#and also like. important to acknowledge that ougi does genuinely care about the betterment of the world. like a lot

[sinkableruby]

i think i finally put my finger on what bugs me about saying that ougi wants to make araragi alone

because like, she doesn't. not exactly

in the owarimonogatari light novel (and in the anime!) she's genuinely disgusted when araragi mentions he had no friends back in freshman year. this is not the reaction of someone who wants someone to be all alone forever

there's nuance to it, i think-- in owari when araragi says he's going to wait for kanbaru, she responds: "so you're counting on being saved by others?"

recall her words in the avant of kabuki: "people think they're being watched by god when they're going under these streetlights" (when really they're not totally free from danger)

under that philosophy, putting all your eggs in the basket that someone will show up for you is too hopeful. what if no one ends up showing up? then you'd be sitting there helpless. better to learn how to stand on your own two feet before you wait for someone to pull you to them. that's what i think the idea is: "you can't always rely on the people around you, so it's best to be able to rely on yourself if you need to." being able to help yourself, in other words

of course, asking for help could be a form of self help. but just don't bank on it, is what ougi suggests here. (and not even that adamantly i might add. she's not pushing for it very hard-- this is just one point in her criticism, not the whole itinerary. which is why it confuses me when people say getting him to be alone is her goal. because it's really not)

the tsukimonogatari scene is a little different-- ougi criticizes him for relying on a "little girl" (ononoki, whom she knows is not truly a "little girl"), calling it pathetic. i think the ethos is ultimately the same here: "really? putting your problems on a little girl? why don't you learn some self-sufficiency and take care of it yourself?" araragi relies on people a lot, so it's only natural that it would be a recurring point of criticism for ougi. i think the "little girl" thing might either be to rhetorically make araragi's reliance more of a heavy thing-- corpse dolls might not be bothered as much by the weight of your problems as a little girl would. perhaps it calls attention to the idea that oddities changed based on how they are perceived-- calling ononoki a little girl makes her seem just a little more incapable, a little less able to deal with araragi's issue. or perhaps it's to produce more of a sting when ononoki designates herself clearly as a monster to araragi, create more of a rift between them (that she admits she is hoping for). but it's not clear cut, and i'd have to rewatch tsukimonogatari probably to be more sure

either way, the through line still seems to be "don't count on other people or god to help you. do it yourself." which isn't exactly bad, but again since araragi relies on people a lot, ougi criticizes him more for it, and also is just overly critical in general, so it starts to become pushing him away from his friends as a result of that. but my point is it's not "isolate yourself" for the sake of it, it's isolate yourself so you know you can help yourself by yourself

which of course would make hanekawa and meme's appearances in ougi dark all the more baffling to her. she'd been trying to get araragi to not count on a miracle, but because he decided to stay open to one, one actually did happen.

#there's more i could say here #about how ougi is generally aware that this isn't even the most correct or best way of thinking a lot of the time #the convo in kabuki goes “don't cross the street if you don't want to face danger” “but you could get hit on the sidewalk tho” #“yes that is true. but someone should point it out anyway” #ougi is generally there to serve as an adversarial force and is perfectly aware of this #i'm reminded of what araragi says in zoku-- that he (and by extension ougi) tilts at windmills #referring to romanticized or idealized fights that are not actually real or important #and its kind of funny and sweet like. #ougi going “yeah actually we need MORE assholes and critics in this world. we dont have enough” #that's really silly (affectionate) #i think no one does it like them anyway so they're right but in a different way #we dont need more assholes and critics we need more ougis who will be thoughtful and self aware about their assholery and criticism #and also like. important to acknowledge that ougi does genuinely care about the betterment of the world. like a lot #just saying #ougiposting #oshino ougi #monogatari