Original Commentary

Ah, Sydney. I think a photograph of him was shown once in a flashback. He didn't even have an official gender until a year ago; he was just listed as "sibling". And yes, this gives you an idea of Sofia - in Unlike Minerva, she was officially a student visiting the Minerva Theatre for independent study. She wasn't studying anything most of the time. I meant to emphasize this more, but Brisbane had some doubts as to whether or not she was kicked out of school or, at very least, encouraged to study outside so that they didn't have to deal with her on a daily basis - Terrence

Modern Commentary
Back in Unlike Minerva, Sofia's thing was that she wanted to be a princess. It's good for your characters to have goals.

Now, the comic was set in a vaudeville theater. Nobody there had any connection to any monarchy. There was literally no way she could advance her life goal in the context of the comic. There was no reason for anyone in the comic to react to her trying to marry a prince.

You can have a character with unrealistic goals. Look at the manga section of your local bookstore and you'll find a dozen spiky-haired kids who achieve the impossible. The problem is when you have a character with irrelevant goals.

In-universe, I'm going to say it was a phase she went through and is kinda embarrassed about now. Everyone else is too polite to bring it up. - Terrence

Original Commentary

Ah, yes. The squeaky wheel does indeed get the grease. Perfume salesman, though, is the perfect job for Sofia. And I wish I had thought of it first. But it's great since it involves an upscale product, no physical labor, and the appearance of glamour. It looks easy. Sofia is quite bad at it and far too proud to be any kind of salesperson, which is why it was only for a month - Terrence

Modern Commentary
Man, that sucks for Sydney to have an eviction on his record. Because you know that Sofia didn't leave until she was escorted out by the police. - Terrence

Original Commentary

No, Brisbane doesn't come from the kind of family where they talk about sex. Even if he did, Sofia would be the one they didn't discuss it with. Respecting other people's viewpoints isn't her strength. I mean, she assumes that if he won't tell her, it's pointless - Terrence

Modern Commentary
Any time a relationship story just quietly glosses over a vital detail, you know that detail is vitally important and reflects poorly on the person telling the story. - Terrence

Original Commentary

As I said, Sofia doesn't do "nice" very well. Or very often. Has she changed since last we saw her? Kind of. Sofia's desire to be a princess has been mostly edited out of Unlike Minerva, because it didn't have anything to do with the rest of the comic. But it informed her personality. This is what she became when she got closer to the real world, both in terms of the comic's tone and her own exposure to it - Terrence

Modern Commentary
Then again, Brisbane told Robert what the argument was about and that didn't go well for Brisbane. He's afraid that Sofia will mock him also - more than usual. And Brisbane doesn't want to risk going through that again. He has a lot of friends, but he's running low on good friends. - Terrence

Original Commentary

"Doing well on [one's] own" is relative. He's not anywhere nice, but he's getting by. He's feeling FBAO withdrawal. He's reaching out for emotional support - and his options are limited enough there. If he were living in a nice, shiny apartment somewhere, I don't think Sofia would be as quick to judge. She's not materialistic, but she does judge on appearances - Terrence

Modern Commentary
That would be Brisbane's Story from earlier this year. - Terrence

Original Commentary

Jealousy? Sofia hasn't had anybody she could count on - close friends, boyfriends, or the like - besides family. Sofia doesn't like Kimberly, but she believes that Brisbane is lost on his own - Terrence

Modern Commentary
That's "Sofia is potentially jealous that Brisbane had a steady relationship, was cohabitating, and seemed to be getting his life together".

Until a month ago, at least. - Terrence