#this is so funny to me. they have it's a hard life in s1e1 when he's trying to call aziraphale about armageddon

[everysongineverykey]

good omens the book, 1990: see, queen is so ubiquitous in london these days that if you leave a tape in a car for too long, it'll inevitably morph into a best of queen tape. which is why their megahits are playing in crowley's bentley all the time! isn't that a funny and topical joke?

good omens the show, 2019-2023: yeah crowley's car has a hands-free call system and also only plays cassette tapes. yeah it's whatever don't think about it. what's an incredibly earnest and passionate queen love song we can play during this scene where crowley tries urgently to reach aziraphale

[summery-captain]

AuADHD Traits in Dirk Gently - S1E3 - Rogue Walls Enthusiasts

Hold on thight, this is a much longer one!

S1E1: Horizons

S1E2: Lost and Found

- Farah looks around the “room” she was stuck in previously and looks around intently, then says: “Take me to the house” in a very serious tone. Dirk then looks at Todd and does a thumbs up very enthusiastically while smiling really widely, meanwhile Todd and Farah look very defeated - he has a hard time “reading the room” and reacting “appropriately” due to the misread of tone/situations

 - “I spoke to the police!” (in a tone indicating enthusiasm and importance), “What did they say?”, “...go away.” - trouble with intonation/expressing himself in a way that implies something else.

- “I gave the bad guys my number” “You gave them your number?” “In self defense!” - same as before, his tone indicates purpose to Farah and Todd, and then he explains what he meant and they’re confused. In the same scene, Rimmer’s number is saved as “bad gun man”, which is both funny but also very relatable, because of the hard time we have remembering things, it’s very common for us to save numbers as name + where we know the person from to facilitate identification

*- Farah says in a very stressed out tone, “Everything I own is there [Spring’s mansion], my clothes, my gun-”, giving examples of why it’s important to her to go back there. Dirk immediately replies: “You look good” smiling and in a reassuring tone, misreading Farah’s concern to be about her appearance (more obvious) VS what she means subtextually (her life is in the mansion)

- When Todd freaks out unexpectedly, Dirk gets very startled and looks from Todd to the way Farah went back and forth about four times very quickly - unexpected changes can be very confusing / hard to process 

*-  Right after that, Dirk and Todd have the following dialogue: “Wait a moment!” / “What?” / “Are you… mad at me?” - it’s incredibly hard to read other’s emotions, especially when in relation to us. Dirk takes a moment to check in to clear things up because he isn’t sure where Todd stands about him.

 Then, when Todd answers “Yes– No– I don’t know. I don’t know what I am at you”, Dirk reacts very positively, saying “Good” and patting Todd’s shoulder, immediately running away to Farah after “resolving” the situation and taking Todd’s confusion to be best than a very certain “I’m mad at you” - It can be reassuring to be told someone isn’t angry at us when reading other’s tone and intentions/reactions is so hard, especially from someone who means a lot to us.

  Not a Dirk scene, but something I find important to mention. In between Dirk scenes, we get to see a conversation between Col. Riggins and Friedkin where Riggins says: “Blackwing had one mission: to seek out, codify and collect individuals with sensory perceptive abilities beyond the normal human range”. Meanwhile, Dirk repeatedly states throughout the show and especially to B.W. agents that “This isn’t how it works, this isn’t how I work!” and they never ever take him seriously, believing themselves to know better than the subjects do about themselves and their abilities.

 With that in mind, I draw an important parallel between how Black Wing works and how the ableist medical community works, specially in the timeframe where Dirk would have been in when he was in being held by them - With blackwing being created in 1988, the general belief that Dirk is in his 30s, and Dirk being one of the original subjects, that places his captivity in the 80s-00s, being there from about age 5 until 12 years old and getting out in 2000, because with the show happening in 2016, and when Riggins confronts him at the Ridgley Dirk says: It’s been 16 years, that’s a general timeline. 

 TRIGGER WARNING FOR FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH: ABLEISM, THERAPY TO “CURE” US

xxxxxx

 All of this to say that the way Black Wing is shown to operate both in S1 and S2, with tests, general subhuman conditions, “exposure” therapy, electric shocks, cruel testing and impossible standards, I see a very big connection with how some facilities and programs conduct behavioral “therapy” towards autistics, now too but even more so in the timeframe Dirk was a subject originally. The similarities, albeit in a very sci-fi esque aesthetic so to speak, are clear between black wing’s “program” and ABA “therapies”/Experiments/”Research”.

xxxxxx

Continuing on, Farah and Dirk going to the Spring mansion:

- Dirk doesn’t swing his arms when he’s walking, very common in autistic people and neurodivergent people in general because of our commonly comorbid lack of motor skills + different center of balance from neurotypicals which means we don’t usually need to move our arms when walking to “balance out” our leg movements because we also tend to walk differently.

*- “You’ve never met him” / “Yes, he seems like someone I’ve never met” - Very funny line but also very relatable when you realize Dirk constantly makes “small talk” by stating the obvious.

- “Isn’t that… Interesting”, Says Spring’s lawyer, to which Dirk promptly replies: “I get that a lot” - I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told the exact same thing or similar stuff, whether neurotypicals consciously realize this or not they seem to pick up very quickly we’re not like them on a very fundamental basis and WILL give backhanded compliments such as saying we’re interesting or quirky or anything like that. It took me a WHILE to realize this is what was happening and that they usually never mean it in a positive way.

*- When Spring’s lawyer gives Farah the letter saying that Spring instructed him to only give it to Farah when in the presence of someone named Dirk Gently, he says “Well it’s lucky I’m here then!” in a very chipper tone.

 Then, when Farah is having a breakdown and tell him she didn’t think he was still in the room, he says “Why would I leave the room? All of the good stuff is happening in here!”, and only THEN does he pay closer attention to how Farah is and asks “Were you and Patrick… close?” - He has a really hard time “reading the room” as I’ve said, and specially in relation to things that he considers more “obvious” like the case he’s working on. 

 AND THEN, when Farah says she is a bunch of negative things, Dirk goes, tentatively, “No, no, listen, you’re only SOME of those things” and she reacts by letting out a scream and sitting down forcefully, and he becomes even more unsure of how to act, starts trembling and pats Farah’s shoulder and then pokes it, gives up and sits down next to her. - It’s very hard to comfort people when you have a hard time reading other’s emotions, and I think that although Dirk didn’t do a very good job on comforting Farah he did try his best in a confusing situation to him, and ended up helping her nonetheless, taking us to:

*- “I don’t know anything, ever. It’s really quite relaxing. It’s how I work, I..follow fate around. It’s how I found you.” - there is a LOT of freedom in accepting you’ll most likely never have the in’s and out’s of reading others and that you can really only try your best in navigating life without having all the pieces other’s seem to have access to.

- When Farah opens the envelope Spring left her Dirk YOINKS it from her, then when he reads the “You” says “This doesn’t look like you, he’s got the hair all wrong!” - very funny moment and also shows two traits: impulsivity and literal thinking.

*- When they’re trying to follow the map, he nervously follows Farah around in the most autistic way of walking ever, it’s so relatable it’s comical honestly, the slight tip toeing, swinging side to side, just !!! he’s just like us fr

*- Farah starts analyzing the wall and he goes on a rant trying to figure out what she’s doing, interpreting the way she’s acting very literally, “It’s a wall.. Did he enjoy walls? Did ever mention a LOVE for walls-” and immediately SCREAMS and jumps backwards when Farah makes a loud noise by breaking the fake wall down with the iron, trembling the whole time - sound seems to be one of his most intense sensory triggers.

*- “How… did you do that?” / “With my hand!” - He’s SO literal I love him

*- “Dirk? I’m starting to think you’re actually a pretty good detective” - his face goes, rapidly: happy, proud, he shakes his head, aloof, uncaring.   Dirk frequently schools his expressions out, trying to make the “correct” face in regards to the situation at hand, which shows two different things: he has a hard time figuring out right away which one is the “correct” expression AND he has been conditioned to think his initial reactions are always wrong/unnaceptable.

*- When Todd reaches Amanda after running to her house, he says “Dirk doesn’t know anything. In fact, the amount of things he doesn’t know are stupefying” - slightly ableist although it makes sense within context where Dirk knows a lot of things about “random” or seemingly (to others) unimportant stuff but has a hard time with “simple” (to others) concepts/things

- Autistic funny AND sarcastisc moment when Dirk goes “Oh.. is that why you’re here?” when Todd states that this is MY apartment.

- Amanda says, “I don’t go out much”, and Dirk says: “Me neither!” - it’s common for us to not really go out that much because going out can be very overwhelming in many many ways

- When he and Todd have the discussion on the hallway, he’s very direct and vulnerable with Todd, even if he doesn’t know him THAT well, saying “I want your help”, for example, instead of just hinting at it or dancing around the subject just because it’s a hard one - we’re often direct with our intentions/feelings

- As he goes downstairs after convincing Todd to help him and to get the everbulb from his car, he does a little celebration by jumping a bit and pumping his fists, which isn’t NECESSARILY a stim but could be read as one! - stim: from “stimulation”, when we do repetitive things based on the major five senses to express happiness and also regulate our emotions, like jumping or singing for example.

- When confronted by Riggins and Friedkin he has a ‘slight’ meltdown and after getting tackled holds onto the stairwell’s bars, shaking. - I do know it’s a common reaction given the situation but also fits pretty well with mine and other autistic people’s experience in regards to what our specific reactions to overwhelming situations can look like.

As always thank you for reading and let me know if you want to be tagged in future posts/When I make the masterpost after finishing all of the episodes! I took a long time from E2 to this one because I changed jobs and had a really hard time adapting but am now more stable and have a bit more of free time!

 Tagging: @clockworkcheetah @urlocallesbiab @generalized-incompetence @amber-angel @silverhardt @weiwuxiankinnie

[sunriseseance]

How would you rank Klaus’s level of closeness with each of his siblings?

Oooh okay I'm gonna. Include s2 but also proof from their childhoods. Also I'm gonna be an obnoxious student of Derrida and Wittgenstein and say: how do we define closeness? I'm going to say it's emotional understanding and compassion and love and getting along and not, like, physical closeness.

1. Allison. They're very similar people. They're emotionally intelligent, addictive, guilty, self-aware, sad, distant, masked people that only REALLY reveal themselves to each other. We see this in s1e1 when they hug and talk a bit about their lives, and when Klaus cradles Allison close while they both sob post-branding. And then s2? Give me a fucking break? They're so similar and they're the ONLY people who see through each others' bullshit, and they're both okay with that. I find their relationship fantastic and inspiring and I just!!! There's a reason I've written so goddamn many fics about it. Allison and Klaus are The Closest

2. Diego. Klaus understands that Diego's Tough Badass thing is an act. Diego is a soft heart enough that he is willing to love Klaus in spite of all of his bullshit, even if he can't see through it. They adore each other, even if they don't always perfectly understand each other. But often they DO understand each other. Klaus gets Diego's psyche, and Diego is a compassionate heart enough to understand Klaus Pain, at least sometimes. It's sweet and good. Second.

3. I'm gonna say Vanya? But only s2 Vanya. In s1, Klaus didn't talk to Vanya once and I believe this was on purpose. Klaus is comically private and Vanya wrote the book on his private life. But then she got locked in a cage and lost her mind--literally. She came out, she showed remorse, she became open and honest and a person Klaus could see himself in. I think he'll love the Vanya with her memories back, too, but she needed that extra step.

4. Five. They get each other. These bitches are calculating and intelligent and funny and weird. The difference is that Five cares SO SO SO much and Klaus just.... Doesn't. So they can connect on an intelligence level, a trauma level, and a joke level but just fucking not a care level.

5. God this is hard. I'm gonna say Luther. They're both alcoholics. They're both isolated. They're both fuckin bodily weird. I think they have this bizarre bridge between them that is sort of unbreechable, but that doesn't mean they can't be friends, or that they can't communicate across it. I loved seeing their communication failure in s1, and I'd love to see more of why it happened (although I do think I get it. Klaus is introspective. He understands he's fucked up. Luther was new to that, and was new to understanding the outside influence. Klaus was failing to communicate across that gap). I think they could be good, though maybe not close in the visceral sense, friends, but that they aren't yet.

6. Ben. I love Ben (even if you've been here long enough to know he's my no7) so let me be clear with my reasoning: this isn't Ben's fault. These two have been far too close for far too long to have any compassion for one another. It's a recipe for toxicity and I don't blame Ben. Ben is physically close but he calls Dave a fling, he presses possession on fucking KLAUS, he is such an asshole in the motel closet in s1, he pushes Klaus to go look for Luther, and so on. Klaus ceaselessly makes fun of Ben for his lack of autonomy and for being dead which is just sort of unimaginably cruel. They've lost their ability to care for one another in a way that is pretty stark and pretty harsh. There's moments that shine through as kindness, but in general they aren't close. They're animonious and cruel and it's a perfect depiction of what would happen to this kind of relationship, and it's tragic, and I feel for them both so so so deeply. It was such a tragic situation. I'm fascinated about how s3 will handle this all. I am excited to see this. I am already annoyed at fandom wanting to polish it.

[qwertyfingers]

Not to be too forward but please drop your TNG watch order.

okay tng is. complex. here’s how i’d do it I think. I’m jumping about a lot, and I’m also struggling to remember a lot of it because my first watch was 7 years ago and my rewatch w friends we just did Sherlock Holmes and then went straight into chronological order. so this is like, combo of a handful of eps I remember being plot important and just stuff that makes me laugh.

Elementary, My Dear Data (S2E3) and Ship In A Bottle (S6E12). a) introduces you perfectly to the concept of holodeck episodes, which will be important later b) DaForge married gay energy off the charts c) Picard is really fun. the only failing of this as a start is the tragic lack of Guinan

ALL of the Q eps. Speedrun the Qcard nonsense and get a lot of the overall show plot

Encounter at Farpoint (S1E1 and S1E2)

Hide and Q (S1E10) - unnervingly babyfaced Riker. you could skip this one but it lays some good basis for who the Q continuum are, but it’s kind of fun

Q Who (S2E16) - borg introduction! absolute must watch. The insanity of ‘to learn about you is frankly provocative… but you’re next of kin to chaos’ as a line alone, let alone the voice Patrick Stewart gives to it. Iconic episode.

Deja Q (S3E13) - Q getting turned into a human as punishment for being a naughty boy. V funny, must watch

QPid (S4E20 babeyyyyy) - MUST WATCH one of thee funniest episodes and experiencing the QCard speedrun from farpoint to qpid is a very special kind of brainworms

True Q (S6E6) - this one is skippable tbh, but it is pretty fond and I’m personally fond of running a full Q supercut

Tapestry (S6E15) - this one isn’t as fun as most Q eps but it is VERY TNG-ish and therefore a must watch. If you’ll forgive the pun, it really gets at the heart of Picard’s character

All Good Things (S7E25 and S7E26) - as with most Star Trek finales it’s not the best. You don’t have to watch this here but it can be a fun bookend for the Q speedrun

You could also go watch DS9’s Q-Less (S1E6) if you’d like to see Q get punched in the face, it’s really very satisfying

You kind of have to watch The Best of Both Worlds (S3E26 and S4E1). If you’ve seen TNG before, you don’t need to worry about when you watch it. If you haven’t seen any TNG yet, watch it here.

Darmok (S5E2) - THEE most star trek of all star trek’s. hmu if you ever want me to rant about Darmok I have a whole badly-structured personal essay about it ready to go at all times

Disaster (S5E5) - Geordi and Crusher teamup is really fun, and ‘executive officer in charge of radishes’ is the best line in all 7 seasons of TNG

Schisms (S6E5) - you could just watch from the opening until Data’s poetry recital ngl. The ep is decent and I’d personally watch it all but this ep is mostly about Data’s poetry.

Sub Rosa (S7E14) - Crusher fucks a ghost. iconic behaviour

Dixon Hill eps! They’re fun and silly and much like watching TOS’ A Piece of The Action

The Big Goodbye (S1E12)

Manhunt (S2E19) - Lwxana. I’d do anything for Lwxana

Clues (S4E14) - Guinan as Gloria is so much fun I love her and she should have got a full episode!!!!!

The Measure of a Man (S2E9) - important Federation and Data lore. Very emotional.

Yesterday’s Enterprise (S3E16) - Tasha’a back!!!!!!!! Just a very cool ep imo

Hero Worship (S5E11) - Extremely good Data ep, good content about Federation attitude to mental illness

Datalore (S1E12) - another important Data ep, and Lore is laways fun

The Offspring (S3E16) - Data wants to be a dad!!!

I, Borg (S5 E23) - HUGH!!! IT’S ALL ABOUT HUGH!!!!!!!!! (I like to watch this right after The Offspring because it’s direct parallels of geordi and data just wanting to take care of people)

Brothers (S4E18) - more Data (And Lore) content

Descent (S6E26 and S7E1) - not required watching, but Lore is fun and evil

Fistful of Datas (S6E7) - EXTREMELY SILLY GOOD FUN ALLROUND. CAN NEVER GO WRONG W ACOWBOY EP

Sarek (S3E23) - I can’t remember the plot I just know Sarek shows up in a lavender robe and has mad chemistry with Picard. I’m  pretty sure they mind meld really hard??? Lord help me the old men you put on this spaceship to do politics are exploring eachothers’ minds in the most intimate manner possible <3

Unification (S5E7 and S5E8) - Spock attempts to re-unify Romulus and Vulcan. Iconic 2-parter, but definitely the kind of episode that benefits from watching with a friend so you can add commentary

if you like Romulan episodes you could watch the full Sela arc before this one (The Mind’s Eye S4E24, Redemption S4E26/S5E1, Unification)

Face of The Enemy (S6E14) - I can’t remember the entire plot but I’m pretty sure it was good and I love a good Romulan ep

The Host (S4E23) - Trill introduction!!!! So good.

The Game (S5E6) - profoundly stupid but worth it for how funny the graphics for the game are

Cause and Effect (S5E18) - just a pretty cool one

Time’s Arrow (S5E26 and S6E1) - One of TNG’s strongest plots imo

The Inner Light (S5E25) - another banger plot; Picard gets hit by a psychic probe and lives an entire life in a history that has already happened. there’s a really good Spones fic based on this episode and I could read an au like this for any ship I swear

Relics (S6E4) - Scotty!!!! It’s fun

Chain of Command (S6E10 and S6E11) - another one of TNG’s strongest plots. The origin of the ‘there are FOUR lights’ meme.

Birthright (S6E16 and S6E17) - this is an infamous double parter but all I actually remember is Julian Bashir appearing and meeting Data

Ensign Ro’s intro ep Ensign Ro (S5E03) i LOVE her

The Next Phase (S5E24) - cool ep where Ro and Geordi get stuck out of phase and are invisible from the crew, pretty fun

and the end of her arc with Preemptive Strike (S7E24)

I personally love Barclay and just choose to live in a universe where the misogyny wasn’t happening and he was just a weird little man, but if he bothers you, you can skip his arc. Don’t skip Genesis tho it’s good

Hollow Pursuits (S3E21)

The Nth Degree (S4E19)

Realm of Fear (S6E2)

Genesis (S7E19) - perfectly batshit star trek fake science. I love it

Masks (S7E17) - extremely silly and therefore fantastic

after this point I’d go back and watch in order all the way through, or look up a watch order for eps that are actually important plot-wise :’) 

[squeegieclothespin]

Pilot - S1E1

Luke’s was so small in the first episode

Rory’s voice seems deeper in the pilot before she adopts that baby voice she has later on

I don’t know if they did something but Rory also doesn’t have as much of a baby face in the pilot like she does later on (I think that was just me any my perspective)

My favorite thing is that Michel stays the same for the majority of the series

Dean, *insert eye roll here*

Yes, I do hate him that much

Did anyone ever notice how Summer went to Stars Hollow High too?

Also, the little smirk Rory has when the girls around her realize that she was working on the assignment like it’s a great accomplishment, how can you feel smug about doing work? Oh wow I’m not like these girls.

It’s one of the things that the show really embraces the idea that Lorelei and Rory are different from all these other women on the show. When they’re just their own version of toxicity

The way that Rory jokes around more in the first season, like the potential to have Rory be like that from the beginning and then they just kind of change her.

The abuse that Sookie’s staff puts up with and the amount of extra work they have to do to make sure they and Sookie don’t get hurt, like I hope they were getting paid more. (Yes, I know it’s a fictional kitchen staff but still, the hazards.)

“Go to Harvard like she’s always wanted and get the education that I never got. Do things that I never got to do. Then I can resent her for it and we can finally have a normal mother daughter relationship.” It’s not like she didn’t have the option to do any of those things. She always had the option even when she left but for whatever reason she refused to do it under her parents roof.

Their house changes also

The way she gets upset when the tuition office won’t take her terms like she didn’t come from that world and know how it all works, she is after all a private school girl herself

She resents her parents so much she would rather struggle than ask for help

I have a lot of issues with the fake broke aesthetic that Gilmore Girls has them living in

“I love being a private school girl” *gag*

The Gilmore house also changes

I don’t understand why she’s so ashamed to ask her parents for help. Never mind I get why because she ran away in hopes of never having to return even though she will never truly be able to get away from her parents.

It’s funny to me that she pays her parents back for the things she borrowed when at the end of the day it’s her and Rory’s inheritance

So Dean understood Rory’s Rosemary’s Baby reference but then afterward he has no idea what any of the other things she talks about are...

Honestly, I get why Jess asks her what they talk about because they don’t even like the same things later on she’s making him read books and he’s talking to her about monster truck rally’s

Because of basic ass Dean, Rory almost changes her mind about going to a school that will help her. Girl, I know you know better. But then again this is a trend we will see again with Rory.

Because of shitty Dean. I really don’t like him.

It’s funny that they claim to be able to eat all this unhealthy food every day in ridiculous amounts and not gain any weight. Beauty standards y’all

The boy shaming honestly, and the whole ‘you’re me and throwing her life away.’ Like that’s really terrible. I mean how much must it have affected Rory to hear her mom think she’ll make the same mistakes.

‘We always had a democracy in this house’ that’s funny. Cause, I mean, come on you’re making decisions and taking your teenage daughter into account? Really? You took off as a teen with a newborn not thinking about how it could affect Rory.

‘We never fight’ how is that possible? All of a sudden y’all start fighting. Tell each other everything but on the very first episode you’re already keeping things from each other???

Lorelai seriously does things just to spite her mom, I mean how hard would it have been for her to go actually throw the cup away in the kitchen...(this is me just making a petty observation but seriously, it’s not that hard)

Lorelai gets easily rattled by her parents even though she knows exactly how they are. You’d think she’d know better by now.

Attacking her? Because they brought up Christopher. If anything her parents were being passive aggressive

It’s funny as she says she made it with no help from anyone when the moment she failed terribly she could have just gone home. And also she had lots of help from lots of people. Someone had to give her a job. Someone had to take care of Rory.

That’s the one thing they never acknowledge in the show directly, the fact that these two are not underprivileged for any moment at all.

The Luke and Lorelei thing started from the beginning

[italianeyes]

what are your favorite twilight zone episodes :0

oh hii ok i haven't finished watching it yet but these are my favorite so far (in no particular order (for the most part))! it's gonna be pretty long so i'll continue under the cut 😳

1. and when the sky was opened (s1e11)

truly my favorite twilight zone episode of all time! the plot and characters are very well written (it's based on the short story "disappearing act" by richard matheson) and also the acting is really good too like the emotions are so vibrant and effective and real just wowzers. there's this one part where the look on the guy's face is just so haunting and idk it really sticks with me. also the actors 👀👀👀 i think everyone in the 50s/60s was just really attractive but yeah. also it's #relatable but in a sad way 😔 and it makes me cry so overall 5386464/10 very good highly recommend!

2. mirror image (s1e21)

SUCH a great episode. the directing, the attention to detail, the atmosphere just mkaes it so interesting and thrilling to watch. it made me audibly gasp so much bc it's frightening. also the ending is just. wow. wow. great episode.

3. the after hours (s1e34)

omg hi good cool episode !!!!!! right? wrong!!!!!! the directing in this episode makes it ABSOLUTELY FUCKING TERRIFYING to watch!!!!!!!!!! as if mannequins aren't scary enough on their own. i love the vibe of department stores in the 50s (i really wanna live during that time period!) and the atmosphere that's created is bonechilling and eerie. very very good episode bc it feels like a fever dream and as you will see most of the episodes on this list are ones where it feels like you're losing your mind and i love that. it also does a good job of like putting the audience in the shoes of the main character.

4. perchance to dream (s1e9)

another terrifying episode? more likely than you think. this episode is a WILD RIDE (haha pun) and is the definition of a fever dream. the directing is so so so good and perfectly captures what a nightmare can feel like and it's exhilarating to watch bc it is also extremely terrifying. i once watched it to try to scare myself to sleep so i could have a nightmare just to feel something (it didn't work😔). OH YEAH ALSO THE TWIST AT THE END it spins your head i honestly didn't even see it coming WOW

5. twenty two (s2e17)

another fever dream episode!!!!!!!! so cool the directing is wow and the setting is even more wow and theres so much tension in it and the ending i wasnt expecting it at all! very solid episode perfectly crafted

6. walking distance (s1e5)

this episode made me sob so hard! it's about like growing up and revisiting your childhood and it's so tender and sad but there's a good lesson ig idc. it's #powerful and i thoroughly enjoy it but it's also painful to watch bc it is TOO RELATABLE

7. where is everybody? (s1e1)

genuinely the best pilot episode for any series that i've ever seen. it's so memorable and right off the bat makes the audience feel like they're going insane bc they don't know what the fuck is going on. this episode sets a VERY good precedent for what the rest of the show is gonna look/be like. very good one ! oh yes plot the plot was good and so was the directing but a little anticlimactic i think but whatevs.

8. two (s3e1)

this episode is so <3333333333333333 i think it's a good first episode for s3 bc honestly it gets worse ngl. it seems kinda pointless but the ending is nice and honestly it's pretty much everything i wanna see on a screen like a woman with a gun in an army uniform? are you serious?? sign me up pls 🤲🏽🤲🏽🤲🏽

9. nick of time (s2e7)

stereotypical predicting the future type episode but i really like it bc of the vibe. you know it's the 60s where there's diners and jukeboxes and milkshakes! i mean yes we have those things today but it just hits different in this episode just the vibe is chef kiss very very neat and nice and also the couple in it is really attractive. oh yeah i still like the plot tho and like what it means from a human pov like do you let a machine control your life or do you make those decisions by yourself and agree to face the conseqeunces? very neat i think ! it reminds me of the summertime that's the vibe of it i really wanna live during that time period.

10. the purple testament (s1e19)

literally everyone in this episode is SO HOT 🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵���🥵 god. the plot is good too but it's pretty predictable but the concept is really cool and well written and ofc the ending is also predictable but whatever !

11. a hundred yards over the rim (s2e23)

very cool episode i love the whole cowboy / western vibe i know 🤚🏽 those were dangerous and not optimal times ok but seriously the drip and the whole saloons and small town stuff? can we bring that back pls and thank you xoxo but yeah this episode is cool and it has a very empty feel to it and it makes you feel like a stranger i do like it a lot

12. showdown with rance mcgrew (s3e20)

oh i really like this one !! it's one of the only episodes i think that's like comedic on purpose. like the main character (the one in the cowboy hat) is so stupid and the way his character is written is mwah im blowing a kiss to the sky for him as we speak. the plot is alright it's like the redundant time travel so whatevs but i like this one bc it's funny:) i think after s1 the show went downhill bc u can see that they were running out of ideas so yeah. season 1 really had no reason to go that hard but it did!!

13. to serve man (s3e24)

oh yes this episode is short and sweet and gets straight to the point which i really appreciate<3 just the vibe of it is very very good and there's nothing like a great twist to top it all off! solid episode 10/10 also the girl in it is really pretty

14. the night of the meek (s2e11)

this! one!! it is SO sweet and actually has a good ending and it made me cry and it's so pure and happy and nice and christmas and i love christmas and i love this episode

15. judgement night (s1e10)

i love the trope of "one person realizes something is very very wrong in their world and they try to explain it to others but no one believes them making the main character feel like they're going crazy!" i would say this episode is haunting i don't remember like the specifics but i just remember watching it for the first time and just being like speechless and sad. the plot is very nice too and like the thought of eternal terror makes me very uncomfortable which was probs this episodes goal so good job !

essay over xoxo if u made it this far hi here's a hug<3

[daturanerium]

i’m finally all caught up with @thepenumbrapodcast​ ‘s juno steel stories! here are my discordant thoughts on the story and the characters.

(i did this with the magnus archives season one, too! check it out here.)

SPOILERS FOR JUNO STEEL from s1e1 to s3ep2

general plot stuff:

this show. THIS SHOW. is written so well. the characterization is top-notch. the characters are fleshed out and interesting and engaging and they all grow and change and are affected by people and environments and time and events. they’re not static in the slightest.

i haven’t come across a story that deals with depression and suicidal idealization so well. i’m thoroughly impressed with how the writers both portrayed them and how well they have (so far) portrayed the healing process. wowowow.

THE LGBT REPRESENTATION IS OFF THE CHARTS. QUEERS LISTEN TO THIS SHOW. they have a nonbinary politician?? mlm romance and kiss in the first episode???? main character is nb with he/him pronouns??? SO MANY BADASS SAPPHIC SPY/MAFIA COUPLES.....IT TUGS AT MY HEART. the big strong guy is asexual??? i could go on for days but spoilers! just know that genuinely, you will not be disappointed.

this show has two main focuses/themes: trust and the future. it’s been so fantastic to see how juno and the other characters view both themes and how they changed themselves and/or others while encountering those themes in their everyday life.

ramses o’flaherty and the entire plotline that came with him was absolutely top-notch. it blew me away. ramses is a true complicated character, a grey area that makes you question everything you believe in. the storyline tackles politics, morals, and values while keeping it exciting and entertaining. it’s definitely one of my favorite storylines ever.

the writers are truly incredible. i’m really in awe. they inspire me!  i wish i had the energy right now to give them the praise essay that they deserve but i’m really tired and i want to get this posted. someday!

the worldbuilding is the perfect balance between two extremes that a lot of scifi authors really struggle with. juno explains how a (sort of) functioning mars city works in a way that feels natural and easy to understand, and the world he describes is both familiar and fascinating. although the environment is different, the audience is all too familiar with corruption and capitalism and classism. they keep the world relatable while giving it some really new and funky details (do i want a cat with six eyes and a stinger? of course! do i want to step outside for more than five hours and get radiation poisoning? that’s up for interpretation). they also chose a great route in making this story take place in the aftermath of (what seems to be) a galactic war instead of taking the traditional Save The World, End The War scifi route. it’s refreshing, and again, relatable (especially to me: i was born after 9/11 and have lived through the entirety of the war in afghanistan so the underlining feeling that hyperion city has that Something is Going To Go Wrong....i feel that).

there is so much more i want to say but this has been sitting in my drafts for weeks and i want to get it posted!

tl;dr: juno steel is really a fantastic work of art. it’s engaging and relatable and teaches valuable lessons about healing, trusting, and moving on in ways i have never seen another piece of media do so successfully. please give it a listen if you have a chance!

some character/character arc thoughts under the cut :)

juno:

god so dumb. just so fucking stupid. i love him.

i’m going to be honest. s1 and the beginning of s2 Juno was really hard for me to listen to. the way he treated others obviously was, to put it lightly, not the best (the monitor incident with rita comes to mind; i really hated that). it almost got repetitive, and since i’m already not a big fan of the depressed-asshole trope i was kind of hanging by a thread by the time ramses came around.

god am i glad i stuck around. his character growth and maturity within the second half of season two and the beginning of season three has been so satisfying! it hasn’t been perfect, but that’s part of the reason why it’s so good--it’s realistic and believable. he’s realized where his faults lie and is making a physical and mental effort to better himself. he’s even doing it verbally, explaining to people he trusts (rita) that he’s trying to be better and then actually acting on it. too often we see the depressed-asshole say the “i’m trying to be better!” line but don’t see any actions following it that signify that effort--that was my fear going into this. but that’s really, truly not the case here, and it’s such a breath of fresh air. plus, in-canon-wise, i’m so happy for juno he’s come so far!

okay nonbinary king i see you

GET THIS LADY A CAT PLEASE.

that moment during the end of s2 when he found that baby rabbit in the sewers.....god.

juno appreciate rita challenge (accepted!)

his voice......is so soothing. except when he yells but he’s better now we’ve established that

i LOVE how as soon as he figures out that he likes you he sticks to you like glue. that’s super funny and cute and also fits him perfectly

miss dahlia rose if you’re out there.....

his complicated relationship with ramses was so fascinating and important. i loved listening to that storyline.

juno: “there’s no way in hell i’m doing this, fuck off” juno, five minutes later: [is doing it]

that’s pretty much the beginning plot of every episode lol ur so valid juno we love u

he’s ability to make the dumbest decisions continues to astound me. he likes to talk about how mick is always getting himself in trouble but god juno you’re really not one to talk

the fact that, in a world that literally runs on tech, he has no idea how a coms works. that’s so fucking funny. if you ignore the backstory that comes behind it.

did juno ever tell alessandra that he made it out of the desert alive or is she just out there in hyperion city somewhere mourning him with her wife?

i already sort of wrote on juno’s backstory but it’s so good. so good.

he’s so fucking soft. he loves so much!!!! and that scares him!!!! but he’s working on it!!!!!

rita:

is she the love of my life or do i just relate heavily to her? who knows

actually no we’re gonna talk about this

rita penumbrapodcast, queen of adhd. queen of oversharing. queen of tangents. queen of love. queen of excitement. queen of caring for her friends more than herself. queen of incredible intelligence shown in an unconventional way. queen of being underappreciated.

s1 and the beginning of s2 really stung me because i’ve been in rita’s positon--used as a punching bag by someone i care deeply about because it’s better me than someone else, because i’m willing to sacrifice my own health and safety for the sake of giving them an outlet. we put it under the guise of “helping”, but we don’t realize until later that it’s really not; we’re just letting them get away with hurting themselves and hurting us. the monitor incident comes to mind again. i actually had to pause and take a step away after hearing juno yell and the glass break--although my abusive friendships thankfully never got violent, that kind of unbridled anger was all too familiar and i was begging out loud for her to leave. she handles it like a champ, and i honestly can’t say whether or not that’s a good or bad thing: good because she knows he doesn’t mean it or bad because she’s used to it? because it’s later revealed that juno’s treated her poorly from the first day they met. i was really worried that their relationship was going to end up being static, “depressed-asshole bullies quirky female sidekick and she never fights back because she loves him” trope. but, thankfully, they’re not!

towards the end of s2 and the beginning of s3 we didn’t just see growth in juno, we saw growth in rita. she confronts juno through a thetabot down in the sewers, calling him out on his self-destructive tendencies and his habit of doing important things without anyone else’s help (in this case, disappearing for weeks without telling her where he was). she points out that maybe the only way for him to appreciate her is for her to do the same thing--disappear for weeks, forcing him to realize just how much he needs her. thankfully, this is after juno’s Big Realization, and he sincerely apologizes for his treatment of her and assures her that he’s trying to be better. (and, side note, but that apology was a good one. a really good one. he verbally acknowledges his many mistakes, including the one rita specifically mentioned, acknowledges that he does not deserve her forgiveness, tells her what he’s trying to do to be better, and then apologizes and asks for her help. that’s good. take notes, people.) later that season, she takes initiative for what seems to be the first time, coming up with a solid, well-thought-out plan, enacting it on her own, and saving both an entire city and her boss. you could probably hear my cheers from wherever you are on earth, because they were there and they were loud! rita saving the day mixed with juno breaking through the mind control with his overwhelming love and appreciation for her.....god. good stuff.

rita buying juno’s office as a surprise for him.......i Will cry

literally she’s just so wonderful i love her so much

every time she talks i’m like [one billion heart emojis mixed with like forty crying emojis]

RITA SPINOFF WHEN. i come from the critical role community so yall know for a fact i’ll back it on kickstarter

once her and juno’s relationship reaches a healthy balance (and they’re already well on their way which i’m so happy about!) they’re going to be so good together. so powerful. the Ultimate cheery vs broody relationship (although juno is less broody at this point and more....gentle asshole. we love growth). they were unstoppable before, but now? god help the galaxy lol

the fact that rita can just casually hack into literally any system in the galaxy is so.......impressive? hot? yeah.

please get this woman a girlfriend and a cat

rita x franny xoxo

RITA BACKSTORY WHEN. PLEASE KEVIN AND SOPHIE PLEASE AS A RITA STAN I AM POLITELY BEGGING YOU.

rita is now in space, which is an interesting development. i just.....”rita in space” is not something i would have ever guessed at a week ago

wait oh my god.

i was sitting here thinking rita has some sort of trust fund/is secretly rich and that’s how she bought juno’s office and kept it afloat, but with the most recent episode’s developments it’s probably equally if not more likely that she either hacked into the nearest bank to give herself the creds needed or hacked the person she was buying it from to make it seem like she had made the payments. i literally adore her whoops

the little rita episodes make me so happy and i hope we get more of them!

tldr: i love her and she deserves the world and more, i’m glad her relationship with juno has changed into something a lot healthier with juno’s Realization mid-season-two, i hope she realizes the hero she already is in season three

peter:

.........oh how the turntables.

peter, season one: juno come with me so we can be together forever and travel the galaxy! i think i love you! juno: aw babe i wish i could but i’m sad and the city needs me :( peter, season three, when handed the opportunity to travel with a healing juno through the galaxy on a silver platter: actually fuck this lol i have One Job and it is to Only Think About My Current Assignment. this is smart and healthy.

this man.....this man right here officer. stole my fucking heart.

i don’t really have an essay for him because we haven’t seen enough of him to really gauge his character development beyond an obsession with debts and his aging. i’m guessing that will change this season though

the debts....what are they

can rita hack in and pay them off

god wouldn’t that be so funny. he spends his entire life trying to pay off these impossible debts and it’s stressing him out to the point where he feels he can’t focus on anything else. and one day he comes to the fam and explains everything and rita’s like “oh shit that’s easy i’ll take care of that right now!!! why didn’t you say something sooner” and hes like “what” and she’s like “yeah!” and he’s like “holy shit” and then he gets married to juno and they live happily ever after the end.

no but real talk

these debts. there’s a lot about them and the way he talks about them that really worries me. i feel like having them be simple money debt would be too easy, so maybe it’s something medical? that would explain both his obsession with his aging and his uncharacteristically excited reaction to the healing mother prime (i think that’s what it was whoops).

he also mentioned someone else before juno, someone that had some pretty strong romantic undertones. maybe they’re sick? but peter doesn’t seem like the type to throw away a relationship like that so quickly, so it doesn’t really match up that he would have someone sick and waiting for him but he’d still go after juno in season one. hmmm.

this one’s a real mystery lads. you think you have something figured out about peter nureyev but it just gives you more questions.

peter is the one mystery juno can’t solve. god, that’s good.

his voice is so good. i don’t remember who his voice actor is but they’re doing a fantastic job thank you!!!!

i actually don’t picture peter like how he’s portrayed in the official art and fanart? i wish i was an artist so i could draw him the way i see him but alas. (i still really like his official design tho!)

listen. you give me a mysterious thief that doesn’t exist and i am Forced to love him. i have a type.

thankfully peter seemed to come around during the most recent episode (s3e2 the man in glass) so i don’t think we’re going to get a repeat of season one. these debts, whatever they are, are definitely going to cause problems. i can’t wait to see what the writers do with this.

(my only fear is that it will end up fitting the “gay character has a sickness parallel to aids and it is incurable” trope. although the writers have so far done a fantastic job of writing queer characters and worlds as well as turning tropes on their heads, so even if it may seem like that’s the case in the beginning, i’ll most likely stick through it to see where they take it. i trust them).

peter i know you’ve never had a family in your life but. im gonna tell you a secret here. found family is cool and good and you’ll like it if you give it a chance.

i love him and as soon as i cut my hair short i’m gonna cosplay him. fashion king

peter nureyev makes me want to fall in love

watching (listening) to juno grow and mature was already fantastic, but to see it through the eyes of someone who respects him, cares for him, and loves him deeply? good lord.

the way peter talks about juno.....yeah.

and peter as an individual....WOW. master thief, yes wow impressive! but his growth is already focusing so much on trust and it’s been written so well. i can’t wait to see how much he continues to grow and learn to trust this season!!!

i would love to see him continue to narrate s3. i think it’s a really strong change of pace and it also puts some extra emphasis on juno’s growth while focusing on peter’s motivations and inner thoughts. i’m genuinely fine either way tho!

tl;dr: i love u emo boy i love u i love u

[ganymedesclock]

Hey so remember that time that I was like “so I’m gonna come up with pokemon for some major Voltron characters, but I’m gonna limit it to two each because what kinda maniac would do full teams for 12+ characters”?

Me. I am that kinda maniac. 

Team Voltron in this post- Sincline plus Haggar and Zarkon later.

Lance Milotic [s] * Primarina * Gyarados * Swampert * Octillery * Lapras

Lance ended up with the single most evenly-typed team out of everybody I put here. The shiny Milotic is his signature pokemon but overall I can see Lance spending a lot of time with his team, both talking to them and grooming them. (if there’s anybody on the team I can see doing really well in contests, it’d be Lance)

Milotic and Gyarados are natural choices given the implication, as I’ve discussed before, that Lance is only a few steps behind Keith while not being a prodigy, and thus, a hard worker- so him getting pokemon that are regarded as pathetic, looked-down-upon initial evolutions, and refusing to give up on them no matter what, and reaping the rewards with a show-stopping team. 

Primarina arguably fits in for the same reasons (I remember when Sun/Moon started coming out, everybody dunked on Popplio) but with its final evolution being a ~beautiful mermaid~ there’s also no way Lance wouldn’t roll for that.

Octillery is a nod to Lance’s own brilliant marskmanship as well as being stated to be a calm pokemon that enjoys being fussed over, and Lapras are stated to sing to find each other, good for the empathetic connector that Lance is as a person. The swampert is both an effective canceler of electrical attacks (as Lance is pretty dang adaptable all things considered) and a nod to his connection with Hunk, the Earth paladin.

Keith Charizard (Y mega evolution) * Absol * Talonflame * Aegislash * Minior * Arcanine

I feel like Keith’s team, outside of the obvious fire motif, would be more ranger-like than focused on battling; the feeling from his house in s1e1 and the way he so clearly enjoys both the hoverbike and the outdoors strikes me as someone who would take very well to having a team that can let him tear across an open expanse or soar through the air. Either way, gotta have room to roam- his team has some rather large members.

I imagine Keith’s not a very earnest trainer. Most of his team came to him rather than him seeking them out, and they have funny personal stories behind almost all of them. The only exception is Charizard, who he got as a starter Charmander and who stuck with him the entire time he was shuffling around the foster system.

Aegislash are stated to be servants of those it believes possess a ‘kingly spirit’ and that one in particular doesn’t always listen to Keith, though it does sure seem interested in his welfare- it just sometimes disagrees with him on what that looks like. He’s never known it as a Honedge or Doublade- and it’s been around as long as he can remember. Perhaps someone asked it to look after him? It certainly nannies him an awful lot.

The arcanine he found as a growlithe hiding under a car, but it didn’t evolve until Garrison. Conversely the talonflame evolved really quickly; it was another adopted one (he found it after it hit a window and was able to nurse it back to health) I can see him using the talonflame more for exploration than for fighting.

Absol was a present from Shiro who thought they were similar-minded and could get along. (C’mon it’s a moody, well-intentioned prophet pokemon with flippy hair. I couldn’t not give one to Keith) It’s a little troubled but so’s he, so, they work.

Keith has no idea what’s up with the Minior. It latched onto him during his year in the desert and refused to leave him. He kinda thinks of it as a kindred spirit since they’re said to come from space and he feels pretty lost himself. (Kiddo you have no idea.)

Shiro Lucario * Skarmory * Mightyena * Umbreon * Scizor * Dusknoir

Veteran trainer who runs a tight ship, though not to his team’s detriment. A mix of dark and steel types, mostly, suitable for the tough-as-nails Black Paladin whose fighting style definitely has some shades of “brutally efficient”. As much as Shiro is an honorable and empathetic type, when it comes to life-or-death situations he goes for the throat big time. 

Thanks to his leadership, coordination and focus, they all made it through the missing year a bit beat up, a bit scarred, and pretty stressed- in particular his eevee didn’t exactly... plan to end up in that evolution but it had to evolve in the sunless sterile environment of the arena. 

Lucario is really nearly Shiro as a pokemon and I can see him sharing a very strong bond with it- the natural sense of justice, keen personal focus and that, for all of its strong instincts and wills, it’s a pack hunter that focuses on the idea of the group.

Skarmory is a pokemon said to refine its edge through experiencing hardship, battering its steel wings until it eventually regrows them and sharpens their cutting edge. Scizor fits in under that umbrella as well, since it’s another steel type and one that has to use its wings to thermoregulate, creating the image of an entity under pressure that has to regulate itself carefully. I sort of imagine during the missing year they spent a lot of time tanking for Shiro himself and for the rest of the team, and came out the most battered as a result. 

Mightyena is another socially-motivated pack hunter, which, given it’s a dark type and thus allegedly ‘evil’ would implicitly strike a balance between honorable and pragmatic, which is very significant to Shiro. 

Dusknoir’s a good sport, helpful and obliging, but Shiro sorta gets the creeps around it since he went into the missing year with only five pokemon (having given Keith his absol) and has absolutely no memory of when or where this one showed up and given its whole guide of the dead thing he sometimes wonders if it’s actually here for him in the not necessarily supportive sense of the term.

Hunk Donphan * Aggron * Bastiodon * Claydol * Golurk * Chansey

The donphan is his signature pokemon and primary companion- which matches his mentality basically perfectly as a relative slow mover that becomes virtually unstoppable once set on a single goal.

Hunk’s team pretty much embodies the dual nature of a compassionate protector of others with someone who will through-and-through mess you up if you tick him off or hurt his friends. You’d better believe that chansey is ready to throw down at any time of day. 

Aggron nicely embodies both with its propensity to restore and maintain its territory but also being a metal dinosaur that will protect that territory viciously.

Claydol and Golurk are more testaments to his curiosity and interest in technology. Hunk was the only one I gave a fossil pokemon, with the idea being he’s the sort of person who’d take the time to carefully nurse a revived prehistoric creature back to health. In general, I think Hunk’s team would be in good shape, like, he’s the type who just really enjoys taking care of them. He never officially signed up for the league (hence his lack of a starter) but just sorta accumulated pokemon that he made friends with.

In his defense most of these guys were a lot smaller when he started out and sometimes his donphan forgets that it’s not the size of a lapdog anymore. 

Pidge Rotom * Phantump * Porygon * Minun * Beldum * Cleffa

With only a single grass type, Pidge has the weakest connection to her element, but that much really makes sense- of the team she’s probably the most distant from understanding herself. Her team is all first evolutions as well- she’s got a lot of growing to do.

The rotom is both her signature and virtually never battles, usually hiding out in her laptop. They’re her best friend and avid confidant and she doesn’t like to have them occupy something they can’t talk to her through. (You bet your ass she has a Rotomdex. she built it herself)

Minun and Cleffa were gifts from her brother and her father respectively- Matt has a corresponding Plusle, and Cleffa because someone like Sam Holt who dedicated his life work to finding extraterrestrial life would be charmed by pokemon like the clefairy line that is rumored to have come from outer space. Pidge didn’t have much interest in the ‘conventional’ pokemon league and I imagine she only caught a few of her pokemon personally- most were from her family. Her mom got her Porygon partially in honor of her love of old-school graphics.

Beldum she caught all on her own! It was difficult- she killed an entire holiday- but she’s gonna have a metagross. As. soon as she can figure out how to encourage it to evolve. So far it’s not buying anything. Sometimes her Rotom has to chase it away from her laptop so it doesn’t try to dismantle her equipment. She has successfully trained it to fetch wrenches though.

Phantump is a new addition after her dad and brother went missing- they’re the spirits of lost children and while Pidge didn’t get lost as much as Sam and Matt did, I think that sense of being forlorn and isolated would lead her to quickly connect with a creature that felt the same way. By the time half of these babies grow up she’s gonna be pretty terrifying.

Allura Diancie * Audino * Florges * Altaria * Mawile * Espeon

Diancie’s basically a given. Of course Allura has a legendary, of course it’s the pink princess coming into her own, of course Allura’s team is mostly fairy types. Have you seen Mega Diancie? Tell me that’s not an Allura look.

Audino is a healer, Florges is a pokemon that explicitly makes gardens for royalty, and Altaria being a dragon bird basically is the embodiment of “beauty and grace and about to destroy your face.”

Mawile is also a nice testament to Allura’s toughness and strength of spirit, while Espeon is more a nice allusion to her strength of mind- also putting her as a counterpart to Shiro as the two leaders of the paladins. A very beautiful team, and a very competent one. 

Given Allura’s sentimental nature, I can see most of her pokemon being old childhood playmates, even Diancie- her apparent love of the outdoors and Altea’s climate would both imply that it wouldn’t be hard to run into powerful pokemon. So her team has a very strong emotional bond and are able to trust each other implicitly.

Originally I was going to give Allura Xerneas and Haggar Yveltal, but I thought that Diancie was a better fit for Allura, and while she’s OP, she’s not that OP, at least- not that consistently so the idea is they’re more entities that the two can call upon in times of need.

Coran Stoutland * Drampa * Probopass * Alakazam * Walrein * Carbink

Yes, I know what you’re thinking, and yes, yes I did.

That said Coran’s team is anything but a joke- he can and will cheerfully destroy you if you’re unprepared. His whole team is docile as sheep outside of combat, though- Allura has a lot of fond memories hanging out with that Drampa. 

Others (the Alakazam, Walrein, and Probopass) are a little lazier but still certainly friendly.

The carbink pretty much had to be there as soon as I looked at the relationship the carbink advisers are said to have with Diancie in the movie-verse since it’s basically the relationship between Coran and Allura just with pokemon. I sort of like the idea that in-universe working with Diancie and the carbinks is just a very standard affair for the Altean royal family- as diplomats they formed alliances with the pokemon in their environment before moving into space.

His signature pokemon is the Stoutland, through and through- a long-lived wise pokemon cited as a protector of others and a creature that will go through great toil to protect others. Also it’s such a stodgy, respectable-feeling thing, you can just imagine it patiently trotting along beside Coran on his way around the castle.

[madfatty]

this here and now with you is how - an mmfd fic No. 21

First of all, lovely anon, thank you for asking.  It’s been a long six months of me trying to write anything, and your ask gave me a direction to go in, so ta very much. I think this is a much happier concoction than my usual fare.  I hope that’s what you were hoping for.

In the interest of full disclosure “she’d start an argument in an empty room” isn’t mine.  I heard it on telly and it struck me as exactly the way Finn would have thought about her, so I’m borrowing it. It comes from S1E1 of Shetland. Another excellent show.

I cannot state loudly or often enough just how vital @how-ardently is to you seeing any of this.  She is amazing and I couldn’t do it without her. If it turns out that no one else likes this thing, I will be forever sustained by the little gleeful noises she made during our editing session. Erin gives great squee.

Much love and thanks to @bitchy-broken for some pertinent information, mainly pickled onions and Peugeot 205’s.  Turns out, Finn’s favourite is Dawn’s favourite too. Who’d have thought! Thank you darling girl. xo

The title comes from the Cure song, This. Here and Now. With You. from the album 4:13 Dream. 

I haven’t tagged anyone, save to thank those who helped, because interest seems to be waning and I don’t wish to assume.

I thank you for your interest. xo

this here and now with you is how

If you’d asked Finn that morning how he thought the day would go, it would be nothing like this. It’s not how his life usually works, but as he’s about to discover, the universe hasn’t completely given up on him just yet.

He’s spent the morning moping about the house, growing more and more disheartened with every passing hour, the prospect of the rave without Rae sitting heavy on him. He needs to find a way to tell Chop and the others that he’s changed his mind about going, without Chop making a big deal out of it and maybe saying something to Rae before Finn gets the chance to. He’s working himself up to calling her and seeing if she wants to hang out, at the pub or the chippy, or even here at his. He’ll walk up and down the high street for three hours window shopping, or sit in her room and silently watch her read all night. Whatever, wherever she wants, as long as it’s the two of them.

He keeps sideling up to the phone, as if he’s trying to take it by surprise. He picks up the receiver and dials the first four digits of her number before hanging up and scuttling back to the safety of the front room. To his great relief, attempt number eight is interrupted by a knock at the door and suddenly the girl in question is standing on his front step, shrugging her way past him and apologising for showing up unannounced. He’s had fantasies that started like this.

Rae tells him she’s had a huge, hurtful, screaming row with her mum, so awful that she threw some things in her backpack and slammed the door behind her, with no idea where she was going. She says she just started walking and before she knew it, she was outside his house.  She hopes he doesn’t mind.

Mind? Finn knows it’s bad and that she’s upset but he can’t stop smiling. She’s come to him. Not Chloe, not Archie; him. His face is starting to hurt. He has to drag himself away, offering tea so he can get himself together, but it’s no good; a glimpse of his reflection in the kitchen window while he waits for the kettle to boil only proves how horribly he’s failing.  

When Gary strolls into the kitchen on the lookout for a cuppa and a biscuit, Finn doesn’t even pretend to hide his excitement.

Gary knows all about Finn’s romantic woes, since the evening, not two weeks ago, when a very drunk Finn had come home fed up and forlorn after a particularly dismal night at the pub of not snogging Rae. It had taken very little prompting on Gary’s part for a weepy Finn to share the whole sad and sorry tale. He been supportive and sympathetic and a little damp eyed himself, so it’s hardly surprising that this latest development has Gary wearing a grin to match his own.

There’s an embarrassing but endearing bum wiggling dad-dance that would normally have him groaning, but all is forgiven when Gary offers to go and make up the spare room for Rae. It earns him a fierce bear hug and the last of the Hobnobs. The pair stop short of high-fiving each other, but continue giggling like three year olds. It takes Finn another couple of minutes to compose himself before he can head back upstairs. He really should be at least a little bit ashamed of just how pleased with himself he’s feeling, but he’s not. She picked him.

Before she can change her mind, he calls to tell Chop that there’s been a change of plans; Rae isn’t just going with them, she’s stopping at his (That’s right, Chop. Rae Earl is staying at mine. How’s things with Izzy?), so Chop’s going to have to collect Chloe, because of course, Rae will be riding with Finn. Even Finn can concede that the thrill it gives him to say those words out loud is borderline pathetic. He’s still buzzing when he hangs up midway through Chop’s razzing him for finally making a move.

The thought of her getting ready behind his bathroom door has Finn reciting starting line ups from the last ten Cup finals and trying not to touch himself.  He has to hold his shirt down in front of him quickly when she appears shyly at his bedroom door, all powdered and perfumed in the prettiest blue dress and leggings.  It’s an awkward shuffle past her to his turn in the bathroom where he’s immediately enveloped in a sweet scented cloud of her making, and he spends the next three and a half minutes moaning her name into a washcloth while the hot water runs.

+++

She’d start an argument in an empty room, he used to gripe to anyone who’d listen, but it’s mostly him she seems to argue with, and he doesn’t pretend to not know why. It was all his fault, them not getting along from the beginning.

He’s always been a bit shit about new people and by the time he’d figured out he’d fucked up, she’d decided she didn’t want a bar of him either, and the more he tried to fix it, the worse it got. Every time she’d make an effort he’d get all flustered and think she was taking the piss and he’d snark at her, earning her silent, seething ire and even the pursed-lipped disapproval of the gang. So he couldn’t really blame her when her response to his feeble, yet heartfelt attempts to make amends the next time he saw her was to snap and snarl and roll her eyes.

Thankfully, he stopped being quite the dickhead and she eventually took pity on him. Now they’re friends. He wants them to be more, and he wishes he knew if she did too. It keeps him awake nights, trying to figure out if she likes him as much as he likes her. It’s so hard to tell sometimes.  

It’s easier in his fantasies. She leaves no room for doubt there.

+++

Not an hour goes by where he’s not thinking about Rae Earl.  

The sun is warm on his bare skin but it’s nothing to the heat coming from Rae’s gaze. She doesn’t like football, she’s said it a million times and yet here she is, sat in the middle of a beautiful summer Sunday watching him intently, albeit surreptitiously.

It’s just a friendly kick-about with some of the lads but skill will always out, and he makes a blinding break down the length of the whole field. He’s so fast, none of his team can keep up with him and he has to go it alone. The opposition are so flummoxed by his dexterity that the goal he scores is inevitable and nothing short of poetry.

The tiny crowd of assembled friends goes wild and Finn waves humbly in their direction.

Out of the corner of his eye he catches Rae on the move. One minute she’s sitting on the sidelines pretending to read (he knows she’s pretending because he hasn’t seen her turn a page since he took his shirt off) and the next she’s walking straight across the pitch. The other lads have to run round her as she cuts a determined path directly to him. He’s all sweaty from scoring his goal and he’s pretty sure he smells but it doesn’t stop her. In front of God and everyone she wraps him up in the tightest of hugs. This time she uses both arms, it’s not just an awkward pat on the back and when he chances to squeeze her, she squeezes him back. Her breath is hot on his already overheated skin when she whispers, ‘I have to have you. Now. Fancy coming back to mine?’ He doesn’t even stop to pick up his shirt.

Or he’s sitting across from her in the pub when she goes off on one, her perfect mouth going a mile-a-minute as she rants and raves, holding everyone around her in her sway. She is majestic and unstoppable and everybody wants her. He takes a shallow sip of his beer, licks at the foam on his lips, and in a strong, sure voice that carries through the pub, says something inflexibly flirty and devastatingly funny and Rae is undone. She reaches for him across the glass strewn table, knocking over drinks in her haste to get to him. The pub erupts in catcalls and cheers and he smiles in the knowledge that every man in that room wishes they were him.

Sometimes they’re in his room, just the two of them and he’s searching for the perfect record to tell her how he feels. He’s spouting some insightful and practiced nonsense about the band or a particular song or whatever and she’s suddenly overcome by how smart and cool he is and Rae can no longer keep her hands off him. Many an album has suffered in this scenario, as she throws him up against the wall to have her way with him. No matter that the stylus skates heavily across the imaginary vinyl causing irreparable damage. In Finn’s mind, there is no sacrifice too great for the taste of Rae’s kiss.

That’s one of his favourites, because after the mind bending, body melting sex, it’s just them lying on his bed, the room full of music and his arms full of her. He can look at her as long as he wants. He gets to hold her, and listen to all her secrets and tell her all of his, and when she goes, he can still smell her on his pillow.

Finn’s got a million of them, lots of little dreams to shore him up and keep him going on those days when nothing else can.

There is a pain, a tiny little hurt, an ache that he carries every day. It’s sits in his chest, in his throat, in his belly and it belongs to her. It flares when she’s with him and it screams when she’s not. It’s not a sad thing, at least he doesn’t think so. It has a sweetness and a softness that soothes and comforts him. He wouldn’t know himself without it now. It’s how he knows he’s alive.

+++

The Lou Reed line drifts in and out, too impatient to wait it’s turn among the other thoughts in the loop tumbling around head, Bright blue and yellow. Green apples. Happy. It feels like forever since he’s held anything as sharp and real as the hope that’s filling him now, the promise of something wonderful a definite taste on his tongue. The road rolls out before them, straightforward and clear and he follows it eagerly.

What if he just keeps driving?  Down this road as far as it will take them and then onto the next, with Rae wrapped around him for warmth, for safety, forever. Into the dark, into another place where he can have this all the time.

He’s not going that fast, but her hands tighten around him until her fingers lock together and her palms are flat across his chest. She shifts a little further forward until all he can feel is all of her pressed up close behind him and the poke of her pixie chin resting on his shoulder.

Finn’s heart is tilted so far forward in his chest it’s up against his ribs and the butterflies in his belly are doing cartwheels. He may be about to black out. The scooter jerks and swerves. He can’t keep his eyes on the road or his hands still on the throttle.  Everything in him is drawn to the girl at his back. If he doesn’t tell her now, they’re going to crash. There’s a stretch of road just up ahead that’s shaded by an avenue of trees. At the first opportunity he pulls over onto the grass verge and stops the bike.

“What happened, what’s wrong? Is the bike broken?” Rae frets, as she steps off the back of the scooter.

“No. I… I just,” he begins, shaking off his helmet.

“Then why did we stop?” She’s standing there with her hands on her hips, her helmet still on and framing the soft roundness of her face.  God, she’s adorable. It takes him a second or two to answer her.

“You need to know something.”

“Are we out of petrol? Did you get us lost?” The worry is gone from her voice and she slips back into her teasing tone. Always teasing.

“No. We’re not out of petrol and we’re not lost. I need to tell you something.”

“It couldn’t wait till we got there?”

“No. I have to tell you now. While we’re on our own.”  

“We’ve been on our own all afternoon, you could’ve…” She’s still teasing, and he does like it, but there are times when he wishes she didn’t feel the need to fill the air with noise. When she’d see that he just needs a moment to get there and he’ll tell her what she wants to know. It comes so easy to her, she’s so sure of everything, maybe she thinks it’s easy for everyone.

“Please, shut up Rae.  I need you to shut up and listen to me. Christ,” he groans, “I can’t breathe.”

“Oh God, Finn.  Sit! Sit! Put your head between your knees.”

“I don’t need to…”

“Put your head between your knees, Finn. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth… slowly.”

“Just stop!” Finn’s hands fly up, a barrier between them, a physical attempt to stop the flow of her words. He might have been a little too loud and a little too adamant. He’s not cross, just desperate to get her attention. He’d hoped it would be obvious but from the look on her face, he’s doubtful.

He’s long been a fan of her facial gymnastics, he has an actual list of his top ten favourites and if the stakes weren’t so high, he’d be admiring the current set of acrobatics that are rapidly manifesting themselves into an impressive expression of outrage. There’ll be no way back from it if she gets a full head of steam so he’s got to get in first. It’s now or never.  

“What you need to know is; I like you Rae. A lot. Proper, full-on, hand-holding, snogging, you’re-the-one-for-me ‘fancy’ and I think you might fancy me too, well I hope you do, but I can’t tell for sure.”

There was a plan. He’d had a plan and this was not it. In all the time he’d practiced this, never once did he imagine that it would be happening by the side of the road. Shit. And now he’s lost control of his hands and his feet. He’s pacing up and down like a mad man and waving his hands about but he can’t stop moving.

“I was going to wait to see how tonight went, but today has been so amazingly perfect and I figured if I wait, I’m gonna blow it. I’ll do something or I’ll say something stupid and it’ll cock everything up and I don’t want everything cocked up, I’m sick of everything getting cocked up.  I just want to be with you, Rae. That’s all I want and I don’t want anything to get in the way. Not me, not our friends; not anything, because, because…” He stops in front of her, scared shitless because he could be about to commit romantic suicide, but he needs to see her face when he says this next bit, “I think we belong together Rae.”

He’s compiled a list (another one, he has many), collecting all their similarities like some cheesy TV detective in the hope that she’ll see they are meant for each other. He’d had thoughts of introducing the contents of his list gradually, over a period of time but he’s about to burn up the first four or five casual ‘me too’ conversations due to blind panic, because she’s starting to open her mouth. She’s not supposed to talk yet.

“Listen Rae, just listen.” And there go his hands again, waving frantically between them, without his permission “We’re the same, you and me. You bite your nails, I bite my nails too.” It’s not the strongest of openings, but he can still feel her hands on his chest and his are flapping about like landed fish and it’s the first thing that comes to mind.  The pacing starts again. “We have all the same posters on our walls. You can talk shit about music for hours; no, not shit, stuff, smart stuff, and music is the one thing I feel confident talking about because I know my stuff too. You always choose pickled onion flavoured Monster Munch. Pickled onion is my favourite. I’ve got a whole drawer full of tazos saved for you because I know you collect them.”

“You prefer Q to the NME and you think Select and Melody Maker are okay but Vox is a try-hard Q and you never buy Smash Hits ever,” he forces himself to look at her. Her eyes are so wide he has to look away again or he’s never going to get it all out. “It’s just for nicking the posters out of in the newsagents if there’s anyone decent in them. And you’re right. About all of it.” He’s rambling, he can hear it, but it’s so important that she knows.  He studies the flattened grass beneath his boots for a moment before he continues.

And, and… we dress the same.” He stumbles here, his voice breaking just a little because this one makes him giddy. They wear the same uniform, and it has to mean something. It’s partly how he recognised her. When he thinks about her red flannel shirt and how he has one almost exactly the same… the idea that it could be one of his shirts she’s wearing, that it would still be warm from the heat of her… it’s one of his favourite thoughts.

At some point, she’s taken off her helmet while he wasn’t looking. He’s looking at her now. It’s cooler here under the trees, but her face is still flushed. Her hair is flat against her head except for the bits that the breeze has stirred up. It’s caught the hem of her dress too and her frustration at trying to contain them both is evident, but there’s an underlying agitation he knows has nothing to do with the wind. There’s an anxiousness about her, something that says she wants to run. He rushes on.

“But it’s not just that. The sameness. There’s loads of things, Rae. How independent you are. You never just follow along and you can exist outside the rest of us.” His voice is lower, he’d been excitable with the urgency of the situation before, and it had all come pouring out at high speed and possibly top volume, but now the seriousness of what he’s saying sets in. He wishes he were physically closer to her, but she may not be quite ready for that yet so he stays where he is. “How smart you are, and brave. And fierce and kind. And how you look after everyone. How you looked after me the night Nan died. I don’t think I would have got through that night, or the funeral, if it wasn’t for you. Did I ever say thank you? I hope so. I’ve thought it a million times since.”

It’s no good.  In his room, where he’s practiced this a hundred times, he’s already touching her by now, but she’s still so far away. On shaky legs he takes a deliberate step forward and waits.  

“Have I said pretty? Because you are Rae, so, so pretty. Sometimes, when I’m looking at you, I forget to breathe.” He can’t breathe now. While he was speaking he didn’t dare look at her and now that he’s stopped, he can’t look away. Her hands are knots, one around the strap of the motorcycle helmet, which she’s banging painfully against her knees and the other, still gripping the hem of her dress, is clawing at her thigh.

He’s never seen her lost for something to say before. It’s probably the shock, which Finn can understand, as he’s a little stunned himself. It’s killing him not knowing what she’s thinking, but he doesn’t dare ask.

“Is this a joke? Is that meant to be funny?” she says finally, her face a sour twist.

“Jesus no, Rae. I’ve never been more serious in my life.” He thought he’d been very clear. What did he miss? What didn’t he say?

Well done fuck-face. Happy now? You’ve broken her. Any other time you can’t string two words together, now you can’t shut up, and she thinks you’re joking.

He’s not stupid, despite recent appearances. In the beginning, he let his wariness and his mistrust override his good sense and so everything that came from his mouth was petty and catty and cruel. Since then, he’s fought so hard for her to like him that he rarely says anything at all in case it’s the wrong thing. He’d hoped the impression he gave off is of the thoughtful, strong, silent type, but he’s afraid he just comes across as thick and surly.

Before Rae, he always thought of himself as maybe kind of cool, but she reminds him who he really is, some saddo teenage boy trying desperately, and failing miserably, to impress someone infinitely cooler.

It’s such a specific feeling, this thing for her that’s been growing steadily inside him for weeks now and he knows what it is.  He’s not sure if the feeling is enough though.  He knows he should tell her before someone else comes along, someone smarter, who sees what he sees and who can say the words in just the right way so she’ll get how amazing she is, because Finn’s been trying to tell her through touch when maybe what Rae needs is the words.

He didn’t mean to hit her with it all at once, he was going to take it slow. The latest plan, formulated in the bathroom while he got his breath back, was to spend tonight glued to her side, take every opportunity to touch her, to finally let her know how much he feels, but when he started, he couldn’t stop.

The hope that filled him and encouraged him to speak up wobbles at the look on her face. She looks like she’s trying not to cry. This is not how this was supposed to go.

“I… I’m sorry, Rae. I didn’t mean to upset you.  I’ll, I’ll take it all back if it’s not what you want, if I got it all wrong.” He can feel the panic rise as his world falls. He’s going to lose her. She’s going to break his heart. “I like you so, so much Rae, please don’t say we can’t be friends. That I can’t be around you. I know I’m an idiot and I’ve probably ruined everything, but please don’t say that.”

She’s fidgeting with the strap of her helmet but her eyes are locked on the grass beneath her. She’s quiet for the longest time, each second drags heavy before the next.  More than ever, he wishes he knew what she was thinking.  And the next moment, there’s that steel he knows and loves. Rae takes a deep breath and squares her shoulders. She stands more solidly on the ground. The looks she gives him is of reservation and resolve.

“Finn…” she stops. She starts again. “So do you mean you…” she swallows thickly, “want to… that you really… fancy me? That you want to snog me?”

“For starters.” His smile is small and tentative at first until his face gets the better of him and he can no longer contain it. It splits sharply in two. “I want to snog you senseless,” he confirms eagerly, “all day, every day, and buy you chips and make you mixed tapes and hold your hand…”

With each new declaration, Finn inches closer, until she’s within his reach.  He leans in slowly because she hasn’t said yes yet, and he doesn’t want to count his chickens. The helmet she’s still holding comes away from her grasp with the lightest of tugs. Finn throws it behind him and it bounces noisily off the back of the scooter. Oh so gently, he takes the tips of her fingers between his and smiles at their ragged edges.  

“Well, go on then, if you’re going to.” She whispers, her eyes crinkling. It’s a challenge, just like she is and he wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s one of the million things he likes about her, it’s on more than one of his lists, but what he also likes is that it’s coloured by a hint of nervousness that stirs a tiny hope in him that he may not be the only one who’s thought a lot about them doing this before.  There’s nothing but a breath between them and then there’s not even that. It’s the softest of touches, his lips on hers, and he’s lost.  

The pressure increases when she fits herself to him and it happens exactly like he knew it would. It drops like a stone down the middle of him, there’s a shift and a ‘click’, the last piece of the puzzle. Whether she realises it yet or not, she’s stuck with him now.

She’s got him caught up by the front of his jacket and the leather squeaks and sighs in the clutch of her fingers and he can’t think straight.  All the times he’d dreamed about her hands being on him.  

Her body against him like this is a gift he thought she’d never give. Her mouth is a revelation.  He searches out the softness of her skin. First the bits he’s learned by sight. He cradles the cool length of her neck, because he always wanted to know if she’ll shiver when he runs his finger from her hairline down beneath her collar. He traces the shell of her ear, brushes the apple of her cheek.  It’s a start and it’s perfect, but he wants to know all of her.

Finn bends himself to her, his grasp moving, greedily exploring. He’s hard for her and he wants her to know that it’s all her doing. He rests his hips against her and squeezes the delicious curve of her arse. He drags his eyes open to watch. Rae gasps a tiny ‘o’ and it’s devastating and addictive. She grips him harder, gently buffeting against him as if they were floating in a deep dark sea of green. She presses back into him with equal enthusiasm. She’s a natural, her mouth hungry and insistent, expertly drawing soft vowel sounds from Finn’s throat. He’s going to die here. They’ll find nothing but a little pile of ash and leather.

“Did I mention inappropriate touching? I meant to.” He murmurs, barely moving his mouth from her mouth. “Lots and lots of...”

“Walk before you run, okay Nelson? Let’s see how the kissing thing goes, shall we?” she chides him, before she falls on him again. He can taste the smile in her kiss and when her hands go through his hair he all but swoons.

The kissing goes great and for a long, long time.  So great, in fact, that between it and the face-splitting grin he’s wearing, his jaw is starting to ache, but there’s no way he’s stopping.  He will stand here by the side of the road in the growing dark surrounded by bugs and foxes and all manner of weird night-things as long as he can keep kissing her.  He doesn’t even care about the hooting and jeering coming from passing traffic, not even when he recognises the familiar grind of the not-quite-in-gear engine of Chop’s Peugeot 205.

Despite all her bravado, Rae becomes a little skittish when the car idles beside them and Finn swears by all that is holy that he will kill Chop a thousand times over, if he does anything to shatter the divinity of this moment. He can’t have that, so while Chop makes crude jokes and the others whoop and holler, Finn keeps his mouth on hers, not sparing a single breath to tell them all to bugger off,  just gathers Rae up closer, hums his pleasure across her tongue. He won’t risk even the slight movement of extending his middle finger to flip them off in case the spell breaks; instead, he chooses to ignore them until they get bored and drive off. He’s beside himself that she does too.

Whatever happens next is entirely up to Rae.  If she wants to find their friends and dance, he’ll dance, if she wants to ride around all night, just them and the dark, he’ll drive, and if she wants to see where all this kissing leads, Finn is more than happy to oblige.

This here and now is their beginning and he can’t wait to see where it takes them.

[crazy-grrrl-on-the-computer]

OKAY LET ME TALK ABOUT PERHAPS THE MOST BRILLIANT OPENING SPEECH OF A SERIES PILOT I HAVE SEEN IN A LONG WHILE! Because I think too much and I have a lot of feelings and I want to take as many other people as I can on this ride with me~

*ahem*

So, if you all would kindly be patient with me, I am going to draw your attention yet again to S1E1 of Boueibu, more particularly En's beautiful speech about chikuwabu and oden. Yes, it introduces the concept that the monster of the week is going to be the Chikuwabu Monster who doesn't quite see his own importance in the world and it may seem at first to be a boring lecture about something most people don't care about, but... it has a FAR greater significance than just setting up the theme for a single episode or exposing En for the thoughtful rambler that he is. In fact, it tells us exactly what we should have expected from the show from square one and it does so in such a way that we couldn't have fully noticed until rewatching the season from start to finish. (At least, that's how it seems to me, in any case. It took me until the fourth or fifth time watching it to realize.)

I'm placing this analysis under a cut because it is loooooooooooong and I used a lot of screenshots, so fair warning if you decide to read it. ^^

~.~

First, before I really get into breaking this down, let's start with the highlights of En's speech. Not even a minute in and already it starts out with a direct callout.

I mean, come on now… that’s a direct reference to the Caerula Adamas using the Chikuwabu Monster as part of their Earth Conquest plans.

Later, when the Student Council walks by them as they're leaving…

Then, Yumoto and Wombat run by them.

Yikes, so this is where I start breaking it down. *takes a deep breath*

If the Student Council is the popular "golden trio" of oden (a comparison which shows En has great respect for them), then Atsushi is the konjac.

Konjac is a root and, on its own, it doesn't taste like very much, so it's valued more for its texture than its flavor, but when soaked in oden it absorbs the broth all the way through it and becomes genuinely delicious. Typically, it comes in a gelatin form like a sort of tough, savory jelly... but it can also be made into pleasantly chewy noodles. En describes konjac as being "flexible" and "broad-minded" most likely for these reasons.

Atsushi absorbs a lot of what others throw at him and you could definitely say he's broad-minded enough to approach a situation from different angles. I mean, he is able to easily follow En's logic and train of thought even when it seems like something of a mystery to others. He is flexible in a way that he will bend for others in order to avoid a confrontation because he feels like that is respecting their wishes. And as for not having a very desirable independent flavor, even Atsushi has said that there's nothing special about himself and he's completely average in every way (or at least he implies it). And if En sees Atsushi as the konjac, his defense of it is quite telling of how he views Atsushi.

In this scene, Atsushi remarks that there is no konjac in the Student Council. This seems to imply something about how there is a broad-mindedness missing from the Student Council and this, as we find out, is largely in part because of the misunderstanding between Atsushi and Kinshirou that kickstarted the events of the season. That misunderstanding is what caused Kinshirou to close himself off the way he has and is likely one of the reasons he runs the Student Council so strictly, i.e. because of Atsushi's absence. Atsushi seems to, at the very least, be contemplating this.

As for Yumoto... he really is the pot, considering that’s what brings all of the ingredients together and makes them into something more than they are individually. And without the pot, you can't make oden. FORESHADOWING ANYONE???

The end of the episode proves this.

In other words, the Student Council…

The comparison here is that they are popular. Those three ingredients are the most common in oden and, to some people, considered essential… and the Student Council does happen to be quite popular at the school for one reason or another. But if I had to guess (just for my own amusement) which of the Student Council is which of the "golden trio", I might say that Kinshirou is the mochi-stuffed tofu, Akoya is the egg, and Ibushi is the daikon radish.

In dishes where a hard- or soft-boiled egg is thrown into it like this, it’s generally used as "decoration" (like a topper) to make the dish more colorful or to give it that little extra "pow" of flavor, so that's what makes me think it fits Akoya even if it's not the most exotic ingredient in the bowl. Also, the hard-boiled egg is left to cook in the oden broth for so long that it eventually changes color, so if you wanted to look into that, you could say it’s like how Akoya developed his particular ego/idea of beauty in response to how he was bullied. It seeped into him to the point where he started reflecting it.

The use of the daikon radish also being described as "contributing to the diversity that is oden by creating a savory flavor" fits Ibushi because, honestly, he's really what's keeping Kinshirou and Akoya from ripping each other apart most of the time. He's the balance in their dynamics. One article I read described daikon radish as "far milder and softer than radishes found in the West, daikon does a wonderful job of soaking up the oden broth, and is actually a lot lighter than it looks." Ibushi really isn't quite what his appearance makes him seem either. And for someone who takes a lot of hits from everyone else around him (absorbing them much like Atsushi does), it's remarkable how pleasant he seems. Most of the time, anyway. He’s got a lot of heart to give despite being so guarded.

And also, I found it really funny that mochi-stuffed tofu is basically just a pouch of deep-fried tofu stuffed with a mochi rice cake. I was laughing at that because, in the seifukubu manga, Ibushi joked that Kinshirou found Zundar while buying mochi because of the gag that he looks like zunda mochi. So, if Kinshirou is the tofu "pouch" that the mochi gets stuffed in, it's like when he sticks Zundar in his pocket. But jokes aside, it’s also fitting that the tofu absorbs the broth like how Kinshirou took to heart what happened with Atsushi when they were kids… and let that affect him so thoroughly.

This is Io...

Burdock root is crispy and it has a sweet and earthy, pungent flavor. It also has health benefits from being high in dietary fiber and having an antioxidant effect. At first glance, it looks unappetizing "like a really long, dirty twig" until it is peeled and fried in tempura batter. Its misleading appearance is what makes it "low-profile" and the Chikuwabu Monster even says it has a "dubious status".

Io is a rather dubious character who seems cold until you get to know him and he starts to open up. He’s also arguably "low-profile" because he doesn’t care enough not to be. Plus, the only connections he is concerned about making are business-related and I’m sure it’s in his best interests not to be involved in any kind of scandals either. If it doesn’t help him advance in the business world, he doesn’t want it. Until he makes friends who genuinely care about him, that is, and he opens up enough to show that he has a huge soft spot for them.

Ryuu is the thick-fried tofu...

As a thriving socialite, he is definitely more "amiable" than "low-profile" and I'd hesitate to call him "non-conforming" because of the implications that he cares a lot about what other people think of him. So, the tofu seems to fit him best there just from that description alone.

According to this article, it seems like the thick-fried tofu was described as "amiable" because "oden broth simply loves tofu", which I would say is because it's easy for tofu to absorb the broth and take in the flavors. A common complaint about tofu is that it is too bland without any other added flavors, so it's something that is usually fried and drenched/cooked in some kind of sauce or broth to make it more appetizing.

Ryuu is a people-pleaser and, much like tofu, "absorbs" different flavors (so to speak) in order to make himself more likeable.

En, on the other hand, is the cabbage rolls...

One article/recipe I found describes cabbage rolls as having a long history and becoming "one almost universal dish" because you can basically put anything you want in them, which is what makes them "non-conforming", much like En because he is also neutral and seemingly too lazy to care enough to meet other people’s expectations of him. He doesn’t even wear his uniform properly, which Kinshirou calls him out for in the seifukubu manga and shows us that En can go from "delicious" to "mouthwatering" with that little bit of extra effort… much like what happens to cabbage rolls when they are cooked in the soup and absorb the flavors of the broth. [x]

Chikuwabu represents, like En said at the beginning of his speech, all of the people who don't really know why they exist or what their purpose in life is and who feel like they don't fit in anywhere because they don't have anything "special" to offer. And here, Yumoto is saying that these people are important, too.

The same thing that is said for tofu is usually said for chikuwabu, by the way: "People tend to either love these things or be completely indifferent to them because they can sometimes be accused of being a bit bland." [x] That is exactly what happens to Chiku. Most people treat him very indifferently without even acknowledging his existence because he’s not "special" enough to be noticed.

Ryuu says he likes chikuwabu and isn’t it a little sad that he can relate? After all, he doesn’t really think very highly of himself despite his "I am awesome" attitude.

It's also interesting to me that, in the beginning of the episode, En was talking about chikuwabu being an "unknown lifeform" having no real purpose and not contributing anything... and how it must be depressing to exist like that. His commentary almost sounded a little self-depreciating to me, so I feel like he kind of sympathizes a bit as well, especially since he says this has been on his mind for a while. (Season 2 showed us that he isn’t sure what he wants to do with his life because he doesn’t really have much of a plan.) But when Atsushi says that there are people who actually like chikuwabu, En seems surprised and teasingly asks if Atsushi is one of those people. So, if Atsushi picked up on that, then his interjection seems like it was meant as a reassurance.

Then, at the end of the episode right after Ryuu says he likes chikuwabu (and looks around to see if anyone agrees), En tells the Chikuwabu Monster, "Yeah. Some people have strange tastes. Good things will come your way someday."

On the one hand, I’m looking at Wario (the Chopsticks Monster) befriending Chiku by the time the finale rolls around and giggling at that because Wario does arguably have strange tastes. But on the other hand, I think it’s endearing that En says this as though he’s realizing that, despite what a contented  lazy bum he is, Atsushi is still his best friend. (He even asks Atsushi why he hangs out with him in S1E9 like he still doesn’t quite get it.) The same could be said for Io and Ryuu being so opposite and yet coming together as best friends anyway.

[you can read my extended analysis of the chikuwabu here in part 2 of this oden metaphor]

But anyway, I digress. My point is that each of these foods represents one of the characters (with the exception of the chikuwabu, which represents everyone for those doubts and insecurities that every character arguably has… even though I didn’t explain more than En and Ryuu of the main eight in the context of this episode) and then Yumoto wraps it up by saying…

And this is exactly what happens throughout the course of the show. All eight of these boys have to come together by the end of the finale, Yumoto being the catalyst for the change that will unite them as the More Better Battle Lovers, in order to save the Earth. It may have happened over curry, but you have to admit they make a beautiful oden together. Straight out of the gate, this show foreshadowed the entire season’s plot right from episode 1 and it’s all here in these highlighted moments.

*collapses and gasps for air*

Of course, I’m sure if you looked more closely at food symbolism or something, someone could come up with different explanations for which character is represented by which food in that speech. But that’s less important to my point about the foreshadowing and I mostly wanted to go with the episode's context, so I just kind of gently scraped the surface just to see if I could challenge myself a little bit to piece it together. It’s a layered metaphor… or at least this is just what I walked away from the episode with. As always, like everything about this show, it’s open to interpretation and this one happens to be mine, so I hope anyone who read this far enjoyed it. ^^

And there it is. I am never doing this amount of research ever again. Who am I kidding? I’m always a slut for obscure research. Of course, I’m going to do it again. //deaded

.-.

Bonus reference in S2E9:

In case you thought I forgot about this, Boueibu...

*ignores the irony of the subtitle and squints at the magazine*

He's reading volume 2 of Oden because this is the second season.