#i used to main her before i got goob i love her so much

[weirdlilhusky]

Oh my god im so fucking syupid i spelt my own user wrong in this

[insomniasdelusion]

wait idk if you do poly ships but can i have fruitcake x reader.. (if you don’t do poly just sprout or cosmo separate)

AHH I LOVE HOW U WRITE :3 (dandy’s world!)

RAAAH YOU DONT KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE THESE TWOOOO!! (I’m a Cosmo main-)

Fruitcake x Reader!

Warnings: none!

A mix between small drabbles and head canons!

———————————————————————

Head canons!

-Cosmo is in all other sense a little clumsy and nervous except for when he’s baking! He takes a lotta pride in his work.

-Sprout.. is the exact opposite- he’s really chill and relaxed when doing anything except for when baking and can be a bit clumsy! It’s why they work so well together!

-you try to occasionally help, although normally don’t when not asked. You do like to watch them though, you think it’s cute to see Sprout slip up a little when he’s always so self-assured and see Cosmo take charge! Definitely a trip sometimes though.

-Cosmo loves nicknames! Love, gumdrop, baby cakes, sweetheart, sugar, etc.

-Sprout only uses nicknames in intimate moments when the three of you are with each other in private, it’s just a preference!

-Sprout can get easily jealous, which sometimes leads to him jumping to conclusions.

-Cosmo however likes to ask and get his facts straight before anything!

-Sprout can be a little hot headed-

-you all very with each other’s energy, Sprout the normally calm and sassy one, Cosmo embodies anxiety and worry, he just wants yall to be okay! And you are the most excitable and can be a little reckless, although will always stick up for them! There your boys!

-Whenever you three go on runs you always check on each other, seeing if anybody needs to be healed, how they’re feeling, and then move onto the others in the elevator.

-While Sprout and Cosmo are best friends, some other close friends of there’s are Vee and Shelly funny enough- Cosmo and Shelly have always just kinda clicked, they rambled to each other about whatever, Vee and Sprout were those two friends who insulted each other like siblings- but immediately bark back at someone who tries to insult the other.

-now for you- your close friends with the craft siblings! You help out Goob with making sure Scraps doesn’t get in trouble, because despite being the older one she definitely has her moments more often than not. Goob is just silly and always willing to help! Although he sometimes throws people off with his extreme friendliness.

———————————————————————

“Come on bud! You can’t be scared to talk to them?”

“I know I know! Just- what if they laugh at me? I love them a lot I don’t want ruin what we already have..”

You pouted, curling up a little on your bed staring at the wall.

“You won’t know if you don’t try! And they would never laugh at you Cosmo and Sprout aren’t those kind of people, besides sometimes it could be better to take a shot in the dark?”

Goob insists, he wanted you to confess, thinking you’ve been mulling over it a little too long.

“Maybe..”

“Come here bud, your besties got you!”

You chuckle, moving to wrap your arms around the fluffy toon.

“You sound so dorky..”

You mumbled to him, the toon using his multi-colored paw patting the top of your head.

Neither of you noticed the watchful eye from the door.

You had been in the kitchen, it being your turn to make dinner today, you were sifting through the cabinets trying to find what to make.. hm, maybe you could make salads? No.. oo! You could make pasta and cut up some fruits as a side!

So that’s what you did, you pulled out the necessary ingredients, grabbing the utensils needed as well. You started to boil the water, humming quietly before you heard voices coming down to the main entrance of the kitchen. In came Cosmo and Sprout, you weren’t fully zoned into their conversation deciding to focus on my task instead of the heat in my cheeks.

The two stopped noticing you, they had momentarily forgotten it was your turn to cook tonight. Cosmo called out your name, making you turn to look at him.

“Hmm? What’s up Cos?”

You chirp, grinning at him making sure to keep an eye on the food though.

“I was just wanted to ask what you were cooking? Maybe me and Sprout could help.. only if that’s alright with you of course!”

He said, his words a little quicker at the end.

“Sure! Could you two work on cutting up the fruit while I make the pasta?”

You ask, Cosmo nods, Sprout stares for a moment before nodding being oddly quiet.

The three of you work smoothly, you and Cosmo chatting while Sprout only gives input when asked. As time passed by being like this, you gave Cosmo confused glances wondering why Sprout was so.. distant? The cake roll gave a shrug in return, just as confused so you decided to just ask.

“Hey Sprout”

“Hm?”

“You okay..? You’ve been a little quiet?”

“..fine, just thinking.”

“You sure? You know you can tell us right?”

You say, taking the time to set down what you were working on to walk over to him. Gently setting a hand on his shoulder, making the room jump in surprise.

You blink, gently taking your hand off him as he sighs frustrated setting down the knife he was using.

“Question.”

“Ehm..”

You glance at Cosmo who is now standing beside, just as concerned.

“Shoot..?”

“Are you dating Goob?”

“HUH-“

“..wha?”

You raised your voice in surprise and Cosmo mumbled his own confusion, looking at Sprout bewildered.

“Are you. Dating. Goob.”

Sprout repeats, staring at you intensely.

“What- no! He’s just my friend-? Why?? What I’m the world brought this up!“

“I saw you to hugging in your room when I went to go get you! What was that about??”

Sprout huffed back, crossing his arms. Cosmo looked to you for an answer, now even more confused.

“He was helping me with something.. besides! Goob aroace! He doesn’t like anyone period-“

You grumble, now annoyed with Sprouts behavior.

“What was he helping you with?”

Sprout pushed, what was Goob helping you with that him and Cosmo couldn’t?

“It’s private.”

“Well I wanna know! What was so important you couldn’t tell me and Cosmo?”

“It’s.. wait, are you jealous?”

You ask, looking at him surprised. He avoided your gaze now, looking at the floor with an embarrassed blush.

“Is that what this is about..? You being jealous?”

You ask, brows furrowed looking at Sprout.

“…”

“Sprout??”

You say his name exasperated.

“Maybe..”

You sigh softly, shaking your head. Better now than never you guessed?

“If you really wanna know what me and Goob were talking about.. it was how I should confess to you and Cosmo..”

You murmur, a soft red dusting your face.

“Wait what-“

Sprout looked at you surprised, Cosmo staring at you wide eyed cheeks flushed.

“You- I- I’m sorry”

Sprout said weakly, his face blazing. Oh berries was he embarrassed now.

“I- I got Jealous.. cause I- well.. me and Cosmo like you to.. but then I thought..”

“I was with Goob?”

You chuckled, glancing at Sprout and then Cosmo who was just standing completely baffled on the events that had happened over the course of two minutes.

“Yeah..”

“Well.. everything’s cleared up now right?”

“Right.”

“So.. you guys like me to..?”

“Y-yeah!”

“Mhm..”

You let out a relieved laugh, smiling at the two.

“I’m really glad we got that out of the way then!”

“Um.. you guys..?”

Both you and Sprout turn to Cosmo, you tilt your head and Sprout hums.

“This is nice and all but uh- the stoves on fire-“

“Oh-“

“MY NOODLES-“

———————————————————————

Annnd there you are! I do hope you enjoyed! :D

[blushingreid]

Eye Love You

Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

A/N: shout out to @pumpkin-goob for this request💛 I absolutely love it bc I’m blind af, so it’s a vibe. S2 Spence always has a special place in my heart. Pls enjoy & slide me feedback <3

Note: I use the technical term for the equipment: phoropter (in case you’re privileged with 20/20 vision or you’re like me & just called it the eye machine your whole life).

“You know, three out of every four adults require glasses or contacts. Of the 75 percent of adults that need vision correction, 64 percent of them wear eyeglasses, while 11 percent wear contac-,” Spencer’s ramble cut short as he clumsily bumped into a display entering the eye doctors.

“Easy there Pretty Boy. Can’t have you wrecking your good looks,” Morgan teased, steering him towards the receptionist’s desk.

“Hi, what brings you in today?” the man at the desk asked, not even bothering to look up.

“Um I have an appointment for new glasses for Spencer Reid.”

The receptionist gave Spencer a nod before tapping away on the computer. After a couple minutes of awkward silence, he finally looked up at them. “So from our records it appears that you need to have your eyes examined for any changes in your prescription before we can get you new glasses. Just have a seat in the waiting room and the optometrist should be out soon.”

Spencer sighed as he and Morgan headed towards the waiting room. He just wanted to be able to see clearly and it wasn’t even his fault.

His glasses had gotten knocked off his face and crushed during one of the BAU’s recent cases. Spencer had been chasing after an unsub when out of nowhere, the unsub’s partner struck Spencer. Next thing he knew, he was basically blind.

Hotch had given Spencer the next couple days off until he got new glasses, since he wasn’t much help blindly stumbling around the bullpen. Morgan had volunteered to be Spencer’s “guide dog” until he regained his vision.

“Spencer Reid?” The optometrist called out.

Spencer looked up at the blurry figure and shyly waved his hand.

“Hi, I’m Doctor y/n y/l/n and I’ll be doing your examination. If you could follow me and we’ll get you checked out.”

“She’s very cute,” Morgan whispered in Spencer’s ear.

“Since all I see is her silhouette, I’ll take your word for it,” Spencer whispered back before getting up and following her. Morgan chuckled as he watched Spencer try his best not to bump into anything.

Once he made it safely into the examination room and onto the chair, Spencer turned towards y/n. He involuntarily squinted his eyes, hoping it would temporarily clear his vision long enough so he could assess her. Unfortunately, it didn’t do much.

“I see you’re here for new glasses. Any particular reason why?” Y/n asked as she cleaned and set up the phoropter.

Spencer felt embarrassed all over again, remembering why he needed new glasses. “Yeah uh they got ruined in a work incident,” he nervously laughed off.

“Well your job must be very interesting and hectic,” y/n replied before pushing the phoropter towards Spencer. “Please place your chin up on this bar, and lean forward until your forehead rests on the cushion. I’ve added your latest prescription, so we can see if there are any changes.”

Spencer placed his chin onto the cool surface, leaning forward so his forehead touched the cushion letting him see into the phoropter. He heard a small click before the darkness he saw in the machine was filled with light, and a clear view of the television on the room’s wall with rows of letters in various sizes displayed.

“Great! Can you see clearly now?” Y/n asked, wheeling her chair directly in front of Spencer and the phoropter.

Oh he could definitely see clearly and he certainly liked what he saw, given the heat that immediately coursed through his body once y/n came into his line of sight. It was most certainly love at first eyesight. Y/n was breathtakingly beautiful. Spencer had never seen anyone more perfect than her. He mentally appreciated the dimly lit examination room.

“Yes, uh things are much clearer now,” Spencer quickly said, realizing he had completely zoned out. Spencer was relieved and filled with glee that he would be able to admire y/n without her realizing it, through the phoropter.

“Perfect! I’m sure you know the drill with this thing, but I’ll explain it anyways. So I’m gonna block out your left eye first and each round, I’ll switch between two different lenses and each time you’ll tell me which one is clearer. Then, we’ll repeat the process with your other eye after,” y/n explained before flipping and turning the many parts of the machine to block out Spencer’s left eye.

A tiny hint of sadness hit Spencer when he realized he’d only get to admire her one eye at a time.

“Okay one or two?” Y/n asked as she flipped between the two lense options.

Spencer immediately saw that option two was clearer, but he didn’t want his time with y/n to be over too soon. “Um could you do that again, a couple more times?”

“Yes, no worries. Sometimes these are very close, so just let me know if you need more time or repeats.”

And so he did. What should’ve been a quick 10 minute examination became a 40 minute one. Not that y/n minded, she found Spencer very attractive and his presence quite comforting. Normally, she would’ve told a patient that they could say if they thought both were similar, and they’d immediately move on. However, she didn’t mind spending more time with Spencer. She just assumed he was an indecisive person. After the exam, she discovered that his prescription barely changed from his last one.

“We’re putting a rush on your glasses, since they were your only pair and you still want the same frames. You’ll receive a call letting you know in the next couple days when they’re ready,” y/n said as she lead Spencer out of the room back to the main lobby.

“Pretty boy! What took you so long? You said this would only take at most twenty minutes. I’m starving,” Morgan whined before extending his hand to y/n. “Hi there, I’m Derek Morgan, Spencer’s coworker, best friend, and current guide for his blind ass.”

“It was a pleasure to meet both of you, and good luck with your new glasses,” y/n said after shaking Morgan’s hand and giving them, mostly directed at Spencer, a kind smile.

As she turned to walk away, Morgan nudged Spencer. “Um hello, are you really going to let her get away without asking her out? There’s a chance you might not cross paths for a long time.”

“I can’t. I’m not good at that type of stuff like you are,” Spencer sighed, turning to look at y/n one last time. He wanted to remember every detail about her before he leaves.

“How about you just be yourself and ask her out,” Morgan advised. He was not going to let Spencer walk away from this woman. “Hey Doctor y/n!” Morgan yelled, before shoving Spencer towards her. “Spencer here has a question about his uh retinas that he forgot to ask.”

Y/n turned towards her name being called and was met with Spencer stumbling into her arms. As she helped steady him, she felt a blush rise to her face at the sudden close proximity they were in.

“Uh sorry about that,” Spencer apologizes as he steps back. “Ignore what he said. I uh actually came over because um I think you’re very b-beautiful and you i-intrigue me. A-Anyways, I was wondering if you would maybe um like t-to go out to dinner uh sometime. I completely understand if you don’t want to though.”

Y/n smiled at Spencer’s adorable nervousness as he asked her out. She’d been waiting all appointment long for him to ask her. After waiting a couple seconds, pretending to contemplate his invite, y/n slid her card in Spencer’s hand before leaning up to his ear.

“Call me once you can see again.”

[stillness-in-green]

Human Debris Masterpost (14/15)

Okay, gang, I am officially finished with the re-watch, and all that’s left is formatting and posting.  I’ll be doing that in two posts--one now, one later in the week.  in the meantime, lets get into the last big space battle, with...

EPISODE FORTY-FIVE — If This Is the End

We open right up with Chad and Dante this episode, engaged in combat with a some stripe of Graze unit or another.  These guys are taking more work to put down than the usual goobs, we see as it takes a lot of shooting, a grenade, and one of those Rodi machetes to get the job done.

Chad says that they’ve strayed from the battlefield and need to get back to the Isaribi.  Dante wonders aloud how the battle is going, and Chad, in a surpassingly rare moment of raising his voice, flares back that there’s no way it’s going well.  

Back on the main front, Orga is promising his teenaged followers girls and money (neither of which they have a damn clue what to do with, a disparity a number of reviewers observed back when this episode first aired).  Akihiro, ever the ascetic, fires back that he doesn’t have or need ‘em.

The fighting continues after the credits, with another brief shot of Akihiro, and, cursing at Arianrhod and still hurling machetes like a champ, Derma.  He’s down a Rodi-arm, too, which is a nasty bit of foreshadowing, I must say.  

Some Graze units close in on the Isaribi, but Chad and Dante return in time to drive them off before anything too serious can happen.  

Dante is the first one to react to—something, an alert beep starting up in his cockpit.  It could be the arrival of Isurugi and company, but, more likely, it’s a heads-up that Arianrhod’s forces are falling back, as another of Rustal’s signature false flag plays goes live.  

Dainsleif shots pepper the field, swiping the Hotarubi and Shino’s Flauros Ryusei-Go. Our Debris boys seem to have been enough on the outskirts that they don’t have to evade much; we get a shot of Akihiro, and can hear Chad and Dante reacting as well from their Rodis.

After two volleys, Arianrhod goes to standby, to see if any signals of surrender go up.  This gives Tekkadan some time to regroup, pulling people off the Hotarubi, and collecting some bodies, which we find Eugene, Chad and Dante paying some quick respects to, possibly having just finished moving the bodies in themselves.  Eugene uses harsh words—idiots cashing in before they got to the finish—while Chad apologizes that bodybags in a storage room is the best they can do for the dead at the moment, and Dante promises revenge for them.

Afterward, they report to Orga on the bridge, Eugene that they’ve finished moving things over, Dante with the more technical report about fried weapons control and reduced propulsion, and Chad with the bleak summary that the Hotarubi could be remote-piloted and used as a shield for the Isaribi.

Eugene asks what their next play is and, when Orga starts talking about McGillis and retreat, interrupts to ask where they’re going to retreat to. When Orga turns his gaze on this blatant display of lip, he finds the three staring at him very seriously indeed. Eugene looks actively angry; I think Chad and Dante are mostly just wondering if Orga’s really thought about what he’s saying.

Dante echoes Eugene, observing that they don’t have anywhere to go back to unless they win. Chad says that if it is the last battle (as Org has been repeatedly claiming), then they need to see it through. As I commented in the last post, neither Dante nor Chad show the slightest fear at the prospect of dying out here; they’re 100% willing to give everything they’ve got for the chance of victory.  (Orga’s used those tactics all along, of course, and here is where the fruits of those tactics finally begin to wither—but Orga’s tactical insight and how his deep-rooted insecurity feeds into his strategies are an entirely different essay topic.)

Shino interrupts to announce his own idea, and his audience goes from this:

to this (note the sudden profligation of sweatdrops):

Once the terminology is out of the way, however, the boys find that Shino’s plan is indeed to their tastes.  

‘Nice and simple,’ Dante says.  ‘Like us, right?’ Chad jibes.  

(Help, I love them.)

And we get one last lovely shot of this group-togetherness, as Orga allows himself to be pushed by his followers’ confidence into a plan you can see his gut instinct rejecting as too brash. Enjoy those smiles while you can, boys.

The whole gang guards the ships as the Hotarubi pulls the Isaribi on towards this last fateful shot; you can see Gusion and the Rodis swooping and circling around the ships along with all the other unique suits Tekkadan has.  

Akihiro and Ride, and probably a great many others, yell at Shino to shoot.

And—well, we all know how that went.  

One last thing to bring this episode to a close: it’s easy to miss in all the gut-curdling screaming Shino is doing as the credits kick in, but someone in a Rodi is bringing Hush back into the mobile suit bay.  No definite way to say who—maybe Derma, who’s backed-up Hush in the past?—but here’s the shot of it, in any case.

EPISODE FORTY-SIX—For Whom?

The bulk of the first half is taken up with the retreat from the combat, and the sacrifices made to ensure said retreat is successfully.  We can spot the Rodis here and there, but the first time one jumps out as significant is when Derma gets pegged by Arianrhod’s parting shots and an explosion goes off in his cockpit.  

A Rodi perched on top of the ship flies up and retrieves him, returning fire.  No one calls out on the commlines, so there’s no telling who it was.  Dante is the more dramatically appropriate choice, as he’s much more closely tied to Derma, but Chad does do an awful lot of rescuing people through the second season, and it might make sense for Dante and Derma to have been mirroring each other’s positions on the Isaribi’s sides while Chad held down the center.  

Thank god for whichever one of them it was, though, because as I believe I noted in posts made back when the show was still airing, Derma was the number one character I wanted to make it out of the series alive, and it’s thanks to the other Rodi’s quick response that he did.  

Later, we find Derma outside the medical area, now down one arm.  Atra apologizes that all the beds are full, to which Derma says it’s fine, that everyone else is worse off than him.  And I feel the need to point out here that, while several of the guys we see in the quick shot of the med-bay are indeed wearing more bandages than Derma, there are an awful lot of them who still have all four limbs attached, so I am—to say the least—skeptical that they are all in worse shape than Derma.  

Color me totally unsurprised that he would say so, though.

He slides down the wall, certainly already thinking about how useless he’s going to be even if he recovers, when our other three ex-red stripes show up en masse—a strikingly uncommon sight, outside of the opening credit sequences—to check on him.  

Akihiro goes down to one knee, saying his name, but there’s no response, and Akihiro himself is still clearly figuring out how to approach the issue.  

Dante jumps in to say that Derma’s lucky, that it was just his arm.  I’m sure he means well.  

Derma says, harshly, that he wishes he’d died out there, because—as he now says out loud—he’s no use to anyone as “an incomplete body.”  The camera cuts to an extremely tight shot of Akihiro, close enough to hear the low, ragged inhalation he takes.  

He then thanks Derma, which startles the boy’s eyes opened again.  

And it’s not, as one might expect who didn’t know exactly how many people Akihiro’s lost in his life at this point, a thanks for his service, or his sacrifice.  In a direct callback to the aftermath of the Silent War Arc (over ten episodes ago), when Akihiro told Lafter that he wishes he’d talked to Aston more when he was alive, Akihiro tells Derma that he’s glad he’s still able to talk to him.  

And then he thanks Derma again, for surviving, using the boy’s full name this time—Derma Altland.

Much like me by this point, Derma begins crying.  

God only knows how much of what Akihiro’s communicating he’s really receiving, but I think he must get the gist of it.  He knows Akihiro was Masahiro’s brother; he knows Akihiro had taken a personal interest in both Derma and Aston after Tekkadan took them in.  He knows, certainly, that Akihiro lost those Masahiro and Aston as surely as Derma himself did.  I’m sure Derma’s tears in this scene are, in part, shed for what he’s just lost, and for the uncertainty of the future, but my hope is that some of his tears are also for the gift that Akihiro’s just given him—the reminder that Derma matters, that there is at least one person in the whole wide, cold world that is glad of his existence.  

Shakily, he accepts the thanks.

And, barring a few shots taken from the closing moments of the first season, that is the last of the Human Debris for this episode.  Which is just as well, because much more would probably have destroyed me completely.  Lets move on along.

 EPISODE FORTY-SEVEN—Scapegoat

We rejoin our boys in Orga’s office in Tekkadan’s HQ, back home on Mars after quite a lot of time away.  They’re discussing McGillis when we first find them, with Dante putting in that he thinks the man is both dangerous and crazy, for still thinking about fighting Arianrhod.  

When Eugene floats the idea of turning McGillis and Bael over to Gjallarhorn, Chad and Dante get the first reaction, exchanging solemn looks, with Dante agreeing that it could be a chance for Tekkadan to just start over.  

It’s a nice thought, but one that ignores how much of a name Tekkadan has made for itself, as we will find.  Akihiro objects on different grounds, though, saying that the boss he knows would never betray an ally like that.  Recall that he praised Lafter for ‘seeing through her obligations’; even though he doesn’t really know and, given the man’s involvement in Aston’s death, probably doesn’t really like McGillis, Akihiro is against betraying him.  And of course, as far as his regard for Orga goes, Akihiro was handed his freedom by Orga, for nothing more than being an old ally and staying out of the way of the Third Division’s coup, back at the beginning of everything.

Orga agrees that it wouldn’t be the right thing to do, but hedges that ‘the right thing’ doesn’t matter to McGillis anymore.  We don’t get to see anyone’s reaction to this, as that’s when a news program starts talking about their ties to McGillis, and they have more pressing things to react to.  

Dante is impressed that Tekkadan made the news—as people thought of as revolutionary heroes, no less! I think this is probably a flash of Dante’s thing about recognition, rather than the first time he’s ever seen his group mentioned on the news—I mean, they have to have been on the news before, given all that stuff with Hashmal, right?  And protecting Kudelia?  And so on? But Dante’s always valued being known, and I’m pretty sure he’d take notoriety over being unknown any day, so even in a situation like their current one, he’s still a little pleased to see Tekkadan in the news.  

The others are decidedly less thrilled.

We find them again later, when Orga gathers everyone up to talk about how to proceed—namely, that anyone who wants to get out should do so immediately.

Dante protests, along with Eugene, while Akihiro watches with serious eyes, just saying Orga’s name under his breath.As protests grow louder, Zack cuts in to be the doom-saying Cassandra no one wants to listen to.  Derma is on-scene, we find in a series of crowd-pans, having drawn in close behind Chad and Dante.

Afterwards, as everyone is making their final preparations, Orga makes a last-ditch effort to give up first McGillis, and then himself, to Rustal Elion.  Rustal refuses—as to why Orga’s life alone isn’t enough, he gives Orga some schpiel about organizations being groups of members, and one person’s death not erasing another person’s crime.  Personally, I suspect it’s more that Rustal is canny enough to know it wouldn’t make Gjallarhorn look good, noble, or powerful to publicly execute a lanky Martian teenager for getting caught up in adult affairs—thus are tyrants exposed, and martyrs made.  The average citizen of the system probably only knows Tekkadan as an organization name, and better by far for them to stay that way—just a name, with no faces associated with it that might touch peoples’ hearts.

In any case, Eugene and Akihiro catch at least the tail end of this conversation, and while Eugene has Orga by the lapels, Akihiro is clutching at where his red stripe used to be once more, looking actually hurt that Orga would try to pull a stunt like this, that Orga could be so oblivious to how much he means to everyone.  (He’s a little off from where the red stripe would have been; I am willing to concede that he might also just be clutching at his jacket to keep from laying Orga out with a right hook.)

“You gave us life when we were nothing but walking corpses,” he says, and “You made a family for us.”  And more than a lot of the members of Tekkadan, Akihiro values family, as Orga well knows.  

Orga implicitly agrees to talk things over, which presumably is what leads him and Eugene down to the cafeteria, where we find Dante and Chad again.  Chad is summing things up, that they’re now on wanted lists and have nowhere to run, so long as they are who they are.  

This tips Kudelia off to the plan that will end up saving what few survivors that make it out of this series (good teamwork, guys!), and she asks why they don’t become someone else?  It’s impossible to change their personal data on Mars, but on Earth…

47.10

Chad namedrops Makanai as he figures out what she’s getting at, which I have to say I’m a bit impressed by, but then I suppose he had lots of time to figure out the exact nature of Arbrau and Chryse’s relationship when he was on Earth.  The gist of it is that, since Chryse is still technically Arbrau’s colony, all Chryse ID records are handled back in Arbrau, so if those records can be adjusted, Tekkadan can, in fact, disappear. And, as Chad has recalled, Tekkadan is on good terms with the best possible person in Arbrau to help them with that, its honest-to-god Prime Minister.  

The next bit of good news comes from Merribit and Dexter, here to announce that Tekkadan has scraped up some funds after all, and Dante turns a look on Chad like, “Holy shit, are we about to get away with this?” that I deeply enjoy.

Dante’s also the first to ask what’s going to happen to Tekkadan as the credits begin to roll, though. He’s not the only one the name means a great deal to, of course, but as I mentioned above, I’d imagine a significant amount of his current self-esteem is tied to Tekkadan’s fame, so it’s no surprise he’s the first one to voice hesitation about, essentially, betraying and abandoning the lily emblem they’ve been bearing all this time.  

Mika responds with a content smile that where Orga is, is where everyone belongs, which Dante accepts with a rueful kind of cheer.  Chad seconds that, even with a different name, they’ll still be themselves.  

Kudelia gets up to contact Makanai, and that’s when everyone realizes the outside lines have been cut.  Also we find out where Akihiro’s been, as he shows up with his lieutenant to announce that Tekkadan’s been surrounded by Gjallarhorn forces.  

EPISODE FORTY-EIGHT—Promise

After some intro material, Chad is the first person we hear talking after the credits, relating the state of Tekkadan’s communication—the cables have been cut, and all their LCS drones get shot down as soon as they send them up.  Dante summarizes as we cut into the group meeting, that without methods of communication, they can’t get any outside information, let alone contact Makanai like they’d planned. 

Eugene observes that, while Gjallarhorn hasn’t done anything yet, they could attack at any time, leading Dante to ask if they should attack first, then?  

Eugene shoots the prospect down due to the disparity in the size of their forces, and Akihiro asks Orga what they should do.  

Orga, for his part, reiterates that if they can make an escape, the victory is theirs—they demolish the building, make it look like they’ve been wiped out, then go ahead with the plan to contact Makanai.  This plan impresses Dante, who smiles about it only briefly before returning to a frown when Eugene stands up to remind everyone that they still don’t have a way to escape.  In lieu of two screenshots, I offer this in-between one.

(Do your best, Dante.)

Yukinojo gives the team a method, though—old maintenance tunnels—and Orga reiterates to everyone, over a batch of serious-face pan-overs, that the upcoming battle is not about killing anyone to end the battle, but rather about every single member of Tekkadan making it out alive.  

Dante makes a curious face here, as Orga tells them to never back down on living—he’s the only one to make a verbal response, rather than just nodding resolutely like we see Eugene and Chad do.  The obvious difference is that Eugene and Chad have both led before—even aside from his position as Orga’s second, Eugene was always in the captain’s seat of the Hotarubi, and Chad of course had his position as leader of Tekkadan’s Earth Branch. One can assume they’re both familiar with the concept of victory being how many heads you can count at the end of the day.

Dante, on the other hand, has always been out on the front-lines, in a mobile worker, a mobile suit, or even just a team of dudes with guns and armor.  I’m sure he’s very used to the idea that Tekkadan’s victory will be bought with Tekkadan deaths, one of which might be his own; historically, that’s what most of Orga’s battle strategies boiled down to.  Hearing that victory means him—means everyone—living is basically unprecedented for him.

As Orga walks away, Eugene complains a little about him, just like the old days, to which Dante responds in kind—that Orga seemed more like his old self just there.  Chad concurs, noting Orga’s confidence.  And they’re right; it’s been a long time since Orga’s had that fire and self-certainty.  Being free of all other chains and requirements, and no longer obligated to listen to McGillis, Orga is more like himself than he’s been in a long time—Dawn Horizon or earlier, I’d say.  (Orga and McGillis parallel each other in an interesting way in that regard, I think.  Neither of them is very good at adjusting the way they operate for scenarios outside what they know, though McGillis hides it better.  More on that another time.)

Feeling the group’s confidence, we get one of Akihiro’s rare smiles, and the four go off to get back to work.

At the tail end of the next scene, when McGillis finally realizes that he’s on his own for this one, he gives Orga a way to get a small group out, by taking a car while all of Gjallarhorn is focused on Bael breaking through the lines.  Orga contacts Chad to get the car prepared, and get Atra and Kudelia as well, as they’re heading for Kudelia’s Admoss Company.  This, I think, solidifies Chad as next in command after Eugene (who was off investigating the tunnels at the time), which is certainly gratifying to me.

We find Chad doing his best to carry out those orders in the next scene, where he, Kudelia and Merribit are having to convince a reluctant Atra to leave.  He doesn’t use an honorific with her name, I notice, which is a bit nice—it speaks to him seeing her as a peer, rather than someone removed from him by rank or social distance.  

This scene also puts him in the room for Kudelia saying right there out in the open that Atra is carrying Mikazuki’s child.  It’s easy to read it as a running gag in combination with his not knowing about Merribit and Yukinojo’s relationship, but it’s not played anything like as comedic, and Merribit’s reaction indicates that it’s the first she’s hearing of it, too. I’m pretty certain this is the first anyone outside the Bracelet Trio has found out.

For her part, Merribit is staying behind.  I’m certain she, too, is reluctant to leave behind the man she loves, but aloud, she claims that she still has work to be done.  She tells the other girls not to worry, that they’ll meet again—the iron flower won’t wilt so easily, which brings a smile to Chad’s face likewise.  

The next time we spot him, he’s finishing up getting the car ready.  

Two cars head out when Bael does; given later dialogue and setting shots, I’m assuming the second car is headed for Yukinojo’s best guess as to where the old CGS maintenance tunnels are going to surface?  Chad’s driving one car, we can assume since we don’t see him in the shots showing Ride and Orga or Kudelia and Atra seated, but someone else must be driving the other, and we never see the driver of that second vehicle.  

Anyway, they make it to Admoss in one piece, at which point Ride and Chad take up watch out the windows while Kudelia reunites with Cucubita, who’s been very worried.  When Cucubita drops the bomb that the news is saying Tekkadan is refusing calls to surrender, though, they close the curtains.

Chad’s the first one to articulate the understanding of why Gjallarhorn was so intent on blocking their communication—because Gjallarhorn is manipulating the media narrative, exactly like we saw them do back on Dort.  Orga knew already, of course, that Rustal had no intention of accepting a surrender from Tekkadan; now he knows that Rustal won’t even let the world see that Tekkadan tried to.  A scapegoat.

They put the talk aside, though, to get on with matters at hand—contacting Makanai.  Kudelia and Orga are the ones to make the call, though Chad and Ride are right on hand.

Makanai plays reluctant for a bit, presumably because he is so old and has been in politics for so many years that it is actually, physiologically impossible for him to just agree to something without being kind of an ass about it first.  (I love him.) As Orga goes to beg, though, Makanai interrupts with a cheery comment about how hard it is to refuse the one(/s) who saved his life.  He’s directing this at Orga, but it’s likely he’s referring to Tekkadan in general. Tekkadan, of course, is the organization that delivered him from exile and returned him to power.  One other alternative is also possible, of course.

Chad is the one who actually and directly saved Makanai’s life.  While we don’t know that Chad greeted Makanai at the beginning of this phone call, we do see Chad straighten up in response to Makanai’s aforementioned dialogue, and say the man’s name aloud in the way of one who knows when he’s being talked about and is responding accordingly.  Certainly I prefer the reading that Makanai’s line there is obliquely aimed at Chad, or at least Tekkadan-as-represented-by-Chad, because it means the Silent War arc was good for more than just stripping Tekkadan of assets and members, beginning the season-long process of knocking them all the way back down to where they started.  It means that Chad’s prior courage and devotion to duty are now the vehicles by which Tekkadan will be delivered.  Not bad for a third-stringer!

Makanai says, in any case, that they should hurry to Earth, as there’s someone there so worried about them that it’s hampering his (and therefore also Makanai’s) work, leading to a nice little exchange between the group and Takaki.  The prodigal returns!  Chad doesn’t lean over the video screen, but does contribute to the conversation, wide-eyed at the news that Takaki’s working at Makanai’s office now.

Takaki credits Orga for his current circumstances, though vaguely enough that we still don’t know exactly who landed Takaki this job, or if Makanai just reached out himself—a plausible enough idea, I think, given how much attention Makanai had clearly been paying to the young men of Tekkadan’s Earth Branch, both before and after the bomb.

In any case, after the call ends, Cucubita and Atra bring in some drinks for everyone (coffee?), which I imagine go almost completely untouched.  Chad points out that they still don’t have a way to get to Earth—Gjallarhorn will be watching the Isaribi. Seeing as Chad was piloting the Isaribi back in season one, and thus presumably the one dealing with port authority on both Dort and Earth, and Mars when they went back home, he probably has a good idea of what he’s talking about here.

As it has been since the first season, though, the girls from the Turbines are there to pick up the slack.  Orga is jubilant in his rebellion against certain death, and his mood is catching.

Chad and Ride bring the car around while Orga has a last conversation with Atra and Kudelia. Then, as Orga heads to the door with Ride, Ride says the cursed words: “It’s quiet.”  The soundtrack pretends not to notice what’s just happened, and we get a look around outside.  Chad is standing outside the car, and looks around at something.  

For the third time this season, I knew my favorite was dead, so dead, but nope, his luck continued to hold out!  Turns out he was just looking at Orga and Ride coming down the hall!  No problems at all!  

Ha ha…

I provide the rest of these screenshots with no further commentary, save to note that Chad’s reflexes are as sharp as ever, and wonder if this will be the scar that sticks with him where the healing tank washed all signs of the office bomb away.  I suppose it must be so.

Check back later this week for the last two episodes, and wrap-up, and thanks to everyone who’s read along this far.