#foreshadowing for S10

[angeart]

so i've been watching some random episodes of grian's hc 6 and so far this has happened:

villager grian decided to change profession and suddenly be a fisherman. which would mean nothing, but with grian's s10, i feel like that's now a Significant Foreshadowing /silly

grian has made his first little game. it involved a deathmatch of exploding other people to death via rocket-loaded crossbows and- get this- three lives

grian and scar didn't win, but they died so close to each other time-wise that grian wasn't sure who died first, and sort of merged their placement (grian died first in case you're wondering)

he said they should do something like that with more people and in a bigger area. mmhm

at a different occasion, grian threw scar off a high place and,

and when he then said through his giggles "oh i'm so- i'm sorry scar" i kid you not i had war flashbacks

when scar came back, he held a poppy

and he gave it to grian

i feel Very Normal about all of this.

[lilacsandstone]

wait ok i have a theory abt the lore mumbo's going for in his hermitcraft intros/skin changes. this might be smth obvious and im just slow so if youre like "yeah we Know this is what he's doing" then. my bad lol

so far there's been a few specific things this season: - no more waffle (so sad) - mined co. intros - current skin is progressively aging - magic mountain row and specifically big ron

im rlly gonna focus on the last 3 bc im just writing this off the top of my head but i might add onto this later once i have more time to think it through!

(spoilers for mumbo's s10 ep 39!!)

ive seen a lot of ppl theorizing he's aging his skin to foreshadow that he's quitting hermitcraft. i really dont think he'd announce it like that? and he doesn't seem to be running out of steam anytime soon imo. but i wasn't able to outright disbelieve this, until i saw the lore intro he put on his ep 39.

in this intro, we see the old scientist guy performing what seems to be a successful consciousness transfer between a villager and a chicken.

he's also theming a lot of his merch and promotional stuff around big ron, but specifically a version of grumbot. yes he's the redstone guy and big ron's was the first building he finished for magic mountain row, plus grumbot is just a fun character to bring back. but i think there's something else going on here.

if we put together all 3 of these things, the skin, the consciousness transfer, and the focus on grumbot, things start to take shape.

the lore mumbo is building up for s10 is that c!mumbo is eventually going to transfer his consciousness into an artificial body before his original body dies.

maybe even the waffle going away has something to do with it? now that he's somehow lost that part of grian's soul, he's mortal? or maybe he's setting it up to become grumbot?

idk! im so excited to see where he goes with this regardless :D

[feministsouthpark]

South Park Filler Guide - Season 22

Link for Seasons  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

S22E1 Dead Kids is CANON

Sets up the main theme for the season, which is the fact that school shootings happen way too often. We get comfirmation that Nichole and Tolkien got back together since their breakup in S20E2. Stan gets shot at the end. S22E2 A Boy and a Priest is CANON

Stan has his arms in a cast, which is the only way they ever acknowledge his incident from the previous canon episode, which means this one is canon, even if most of its content is basically filler. Clyde has his birthday party for which is probably the same birthday he invited others in S21E8. Stan also seems to love board games now, which is a follow-up to S18E6. S22E3 The Problem with a Poo is CANON

This is the continuation of the Strong Woman arc from S21E10, in which she got pregnant, and now she is giving birth. Her children will return in later episodes and get their own arcs. Mr. Hankey also gets banished from the town. S22E4 Tegridy Farms is CANON

If there is one episode that you won't ever question the canonicity of is this one. If the season premiere set the tone for the season, this one sets the tone for the next season and basically serves a new pilot for the remainder of the series. They were not joking around with this one. S22E5 The Scoots is LORE

Kenny bonds with Mr. Mackey and while the scooters will appear later, other than their existence, the events of the episode don't matter much. S22E6 Time to Get Cereal is CANON

How could it not be, when ManBearPig not only appears, after being heavily foreshadowed back in S10. (Yes, I know real life context is different, but by storytelling logic that is what has happened), but Satan is also back for the ride and sets up a new development for his arc, but that is to come in the very connected next episode... S22E7 Nobody Got Cereal? is CANON

Satan v ManBearPig fight to the death. This is a big one for the series canon, which has had Satan go through a ton of development that helped him get to this very point. S22E8 Buddha Box is CANON

The Strong Woman arc continues! Seems like this season is really good at switching between a few multi-season storylines to focus on. Eric also gets diagnosed with anxiety. S22E9 Unfulfilled is CANON

Yeah, sure, why not? Tweek Bros. Coffee is no longer alive, due to Amazon, this might have helped Helen's independence in later seasons. The mall workers are now zombies from abandonment. But this is more obviously a set-up for the finale and that one IS canon, because... S22E10 Bike Parade is CANON

This is the culmination of the season as a whole. Although if I really want to find a reason for this one to count, we see Ned to be alive after the events of S22E6, which made it dubious if he survived his incident with ManBearPig.

SPOILER-FREE RUNDOWN

S22E1 Dead Kids is CANON S22E2 A Boy and a Priest is CANON S22E3 The Problem with a Poo is CANON S22E4 Tegridy Farms is CANON S22E5 The Scoots is LORE* S22E6 Time to Get Cereal is CANON S22E7 Nobody Got Cereal? is CANON S22E8 Buddha Box is CANON S22E9 Unfulfilled is CANON S22E10 Bike Parade is CANON *We learn how the scoots in the finale first appeared

CANON counter:

S1: 9 out of 13   S2: 3 out of 18   S3: 6 out of 18   S4: 10 out of 17   S5: 8 out of 14   S6: 11 out of 17  S7: 6 out of 15  S8: 4 out of 14  S9: 8 out of 14  S10: 4 out of 14  S11: 4 out of 14  S12: 8 out of 14  S13: 3 out of 14  S14: 7 out of 14  S15: 6 out of 14  S16: 2 out of 14  S17: 4 out of 10 + a highly lore based game  S18: 8 out of 10  S19: 9 out of 10  S20: 10 out of 10 S21: 7 out of 10 + a highly lore based game + 2 DLCs S22: 9 out of 10

Overall: 146 out of 298 Personal notes: This season is heavily serialized, however unlike S20, not all 10 episodes follow the same storylines, mostly 2 episodes share a storyline and that's it. We have two two-parters and another two that are part of another storyline, a status quo changing episode and several cross-references between them all. South Park keeps finding new ways to handle continuity.

[mandy4ever69420]

anemoneway 4.10

debbie is so fucking good. and so debbie. literally all the time forever. 'all i do is look for my family i should get you all ankle bracelets' [to fionas po] '[carl]'s really shy :)' 'i use [the shiv the PO found] for knitting :)' <-immensely based and careful and well executed lies. shes so s10 coded here

carl and bonnie are devastating always and forever. also whoever this little baby actress is is amazing. the way that she's having a ball on this bitch but also very clearly panicking while stealing snacks and chocolate milk w carl.

early in the episode mickey says of mandy's abuser 'its our house why the fuck should she have to leave' . very true observation also 100% related to his need to run away from his house to be away from svetlana constantly. notable how he only ever gets worked up when it's someone else in danger. svetlana was never really abusive but i think there was a pretty good point being made here w mickeys plot about him never being too tough to face that level of manipulation and control. wrt 'i promise you your kids going to be an orphan / hey no domestic abuse take it outside like everyone else' probably supposed to be reminiscent of darvo.

svetlana implicitly taking mickey's side in an argument with kevin about cash is fantasic. her only line in that scene is 'kelly girls' but you can see her angled defensively at kevin when he's heckling mickey for money. also another reason it makes me insane when people will frame mickey pimping in general as 'unethical' bitch are you fucking stupid

really enjoy how kevin was afraid enough of mickey / mickey was direct enough that the fear he experienced at the THOUGHT of mickey showing up was enough to fuck his relationship over in a horrifying traumatic way wrt: grabbing a gun and accidentally firing it in the house. quoth sameen shaw 'we imply [violence]. we may not have to use it'

its so much easier to be amused by sheila when im not trying so hard to like her

fiona's taking a van randomly across state lines was basically untraceable i wonder how far she wouldve gottten if she wasnt half in the door n being a careful committed family person. also this being her main association with 'running away' kind of makes me think her advice to ian in s7 might not have been about jimmy at all but about this. i mean we know mickey would never leave ian at a gas station but he did leave his former cell mate / other friend when he became a liability.

they show up at the police station presumably in hopes that turning herself in will reduce the severity of punishment but im not sure that's true. youre basically just making the cops jobs easier. im not saying its a good idea to just keep dodging but debbie did set up a pretty good lie for you guys with 'i think shes looking for a job or something, im not sure when i saw her last'

lips leap into parentification in the void fiona left behind when she got full up sick to bastard death of her own parentification and had a meltdown into prison is an interesting possibly unintentional foreshadow of lip's breakdown and debbies eventual inevitable role as the 'sue hurry up lts go more muffins what do you WANT' of the household. debbie's dedication to being a parent on purpose and how much older everyone is when she grabs the reigns might cut off the potential of this to be a permanent loop. also interesting how its never ian because ian is always looking outside of the house for places to be a person instead of getting overinvolved in everyones shit.

on the debbie WINS of the day was how she acted about mike's brother robbie. at his apartment. she's so my world

[my-mt-heart]

I love to speculate and to find hidden meanings as much as anyone but I agree with you when you say it's not enough anymore. It hasn't been for a long time. The problem with it is that everyone thinks some important thing is related to their ship/fandom/theory. Back on S4, carylers believed that the jasper stone was evidence that Daryl was thinking about confessing his feelings to Carol and not waste any more time because of the flu. The double capper from S10 is also a straight forward symbol of caryl to us, undisputed. Well, b*thylers think the jasper stone was foreshadowing about their ship, and d*nnie shippers had the same line of thought considering the double capper. People from our and these other two fandoms believed that, on diferent moments, apples related to their ships and not the others. It's like TPTB gaslight everyone one of us while simultaneously pulling our strings. I'm tired of it.

Same. The breadcrumbs need to lead somewhere and by somewhere I mean explicit Caryl canon 😑

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Re-Watching S10 Bonus Episodes

@twdmusicboxmystery:

Hey Gals. I don't have to work today. Yay! So, believe it or not, I actually got a teeny bit of rewatching in last night. It wasn't much. I rewatched Home Sweet Home. Then, as I was watching on Netflix, it turned over to the next episode, which would have been Find Me. It was funny though because I didn't watch all of FM. It started near the end. It was one of those things where I was clearly watching it before, months ago, and stopped at a particular part, so when netflix went to that episode, it just started where I left off last time.

It started about the part with the eclipse, which is right before Leah gives him the ultimatum. Then he speaks briefly with Carol, and then we see the last part where he changes his mind and goes back, looking for Leah again.

So again, I only saw a small part at the end of FM. After that, I started One More, but I was falling asleep, so only watched about half of it. I may go back and rewatch FM from start to end (probably will) but it was kind of interesting just watching the part that I did. I won't claim I have anything massive or groundbreaking to say, but I couldn't help but compare it to what's been said so far about the Daryl spinoff.

We know that in the spinoff, he'll struggle with where he belongs, and whether to go home or not. We've already all equated that with Beth. But we have a representation of that in FM as well. The question of where he belongs came from Leah, and is obviously about whether he should be in a romantic relationship with her or not. For Leah? Obviously not. But we think that's a foreshadow of Beth, right.

In FM, Carol represents the pull for him to come home. I honestly think that, back when she was still going to be in the spinoff, maybe that would have been her role: constantly pressuring him to go back home. But once things changed, and MMB backed out of the spinoff, it became much more symbolic, as it is in FM. I don't know what form it will take in the spinoff, but someone or something will probably be a placeholder for her.

ANYway. This is all just to say that I'm more convinced than ever that Find Me and Leah were a template for Beth that we'll finally see play out in the Daryl spinoff.

I thought of a couple of different scenarios in which it could manifest. I'll probably forget them now, because I was half asleep when thinking of them. We always say we can't imagine Daryl ever turning his back on Beth, and I think we're right about that.

But at the same time, if he hears news of Rick, or that something might be going on at home with the kids, at the very least he would be conflicted. And because of the role Carol played in FM, there's going to be something pulling on him to go home. We just don't know what it will be. That's the one problem with being as loyal to everyone as Daryl is. At some point, he'll inevitably be put in a situation where he has to choose.

But of course, the idea of Rick has to be thrown in there, too. This is the same template we saw in 6x03, where Daryl was literally searching for Rick's location on his motorcycle. In FM, he was very clearly searching for Rick's body. So I think that element has to be part of the Beth/spinoff template somewhere. Also, thinking of Leah's longer template, they do separate and she disappears for a time. You're always talking about a third search for Beth, @wdway, and this is probably it. I can see them getting separated and him having to look for her again.

In fact, it's probably the answer to why they made it seem like Leah's cabin was ransacked and she was taken. That wasn't the case with Leah, which makes the whole thing just weird, but it's probably because it's a foreshadowed template for Beth, and maybe she really will be taken. I mean, she was before. Anyway. I know we've already discussed most of this at least somewhat. This is just what I was thinking about when watching last night. I couldn't help but compare it to what little we've been told of the Daryl spinoff.

The other thing I thought of was very un-TD, but it made me realize something about the Maggie/Negan spinoff. Again, don't get too excited. Nothing groundbreaking, but just when things probably happened. I didn't watch 10x16, but HSW starts right after that, right after the hospital scene and Maggie's return. And there's literally no emphasis on Maggie and Negan in that episode (10x16). But then, right at the start of 10x17, we have this massive personal conflict between them front and center. It's like all of a sudden they're shoving it down our throats. (Really not complaining; just making an observation.)

So, it just occurred to me that, while we always talk about how clearly something changed between the filming of 10x16 and 10x17, in which MMB left the spinoff, they created Diverged to show foreshadow Daryl and Carol taking separate paths, and probably changed the way in which they presented the Leah storyline in the show, we never talk about any of the other spinoffs. It seems to me that during that same interval, all these spinoffs were probably born. They decided to do the Maggie/Negan spinoff then as well, and started preparing for it, which is why we get so much Maggie and Negan so immediately in the bonus episodes. And of course it keeps up straight through S11.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if they officially nixed the Rick Grimes films at the same time, and the Richonne spinoff was born, but they just waited a long time to announce it. So yeah, that's pretty much it. It felt good to do even a tiny bit of rewatching.

As for One More, as I said, I didn't get all the way through it. But once again, it's clear that it's meant to be a Bethyl template. One thing that occurred to me at the begining because of your recent rewatch, Tarah, was the egg timer. You said when Enid did that, it represented her restarting time, and Enid and Carl were meant to be proxies of Beth and Daryl. I totally agree. So, we have Beth and Daryl and the grandfather clock at the golf club. Enid and Carl restart time. And then we have something similar here with Gabe and Aaron. Gabe starts the egg timer and throws it in the field. When it goes off, it wakes the dead. (Kind of like, "raising the dead," perhaps?)

So, I'm pretty sure I said this when the episode first aired, but between the two, Aaron would be Daryl and Gabe would be Beth. Why? Mostly because Aaron is the more impatient, morose one who wants to constantly head home. Gabe, on the hand, "has faith" to keep looking for more people and supplies a bit longer. ("Just two more. Just one more...") And of course, Gabe is the Sirius character.

Side note: I still find the fact that Gabe falls into the mud really fascinating. I think it represents Beth being shot. I've harped on this before, but anytime anyone falls down physically, I think it parallels something bigger. A much bigger stumbling block or wrinkle in the timeline.

So, if Gabe falling into the mud represents Beth being shot, it's also super interesting that Aaron (Daryl) helps him up. But we have other symbolic evidence for Daryl somehow saving Beth's life, even if maybe he didn't know it, in the fact that he fixes the music box. We just don't know what form that took because we still don't have those missing 17 days.

It's only after that that Gabe and Aaron find the warehouse, which is where we get the heaviest Bethyl symbolism: alcohol, pig meat, games, miniature golf, etc. So, we could see this as a callback to Bethyl, but I don't think that's really accurate. I totally think they put in all those symbols so that we would know it's a Bethyl template, but I think this is a foreshadow for the future. Once everything changed with the spinoffs, they started foreshadowing Daryl and Beth coming back together.

So I think this represents them reconnecting, needing to bond again and get to know one another again, go through some shit together, and come out stronger on the other side. I mean, this episode even has the twin symbol in it, and we know that's tangled up with Beth because of 5x09. So yeah. I'll stop rambling now. Cuz, you know, what do I know? I've just been analyzing TD symbolism for like, 8 years.

@galadrieljones:

I love your analysis of where and how the spin-offs may have worked into 10c. I am wondering if 10c was, in part, a way for them to fill in several blanks, sort of like a rush job. I really like your hypothesis that the MMB exodus happened between production on Find Me and Diverged. Your interpretation of the templates really makes sense. Diverged is a very weird episode that is defiinitely meant to foreshadow Daryl’s spin-off. Like, there’s really not a lot of other ways to interpret it at this point.

And you’re correct that in Find Me, Carol is WITH Daryl on his journey when they accidentally stumble upon evidence of his old life with Leah. Daryl and Carol arguing and struggling with their relationship and Daryl’s “place” was perhaps originally going to be a central tension in their spin-off. Leah was definitely a stand in for this mysterious love interest that exists in woolly memories, her appearance blending into the landscape, marked by Daryl’s dog and many experiences that he’s remembering wrong, because they seem really linked with his experiences with both Carol and Beth.

Could foreshadow that upon finding Beth he wouldn’t remember her correctly at first, maybe something messed up with his perceptions. I do think it’s possible that Find Me/Rendition used Daryl’s disoriented point of view as a way to foreshadow memory problems or PTSD hallucinations down the road. I think all the time about how they would actually go about reintroducing Beth to Daryl, and what his initial reaction would be. After everything we’ve learned about Daryl’s psychological breakdown, I think it’s extremely possible he would think he was hallucinating at first, or that he was seeing ghosts, dreaming, or dead.

This is why I really think that tptb may be planning to show US Beth before they show Beth to Daryl. Having the audience realize Beth is alive at the same time as Daryl would be TOO disorienting. There needs to be that anchor of dramatic irony, holding the audience firm while Daryl flails. I really don’t want to get my hopes up but so much points to Fear’s final season as their opportunity to do this.

I have other things I want to respond to as well per your notes. I need to think on them a bit more. I’ll do that while I go give Cody a bath lol

@wdway:

Love this! When you were talking about s10e19 One More being a template for Daryl and Beth it made me think of Eugene and Max since I had just watched them this week. If One More was a more subtle template of what's to be seen in Daryl and Beth storyline than Eugene and Max is a more in your face preview of what we may see in the spin-off between Daryl and Beth.

In s11e11 Rogue Elements after we see Eugene and Stephony's relationship take a more physical turn Stephony goes missing (Daryl and Leah) Eugene learns by the end of the episode that Stephony was not who he thought she was but that Max was the person he had developed strong emotionally feelings for through their long talks on the radio (Dary/Beth close emotional feelings in Still/Alone).

In s11e12 Eugene and Max start over by first acknowledging what they started with on the radio and now getting to know each other in person. This is the deep true love by two people that has found their perfect fit. I can't remember exactly which episode it is in but at one point Eugene tells Max that he would like to show her his home AZ she tells him she would like that but not yet. She doesn't want to leave CW with so much corruption going on.

In e19 Variant, Eugene is hiding at the church and Max is missing. Rosita wants Eugene to leave and go back to AZ but he can't leave his "beloved" Max. This could be the same type of situation that we could see between Daryl and Beth. Beth wants to be with Daryl but there is something she has to follow through with and somehow they get separated again. If you guy rewatch any of the s11 Eugene and Max episodes you might keep the thought in mind of a hint for the spinoff.

@galadrieljones:

Love this addition. A big part of why Max must stay in the CW is because she is loyal to her brother Mercer. Mercer is an interesting character as he represents the tipping point for when loyalty becomes indifference, or passivity, a refusal to accept responsibility for one’s own life choices, off-loading them to the “cause.” Will there be a character that Beth is trying to change, because his “loyalties” are putting her and others in danger?

Also I am super interested in the comments about One More. I remember somebody commenting, too, on the color palette in the begining with the blood spatter on the flowers, and how it was very similar to Beth’s palette in Still, when she is splattered with blood at Pine Vista. But I had forgotten about the egg timer.

Carl and Enid are definitely Beth and Daryl proxies in season 6, a replay meant to impress upon us the innocence of first loves in the wild. I think Carl and Enid are meant to communicate tacitly that Beth and Daryl were in love.

Carl is even shot in the head, but survives. I’m sure TD has already caught onto that EXTREMELY INTERESTING point, and how it could inform Beth and Daryl’s situation further. Ofc Gabe and Aaron aren’t in love, but tptb is using them in “One More” to inform Beth and Daryl’s relationship, through many parallels. We have one man of faith, and another man who is struggling with the logic of the situation, which is grim.

In the episode, they find a madman who has killed his whole family and who puts their faith, and their bond, to the test. I really need to rewatch that episode. I think I’ve only seen it once. But Aaron and Gabriel are an interesting team, as they both basically joined TF at the same time.

Aaron shows up at the same moment that the music box awakens. He, himself, becomes a replacement for Beth. Maybe a hint, running with messages from “Promises Broken,” when Daryl is reminding Leah that she is “strong” and trying to get through to her sense of humility and goodness, that when Daryl and Beth reunite, their roles will be somewhat reversed to what they previously were. Beth will be the one who is struggling, and Daryl will have to show her the light of the situation, and remind her that just become there are some bad people in the world, that doesn’t mean that people are inherently bad.

This reminds me, too, and once again, of “Try,” in which Aaron and Daryl are a team. When they’re trapped in the car in Conquer, Daryl even tries to pull the same shit he did with Beth at the funeral home. He tells Aaron to stay in the car, and he’ll go out there and open the gate, but Aaron refuses to let him do it alone. Aaron isn’t hardened yet, but he’s ready to try. Something Daryl wouldn’t let Beth do. And then, ofc, who is there to save them both when all hope seems lost? Morgan.

@wdway:

There's something else that I've been meaning to mention that I read in an article, I can't remember which one, it was an interview with the new head of AMC he was saying that at the beginning of Daryl's spin-off that there will be a major twist. Since we already know that he's going to be kidnapped what could that possibly be? I've read Daryl being kidnapped several times but it's only in this one particular article which I can't remember where it was that he added to it or more likely he thought he was probably giving too much away saying too much and so he never included that twist part again.

Can anyone remember when AMC+ started? The original Daryl/Carol spin-off had already been announced if I remembered correctly. With the shutdown during covid and trying to get the viewer to buy in to paying extra for shows that were airing on AMC they might thought that eventually when the spin-off's all merge together it would only be available on AMC+. I reading an article about the Rick/Michonne spin-off early on and the question come up of if it would be on AMC or only AMC+. I don't remember a clear direct response to that question which makes me feel that is still open-ended. Just some random thoughts I'm throwing out.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

Yeah for sure. I love the idea of a super big twist in the spin-off. Even if Daryl runs into other missing characters like Heath or Jadis (not truly missing), it wouldn’t qualify as a super big twist. Only Beth would. So you’re right. What else could it be? And it’s very suspicious that they mentioned it once and then never again.

@wdway:

A couple of more things. I just keep going up and reading comments and then I have more thoughts that I want to put out. There is another egg timer that I want to point out to you guys because I think it ties in well with what's been said. It's during s9 after the 6 year time jump. Just after Daryl, Carol and Henry arrive at Hilltop he joins Jesus and Aaron to go look for Eugene. At one point the three of them are standing on a hill Daryl takes out an egg timer and throws it into the field as close as he can to the direction that the walkers would be able to hear it. He and dog then walks away to check some things out.

As Aaron and Jesus watch Daryl from a distance they start gossiping about him. That he had not been to Hilltop or AZ for a long time. He would come to trade but as time went by his visits between would be longer and longer. This is the same episode where Jesus is murdered by Whisperers.

My point is Daryl is the one who flung the timer but the couple is actually Aaron and Jesus (Beth is a Christ/Jesus figure) Aaron and Jesus relationship was established by how much Aaron mourned Jesus but also an interviews Ross had said that during the time jump Jesus and Aaron had become closer and did have a relationship.

Now since Aaron did tell Lydia that Eric was his true love I don't think that's belittles Jesus but I think that Daryl and Beth may have had other relationships but the two of them are each other's true loves. Important egg timers the first one I can think of was Carol setting the timer during JSS. Carl and Enid in the tree. Daryl, Aaron, Jesus, Eugene and the Whisperers. Carol in Ghost. Gabriel and Aaron in One More.

@twdmusicboxmystery: Yeah great points! I forgot about a couple of those.

[nelliebachesneg]

@ghostenluvs OK so.

Brief context: Agent Washington is a character from Red vs. Blue, a halo parody series from 2005. It centers around a group of idiots "fighting" each other in a box canyon, though they are eventually forced into an alliance and eventually friendship to deal with crazy shit caused 9 times out of 10 by a secret government organization called Project Freelancer.

Agent Washington (Wash) is an agent of Project Freelancer, and he doesn't show up until season 6 - or more accurately, the miniseries right before season 6. Now, season 6 is arguably the best season of the entire show, because it combines the silly-craziness of the previous seasons with the new, angstier plot of Project Freelancer in a way that make you think they've been planning this since the beginning. The two plot twists at the end of the season are a masterclass in storytelling, particularly foreshadowing and recontextualization.

And I firmly believe that none of it would have worked without Wash, because of who and what his character is on a fundamental level.

We only learn this in later seasons, and some of the details are only available as extra, dubiously-canon content, but Wash joined Project Freelancer because it was either that or a dishonorable discharge from the military because he refused to follow his commander's orders to go on a suicide mission. He was part of the squad of top ten agents, but was universally considered to be the rookie of the team.

Exhibit A, s10: "You really think I'm the squad's second-worst fighter?" "No, I was being polite. You're easily the worst."

Exhibit B, s11: "Everyone in Project Freelancer was known for being the best at something. ... I was known for getting a grappling hook stuck to my balls."

This puts him in the unique position of being simultaneously the worst of the handpicked best, and the best of the handpicked worst - those being the titular Reds and Blues. Wash walks the line between truama-powered badassery and crazy on the border of stupidity. He is the perfect character, therfore, to be the main POV character of a season that is meant to be a bridge between the those two vibes.

And tbh I'd love him for that alone, but then there's the trauma. Did I mention the trauma? Because holy shit, Wash's *trauma*.

Wash's trauma is that an artificial intelligence tried to kill itself while inside of his head.

As it did so, it revealed the horrible truth about Project Freelancer (that I won't recount here because both spoilers and because we'd be here all day). Long story short, he has a head full of memories that aren't his but that undeniably prove that the organization he gave his life to is evil.

But he doesn't leave.

Some of his teammates also learned the truth through other means and rebelled, but by the time Wash got up to speed it was too late for him to join them.

So, naturally, he became a double agent.

He did terrible things to his former friends to gain the trust of the higher ups and never said a word about the memories, but all the while he was biding his time and waiting for an opportunity to burn it all to the ground. Season 6 is that opportunity for him - and he gets arrested for his efforts, while his new friends go free.

Feeling once again betrayed and presented with an opportunity to get out of it, seasons 7 and 8 see him turn on the Reds and Blues and team up with their enemies for his own gain. However, by the end of season 8 - and after one of the best action set pieces ever put on the internet, rip Monty Oum - the Reds and Blues, for lack of a better way to put it, show him the power of friendship and forgiveness. He joins them, and in season 10, he makes a definitive choice to defend his new friends against an old one from Project Freelancer, showing that he's finally found people worth trusting and being loyal to after the trauma of... well, everything.

At the same time though, he knows not to follow anyone blindly - and that's what makes him a good foil for the villain Locus in seasons 11-13, but that's really more about Locus than Wash so I'm not gonna go into it. I'm also not gonna go into his role as a mentor for Tucker in those seasons, because while it's great, that's more about Tucker. But what gets me about all that is that Wash is *able* to be in a supportive role in these seasons because, thanks to everything hes been through since season 6, he's *ok*.

Do you have any idea what it's like to be able to see your favorite character living his best life in the midst of crazy chaos, because despite *everything* he's in a place and with people that make him *happy*?

Wash is a truama-recovery success story, and it's not even fanfic. This is 100% canon. Is it also wish-fulfillment? Absolutely, but I don't care. Wash's story, more than any other character's I have ever seen, gives me *hope*. He gives me hope that I can overcome my own trauma and become the mentor I've always wanted to be. He gives me hope that I can be an adult and skilled at my job and still retain a sense of humor and a willingness to do crazy things. In a lot of ways, I want to be like him.

And that's why he's my icon.

the rule of fandoms is that if someone has a character in their url or bio they either understand that character well enough to give a 3 hour unscripted lecture on the subject OR they're really obsessed with their version of that character thats an entirely different made up guy. and theres literally never an in between

[destielhands]

Just rewatched the s12 finale for the first since since it aired (almost 7 damn years ago) and I cried again. This time I didn’t have a mental breakdown though, I just enjoyed it all so much. Genuinely the best finale since season 5, and I stand by that. It’s just so well done and the way it all built up slowly and foreshadows certain events? 12 was my favorite post kripke era season, I knew it wasn’t good but upon rewatch, yeah it’s truly ass for most of it. But then we get bangers like the episodes from 12x09 to 12x12, and 12x23, and it’s better than anything we got since the s10 Cain episode. I still adore this season, but everyone who thinks it’s one of the worst is also absolutely justified in that. I just love it for the fandom nostalgia and the immaculate deancas. S12 is at the bottom of my list for now, it only got an average score of 6.3, but I still love her okay?

[cpd-55055]

how do you see the pregnant hailey "foreshadowing" in general in the second half of season 9? i see it kind of 50:50 on one side there was already so much foreshadowing jay and hailey getting together and in 8x14 through the jeweler and the door with the engagement ring which yes led to marriage (9x09) but on the other side i think I that you shouldn't interpret it that way haha but maybe Hailey should even find out in the next season and on the anniversary (episode 200) that she's carrying a Halstead baby 😍 then I'm really wrong and I'd love to 😊

I also think the foreshadowing is 50/50. Us fans could be looking into each scene way too much, or the hints could be intentional. We barely got any Upstead scenes after the wedding, so the foreshadowing could be Gwen telling us that something big will happen for the married couple next season. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤞🏼

If I was completely honest, I wasn't sure whether those crumbs would be considered foreshadowing for an Upstead pregnancy. But then 9x20 came out, and there was that scene where the little kid was asking for his parents, and only Jay and Hailey were in the room watching the video. Are we all crazy, or is that a hint?

Whatever happens, I won't be mad. I will be happy if Gwen decides to give us an Upstead pregnancy in S10 (hopefully after the 200th episode). If Gwen chooses to wait for a few more seasons, I will be happy as well. 😊

[louisdotmp3]

s10 really did say: all the monsters are dean.  all of these monsters were human, once.  then they were hurt, then they were killed, then they were infected.  and so they are angry, they consume and consume and consume to sublimate the anger, when they’re not hurting others they’re hurting themselves.  this is ptsd, this is addiction, this is the curse.  their partners and family love them even as they are monsters.  sometimes that love is enough, sometimes that love means letting them go, sometimes that love means killing them.

[tvckerwash]

not to detract from the point of this post (because I do agree), but the reason why failure is such a prevalent theme among not just the women, but all of the freelancers is because we already knew how project freelancer ended. they were literally always doomed to fail, so they had to be written with what we already know happened to them in mind.

for example, church asks tex if carolina was with york in like s4 or something (implying they were possibly a thing), and tex tells him that she was already dead.

north and south were always doomed to turn on one another because of recovery one and s6, and we already knew that south was never meant to get an ai in the first place.

it's heavily implied that wash and maine used to be close all throughout the recollection trilogy, but then maine became the meta and wash went insane because of epsilon.

we knew in s1 I think that tex went rouge and led a break in on a freelancer facility.

we learned that the real ct was a woman in s8 (ct? what's she doing here?) , and that she was working against project freelancer because of s7 (iirc a lot of ppl theorized that ct had a voice mod like tex did prior to s10).

wyoming and york had their rivalry established in out of mind, and we knew that york lost an eye in a training accident involving tex.

we knew that wyoming knew captain flowers somehow (and we learned in s10 that it was because flowers was agent florida).

etc, etc.

this obviously doesn't excuse how they were handled—s10 specifically is kind of a mess because miles has a habit of poorly pacing the story, so all the important stuff lacks proper build up, and we end up with rushed conclusions to arcs that come out of nowhere (such as ct being in a romantic relationship with the innie leader, there was no foreshadowing for that and we know next to nothing about either of them so we can't even be sad about it like with york and carolina) but I do think it's important to acknowledge the limitations of writing a prequel arc after we already know how said arc ended.

I think a lot about the fact that all of the female freelancers, not just Tex were designed to fail in one way or another. For Connie, she was told she would never meet the skills of her colleagues, which put her in such a position where she was doomed to snap, and a position she was doomed to be hunted down loosing it. Carolina was taunted with the brink of failure, her whole life she believed what was perfect was being at the top of it, this was only really fueled by the Director. While not directly ever said we can assume this was the only way Carolina could see herself close to her father. Then it was just taken away from her where failures piled up on her and up on her causing her to become obsessed with someone she can literally never beat. South was the control variant of an experiment, South was forced to snap constantly and was punished for doing so. She was constantly taunted like a dog. Even Ohio, all she’s ever known was failure, she and the triplets tried and tried to make themselves known for being more then bottom of the barrel freelancers, but never succeeded until they were just left for dead

Project freelancer egged all of them on so much to the point where they can only be known as their worst qualities and the writers did an excellent job at this because most of the fandom thinks of them similarly. All of their worst qualities were just fueled and fueled to the point where during the freelancer arc, you can forget their good qualities. I think South’s the best example, because so many people can’t see her as more then a backstabbing short tempered bitch, rather than a highly skilled, well organized, timed and motivated killer, who can fucking hide amongst pipes and wipe out guards without a sound, while sometimes over her head can and will defend herself. Or Carolina, became selfish with obsession, to the point where she’d betray her partner and friends, in favor of pursuing her idea of success, because in the program, there wasn’t another way

I’m in no way a South apologist, but honestly, I feel like all the female freelancers, all had such strong themes of failure in their lives, some were able to overcome it and become so great and badass, some accepted it and became happy, and some were killed for it

[more-hats]

She needs to chill with the Lyme disease!!!

[restlesshush]

The Replacement is to The Gift as There’s No Place Like Home is to [a hypothetical good end to the Mark of Cain arc about accepting the bad parts of yourself and learning to live healthily with them]

[castielss]

People keep saying that in 3x10 when the other dean said dean was going to become a demon was foreshadowing S10, but it actually meant dean going to hell and becoming one. Maybe I’m wrong.

No you are totally right (dude they didn’t even know they were gonna have a season 4... ) it was totally about hell and he did become a demon down there...

[tvckerwash]

hello! I hope it’s okay if I share some thoughts regarding the whole ‘something about ct’s storyline doesn’t read very well’ thing.

I think the biggest reason why ct’s story reads so poorly is because s10 tries to separate it, and by extension, ct herself, from wash. admittedly, ct’s character and story being tied to wash is an issue of its own, but I’m going to ignore the root of that problem because I don’t want this to be a “rewriting ct from scratch” focused reply instead of a “trying to make sense of what we were given” reply. 

essentially, s9 sets wash up as a deuteragonist of sorts, and ct’s story is written in a way where it’s meant to be told through—or in conjunction with—wash. this makes a lot of sense considering wash’s role in previous seasons, and we also already know his position regarding the director’s actions, so by connecting ct to wash we are able to very quickly understand what type of character she is supposed to be—the lone hero working from the inside to tear down a corrupt military organization (who everybody thinks is crazy).

this is a lazy writing choice, but due to the freelancer saga being a prequel rt was put into a very restrictive situation when it came to the story they could tell, so I can understand the decision to do what they did. that doesn’t mean it was a good decision, but it is what it is.

in s10 however, while wash still has a decent amount of screen time, he’s been pushed out of his deuteragonist-ish role and is mostly regulated to comedic relief rather than being important to the progression of the story like he is in s9. this is an issue because as I mentioned above, wash IS the underlying context to ct’s character and her story, and without wash acting as the foundation she comes off as flat and one dimensional.

that is of course assuming that they always knew that the ct we meet in s7 wasn’t going to be the real ct, because prior to s10 a lot of people assumed that desert ct was the real ct, she was just using a voice mod like tex and south. 

anyway, I’m probably going to sound insane for a minute here because my brain is having issues coming up with the words to connect my thoughts together. my other line of thinking regarding ct is that her crumbling relationship with wash, her alliance with the ‘insurrectionists’, and her relationship with the leader was SUPPOSED to parallel/foreshadow york’s alliance with tex, and carolina breaking up with him at the end of s10. this is NOT how ct’s story reads AT ALL in s10, but I feel like there is sound logic behind this line of thought considering everything I’ve written thus far.

so ct’s relationship with the innie leader wasn’t supposed to be read as her “choosing a romantic relationship over the right thing”, but since her relationship with the leader isn’t properly explained and comes out of left field (undoubtably the doing of miles), and the fact that wash isn’t a part of her character anymore, that is unfortunately how it comes off.

I feel like that could have been remedied somewhat by having wash be the one to confront ct and the leader with tex instead of carolina, allowing the two of them to have their own ballet breakup moment of sorts, but that would’ve required miles to understand wash’s role as a character in ways that he did not.

I have so much more I want to talk about but I’ve been typing this up for a few hours now and my brain is sick of it lol. I hope I managed to get across what I’m trying to say in a way that’s at least somewhat understandable, but ct is also very difficult for me to discuss for many of the same reasons you lay out op, so I apologize if it isn’t lol.

oh and optionally, here and here are two posts where I talk about some of the ways wash and ct are connected as characters, as well as a short reading of ct that might add some helpful context to this reply? 

I love hearing all your thoughts on RvB! I was wondering if you had any thoughts on Agent Connecticut (CT)?

Thank you! I enjoy thinking about these weird little GI Joes :) I will always take questions/shooting the shit about rvb in my inbox :D

As far as CT, she's... kind of difficult for me. I have a lot of issues with her character on a writing level. While on the surface I quite like what's set up-- someone who's very clearly against what PFL is doing, whistleblowing, working with insurrectionists, sowing discord and suspicion in PFL members, etc-- she's just... Unfortunately written very flatly.

To put it simply-- she feels like a rough draft of a character, and it makes a lot of her scenes that would and should be narratively impactful/rewarding just... Not.

A lot of it is Rooster Teeth's misogyny, obviously. They have a hard time writing women who are empowered and not just flattening them to 'badass bitch,' and CT most definitely suffers from this. But the biggest issue is the leverage of her relationship with the insurrectionist leader as structuring it as a flattened love story. I think it takes away a lot of her agency. Now, there's nothing inherently wrong with prioritizing or showcasing a romantic relationship-- York and Carolina's is usually my go-to for how Rooster Teeth does it right, but even there, you can see how a lot of the romantic narrative beats are the underlying text to support the actual PFL plot, rather than framing the romantic plot over the insurrectionist plot. I... Have a hard time putting this into succinct words, but there's just something about CT's storyline that really, really, really doesn't read well. It attempts to leverage her attachment to this man over her attachment to... Doing? A? Good? Thing? (Not to mention, I'm still really unclear of what the Insurrectionist goals even are.)

What could be a really fascinating portrayal of a character who is trying to navigate the truly heartbreaking, difficult, morally-grey aspects of revolutionary thought, her genuine care for her comrades, and her romantic love interest just so often is... like I said above. Flat. A rough draft. There's not a lot of nuance, or a lot of thought, and any depth here gets relegated to plot. That's the problem. CT doesn't have a character, she has a plot device. She is a plot device. At all points, every time we can get more from her, we get her regurgitating the parts of the plot RT wants us to get out of the story. She's... Kind of just a lazy Physical Moralization Of the Story?

Here's what they do right-- I really like the subtleties in her and Tex's relationship dynamics. Leaving the thumb drive in Tex's locker. CT's genuine concern and desire to let Tex navigate and figure out who she is. The righteous anger involved in that action, and their relationship. I don't know if I want that aspect to be explored more-- When you have a character like CT who just... spells out the plot for you, it's nice to have these subtle moments that don't try to wack you over the head with an ice pick about how to read the text. CT often seems to be used to spell the plot out to people, which I find to be more than a little demeaning. (Then again, I guess I can't fault them for having a fanbase that is probably not as invested in like. Media Literacy on the whole. lol. but that's mean.)

I think there's something genuinely heartbreaking in CT. Her relationship with Wash is fascinating, and I find the moments of her genuine frustration and the futility of trying to break through soldier mentality to be interesting. There's the bones of a really cool character, here, but it just... She just... Ugh.

If you can't tell, the construction of her character just frustrates me to no end, lol. So I'm sorry for this mess of a text, but this is a rough draft in and of itself, because trying to dissect her character is just... It's like staring at a brick wall that's been graffitied to say MAYBE THE DIRECTOR IS A BAD GUY, GUYS? ALSO I'M A WOMAN, DID YOU KNOW THAT? and it's just, simply put, kind of disappointing.

[naruhearts]

On the bright side I’m going to Vancon in October woot woot so there’s that to look forward to! 

Keeping my ears peeled for S14 tidbits will be my full time job while I’m there, especially after seein’ the painful way they finished S13 :P 

*still me right now*