since this is an??? episode??? now?????? i wanted to finally add some authors' notes as to what we were considering as the traps (murph and caldwell's words) behind every seat pairing. (i'm writing this after they told us they were recording but before listening so if they say any of this, it's parallel thinking.)
quick starting point based on some comments i've seen: the rows with 1 and 6 are the front of the plane, and you can assume that the seats you don't choose will be filled with other random people. also let's assume spells are like cell service and you can't use them on a plane.
seat 1 - calder is huge and cold. you're gonna be fucking freezing. penny isn't the world's worst seat mate, particularly not on this plane, but he's probably going to talk a Lot and miiight awkwardly flirt with a flight attendant the way sad single dads can sometimes do so that's more of a social minefield than anything. fia will be absolutely fine to sit in front of.
seat 2 - as murph mentioned, in the short rest where they briefly talked about this, sitting with mavid is Crazy. peanut dust everywhere, trying to seal some shit, complaining loudly about his dad. you will not get a moment of peace. fia balances that, and you could probably get a good book recommendation from her if you talked to her. calder in front and dave behind you is going to be a real compressing from both sides though, despite them both being polite enough to not do that on purpose.
seat 3 - lots of people have thought of mav and dave as reasonable to sit with - likely because they're really only going to bother each other and ignore the fuck outta you. fair. the trap here, other than mavid turning to bother you and zirk potentially spilling shit down your back, is the visitors. because tread and mac are going to have some Shit happen and report back to your seatmates about it. you're gonna get great tea, certainly, but you'll never find peace. hope the book you brought isn't one you need to finish fast.
seat 4 - frankie is going to sleep, but will also be a slightly too loud old man taking up more space than he means to. it's just a bit awkward and miserable. zirk is a biohazard. he's maybe going to be arrested for terrorism bc he accidentally mixes something weird. he also might spill on you. plus he's going to talk to you. a lot. between dave and bev isn't bad though.
seat 5 - bev and sol are Small. you're so good on space here. they absolutely will not under any circumstances shut up, though. headphones won't help.
seat 6 - a deserved whopping zero votes out of nearly 300. it's the worst. they're going to be arguing across your lap and tread will insist you take album photos for him. mac will talk your ear off about brewing. the callie issue isn't so bad for you but is what i'll mention next.
seat 7 - callie is wet. she's a rainy day eladrin. as i said before, you're always cold on airplanes, but cold and wet?? yikes. also there's gonna be a psychological warfare thing happening between onyx and callie because callie will think onyx is sooo cool and onyx won't give her the time of day. plus. plus. emily once said that mavid would "have a chance" with callie. onyx Will pick up on that and Will flirt with mavid about it, making everything worse. between tread and nyack isn't bad tho, nyack isn't going to be leaning in your direction.
seat 8 - so hank isn't that bad. he's also going to be loud and taking up slightly too much space, but he's not your concern here. it's nyack. who will be getting up to check on his brother and will be calling the flight attendants to check on his brother whenever he's not up. onyx is fine to be behind, but in front of moonshine isn't the best.
seat 9 - sitting between friends on a plane is always hard. those friends having a lack of social awareness makes it harder. them being soulmate-level connected and having an impossible to understand amount of bestieism attached to each other?? you're cooked. plus balnor will probably be leaning over your seat to talk to them in the brief moments he's awake.
seat 10 - one could assume balnor and jens will both be knocked the fuck out during the flight. this is reasonable. however, couple things could happen if they don't. nyack is going to keep coming over and leaning across you to check and/or wait on jens. that's going to be loud and annoying. you're getting insulted nonstop. balnor is also gonna loud old man it, much like frankie, and might try to rope you into a weird conversation lasting the whole flight if you accidentally let him.
anyway, there's the traps. enjoy.
