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amazildoessomethingstupid · 5 years

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Chapter 97: After, You

Rise and shine, everyone! It’s September 12th, and you all know what that means right? That means it’s the fourth year anniversary of January! Hurray! And what better way to celebrate, than with a good ol’ Chapter rant on one of the most infamous chapters in BCB. And after all the hype and shit I’ve heard about this chapter I can’t wait to dive right in, sink my teeth in, and properly dissect it! Hmm, that came out a lot hungrier than I thought…

We start off with a bit more of Lucy’s mom being really cute and funny. Although I will say it’s kind of surprising to see that this takes place immediately where the last chapter left off. I guess I’m so used to time frames between chapters being out of whack so much, I just got used to there being missing days or pieces. Can’t tell if good thing or not.

Also, just to point it out. Dat Size Difference Tho. Lucy’s mom is one small mama…or maybe Paulo’s exposure to Daisy gave him some of that mutant radiation and made him huge. Either way!

We spend the first pages of this chapter doing…homework? Kinda weird, I guess it helps to show Lucy and Paulo being nice together. It’s just pointless ship sailing really, and we all know how that’s gonna g-

Bruh…

Wut?

O-oh we’re just going to brush past that? We’re just going to move on, from that random as fuck cross-ship? That’s what we’re doing? OH NO NO NO, YOU’RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!

WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! LET’S RECAP FOR A SECOND SHALL WE? WHAT DID WE JUST GET FROM THE LAST CHAPTER?

The emerging of Paulo and Daisy’s relationship.

The complete obliteration of Paulo and Rachel’s relationship.

And finally the revival of Paulo and Lucy’s relationship. WHICH IS WHAT I THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO GET INTO WITH THIS CHAPTER! Putting myself in the writer’s seat for a moment, I thought well hey! This is going to be a little ship ride! And because I have ADHD I can’t really remember what the fuck actually happened in this chapter or what it was really about, but hey! Maybe this is where Taeshi is going to focus on Paulo and Lucy, try and build up this ship and make us give a shit about it. But noooo, that’s too focused for Taeshi! Gotta get that shipping battle in, get that nice dramatic romance conflict! That’s what the fans, and dedicated readers are really here for!

THE FIRST FOUR PAGES! Before we get into what this chapter is actually about, before we know what we’re even in for, before we get to the real shit people want to read about, we gotta remind them that Paulo likes Daisy! And I mean REALLY REALLY likes her! Because fuck, they might’ve forgotten about that! I mean it was only built up recently, was on the rocks for a bit, but got ironed out and set up IN THE LAST FUCKING CHAPTER! What’s the point of this? Why bring up that Paulo likes Daisy? Do you think your audience whom you constantly bait with pairings, and relationships, would need to be hit over the head with a shoehorned reminder that Paulo has feelings for Daisy?!

Actually, yeah I think it’s pretty clear Taeshi has some contempt for her audience. Given she thinks we need to be hit over the head this hard and often. It’s honestly insulting, and I only read this shit occasionally. I don’t know how some of you can put up with this crap. Do the concussions just numb the pain after a while? Whatever let’s get to the fun stuff.

Anyway, Paulo is walking with Lucy and it’s honestly not bad. It feels weird for Paulo to be so desperate, but given that Lucy almost fucking died and was gone forever…Yeah it’s understandable. But this though…

Uhhh…Paulo? A-are you trying to scare Lucy? …what?

Why are you t-rexing right now? What’s wrong with your arms? Why are you explaining it like this? I mean I can get excited maybe? But he seems ELATED about drama which is…dare I say…a smidge out of character? What is this? Also, I actually got tripped up reading this panel and I think that might be the positioning of the word bubbles because instead of using the traditional method of:

For whatever reason, in this panel specifically it’s:

Which is unnatural for most English readers, who end reading on the right. So I didn’t even realize that Paulo said “Whuh?” there when I moved to the next panel. Making the emotional shift in his character more jarring when he switches from oddly joking around, to:

Being moody, to Lucy’s disinterest. But that’s just an odd thing I picked up after going through again to write this rant. It’s not THAT big of an issue, but I do have to ask:

Really? That’s what you got out of that? Paulo says that all your friends were really upset that you were gone, and that’s your response? That’s the only thing you have to say about this? Geeze, it’s almost like you don’t really care.

But anyway, we’re finally on to the Carnival. And we actually do get some nice and interesting dialogue here.

Paulo starts to talk about the things she’s missed out on since she was gone, and it’s actually pretty nice. I like Paulo being more relaxed and natural, playing around with Lucy. Although someone pointed something out to me that really deserves a mention:

Again? Paulo is poor, but he’s never been one to “borrow” or mooch off his friends, especially not Lucy. Paulo has consistently never let his poverty be a burden to anyone else, and it is a real positive factor about him that shows his selflessness. Paulo to my knowledge never did stuff like that, he was the one who bought Daisy lunch, even when Mike was buying Paulo sodas for the contest it wasn’t like Paulo was mooching off Mike’s money to win the contest. It was more of a mutual effort, since Mike couldn’t stomach the stuff. Lucy thinking Paulo would “borrow” things just seems so weird to bring up. And I know none of this stuff is really major or that worth mentioning but honestly…

There is really not much to talk about here. Imma be real witchu chief, I’m a little underwhelmed right now. Guest of Honor had me gripped and had fun in the first parts, Boy Toy I could tear apart with its dumb decisions and missed opportunities, and so on and so forth, but this… This is weird. It’s not that aggravating really, the next page after this is just Paulo and lucy doing rides. I guess y’know, after 5 chapters that knock you around and turn my stomach inside out with force fed bullshit, I guess you gotta have a nice mediocre one to help mellow you out after a while. I’m not really complaining, but I just heard so much about this I expected more y’know? I was hoping for something a bit more to sink my teeth into.

But anyway, back to the comic. Lucy asks Paulo about Abbey and Daisy (for some reason, honestly it seems she doesn’t care about the group anymore so why ask about them, and also why them? They’re like the least close to Lucy why would she care about them?) and…

…what?

*groan* fuck I found something to say.

First of all. That Face. Stop That Face. Secondly, who the hell are you? I know I said in the previous chapter, that Lucy is no longer Lucy, but this here really solidifies it and is very concerning. Who the fuck is this? Lucy has always been snarky; she’s always been one to goad people. But she was never one to be eager to dig into other people’s drama like this! What the heck is this? Who the heck is this? Oh fuck it, whatever she’s a lost cause now.

At least they’re actually talking now which is something I can take some solace behind. And also, yeah really Lucy! You would’ve known that if you GAVE A DAMN!

Okay I need to make up a new name for this new Lucy. Cause I will never stop comparing her to the Lucy character that had been set up, built upon, and established before unless I make some title that draws a clear distinction to say that she isn’t Lucy. Because this is so fucking weird to hear from Lucy, digging for drama, and stirring the pot directly like this. Being such an asshole, and blatantly badmouthing Daisy like this behind her back. This is not Lucy, I refuse to call her that in the horrible fear that this might actually affect my own view of Lucy, and thus my characterization of Lucy in my own comic. Hmm, I’m thinking…how about Lacie? Yeah that sounds good. It’s like it’s ALMOST Lucy, but it’s not. And it’s easy to remember, like Madison’s name! Cause you shorten that to Maddie, and it perfectly encapsulates her entire character which is that she’s mad! And Lacie perfectly encapsulates this character because…

I am a cheeky asshole.

Will say though, this panel got a smile out of me. So that’s good.

Anyway, Lacie and Paulo are talking about Drunk Daisy, and it’s alright. There’s some shipping tension and shit, and I’m just like…

Alright, guy get to the point. At what point am I supposed to lose my shit at this chapter? I swear to god, it’s January’s fucking birthday. Don’t ruin this for me. Gimme the fuckin’ goods. Gimme something interesting.

Oh shit, Lacie just found out about Abbey strangling Paulo! Oh shit, this is interesting!

Awww Lacie is actually showing some fucking compassion to her friend! Ignoring this being a blatant ship sailing moment, this is actually interesting! Alright, you have my attention. Where are we goi-

…

WHAT?! BITCH ARE YOU FUCKIN’ F’REAL SHAKES RIGHT NOW?! YOUR FRIEND JUST TOLD YOU THAT YOUR OTHER FRIEND FUCKING THROATPUNCHED AND THREATENED HIM! AND YOU IMMEDIATELY JUMP TO GETTING UPSET WITH HIM ABOUT YOUR BROTHER?! THAT’S THE NEXT THING ON YOUR MIND?! THAT’S WHAT YOU’RE GONNA BRING UP? RIGHT NOW?! YOUR BROTHER BEING IN A CAR ACCIDENT? A CAR ACCIDENT THAT WAS MONTHS AGO! YOU’RE GONNA GET ON HIM ABOUT THAT, EVEN WHEN YOU KNOW IT WASN’T HIS FAULT, EVEN WHEN YOU KNOW JORDAN WASN’T HURT, EVEN WHEN YOU WERE LITERALLY THERE TO SEE BOTH YOUR BROTHER AND PAULO IN THE FUCKING HOSPITAL!

WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?! THIS CHAPTER IS LIKE REAL LIFE LAG ON A FREEWAY! YOU’RE SWAPPING FROM BEING DEAD STOPPED TO GOING 100MPH TO IMMEDIATELY DEAD STOP AGAIN! WHAT IS THIS? AND ALSO!

What is this tone shift? Lacie goes from caring and comforting with Paulo, to yelling at him, to being sad. And I know! Mood swings! Lacie is fucking broken, that is without a shadow of a doubt, but that doesn’t change the fact that this emotional rollercoaster is whiplashing me so hard my neck has the structural integrity of a wet noodle! I’ve never seen a tonal shift like this before. This isn’t just jumping emotions page to page; it’s fucking PANEL TO PANEL! What the fuck is this writing?!

Yes, I know I made a whole rant all about January this week, but bitch I will not pass an opportunity to make a good referential joke. Also

“Abbey’s not that bad.” LACIE YOU DUMB SLUT! YOU LITERALLY JUST HEARD HOW HE FUCKING THROAT PUNCHED PAULO! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? Even ignoring that, Lucy (the real one) NEVER really liked Abbey. In fact, she was the one person who actually rebuffed Abbey’s white knight schtick!

But let’s go back to the comic for a second, because I ain’t done.

That sure is a lot of presumptions for someone who ADMITTED SHE DOESN’T FUCKING KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON!

BUT SINCE YOU APPARENTLY HAVE THIS ALL FIGURED OUT CAN YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS CHARACTER?

Who the fuck is this character? At least Paulo is speaking some fucking sense here! So that’s one character who isn’t completely ruined. But seriously, what the fuck is this? What the fuck is this character?

Wait! You know what this character is? After the recovery she seems to have all the answers? She’s acting like she knows everything, that she doesn’t. It’s like she’s trying to fucking make things go right, but she’s just…so…hateful…

Oh, I see what this is. This is like the result someone would get if they heard what I wanted to do with Lucy being proactive, trying to fix her messes, and standing up for herself; tried to recreate it but not knowing me outside of my negative views of the comic, and ignoring the actual adherence I put to the character. This is what Taeshi thinks I think Lucy should be. I feel like this is just one big stab at me… And if it ain’t…Then it’s just a stab in the heart to every fan who gave a shit about Lucy.

Also, dat mad tone shift again tho.

… Alright, just one more January reference.

Please just let me have this one, I just fucking love this scene.

BUT ANYWAY

Oh wow, it’s so beautiful. It’s like I’m looking at a real carnival from way up high…with my glasses off. Alright, I kid I’m not gonna pick on Taeshi for not going all out on one panel, but it is a bit amusing given the dialogue (and knowing Taeshi can definitely make this look much, much better)

But aww isn’t that nice?

Such a nice sweet scene, of Paulo and Lucy comforting each other, and Lucy accepting the embrace. It’s really sweet and cute, and there is nothing bad for me to speak about here. Yet.

“What we did?”

Heh well that’s a queer statement.

Wonder what you meant by that, Lacie. Would you like to elaborate?

Please tell the rest of the class...

What. You. Did.

CONTINUED IN PART 2

#Bittersweet Candy Bowl #rant

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