Disaster Dominoes

Disaster Dominoes
Published	January 24, 2011 (2011-01-24)
Page count	33
Major characters	Mike, Lucy, Daisy, Abbey, Paulo
Minor characters	David, Amaya, Haley, Chris
Locations	Mike’s house, Roseville High School, Roseville neighborhood
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Disaster Dominoes is a non-canon Bittersweet Club International-exclusive comic set in a Roseville where everything has gone wrong at once. Lucy is hurting herself, Daisy has stopped eating, Paulo needs a fix, and Mike still thinks he can save everyone.

Partial synopsis

Mike sets off for school and finds Lucy waiting outside with heavy dark circles under her eyes. When he asks how long she’s been there, she answers only “A while.” On the way, they pass a graveyard, where a tombstone reads “Here lies Molly”. Mike says Molly’s death put everyone on edge and that Sandy will visit next week. Lucy stares at the ground and clutches a bleeding arm.

In homeroom, Daisy sits with a black eye and visible ribs. Her thoughts repeat that she is fat and ugly. A classmate named Kizuna keeps a knife on her desk. She recounts killing a mafia attacker overnight and dismembering the body. Her account ends with the caption “I NEED MORE”. Paulo shakes through drug withdrawal while David can only stammer Paulo’s name. After Amaya is excused to the bathroom, Kizuna asks to leave and follows with her knife. Lucy quietly cuts herself at her desk as Kizuna peers back into the room with blood dripping from her chin.

All of this, and first period isn’t even over. Mike, for his part, is certain it will all work out so long as somebody stays strong and keeps smiling. He has no idea what the rest of the day has in store.

Character dynamics

The walk to school takes them past Molly’s grave.

• Mike and Lucy: In the main comic, Mike turns down Lucy’s confession with “I have Sandy now”. In this non-canon comic, Lucy waits outside his house and gives only a vague answer when he asks how long she has been there. Later, she cuts herself while agreeing with him. On their walk, Mike talks about Molly and Sandy while Lucy says little about herself.

Trivia & observations

• Veronica has confirmed this is a non-canon “what if”, noting the canonical BCI comics are “usually the comics that involve the characters being younger”.
• Veronica has also pointed to this comic when rejecting claims that official art shows Lucy cutting, calling the depiction “so very unofficial”.
• The title is a trope name. Disaster Dominoes is TV Tropes’ term for one small mishap that knocks over the next, and the next.
• Veronica planned the comic as an April Fools’ joke for 2008. She wanted “an exaggerated Degrassi parody”, dark enough to fool readers into thinking BCB “became DARKER and EDGIER”. Degrassi is a long-standing joke between the authors. Asked what inspired BCB, Veronica answered that despite her cracks of “WHAT ARE WE, DEGRASSI????”, the show counts as one.
• Molly appears alive in the main comic as Abbey’s little sister in his foster family. In this comic, Mike says her death put everyone “on edge”.
• Mike’s little brother Chris sits at the breakfast table on the first page, roughly nine months before his first appearance in the main comic.

Related chapters

• A Distance Apart: Lucy confesses her love to Mike in that chapter, and he turns her down because he is with Sandy. The same Mike–Lucy–Sandy triangle is part of this comic’s opening setup.
• Love My Way: At the carnival there, Abbey catches his own fist mid-swing, horrified that he nearly repeated his father’s violence.