claims) Sandy cheated", "Mike and Lucy are (still) at each other's throats", and "Mike is gone from the table now". She doesn't actually know that what she's saying is even accurate, so she's irritated by Paulo jumping to conclusions. Especially because she accidentally revealed something she wasn't supposed to, and Paulo immediately took it and ran all the way to "Oh well obviously I know better than the people involved".

>>153203044
Gotta love the free online slop sites

Would love to see the canon Daisy panty slip from the action side, or Stacy getting blackmailed, or size queen Amaya

>>153200864
Anons say that a lot, but I honestly don't think it's true. If you look at fanfic websites, or YA fiction, or doujins, "tsun/abusive" is a super popular archetype for the male love interests, and "meek/hapless" is the single most popular archetype for the heroines. MichelleXLuke would still be one of the most popular ships, and still have people thinking Michelle is an ungrateful bitch who just needs to understand Luke better so she can fix him.

>>153203396
Maybe it'd be popular among people who like to fantasize about that sort of relationship for some reason, but I think most people would at least see it as being abusive on Luke's part, even though they could still dream about the whole 'I can fix him' thing.

>>153204720
I think who the readers are would change, but most of them would come to the same conclusions, just via different routes:
>Luke is sympathetic, his abuse is just a trauma response and him protecting himself
>Michelle is dumb, she should have dropped Sandy and not turned on Luke

The tone and justifications used would change, but Luke would still be the one with the explanatory backstory, the suicide attempt, and the chapters devoted to showing how sad and helpless he is.

>>153206214
Would Augustus be the baddie goth who he's fucking on the side?

>>153207546
The anorexia joke on the anniversary sale and Mike being blamed for the abuse pushed me over the edge due to the stated experience and a past battle with an eating disorder.. At least I got some closure.

>>153207546
Literally what did she mean by this?

>>153207961
That Lucy acknowledged her faults and that the abuse was wrong, but it's still lip service at the end of the day given there's no consequences and she still hates Mike and hurts him.

>>153207546
She only acknowledges this when it looks like Mike is romantically available. She spent the entire time since coming back before this being spiteful to him.


Once he's romantically closed off, she crashes out and AGAIN goes on to spite him with LitS. What? Is she going to do "I never wanted you to suffer!" again when/if he breaks up with sandy for the final time?

Also, she cannot blame people for thinking like this because she constantly frames everything as Mike's fault and has for YEARS now. She's unintentionally painted the message that it would have been better for everyone if Mike just shut up and let Lucy abuse him to this day.

>>153208093
>Also, she cannot blame people for thinking like this because she constantly frames everything as Mike's fault and has for YEARS now
Eternal Flame, the chapter she referenced as a "gotcha", literally ends with Mike being the bad guy, his shitty relationship was one of the issues Mike had that was sympathetic and she had Mike willingly jump back into it so now that's ALSO his fault.
The next chapter is Mike calling himself a piece of garbage, for instance, so I don't know what she meant.

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>>153207961
Lucy already apologized, stop focusing on Mike when she went through her own personal hell
>mfw someone feels pity or hates or thinks of my character I hate

>>153208034
Okay but what does it matter if Lucy acknowledged her wrong when the narrative later went Muh Letters? The abuse can't be wrong and well earned at the same time.

I agree with Lucy but doubt she'd react well to Mike telling her she should try harder on her next swan dive off a building.

>>153208696
It was justified at first but not now i guess, which doesn't make sense still because again, she goes on to immediately despise his ass after EF culminating in LitS, all of which is framed as Mike deserving it

I am glad that Suitcase is sane enough to not want kids with Veronica
She'd make for a horrendous mother

>>153207961
I guess that there should still be a chance for Mucy because Lucy happened to acknowledge she was a piece of shit in their past relationship too. However, as other Anons have said, it means absolutely nothing now because we know for a fact from Line in the Sand that what she said in Eternal Flame were completely hollow words. She only said them because the prospect of reeling Mike baking to the status quo was on the table.

>>153208447
>so I don't know what she meant.
Well, Taeshi has been minimally responsive on Tumblr, so you can try asking her directly about it.

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>>153207546
>This same bitch had recently slapped Paulo across the face and then kicked Mike in the gut for shoving her boy toy that was bullying him over reasons she knew were bullshit.

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>>153207546
>>153208034
Exactly, I agree with >>153208696. What is the point of Lucy 'acknowledging' it if she doesn't apologize, doesn't strive to be better, doesn't act regretful, and if she still takes pleasure in taking things away from Mike?

If she truly saw the error in her ways, she'd first apologize, and then she'd do her best to repair her wrongs by distancing herself from the way she was, and not just go like 'yeah I was a bitch' and then proceed to do nothing about it, not even a sincere and heartfelt 'Im sorry, Mike. Please forgive me for what I did to you'. No, instead she is now taking pleasure in seeing Mike getting ostracized by everyone.

>>153199114
>>153199598
That's what I thought too, but I remember there was like, exactly one line that did allude to these indeed being "girls' sports teams" so i dunno. Maybe the rules are more loose in this universe and the NBX is allowed to be "primarily female/male" but allow opposite-gender players in some cases?

>>153210345
My point was not that Lucy is a total lying hypocrite (which she is), but that Taeshi's answer makes no sense. Unless Lucy is supposed to be objectively wrong and just huffing copium (which she is), but that has not been Taeshi nor the comic's narrative.

>>153207546
I haven't read her response yet because doing so tends to sap some vital resource from my soul, but I'm not sure how to feel about Taeshi's blog turning into essentially a direct line of communication between her and anons. Feels like we're crossing some beams here.

>>153211006
I'm normal in the asks, I swear.

>>153210345
Well, Lucy still harbors resentment over Mike's past actions, so it makes sense that, even acknowledging her mistakes, she refuses the path to redemption because she can't let go of the resentment. The problem, as always, is that the narrative doesn't condemn her for it in the same way that Mike is punished.

>>153211006
She could absolutely use the criticism. It's a miracle she even crawled put of her hyper insulated safespace in the first place.

>>153211136
>She could absolutely use the criticism
All it's going to accomplish is her having meltdowns and venting her frustration on Mike even more, though

>>153211136
>>153211993
While I understand that, given Taeshi's psychological state, there should be some restraint in her interactions with people, it's becoming increasingly noticeable how disconnected some readers are from the narrative, thanks to the issue of unbalanced sympathy, so it's good that she's receiving some criticism, even if she doesn't take it in the best way.

>>153211993
Good. That's funny at least.

>>153211993
I'm hoping she gets mad enough to scrap his redemption arc, it would be hilarious to see.

>>153207546
So Mike sucks and was abusive, and Lucy also sucks and was abusive, and both of them will acknowledge it when their guard is down but never actually change.

I guess that scans, but it does beg the question of why we're supposed to sympathize with them. I know Taeshi has said she really wants to "test the readers empathy - you should sympathize with crazy bitch Lucy, you should sympathize with dumb fuckup Mike", but why? Why should anyone, reader or in-universe character, like or sympathize with these self-sabotaging, abusive monsters who keep trying to drag everyone around them down with them?

Why is this comic romanticizing suicide as the thing that solves all the problems?

>>153213054
>solves all the problems
Well, it does.

>>153213187
Only if you succeed.

>>153211993
So nothing changes either way.

>>153213054
13 Reasons Why mentality.