Stumbled across this old post on Taeshi's blog about what would have happened if Mike had walked in on Lucy and Paulo doing premarital hanky panky at the school play and this last paragraph confused the hell out of me. 


I would say Rachel's first interaction with Paulo could be considered... well, not exactly COERCION, he seemed pretty damn consenting, but it was shitty to use him to hurt Tessa. BUT this is specifically about After the play, so Im only going to focus on Rachel and Paulo after that point. 


First, lets look at the Paulo x Lucy scene. I... dont see how this is coercion.  it was shitty to use sex to avoid talking to him seriously, especially knowing she was planning on leaving one way or another. But coercion? She says "lets make out" and he says "ok". Is that coercion ? lucy is being manipulative, sure. but, coercive? 


Now the next time we see Rachel and Paulo together/ hook up, its when he runs into her soon after he and the others find out Lucy wont be coming back. They walk off together and the next page we see them it is after theyve slept together. Paulo is freaking out, but its pretty clesr imo that its nothing to do with Rachel and more his feelings for Lucy.  


Does this imply Rachel took advantage of Paulo's emotional angst? maybe: he was talking about Lucy before and after they had sex. hes clearly invested in Lucy and not Rachel. But we dont see what happens. we dont know who initiated, Paulo or Rachel. we dont know if the initiation was met with enthusiasm or concern. so I dont think someone coming from the readers standpoint has enough knowledge to determine if it was coercive. and we never see Paulo respond poorly other than at his own guilt for "betraying" Lucy. 

The next time we see them, they're back to friendly banter after a bit of awkwardness from Paulos end. But they seem perfectly comfortable, with Paulo only reacting poorly and kicking her off his lap because Jasmine arrived. The next scene is him crying about Lucy while she comforts him. 

Now, would I have started a FWB with someone so obviously heartbroken and grieving? no. do I think its pretty shitty to do to someone? yes. But I can also see how a highschooler would just want to cheer up their friend/fwb and unthinkingly turn to physical intimacy to do so. 

 the main problem of the relationship stems from Rachel wanting more emotional intimacy with someone who clearly cant give it to her. I dont ever remember any time Paulo expressed discomfort at their sex, just confusion and frustration at Rachel telling him all is well while Madison nigh simultaneously yells at him for not picking up on how hurt Rachel is. 


I dont really have the time to suss out every subsequent Paulo/Rachel moment, but i dont recall it ever being coercive or Paulo mentioning to anyone that he felt any sort of negative way about their sexual relationship.  so im just kind of confused. did I miss something huge? was it so subtle i just didnt pick up on it? or was it just not communicated very well? 

Thanks for reading! any tips to something I missed would be appreciated, and any opinions on if these relationships were coercive.

am I crazy or does this not seemed coerced