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{{Infobox chapter
{{Infobox chapter
| image = c60p6f9.png
| image = c60p6f9.png
| major_characters = [[Sue]], [[Abbey]], [[Paulo]], [[Jasmine]], [[Daisy]], [[Alec McCain]], [[Tess]]
| major_characters = [[Sue]], [[Paulo]], [[Jasmine]], [[Abbey]], [[Daisy]], [[Alec McCain]], [[Tess]]
| minor_characters = [[Lucy]], [[Mike]], [[David]], [[Rachel]], [[Amaya]], [[Katie]]
| minor_characters = [[Mike]], [[Lucy]], [[David]], [[Rachel]], [[Amaya]], [[Katie]]
| locations = [[Roseville High School]]
| locations = [[Roseville High School]]
| collected_in = [[Bittersweet Candy Bowl: Volume Three|Volume Three]], [[Bittersweet Candy Bowl: Omnibus 1|Omnibus 1]]
| collected_in = [[Bittersweet Candy Bowl: Volume Three|Volume Three]], [[Bittersweet Candy Bowl: Omnibus 1|Omnibus 1]]
}}
}}
Election fever hits Roseville High: [[Sue]] wants real change, [[Jasmine]] is in the wrong grade, and [[Abbey]] thinks bullies should rot in hell. Somehow, the seat ends up with the one candidate who never meant to run.
Election season hits Roseville High. [[Sue]] runs on real, achievable outcomes, [[Jasmine]]'s ticket promises candy bars and a ban on detention, and [[Abbey]] runs on expelling every bully in the building. So naturally, the winner is [[Daisy]], who only joined the race halfway through the debate.


== Synopsis ==
== Synopsis ==
Election season opens in the [[Roseville High School]] computer lab, where [[Jasmine]] and [[Paulo]] print three hundred posters for her council run.<ref name=":c60p1">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p1}}</ref> At lunch, [[Sue]] makes a dramatic entrance of her own, campaigning for student-council secretary with [[Alec McCain|McCain]] in tow.<ref name=":c60p2">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p2}}</ref>
The race begins in the [[Roseville High School]] computer lab, where [[Paulo]] prints off a thick stack of campaign posters for [[Jasmine]].<ref name=":c60p1">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p1}}</ref> At lunch, [[Sue]] slams into the cafeteria to announce her own run for student council secretary.<ref name=":c60p2">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p2}}</ref> Paulo and Jasmine burst in moments later as the rival ticket.<ref name=":c60p3">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p3}}</ref>


The trouble is, both campaigns want the same job. Paulo and Jasmine promise candy bars and no detention;<ref name=":c60p3">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p3}}</ref> Sue counters with realistic policies, and the crowd scatters.<ref name=":c60p5">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p5}}</ref> Then she drops the real bomb: only sophomores can run for secretary, and Jasmine is a freshman. Jasmine rounds on the boy who typed all 300 posters: "IT'S ALL OVER THE SCHOOL!! 300 sheets of '''WRONG''', Paulo!!"<ref name=":c60p6">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p6}}</ref>
Sue then drops a bomb on the rival ticket — only sophomores can run for secretary, and Jasmine is a freshman. Paulo is the one who typed every last poster, and Jasmine lets him know it with a shriek of "IT'S ALL OVER THE SCHOOL!! 300 sheets of '''WRONG''', Paulo!!"<ref name=":c60p6">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p6}}</ref>


Sue's recovery plan runs headlong into Abbey. She pitches a slate with herself as secretary, McCain as vice, Jasmine as treasurer, and some willing senior as president.<ref name=":c60p7">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p7}}</ref> [[Tess]] refuses the top job.<ref name=":c60p8">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p8}}</ref> [[Abbey]] refuses the alliance. He disagrees with Sue's platform and enters the race himself.<ref name=":c60p9">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p9}}</ref>
[[File:c60_p6_panel11.png|alt=Jasmine flails her arms so fast she appears to have four of them, screaming "300 sheets of WRONG, Paulo!!" at a cringing Paulo.|thumb|Paulo remembers what grade his girlfriend is in, 300 sheets too late.]]
[[Abbey]] disagrees with most of Sue's policies and enters the race against her instead of joining her ticket.<ref name=":c60p9">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p9}}</ref> The secretaries' debate is where the race turns ugly. Asked about the rise in school bullying, Abbey answers with a single word, expulsion.<ref name=":c60p10">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p10}}</ref> Sue accuses him of scare tactics and brands his whole platform a fascist dictatorship.<ref name=":c60p12">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p12}}</ref> "Fascist" is the word that finally breaks him. Abbey slams his fists down and screams "BULLIES SHOULD '''ROT IN HELL!!'''" The room falls silent, apart from Paulo helpfully yelling for Abbey to hit her.<ref name=":c60p13">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p13}}</ref> Daisy calms him with a reminder about his counselor and takes his place at the podium as a strictly temporary substitute.<ref name=":c60p14">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p14}}</ref>


[[File:c60_p11_panel5.png|alt=Sue winces and holds up the corner of Abbey's enormous speech balloon to keep it from squashing her.|thumb|Sue gets crushed by the weight of Abbey's argument.]]
The speech does quieter damage out in the audience. Back at lunch, [[Lucy]] had blown her nose on [[Mike]]'s scarf without asking, business as usual for those two.<ref name=":c60p2" /> As Abbey rails on about bullies and abuse, Mike turns a judgmental frown on Lucy. She goes white and refuses to look at him.<ref name=":c60p12" />
The secretaries' debate is where the wheels come off. Asked about rising bullying, Abbey answers in a single word: "Expulsion."<ref name=":c60p10">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p10}}</ref> His follow-up broken-windows speech has a word balloon so big it literally squashes Sue at her podium.<ref name=":c60p11">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p11}}</ref>


Sue pounces, accusing him of scare tactics and fascism.<ref name=":c60p12">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p12}}</ref> Abbey loses control entirely: "BULLIES SHOULD '''ROT IN HELL!!'''"<ref name=":c60p13">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p13}}</ref> His debate aide, [[Daisy]], talks him down with a stress ball and a reminder about the counselor, then steps up to the podium in his place.<ref name=":c60p14">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p14}}</ref>
In the end Daisy wins, and Sue collapses under the caption DEFEATED.<ref name=":c60p15">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p15}}</ref> A "WHAT REALLY HAPPENED" flashback reveals that Paulo spent the campaign grimly ordering student after student to vote for her.<ref name=":c60p16">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p16}}</ref> Daisy then hands the job away, reasoning that it was Abbey's campaign all along and that she has eighteen other extracurriculars anyway. Abbey takes the news with an unsettling amount of satisfaction: "Heh heh heh.. Just according to plan.."<ref name=":c60p17">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p17}}</ref>


Daisy is a debate natural, and she wins in a landslide, baby-kissing and all. McCain consoles the defeated Sue that she would not have had the power to change anything anyway.<ref name=":c60p15">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p15}}</ref> A "WHAT REALLY HAPPENED" montage explains the mystery win: Paulo spent the election threatening half the student body into voting for Daisy.<ref name=":c60p16">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p16}}</ref>
Secretary Abbey wastes no time, declaring a lunchtime trash-pickup day for orange cats that lands squarely on Paulo.<ref name=":c60p18">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p18}}</ref> Jasmine, who won the treasurer's race, gets him back on Paulo's behalf by converting the bake sale money into thousands of pennies and having them delivered straight into Abbey's locker.<ref name=":c60p18" />
 
Daisy's first order of business as secretary is giving the job away: it was Abbey's campaign, and she has eighteen other clubs. Alone in the hall, Abbey smiles: "Heh heh heh.. Just according to plan.."<ref name=":c60p17">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p17}}</ref> Jasmine wins treasurer, thanks Paulo with a hug, and leaves Abbey the PTA bake-sale money in several thousand pennies.<ref name=":c60p18">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p18}}</ref>
 
[[File:c60_p17_panel7.png|alt=Abbey smiles thinly against a green background, saying "Heh heh heh.. Just according to plan..".|thumb|Roseville High's new secretary takes the news suspiciously well.]]


== Critical moments ==
== Critical moments ==
* Jasmine's candidacy dies on a technicality: only sophomores can run for secretary, and Jasmine is a freshman.<ref name=":c60p6" />
[[File:c60_p17_panel7.png|alt=Abbey smiles thinly against a green background, saying "Heh heh heh.. Just according to plan..".|thumb|Roseville High's incoming secretary, everybody.]]
* Rather than back Sue, Abbey enters the race against her, disagreeing with most of her platform.<ref name=":c60p9" />
* Sue reveals that only sophomores can run for secretary, voiding Jasmine's freshman campaign and all 300 of Paulo's posters. Jasmine switches to the treasurer's race instead.<ref name=":c60p6" /><ref name=":c60p7">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p7}}</ref>
* At the debate, Sue's "fascist Roseville dictatorship" jab sends Abbey into a screaming breakdown over bullies.<ref name=":c60p12" /><ref name=":c60p13" /> Daisy calms him and takes his podium.<ref name=":c60p14" />
* Sue brands Abbey's anti-bullying platform a fascist dictatorship, and his temper snaps mid-debate. He screams that bullies should rot in hell, and Daisy has to defuse him with a stress ball.<ref name=":c60p13" /><ref name=":c60p14" />
* Daisy sweeps the election after Paulo threatens students into voting for her.<ref name=":c60p15" /><ref name=":c60p16" />
* Abbey's speech about bullies and abuse lands somewhere he never aimed it. Mike turns a judgmental frown on Lucy, who goes white and looks away.<ref name=":c60p12" />
* Daisy hands the secretaryship to Abbey, since it was his campaign in the first place.<ref name=":c60p17" />
* Daisy wins the election, thanks to Paulo strong-arming voters one at a time, and promptly hands the seat to Abbey. He calls it "Just according to plan.."<ref name=":c60p16" /><ref name=":c60p17" />


== Character dynamics ==
== Character dynamics ==
* '''Sue and Abbey:''' Sue treats Abbey like an obvious teammate until he becomes her opponent.<ref name=":c60p9" /> The debate exposes the difference between their instincts. Sue argues policy and public image; Abbey speaks from a raw, punitive place that Daisy has to manage in real time.<ref name=":c60p12" /><ref name=":c60p13" /><ref name=":c60p14" /> Sue can laugh off losing. Abbey cannot laugh off why he wanted the seat.
* '''Mike and Lucy:''' Lucy's rough treatment of Mike has always passed as normal between them, and blowing her nose on his scarf at lunch is just the latest example.<ref name=":c60p2" /> Abbey's tirade recasts that habit as something much uglier. Mike frowns at her across the auditorium, and Lucy can't bring herself to meet his eyes.<ref name=":c60p12" /> Not a word is exchanged, and the very next chapter, [[Pillow Talk]], has Mike ignoring her on her own birthday.<ref name=":c61p3">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c61/p3}}</ref>
* '''Abbey and Daisy:''' Daisy begins the debate as Abbey's aide and ends it as the candidate everyone trusts.<ref name=":c60p14" /><ref name=":c60p15" /> Her win is not a grab for power. She hands the office back because it was his campaign, which leaves Abbey both indebted to her and exactly where he wanted to be.<ref name=":c60p17" />
* '''Sue and Abbey:''' Before this chapter the two barely had a relationship at all, just fellow members of the friend group. The election turns them into open political rivals. Sue greets Abbey as an assumed campaign ally and gets an opponent instead,<ref name=":c60p9" /> and by mid-debate she's branding his platform fascist while he screams at her from the stage.<ref name=":c60p12" /><ref name=":c60p13" /> The rivalry outlasts the vote, too. Sue insists she got over the loss, but watching Abbey land the seat anyway horrifies her all over again.<ref name=":c60p16" /><ref name=":c60p17" />
* '''Paulo and Jasmine:''' Paulo botches Jasmine's first campaign, then spends the day correcting it by hand and running a second, secret campaign for Daisy.<ref name=":c60p6" /><ref name=":c60p16" /> Jasmine still wins treasurer and still thanks him. Their partnership is messy, practical, and already comfortable enough for her to tease him after cleaning up his damage.<ref name=":c60p18" />
* '''Daisy and Abbey:''' The couple becomes a political unit here, with Daisy acting as much like Abbey's campaign staff as his girlfriend. She hands him his speech and talks his temper down on stage,<ref name=":c60p11">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c60/p11}}</ref><ref name=":c60p14" /> then runs in his place, wins, and gives him the seat. On the evidence, she is the more electable half of the couple.<ref name=":c60p17" />


== Trivia & observations ==
== Trivia & observations ==
* Per Veronica's commentary, "Feline Filibuster" was a beta-title of Oliver's; her own working title had simply been "Elections".<ref name=":c60p1" />
* The chapter title was a beta-title from Oliver, who scripted the first six or so pages. Veronica's own working title was "Elections".<ref name=":c60p1" />
* A post on the authors' Tumblr sets the chapter in late 2007, between Halloween and Lucy's birthday — hence [[David]]'s "running for Obama?" crack.<ref name=":c60p3" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bittersweetcandybowl.tumblr.com/post/158720061474|title=Ask response on David knowing about Obama early|date=2017-03-22}}</ref>
* Lucy using Mike's scarf as a tissue revives the running gag from [[Wardrobe Malfunction]], a chapter the group spends wiping all manner of things on that poor scarf. Veronica's commentary greets the return with "How nostalgic!"<ref name=":c60p2" /><ref name=":c24p1">{{Cite chapter|url=https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c24/p1}}</ref>


== Related chapters ==
== Related chapters ==
* '''[[Pillow Talk]]''': The very next chapter. Jasmine's packed schedule sparks a fight with Paulo, and its flashbacks explain Rachel's grudge against Tess.
* '''[[Pillow Talk]]''': The very next chapter is Lucy's birthday, and Mike spends it ignoring her while happily greeting everyone else.
* '''[[Under Pressure]]''': The source of Abbey's debate flashback: Noah pins Tess, and Abbey punches him.
* '''[[Under Pressure]]''': The source of Abbey's debate flashbacks. Noah pins Tess against a wall in this chapter, and it's Abbey who drives him off.
* '''[[New Beginnings]]''': Where Abbey and Daisy got together and his counseling began.
* '''[[A Different Side]]''': The history behind "THE SCHOOL HATES ME". At the pep rally, Tess was forced on stage and booed by the whole school.


== References ==
== References ==

Latest revision as of 10:01, 29 July 2026

Feline Filibuster
Chapter60 of 127 (list of chapters)
PublishedNovember 24, 2010 (2010-11-24)
Page count18
Major charactersSue, Paulo, Jasmine, Abbey, Daisy, Alec McCain, Tess
Minor charactersMike, Lucy, David, Rachel, Amaya, Katie
LocationsRoseville High School
Collected inVolume Three, Omnibus 1
Chapter navigation
← RehearsalPillow Talk →
Read chapter

Election season hits Roseville High. Sue runs on real, achievable outcomes, Jasmine's ticket promises candy bars and a ban on detention, and Abbey runs on expelling every bully in the building. So naturally, the winner is Daisy, who only joined the race halfway through the debate.

Synopsis

The race begins in the Roseville High School computer lab, where Paulo prints off a thick stack of campaign posters for Jasmine.[1] At lunch, Sue slams into the cafeteria to announce her own run for student council secretary.[2] Paulo and Jasmine burst in moments later as the rival ticket.[3]

Sue then drops a bomb on the rival ticket — only sophomores can run for secretary, and Jasmine is a freshman. Paulo is the one who typed every last poster, and Jasmine lets him know it with a shriek of "IT'S ALL OVER THE SCHOOL!! 300 sheets of WRONG, Paulo!!"[4]

Jasmine flails her arms so fast she appears to have four of them, screaming "300 sheets of WRONG, Paulo!!" at a cringing Paulo.
Paulo remembers what grade his girlfriend is in, 300 sheets too late.

Abbey disagrees with most of Sue's policies and enters the race against her instead of joining her ticket.[5] The secretaries' debate is where the race turns ugly. Asked about the rise in school bullying, Abbey answers with a single word, expulsion.[6] Sue accuses him of scare tactics and brands his whole platform a fascist dictatorship.[7] "Fascist" is the word that finally breaks him. Abbey slams his fists down and screams "BULLIES SHOULD ROT IN HELL!!" The room falls silent, apart from Paulo helpfully yelling for Abbey to hit her.[8] Daisy calms him with a reminder about his counselor and takes his place at the podium as a strictly temporary substitute.[9]

The speech does quieter damage out in the audience. Back at lunch, Lucy had blown her nose on Mike's scarf without asking, business as usual for those two.[2] As Abbey rails on about bullies and abuse, Mike turns a judgmental frown on Lucy. She goes white and refuses to look at him.[7]

In the end Daisy wins, and Sue collapses under the caption DEFEATED.[10] A "WHAT REALLY HAPPENED" flashback reveals that Paulo spent the campaign grimly ordering student after student to vote for her.[11] Daisy then hands the job away, reasoning that it was Abbey's campaign all along and that she has eighteen other extracurriculars anyway. Abbey takes the news with an unsettling amount of satisfaction: "Heh heh heh.. Just according to plan.."[12]

Secretary Abbey wastes no time, declaring a lunchtime trash-pickup day for orange cats that lands squarely on Paulo.[13] Jasmine, who won the treasurer's race, gets him back on Paulo's behalf by converting the bake sale money into thousands of pennies and having them delivered straight into Abbey's locker.[13]

Critical moments

Abbey smiles thinly against a green background, saying "Heh heh heh.. Just according to plan..".
Roseville High's incoming secretary, everybody.
  • Sue reveals that only sophomores can run for secretary, voiding Jasmine's freshman campaign and all 300 of Paulo's posters. Jasmine switches to the treasurer's race instead.[4][14]
  • Sue brands Abbey's anti-bullying platform a fascist dictatorship, and his temper snaps mid-debate. He screams that bullies should rot in hell, and Daisy has to defuse him with a stress ball.[8][9]
  • Abbey's speech about bullies and abuse lands somewhere he never aimed it. Mike turns a judgmental frown on Lucy, who goes white and looks away.[7]
  • Daisy wins the election, thanks to Paulo strong-arming voters one at a time, and promptly hands the seat to Abbey. He calls it "Just according to plan.."[11][12]

Character dynamics

  • Mike and Lucy: Lucy's rough treatment of Mike has always passed as normal between them, and blowing her nose on his scarf at lunch is just the latest example.[2] Abbey's tirade recasts that habit as something much uglier. Mike frowns at her across the auditorium, and Lucy can't bring herself to meet his eyes.[7] Not a word is exchanged, and the very next chapter, Pillow Talk, has Mike ignoring her on her own birthday.[15]
  • Sue and Abbey: Before this chapter the two barely had a relationship at all, just fellow members of the friend group. The election turns them into open political rivals. Sue greets Abbey as an assumed campaign ally and gets an opponent instead,[5] and by mid-debate she's branding his platform fascist while he screams at her from the stage.[7][8] The rivalry outlasts the vote, too. Sue insists she got over the loss, but watching Abbey land the seat anyway horrifies her all over again.[11][12]
  • Daisy and Abbey: The couple becomes a political unit here, with Daisy acting as much like Abbey's campaign staff as his girlfriend. She hands him his speech and talks his temper down on stage,[16][9] then runs in his place, wins, and gives him the seat. On the evidence, she is the more electable half of the couple.[12]

Trivia & observations

  • The chapter title was a beta-title from Oliver, who scripted the first six or so pages. Veronica's own working title was "Elections".[1]
  • A post on the authors' Tumblr sets the chapter in late 2007, between Halloween and Lucy's birthday — hence David's "running for Obama?" crack.[3][17]
  • Lucy using Mike's scarf as a tissue revives the running gag from Wardrobe Malfunction, a chapter the group spends wiping all manner of things on that poor scarf. Veronica's commentary greets the return with "How nostalgic!"[2][18]

Related chapters

  • Pillow Talk: The very next chapter is Lucy's birthday, and Mike spends it ignoring her while happily greeting everyone else.
  • Under Pressure: The source of Abbey's debate flashbacks. Noah pins Tess against a wall in this chapter, and it's Abbey who drives him off.
  • A Different Side: The history behind "THE SCHOOL HATES ME". At the pep rally, Tess was forced on stage and booed by the whole school.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chapter 60: Feline Filibuster, page 1
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Chapter 60: Feline Filibuster, page 2
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chapter 60: Feline Filibuster, page 3
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chapter 60: Feline Filibuster, page 6
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Chapter 60: Feline Filibuster, page 9
  6. ↑ Chapter 60: Feline Filibuster, page 10
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Chapter 60: Feline Filibuster, page 12
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Chapter 60: Feline Filibuster, page 13
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Chapter 60: Feline Filibuster, page 14
  10. ↑ Chapter 60: Feline Filibuster, page 15
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Chapter 60: Feline Filibuster, page 16
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Chapter 60: Feline Filibuster, page 17
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Chapter 60: Feline Filibuster, page 18
  14. ↑ Chapter 60: Feline Filibuster, page 7
  15. ↑ Chapter 61: Pillow Talk, page 3
  16. ↑ Chapter 60: Feline Filibuster, page 11
  17. ↑ "Ask response on David knowing about Obama early". 2017-03-22.
  18. ↑ Chapter 24: Wardrobe Malfunction, page 1
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