#bitterssweet candy bowl

[lacktastrophe]

What are your thoughts on David and Paulo’s relationship both platonically and romantically? They have a very interesting dynamic bc David usually follows Paulo and looks up to him but sometimes swaps to guiding Paulo to improve. David also seems to have feelings for Paulo all while being a wingman for him and other characters. Daisy was also jealous of David last chapter. Their relationship is really interesting to me.

For some reason whenever someone asks me about David, I keep thinking back to Critical hit and can't get out of that zone, finding him this ultimate head scratch.

But honestly, the Paulo and David dynamic? Name a better comedy duo where the two mostly complete each other. Paulo is the straightman to David's wild shananigans most of the time. Or is he?

While there is a side of the relationship where it seems like Paulo is just keeping David contained, more often than not, David's carefree and positive attitude tend to rub off on Paulo and erase the worry. Platonically, David's a good fit for Paulo because while Paulo struggles with his own self image in various ways to ensure he doesn't disappoint David, who idolises and looks up to him, the truth is David would support him no matter who or what he turned out to be. He's also been pretty good at keeping his head most of the time, often not doing so when he's clowning around a bit.

David's love for Paulo also extends to his desires and ensuring that Paulo does achieve that love that he seeks, caring very little about the type of person in question and being objective with the end result. It comes at personal sacrifice, suggesting he pairs up with various girls in the intial stages of highschool during Paulo's aggressive and toxic masculinity in hopes he eventually does find that person that helps him achieve that happiness. This of course opens up to potential male partners once Paulo comes out as pansexual, to which David also throws his candidacy into the ring.

There's definitely enough evidence there to suggest should these two get together, David would likely do everything possible to ensure Paulo's happiness.

I feel it's natural for Daisy to feel some envy towards David because he's not as inhibited as she is with her feelings. There was nothing holding him back from throwing his candidacy into the ring and I'd have to assume he felt he knew Paulo enough already that the liklihood of a worse-case scenario like Paulo being offended and treating the friendship differently if he were to reject was non-existent. Daisy on the otherhand is overwrought with her own self-image and self-confidence issues believing that their relationship could change if she were to express some self interest in him, and there could be some merit given his past behaviour and attitude towards women, and how he's never treated her like many of the other girls. Paulo being a childhood friend for about the same length as David means just as much to her and having the dynamic change for the worst should she be rejected would just be too much for her to risk, and in her mind there's much more to lose from trying. Ironically resulting in this deadlock since he does share an interest in return, but his own issues in his self-confidence believes him not to be worthy of her.

But yeah, where Daisy is often envious because she feels other girls are prettier, younger, or fitter than she is, she envies David's openness.

[lacktastrophe]

I know it's been hinted at for a long time... but is it just me, or are Paulo's feelings for Daisy coming out of nowhere? I always thought their interactions prior to the current chapter were platonic at most with Daisy being the one developing romantic feelings for Paulo. Am I missing something? (1/2)

They've always been pining for one another but their insecurities and happenstance tend to keep them away and thinking the other is unattainable. They are absolutely compatible, they're both good friends who look out for each other.

Paulo acknowledged his interest in Daisy first back in Intervention when David persuaded him with a hypothetical where he had to choose between her or Tess. Despite all the running after Tess he'd been doing chapters before, the winner was Daisy, of whom he had never attempted to womanize once because of his belief she didn't deserve him at his worst. She's always been his main means of support and accepted him for all of his faults.

He likely would have gone ahead and spoke with Daisy afterwards once they returned from Silvershore, likely becoming a pair, had it not already been that during that period of his absense, Abbey had snuck in and denied us of potential.

We could be sure that Daisy had always had a thing for Paulo too which probably went back to when she first met him. There isn't anything that really makes that as clear but we can attest that Daisy has always liked boys, we saw interest and admiration building up over time quite a bit during the very early chapters and even more so once her relaitonship with Abbey was over when she could put more thought towards her best friend.

Admitting her interest might've taken comparitively longer because as far as she could tell, Paulo hasn't ever shown interest in her, only going after Lucy, which sheds this uneasy light that existed despite their amicable relationships.

Is it coming out from nowhere again? Not at all! All of the moments you're looking for is when Daisy's relationship with Abbey starts showing signs of trouble, the moments specifically are in Guest of Honour, Moments apart and Featured Attraction.

As far as Paulo's sexuality being explored...isn't that happening in this chapter? (Future LackLuster: Actually no, it's relationships. Should've given it more thought, past me.) Paulo has technically admitted that he doesn't see either James or Mike as potentials, so even though it's not happening, he's seriously considered it.

I think Paulo's done enough discovery of his sexuality, we've had chapters like Boy Toy, Golden Hour and Fair game where he either considered the possibility or gushed over Mike. I don't think there's anything more that could really be learned. He's accepting of this fact now though. He still has an eye out for Daisy, more so too since all the distractions, James, Mike, Lucy are all unattainable.

I'm finding myself mostly warmed up to Paulo x Daisy these days but I could imagine why people might hate it as well (Do give me your reason!). I have also reached the point where I feel like this needs to really hurry up and be a thing or die already. It's been dangled over the story's head like a carrot for such a long time and Paulo's constant "Nah, I'm not ready to admit my love for Daisy" has me all.

PLEASE HAVE THEM KISS.

[lacktastrophe]

My issue with Paulo x Daisy is how it’s pushed in when Paulo’s sexuality is brought up. It bugs me that whenever he considers a guy an option, it’s immediately followed by Paulo x Daisy. I know that it’s important he accepts his sexuality and that him ending up with Daisy doesn’t change that. Why not just have him accept that he’s bi without all the back and forth with James? It’s a bit disheartening to see a chapter start with “ooh gay” and quickly shift to “nah”

Paulo has already accepted his bi-ness though, this happened back in Golden Hour. Paulo had already worked up to the idea that he was Bi in Boy Toy, but Casual Outing was dealing with an inner conflict that was stopping him, and that was really with the idea of others accepting him, particularly given it's a 180 from his earlier idea of believing hyper-masculinity would find him the kind of acceptance he was originally after. Paulo had to do so without Daisy's help through a greater number of interactions, one through David who had his own coming out (Paulo running away too because he's not at all well when he is the one receiving affection/positive afirmation, which also leads to....), and perspectives outside of his own from an older person who is just as scared as he is about his sexual identity and acceptance from others. That enabled Paulo's confidence into him understanding he's not alone with feelings like this or the one dealing with the worst cards out there.

And maybe also becoming juuuuuuust a little less judgy on people.

Had Paulo not already been confident in being bi himself I'd be pretty sure doing what he did to find out if Jordan was gay would've been more difficult if not an option if he was not already comfortable with the idea of trying the thing he does with women would work on men too, nor would I think he would've been more admitted or considering the idea of seeing either James or Mike as valid candidates in Track Meet. Paulo is not here in Track Meet gushing over the prospect of being bi still, he's upset and dealing with a broken heart because he mistook James' natural positive atitude towards him as potential interest of a closer relationship.

I'll take the Knuckle on the head for suggesting Good Enough was about Paulo's sexuality. That wasn't accurate, should've given it more thought; it's about relationships. It's a continuation of Track Meet and goes further with the previous story as Paulo is able to confirm for fact that James is absolutely set on Mike without a doubt, and he opens up to Daisy about the status of his interests among a number of things:

Daisy letting him know he can rely on her for support when it comes to his feelings, he doesn't need to internalise his problems like how Lucy had.

Paulo coming to terms with him losing out on a relationship and dealing with an indirect-rejection given James' interest and move in on a close friend and not him.

We understand Paulo never really tried to move the wheels on those relaitonships because we discovered they were fallbacks. Paulo's admits that his heart is absolutely set on Daisy. He's just jealous of the fact those two are likely ready to hit it off in a faster time than what it's taking for him (or for her for the matter) to work up to the courage of telling Daisy what she really means to him.

And yeah, the last point is that these two do love each other and they both KNOW this. But they are holding out, because neither believe they're Good Enough for the other.

David's still playing match maker

But yeah. I think the belief Paulo x Daisy is being shoehorned in is a misunderstanding. It really is more this was bound to happen because Paulo only ever apparently sought her out when it came to his feelings. He trusted her that much above the others, and this is more of a point especially as Paulo has access to older people who are marginally better adjusted to their sexuality and so on. Considering too that these two only ever see growth through these kinds of one-on-one interactions, it's hard to imagine there really being any other path available. Daisy being the more rational one over Paulo's brashness really just consolidates how they really are made to develop off one another. This is the same sort of thing that's really only stopping Paulo from developing other closer relationships too, whether that was Paulo x David/Jordan/Matt/Sue/Amaya/Rachel etc etc, it really is because Paulo is more comfortable with sharing the deeper ones with Daisy a greater percentage of the time.

Honestly not too different to how Lucy and Mike would only share their feelings between each other, now that I think about it...