Reaction Shot: Today's Menu for the Emiya Family episode 9 (or, I have OPINIONS about Caster)

[spindizzy]

Oh, this episode is weird as anything. But I guess here we go anyway!

• I still don't know why Caster is an elf, I don't think it's ever explained.


• OH, Caster was specifically hunting for him! That's dedication. (Also due to curse of the pause button, I'm just looking at how they've done Caster's shirt like "... That's not how breasts work, it would not be perfectly flat between her breasts like that.")


• Caster: *literally chases after Shirou*
  Caster: *grabs him in the middle of a shopping centre*
  Caster: There's something I want you to teach me!
  Shirou:
  Shirou:
  Shirou:
  Shirou:
  Shirou: ... Excuse me?


• The cattier part of me that knows not only who Caster is, but also some of her mythology, is just like "SHE CAN ALREADY COOK! She makes a stew that could make the old young again!"


• I don't know why in every spin-off show, Caster is a domestic house-wife. It's an interpretation of her myth, I GUESS, but it's kind of an ODD take on it. (I need to talk about the regular Fate timeline somewhere so that I have a space to rant about Caster in context without spoiling the entire show for people.)


• Wait, people can spar against Souichirou and live????


• I respect the artists' commitment; look at the shoujo sparkles around this deliberately plain and boring-looking man!


• They just – use her name... Right there...


• GODDAMMIT AND I'VE BEEN SPECIFICALLY TRYING NOT TO USE HER NAME DESPITE MY INCLINATIONS BECAUSE OF SPOILERS, GDI YOU ASSHOLES.


• OKAY FINE I GUESS IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS FOR ORIGINAL FATE MAYBE SKIP THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH AND GO TO THE NEXT BULLET POINT.
  
  Like, Medea as housewife IS a valid interpretation of some of the classical plays written about her – she is a powerful sorceress, but depending on which plays you read she was devoted to her husband and children! It's just unfortunate that her husband happened to be, y'know, JASON. So I GUESS if you interpret Euripedes' play as showing her happy to be married and raise her children, using her magic to deal with threats to that life, and her actions as reaction to the domestic sphere being taken from her, it kinda works? But it's still not an interpretation I would have gone with. Although I'm assuming, probably unfairly, that the logic is MAYBE based on that, and more likely based on traditional gender roles, where OF COURSE the all-powerful sorceress who is the major antagonist in at least one route is twitterpated over the boring guy she lives with and thus this is a comedic juxtaposition????
  
  I HAVE COMPLICATED FEELINGS ABOUT THE DEPICTION OF CASTER BASED ON MY ROUGH UNDERSTANDING OF HER SOURCE MYTHOLOGY, OKAY.


• Bless her for trying to work out what the recipe is just from that tiny description, and also I love the trend in anime for bad cooking to just somehow sprout tentacles.


• Caster, are you sure whether Souichirou genuinely wants to eat this meal, or if he's being polite about it?


• ... I love how the maths in her brain is "Taro + saucepan = Shirou" because she's NOT WRONG.


• *immediately abandons laundry*


• Lancer's back at the fish shop! Hi Lancer! ♥


• "Well well, here comes an odd couple!" I'm pretty sure this means they're still enemies in this universe? MAYBE?


• "Who's that? Your young gigolo?" LANCER WHAT THE FUCK NONSENSE IS COMING OUT OF YOUR MOUTH?????


• Caster: *visibly planning a murder every time Lancer opens his mouth*


• "Someone's enjoying being a newlywed!" ... Are they actually dating/married??? This isn't just a one-sided crush?


• She's so happy and determined, bless her.


• "Didn't I tell you? I use knives for my magic spells. I'm quite used to handling them." SO OMINOUS. SO COMPETENT.


• Caster: *shoujo sparkles* Ah, Saber, I hope you don't mind my being here.
  Saber: *GETS READY TO THROW DOWN*


• You notice that she never refers to Shirou by name? He's always "the boy."


• Saber is SO SUSPICIOUS OF CASTER, justifiably, but also... SO SUSPICIOUS.


• Saber's joy in food is so pure, I love her.


• Saber: *leans away from Caster's shoujo sparkle field*


• That's probably the most reluctant we see Saber about food in this entire show.


• I feel like this is VERY complicated for someone who's presumably still not used to modern ingredients.


• Oh, yep, correct, that was a fuse blowing in Caster's brain right there.


• Aww, everyone's so pleased with the end result. That's sweet!


• Saber in the background trying to resist eating the taro and failing miserably.


• Awww no, it all went wrong! This is what happens to me when I bake, I'm always SURE that I followed the instructions, but the results clearly say that I did not.


• Also, you notice that Souichirou refers to Caster by her title, but the random monks wandering around call her by her name?


• She tried! Bless her heart, she tried! And bless his heart for eating it anyway. They're villains, but they're villains who're taking care of each other!


• "If you feel that you've failed, try again." ... Damn, even the villains are giving good life advice here, wow.


• I don't know how I feel about this in terms of "You took a murderous female villain and made her a housewife," but the housewife stuff is pretty sweet, so I'm CONFLICTED.


• RECIPE: Start by peeling the taro. When they're freshly harvested, you can remove the peel just by rubbing them with a cloth; if not, peel them pretty thick after chopping off the tops and bottoms. To remove the sliminess from the taro, parboil them. Add the taro to boiling water, simmer for three to four minutes, then run them under cold water as you wash away the sliminess. Place the taro and enough broth to cover them in a pot, and turn on the heat. When it comes to a boil, add sugar, sake, and sweet rice wine (it looks like a tablespoonful, but I could be wrong!), cover it all with a drop-lid, and cook over low heat for five to six
  minutes until it starts to boil. Add soy sauce, then boil it down for another five to six minutes. When there's only a little broth left, shake the pot so that it doesn't burn. Mix the broth and taro together, and once the taro turns glossy, they're done!
  
  Next, mackerel pike! When dealing with a whole fish, make sure you run it under water before you start preparing it. Once you've washed the sliminess off the fish, dry them off thoroughly. To remove the odor, lightly salt the mackerel pike, and then leave them for ten to fifteen minutes. This will draw out the moisture, so wipe it away. Lightly slit the mackerel pike's skin, and salt them again (this time for seasoning), and start grilling them.
  
  After boiling the mustard spinach, place it in ice water. Then, remove the oil from the deep-fried tofu you'll add to the spinach. Make sure you don't bring the miso soup to a boil, because if you do it'll lose its fragrance and flavour. (If you leave the taro overnight, they'll take more flavour from the broth, but it doesn't say whether they need to be left in the fridge or what.

(Today's Menu For the Emiya Family master post) (Reaction shot master post)