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sinkableruby · 5 months

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Ougi 1-26

LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

BECAUSE. THEY'RE THE BEST. IN EVERY WAY. CASE CLOSED (TOO MANY QUALITIES TO NAME.)

HARD TO SAY... I COULD JUST SAY EVERYTHING BUT I'LL PICK SOME. 1) THEY'RE REALLY ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT MYSTERIES 2) HE BROKE NADEKO'S WINDOW 3) HE STOLE KOYOMI'S CAR?!??!?!?!??! 4) THEY'RE A LYING ASSHOLE WHO LIES (NOT REALLY A STRICT ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION BUT I GOT EXCITED OK NEXT QUESTION WAIT) 5) GWEH

THE SCHOOL. IF YOU KNOW YOU KNOW

DIS MENTIONED UMINEKO AND I THINK YEAH ACTUALLY. OUGI WOULD HAVE SO MUCH FUN TRYING TO SOLVE THE MYSTERY. OR HAVE FUN TORTURING BATTLER. OUGI WOULD HAVE FUN TELLING HIM ACTUALLY IT WAS MAGIC. OUGI WOULD ALSO BE A FUN WITCH. (i should stop using capslock i'm just excited and happy)

mother mother - ghosting...........................

balance.... balance balance balance balance reason balance

show them being spooky and weird. ougi must be weird and spooky at all times this is a requirement GOD i love ougi

misogyny, transphobia, homophobia (less this but still)

yes because i love them. i would have to get better at cleaning my room but i definitely could as long as i did that

obviously. i appreciate their tricks and i would go along with their lies and laugh at their jokes because i already do that. we would be so tricky and fun together

11.

12. loves hats and other hair accessories but just never gets the chance to wear them because COUGH always in the school COUGH (i say this bc of the amount of official arts giving them hair accessories n hats) 13. 🤭 14. hmmmm.... it's not quite right to just say "goth." ougi absolutely wears black (could even say another headcanon is that its their favorite color bc i mean. cmon) almost if not all of the time... if i'm going off official art, cute clothes, sometimes with frills. if i'm going off a whim headcanon, fancier, elegant stuff (like smth you might wear at a fancy party), maybe formal attire, or just plain black shirt and skirt/pants. if i'm going off both, lots of dresses, long or short. if i'm picking specific styles/genres of fashion, probably either casual, business casual, or evening wear. maybe some goth too actually, but not lolita and probably no eyeliner to go with it 15. hmm.................. i dont ship ougi so much. but tsubasa/ougi kismesis rivalry ship is real. 16. >:((((((( koyougi. setting aside that it would never happen bc they dont see each other like that bc of who they are, it would put ougi in a really bad spot that i really dont want to see them in to the point where it physically pains me. koyougi can only exist and make sense by being mutually toxic and destructive and i'm fine with torturing koyomi but i refuse to subject ougi to that. 17. was gonna say this for 15 but then saw this. for a more traditional romantic ship, i think ougi/tsukihi is alright 18. well assuming this doesn't have to be romantic... koyomi, probably. she does so much for him and loves him so much. their dynamic is so unique and interesting and... intimate and special. and touching, too :) (and of course, fun and mischievous and all the good stuff) other than that... maybe nadeko? because of nademonogatari. and how nice he is to her 19. mmm don't think i have one of these? 20. TSUKIHI!!!!! TSUKIHI TSUKIHI TSUKIHI!!!! ive talked about this in another post but. they share similar situations and ougi had a heart-to-heart with her in ougi dark!!!! besides koyomi ougis opened up the most to tsukihi, and tsukihi genuinely respects ougi (ln)! ougi can unbalance tsukihi but the reverse is also true so they're on an equal footing. and tsukihi would help ougi out on whatever they needed, too bc tsukihi's just like that. they'd be really good friends i think nisioisin should scrap whatever his next novel idea is and write this instead 21. oh absolutely the gags. its soo fucking funny to think about how the hell ougi would take the piss out of something. i cannot count the number of times i've read my own fics and burst out laughing because god ougi is such a little shit and would totally do this. something i dont like........ second guessing myself on whether they would in fact, say that. alternatively, trying to figure out how to give them character development in a satisfying way because nisioisin forgor 22. there's no one thing because everyone other than me gets it wrong in an unforgivable way. HOWEVER, the thing i see people doing the most (or just remember the most) is making ougi Too intellectual. ougi isn't Not intellectual, but ougi is also not stuck up their own ass. this is the person who said "*blush*" out loud. ougi gets silly with it. ougi is a jokester and disrupts the balance and preserves the balance by disrupting it. if ougi is being too much of one thing, they will take notice and immediately shift gears to be the opposite. ougi is incredibly self aware. if ougi was ever using an average of 6 long and sophisticated words per sentence, they would cotton on and then make "Huh WHUHHHHH" their next sentence. 23. WHAT YOU CANT ASK ME THIS OK I KNOW WHAT IT IS NVM. its this (explanation in the link)

there's two to tie with this, or runnerups perhaps: this, which is just. fun and playful and lonely. a moonlit waltz, and ougi's leading him around wherever she wants. wonderful

and this vofan art! love these so very much. this one just feels like im in school and the sun is shining through the windows. which is what literally is in the picture but it feels like i'm there. ive always loved seeing the sun shine on things and it's no less beautiful here, especially when it's lighting up the euler's identity proof on the blackboard. the big ZERO scribbled a few times over is a nice touch too

(EDIT: WAIT I FORGOT)

THIS VOFAN ART IS ALSO SO SO SO GOOD! LOOK AT THEM!!!!!! IN THE MIDDLE LIKE THAT!!!!!!!!!! AND ALL SMILING AND ACTING ALL HUMBLE WITH THEIR FANCY LITTLE TUX THING. GOOD FOR THEM!!!!!! LOVE THAT FOR THEM LOVE THEM YEAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! 24. thought i didnt know this one, but actually... ena from. ena lol. it's the inscrutability + the gender + the formality 25. "wait who is this? did i skip a part by accident?? am i supposed to know who this is??? ive never seen this character as part of the lineup for mono girls. huh." then this became admiration and joy when she started doing interesting philosophizing and harassing of koyomi. not to mention the GENDER. and how entertaining they always were. without even realizing it i started rooting for them...... and now of course. they're the most important thing to me 26. "Are you really always right about Ougi?" hehehe...

YES. I AM ALWAYS RIGHT ABOUT OUGI!!!!!! *cackle* *cackle*

#monogatari #ougiposting #oshino ougi #ask game

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sophiemaryjo-articles · 3 years

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An article I did for a streetwear apparel magazine. I’ll post a link to the magazine and article once it’s published.

VandalThreads, from deadlift attire to grassroots streetwear - the up and coming brand you’ll want to get behind.

Started in Peterborough by a photographer whose goal it was to make fashion with a purpose. Whether that’s shining a spotlight on the importance of mental health with their ‘smile’ drop, or the brands close ties with the FitFam world to make affordable, gym quality clothing able to endure every PB they see you through.

Liam Hall, the CEO of VandalThreads is at the helm of the company and designs his own work from a love of street wear fashion and a passion to bring meaning to his work. One of the biggest recent drops being the ‘Smile’ drop in which 50% of all proceeds went to the mental health charity ‘MIND’. Personally, I think this move so early on in a company’s timeline is a selfless and courageous move in showing the streetwear world what they’re all about and a hope to blaze a trail in the community to talk more, listen more and support more.

Their most recent drop is the ‘ThreadsXShake’ collab. A creator collaboration drop between VandalThreads and ShanRockShake, a content creator and streamer, from which the ‘ALMA MUERTA’ tee design has been a particular favourite, and I can see why. The design is beautiful, and the quality is evident.

VandalThreads produces a variety of avenues for street fashion, small businesses and creators alike to be seen in their drops. Aside from their main drops, the most recent being the ‘SMILE’ drop, they have the creator drops and the small business collabs. Through their creator collab drops they involve other creatives, people with the same vision for affordable, eco-friendly, fashion forward styles that means style does not have to be compromised for sustainability. They let their creators and influencers have a hand in their own personal deign for the collab and a chance to make it their own so that it is a true marriage between creator and brand with some big creative ideas, producing some really beautiful ideas and garments for both fans of the brand and creators while creating more fans on both sides and exponentially growing VandalThreads popularity, but what’s so impressive about VT is that they bring all of their partners and collaborators along with them for the ride with their unwavering loyalty to small creators. VT don’t stop there though, they also strive to do collaborative drops with other small businesses, sharing ideas, going through the creative process together producing some of the best garments in the small business market to date, while always sticking to their closely held values of affordability, sustainability and top quality. And with material partners such as Adidas and Champion, you know they’re putting their money where their mouth is.

Another thing to note about VT is their already huge range of products. They’re not just pedalling out the same old tank tops and hoodies, only pandering to the activewear market to turn over a quick profit; they have tees, tote-bags, long-sleeves, face-coverings, drinkware, accessories, teddy bears, organic products, stickers, workwear, water bottles and even baby apparel, everything for all genders. You are guaranteed to find something you’ll love and want to buy everything to match.

Following the current trends is something that comes with ease for VT while still having the touch to design something that you’ll want to wear season after season and never feel like it’s outdated. From bucket hats to varsity tees, this is street fashion to last. The only thing we can hope falls out of fashion from VandalThreads soon is its face masks.

As the brand grows, I hope to see more variety in their styles and branching out on their genres of grassroots streetwear as they continue their growth from being an active wear brand into also reaching their potential to be a dominating streetwear apparel brand. Those of us who follow street wear fashion know that brand new on-street styles are consistently appearing first in South Korea and my favourite has to be the emergence and rising popularity of tech-wear since it reached Europe. Urban apparel that uses high-quality fabrics, and technical detailing to create a product that can stand up to the elements and although brands like The North Face and Patagonia have been making high-quality technical wear for years, the emergence of the new-alt tech wear from Korea has more intricate detailing and takes a turn away from 2010s workwear style technical wear like Dickies and beautifully remixes this with the grunge and goth styles of the 90s with straps, belts, chains and super high detail and quality.

Of course, this is just my prediction for where urban wear apparel is heading as these styles have been rapidly picking up popularity in the last few years and are being perfected on the streets of Glasgow and London and if I could see VandalThreads following this trend I could see them on the level with the likes of brands such as Maniere de voir, producing looks that can truly be worn well beyond the season. I feel like this is a great natural progression for VandalThreads.

VandalThreads are still on their journey of finding themselves and I firmly believe that they will explode onto the streetwear scene with a firm, established identity and they have definitely had a strong start.

If there’s one thing the coronavirus pandemic proved to us all, it’s that small businesses need us more than ever and are the ones worth our support as they give the most to the causes we care about and provide us with the things that we love. I, for one, have every faith that the values of this small business are right in its heart and will remain so for the long haul, continuing to support the causes around them that they care about the most as they grow, which they certainly will. VandalThreads are putting the heart back into grassroots streetwear apparel and I can’t wait to see them grow and see them emerge as one of the brighter lights in the fashion world post-pandemic.

Support a small business today. Eco - friendly, affordable, fashionable health and streetwear apparel; VandalThreads is the clothing brand you’ll be desperate to meet.

Article written by Sophie Watson

Freelance article and blog writer.

Instagram: @the.psychology.blog

#article #streetwear #fashion #writing examples #Vandal Threads

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babelift · 5 years

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LIFT TIP!!!

Recently sent this to someone and thought it would be helpful for all of the babylifters. Some people may not like this because this post is going to be very superficial but it is going to be very helpful.

When approaching any store, from Saks to Walmart; how you present yourself is key. How are you dressed? Do you look like someone who spends their weekends on grandfather’s Yacht in Martha’s Vineyard? Or do you look like someone who shops clearance at dollar tree. Are you walking with an air of confidence, like you should be there? Or are you walking around like youve just committed murder?

When you dress bad, people automatically see you as inferior, which therefor makes them think that you don’t have money. Money to spend on the items in their store. Now I’m not saying to wear a prom dress to Old Navy, but I am saying to dress to impress. Sundays best or meeting your boyfriend’s parents for the first time attire is the best way to go. Its conservative, and elevated. Expensive clothes =/= class. So just because you wear an 80$ tshirt to Saks does not mean youre good to go. You want to look like youre above that. You dont want to come off as a nouveau riche teen who just bought [or lifted] their first Balenciaga tee. You want to look like a woman who wears quality clothes, and doesnt care about the label or the price attached to it. Even if you do want to wear the tee, dont wear it lifting. As for the amount of cleavage/ass you want to show, it is best to note that the more you show, the more likely LP will watch you on the cams. Hot chick with her tits out! Far out! You also dont want to look like an escort, or cheap. So covering up will definitely not bring you unwanted attention when lifting. Anything that draws attention is bad. So wear a wig if you have colored hair, and if you dress goth, save it for another time. This is all about blending in. A safe person to look to for fashion in the lifting world is Princess Diana, Megan Markle, Victoria Beckham, Emma Watson, Amal Clooney, etc. Shoes are also a dead giveaway of someone’s wealth. So dont wear brown converse that were white when you first bought them.

Now that youre dressed the part, you need to act the part. Like wearing work boots with a chanel dress, the same goes for dressing the part but not having the confidence that you need to lift. People in general can instantly spot someone who does not have confidence. So even if you cant afford what youre lifting, you need to be acting like you do. Having a hunched back, looking side to side, and avoiding SAs is a major red flag for associates. Make sure to check price tags, act like youre thinking about buying something.

Lets play a game. Youre an SA at Victoria’s Secret. You have two guests walk in. One is put together, has a smile on her face, a glow to her you cant describe, and walks like shes on top of the world. Her clothes are ironed, her hair is styled, and her makeup isnt flashy. She walks from one thing to another, checking prices, seeing whats cute, nothing fishy. The other girl walks in with greasy hair, a frightened/ strange look on her face. Shes wearing a faded old tshirt, and holey jeans with a mysterious stain on the left ass cheek. Her makeup is cakey, and her overall appearance is off. When she walks in she immediately grabs a shopping bag and beelines to the most expensive bras in the store. Who are you less likely to think is going to lift something? Not the girl who looks like Miss America. How you present yourself to the world, is how the world is going to judge you. Youre more likely to follow around the strange girl, her mere existence is something worth watching. “Who is she? What is she doing in here? There goes 2...3...5 panties into her shopping bag. I’d best help her into the dressing room.”

Now I know we all want to live in a fantasy world where looks dont matter. But this isnt a game were playing. If you are over 18 you can go to jail for this. So it is imperative to take precaution when doing this and to walk on the safe side. So in this, looks do matter. How you carry yourself matters. Look in the mirror before leaving your house to lift. Would you be sus if you saw yourself at a store?

As always, please message me if you have any questions about lifting/sugaring.

XOXO

- S

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lacktastrophe · 4 years

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Retrospective! Chapter 104: Witch Hunt

It took the greater portion of the year (and with 42 pages per week it’s not hard to imagine precisely why). With Witch Hunt finishing just recently, it’s time for another chapter retrospective! The last time we did one of these was around the conclusion of the previous chapter, Fair Game, so it’s been a while! I opted to start doing these as opposed to going back and updating each of the character megaposts with newer information with each new chapter. I’ve only planned for these retrospectives to start from the most recent chapters, absolutely no intention of going back and examining what I’m likely to cover in character megaposts. Once BCB goes back to a three day schedule expect to see more of these.

Right, so, since Lucy’s return to Roseville we’ve had a great number of chapters dedicated to following alongside Paulo as he tries to tie up loose ends, daydream about Korats, and well, try to figure himself out. We’ve had one for Daisy, and a number of them to Lucy as she reintegrates back into the town. We’re due for more Lucy and this chapter delivers, ripe with interactions between the other characters as well, as we get to see how neo-Lucy deals with the problems still going on in Roseville.

This chapter opens with a surprise as someone knocks on Lucy’s door.

It’s Carmen Sandeigo, ready for her next big heist!

Actually, it’s just Sue trick-or-treating. Lucy’s presumption she’s not here for the chocolate is correct; there’s certainly a heist going on; it’s not the chocolate. She’s at Lucy’s house with a different heist in mind; stealing her away and spending an evening on the town trick or treating. A treat for us! The last Halloween chapter was back in Volume 2 with Mischief Night. Things aren’t likely going to go the same way this time with poisoned Korats.

But hey, who’s to say? Right?

Sue arrives not giving any formal notice before hand, she knows Lucy far too well in that she’d likely say no and not make plans for the evening, as Lucy has never been outgoing in the past, and she’d be right, Lucy hasn’t made plans for the evening. Hearing Sue out and considering it’ll be the last time they can have this kind of fun before the adults start to tell them to grow up, Lucy obliges, although warning her — since she wasn’t planning on going she isn’t ready, but she does have something.

Inside, Lucy’s mother (She’s named Joy isn’t she? Because Nurse Joy?) overhears and tell’s Lucy to go on with her friends that evening. She’s got no problem covering the treat giving in her place. But Lucy’s not able to get too far without Michael Jordan over-hearing and deciding to fulfill the role as the over-protective older brother and not letting her go without him. Lucy objects but Jordan’s best interests lie with his family. It might take him a long while to get to the point where he doesn’t believe she needs further supervision either. especially after last year’s events that her friends are yet to learn about, or won’t.

Not willing to put up with Jordan’s dorky-ass following her around, Lucy suggests a compromise; Augustus goes with them instead. And why not? Jordan is not a very intimidating presence (and if last chapter was any amount of insight, he’s a complete pushover). Sue’s not at all intimidated by him having gotten to know him better ever since Rachel’s group started hanging out with them at the same lunch table at school. The rest of their group have come to understand him a little better, and that’s left him not being as threatening of a presence, unlike the time he was telling them all off when they were outside their door when Lucy pulled out of the school.

Augustus is perfect for the occasion. He’s got the reputation to keep others away, the attitude and the attire, an added bonus as Lucy points out; he doesn’t need to get dressed, his goth/punk attire is more than enough for the evening, much to Augustus’ chagrin.

It’s a wonder why Augustus keeps to the punk attire given he’s no longer in Alejandro’s group.

So, Lucy goes upstairs to get changed for the evening, leaving Sue with the creepy guy who molested Daisy a couple of years ago.

Yeah, there’s still that.

But hey, if Lucy has let him stay at her place, surely that means he’s not that bad of a guy...right? Sue decides to try and at least get along with him and break the ice. This doesn’t really work out too well; Augustus isn’t too interested in getting to know too many of Lucy’s friends at this stage. Sue takes that for what it is.

Finally, Lucy calls out saying she’s ready much to the relief of Sue who turns back towards the stairs. . .

All to the dismay of Sue when she realises. It seems Augustus isn’t the only one getting a bit of cheek this evening, as Sue looks back crestfallen at a Lucy with the smuggest face imaginable as she emerges down the stairs wearing nothing other than the dress from Sue’s play. Not at all what she had expected but to be fair though, Lucy had given her some fair warning that she only had ‘something’ for Halloween, and sadly that dress probably wasn’t going to see much use outside of the play. It would have likely rotted in her dresser. It’s been reduced to a joke for the evening at Sue’s expense. A lesson on being careful with what you wish for.

It’s not hard to comprehend why Sue’s being this way. Sue’s had mixed feelings over her play since its completion. On one side it’s a form of pride being the first considerably successful thing she’s accomplished at the school (having previously failed to become School secretary), but sadly it also hasn’t done well to boost her social status or her self-esteem, as ‘friends’ have used it against her (between being bad/boring etc or being regarded as ‘that incest play’), but also more a debilitating problem for her as she’s previously questioned whether it had been responsible for Lucy leaving Roseville. She understood and realised a little too late she had overstepped Lucy’s boundaries having forced her into the role, and forcing her to cooperate with someone of whom she didn’t want to be around — fearful of making things worse by continuing to be around them — in order to get them to discover common ground again, as we saw in “It’s All In The Mind.”

Despite appearing initially upset in being reminded about the play, Sue thankfully comes around not too long after. Perhaps able to put it behind her in much the same way Lucy is able to wear the dress again. I wouldn’t put it past that as much weight as the dress carries in the form of bad memories for Sue for previous overstepping of boundries, it likely carries weight for Lucy in a much different way. Wearing it now gives it some better meaning as the two enjoy the evening, as Sue and Lucy find themselves laughing about it, and moving on from a dark part of their friendship.

Things are looking better. But something’s still biting at Sue. She’s noticed something. It’s not the same like it was the last time they were Halloweening.

Where are her pets? Where’s Yashy, Chirpy and Lily? They weren’t to be seen in the household just before. Actually, we never saw them since her return, and there’s a reason. They’re not out of frame; they are not there at all. It turns out they have not come home to Roseville with Lucy, instead choosing to stay with her aunt the next town over.

Of the many reasons as to why, one regards Chirpy, who found her real mother.

Yashy appears to have been the main pet who didn’t want to return to Roseville and had chosen to stay at her aunts. Lucy believes she doesn’t want to see Mike again having believed for the longest time that Mike and Lucy would become a pair (her otp) and still resents him, having only learned the truth towards the end of ‘Just Beautiful’ when Lucy is pushed too far and reveals the truth of Mike’s marital status. Her small world became a lot bigger after that day and she still seems to be working through it.

With Yashy staying behind, Blur would not want to return home by himself either prefering Lucy and co.’s company to Mike’s. With Lucy having reasons to come back to Roseville, the only way forward was to leave them in the care of her aunt and Lily, who also offered to stay behind as well.

It’s a tough breakup but Lucy appears to be doing well on her own. Sue tells her she’s got her.

And the creep too.

Well if you didn’t want to be called the creep you should’ve said something more about yourself back at the house, Augustus.

Turns out, the night is going just as Lucy had expected as Augustus points out two more of their friends have shown up and are keeping their distance. Augustus the deterrent is working successfully, all to Augustus’ expense, as one of those is PuyoPuyo-witch Daisy, all too shocked that what Lucy said to her in ‘It’s all in the mind’ was true. As for Kermit-De-Mike, well, give it a few more pages.

Augustus is free to wish Daisy didn’t appear to resent him so, but doing so out loud garners him nothing but a bad look from Sue and Lucy.

On the other side of the street we see that Mike is livid about the revelation being true and selfishly believing that Lucy is intentionally befriending Augustus in an attempt to make him jealous. Daisy tries to downplay his idea in that maybe they really are just genuine friends. That does not help anything but give Mike reason to believe she’s desperate for attention, stepping on Daisy too as well as she too had tried to be a friend to him too once upon a time.

Daisy tries to defend Lucy’s actions believing what she’s doing has some good reason behind it. She’s firm in her belief Lucy isn’t being petty and dating him as what she told her back in ‘It’s all in the mind’. Daisy wants to believe that was the case, instead suggesting if she really wanted to date someone, it would likely be with Paulo, much to the amusement of Mike who’s astonished it hasn’t happened yet and that she hasn’t tried to rub that in his face either. Unbeknownst to either of them it never will; it doesn’t look like Paulo has said anything about the carnival. Instead he’s sure it’s just another card up her sleeve to make him jealous. Everything’s just an attempt to get attention.

Daisy tries to shoot that idea down pointing out that Lucy has been trying to avoid all of them; here, but presumably she also means at school where Lucy is not seen during lunch where she instead goes to find Augustus. Mike’s all but sure that it’s got everything to do with his own circumstances.

Mike is just not listening to reason and that’s ruining Daisy’s evening, and she snaps telling him the world doesn’t revolve around him.

She’s had enough of his mean attitude and his mopey behavior causing Mike to stare in socked disbelief as Daisy shouts what would otherwise be the truth that night; why would she hang around you if you’re always so mean about her all the time? The girl who he expected would follow him to the ends of the earth has put her foot down. A night of Trick-or-treating hasn’t been anything like she imagined, and she ditches him for the group across the street if there’s any chance away from Mike’s toxic attitude. Leaving Mike to realize what he’s done.

Daisy integrates well enough into Lucy’s group despite the deterrent. Friendship is ever so much more stronger than Augusts’ intimidating presence and Daisy appears to trust Lucy enough to not be afraid of him. But she is cautious, before she can ask, Lucy assures her if Augustus tries anything, she’ll beat him down. Not that Augustus appears to be inclined to try anything.

We find Mike hasn’t moved from the other side of the street, watching on as everyone else is having a good time, feeling miserable for himself.

But he’s not alone out here. Out from the bushes and Bat-David and everyone’s favourite clown crash the party. It looks like Mike won’t be completely alone this Halloween from this point forward.

Oh thank god he’s come as something better this year. Remember when Paulo went as Twilight the vampire?

The focus of Trick or Treating is in the cards this time around, no more hijinks with trying to scare the kids younger than them like he did with Jasmine. But before they can do that, the first order of business is emptying out his bag into Mikes’ to undo a mistake, and that appears to have been Halloweening around his side of Roseville, where the least favourite candies could be found in multitudes. He’s hoping the richer kid neighbourhoods yield better candies.

And things work out well so far. Until they run into the other group again.

And oh god already their small group is one man less as David runs off to admire Augustus...

We also see that Amaya has joined the group at some stage and is a Hershy’s Kiss.

Well, the evening just went to shit for Paulo and Mike as David has ditched them in favour of the early 2000 Final Fantasy aesthetic. Leaving the two of them alone until Paulo wonders why the hell they’re not over there either, not at all intimidated by Augustus himself. That prompts Mike, it’s Lucy.

Not at all understanding how deep the rift between Mike and Lucy is (Or at least playing dumb or willing to compromise if that means trick-or-treat as a group), Paulo tries to talk some sense into him in that there are other people he can talk to, not having prior knowledge of what just transpired minutes ago with him and Daisy, and he drags him over before Mike can voice a protest, noting that they share something in common as he believes Lucy’s not likely interested in talking to him either. This surprises Mike especially regarding earlier. Paulo’s message gives off an implication he hasn’t tried to speak to Lucy since “After you” either, given it happened a few days before Daisy’s Birthday, which took place in September, Paulo hasn’t spoken to her for somewhere closer to a month.

Paulo insists they bring Mike into the group. You can tell from everyone’s faces how well they believe that’s going to go, Augustus’ the only one who has to verbally be real with him. Not that Paulo listens and tries his best to entertain the notion regardless how vain it’s going to get.

Already dragging Mike into crocodile infested waters, Paulo tries to play it off like it’s no big deal, after all, they’re all there for chocolate and that’s something they all have in common, who cares? Let’s get a move on with the evening!

While the others stare on in disbelief (or confusion) at the performance, Daisy comes in support of not having the evening be wasted by one sourpuss. You’ve just gotta feel for Augustus as his heart tears itself up inside as she rises in support and follows Paulo’s lead.

But like Lucy, we all know what’s really going on as Daisy tries to chat with Paulo. It’s a perfect evening for the two to get closer, but it won’t happen, not with Mike still feeling and appearing pretty down that evening and Paulo focusing his energy on that.

We hit turbulent waters as Daisy has not let go of earlier either and reveals Mike’s being anti-social because Lucy’s in their presence. Paulo’s attempts a vain effort of small-talk but that faulters when the topics Paulo chooses are all sorespots.

Even that tree one which I thought was very clever with how innocent it is. It gives off the impression of how boring Paulo considers Mike to be. The thing is, trees are likely a sorespot with Mike given how Sandy reacted back in Model Girlfriend.

Oops.

Well, Paulo’s upset because he’s not able to maintain equilibrium; he wants to hang out with everyone else and for everyone to co-exist, but Mike doesn’t want cooperate by being in any mood other than a bad one. Unfortunately for Paulo the whole drama playing out between him and Mike is affecting everyone else and it’s starting to show: Any chance of having a good evening out without any sign of drama isn’t happening so Sue’s night’s getting ruined. Lucy can’t help but watch on as Paulo keeps trying to be a friend. Daisy is not at all happy with Mike at all for earlier either.

The only resort Paulo has left is to bring up Sandy. It’s the only thing Mike’s probably willing to talk about.

Oh thank god; a reaction. Paulo asks for some gossip but we quickly enter a problem.

Sandy’s disappeared again.

They entered another drought and Paulo is livid in how Mike continually tortures himself. Paulo finds himself needing to be the voice of reason for the occasion: being in this relationship is killing him because of his needs and Sandy’s constant disappearances.

They need to talk about this; she’s disappeared again even when it looked like things were going to work out (as according to Class of 2008). It’s happened again! it’s paramount if Mike’s ever going to happy and it appears that Paulo’s at his wits end in how Mike just does nothing! Mike being still under the impression rather than care about how he feels, he should be happy that Sandy is making huge strides in her career at the cost of himself. Mike undervalues everything to do with himself as insignificant in hers in contrast, and that line of thinking keeps Mike from making any forward changes, resisting any and all suggestions from Paulo to think about himself in this relationship for a change. The argument is going in a circle and Paulo is unable to get through to him.

And then Lucy unexpectedly joins in, much to the shock of everyone around them.

Not willing to make amends while Mike is acting the way like he did back towards her in Unspoken Rule, but on the assumption that Mike is actually moping about because of Sandy and not because of her, Lucy tells Mike what he would have wanted to hear had it still been her shoulder to cry on as he did in the past, that’s if it’s anything to have the night saved from what it is currently. She gives thoughtful ideas to take his mind off her absence. But Mike does not take her suggestion well or her interjection and tells her to butt out.

But then Daisy joins in, having misgivings herself about Sandy and the way how Sandy had completely forgotten her first best friend for three years.

This doesn’t help matters whatsoever, as the idea of having his relationship trivialized in the same boat as Daisy’s is enough to push Mike to the brink.

And he brings all his canons down to bear.

Mike begins vehemently defending Sandy by belittling Daisy’s past relationship as nothing more than being an acquaintance. Sick of everyone’s attitude towards Sandy, he offers to give Daisy her number so she can vent to her directly and get off his neck about it. He reaches into the Mike-Hammerspace to get his phone, only to find it’s not there. Someone’s beaten him to it. . .

And is calling her now, much to his horror.

Having shown really good sleight of hand in the past, Paulo has taken his phone and used it to call her when he least suspected it, and unsurprisingly found no reply on the other end. He wastes no time in managing to leave a hateful message before Mike can try to wrestle the phone free. With the deed done, Mike just asks him why he did it.

It’s apparent Paulo has had enough and he’s grown sick of Mike’s attitude, witnessing a friend being at the receiving end of Mike’s frustration at Sandy’s absence. Having been on the receiving end of it himself and apologizing for instigating it, the line is drawn when Mike directs his anger on the people around him. Having known what Mike had done to Lucy (Happy Hour) likely learning about Sue’s encounter, the victim now is Daisy. Retribution comes in the form of telling off Sandy in no uncertain forms everything that is bringing Mike down about the relationship.

It’s not at all one of the best things that Paulo has done thus far and one of the more morally ambiguous actions as Mike’s friend. But at the same time it needed to happen as Mike constantly refused to address the issue directly, prolonging himself in this never ending cycle where he keeps his emotions bottled inside and letting it eat away at him, and in turn that caused him to take it out on the people around him. If there was any hope for change, it would be by forcing Mike to talk, and Paulo has forced his hand, now he has to deal with it.

If they’re all wrong about Sandy and Mike is justified in how wrong everyone’s concerns or feelings are wrong, then all it would take is for Sandy to ring him back right now, as even Paulo offers to apologize for being an asshole if she does.

They both know she won’t.

The drama of the evening comes to a close as Sue has had enough; enough of the drama and she screams at them both. Her night is being ruined by this drama being prolonged. Lucy agrees, they’re here for candy, And so does Augustus, how the fuck are any of them friends?

Mike swipes at Lucy’s attempt to move things on, but Lucy doesn’t reciprocate in the way he expects. She’s moving on, without him.

And so is everyone else, including Paulo who’s at his limit. They don’t wait for him. They’re done. It’s Daisy, the one who had been Mike’s cheerleader for the longest time the one who looks back for a moment before joining the rest of the group. Mike’s universe stops in a bizarre moment as everyone follows Lucy.

Not at all playing out like he imagined, indeed - The very opposite.

(Bonus: Shoutouts to Marona Possessed!)

Daisy takes a moment to apologize to Paulo feeling responsible. It’s understandable, she might have thought she had resulted in Mike and Paulo’s relationship ending up about the same state as hers as well. She swears she will not be trouble for the rest of the night if they allow her to stay around, and tries to apologize for defending him all the time as well as well. It’s no wonder given that Sandy had forgotten about their three year friendship. After all this time Daisy did not want the same thing happening again; she didn’t want to have another friendship where she ended up forgotten. Mike happened to be just as hurt when Sandy left, and Daisy eventually came to like him as well. So, since they both were forgotten, she tried being a better version of Sandy to him. Smart, but willing to depend on him and defend him to her dying breath of necessary.

All for naught.

Paulo tells her nothing was her fault. She was only following her heart and nobody could fault her for that.

It’s very heartwarming and we get the most loveliest make up page for it.

Paulo x Daisy lives on.

Meanwhile Mike watches on, alone and miserable as everyone else is having fun without him.

And then his phone rings.

Oh shit, it’s actually her!

But it’s too bad because nobody hears him, and Mike has to deal with the fallout from Paulo’s nuclear attack.

Well, apparently she was around.

Mike downplays the whole thing for her explaining that Paulo doesn’t understand her circumstances. Sadly this whole conversation going forward with Sandy does nothing but raise red flags; even despite being half the country across the world that shouldn’t keep her from talking to him. But we already know this is the case as Mike has dug his own grave to sit in by letting her know he has no problem with her long absences. Her career is so much important.

And she believes that too throughout this whole thing.

To no one’s surprise Sandy’s memory of his friends is not perfect and she mistakes Paulo for David. It feels like Mike has actually spoken about them before based on what he’s saying, but Sandy can’t recall.

Paulo’s suggestion she should spend more time with Mike over the phone is ‘so weird.’

Yes...weird.

Another red flag as Sandy can’t divulge anything specific to her boyfriend about her current going-ons but at least lets him know she’s in this life-changing event that might mean the most to her in the future. Taking a pot-shot at someone much less opportunity than her and less better off as ‘slacking off’ doesn’t win her any points either.

There does appear to be some thought to what Paulo said as Sandy reciprocates Paulo’s message in that she hasn’t paid much attention to him. . .

But it’s a question of when, as Sandy prioritizes the big event the next day over explaining to her boyfriend or digging deeper into his grievances, and that does not fill me with confidence. Mike does nothing in return but offer endless support.

‘You’re too nice’ takes me back to Model Girlfriend and I am absolutely not enthused about where this is all going at all.

Unfortunately for Mike the opportunity to find out more about what’s going on in Sandy’s life shuts as Sandy needs to be ready for the next day at 4am.

There’s nothing more to say here, is there? It’s an endless cycle and you’re seeing it again to have that point drilled in. Mike puts a lot of love into this relationship, but he’s just not getting any back as Sandy’s priority is more with her job. It’s dubious if you can put the whole blame on Sandy, as Mike hasn’t been quite forward himself at times. But given that Mike , but it ‘s clearly the wrong relationship for Mike.

End stage for Mike.

Meanwhile with the main group Daisy spots the best house for Halloween and everyone else charges towards it. Leaving Paulo with a rather apologetic looking Lucy.

Well if you thought Lucy was intentionally avoiding Paulo tonight you’d learn it was for a different reason, if at all before as well. Finally able to catch him alone, Lucy is hopeful he wasn’t offended by seeing her wearing the dress again and hoping it isn’t reaching back far for those memories when Lucy attempted to win him over. It was only meant to point fun at Sue, there was no thought that she’d run into him again figuring he still hated her for turning him down, and she felt she needed to make sure she wasn’t intentionally being awful to him again. Even better, going back to the thoughts of that moment back in the dressing room where it all started, it comes with a better apology in how they couldn’t be a pair, something Paulo anguished over for a great deal of time after her departure, all in a much better fashion from After You. Much to Lucy’s relief; Paulo is all but willing to forgive, forget, and move on.

Well... forget in some ways, not more in others....

By the end of the chapter, Lucy is likely more relieved in that no one in her social group was willing to make her a pariah through her association to Augustus, or her disassociation to Mike. No one was deterred by Augustus’ presence. They might not trust her decision in associating with him, at least initially. But they’re choosing to trust that she knows what she’s doing, and that’s more than enough.

So where are we now?

Well, of course, things haven’t gone the way as Mike prophecised in December. It wasn’t true then, it certainly isn’t now as everyone wanted to be friends with both of them, but Mike has continually taken his anger out on the people around him might see him isolated from the group. It’s going to be interesting to see what’s going to become of him in the next few chapters as I would be under the assumption the camel’s back has finally been broken and his friends are not willing to continue to deal with him while he’s in this state.

Lucy was not willing to put up with him on her return knowing full well that she would not be treated as a friend but instead as the shoulder to cry on especially when Sandy wasn’t around as it had been in the past. It turned out to be the case in Unspoken rule when Mike attempted to apologize, but when it meant telling her precisely what he meant to her back in December, he could not. He was not there to apologize at all and he was there for another reason. Having Mike explode at her for bad mouthing Sandy again gave her more reason to believe that was the case, and she was right. Mike had shown this behaviour before in the same way in Just Beautiful. Mike was not likely going there that time to apologize despite Sandy asking him to. Although he appeared to initially at first, it was at the last second he turned away. He might have gone there almost instinctively instead, as much in the same way Mike ‘accidentally’ ran into Lucy in unspoken rule, begging Lucy to forgive him, but unable to let Lucy say anything bad about Sandy.

As co-dependent as Lucy had been with Mike in the past, he is just as co-dependent with support about his relationship. This is closer to the case given by what happens towards the end of Dial Tone; where instead of dreaming of a better time with Lucy, he instead dreams of her providing him emotional support.

Symbiotic codependency.

Lucy seems to have gotten over that dependency, but Mike has rediscovered it. She’d be right in not wanting to go back to those days as it became emotionally debilitating to her when she began to develop feelings for him. She’d be right to avoid it. And Mike is anguishing because previously Lucy had been attempting to be supportive of his relationship by providing alternate solutions to take his mind off it or trying to assure him things were okay. Paulo, who found himself as the replacement, is more of a realist.

Sue had tried to be a helping hand after witnessing Mike take out his anger on Paulo, but in trying to, and at the mere mention of Sandy possibly being the problem, Mike had lumped her with the rest of people who have no faith in their relationship given her previous support of Lucy. Having known him as far back as kindergarten was not enough to get him to open up, instead knowing that Sue had always stood to support Lucy. She took that to heart. She wasn’t going to ever let him speak to her like that again.

Daisy became the latest victim in that for the longest time the source of all of her grief was with trying to be a better friend to Mike than Sandy. It wasn’t the first time Daisy has voiced such a bad opinion about Sandy as she had before to Augustus back before inviting Mike to the carnival, and told him there she could be better. Model Girlfriend did nothing but push the envelope in that Daisy’s worst nightmares had come true and Sandy had completely forgotten about her, that meaning of being her best friend meant nothing and Daisy resented her even more. She’s done being his cheerleader.

Paulo had come to know that he wasn’t the only person who Mike had exploded at and there had been others. He’s known about Lucy when Mike admitted as such in Happy hour, but he’d come to know about Sue’s run-in and witnessing Daisy just now. Having tried to give helpful advice to Mike previously, Paulo might have recognized a dead end to the help he can provide.

Mike’s relationship isn’t doing so well as we’ve gathered and the signs are there for everyone to see. Mike included - but those rose tinted glasses refuse to come off. Mike can’t help but idolize Sandy in such a way his feelings mean absolutely nothing. He enthusiastically defends anything she does, and any challenge to her brilliance and his perfect relationship is met with the same level in rage.

And for what? It’s cost him, his closest friends don’t want to be near him. And Sandy isn’t completely unavailable as what it first seemed. To no one’s surprise, her priority is around her career and Mike has agreed to be second to that. When it looked like their relationship looked like it was in trouble, Sandy’s priority was getting to sleep, and Mike let her go.

He’s the master architect of his own unhappiness.

So what happens now?

#bittersweet candy bowl #bcb

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