Fanfic / A Dip in the Inkwell

A Dip in the Inkwell is a collection of Odd Squad oneshots. Written by BasilGrey, twelve chapters focus on a variety of different agents and explore a variety of different headcanons, theories, and friendships.

As it hasn't been updated since 2017, it is now classified as a Dead Fic.

The oneshot Forever And A Mile has its own page.

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This fanfic contains examples of:

Powering Down for the Night

• Adaptational Dumbass: While just as eccentric as in-series, Oona gets some of her IQ points docked in this fanfic. She's more prone to going on unrelated tangents, often Comically Misses the Point, and is a Genius Slob in regards to washing her hands often.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted. Oscar's lab coat is scruffy, but so is Oona's, and she's even more beat up and tired than he is with her messed-up hair and her frequent yawning.
• By "No", I Mean "Yes": Seeing Oona exhausted from the events of the day, Oscar suggests that they take the Triskadecazoid Microtron chip they have, put it in the Lab, and get some sleep. Oona agrees and asks Oscar if he needs help with anything else, to which he says he doesn't, and when Oona thinks it's her yawning that caused him to give that answer, he shakes his head and mouths "no" before it turns into him mouthing "yes".
• *Cough* Snark *Cough*: Ona does this when trying to get Oscarbot 1 to go to sleep, even though she doesn't know how to cough and ends up just saying the word "cough".
  Ona: Y'know, I'm kinda supposed to make sure you guys get to sleep on time.
  Oscarbot 1: One.
  Oona: I mean, technically, I shouldn't even have to do anything because we are all on sleep timers. Cough-cough. Cough.
• Delayed Reaction: When leaving Headquarters, Oona tells Oscar that the last one to the Lab has to lock it up for the night. Oscar, who's already exhausted, has to sit on her words for a moment before it finally hits him, and he chases after Oona.
• Electronic Speech Impediment: The advanced Oonabot, Ona, wishes Oscarbot 24 good night, and he begins to say his number, but it winds down gradually due to fatigue before the robot enters power-saving mode.
• Flawed Prototype: Oscarbot One is explicitly mentioned to be a prototype by the advanced Oonabot.
• Forced Sleep: All of the Oscarbots, as well as Ona, run on sleep timers, which cause them to immediately go to sleep and enter power-saving mode no matter where they are. Oscarbot 1 manages to disable his somehow.
• Genius Slob: Despite it being a rule for Scientists to wash their hands properly and frequently, Oona doesn't wash her hands as often as she should, much to Oscar's discomfort. When she tells him that she hasn't washed her hands since the morning, she misinterprets his uncomfortable reaction as him believing that she's lying and not that he's disgusted by how infrequently she washes her hands.
• Hypocritical Humor: Oona chides Oscar for not using a good hand soap and not rinsing his hands properly, but she hasn't washed her own hands since that morning, something that is implied to be against the rules.
• Instantly Proven Wrong: Oona poses the idea that the robots she and Oscar built found their own instruction manuals and read through it to learn how to turn their sleep timers off, but brushes it off because she hid all the manuals in a secret location and doubts anyone could find them. Not only is she unaware that Oscarbot 1 knows how to turn his sleep timer off and had already done so previously, but right after she says that, Oscar brings up a time where he accidentally knocked over her lunchbox and all the instruction manuals spilled out of it, proving that her "secret location" isn't as secret as she thought.
• I Resemble That Remark!: Oona says that Oscar will be the one to get you back on track if you go off on tangents...while giving a tangent of her own.
• The Lancer: Ona appears to be one for Oona, and is in charge of all the Oscarbots.
• Mama Bear: The advanced Oonabot, who names herself Ona, definitely has some motherly vibes with her making sure all twenty-five Oscarbots go to bed and showing genuine care for them.
• Motherly Scientist: Oona starts to delve into this territory when she fawns over her Oonabot befriending one of Oscar's Oscarbots.
• Orphaned Punchline: Subverted. Ona's joke is never told in its entirety, but the scene then cuts to the robot seemingly giving the punchline to it...only it's not the punchline of the joke; it's just the end of Oona's third-grade summer vacation story.
• Pokémon Speak: The Oscarbots naturally speak in this manner, with each one of them only able to say their own number.
  • Oscarbot 1 is the only one who averts this, as he initially can only say "One" before he begins to speak in full English sentences when Ona tries to befriend him. The Author's Note at the end clarifies that the trope's aversion is due to Oscar teaching him how to speak English, but it took him a while for him to speak anything aside from "One". Since Oscar could understand the robots even in spite of their repetitive talk, he didn't teach any of the other twenty-four English. The trope also gets a deconstruction, in that Oscarbot 1 doesn't like speaking in English because his voice sounds robotic and too much like his creator's.
• Ridiculously Human Robots: This oneshot focuses on the Oonabot that took over the Odd Squad Training Video covering the repair of Oonabots, who looks, acts and overall functions like the real Oona and is more advanced than the Scientist's other two Oonabots. She also gives herself the name "Ona".
• Shrinking Violet: Oscarbot 1 is very withdrawn and shy. He's so withdrawn and shy, in fact, that Oscar has to encourage him to get out into the world and make friends.
• Sleeper Starship: Although not for interstellar travel, the Oscarbots each have compartments that they sleep in, with a triangular window and lights that are controllable from the inside.
• Suddenly Fluent in Gibberish: Ona can understand the Oscarbots' Pokémon Speak perfectly. Of course, since she's an Oonabot and is a robot just like them, next to the fact that she's more advanced than any of them, it's justified.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Oscarbot 25 has a fondness for drinking tea, especially before bed, which Ona scolds him for.
  • Oprah's addiction for juice is something that Ona expresses confusion at, as she asks aloud if the Director ever gets tired of it since she's human and doesn't need it to operate.
  Ona: ...Humans don't run on juice, do they? Oona has way too much energy for someone who never drinks it if they do. Way.
• What Is This Feeling?: Ona may be a more advanced robot than her Oscarbot and Oonabot brethren, but she still can't quite grasp things like sarcasm, loneliness, and blinking. She's also colorblind and has to rely on wavelengths to be able to sense color, since Oona hasn't programmed her with that mechanism yet.
• You Taste Delicious: Oscar claps his hand over Oona's mouth in mid-sentence while she's going off on a tangent. She ends up inadvertently licking his hand in the process, which he doesn't realize until after Oona pulls her tongue back into her mouth, at which point he removes his hand from her mouth and wipes it on his lab coat. She then complains about Oscar's hand-washing habits.
  Oona: [whispering] You don't rinse very well after you wash your hands. [shakes her head] Your hands smell all fresh, like oranges, but they taste like fake orange soap. Definitely not as nice. You should really consider changing soaps.
  • Shortly after that, she claps her own hand over Oscar's mouth to shut him up and stop him from revealing the secret about the robots' instruction manuals, and he inadvertently tastes the dirt on her hands as he asks her when she last washed her hands.

Odd

• Adaptational Explanation: The story provides an explanation as to why Otto's gadget was unable to find Odd Todd when he and Olive were with Betty at the museum. When Odd Todd steals the gadget and uses it on himself, the readings appear to be off, and he tries to fix the gadget under the belief that it's broken. It's also given a name that wasn't given in the episode: the Oddness-Detect-inator.
• Cathartic Exhalation: When his mother walks away from his room, Todd exhales in relief, not wanting her to realize what he's doing.
• Death Glare: Odd Todd gives the gadget one of these when he fixes it and it still fails to work properly.
• Don't Tell Mama: Odd Todd's mother is apparently unaware that he's a villain, as he briefly becomes fearful that she'll enter his room and find out that he's committed an act of burglary and has stolen an Odd Squad gadget.
• Failed a Spot Check: The readings that the gadget gives when it scans Odd Todd are 3 colored pencils, 17 books, 5 clamshells, 1 computer, and 1 person. He acts enraged and thinks the gadget doesn't work, but he doesn't stop to think that the "1 person" reading is pertaining to him, the only person in the room who is, according to him, odd personified.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Odd Todd, obviously, although this particular gadget is giving him a little trouble.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Odd Todd has more of a temper in this story than he does in canon.
• Identity Breakdown: Odd Todd goes through one of these when he is unable to make the Oddness-Detect-inator work on himself, as he struggles to figure out why the gadget doesn't recognize him as something odd and repeatedly tells himself that he is odd and oddness is his stock-in-trade. He then comes to the conclusion that the gadget is posing a challenge to him — if it can't recognize that he's odd, then that means he simply has to step up his game.
• Numerological Motif: The results that the gadget gives Odd Todd are random amounts of random things. However, all of the amounts are odd numbers.
• Percussive Therapy: In a fit of rage, Odd Todd throws the Oddness-Detect-inator to the floor, but surprisingly it doesn't break and all it does is produce a loud crashing sound.
• Villain Episode: This oneshot focuses on Odd Todd as he tries in vain to fix a gadget that he stole from Precinct 13579 that doesn't work properly — the same gadget Otto used in the episode "Training Day" to search for him in the museum, as a matter of fact.

Mr. and Mrs. O

• Accidental Misnaming: The basis of the oneshot, which has Oxley referring to Olive as "Mrs. O" rather than by her correct title of "Ms. O". If Otto's words at the end are any indication, new agents calling Olive by "Mrs. O" seems to be a very common thing, and it's not something the Director takes kindly to.
  Otto: ...Again? [chuckles] I was told we didn't have to get married.
  Olive: [rubbing her forehead] We really need place cards...
• Adaptational Explanation: Although the location of Olive and Otto's office was never exactly revealed in any official material outside of mentions that it was in "the next town over", the author has taken a cue from the Ships Ahoy! universe of fanfics and has placed their office in Montreal.
• Artificial Limbs: Ossie is noted to have a prosthetic leg, and because of it, her gait is rather uneven. She doesn't seem to notice, though.
• Children Are Innocent: Oxley, a new graduate of the Odd Squad Academy, is very nice and takes in the sight of Olive and Otto's shared office with complete awe on his face. His partner is the same way, and both of them are very excited to begin working at Odd Squad.
• Dramatic Drop: Oxley asks Olive and Otto if they're "Mr. and Mrs. O". Olive and Otto sit on his question for a couple seconds, then Olive stiffens and Otto drops his paper cup full of liquid, causing him to wince as he sees the mess it makes on the floor.
• Face Palm: Olive has this reaction to Otto doing a Dramatic Drop of his full paper cup, followed by Oxley offering to clean the mess up from the floor.
• Military Salute: Both Oxley and Ossie give one to Olive when she clears her throat to get their attention, something she notes as having last been made mandatory in the 1927 edition of the Odd Squad Training Manual.
• Moment Killer: Olive's opening up her mouth to start giving her "new recruit" speech! Oh, wait, never mind, Otto's running back and forth with paper towels trying to clean up the liquid that was in his paper cup that he dropped. Cue eye roll, Fascinating Eyebrow, and another eye roll!
• The Power of Friendship: Oxley and his new partner, Ossie, hit it off right away when they first greet each other. Presumably, they were friends when they attended the Odd Squad Academy, although how Oxley knows Ossie so well is never explained.
• Quirky Curls: Ossie, Oxley's new partner, has blonde curls. Befitting the trope, she's also a Genki Girl with a high amount of energy and lots of enthusiasm.
• The Smart Girl: Olive, of course, being an Odd Squad historian and the more intelligent one between her and Otto. She's able to pin a Military Salute that Ossie and Oxley do as having been made mandatory in the 1927 Odd Squad Manual.
• Socially Awkward Hero: Olive's serious and stern nature, which she is forced to uphold based on Odd Squad Director protocol, makes her rather awkward around young agents. Otto, on the other hand, fares far better with them since he's a Cloudcuckoolander and is more relaxed.
• Trademark Favorite Food: If the machine they have in their office is any indication, Olive and Otto's signature drink is iced tea.

Agent Recall

• Batman Gambit: Olive decides to make a to-do list for Todd and name tasks for every department that he has to do. If he completes all of the tasks without fail, then she will recognize him as her best agent, just as he was recognized by Oprah as her best agent back when he worked at her precinct. She does this so he can put his Invincible Hero advantages to good use, and because she knows he can't resist a challenge. Although Todd doesn't take kindly to the list, he takes on the tasks anyway and realizes that Olive did this intentionally, leaving to get started on the tasks.
• Easily Forgiven: Even after what Todd did to her and his coworkers, Olive forgives him to such an extent that she hires him and has him work in her precinct. However, she wants him to behave himself.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Lampshaded by Odd Todd, who wants to tell Olive that she would never make a good Director if she believed that she could trust him, but can't bring himself to do it.
• Insult Backfire: Olive goes from having "Scribbles" be a bad nickname given to her by Todd, to adopting it as her own nickname that she uses freely.
• Invincible Hero: Todd believes this to be true of himself, just as he was when he was a villain. Olive recognizes this, and so to have him prove it, she gives him a to-do list of various things that need to be done around her Headquarters, one task for every department, and challenges him to complete it for a reward of her recognizing him as the top agent of her precinct.
• Morality Pet: To an extent, Olive serves as one for Todd. She gives him a second chance and doesn't try to change his personality to make him as good as her, instead taking his already-existing personality traits and putting them to use for the side of good rather than evil.
• My Greatest Second Chance: Following him getting fired from Oprah's precinct, Todd is given another chance to work at Odd Squad at Olive's precinct, which he takes, but under the condition that he won't cause trouble and will be on his best behavior.
• Reformed, but Not Tamed: Todd isn't as abhorrently evil as he was in "Training Day", and has presumably gone through a Heel–Face Turn and become good, but he definitely hasn't given up on loving oddness and is very uneasy about being re-hired back onto Odd Squad. The oneshot seems to tone down his evil traits and make him come off as more of a Jerkass than a Smug Snake.
• They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!: The end of Olive's letter has her insisting on Todd calling her by her title and not by her real name.
  P.S. That's still Ms. O to you, Agent Todd!
  Of course it was.
• What If?: This oneshot poses the scenario of Odd Todd going back to the name "Todd" and becoming an Investigation agent again, but hired into Olive's precinct and not Oprah's.
• You Could Have Used Your Powers for Good!: Olive recognizes that Todd frequently claims he's good at everything, but he never got a chance to prove it in some way that wasn't detrimental to Odd Squad. In order to put his skills to use on the side of good, Olive gives him a to-do list with one thing in each department that needs to get done.

Blob Counting

• Big "WHAT?!": Olive and Otto have this as a simultaneous reaction when Owen and Oksana send them to Blobsylvania before going to the place themselves.
• The Comically Serious: Olive recognizes this about her partner Oksana, stating that while she has a great sense of humor, she's not a great playmate.
• Emotionally Tongue-Tied: Otto tries to pose the situation of him and Olive being partners, but backtracks due to nervousness. However, he can't hold it in for long, and a couple seconds later he blurts it out.
• Faster Than They Look: The blobs aren't just slimy, but they're incredibly fast, and both Olive and Otto have to duck just in time to avoid them as they fly through the air.
• Friendship Moment: Just like in "Switch Your Partner Round and Round", where this story is set, Olive and Otto promise to never betray each other unlike when Oksana and Owen respectfully made them take the bullet and go to Blobsylvania in their places. They even come up with their Secret Handshake almost instinctively, and the story shows them bonding even further while in their punishment.
• Only Sane Man: Slightly deconstructed for Olive. Although this trope is in her nature, sometimes she has to be sensible about things because if she doesn't have some semblance of sensibility, then no one else around her will have any.
• Überwald: Blobsylvania, which is crawling with so many blobs that when the rather-tall Otto stands in a pile of them, it goes up to his knees.

The Science of It All

• Butt-Monkey: Safe to say that Otis does not get the good end of the stick in this story.
• Cringe Comedy: Oona's attempt at hiding her romantic feelings for Otis by growing nervous, then by lashing out at him, is definitely painful to watch, but it can also come off as hilarious depending on mileage.
• Deadpan Snarker: Otis, natch. He's not even hesitant to give himself a dose of his own sarcasm at times.
  Otis: [thinking] Hey Oona, remember the new gadget you were so excited about showing to Olympia and me the other day? It quit working before I even got a chance to use it. [pause] Yes Otis, that's a really nice way to put it.
• Emotionally Tongue-Tied: When Otis tells Oona he needs to talk to her, she goes from being her usual upbeat self to stumbling over her words in a fit of nervousness.
• I Can't Hear You: Oona is so absorbed in her singing that she doesn't even notice Otis calling her name five times to get her attention. Even when she does manage to spot him, she doesn't answer him right away and watches the snowflakes he brushes off of his jacket fall to the floor.
• Irony: Otis's Winter-inator gadget ends up getting frozen somehow. He even lampshades the irony of having a gadget specifically designed for making things cold freeze up in the cold.
  Otis: [thinking] This is a Winter-inator! Why wouldn't it work in the cold?!
• Motor Mouth: Oona, and how.
  Oona: Important? You want important? This gadget... [shoves said gadget into Otis's face] ...can make butter into cats! How is that not important? Huh, buddy?!
  Otis: Oona, I just need to-
  Oona: What happens when you find a cat that got turned into butter?! Or if someone's allergic to dairy but not cats? Or if-
  Otis: Oona.
  Oona: Or if someone needs a cat for National Cat Day, and all they have is butter! [begins to breathe heavily] What gadget'll be important then, t-tough guy?!
• No Listening Skills: Otis tries to tell Oona about her broken Winter-inator gadget that he has and wants her to fix. Unfortunately, he makes the mistake of telling her that the matter is very important, causing her to launch into an entire spiel about her own gadget and which of their matters takes top priority.
• Non Sequitur: In a fit of anxiety and flustered over her romantic feelings for Otis, Oona blurts out one just before she dashes away to the back room of the Lab, dropping the half-finished gadget she was making in the process.
  Oona: SCIENCE!
• No Sense of Personal Space: Oona cares not for your personal space if you happen to tell her that you need to talk to her about something important. Case in point being her shoving the gadget she's making directly into Otis's face while lecturing him about how it can turn butter into cats.
• Rule of Three: Just before Otis enters the tubes, Hopkins interrupts him three times — once to tell him to not come and fix his lawn after 10 in the morning on Friday, again to specify a cutoff time of 2 in the afternoon, and again to tell him to pass on the word to Olympia about caring for his garden.
• Technobabble: Parodied with Oona and her long-winded spiel about her unfinished gadget. Just like in Odd Squad: The Movie, the term "Oona'd" is brought up again. Likewise, although it's not technobabble, Otis has his own term, "Otis'd", which often comes up when he gets "Oona'd".
• Thermal Dissonance: The oneshot opens up with Otis assisting Hopkins, whose yard is stuck in the summer season while everywhere else is stuck in the intended winter season. Hilariously, Hopkins also has the problem of his house being stuck in winter like the rest of the town, with his ceiling fan raining snow all over the living room, which he doesn't realize until he walks inside.
• Word Salad Lyrics: Oona is introduced singing a song with these kinds of lyrics while building a gadget.

Lemonade Pitcher

• Adaptation Expansion: In Odd Squad, Estimation Eddie was a helpful ally to Odd Squad who played baseball. This story expands on that and has him playing on (what is presumed to be) a Little League baseball team, the Bear Cubs.
• All of the Other Reindeer: Estimation Eddie is treated differently because he wears an eyepatch.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Eddie manages to ask one to himself, a thought that makes him stiffen with fear briefly.
  Eddie: [thinking] What's stopping all that energy in your eye from backfiring into your brain? Hm?
• Baseball Episode: This oneshot focuses on Estimation Eddie, who is part of a baseball team, the Bear Cubs. He plays against the Pangolins and ends up losing.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: The announcer at the baseball game updates readers with the standing scores of the two teams for readers who may have just joined them for this update of the story.
• The Confidant: Polly Graph becomes one for Estimation Eddie when he stops by her lemonade stand and vents about his eye.
  Eddie: Polly?
  Polly: Hm?
  Eddie: Thanks.
  Polly: [shrugs] What can I say? I take customer satisfaction very seriously.
• Down to the Last Play: The Pangolins and the Bear Cubs are at 8-9 in the bottom half of the ninth inning. The Pangolins end up winning 11-9, no thanks to Eddie, the Bear Cubs' stand-in pitcher.
• Emotionless Boy: Eddie can become emotionless at times almost to the point of being robotic.
• Eye Beams: Estimation Eddie has these, and is why he has to wear an Eyepatch of Power. In addition to reheating hot dogs, he can also use his power to create hot dogs, but when he tries to conjure up some for him and the rest of his team, it backfires on him and injures his eye. Given a deconstruction later when Eddie fears that he doesn't know what this power will do to him, and it's possible that the energy in his eye could backfire into his brain and cause severe damage.
• Eye Scream: Attempting to make hot dogs for him and the rest of the Bear Cubs using his Eye Beams causes Eddie to get a headache, and then a jolt of electricity moves from his eye to his feet and back again, causing him to stumble backwards in pain. He explains to Polly Graph later that using his Eye Beams power shouldn't hurt.
• Eyepatch of Power: Estimation Eddie has one, but he doesn't like wearing it and constantly wishes he could take it off. He realizes that he has to wear the eyepatch because the Eye Beams that shoot out from his eye can accidentally hurt someone, and he's treated differently because of it.
• It's All My Fault: Eddie knows that the Bear Cubs lost the game by 2 points because he had a couple less-than-stellar pitches, and he certainly isn't happy about it.
• Not My Lucky Day: Polly Graph comes to this conclusion about Eddie, and gives him some words of encouragement while comforting him and easing his fears about his Eye Beam power.
  Polly: I think you're just having a bad day. Everybody has them. Some are worse than others. But you know what?
  Eddie: What?
  Polly: I've never had a bad day that didn't turn out a lot better than I expected it to.
• Obviously Not Fine: Polly Graph asks Eddie how he's doing, and when he lies and says he's fine, she gets a Fascinating Eyebrow and a look on her face that says she's not buying it, but shifts the subject to his recent baseball game instead. It's only when he notices him staring at a crack in the sidewalk absentmindedly does she buck up and order him to stay with her until he feels better.
  Polly: Okay, Eddie. Something's the matter, and whether you tell it to me or not, you're not leaving until you feel better.
  Eddie: I'm all right. But thanks. Just tired.
  Polly: Yeah. Say it a few more times and you might fool yourself into thinking that.
• Trying Not to Cry: After his Eye Scream moment, Eddie begins to cry, but he manages to hold back his tears and regains his collected composure as he leaves.

4310 Plus 305

• Dead Fic: This oneshot is incomplete and hasn't been updated since 2016.
• Derailed Train of Thought: As Oprah is talking to Olympia, Otis and Oscar about a difficult case, Oona interrupts to talk about her calculator, and soon Olympia and Oscar get to talking about that.
  Otis: Is it just me, or are we getting off track?
  Oprah: It's just you.
• Mundane Object Amazement: The basis of the oneshot. Oona plays with her calculator and realizes that she can make hidden messages by punching in numbers and flipping the calculator upside down. Olympia, Oscar and even Oprah get in on it by giving numbers to Oona for her to punch in.
• Not So Above It All: Oprah gets in on the hidden calculator messages and gives a combo of her own.
• Thousand-Yard Stare: Played for Laughs with Oscar, who stares off into space as he reminisces about all the hidden calculator messages he used to make.

Staring Contest

• All Work vs. All Play: Todd and Olive have this dynamic with each other. Olive is the no-nonsense one who wants to focus on work, while the latter, who chides her for such an attitude, is the fun-loving one who likes to let loose.
  Todd: This is Odd Squad! We're kids! Chillax and goof off once in a while, yeesh! If we wanted to be all boring-bore-bore all the time and sit around with serious faces while we do too much paperwork, we'd grow up and get some dumb regular job. Not a job like this!
• Ascended Meme: Todd loving Snickers bars is in reference to a popular meme that circulated around the Odd Squad fandom for a while after its creation, which in turn followed the format of the commercials in the popular "You're Not You When You're Hungry" advertising campaign for Snickers.
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The story opens with Olive filling out paperwork on a case regarding a woman's dog who had grown to enormous proportions.
• Face Palm: Olive gives her trademark one in response to Todd making her pay him in Snickers bars for losing the staring contest.
• Insult Backfire: Olive's upset reaction to Todd winning the staring contest is completely lost on him.
  Todd: Ha! You owe me THREE SNICKERS, Scribbles! [laughs]
  Olive: Hey! N- that's no fair! You bet your own candy! You didn't say-
  Todd: [smug] Pay up!
  Olive: Hrrr...whatever. You're impossible.
  Todd: Thanks!
• Moving the Goalposts: Todd bets three of his Snickers bars on him winning the staring contest, but when he does, he forces Olive to give him three Snickers bars instead. She tries to protest this and calls him out on what he said previously, but to no avail.
• Product Placement: Todd bets three of his Snickers bars on him winning the staring contest between him and Olive.
• Shout-Out: The paperwork for the case that Olive is filling out, regarding a woman whose daughter's dog has grown to the size of a house and is too big for their apartment, is a reference to both Clifford the Big Red Dog and Clifford's Puppy Days.
• Staring Contest: Naturally. It's the name of the story and everything. This one focuses on Todd and Olive as the former tries to have a staring contest with the latter. Todd ends up winning when Olive blinks inadvertently while trying to figure out what's going on with him.

Gardening Lessons

• Affectionate Nickname: Although "affectionate" may be a bit of a stretch, Todd refers to Olympia as "Agent Optimism", first out of annoyance, then when he's being casual.
• Anti-Hero: Todd is no longer a villain but he isn't so willing to get cozy with Odd Squad agents visiting his garden and casually striking up a conversation with him.
  Todd: Just because I'm not a villain anymore doesn't automatically make me a good guy, Agent Optimism. I can be odd and just garden instead of causing oddness.
• Call-Forward: After realizing that Todd enjoys gardening and getting hands-on experience doing it, Olympia poses the idea of him starting a villain rehabilitation group, stating that through the power of good hard work and the freedom of being outside, it would convince villains to go through genuine Heel-Face Turns and become good. Sure enough, that's exactly what Todd ends up doing at the end of "Oscar Strikes Back", and later on, he starts a House for Villains™ with the same exact structure as well, only expanding to other things like arts and crafts instead of just gardening.
• Cannot Keep a Secret: Otis isn't very good at hiding things from others, which Todd can note by his expressions and body language.
  Todd: [thinking] When you hide things, Otis, don't act like you're hiding them.
• Caring Gardener: Todd, natch. He treats gardening as such Serious Business that he expresses confusion and incredulity at teaching Olympia and Otis how to garden when they ask him to teach them, and he knows quite a fair bit about gardening.
• Continuity Nod: Olympia calls back to "The Science of It All" when she mentions to Todd how she hasn't gardened since last winter when Hopkins needed help with his flowers.
• Defrosting Ice King: The entire story revolves around Olympia and Otis attempting to cheer up Todd and help him clean up his garden following Jamie Jam's attack on it. He initially refuses their help at first, but as time goes on, he warms up to them and eventually becomes comfortable enough to call them his friends.
• The Dog Bites Back: Todd thinks that he should teach Jamie Jam a lesson and show her who's the odder villain. However, Olympia stops him from thinking that any further and actually carrying out the threat.
• Don't Sneak Up on Me Like That!: Just as Todd is ranting to himself about Jamie Jam, Olympia and Otis arrive at his garden and overhear him, which causes him to recite the trope name verbatim in response.
• Eat Dirt, Cheap: Olympia asks Todd to show her and Otis his favorite plants, show them his favorite veggies to eat, and show them what flowers are safe to eat. Not too surprising considering this is the girl that became ecstatic over eating rock soup and took it as a challenge.
• Empty Promise: Jamie Jam promised Todd that she would come to his garden to help him clean up the mess she made. Naturally, she doesn't show up, much to his anger as he vents about her while cleaning up the garden himself.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Although Todd is an Anti-Hero and is no longer a villain, he is unable to understand why Otis helped his partner complete his villain autograph collection and why he didn't just let her finish it herself.
• Face Palm: Todd does a couple, in the form of rubbing the bridge of his nose, similar to how his former partner facepalms.
• For Happiness: Olympia's motive for wanting to learn to garden, if not to cheer Todd up and help him out.
  Olympia: We'd love to learn! I mean, I don't know about this guy... [nudges Otis in the elbow] But I loooove watching things grow, and be happy, and even maybe be extra happy and give people food-
• Forgotten First Meeting: Played with. Todd is insistent that he's seen Otis before, but can't remember where. Whether this is Fauxshadow or not is unknown, but Todd has seen Otis before — it's just the Otis who's a border collie, and not the Otis who's a human being.
• Friendless Background: Todd comes to the conclusion that when he worked at Odd Squad, he never really had friends. Not even his partner Olive was considered a friend to him.
• Friendship Moment: Otis decides to jump the gun on his partner's eventual request and pulls Todd aside to try and get him to sign an autograph to add into Olympia's collection of villain autographs. Later on, Olympia asks Todd for an autograph. It's then that the ex-villain realizes the reason for Otis asking him for an autograph earlier — he wanted it to be a surprise for his partner so he could help her complete her collection — but he doesn't have a strong foothold on why Otis went to the trouble of doing it to begin with.
• Genki Girl: Olympia, of course. Her high energy and infectious spirit aren't necessarily welcomed by Todd, though.
• Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: Olympia expresses surprise that Todd was nice to both of them despite being a former villain and being an Anti-Hero. Otis reminds her that he isn't a villain anymore and that people can change, causing her to shoot him a puzzled look.
• Got Volunteered: Olympia is dragging her partner clear by the arm in both offering to help Todd care for his garden and asking him to teach them how to garden. It's subverted somewhat in that Otis doesn't help with tending to the garden and instead just watches his partner at work, but he eventually helps his partner with the garden after a while.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Todd has about as short of a temper as a stick of dynamite.
• I'm Not Here to Make Friends: Todd has pretty much convinced himself of this mentality, which is why he's portrayed as a grumpy Anti-Hero.
  Todd: [thinking] Note to self, ignore friendly instinct. Scribbley addition in the margins of previous note to self — save your reputation and just...don't be friendly. Seriously, Todd. You were a villain, weren't you? You don't need friends.
• Infectious Enthusiasm: Olympia's genki nature and high enthusiasm slowly starts to rub off on Todd over the course of the story, until he fully defrosts and starts to warm up to her and Otis.
• Instantly Proven Wrong: Olympia brings up a time when she helped Hopkins with his garden when his yard became summer-like while every other part of the town was stuck in the winter season, and Todd lightheartedly asks her if she pulled up a carrot instead of a weed. Olympia rolls her eyes and starts to say that she knows what the difference is, up until Otis interrupts her by telling Todd that she did indeed pull out a carrot on accident on the belief that it was a weed, which surprised her.
• Irony: Otis doesn't like unpredictability and doesn't like unpredictable people, but he has a partner who is relatively unpredictable regardless, for being a Genki Girl.
• I Take Offense to That Last One: Todd yells at Olympia that he wants to be left alone and calls Otis "Blondie" in the process. Instead of being hurt by someone who quite obviously needs help insisting otherwise, he becomes offended over the disparaging nickname he's given.
  Otis: Blondie?
• It's Personal: Todd definitely has a vendetta against Jamie Jam following her attacking his garden, and then not showing up to clean up her mess when she promised to do so before.
• Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Olympia tells Todd that he shouldn't turn odd again, only for him to tell her that while he's definitely not trying to, other villains like Jamie Jam make it hard for him to fight the urge to.
• Leave Me Alone!: This is pretty much all Todd wants when it comes to his garden and cleaning up the mess that Jamie Jam left behind. Unfortunately, Olympia can't grasp the concept of leaving someone alone who doesn't want help, as she's insistent that Todd actually does need help but won't admit it, but Todd snaps at her for it.
  Todd: Blondie's right, Agent Olympia; all I asked for was to be left alone. ALONE! As in, by myself? IS THAT SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND?!
• Makes Us Even: For Todd helping Olympia and Otis with the case depicted in "Mid-Day in the Garden of Good and Odd", Olympia and Otis (read: just Olympia) believe that they should return the favor and help him out by assisting him with the care of his garden. Although to him, it's more of a You Owe Me situation.
• Manipulative Bastard: Played for laughs with Olympia, as she uses her charisma and manipulation tactics to sway Todd into starting up a villain rehab program with his garden. It essentially boils down to Todd either getting pissed off at her and watching her become more of a Smug Smiler, or controlling his temper and avoid giving her the satisfaction of being correct in what she says. He chooses the latter.
• Motor Mouth: True to her genki personality, Olympia talks a lot, and it sometimes takes a prompt from Otis to get her to shut up.
• Never My Fault: Subverted. Todd initially blames Olympia and Otis for the destruction of his garden and them misreading the clue that told them where Jamie Jam was going to strike next, but becomes bitter as he realizes that it's his fault that he misread the clue, not theirs.
• Noodle Incident: Olympia offhandedly mentions a time when everyone got Prankster-itis the day after April Fool's Day and someone surprised someone else with a rubber rat that jumped out of a box, leading that prank to be outlawed.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: In the midst of her excitement over receiving Todd's signed villain autograph, Olympia stops dead and asks Otis if he used to be a villain before he joined Odd Squad because Todd insisted he knew him from somewhere. She doesn't know it yet, but she's right on the money apart from her reasoning, and the question is enough to make Otis nearly go into Color Failure.
• Serious Business: Let it be known that Todd takes his gardening very seriously and won't tolerate it when someone covers it with jam.
• Socially Awkward Hero: Hoo boy, does Otis have ever the hard time striking up a conversation with Todd.
• Somethingitis: An odd disease known as "Prankster-itis" ravaged Precinct 13579's Headquarters the day after April Fool's Day, with everyone becoming pranksters.
• Taught by Experience: From his time working in Odd Squad, Todd is able to distinguish a rookie agent from a more experienced one — in this case, all it takes is one look at Olympia for him to determine who she is.
• Team Spirit: Todd recalls a time when he asked Oprah what Odd Squad was for, and she told him that Odd Squad was for agents to learn to work together as a team. Unfortunately, he never took her words to heart — not until after his Heel–Face Turn.
• Unwanted Assistance: Todd initially refuses help from Olympia and Otis in regards to the cleanup of his garden. He then tells them to get to work, but refuses to admit that this is basically him accepting help from them, as he reminds himself that he never accepts help from anyone on anything, ever.
  Todd: [thinking] This is not me accepting help. This is me doing them a favor. They wanted to learn how to garden. I'm just getting help out of this.
• Villain Respect: Inverted. Olympia collects villain autographs and keeps them in a scrapbook, with the only autograph she doesn't have being Todd's. Although he's hesitant to ask him, Otis asks Todd to give her an autograph, and he eventually accepts.
• What's a Henway?: Olympia's gardening joke that she tells Todd in order to be more friendlier with him uses this format. He doesn't laugh in response, but he does crack a smile that she can see from a fair bit away.
  Olympia: What did Santa say to Mrs. Claus about his garden?
  Todd: I don't know.
  Olympia: "Hoe, hoe, hoe! Looks like rain, dear!"
  Todd: [smiles and looks away from her]
  Olympia: I can see you smiling!

Help Not Wanted

• Awesome, but Impractical: A climbing rope used to descend and ascend between floors of Headquarters sounds like a great way to get exercise...but not if you're a Supreme Chef who has to carry dishes back and forth and has to go through tons of floors just to get where you're going.
• Big Eater: Otto, of course. He has limits, but he also eats an entire pizza and is still up for some spaghetti that is slathered in spaghetti sauce.
• Cathartic Exhalation: Oksana does a silent version of this when agreeing to eat spaghetti with Otto.
• Dogged Nice Guy: A non-romantic example with Otto, who tries to get Oksana to eat some of her own spaghetti and taste some of her own spaghetti sauce. Every time she shoots him down, he comes back with a vengeance.
  Investigation agents were unexceptionably two things, in her experience: oddly happy, and relentless.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Oksana doesn't take kindly to people pitying her, and initially believes that Otto pities her for having to do the dishes on her own.
• Everyone Has Standards: Otto can pack away quite a bit of food and originally came into the Breakroom for some food to begin with, but when he sees Oksana doing dishes, he decides to forgo his plate of spaghetti and insist that he help her out.
• Exact Words: Oksana knows that if Otto had asked her if he could help with the dishes, it would be in her right as the head of the Breakroom to turn him down. However, he never asked to do the dishes — he offered to help, but didn't phrase it as a question and got right to work when Oksana didn't say anything along the lines of "sure, you can help".
• Failed a Spot Check: When filling up his plate with spaghetti, Otto asks Oksana where the saucepan is. She points out that it's right directly in front of him, something he failed to notice.
• Forgets to Eat: Oksana is so absorbed in her work that taste-testing food counts as eating a meal to her. When Otto gets wind of this, he's appalled and tells her that taste-testing is like a "bonus snack" between meals, but she counters by telling him that she's not hungry. Apparently, her cooking so much food leads to her being sick of food, which in turn causes her to not eat.
• Hidden Depths: Say what you will about Otto, but he definitely doesn't wash dishes half-fast like many of Oksana's agents have done in the past, something that she expresses surprise about.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: Inverted. Oksana has an I Work Alone mentality and doesn't want friends, and so, she acts disgusted when Otto saves her some spaghetti to eat after helping her with the dishes. Later on, it's implied that she doesn't believe she even deserves friends at all.
• Infectious Enthusiasm: Otto's smiles are stated to be contagious to pretty much everyone he comes across, with Oksana being the exception...or so she thinks.
• Instantly Proven Wrong: Otto assures Oksana that he knows that all the other pots Oksana has are empty. The story tells readers otherwise.
• I Work Alone: The mindset of Oksana, naturally, to such an extent that none of the assistants Oprah sends her way last more than a week. She changes her mind once she meets resident Cloudcuckoolander Otto.
• Lost Food Grievance: Oksana, being a chef, doesn't believe in wasting food, because food is for eating, not for throwing away. Not even being sent 144 pounds of spaghetti every month over the course of eight years is enough for her to deter from this opinion.
• Mundane Utility: At Precinct 13579, there exists two gadgets, the Plate-and-Bowl-Clean-inator and the Pot-and-Pan-Clean-inator. They are used for one of the most basic everyday things that people do: to clean dishes. This has some justification regarding Oksana, however, as there are numerous agents who go through a lot of dishes, and it takes her a long while to wash and dry all of them, so the gadgets make the work faster.
• Opposites Attract: Otto is a Cloudcuckoolander Big Eater and a social butterfly. Oksana is a hardworking and bitter Emotionless Girl who would prefer to work alone. They still manage to strike up a conversation, if only because of the symbiosis of a Big Eater interacting with a Supreme Chef.
• Secret Ingredient: Otto thinks that Oksana's spaghetti sauce has a secret ingredient. She tells him there isn't one, which causes him to shift gears into listing off the regular ingredients instead.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Otto does this when Oksana focuses on cleaning the tables and refuses to pay attention to him. When she notices him, she stiffens and moves back quickly. She does not jump. At all. There's a difference.
• Unwanted Assistance: Otto suggests he help Oksana with doing the daily dishes. He doesn't even need a "yes" from her to jump right in and start washing dishes.
• Victory Through Intimidation: Oksana tries this on Otto just by employing her usual bitter Emotionless Girl personality to tell him where the spaghetti is located. It doesn't work.
• When She Smiles: Oksana lets a smile creep onto her face after she thanks Otto for helping her with the dishes.

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