#Beth and Glenn my beloveds
Text
Why is my heart telling me to watch The Walking Dead again and actually finish it this time when I know that there are 2 deaths within the span of about a season that I never recovered from and never will?
The second of which is definitely permanent, the first of which is permanent but I still let myself believe the conspiracy theories...
#the walking dead#i am an idiot#girl don't do the thing#i will probably do the thing#Beth and Glenn my beloveds#team delusional#no one can tell me Beth/Daryl wasn't romantic#that relationship was as platonic as Tony Stark and Pepper Potts#Bethyl#still devastated
5 notes
·
View notes
Text
season 2 means the world to me and now that it's over it's time for me to Elaborate (while I SOB how dare you anthony)
it being a more complex and less easily fixable storyline fits because they're teens! it really resonates with my early-20s-ass!!! i love season one it's incredible but their goals being more clearly set out also makes sense! all they really want is to get their kids home. the teens have to save the world and kill willy and reconcile with their parents and and and---
also idk why but in season 1 i really only had one dad that i Latched Onto and that was henry. i love darryl and glenn and ron obviously but henry just hit different for some reason and we're not gonna examine that because then i'll have to schedule a therapy appointment. but this season i have latched on to every single one of the teens. they're all extremely, WILDLY important to me and i'm gonna talk about it (scotty mute your dash)
let's talk about taylor first because i ADORE him. i am so freaking proud of him, y'all. he started off the season asking cassandra who his dad was and he ended the season by realizing that all he needs is his mom! that's a fantastic moment of character development. he cares so much about his friends! he knows who he is and he puts on a confident attitude, but he's still just a scared kid a lot of the time. he's so supportive 24/7 (HELL YEAH MY MAN) and if norm is the glue, taylor is the emotional support glitter on the craft project that is team stunt teens. he brings up the mood! he adds pizzazz! he's not. afraid to shine but he's also kinda fragile! that's my fucking guy!!!
ok moving on to my absolute beloved scary marlowe. i was one of those people who started off not really liking scary and not understanding her Deal but i finally GOT her in halt and catch fireball and from then on i've been obsessed with her. she falls into my favourite category of fictional character which is morally grey woman with insane amounts of power who just desperately wants to be accepted by people (i.e. jean grey, morgana pendragon, etc.) she stares willy in the eye as he dies!!! she tells her bio dad to fuck off and she accepts terry as her dad and remembers her mom is her best friend and GODDD SCARY MARLOWE. she's one of the most performative of the teens but she's also one of the most genuine. she is quick to defend each of her friends and once she's back in, she's BACK IN. she backs up every single one of them whenever they need her support, and her friendship with normal especially is extremely special to me. they're siblings your honour. the thesis of scary marlowe's character (imo) is "what if my friends love me more than i hate me" and that is a POWERFUL ASS choice that beth made. that's every teenager i know!!! that's me in high school!!! she's fucked up and she's imperfect but she is trying and she's learning to forgive herself for caring and i could write more but i'm not gonna because this is already getting so long and we're only halfway through.
okay this one is. god. normal oak. you put an oak in front of me and i start crying immediately. normal is no exception. hermie may be the theatre kid but normal has the theatre kid energy of trying so SO hard for attention and love but never getting the appreciation he wants. every single relationship he has is FUCKED. he lives off of validation and he's never learned to love himself as is. (please fucking god get this kid to samantha stampler he needs to hear that he's enough just as he is). he hasn't been loved by his parents the way he should, he's fighting to meet impossible expectations, he's been inadvertently pitted against his sister since birth, and he starts the season filled with the naive sort of joy that comes from doing No self reflection whatsoever and ends it deeply self-reflective and clearly still dealing with his trauma. but now he has friends who accept and love him no matter what. friends who will pull him onto the dance floor! he's the cheerleader! he's constantly giving out the validation he's wanted his whole life. he is so generous and so kind and so fucking sad and he breaks my heart. i need a campaign exclusively about normal going to college and learning how to live without his parents constantly in his business and learning who he really is and wants to be. he is. god. normal oak swallows garcia has been living with two conflicting philosophies his entire life, from sparrow "love wolf" oak garcia to lark "bring this glock to school" oak garcia. it's no wonder his mom is a centrist because who ELSE could love both of those men. (rebecca and morgan should meet up. side note.) and he chooses love every time!!! WE HAVE TO HELP IT. i love normal. i hope he's gone to therapy in the past twenty years and i hope he sees that he's had the people who care about him and love him all along in the form of his friends. i was normal normal was me and i am so proud of him. because even though everything has sucked shit he keeps pushing through. he's resilient and i love him for that.
and now. the teen who came out of nowhere and stole all the space in my brain. the true surprise of the season for me. LINCOLN LI FUCKING WILSON. god what to say about lincoln. so so much. i am so overcome by emotion whenever i think of lincoln that it is nearly impossible to put it into words. i understand this kid on a spiritual level. he has one goal and one passion his entire life. he loves his dads so much and he defines himself by what he loves and what he's interested in. he's never been confronted with the real world before. and then he is. and suddenly his world is no longer soccer and dads and his small house and fifa. now he is realizing that oh, the world is a little fucked up actually, and oh, the man i idolized for 14-15(???) years is kind of the one who fucked it up. he means the best for me but by sheltering me too much i am woefully unprepared for the world i'm living in and now all of my false hopes and aspirations are crashing down around me and the only way i can deal with that is to not care anymore. he has to shut it all out or he'll actually have to Think about how awful it is. his dad has killed people. he was found on the titanic?? scary, the person he immediately latched onto once he started doubting his dad, betrays him, and then he's floating again. and scary comes back!! and they eventually get married!!! and future lincoln has learned to forgive and understand that maybe, if he can forgive scary and love her and know her for who she really is and accept her even though she killed that guy that one time, maybe he can learn how to do the same for his dad. i'll say it. lincoln is the luke skywalker of this season. he is throwing away that lightsaber. he is saving grant from his self-hatred by choosing to love him at the end of the season. he tries to change himself as a way to get space. he hates hermie but he tries to be there for normal. he's best friends (...)with taylor and he finds his first REAL friend that isn't one of his dads through taylor!!! taylor inspires him to finally rebel and steal that laffy taffy!! high school lets him start to figure out who he is. he's able to forgive his dads. his sense of morality is maybe a little fucked up but he's probably working on it now!! he's absolutely the bitchiest out of all the teens and i love him for that!! he does his dads' taxes??????? he's been forced to handle WAY too much responsibility on literally all fronts and he shuts down to try and cope. he is canonically autistic to ME. the way he thinks about everything is Insane. he's besties with a bunch of dolphins. soccer is his safe place. when he loves something he holds on TIGHT. this is an incredibly long-winded way of saying i love lincoln and i will spend the rest of my life losing my mind over this character.
my point here is i love season 2. it's weird! it's freaky! it's eldritch! it's brightly coloured and also dark as shit!! i love season 2!!!!!!!
and don't get me started on dood because then we'll be here for hours.
#dndads#dungeons and daddies#star rambles#dndads spoilers#taylor swift dndads#scary marlowe#normal oak#lincoln li wilson
27 notes
·
View notes
Text
Braindead Reviews
The Walking Dead: Season 4
Overall thoughts:
Daryl brain rot.
Fuck the Governor.
What kind of ending is that!!!
S4, ep 1
They’ve made the prison look good man
Oh damn it’s a full community
That’s so cool
They’ve got a mini farm and vegetable crops holy shit
Carl naming a pig even though they’re gonna have to kill it for food
Everyone greeting Daryl and him not knowing what the fuck to do with that
“Just so you know, I liked you first.” Carol I love you
HES SO AWKWARD I LOVE HIM
THE AGGRESSIVE FINGER LICKING DARYL PLEASE
The longer hair is lookin good damn
How’d they make my man finer
“Sorry, Pookie” CAROL MY BELOVED
He is now my Pookie
Always and forever Pookie
TYRESE AND MAMA STILINSKI ?!?!?!?
BETH AND RANDO ?!?!?!?
“It’s a damn romance novel.” Its ok Pookie, you’re just lonely
Michonne on a horse.. is there anything this lady can’t do ??
Michonne bringing back comics for Carl - mother
“Your face is losing the war.” YES PLEASE SHAVE IT BACK A BIT
She’s looking for the Governor and I get it but please stay safe my love
“Dad, that’s for kids.” You are the kids Carl.
Holy shit she’s a person
Not the kids naming the walkers
HOMICIDE COP 🤣🤣🤣
DARYL FUCKING WITH HIM 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Oh holy crap - the helicopter crash and shit on the roof
Michonne killing the cardboard cutout of the zombie in the shop
Ex-army medic guy is kinda weird
Jesus christ dude that’s one way to get the walkers attention
Oh shit not the roof caving in
Idk how I feel about the chick in the woods
Oh YUCK the scalp being left on the floor as the walker gets up
Beths rando getting killed shit
Carol teaching the kids how to defend themselves during Story Time
Maggie thought she was pregnant ?!?!?!?
Daryl telling Beth - how was he the best person for that job
“Just tired of losing people is all.” Pookie
DOES HE NOT KNOW HOW TO HUG
Oh god there’s a sickness in the prison
DON’T USE THE COMMUNAL WATER DICKHEAD YOU’LL GET EVERYONE SICK
OH SHIT
HE’S DEAD
S4, ep 2
WHOS LURING THE WALKERS TO THE PRISON
Tyrese please don’t sing
Please don’t let Mama Stilinski die
Glenn taking a polaroid of Maggie and refusing to throw it away my loves I adore them
Michonne is that boys mother, you can’t tell me otherwise
“It ain’t a breech.” No it’s not pookie
Jesus that’s so many dead
Carol having to kill that man and his eldest daughter deciding to do it
Daryl knowing that one of the dead locked himself in cause he used to sleep walk
“Gotta be.” Pookie you can say you’re not ok
The mans 2 daughters are fucken weird
Michonne not wanting to hold Judith - hmm, I have thoughts
MICHONNE CRYING
IDSVUDSJKVNDS
NO THE POOR PIGS FUCK
WHYD THAT MAKE ME CRY
THEIR PANICKED SQUEALING
NO
PLEASE NO
THEY BURNT MAMA STILINSKI AND THE OTHER DUDE ?!?!?!?!
S4, ep 3
Daryl stopping Rick and Carol from stepping in with Tyrese
Rick and Tyrese fighting
Sasha getting sick fuck
“He’s already given me fleas.” 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Tyrese dude, she’s dead and its an apocalypse, keep others alive before you hunt down whoever burnt her
GOD
NO
NOT GLENN
PLEASE NO
Daryl working on the car.. fuck
“Put a bolt in them for what they did.” Please do pookie
Why am I suspicious of the child ???
Carl’s growing up
“What’s that word?” “Zananavere” “Yeah, we need you.” So real for that - yes, I spelt it wrong
A voice on the radio
THATS A LOT OF WALKERS HOLY SHIT
“Make a run for the woods and don’t stop for nothing.” Daryl baby, if they don’t stop for you, ill kill them
Why is tyrese just sitting there? Run boy
Not him sacrificing himself for the others
HE’S ALIVE
Wait
CAROL burnt them
Holy shit
S4, ep 4
Daryl taking something back for the people at the prison - for a grave
Michonne’s smile
Of course Daryl can Hotwire a car
The 2 in the house are a bit.. idk
More mechanic Daryl my beloved
Daryl is so comforting in such a brutal way
“It was easier than telling an ER nurse I fell down the stairs for the third time.” I know he’s dead, but imma kill him
The chick from the house is dead
“You should have kept walking that day.” Fuck ok
Feral Daryl getting up in his face - Jesus
Daryl’s growling
“You take one sip before those meds get into our people, I will beat your ass into the ground.” I don’t think that should have been that attractive to me
Rick dude, they were gonna die. Y’all didn’t even have a plan to go get the meds when she killed them.
Rick you can’t kick Carol out the fuck is wrong with you
If she goes, Daryl goes man
RICK
DON’T YOU DARE
I hate you Rick Grimes
S4, ep 5
I hate you Rick Grimes
The kid treating the walker like a dog
OH SHIT THE FENCE IS DOWN
Its all gone to shit
Not Daryl and the others arriving back after it’s all been done
Oh god they have to tell Daryl
His instant concern
NOT THE FUCKEN GOVERNOR
FUCK OFF
JUST DIE ALREADY
S4, ep 6
Oh please don’t let this be an episode about the fucken governor yuck
Oh these poor people that have found him
Yeah I skipped his episode soz fuck that guy
S4, ep 7
Its still him fuck
Skipped
Not him coming across Michonne and Hershel at the end
S4, ep 8
HE TOOK MICHONNE AND HERSHEL
Daryl’s growl while talking about Carol being gone
Who’s leaving the fucken rats around
Governor fuck off now
Go die
Jesus Christ
Daryl don’t let Carl do anything stupid
The governor is fucking insane
Hershel looks so proud of Rick
NO
NO
NO
NO
ABSOLUTELY NOT
NO
WHAT THE FUCK
NO
HERSHAL PLEASE
YES THE GOVERNOR WAS HIT
DARYLS GROWL BEFORE HE STARTS SHOOTING
MICHONNE RUN
LIVE
PLEASE
YOU GOTTA LIVE
Oh god not Rick getting shot
NO
DON’T HURT HERSHAL MORE
FUCK
OH OH OH YES
THE NEW CHICK SEEING HIM BE SO FUCKING VILE WHILE HOLDING HER DEAD DAUGHTER YES
Daryl my beloved with the grenade
Beth where the fuck are you
The little kids killing someone
The Governor getting the best of Rick
MICHONNE GETTING THE GOVERNOR
YES
HELL YEAH
THATS MY GIRL
Daryl throwing a grenade in the tank
Well.. the prison’s gone
S4, ep 9
Michonne getting her walkers on a leash again
Rick being a dick ngl
They’re both being dicks
FLASH BACK TO MICHONNE’S LIFE
SHE HAD A PARTNER
AND A CHILD
Carl stop talking to your dad while he’s unconscious
“I’d be fine if you died.” CARL NO
Him running into the door and not being able to open it 🤣🤣🤣🤣
The walker in the house
‘Walker in side. Got my shoe. Didn’t get me.’
Fuck Michonne
Carl thinking he’s going to have to kill his dad is fucking heartbreaking
“112 ounces of pudding.” That- Carl- ok
Michonne crying because she’s so happy to find them
WHAT DID RICK SEE TO MAKE HIM LAUGH
S4, ep 10
DARYLLLL
Conveying he’s sorry for the Hershal comment with his expression rather than words is such a Daryl thing to do
Arms
He’s so gentle but in a like.. brutal way
Throwing the crossbow on the ground so he can save Beth
Oh Tyrese has Judith, thank god
I don’t trust those 2 little girls
Who’s screaming????
AYO GET OUR HAND OFF THE BABIES MOUTH
The eldest kid is a fucking psychopath
CAROLLLLLL
Terminus … do we trust it ??
Glenn boy you better be ok
HE’S IN THE OVERRUN PRISON HOLY SHIT
“She’s my wife.” Hell yeah she is buddy
WHO ARE THESE GUYS THE FUCK
“What else you got?” Ew
S4, ep 11
Carl and Michonne acting like besties
Not Carl ignoring her attempt to make him feel better
Her telling Carl about her son
What is going on in the house Rick’s hiding in ???
THE RICK GRIMES HEAD TURN
Abraham, Rosita, Eugene
How can he possibly know what caused this ???
How can someone in a fucking zombie apocalypse be that useless with a gun ?!?!?!
Oh yuck - those guys are disgusting - Rick, kill them
Actually, Michonne, kill them
Rosita going with Glenn and the other chick - the others following
Terminus again
S4, ep 12
DARYL YES
Not him and Beth hiding in the trunk of a car
The snake 🤢🤢🤢🤢
Beth you’re like 17, you’re not having alcohol
Daryl has forgotten how to talk I see
WHY YOU FLIPPING HIM OFF
HES KEEPING YOU ALIVE
DUMBASS
Why is she so fixated on alcohol like girly leave it alone - if you gotta run for your life, alcohol is gonna make that so much harder
Daryl keeping the money and the jewels
‘Rich bitch’ on a dead woman who’s been posed on a mannequin - Beth being bothered by it and Daryl probably knowing people who would have done that
Daryl beating the crap out of the walker, even though he could have just killed him quickly - thats the first time he’s shown any outward sign of his rage at losing the prison and the others
“Peach schnapps. Is it good?” “No.” Correct
Daryl throwing darts at the pictures of the people on the wall instead of the dart board - the anger continues
“Ain’t gonna have your first drink be no damned peach schnapps.” 🤣🤣
MOONSHINE
DARYL SHES LIKE 12
“That’s a real first drink right there.” DARYL
Jesus Christ that’s how Daryl lived
“Mr. Dixon” eugh
WHY IS SHE DOING A DRINKING GAME WITH HIM
GIRLY IK HES HOT BUT YOURE A CHILD
“I ain’t never needed a game to get lit before.” Pookie please
Things we learn about Daryl in this game
He’s never been out of Georgia
Been drunk and done things he’s regretted - a lot of them
Never been on vacation - camping was for hunting and survival
Him being offended when she does the “never been in jail” line - “is that what you think of me?”
“CAN’T HEAR YOU! I’M TAKING A PISS!!” DARYL PLEASE
Things we might have learnt but it could be fake cause he’s pissed
never had frozen yoghurt (now that’s just cruel)
had a pet pony
got anything from Santa
relied on anyone for protection
relied on anyone for anything (you were abused pookie)
never sung in front of people in public like it was fun (ok that one’s fair)
cut his wrists looking for attention (low blow)
Aggressively trying to teach her how to shoot the crossbow - wonder how much Norman apologised for the physicality later
“I want you to stop acting like you don’t give a crap about anything. Like nothing we went through matters. Like none of the people we lost meant anything to you. It’s bullshit.” “Is that what you think?” “That’s what I know.”
“I ain’t afraid of nothing.”
Oh god his voice cracks
A HUG
FOR DARYL
FINALLY
BRO NEEDS IT
NO NO NO NO DONT YOU DARE CRY DARYL DIXON MY POOR HEART WONT TAKE IT
“Yeah, I’m a dick when I’m drunk.” Pookie, you’re a dick like 97% of the time
“I thought I was dead. Over a dumb cartoon about a talking dog.” Daryl, sweetie, I’m so glad your brother is dead.
“I was nobody. Nothing. Some redneck asshole and an even bigger asshole for a brother.”
“I’m just used to this. Things being ugly.”
“You’re gonna be the last man standing.” I see that
“You’re gonna miss me so bad when I’m gone, Daryl Dixon.” Fucken foreshadowing at this point
I can not for the life of me tell if she’s flirting with him or not
ARE THEY ACTUALLY GONNA BURN THE HOUSE DOWN
Crazy assholes actually did it
S4, ep 13
Who is this?
Is this the ‘backstory’ of the dude who wanted the alcohol?????
It is alcohol man!!
Ok so with Maggie and Sasha
Teaching Beth how to track and use the crossbow
Dad!Daryl to the rescue when Beth gets hurt
“This is a serious piggyback. Jump up.” Daryl marry me
Holding hands for comfort: cute. But if its anything else.. GIRLY HIS BEARD IS GOING GREY ADN YOU ARE A CHILD
Sasha trying to get them safe and Maggie lost in her grief
Daryl yuck don’t do that (do that to me tho) - the jar in the house by the cemetery
Why’s she playing the piano - they’re meant to be quiet
“This is the comfiest bed I’ve had in years.” IT’S A COFFIN DARYL
I am Concerned Daryl Dixon
How is a coffin the comfiest bed ?!?!?!? SIR??
I am trying really really hard to keep it that she is a child and he’s old enough to be her dad - PLEASE DONT BE A CREEP DIXON SHE’S 17
I did some googling cause it was bothering me - they met when Beth was 16, she’s currently 17 and she dies when she’s 18. If ANYTHING happens between them, I’m turning off. (I knew she died it’s not a spoiler).
Maggie ditching the others to look for Glenn - writing messages in blood
Daryl is at peak dad energy this episode
A DOG
CUTE
Beth stop pushing the emotionally constipated man for his feelings
NOT JUST A DOG
PLEASE LET THE DOG BE OK
Making sure she gets out the house safely
WAS BETH JUST KIDNAPPED ?!?!?!?!
God he was running all night
ALCOHOIC AND SASHA KISSING
Maggie waiting for Sasha and Bob in the town
Who the fuck has found Daryl?
IT’S THE CREEPS FROM THE HOUSE RICK WAS IN
Glenn found the Terminus sign, thank god
S4, ep 14
Is someone playing.. with a walker
This eldest girl is fucken weird
WHY THE FUCK IS SHE WAVING AT THE WALKERS
The younger girl is also fucken weird
Jesus Christ what the fuck is she doing
She’s feeding the fucken walker
THE OLDER ONE KILLED THE YOUNGER ONE
THE FUCK
She was feeding the walkers at the prison
Fucken hell
Carol having to kill the girl she was supposed to protect is foul and cruel
Telling Tyrese that she burnt the others, giving him a gun - holy shit
“I forgive you.” Oh
S4, ep 15
Abraham is really good at reading people
Glenn taking off when he finds the sign from Maggie
Daryl bby leave those creeps
Carl and Michonne having fun together
Oh you did not just invade on Daryl’s kill AND call Daryl Dixon “boy”. You gone die
OH HES TALKING ABOUT BETH
YOU GONE DIE
Did this fucker just insinuate that ?!?!?!
Daryl kill him
He looks like a lil kid having his candy taken from him
Don’t stop at noon - wasting time
“Some of you ain’t exactly friendly.” Have you met you?
Did he just compare Daryl to a cat ???
Eugene is creepy
And annoying
Rosita queen
What did they see?
Dickhead needs to back up from Pookie
Telling Glenn to go yes, but he won’t
MAGGIE AND GLENN YES
Glenn not telling Maggie that Tara was with the Governor is certainly a choice
I get the feeling that Eugene isn’t saying something
He’s leaving something out
Or he’s lying
They killed dickhead holy shit
THEY’RE HUNTING RICK
CAUSE HE KILLED THEIR MAN TO ESCAPE
Glenn and Maggie arriving at Terminus - why do I have a bad feeling about this?
Mary
S4, ep 16
WHY IS RICK COVERED IN BLOOD THE FUCK
CARL ?!?!
MICHONNE ?!?!?!
OH GOD DID THOSE DICKHEADS FIND THEM ?!!?
Those dickheads have in fact found Rick
“These people, you’re gonna let them go. These are good people.” Yes pookie save them
“You want blood. I get it. Take it from me, man.” UH NO
OR WE COULD NOT
DON’T
STOP
NO
FUCKEN HELL
LEAVE HIM ALONE
The Rick Grimes Head Tilt
Carl’s crying really reminds you that he’s still a child
AYO
IS THAT DUDE GONNA RAPE CARL
HOLY SHIT RICK
HE JUST RIPPED THAT DUDES NECK OUT WITH HIS TEETH
HOLY SHIT
“He’s mine.” Oh fuck
Dripping in blood, having just ripped someones neck out, and pissed off cause you dared to touch his son.. you’re dead dead dead
He just gutted that man like a pig
Holy fuck
Michonne cradling Carl - thank you
Carl lying on Michonnes lap like she’s his mum - imma cry
Daryl looking out for Carl, making Rick clean the blood off
Daryl Dixon don’t you dare blame yourself for those dickheads - you were trying to survive
“You’re my brother.”
“What you did last night, anybody would have done that.” If someone tried to rape my kid, hell yeah I would
Michonne and Rick have this way of understanding each other and it’s beautiful
They’ve made it to Terminus
Her walkers on the leash were her boyfriend and their friend - they were high in the damn apocalypse
Carl bby you’re not a monster. You’re the product of your horrific circumstances and the shit you’ve had to do to survive.
Gareth and Alex
Don’t take their weapons pls
“Hate to see the other guy.” “You would.”
“They deserve it?” “Yes.” Carl bby, yes they did
Rick seeing belongings from other members of their group - putting a gun to Alex, Daryl jumping in with 0 hesitation
Even in a zombie apocalypse I cannot escape lego
JUST TELL RICK WHERE YOU GOT THE WATCH BRO
YO
WHAT
THE
FUCK
WHO
IS
IN
THE
CRATES
Why does the letter ‘A’ keep showing up ???
GLENN
MAGGIE
“Now they’re friends of ours.” Yes they are pookie
“They’re gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out.” … “They’re fucking with the wrong people.”
What a way to end the season fuck
#° braindead reviews#the walking dead#daryl dixon#rick grimes#michonne#glenn rhee#maggie greene#carl grimes#twd#° braindead watches#season 4
12 notes
·
View notes
Text
!DNDADS S2 EP44 SPOILERS!
aTONYment??? what does pepperoni tony have to so w this. oh my god are they gonna visit him in heaven or something. wtf is happening. guess i gotta listen and find out (im scared)
- BETH PLAYING AS NPC BETH MAY
- "ron... what ARE we?" WTF IS HAPPENINGGG
- ROGUE TAYLOR??????
- MORE GOOFY FREDDIE NUMBERS IM EXCITED
- NO NO DONT SAY THE LINCOLN FACT AS LINCOLN THATS GONNA MAKE ME SAD
- WILL IS SO SILLY i love that man
- i like the energy at the start of this one its fun
- wait is anthony doing a regular dad fact
- ANTHONY. 😭
- FREDDIE DEATH SOUND MY BELOVED
- DID LINCOLN JUST CALL HIS GRANDPA ZADDY. NEVER AGAIN
- "i had more fun in the other place" GREASE CAR FLASHBACKS.
- OMG EARLY HERMIE APPEARANCE (i choked on my food)
- "no! we cant! my scene partner!" they are so besties (worsties)
- "MY FUTURE LIFE PARTNER" HOLY FUCK HOLY FUCK HOLY FUCK OAKWORTHY CRUMBS. OH M GOD . FUTURE LIFE PARTNER.
- MEATBALL SCARY
- TERRY JR SOON. GUYS
- oh wow beth hasnt cast unseen servant since. goth
- ANTHONYS BABY VOICE
- so lincoln is looking for the eleanor shellstrop okay (this whole heaven/hell stuff has just constantly been reminding me of tgp)
- "he looks up at them asianly" has the same energy as the "cries in spanish" meme
- FREDDIES LITTLE SONG HAS ME SCREAMINGGGG
- ARE TJEY ACTUALLY GONNA FIND TONY. OH MY GOD
- WOW ALL U GUYS THAT WERE JUST TELLING ME HOW U MISS PEPPERONI TONY. HOW ARE YALL FEELING
- SCARY HAS A CHANCE TO APOLOGIZE.
- 4:30 MILE IS ACTUALLY INSANE. MATT.
- HOW DID WILL FORGET THAT SOCCER IS LINKS WHOLE THING
- GOD LINK CALLING NORMAL OUTTT
- HERMIE. FUCK OFFFFF
- SPARROW OFFERING NORMAL A HUG????
- FUUUUUCK. NORMAL
- help i would like to interrupt for just a sec to say that in the middle of the episode just now i got hired at spirit halloween. dndads reference GAKDJD
- TONY WAS WAITING FOR MARGARITA WAAAAA
- SCARY SOUNDS SO NERVOUS NOBODY HMU
- IM GONNA CRY. I CANT DO THIS
- PLZZZZ LET THEM SEE MARGARITA AGAIN PLZZZ
- SCARY WHY WOULD U ASK IF IT HURT :[[
- WHAT IS THE VIBE OF THIS SCENE. HELP
- NOOOO I NEED SCARY AND MARGARITA TO INTERACT AGAIN. THEY ARE GFS
- SCARY CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT....
- THEY ARE BEING SO AWFUL TO NORMAL. QUIT IT
- SCARYS TALKING ABOUT TERRY. END ME
- "he never knew me when i was someone to be proud of" OOOUGHGHHH
- IF THAT FUCKING SWORD GOT INTO HERMIES HANDS. THEY WOULD BE UNSTOPPABLE
- NORMAL. BURIES MY HEAD IN THE FUCKING DIRT
- ooo normal dragging the sword would make cool fanart
- i honestly love salty normal but it also makes me really sad
- SCARY DIDNT INCLUDE HERMIE AMONG HER SPOUSES????
- TY WILL FOR REMEMBERING NICKY
- TAYLOR DEFENDING HIS DAD AWWW
- WTF IS THIS FIGHT???? HELLO??
- IS NORMAL FINALLY SNAPPING. IS THIS HAPPENING
- "I AM JEALOUS I DONT HAVE ANY COOL DYNAMICS W ANYBODY!!!" FUUUUUUCKK
- i cant do this i feel sick im SICK
- "why are they arguing i thought they liked each other" WHAT IF I BURST INTO TEARS RN.
- THE NORMAL ANGST IN THIS EPISODE IS TOOOO MUCH FOR ME
- NORMAL PUT THE MASCOT COSTUME BACK ON. FUCK. FUCK
- "ME AND MY THREE BEST FRIENDS AND MY FUTURE BOYFRIEND" GUYS. GUYS I CANNOT DO THIS
- THESE KIDS ARE SOOOO TRAUMATIZED WHAT THE HELLLL
- OH RON WAS IN SCARYS POCKET
- TERRY IS IN THE "PLANES OF MISERY"????
- "maybe he saw what u could be" BETH.....
- LINKS TRYING TO TALK TO NORMAL AGAIN PLZ END MY SUFFERING
- TERRY AND GLENN ARE FUCKING FIGHTING EACH OTHER????? WHATTTT
- OH NEXT EPISODE IS GONNA BE WIIIIIILD DUUUDE
16 notes
·
View notes
Text
Episode 51 Notes-
THE INTRO ALREADY IS THE BEST ONE THEYVE EVER DONE EVER
DVER
DAHJKUDGHJJGDTHH
OMG
once made a bill nye song parody for my step dad cause he’s a fire fighter and it was just. Fantastic
My headphones are not working 😭
Taylor Teen Fact: Our Taylor Swift would never leave Japan for anybody/any game
Linc Teen Fact: Lincoln only has only one thing on his wall unrelated to soccer “Best son/student award” from Grant and Marco
Scary Teen Fact: Scary doesn’t use an umbrella ever. She looks up at the rain to get the emo mascara smudge
Normal Teen Fact: The Oak-Garcia families only thing they can agree on is a 60 frames/second motion TV
Love how much Freddie loves that
Porn update!!!
Anthony Fact: They’re starting shooting in March!! WILLY STAMPLER AND ANTHONY BURCH IN HIS PORN JESUS CHRIST OMG
Beth…
This is gonna be good
I’m excited
Lincoln is still trapped :<
Wowwww Taylor and Normal are fighting
Oh boy
Mercedes my beloved <333
Love how Normal is like “Taylor… Taylor…” like a dog
HERO AAFJHHHGHHHQHAJAHAJSJDJJSSNJSJSN
HERO AHAHAHAHSHSHSBBAJAHAH
I LOVER HER
Taylor and Hero omg….
Hero does Track!!!
I cannot hear the phrase let me cook again after watching Slimecicles one vod omg
Chapperal vs Teen High hehehehe
Track goes through everything fr
Highschool sports are crazy
Hero and Normal the siblings of all time!!!!!
ANGELS COME FOR HERO KABAJAJAJAJAHHAHAHAHAHHA
OMG
The fucking dank memes
Reminds me of this kid in my class holy shit
Larry sounds so excited there “YES! Yes!”
“A phase you go through”
A phrase- a life style
Oh god
“You’re a very smart kid Larry”
This is bad for scary holy shit
AMRS ICY
IM SCARY
Circle of death holy shit holy shit holy shit ahhajajahshs
Ha get Willy’s ass
DOOD ON NO
“You got me!”
Oh dear
Sonic mention!!
Jezz ball!!!! I love Jezz Ball
This whole bit was hilarious
SCARY HAS BURN SCARS NOW TOO
HERMIE NORMAL AND SCARY
Linc already is playing with a soccer ball!!!
“I love my parents, I love my spouses. But loves not real so I don’t feel anything at allllllll”
DARRYL
Finger puppet if Carol
This is a craft podcast
Darryl and Linc interaction is giving me life actually
Glenn!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Matt playing so many characters this is lovely 😭
LINCS COMPELYE FOXUS ON SOCCER IS ABAIANJAJSND
Freddie has another plan 💀
Glenn was in prison before!!
Darryl and Glenn…. Holy shit I love them so much
Linc is so funny
There’s no world where it wasn’t a Nat one
Ron!!!!!!!!!!! He’s singing!!!!!! Agajjajajahahsjsh
Ron and Henry!!!
I love the daddies so much
Erin O’Neil!!!!!!!!! My wife!!!!!!!
Operation Black Friday into Heaven
Taylor going through his Anime Villain arc at the end of the season 😭
Scary and Linc’s soccer thing!!!!!
I missed a bunch
HERMIE!
13 notes
·
View notes
Text
It's our last SDCC and I'm sad and angry because I love this fucking show so much and I'm going to miss it but at the same time good riddance because yeah we overstayed our welcome
so here's 2 lists in no particular order of
10 THINGS THE WALKING DEAD GOT RIGHT
1) Shane and his descent into madness; 2) Rick as a benevolent and kind leader that also goes batshit crazy and ruthless when needed; 3) Michonne and Carl's friendship; 4) Carol's character development; 5) Carol and Daryl and their incredibly beautiful and meaningful bond; 6) the whole concept of Team Family; 7) pretty much the whole existence of Glenn, Eugene, Lydia and Jerry; 8) siblings love; 9) Aaron having a second chance of having a family with Gracie; 10) villains with very different mindsets, goals and iconic aesthetics.
10 THINGS THE WALKING DEAD GOT WRONG
1) the mistreating of female characters in general; 2) the Rick/Lori/Shane love triangle, putting all the blame on Lori's shoulders; 3) Andrea's whole arc; 4) the non-ending pain parade Carol and Daryl have to unnecessarily endure, which got in the way of they becoming a couple; 5) killing off legacy characters (Carl, Beth, Noah, Henry, Enid); 6) introducing a load of new characters each season just to kill them before the audience can even connect so their arcs are pretty much useless; 7) killing Bob, Tyresee and Noah, three black man, one after the other and on an increasing traumatic manner; 8) Glenn's wasted potential as a character, his death and Negan's redemption arc altogether; 9) Maggie's character development; 10) yes, I'll repeat myself here, Carol and Daryl not being a couple.
and no I won't explain my reasoning
my beloved characters and show deserved better
131 notes
·
View notes
Text
little known fact, i am a huge the walking dead fan. it's the first tv show i ever got into (i was 9 when it premiered!) and one of the very few shows i ever watched on a weekly release basis.
i remember, up until season 8 when i stopped watching, i literally had never once in over 8 years missed an episode. i was seated at 9pm every sunday evening when it released.
my whole family sat around to watch it together, but we all stopped when they killed carl because that was just unforgivable, atrocious writing that we could not look past.
we tuned in for rick grimes' last episode, and for michonne, but we never watched the show in earnest after season 8.
i did, however, tune in to the finale last night. it was a bit bittersweet, now that i have grown up so much, i had a watch party with a group of friends rather than my family being together (people have moved out, moved on).
while watching it, it was just a tad disappointing because it really wasn't the walking dead for me. the walking dead died with carl grimes.
the camera angles, the filter, the camera quality, the characters, they just aren't what i fell in love with. i miss the grain, the hazy look, the lowkey-ness of it, the tight knit cast of characters. i miss the original opening credits. i miss rick grimes more than anything.
but, nevertheless, i was actually really impressed with the series finale. i cried. A LOT. the performances, specifically from connie, kelly, magna, yumiko, and luke in that first act of the episode... wow. i was a puddle of tears. i hardly knew those characters, but the walking dead has a phenomenal, talented cast.
and rosita, my love :( full on sobbing mess. she deserved better. she deserved to live forever with her baby girl that she fought so hard for. she deserved to go swimming, in the summer, with her bestie, eugene. a beautiful, powerful performance from christian serratos. rosita espinosa is a walking dead icon, one of its best characters. she deserved to make it to the end. that was a raw, heartbreaking end to her story.
and i dont know if i can put my love and emotions during that very final scene into words. rick grimes, my beloved. one of my all time favorite characters, the first character i ever stanned, a character i will always hold so close to my heart. you cannot have the walking dead without rick grimes.
i was convinced that neither rick or michonne would make an appearance. i should have known that andrew and danai wouldn't let the show end without one more epic scene.
i screamed, burst into even more tears, and had the body high of a lifetime when i got to see rick grimes on my screen again.
perfect ending to the finale, perfect final monologue, pitched in from the entire cast, finished by michonne and rick. the beautiful montage of all the past, iconic characters. the nods to all who built the walking dead and made it as incredible as it was. seeing glenn, carl, beth, hershel, and tara grace my screen again... it was a beautiful final few minutes to a show i will always, always, always love.
rick grimes has, what i consider to be, the most epic, intense, profound character arc of all time. i've loved him since season 1, and i'll follow his path through the walking dead universe with no hesitation.
rick grimes went from believing "we are the walking dead" to believing "we're the ones who live."
rick grimes, there is no character quite like you!
thank you to andrew lincoln for his flawless portrayal of one of the most badass main characters to ever exist in television history.
the walking dead changed, for the worse. but, that finale was truly a love letter to what it used to be. it was incredible. im so sad it's over, that it couldn't end during its peak, but i cannot wait to see rick grimes and michonne grimes back on my screen, next year.
#the walking dead#the walking dead finale#rick grimes#michonne#carl grimes#twd#twd finale#twd spoilers#the walking dead spoilers#daryl dixon#maggie rhee#we're the ones who live#twd thoughts#amc#finale thoughts#the walking dead discourse#rosita twd#rosita espinosa#christian serratos#andrew lincoln#danai gurira
28 notes
·
View notes
Note
Do you remember when Rick and TF infiltrated one of the Saviors’ outpost (more specificall; the satellite)? What they did was exactly what Rick originally planned to do back in Season 5A when rescuing Beth and Carol from Grady. What do you think how things would’ve happened and went if TF executed Rick’s original plan when rescuing Beth and Carol? Would there any be casualties among TF? Would Beth be saved and finally escaped Grady? What do you think? The possibilities are endless.
The possibilities are definitely endless, but I tend to think things would have gone much worse in the long run if they'd have done that.
It's hard to see in an obvious way, because we still don't have those missing 17 days to point to, or confirmation of Beth's survival, yet. But remember the whole "it went the way it had to; the way it was always going to" line from 5x09? I believe they put that line in to show that, despite the appearances of her being killed, and the immense trauma TF went through over it, it's the only way she would have actually survived.
We know a little more now. It could be that the CRM were never going to let her leave alive for reasons we don't actually understand yet. So, if they'd tried to go in, guns blazing, she would have been killed for real, or else might have left with them, but then things would have gone terribly wrong later because they would have been pursued.
You can actually compare this to the satellite station in that it seemed to go well when TF first conducted the raid. Sure, Carol and Maggie were taken by Paula, but eventually they survived and escaped that as well. But that raid led directly to Glenn and Abraham's deaths, Daryl's emotional trauma, and everything else. So, even though things turned out well at first, it had immense, far-reaching ramifications, which included the deaths of beloved characters.
So, based on the theme and template of that, I think that things ultimately would have gone a lot worse if they'd have done the same thing at Grady.
Just my opinion and no way to prove it either way until we actually see Beth return, but as you all know, my hopes are uber-high. :D Thanks Nonny! Xoxo! 🍁💘
#beth greene#beth greene lives#beth is alive#beth is coming#td theory#td theories#team delusional#team defiance#beth is almost here#bethyl
3 notes
·
View notes
Note
Relistening to dungeons and daddies season 1 to try and catch up.... Garthok my beloved,,, Glenn my belothed/beloved, Ron ❤️❤️❤️❤️, Henry the loving,,,, oh henry.
GLENN MY BELOATHED SO SO TRUE ♡ did you catch the bit with Cern where Glenn says like "nah grieving is the best time to get drunk":( im never gonna shut up about that
EARLY S1 RON IS SO FUNNY KNOWING THAT BETH WAS LIKE. BARELY FRIENDS WITH THEM AT THE TIME
and yeah. constant mood. oh henry...
5 notes
·
View notes
Text
now I’m not sure how will and beth managed to capture that sweet sibling energy better than the literal siblings but holy shit they did Not hold back i loved this episode so much
#beth as jodie my beloved she was so good at it#also. jimmy as paeden excellent shit#dungeons and daddies#dndads#will campos#beth may#jodie foster#glenn close#text post#catherine listens to dndads
74 notes
·
View notes
Text
Veteran Author of The Month: September 2021
The featured veteran author for September is a well-known and beloved name in the fandom, @rckyfrk !
Rckyfrk can be found on AO3 and FFN under the same penname.
When asked what got her into Bethyl and what the fandom means to her, she said:
I did not start watching TWD until late into Season 3. I don’t do well with horror. My husband would watch and I would just read a book in our bedroom or something. Well, one fateful night, I needed to get some work done on my laptop and didn’t feel like sitting in bed to get it finished, so I just stayed in the living room (our house was teeny tiny - there weren’t a lot of other places to go), and I turned so I wasn’t looking at the TV, plugged in my headphones, and got to work. Well, I glanced over and there was the wonder that is Daryl Dixon gracing my screen. I was instantly intrigued. (I believe my exact words were, “Who is that? What is he...DON’T DO THAT THERE’S ZOMBIES THERE!” and I was instantly hooked. Dammit. I found that as long as I could watch some of the behind the scenes stuff on how they make the walkers, it took some of the horror out of it and I could just focus on the artistry of all the makeup and stuff. Season 4 premiere, we had some friends come over for a “watching party,” (remember those?) and I was actually up getting refills for everyone (being the good hostess that I am) so I completely missed the hug in Beth’s cell and when I came back into the room, NO ONE THOUGHT THAT WAS IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO TELL ME ABOUT. (I thought they were my friends…) So I really didn’t start *shipping* Bethyl until “Alone.” I mean, I saw how close they were getting during “Still,” but I guess I didn’t realize what I was really seeing, you know? (Keep in mind, I was still a relatively new fan and had missed most of Season 3 and THE HUG.) Anyway, I couldn’t stand waiting for the next week to find out what happened to Beth, and thus began the ONLY time I have EVER looked for spoilers. That’s how I happened upon this crazy thing called “fan fiction,” (I honestly had never known such a thing existed before that fateful search.) I got to know some of the Bethyl writers, and someone suggested joining tumblr and writing my own stories, and the rest is history.
Bethyl is the only pairing I’ve actually, actively shipped, before or after. The only two characters I’ve invested time in. The only two I’ve cried over (just ask @jbird9...hubs has seen me go through all kinds of emotions over these two). My boys can identify Beth and Daryl (they’ve NEVER seen an episode, not even a commercial for TWD, but recognize them from pics I’ve shown them.) The Bethyl fandom has brought me to meet some wonderful people, who probably know me better than members of my actual family. This fandom has been such a bright spot in my life, and has been so supportive even when the well has been dry for years (at least as far as new content from the show). I love you guys.
For her personal fic rec list, she recommends:
(Ugh. I’m really hesitant to come up with personal lists because I’ve read SO MANY WONDERFUL STORIES and I don’t want to leave any of them out, but I also know my brain and I’m not always the best at recalling names and places when I need to. I do want to give some love to:)
@gneebee [AO3]
Love’s Highway and One Cold Night live in my head rent free
@piper1016 (basically anything she’s written) [AO3]
@inkinmytea (Audriss) [AO3]
especially By Any Other Name
These ladies have been super supportive of my writing, and I can’t thank them enough.
I also really miss Pussyfoot by SaraiVe
is this how you say hello (in the zombie apocalypse) by the queen conquers (dastardly_dame)
Also, @leftmywingshome [AO3]
and @majicmarker [AO3]
who not only write amazing Bethyl stories, but have their own original work published, all of which I strongly recommend reading.
There’s about a gazillion other stories that I’d like to recommend, but we’d be here all day if I listed them all. PLEASE don’t feel left out or disheartened if I didn’t pull your name from the deep recesses of my brain. I swear I’m not doing it on purpose. There are so many gifted writers in this fandom - we are SO lucky! - and I truly do appreciate @ultimatebethylficlist for recognizing the veterans and newbies equally.
Rckyfrk’s Works & Personal Thoughts:
Lady in Red and Man in Black
Summary: It's finally the big day, Maggie and Glenn's wedding day. Beth is maid of honor, Daryl is the best man. - This started as a one-shot/prompt for Bethyl Week on Tumblr, but has evolved into becoming a full-sized story.
Thoughts: I miss these babies. I had to take a break to try and get Terms and Conditions going because they are so drastically different from it, but now it’s been so long I almost have to get T & C out of my system before I can get my head back in the syrupy sweetness. Lady in Red started as a prompt (technically two) WAY back in the day. We’re talking back in the summer of 2014. The first two chapters received such a supportive response that it took on a life of its own, but it was solely from Beth’s POV, and I had Daryl in my head basically screaming to be heard, so Man in Black made its way in. The goal is to get MiB caught up with LiR, then write them simultaneously (mainly so no one knows what will be coming next and the reader gets to decide which “side” to read first).
Terms and Conditions
Summary: It was Beth's first time in Atlanta by herself when the world decided to end. When she lost her way home, she winds up meeting a crossbow-toting man with steel blue eyes and a smile that gives her chills. This is not your typical Bethyl story - imagine if Daryl were more like Merle.
Thoughts: I think this is the darkest thing I’ve written (and really, it’s not even that dark). I had this idea in my head for Daryl to be a lot more like Merle and all these little scenarios kept popping into my head of Beth “taming the beast,” and having them slowly fall in love despite how they met and him being a total jerk - at least in the beginning. I think there’s only going to be a couple more chapters of this one, I just need to buckle down and write them. Maybe that’s why I’m dragging my feet to do it.
And once upon a time, I was writing a non-Bethyl story called “Summer of Learning,” which is actually kind of misleading. Back to that summer of 2014, where I was going through some fandom drama and was about to give up writing and tumblr all together when this group of Norman fans (we called ourselves his Harem...I miss you @basswipe and @unicorns-and-myblacksoul) came along and included me into their shenanigans. Anyway, they gave me the prompt “Imagine Sean Patrick Flanery is your dad’s best friend and teaches you everything there is to know about sex.” In the story, the main character’s parents are Norman and Emily, so it’s...Bethyl adjacent?
34 notes
·
View notes
Text
Deaths on TWD and what Beth’s means to Daryl’s story
My original plan was to post a continuation of my thoughts on Lydia/Henry and Daryl/Beth and where the writers might be headed with that story and those parallels but I realized in working through those thoughts in my head that it might be best to discuss this topic first because it affects my thoughts on Daryl’s coming arc and how Beth relates to that. So below I am going to discuss my thoughts on deaths on TWD and how the writers use them and why they are placed at certain points in the story and what this means for Daryl’s story moving forward and how it is still very much connected to Beth.
So the pike deaths in 9X16 got me thinking about deaths on TWD and how and why they are written. I started to mull this idea over when I was considering all the ramifications of Henry’s death and how and why the writers were using his death. Those thoughts had me considering main character deaths on TWD and how they have been used in general throughout the show and in considering that I realized there are some key similarities to all the big character deaths. The two that I want to talk about today are that big character deaths always do two things. They affect a target character or characters in a way that is visible to the audience and they alter the course of the story in an important way through their relationship with the characters that are affected by their death. So below I am going to talk about a few big character deaths that we’ve seen over the last few seasons and how these principles apply to them.
So the first big death that I want to talk about is Herschel’s. Herschel died in season 4’s midseason finale at the hands of the Governor. Just as a side note I would mention that the Governor used Michonne’s katana to kill Herschel by slashing at his neck which is exactly what Pete does to Reg when he is going after Rick. But I digress from the main discussion which is Herschel’s death and which characters it affected and why he was the character chosen to die at that moment in the story. So the really interesting part of Herschel’s death is that the characters it affected the most were Rick, Daryl, and Beth and there was very little effect on Maggie which is curious because we will see something similar later when we talk about Beth. So now that we’ve identified which characters were most affected by Herschel’s death we can examine from a story standpoint why. Herschel’s death affected Rick in a huge way because Herschel was almost like a surrogate father to Rick. He guided him and pulled him back from his darkest moments. Herschel created balance for Rick. Herschel helped Rick to understand that there had to be something “ after” that there was more to life than just surviving and that it was up to Rick as a leader to be able to see that. Herschel reminded Rick that “after” surviving came living and that was the important part of life. Without Herschel Rick could easily slide into the role of red machete Rick who was solely focused on survival and the brutality that comes with that mindset. Herschel’s death in 4X8 is intended to help catapult Rick into the mindset of red machete Rick which is important for the coming story line and which we see play out throughout seasons 4, 5, and into season 6.
The other characters who are affected in a huge way by Herschel’s death are Beth and Daryl. Beth struggles to cope with the loss of her father and tries to find a way to reconcile herself to it and in those struggles she pulls Daryl along with her. The interesting thing about the development of Beth and Daryl’s story in season 4 after the fall of the prison is that it is almost entirely predicated on Herschel’s death. Daryl is struggling with the fact that he blames himself for what the governor did and he is particularly bereft over Herschel’s death as Herschel was a mentor and father figure to Daryl as well as Rick. Daryl feels responsible for Herschel’s death and the writers paired him with Herschel’s daughter to help him work through that grief. There could be no more in your face reminder for Daryl of what happened than being paired with Herschel’s daughter Beth. But not only does Beth not blame Daryl for her father’s death but she is responsible for helping him to move beyond his feelings of inadequacy that stem from what happened and she helps him to understand that there are still good people in the world despite the bad ones. When Beth and Daryl stop in the graveyard in Alone and place yellow flowers on the beloved father grave it is a way for them to mourn Herschel but it also represents Daryl laying to rest his insecurities and letting them go because of the comfort and understanding he found with Beth. The character development that we see in Daryl throughout season 4 is a result of the story that takes place because of Herschel’s death and without that death those character developments would not occur.
The next big death I would be inclined to discuss would be Beth’s but I am going to skip that for now and move onto Tyrese. So Tyrese’s death is really interesting in hindsight because it happened for several reasons. So the really interesting thing to consider about Tye’s death is that it would not have occurred without Noah. TF taking Noah to his home is the catalyst for Tye’s death and in fact it’s even Noah’s brother who bites Tye. But the crux of this discussion is what characters does a death affect and why and I think Tye’s death is interesting in that it affects more than just the characters in the story. Tye’s death affects Sasha primarily. Not only did she just lose Bob at the beginning of the season but she then loses her brother also propelling her into a really dark and violent place. This is important to the story because it later explains why Sasha does what she does after Abe’s death, it creates the context for her later actions, but it also does something else. Tye’s death in the mid-season premiere shifts the audiences focus away from Beth and through Tye’s funeral gives the audience an allusion of closure for Beth that never occurs. There are still many people in the fandom who think Beth had a funeral because they mistakenly remember Tye’s funeral as Beth’s. The placement of 5X9 directly after 5X8 also creates a scenario where the focus of 5X10 is on more than Daryl and Maggie’s grief and it becomes about Sasha’s as well.
The next death I want to talk about is Glenn’s and then also Abe’s. I know I’ve skipped a bunch in between but I really want to focus on the big deaths and how they shift the story with the understanding that the other character deaths can be observed and examined through a similar lens. So Glenn’s death was particularly tragic because of its senselessness. But from a writers point of view there was a purpose for it occurring at that point in the story. So the characters most affected by Glenn’s death are Rick, Daryl, and Maggie and the main character affected was Maggie. So for Rick and Daryl Glenn’s death was a catalyst for their story moving forward. For Rick Glenn had to die in the way that he did to evoke a feeling of hopelessness and loss. Abe had literally offered himself as a sacrifice and his death would not have done enough to quell Rick’s desire for retaliation against Negan. In fact I would surmise that if only Abe had died then it would have fueled Rick’s desire to strike back. However Glenn’s death in all its tragic, senseless, and horrifying abruptness shocked Rick into submission. It’s the same reason the writers had Negan threaten to cut Carl’s arm off and the same reason Negan took Daryl. It was all intended to pound Rick’s character into submission in a way that Abe’s death alone would not have. So Glenn’s death affected Rick’s story and the overall Negan story line and it also affected Daryl and his continued story line. After Beth’s death Daryl struggles to find his place again. Alexandria does not feel like home to Daryl and he struggles to find a purpose. Aaron bring Daryl back to himself a bit when he suggests that Daryl help to find recruits for Alexandria. It’s a role we know Daryl played at the prison because of things C@rol said and also because we see it through Bob’s story. It’s a small piece of himself that Daryl gets back for a short period of time until he meets Dwight and Sherry.
Once Daryl meets Dwight and Sherry his confidence in his own judgment is shattered. Aaron tells Daryl at one point that he knows the difference between good people and bad and Daryl knows that Sherry and Dwight are good people but their actions are not the actions of good people and Always Accountable is a huge turning point for Daryl’s character. That last little bit of hope that Daryl was holding onto that he could do something good that would honor someone he cared about slipped away catapulting Daryl into a really dark and emotionally vulnerable place. Daryl’s anger at Dwight is in a way a reflection of his own self-loathing which is directly related to the huge emotional loss he was still coping with. The writers used Denise’s death and then Glenn’s to help beat Daryl towards rock bottom. The Cell was Daryl’s breaking point. The point at which his character not only reach rock bottom and broke but the point at which the writers began to build him into a wholly different character than he was before. But it was Maggie whom the writers were looking to most impact with Glenn’s death. Her arc as the leader of Hilltop and the strength she shows as that leader is a direct result of the loss she suffers. In season 4 the writers showed the audience Maggie’s single minded focus in regards to Glenn. Her love for him was so overwhelming that the writers make it the focal point of her story with little to no mention of her sister or father. With Glenn’s loss Maggie becomes the sole protector and provider for her child and in that role becomes a leader she would not have become with Glenn still a part of her story. Firstly because it’s highly unlikely that Glenn would have left Rick to go to Hilltop and secondly because Maggie turns her single minded love for Glenn towards her child and that love is what drives the choices she makes as a leader.
The writers used Abe’s death to also affect multiple characters. Those most affected by Abe’s death were Eugene, Rosita, and Sasha. Abe’s death was used as a balance to Glenn’s for the audience. It showed TF’s resilience and courage and it showed their willingness to sacrifice for each other and that sacrifice is something Rosita later comes to understand. Rosita’s story line is directly affected by Abe’s death because she is finally able to confront her relationship with men and move on as a much healthier individual. Eugene’s story line is affected by Abe’s death in a way that affects the entire outcome of the war with Negan. But Abe’s death affects Sasha the most as it compounds a story line that for her began with Bob and continued with Tye. Sasha went to a very dark place after losing both Bob and Tye and Abe helped to pull her out of that place but after losing Abe Sasha is bereft. Her single minded determination to go after Negan stems directly from Abe’s death and her death directly affects Maggie and Rick’s determination to finish he war with Negan and win.
The next death I want to discuss is Carl’s. Carl’s death affects many characters but it’s intended to mostly affect Michonne and Rick. The writers use Carl’s death to help Rick to see that his mercy can prevail over his wrath. Carl’s death gives Rick a reason to fight for something greater than what he sees. Rick’s entire arc from Carl’s death until the end of this own is driven by Rick’s desire to honor his sons vision for the future. A vision where the communities come together and work as one and where mercy and justice prevail over anger and violence. While Rick is alive Michonne works with him to honor this vision and later in season 9 we see her reminded of Carl and what he hoped for through Judith. In fact Carl’s dreams for Alexandria and his family directly callback to the things Herschel was trying to teach Rick and by extension Carl and also to what Bob said to Rick in season 5. That nightmares end but that they sounded end who you are. In the end Rick was always the sheriff doing the right thing even when it was hard. Rick symbolized at the end of his arc on TWD justice , honor , and self-sacrifice. In fact Rick’s own “death” was in a way a mirror of his mentor Herschel’s. When Herschel risks his own life to go into the infirmary to help people in season 4 he makes that choice knowing what he is risking. His death at the hands of the Governor is something he is okay with because he’s made peace with himself and he sees that Rick has learned the things he was trying to teach him.
Rick’s “death” in season 9 while not a true death deeply affects the characters on the show because they believe him to be dead. Michonne and Daryl are the characters most affected by Rick’s “death” and they are profoundly affected in ways that drive the story forward throughout season 9. Without Rick and after Jocelyn’s betrayal Michonne falls back onto her desire to protect her children in a way that is unbalanced. Without Rick to reassure her Michonne has no ballast to balance her characters inclinations and it isn’t until Judith becomes Michonne’s balance that she sees what her actions have allowed. Rick’s bridge was a symbol of unity and bringing the communities together and Michonne verbalizes to King Ezekiel in 9x16 that she understands that what the Whisperers did to them as a group stemmed from their lack of cohesion as a group. What DJ, Ozzy, and Alec did was to remind Michonne and everyone that survived the Whisperers that it’s worth fighting on the side of good to save people even people that you don’t know. Siddiq says of that moment that they all fought together like family even though some of them did not know each other. That moment was the writer’s way of illustrating their point about unity and family and doing what’s right even when it’s not personally expedient. Alec, Ozzy, and DJ could have made different choices but they chose to do the right thing even if it meant dying for people they barely knew. Tara and Enid’s death’s in particular were about this theme. Their sacrifice was intended to remind TF that standing up for what is right is more important than simply living. The courage that Tara in particular showed is something that I also think we will see King Ezekiel grapple with in season 10 as it appears her death may play a role in his story moving forward.
The other character profoundly impacted by Rick’s loss is Daryl. During season 7 and 8 we began to see cracks forming in Daryl’s relationship with Rick as both characters changed and evolved. Daryl began despite himself to shift more into the role of a leader and at the same time he felt that Rick was pulling away from him. Leading Daryl to make some choices that he later felt led to what happened to Rick. Losing Rick was the final straw for Daryl in a way. Losing Beth separated Daryl from the group in a way he doesn’t ever appear to recover from but losing Rick causes Daryl to physically separate himself. Because none of the communities were ever home to Daryl he goes off into the woods to live by himself and search for the brother he believes may still be out there somewhere. We know through the story shown to use in season 9 that Daryl continued to have contact with both Michonne and C@rol but to a large extend he spend his time alone and solitary until C@rol came to him and requested that he watch over her son.
Henry’s death is the final one I want to discuss before returning to the point of this very long discussion which was Beth’s death. So Henry’s death affected C@rol, Ezekiel, Lydia, and Daryl and Daryl mainly because of Lydia. So Lydia is affected by Henry’s death because she feels responsible for it and her trauma directly affects Daryl who has taken on the role as her father figure. Lydia and by extension Daryl’s story will be driven in season 10 by the fallout from this event. The other two characters most affected by Henry’s death are Ezekiel and C@rol and their stories will be driven in a huge way in season 10 by the fallout. We’ve already seen a direct affect in that C@rol walked away from Ezekiel at a time when he was losing everything. I think we will see a big character arc for Ezekiel in season 10 having to do with courage and perseverance. C@rol’s arc will most likely be much more complicated but we’ve already seen her expressing that she is losing herself again and she seems to be falling back into the C@rol we saw in previous seasons so it will be interesting to see how that all plays out. But we saw with Henry’s death huge story line shifts for characters who knew and loved him and whose stories are being driven forward by his loss.
So we see through how the writers use main character deaths on TWD that they are almost always done with a purpose and with far reaching consequences that affect the story itself in an indelible way. Which brings me back to the original point of this discussion which was Beth’s death in Coda. So I have listened to a lot of pod casts and you tube videos about Coda and one of the biggest things commentators bemoan is the role Maggie played in searching for and finding Beth. Maggie’s character was so removed from Beth’s story arc that her response at the end of Coda almost seemed out of left field. I think the reason the writers did this was twofold. One it illustrated for the viewers that Maggie’s story revolved around Glenn with a single minded focus that was important to later events in the story. Two the writers doing this brought to the forefront something many viewers chose not to acknowledge which was that Beth’s story was primarily about Daryl with a small side note thrown in for Rick at the end. And that side note wasn’t so much about Beth as it was about rescuing Beth and Rick’s world view and how it was affected by that experience. So Beth’s death minimally affects Maggie which we see at the end of Coda and then in Them when Daryl fixes the music box for Maggie as a reminder of Beth and the other two characters most affected by her death are Rick and Daryl.
I want to talk about Rick first and then conclude with Daryl. So Beth’s death in Coda affects Rick because it affects Rick’s world view by reinforcing his current mindset of brutality. The Rick we see in Coda is red machete Rick to the extreme. A series of events sets Rick on this path which culminates with his outburst at Alexandria. It started with the Governor when Rick tried to reason with him using Herschel’s philosophy and failed. Not only did he fail but Herschel died. Rick’s mindset continued to deteriorate because of Gareth and Terminus and what happened after Terminus. Rick and crew only did enough damage to leave Terminus. They weren’t actually intent on killing everyone that had anything to do with the place. But then Gareth and company followed Rick and his family and then they kidnapped Bob and did what they did and that drove Rick over the edge. Rick’s actions at Father Gabriel’s church are so traumatic for Tye that they inform his hallucinations in WHAWGO. Not only is the voice on the radio Andy Lincolns but the things the radio is talking about are a hodge podge of how Tye sees Rick and all the bad things Tye has seen that he can’t reconcile anymore. The voice talks about machete wielding bad guys (that’s Rick) going up and down the coast (TF travels) and the deaths of innocent young mother s (Beth) and children (Mika and Lizzie). Rick’s actions towards Gareth’s people make Tye question everything and the fact that he is responsible because of not killing the one Terminus guy is something he can’t cope with. Rick’s decline continues in Crossed when he runs officer Bob over in such a cold blooded way. It’s interesting because we see Sasha respond to Officer Bob and the callback is supposed to be that this man symbolizes Bob. Bob told Rick at the beginning of season 5 that nightmares end but that they don’t have to end who you are and then in Crossed Rick runs down and kills Officer Bob which is a symbolic rejection of what Bob said to Rick about nightmares not ending who you are.
This is all really interesting when you consider that Rick’s nightmare continues into season 6 and when Jesse and her boys die in a way that is the literal nightmare of what C@rol threatened Sam with we actually see Rick see red like what Morgan talked about when he talks about losing himself. But it’s afterwards when he’s sitting with Carl at the infirmary that we begin to see Rick coming back to himself a little bit. It’s not for him but instead for Carl which is a theme we see continue into seasons 7, 8, and 9. Rick’s nightmare ends because he finds a greater purpose in his son and honoring his son. But I digress from my point which is that Beth’s death helps to reinforce Rick’s red machete mindset. Rick wanted to go into Grady guns blazing and just take C@rol and Beth. He doesn’t trust anyone anymore besides his family and he felt that was the best way to get his people back. C@rol had basically done just that when she rescued them at Terminus and now they had to rescue her. In Rick’s mind this would work just like it had before but the rather interesting thing about this is that the writers very subtly show us that it would not have through Beth’s actual death and it’s such a subtle thing that it’s very easily missed. So Rick wants to go into Grady guns blazing and use violence to take C@rol and Beth back and Tye and Daryl talk him into negotiating. If Rick hadn’t of killed Officer Bob the Grady standoff would have never happened. They would have had three people to trade for three people. However Rick’s brutality causes them to be one person short in that hallway and it provokes the confrontation between Beth and Dawn. The rather interesting point here is that if Rick had followed the plan Tye and Daryl’s plan would have worked flawlessly. Then there is a snag in the plan and the writers show us a very subtle point that is easily missed. Most people walked away from Grady believing that Beth’s death reinforced Rick’s red machete beliefs. That if they had stormed the building and just taken their people back it might have worked. I mean who would have guessed that Dawn would be the way she was not TF and obviously not the officers ( or maybe they did and were hoping to provoke Dawn as a way to take her out). Rick probably believes this as well. However the writers gave us a very subtle and easily missed clue that this was not actually their point. When Beth approaches Dawn she has two choices neither of which is TF aware of. They don’t know that Beth has scissors in her cast but they also don’t know that Dawn owes Beth and told her as much after Beth helped with Officer O’Donnell. That scene seems ridiculous and useless to the story unless you consider that the writers left it in the story for a reason. The reason was this Dawn owed Beth and if Beth had brought that up in that moment she could have used it to force Dawn to let Noah go. She could have told Dawn you owe me and I am calling in my favor and if you don’t let Noah go then I am going to tell everyone what happened to O’Donnell and it would have been the final nail in Dawn’s coffin as leader at Grady. Beth literally had all the leverage and could have chosen a peaceful resolution to the situation with Dawn. Instead Beth takes Rick’s route of violence and attacks Dawn leading to the aftermath of Coda.
Viewing Coda through this lens also makes you consider Beth’s statement before she stabs Dawn when she says “I get it now”. I think the reason this statement is so confusing to the viewers is because it doesn’t make sense in the context but on its simplest level maybe it does. Beth says “I get it now” and physically attacks Dawn implying that she thinks she understands that violence is the only way that works in this world. It shows a huge but also very tragic shift for a girl who was once an optimist. It shows just how much Beth has been traumatized by the events that have happened to her at Grady. But more than that Coda shows that violence is wrong because not only is it not the way but Beth’s death highlights that it’s not the way. Beth had a more diplomatic tool at her disposal and she didn’t chose to use it which is something only the viewers know. This is something that Rick will not learn until much later because of Carl. But Coda is essentially the writer’s way of very subtly reinforcing something that becomes a huge part of Carl and Rick’s arc moving forward. The rather interesting thing about this is that while Beth’s death reinforces Rick’s red machete point of view in the story the other subtle aspects of this story are not driven home by the writers to either the audience or the characters. They are instead left to linger like unfinished puzzle pieces which would seem to indicate that they are unfinished pieces of the story. The viewers never get to see Beth lament the fact that she made the wrong choice and the characters never know that Beth had a different choice that she could have made. It’s all very interesting in hindsight because that’s not the way TWD stories traditionally work especially when they involve character deaths. In this instance the audience knows something the characters never did and that knowledge has yet to play into the story in a way that pays off. Not only that but something else really interesting happens in Coda and that’s the reintroduction of Morgan at the end. Coda as an episode is thematically about mindset. It’s about the mindset of violence versus diplomacy and we see that play out through what happens to Beth. During Coda both Beth and Rick represent violence over diplomacy and at the end of Coda the writers reintroduce Morgan whose journey and story is very much about learning to reject violence for diplomacy. So thematically through that lens it makes sense why the writers reintroduced Morgan at the end of Coda as a Coda. The Coda to the story can be seen through Morgan’s approach to the world. Again this is all very interesting because we have not yet seen these points driven home within the narrative itself.
So finally I want to focus on Daryl who was the main character affected by Beth’s death. With all major character deaths we see one main character most affected by the loss. For Glenn it was Maggie, for Abe Sasha, for Carl Rick, for Henry C@rol. In all of these instances there is one person usually a lover or family member who is most affected by the tragic loss of a character and it’s that character whose story is mainly being driven forward by the death of their loved one. We saw for example that Glenn’s death drove Maggie to be the leader at Hilltop, Abe’s death drove Sasha to attack Negan’s compound, Carl’s death informed all of Rick’s behavior towards Negan at the end of the war and then Rick’s vision for the communities afterwards. I am sure in season 10 we will see how Henry’s death directly drives C@rol’s story moving forward. So through that narrative lens I ask how did Beth’s death directly affect Daryl’s narrative in season 5 and or 6 or even longer in to 7, 8, and 9? If a main character death is used to directly affect the narrative of the character closest to them which is what makes the death not a pointless plot device then how did Beth’s death affect Daryl and why did they chose her specifically to die and not any of the other potential characters they could have used to advance the story forward? Because the writers can use any character at any point in the story to affect the story. When they chose a character it is to make a specific point in a way that only that characters death can. So in my mind this is where Beth’s death differs from any other the writers have done on the show and below I will detail why and what I think it means.
So the reason Beth’s death differs is that unlike Carl’s, or Glenn’s, or Abe’s there is no direct and immediate in your face effect on Daryl and his story moving forward. We see Daryl grieve a bit but not in the normal way that a main character is affected by another main characters death. With Rick or Maggie or Sasha we saw them grieve the loss of their loved one and then we directly understood that their actions were a result of the loss of that loved one. With Daryl the writers don’t show a direct and immediate effect on Daryl’s story due to his loss of Beth. In fact the writers do cause other characters motives to be affected by Beth’s loss but not Daryl. In 5X9’s WHAWGO both Glenn and Rick indicate that the desire to take Noah home is based on what Beth would want but Daryl is not even a part of that attempt. He doesn’t show up until the end of the episode to help bury Tye. But the thing is I do think the writers used that to signal something very important about Beth’s story and what she is intended to symbolize to Daryl and his overall story.
So after Grady TF is lost and grieving and with nowhere to go. They are reunited but Eugene’s promise of a cure was just debunked a couple of episode before and they refuse to stay at Grady. So taking Noah home becomes the obvious next step. The thing about the group traveling North is that this could have been accomplished even if Beth had not died because it wasn’t like TF had anywhere else to go. Beth’s death did not have to occur in order to inspire TF to help Noah. Even if Beth had survived Grady they could have helped Noah because why not. Even without Noah TF could have chosen to travel north because Eugene’s idea about DC did make sense which is why he came up with it in the first place. So there were reasons TF could have traveled north without Beth’s part in the choice but by choosing to make the trip north about Beth the writers use Beth as a symbol. Beth becomes a symbol of home. Within the narrative the writers create TF losing Beth is what drives them to take Noah home to honor Beth and it is because of that decision that Aaron finds them. So in the larger scheme of the narrative Beth is the reason that TF find Alexandria and then later Hilltop and the Kingdom. Beth is the reason that each of the characters find the home they were intended to become a part of. The really really interesting thing about this narrative is that while Beth’s death and the results (finding home) affect nearly every other character in the story the one character whose story is least affected by this is the one whose story should have been most affected and that is Daryl.
If the point of Beth’s death was to lead TF home and that seems to be the only real outcome from her death then Daryl’s story should have been most affected by this theme and Daryl should have found not only a home but his place within the larger narrative of the story because of her death. Not only should Daryl have done this but the audience should have been pointedly reminded that Daryl was only able to do this because of Beth. The thing is though that this is not what happened. In fact I would argue the exact opposite happened. Back when the prison first fell in season 4 we are shown Daryl completely unmoored. Not only is he separated from everyone but Beth but he’s also lost possibly the only real home he has known. At the prison Daryl has people who care for him, people who need him, and an important role in the larger community. We see this at the start of the season. He’s settled and almost happy. We see a foreshadow of events to come later in the season when Daryl takes Zack on a run and he doesn’t make it back. Daryl is clearly upset and it’s Beth who comforts him. This foreshadows Beth’s role in Daryl’s loss later in season 4. After the prison falls Daryl is completely without purpose. He’s lost his home and his role in the community and he feels as if he has failed in his role as protector. This failure demoralizes him badly and he refuses to even look for the rest of their missing family .He gives it a halfhearted attempt when Beth really pushes at him but when they find the bodies at the railroad tracks he stops. What’s really interesting about this scenario is it highlights what happens later both in season 5 and during the arc with Negan. Daryl finds his purpose and home through a connection to people. He uses his skills as a tracker, hunter, and guardian to protect the people he cares for. When the prison falls he loses all confidence in those skills and who he is and becomes very depressed and in doing so gives up in way because he loses all hope.
During Still Beth helps to restore Daryl’s hope and creates a connection with Daryl that is so strong his purpose becomes about her. Daryl’s connection to Beth becomes so strong that when they find the funeral home he suggests to her that they stay there and try to make it a home. He is willing to settle there with her. Not only do we see Daryl finding renewed hope in Beth but he also teaches her skills that are most important to him including tracking and hunting. Daryl is sharing with Beth the things that make him who he is and that are most special to him. He wants her to understand them and to be able to do them as well. The reason that I wanted to point out that Daryl suggested to Beth that they stay at the funeral home is because the funeral home is the last place we see Daryl happily settled (like at the prison) that he considers making a home. The Daryl we see at the funeral home with Beth is prison Daryl from early in season 4. He is the man who has a purpose and is happy and settled. The funeral home is the last place we see this because it is the last time Daryl feels that sense of home. The writers do a really interesting thing when Beth is taken. They show Daryl as an inverse version of himself. When the prison fell Daryl lost all hope and connection and stopped looking for his family. When Beth is taken Daryl desperately searches and tracks her even once he is reconnected with the rest of his family. He is even willing to just disappear on them when he has the chance to track a car with a white cross on it. When the prison fell Daryl was convinced everyone had died but when multiple characters ask if Beth has died Daryl insists that she is just gone clearly holding on to the hope quite strongly that she is alive and okay somewhere out there.
After Beth’s death Daryl holds onto the feelings that Beth helped him to feel until Always Accountable which was an episode riff with Beth symbolism. The point was however that after losing Beth Daryl was only able to hold onto the hope that she created within him for so long before he lost it because of the world around him. Daryl had been struggling to fit in at Alexandria and make it a home but at that point he stops. Daryl never feels at home at Alexandria. The writers make a point of this. Aaron tries to help Daryl by giving him a purpose and it works for a short time until Always Accountable. After meeting Dwight and failing to help him Daryl’s confidence shatters again just as it did after the fall of the prison and this time there is no one there to help him pick up his pieces. The reason that Dwight shatters Daryl’s confidence is this. Beth told Daryl that there were good people in the world and that they were worth helping. She tells him he is one of those good people and that he has value to the world. The reason Always Accountable is so riff with Beth symbolism is because it is the episode where Daryl is stripped of Beth once and for all. He loses hope in all the things she taught him and instilled within him and he loses hope in the feelings she helped him to feel which were love, value, and worth. He loses those feelings because he knows that Dwight is a good person. He knows that Dwight is a good person and when he tries to help him Dwight turns on him. What happens after that first encounter with Dwight only rams home to Daryl that even good people can’t be trusted. Because Dwight hurts Daryl over and over again and deep down Daryl knows that Dwight is a good person that he tried to help and this is what happened. Dwight is a parallel to Daryl because he is what Daryl could become if he made different choices. Daryl sees this and it makes him question all the hope he found in Beth to the point that he loses it and becomes very depressed.
If Daryl was attempting to make Alexandria a home by holding onto the feelings Beth made him feel then he stops after Always Accountable and we then see an endless cycle of Daryl moving from place to place to place. After losing his final connection to Beth he loses his desire to try to make somewhere a home. After he escapes Negan he is shuffled from Hilltop to Kingdom to Alexandria and back again. After the war with Negan Rick asks him to run the Sanctuary and then Daryl goes to the camp to help Rick. Rick is the last tie that really holds Daryl to a community in the sense of a home. After losing Beth Rick becomes Daryl’s reason and he wants to be with Rick because where Rick is has a semblance of feeling like home (home is where the heart is and the show has narratively shown us only two people that hold Daryl’s heart in that strong a manner). However when Rick is lost Daryl completely leaves all the communities and makes a home in the woods at the last place he knows Rick was. Being close to Rick becomes home for Daryl even if Rick is not there anymore. But beyond that we see that Daryl has no real ties to any community as a home. At Hilltop he is sleeping in the barn, we know based on Judith and Michonne that he has not stayed at Alexandria for a while, and before Henry’s death C@rol and Ezekiel offer Daryl Kingdom as a home. So it’s clear by this season that if Beth’s purpose was to lead TF to their home the character least affected by that purpose was Daryl who never truly found a home and that is not the recipe for how the writers write these kinds of things on this show. In fact Daryl should have been most affected by Beth’s death and he should have found his home. I think the point is that Beth’s effect on Daryl’s overall story is still happening and that the conclusion and the point is still to come.
So this anomaly in the way the writers used the story structure made me consider Daryl’s story and where the writers are going with it and the theme the writers are using. Daryl’s story while with Beth in season 4 and afterwards all these seasons later has been about home and it is still unresolved. If Daryl’s arc is about finding his place and finding his home he has still not done that even after all these seasons. But the writers steered Daryl’s story in a very interesting direction this season with the addition of Lydia and I have a lot of thoughts about how this theme of home affects Daryl through his relationship with Lydia and how it connects to Daryl’s larger story with Beth who is a literal representation of what home means for Daryl. Because this ramble is already so long I am going to post those thoughts about Daryl, Beth , and Lydia and what I think this all means to the larger story moving forward in a another post that I will hopefully have finished by the end of the weekend or early next week.
53 notes
·
View notes
Text
Twenty years after TWD has gone off the air...lasting impressions of characters.
What do you think they're going to be? Hmm. I've mulled this over and with the way all the characters have basically devolved into caricatures of themselves, I think it's going to be something like this:
Rick Grimes
Officer Friendly.
"Coral! Coral!"
head tilt
"I'm going to kill you." Only he usually didn't kill them. Except that one time he ripped that dude's throat out with his teeth.
Lori Grimes
"Has anybody seen Carl? I can't find Carl."
The one that had her baby cut out of her belly.
Shane Walsh
Aggressive and trigger happy partner to Officer Friendly
Wanted his best friend's family to himself
Daryl Dixon
The dude with the crossbow and the greasy hair in his face.
Always had a motorcycle even when gas was surely in short supply.
Dirty mumbler that leaned into that Pixie Lady's touch like a cat getting pets.
Abuse survivor.
Liked blowing shit up.
Pookie.
Merle Dixon
Redneck asshole that cut his own hand off.
Got the clap on occasion.
Always had a nickname on the tip of his tongue.
Carol Peletier
Scared Pixie lady that lost her little girl but gained her confidence and became a badass.
Best friends with the dude with the crossbow and always gave him nonplatonic heart eyes.
Had every child she loved cruelly stripped away from her.
"Look at the flowers."
Abuse survivor that wore many figurative masks.
Liked blowing shit up.
No matter what she couldn't lose her Pookie.
Glenn Rhee
Baseball cap wearing pizza boy that can't keep a secret.
Awkward Korean cutie that fell for the farmer's daughter.
Oh man. He didn't deserve THAT.
T-Dog
Dropped the key to that redneck asshole's cuffs.
Saved the Pixie Lady at the Prison by sacrificing himself to Walkers and nobody ever really talked about him again. So sad.
Hershel Greene
Farmer and father of two daughters that lost his leg and later his head.
Oh. And he was also the de facto doc for them all, even though he was a country veterinarian.
Maggie Greene
Farmer's daughter that fell in love with the pizza boy.
Leader of Hilltop until she went poof.
Beth Greene
Farmer's daughter that was always singing at the weirdest times.
In fact, you could say timing wasn't her strong suit--i.e. the alcohol and the scissors.
Michonne
Mysterious lady with the dreads and the katana that arrived on the scene with pet walkers.
Best friend of first Andrea Harrison then Carl Grimes.
Rick Grimes right hand(wo)man and second chance at love.
Abraham Ford
Big redheaded Army dude.
Always had something colorful and bawdy to say.
"Dolphin smooth." "Who's Deanna?"
Was all about Rosita until he was suddenly into Sasha.
Tara Chambler
Fist bump cutie that liked girls.
Lost everybody she cared about but nobody else seemed to/showed that they cared.
Jesus
Kung fu Jesus looking dude that never got anything else to do except be Maggie's de facto BFF until they killed him off.
Ezekiel
Had a pet Tiger.
The pontificating day player calling himself King that the Pixie Lady married instead of her beloved Pookie.
Jerry
Big smiling teddy bear of a man that loved himself some cobbler.
Negan
Foul-mouthed cartoon contortionist that had an unhealthy fixation on a bat he named Lucille and dick size.
Obsessed with dicks in general.
Gave more monologues than the man who called himself King.
So. Just a few of my observations. Feel free to add your own.
#The Walking Dead#don't get me wrong#I love most of these characters#but still#things that make me smile and cry#for reasons
7 notes
·
View notes
Text
Episode Six- Support Your Local Library
My relisten notes
- I forgot that Ron keeps a diary- err journal
- “With three strangers and a lizard man” love that Ron considers himself closer with Cern than the other daddies 😭
- “I think anyone would happy to meet Terry” <333
- DadFact: Glenn is very anal about karaoke etiquette
- ExtraDadFact: Glenn also uses the wrong accent and slang for British words
- DadFact: Doesn’t know what a Birkenstocks is
- Matt doesn’t know what Birkenstocks are!!!! Omg I forgot about this part!!!
- DadFact: He boing his first Birkenstocks at age nine (somehow… does the Forgotten Realms have sandals?)
- DadFact: Ron is right handed (Beth is not)
- DaddyFact: When he said all the names, he stole an Adventure Zone realm. So they made Roque Porte French
- “They’re probably safe!” Nope. Willy sucked. Willy sucked. Willy sucked.
- “Do you have kids?” “I did!” ☹️ awwww oh god. I seriously adore Cern so much
- “I’m grieving…” “That’s the best time, man!” Glenn would know. His wife is dead
- “How many children do you have Buddy?” Assuming this is Willy- One. Barry- Too many. Bill- Actually fuck him who cares
- “Put your hand down Ron, I’ll get to you in a second”
- “You should prank him- say it’s yo mama” “his mama ded…”
- The Library!!!! My beloved <33333
- Lizard Boy Scales McStuffins!!!!!! Wooooooooooooo
- I adore him
- Car fucking….
- Oh boy
- Japanese car
- ODYSSEY-SANNNNNN
- Ston Rampler!!!
- BLADE LANDINF
- THIS BECOMES A THING THAT KEEPS HAPPENING
- NICKKKKK
7 notes
·
View notes
Text
Woahhhh.... I remember typing this during the end of S5/6 and never posted it. Well, I decided to do so today!
Before I get started… I would like to add that this isn’t aimed towards all Carylers. And I’m not changing the title of my rant because this is how I personally feel and I feel as if no one should be offended by this unless they’re the people who get offended by nothing but the truth. I sometimes word things wrong so if you point it out and it’s offensive, let me know. *Fyi when I typed this up; I was only 18-19 and definitely bitter about my favorite character’s - Beth’s - death. So, if I come off as biased; I apologize. I just wanted to post this because although many people may not agree— there is obvious sexism in the TWD - is TWD still a thing - fandom and it really used to bug me back when I watched this show... Also, Carylers, I apologize if my post offends you; I meant no harm in this post.
..........……….…........................
Literally there is not ONE legitimate reason to hate Beth.
These reasons:
She sang too much
Both of her boyfriends are dead
She’s useless
Her character is boring
Team Defiance
Her and Daryl’s relationship
Typical ‘suicidal’ teenage girl
She’s stupid
She doesn’t parallel Comic!Andrea
Are NOT good enough reasons to dislike her. Instead, these are reasons to tolerate her or like her because her physical strength isn’t her best attribute, it is her mental strength that is a force to be reckoned with. Which I find so beautiful. She’s not a typical character. She’s a character who had to go through a lot just to become ‘reliable’ to the viewers. But the thing is and what I find amazing is that she was happy with the way she was. She didn’t find herself weak before. She’s very complex and her development and growth was beginning to become one of the best in the entire show. Yeah, I went there.
Either way, literally what has she done to cause anything bad to happen to your precious characters or the plot? Has she killed a major character? Has she manipulated and lied to get through the Apocalypse? Has she killed people who didn’t deserve to die? Has she slept with a character’s husband/wife? Has she ever done something to put a gap in the story line? Was she ever a racist asshole? Did she ever leave characters behind for her own safety? Because if she has then I’m on board with disliking her too…
But she hasn’t. And everything that she has gone through and conquered (and will continue conquering) has been by herself! No one helped her. She did it all by herself. So, I don’t get why people hate her. I really don’t!
But then I remember…
Sexism. From both the male and female audience. Along with her relationship with Daryl because only Carol is supposed to be the only female to have a friendship or whatever with Daryl. And it’s so petty! Like, if a ship has something to do with the reason why you hate a character than that is just childish and I thought that most of the ‘fans’ were these grown ass mature adults.
Anyway, I just wanted to list off these men who are tolerated or idolized for the bad things they did or things that relate to the women in TWD who are hated for those reasons.
Shane: He slept with his best friend’s wife, abandoned Rick, tried to kill Rick, manipulated Lori, abandoned/killed people to save his own ass, lied to the group, was controlling and abusive, was a bully to Dale, and a fucking psychopath. There’s many more reasons; I just can’t think of them now. Still, Shane is literally one of the - logically and morally - worst characters on the show, but somehow... he’s one of the most idolized characters on the show.
Governor: Killed our beloved Spaghetti Tuesday Hershel, was controlling and abusive, a psychopath, manipulator, tried to rape Maggie, killed Andrea, killed his supposed “ally”, killed his former right-hand man because he was leading a group of his own and The Governor was envious of that and he even blew up the fucking prison.
Glenn: Yeah, this seems like it’s coming out of my ass right now… right? Trust me, it’s nothing offensive. Well, I love Glenn but his similarities to Beth are obvious. Anyway, he was ‘weak’ once, was a coward at one point, but due to him being the “comic relief” or “relatable character” the first couple of seasons... he gets a pass while women like Lori, Beth and Andrea don’t.
Rick: Yes, the almighty righteous leader of Team Family is no saint. He’s killed people that didn’t do anything to him and his group. He’s made decisions that ended up killing beloved characters. He’s a morally “gray” character so I’m not delving into this because either you like him or hate him.
Merle: Racist. Homophobic. Sexist. Xenophobic. Yet, he’s one of the most popular characters on the show. Says a lot about the viewers.
6. Daryl: Tbh he’s been a red flag since S6. Only on the show at this point due to the fact that middle-aged women and beer-chugging men adore him. You can’t tell me that a female character would be able to live for multiple seasons and didn’t have anything to add to the show other than mumbling.
Alright, my fingers are tired and I’m done rambling. If I offended anyone by “bashing” your favorite characters; I’m sorry. Although, I would recommend that you read this post over because what I typed out— is nothing but the hard truth at this point. Still, my apologies for the ones I offended.
#team defiance#team delusional#Beth Greene#andrea harrison#lori grimes#the walking dead#twd spoilers#twd#twd fandom#daryl dixon#merle dixon#rick grimes#caryl#carol#twd shane#sexism#i was young yall#and dumb#honestly fuck this show now#🖕🏿🖕🏿🖕🏿
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
I Like to Watch | The Walking Dead
by Don Hall
I have this great idea. At the end of Return of the King, following the battle to destroy Sauron, we follow Aragorn and Gandalf as they continue battle lesser evils in Middle Earth. You know, maybe like a Balrog with delusions of grandeur or an evil faction of dwarves. In the meantime, Sauron, instead of being destroyed, is held captive and we get to know him a little better. Maybe we extend the saga to show his backstory and exactly how he became evil?
Hell, we could milk the battles for years!
No?
How about this: a The Princess Bride follow-up wherein Count Rugen survives the sword fight between he and Inigo. Then, later, the two form a bond and travel the countryside looking wrongs to right.
NO?!
OK: After Luke Skywalker kills the Emperor and we spend three prequels on the backstories of both Vader (as a kid) and the Emperor (as a Senator), we jump forward in time. There is a new threat with a bad guy not quite as bad as Vader because he's so openly conflicted and kinda horny for the female Luke. Then, when things come to a head at the third sequel, we bring back the Emperor so we can kill him AGAIN!!
No. You're right. That is a shitty idea.
At the (long) tail-end of the pandemic, the rest of the 10th season of The Walking Dead resumed airing and I found myself undeniably un-inspired. I didn't really care much for The Whisperers and after they bumped Rick Grimes off and then carted him away on a helicopter, the show sort of fizzled. I couldn't figure out what was missing (besides Rick) so I decided to go back to the beginning and watch the whole thing again.
The zombie trope goes back a ways into horror history. The concept of the dead re-animating and going for our living throats has elements of the Golem, aspects of Frankenstein's Monster, and a historical basis in the slavery practices of the French in Haiti.
The zombie archetype, as it appeared in Haiti and mirrored the inhumanity that existed there from 1625 to around 1800, was a projection of the African slaves’ relentless misery and subjugation. Haitian slaves believed that dying would release them back to lan guinée, literally Guinea, or Africa in general, a kind of afterlife where they could be free. Though suicide was common among slaves, those who took their own lives wouldn’t be allowed to return to lan guinée. Instead, they’d be condemned to skulk the Hispaniola plantations for eternity, an undead slave at once denied their own bodies and yet trapped inside them—a soulless zombie.
In 1968, George Romero shot (on a budget of $114,000) what was originally entitled Night of the Flesh Eaters and later renamed Night of the Living Dead. He didn't refer to his walking dead as "zombies" but as "ghouls."
The grainy black and white film was far more than a gruesome horror flick—it was an allegory for the protests of both the Vietnam War and the riots of those fighting for Civil Rights. Later, his sequel of sorts, Dawn of the Dead, is another social satire disguised as gore flick with the zombies (he now called them zombies) acting as stand-ins for the suburban consumerist ethos. 1985's Day of the Dead is an allegory about the mindless authoritarianism of the military. Land of the Dead was a satire of class division; Diary of the Dead spoofed the age of blogging and YouTube.
What were the zombies? How did they come to be? Romero gives us a comet. A cosmic incident with no more explanation. This gives the satirical representation the foreground.
Along came more zombie apocalypse movies: Re-animator, Dead Alive, 28 Days Later. Certainly a lot more including Night of the Creeps and Zombie. In 2004, we get Zach Snyder's brilliant re-make of Dawn of the Dead. This list of the undead had as much in common with the classic atomic monsters as they did the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park—these ghouls were created by man. These were the inevitable result of humankind's hubris and god-complex. We created the end of the world and now must make sense of our creation.
In 2003, Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore co-created a long-running comic series published by Image Comics: The Walking Dead. In 2010, AMC picked up the comic for a television series of the same name and what set these zombies apart from the previous strain is that one didn't have to be bitten in order to turn. These zombies represented a natural human-wide disease that re-animated anyone who died. Like a bizarre metaphor for Purgatory, becoming undead was inevitable for all living people. This created a completely different dynamic for those surviving.
Which brings us up to speed.
I was hooked to TWD for the first four seasons. The conclusion of the Governor arc was satisfying and everything about the prison was exceptional but I was exhausted by the time they arrived at Terminus. The thing became taxing to follow and I believe I'd hit my limit. I dropped away until I was talking to a friend who loved the show and she told me that Negan was the best villain she'd ever seen.
I rejoined the Grimes Gang with Season 5. Terminus cannibals. Again, I got sucked in. The tragic end of Bob. The back-and-forth conflict of Gabriel. The whole Beth in the hospital with the corrupt cops was weak but that may have been because I don't find Beth remotely interesting. Then we get to Alexandria and the dynamic between the people so blind to the world that they're having cocktail parties and the group who have endured almost comical loss and tragedy makes for some excellent storytelling.
Then came Season 6, episode 4 He's Not Here.
Both loosely connected to the journey of our merry band yet set completely apart, this standalone episode finds us with Morgan (the extraordinary Lennie James) being brought back from the insanity he's afflicted with by Eastman (an equally wonderful John Carroll Lynch). Eastman slowly brings Morgan back from the edge.
A psychiatrist, Eastman tells the story of his prison practice. He explains that he has worked with over 800 incarcerated patients and only one was irredeemably evil. He tells him of that patient, Crighton Dallas Wilton. While a model prisoner in the eyes of the prison staff, Eastman saw Wilton for what he was, an evil, manipulative psychopath. When the time for Wilton's parole came up, Eastman was the one to interview him and it was here that Wilton realized that Eastman had seen through his facade and attempted to kill him.
Later, we find out exactly how evil Wilton was and how Eastman came to be who he is in this apocalyptic world.
This episode is beautifully done and, upon re-watching the whole thing all over again, stands out for one important aspect. Eastman tells us that in this world of heroes and villains surrounded by the undead, there is only one truly evil person to watch out for.
The Governor isn't evil. He's an asshole. An authoritarian. He's also insane from grief which has driven him to become a villain. He's no more or less brutal in many ways than Rick. The Terminus cannibals are likewise justified in their choices as sickening and horrifying as they may be.
Eastman is warning us of true evil on the horizon.
That evil is Negan.
From the moment we see him (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his barbed wire bat, Lucille, he is the embodiment of gleeful malevolence. He is brutal and he fucking loves it. He kills both Abraham and Glenn with such casual smug pleasure that the fact that he just offed a beloved character who has been on the journey since the second episode of the entire franchise only hurts more.
Negan is the anti-Rick. No conflict within himself, convinced that he is righteous in his path with so little regard for even his own Saviors (his 'relationship' to Dwight is a thing of remarkable cruelty). It isn't even the body count (both the Governor and the Terminus gang kill more onscreen) but his enjoyment in brutalizing people, teasing them into submission, then gutting them on the street is Hannibal Lecter territory.
Negan is the one truly evil man Eastman warns us about.
In my marathon from the start, I realized sometime during Season 8—I had no interest in seeing any more following Negan's defeat. Having seen the episodes before, I didn't want to see the character redeemed. I didn't want him to be at all relatable. I wanted Rick to kill him and for a sense of closure.
Now take a peek at Season 8. The writers wrote the end of the series in this one. The alliance of Alexandria, The Hilltop, and The Kingdom against The Saviors. Eugene finds his safe place and Gabriel struggles to redeem himself. Fucking Carl dies! Rick beats Negan one-on-one in a field and cuts his throat with a piece of stained glass. FINIS. OVER. DONE, for chrissakes.
Carl's death means nothing if the ending isn't peace. I'll be honest, the first time I watched Carl die, I didn't much care. He wasn't a heavy weight character in my mind. The second time, I bawled like a baby because, in a few weeks, I watched him go from scared kid in the camp when Rick (presumed dead) strolls in to the young man sparring with Negan. Carl's vision of Rick's future is the end. Except for the Negan part. FUCK THAT. Negan doesn't get to survive.uck that
Rick cuts his throat. He doesn't instruct Sadiq to save him. Negan dies. Maggie gets her revenge. Rick makes his "a better world" speech. Cut to black.
HBO’s Six Feet Under, The Sopranos, The Leftovers. All could have continued following their obvious and arguably brilliant endings but they didn’t. Game of Thrones could’ve just stopped as soon as the Night King is defeated but they couldn’t help themselves and tarnished the legacy of one of the most watched television series in history. I loved Lost all the way up until they explained everything poorly.
I get it. AMC needs the cash cow. Lots of people employed so they just have to continue the tale but, man, when you get to an ending that good, walk away.
0 notes
Last Seen Blogs
udayah-blog1
Untitled
quidcabalmalamasa
M A L A M A S A
chestthumper
Nothing To See Here
nastenkazab
Anastasiya Zabolotnaya
nastenkazab
Anastasiya Zabolotnaya