>>93709954Sandy's only crime has been forgetting Daisy (and c'mon, who wouldn't want to), being forced to grow up too fast by a very adult career she was shoved into by her perfectionist, horrible mother (but she had no control over that), and stringing Mike along when she's clearly too busy dealing with the consequences of the second point to have a proper relationship (but if she broke up with him, she would be truly alone, without the slim reminder that she had a childhood once, and without the only person she has been seen to not actively putting on a mask for). Every time we see her do some questionable shit, I remember To The Top (chapter 58) and I just feel sorry for what her circumstances have made her to be. I hope she gets free from her shit situation and gets better.
Lucy is also a victim of circumstance in that her mother never recognized that maybe a depressed 6(?) year old who clings to her only friend needs some professional help. She did some terrible things later, but child therapists exist and she should have been sent to one when she spent all of second grade completely alone with only her pets to socialize with in any meaningful way, if not during pre-k or whatever when she couldn't make friends to begin with. Mike doesn't have trust issues that stem from codependency and isolation from his peers, he always had someone (Lucy, Sandy, Daisy, and he even got along with David and Paulo) who was gushing over him and willing to be his friend. I'm not claiming that Lucy's actions were good, but a 15 year old who has never been taught good coping methods is gonna act exactly like she did. Mike has no excuse for his bad actions. "He was used to Lucy's abuse and couldn't see it for what it was"- BS, he had Daisy, Paulo, and David there to show him that friendships aren't supposed to have beating each other up as a cornerstone.
This is all very disorganized, but I think I explained how I can like those two to any extent as best I can.
