Carl Grimes Deserved Better

I first mentioned this in an earlier post after I finished the Walking Dead for the first time, and my thoughts about the show. If you're like me, you probably agree that what happened to Carl was the worst story decision ever. So here's a lot of thoughts I've been sitting on for a while. If you'd like to read or commiserate with me about my rant/character study please continue reading. Caution: Spoilers Ahead

First off, killing off one of the main characters, particularly in this way, did nothing but damage the story. I read that they were trying to gain even more viewers in a similar way to game of thrones, a book and TV series unafraid of killing off main characters. In the case of Game of Thrones however the main character deaths made sense for the story, the individual storylines for these characters were complete, and their deaths could contribute to the stories of other major characters. the Walking Dead failed at this a myriad of times, giving smaller characters good development, then killing them just for shock value. Carl's death in particular. It provided no true motivation for any characters, he still had unfinished storylines, it only damaged the story itself, and there was so much potential and so many places his character could go.

in the comics, there didn't need to be a major death for Rick to spare Negan, his mercy was actually a punishment. the world would grow, improve, and repair itself, and Negan could only watch, never be a part of it.

If there needed to be a death to convince rick to have mercy, it is my opinion that Morgan would have been a far better choice, particularly as his ideologies kept shifting between kill everything and life is sacred. His character would be leaving the show at the end of season 8 anyway. It makes more sense story wise, it could have been that Morgan got bit or fatally injured, and in his last moments of life he encouraged Rick to have mercy. This makes a lot more sense then Carl's sudden turn to pacifism at the beginning of season 8, particularly since he fired the the first shots of the war in 7,16.

Carl played a key part in Negan's character development, being the first one to actually reach his small ember of humanity. Judith took over this particular storyline, and while I think she is a cool character with a phenomenal actress, she simply isn't the same. Carl actually has a history with Negan, both with him being the villain, and also with him having an almost mentor-like attitude towards him, touching on Negan's past as a gym teacher.

Rick Grimes leaving the show was also a bitter pill, one whose negative effect could have been lessened with Carl's survival. The only original group members still present are Daryl and Carol. and while they're great, it now feels like a completely different show. Michonne leaves too, so the only Grimes are Judith and RJ. Neither of whom had any real development. RJ simply existed, and Judith's skill level and character didn't make sense for her age, and the relatively easy life she must of had during the time skip bar being kidnapped by Jocelyn. Her shooting ability and skill with her little katana didn't make sense living in a place where she didn't have to grow up fighting and in danger like Carl did. Carl could have provided that feeling of the original Grimes family who were the ultimate focus and purpose of this story, a father and his son suriving in the apocalypse, and the friends, family, and enemies they make and lose along the way. with the loss of both rick and especially Carl, (since Rick didn't even die so his new story would still make sense even if Carl survived.) the walking dead no longer feels like the same story, and not in a way where it naturally evolved. it simply doesn't make as mush sense anymore in regards to the characters they have.

Carl ultimately had the best character development, growing from an annoying bratty kid who doesn't understand that there are new dangers in this world, to a teen who is wise to the world and it's dangers, and is capable of protecting himself, and helping his loved ones. he is also able to retain a sense of compassion, not becoming a soulless killing machine like Morgan did briefly, Herschel intervening and helping with his development to keep him off that path when he shot the teen from Woodbury. towards the end, he was really coming into himself, becoming a very fleshed-out character and becoming a very good leader in his own right, he could have helped Michonne and/or Tara after Rick and Maggie left and they took over Alexandria and Hilltop respectively. I believe that despite Michonne orders of complete isolation even from their friends, Carl still would have visited and reached out to Hilltop and Kingdom, even being a friend and mentor to Henry, who I personally think was a little whiney. Henry still could have had the romantic storyline with Lydia, because Carl would likely continue to pursue Enid. but he could have been a friend and ally to Lydia in a similar way to Daryl.

the manner of Carl's death was also dumb to the point of disrespectful. he got pinned by one walker and bitten by another when a few years ago he was able to get out from under three without a scratch. while Siddiq did become a good character, his death (which was also pointless) rendered Carl's sacrifice completely pointless. they also didn't even need to be killing those walkers, Carl was helping Siddiq honor his mother's belief that killing walkers released the dead souls. an interesting belief and concept Siddiq never brings up or seems to follow again.

Carl's death was anticlimactic, cheap shock value, and again I state: pointless. He is possibly my favorite TV character ever, with some of the best development I've seen, similar to Sansa Stark, going from annoying and inflated self-confidence to wisdom, capability, and experience. truly growing as a character with believeable flaws and relatable growth.

Losing Sophia, costing Dale his life by treating walkers like a game, Losing Shane and his Mother, Killing the teen and Herschel's intervention, losing the prison, Herschel, and temporarily Judith, the Claimers, the Termites, his interactions with Ron and the loss of his eye, Glenn's and Abraham's awful death's, his desire for revenge and his failed attempt on Negan's life, and the following consequences and interactions with him that followed. all of these experiences contributed to his growth. he learned his capabilities, and when he got too cocky, he was knocked down a peg by real consequences. when Judith acted out, rebelled, took on an enemy, or got cocky, there were no consequences, direct or otherwise. when Carl's skill, self-confidence, or ego grew, there were still consequences that made sense. this gave him a better character and more relatability and humanity, making mistakes and learning from them.

I never expected to get this attached to a character, and will be salty about how they treated Carl and Chandler Riggs for a very long time. (I'm not even going to get into how they treated the actor but it was awful) thank you for listening to (reading) my rant, feel free to commiserate about Carl or other undeserved TWD character deaths in the comments.

I FINISHED TWD AGAIN AND 💔💔SPOILER 🚨 💔💔💔 daryls wife reader is rositas bestfriend everyone is content then rosita reveals to her that she got bit she crumbles screaming crying while daryl just holds her and later she goodbyes rosita

At Peace

Warnings: sad, grief, TWD typical content, character death, spoiler

Masterlist

  It was a long day full of death, carnage, and the not-so-rare running for your life shebang you had all grown used to in this new world. The dinner, though, that was nice. It was convivial and bright, even in the dimly lit dining room. People laughed, joked, conversed, passed happy grins between each other as if nothing could go wrong. 

        You were the first to notice something was off with Rosita. She masked it well, smiling and pitching in, planting sweet kisses on Gabriel’s cheek every so often. Still, something in her eyes was reserved, sad, sentimental. There was a peacefulness about her, though, like whatever it was, she accepted it. 

        It seemed to go unnoticed by the others. For you, though, it was plain as daylight beaming down on you. That was the thing about best friends; nothing went unnoticed. Except, something had gone unnoticed, much earlier in the day. Something you could have never seen coming. Something you’d never stop grieving over for all your years of life to come.

       You were painfully aware of Gabriel squeezing her hand and mouthing to her, ‘What’s wrong?’

        You watched with scrutiny as she leaned in and whispered something to him, unable to read her lips regardless of how hard you concentrated on them. 

        Whatever it was, Gabriel was mortified. The worry that washed over his features quickly caught the attention of the others. That was when she announced it.

        “All things considered, I’ve had a good life. Kicked lots of ass. I’m glad I got that. Not a lot of people did, and they all deserved it just as much as any of us.” 

        Everyone looked confused at this sudden outburst of sentimentality, until she stood and revealed her bite. A hideously neat and perfect double crescent of teeth, already turning the flesh around it all sorts of unnatural hues. Time froze for you. Daryl was the only one to look your way and scan your features for a reaction. You were close to her. Real close. Inseparable. You were there for years by her side, during the birth of her children, through the losses she felt. And there you were, experiencing the loss of her, and it took you longer than most to allow that to set in. 

        From the moment you laid eyes on that horrible, rotten imprint of even more horrible and rotten teeth, time froze, but only for you. People moved and spoke around you, Rosita was taken to her bed, and the world kept spinning, while you sat frozen in place. Daryl saw all of that, and he understood it. Your eyes were empty and wide, glued to a random flaw in the fabric of the tablecloth.

        By the time it had really registered, you were outside, clutching your chest, hyperventilating.  You heard a door open and shut from behind you, but it felt too distant to pay it any mind. You collapsed, fully expecting the impact of the ground beneath you, but instead you were gripped tightly by a strong pair of arms. You didn’t care to see who it was. You just let it go, sobbing and coughing and wailing out inhumane sounds. You’d hear the occasional hush from behind you, soft and sweet like a mother cooing her child to sleep on a fussy night.

        You were overwhelmed, breaking down, falling apart. All these years by her side and you’d forgot how to function without you witty, sarcastic, drop-dead gorgeous, downright badass best friend. You admired her, went to her for guidance, centered a large part of your life around her. That’s what best friends did. 

        Somewhere along the way, in your sniffling, groveling mess, you did realize it was Daryl behind you. Your relationship with the man was complex and largely unspoken. A few drunken nights alone in the woods, naked against each other, sweaty and carefree. Otherwise, it was usually a passing glance or a lingering gaze, a simple nod communicating all that needed to be said. In that moment, though, he held you together and let you melt into him until you could control your heart a little bit. 

        Eventually you pushed yourself to your feet and dusted yourself off, wiping tears away from your flustered cheeks with haste. 

        “I have to say goodbye.” You reasoned. He agreed, silently, with the aforementioned nod. He led you inside to where she laid comfortably in white sheets with fluffy pillows underneath the cascade of her dark silky hair. Gabriel looked at you when you came in with dad, tired eyes. He smiled at you and squeezed her hand, needing to offer no explanation when he left the room to allow you your final moments alone with her. 

        At first it felt like your shoes had been welded to the floor. You had to break your legs out of the invisible steel bindings in order to move them forward and plant yourself in the chair beside her bed. She smiled at you with knowing eyes. Anything you came to say didn’t need to be said, at least, not for her to know the truth behind it. You needed to say it, though, for closure, if that was even a real thing anymore.

        “I’m gonna miss you.” You choked out. She reached over and took your hand in hers. 

        “Yeah. I’m hard to live without.” She joked. You uttered something like laughter and a sob. “You got this, girl. You’re too strong to fall apart.”

        “You make me strong.” You insisted. She shook her head. She still looked so beautiful, even as pale as she was, with those dark circles around her eyes and thin sheen of sweat caking her cheeks.

        “No, we all make each other strong. They’ll make you strong enough to get through this, just like we all have for each other all these years.” She assured you. You shook your head. 

        “Who the fuck am I gonna talk to every day? Nobody knows me like you.” Your lip quivered. 

        Rosita glanced to a looming figure in the doorway, stuff and awkward and brooding. Messy hair swept over his eyes, dark clothes, muddy boots. He smirked. 

        “I can think of somebody who wouldn’t mind listening to your voice all day, every day.” She soothed. In your state of grief, the comment flew over your head. Later, though, you’d surely figure it out, Rosita figured. 

        “I just can’t believe it.” You went on.

        “You can.” She insisted. “You have to. And you have to know that I’m okay. I’m at peace.”

        Her health seemed to drastically decline after that statement. It was like she had to say it, that she was at peace, before her soul was willing to let go of her body. Gabriel rushed in with her babies and made sure they got that last bit of time with her. Daryl gently ushered you out of the room, so that whoever had to make that final call wouldn’t be doing it in front of you. 

tags: @kissmeunicornbaobei @thesadcatt0 @clairealeehelsing @duckybird101 @tmntfixationxreader @ryoujoking @blackvelveteen1339 @yondus-girl @ladylincoln @sunshinebug9 @saylum559 @yoowhatthefuck @duffmckagansbandana @celtic-crossbow @virginsexgod69 @dazzling-roaring-20s @l0kilaufeys0n7 @uhnanix

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon | S1E1 Thoughts

Okay I am gonna list all my positive and negative thoughts regarding each episode (I know no one asked but I feel like this is the only thing I am somewhat “qualified” to talk about ad nauseam on here).

⚠️ SPOILERS AHEAD ⚠️ do not read below the cut unless you’re okay with spoilers

Positive Thoughts

Norman’s acting is so good like?? Listen we all know he’s not Laurence Olivier and he doesn’t claim to be but goddamnit he nails the subtleties of Daryl’s expressions and conveys his emotions really well I think! I’m very impressed

Daryl hot

Obviously the cinematography, setting, and aesthetics are really cool. It’s both gritty but pretty!! I love the gothic architecture and how OLD everything looks, which is only exacerbated by the apocalyptic feel

Everyone in the cast is so good in terms of acting (well, I mean… Laurent is certainly there but he’s a child so we’ll be lenient)

Daryl hot

The walkers are great as usual. I love the burners. Really interesting! I’m kind of wondering if the “experiments” the people on the ship refer to relate to the burners? Maybe they’re making them like that idk.

I love the religious imagery. We have had cults and stuff in TWDU before but I don’t think we’ve had this Catholic vibe going on. I’m a sucker for anything nun related because I have a weird infatuation with them, so I’m all for it.

DARYL BATHTUB SCENE??? They put that in for the girls and the gays and we are LIVING for it

Daryl hot

Daryl is so reminiscent of early seasons TWD era with his witty lines and snark remarks. I feel like we don’t get to see this side of Daryl very often anymore, but now that he has his own show and is THE main character, we get to see those sides that have been neglected again. I also love how much he sort of scoffs at the nuns and their religion. Atheist Daryl we love to see it

It’s cool seeing people in France dealing with the same things our characters have dealt with since the beginning. It’s interesting to see these new parts of the world in this universe for sure

Daryl hot

I honestly just love thinking about how when Daryl gets home he is gonna have such a crazy ass story to tell everyone! It’s gonna be so cute to see him telling all the kids about how heroic he is and ugh yessss

Daryl deserves his own show. He deserves to be THE main character. People who said he can’t lead a show? Nah. Reconsider

I also love that Daryl MIGHT potentially save the world. Cool asf. And if anyone from the original series should save the world, I think it’s him.

Daryl hot

Negative Thoughts:

Okay. I have some very petty/subjective critiques. I realize a lot of you guys probably disagree with me but that’s okay! Don’t read my negative thoughts if you aren’t prepared to be annoyed with me lol. Once again, a lot of these are super petty/nitpicky

First thing that bothers me is that Daryl says he is from the Commonwealth. No. He is from Alexandria, thank you very much. Well, at least he should be. He should’ve been living at Alexandria imo but the finale didn’t really make it explicitly clear where he was living in that year time jump. Basically I just hate the Commonwealth because I have zero attachment to it and it’s just a stupid ass place that I wanna forget about

Daryl seeing Carol in his haze 🙄 … just annoys me solely because Carol annoys me. They could’ve just shown Judith because that would’ve made more sense to me. But don’t get me started, I don’t even want Carol in season 2. Anyway.

Laurent isn’t terrible but he’s kind of annoying in that “I’m so smart I know everything” way. Just very annoying smart kid at school who everyone hated vibes. Plus I just don’t think it’s realistic that he would be THAT smart just from being raised in a convent of nuns

I also fail to understand what they’re doing with Laurent. Is he just some kid that the nuns think is the messiah or is he ACTUALLY the messiah? Like are they gonna throw in a whole other supernatural religious element? Because Laurent conveniently knows Judith’s line from the finale “you deserve a happy ending too.” Right down to the letter. I find it cheesy as hell because I’m so tired of these blatant in your face parallels that are trying to be clever, which always involve children too like we get it children are basically the duck tape of TWDU. Don’t know what to do for this plot? Throw some kids in there!

Neither Positive nor Negative Thoughts:

I don’t trust the nuns. I think they’re gonna use Daryl to get what they want and they don’t really care about getting him home. Worse, I think it could be possible that Isabelle won’t let him get home. She already tried to keep him from using the radio. I’m not saying I hate her character or anything (I actually like her so far… as long as she stays friendly and not… overly friendly), I just think she’s way too invested in this “messiah” stuff to actually care about Daryl so I fear she will take advantage of him. We shall see.

Ok, those are pretty much all of my thoughts!

The Everlasting Love of the Enemy

Pairing: Negan Smith x Male!Reader

Prompt: "i finally found a place where i am loved"

Warnings: angst, dad! Rick Grimes so age gap between Negan and Reader, mentions of twd s7 spoilers.

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You'd been spending all of your time at the sanctuary recently after Negan had managed to woo you into coming back with him. You wouldn't have gone with him if your dad, Rick Grimes, the leader of Alexandria after Deana died wasn't so rude to you. He picks on every small thing you do and finds something to complain about and it just got exceedingly worse after he met the saviours and Negan, he would snap and bark orders at you treating you as anything but his son. Carl on the other hand was treated like some sort of precious, fragile item that Rick had to protect at all costs. So, due to Ricks sheer negligence towards you, you decided to go with Negan after he promised you a life that sounded much more pleasant than the one you were living with Rick.

Of course though, after a while you wanted to go with Negan on one of his visits to Alexandria, why wouldn't you want to at least check on your friends and family to make sure they're okay? So that's what you did, Negan helped you step into the truck like a gentleman (knowing you were completely capable) and held your hand the entire way to Alexandria, giving you small kisses on the top of your head on the journey there. In comparison to Rick, Negan treated you with every ounce of respect he could and although he hadn't said the three words you were aching to hear, to reassure he loved you, he showed his strong feelings through actions like physical affection. With Negan you felt loved in a way you hadn't felt loved since your mother had died, you actually felt worth something with him.

When the truck stopped at the gate to Alexandria Negan helped you out and you walked through the gates into the place you called home, as you came face-to-face with your father your heart dropped. He was clearly exhausted and overworking himself to meet Negans expectations with collections. You felt a pang of guilt course through you seeing the state your own father was in, but you quickly reminded yourself of the way he had treated you and made you feel and the guilt quickly subsided.

You spent your time stuck to Negan as he walked through Alexandria with Rick moping behind him, the three of you soon settled onto Ricks porch and sat on the couple of chairs that were placed out there, Rick remained standing. Suddenly Rick spoke up, "Negan. Can I talk to my son in private?" Negans shit eating grin widened and he looked towards Rick. "What d'you say prick?" Ricks adams apple bobbed and he replied with a quiet, "please." Negan let out a laugh before turning towards you, his expression changing to one of compassion and care, "My love, would you like to speak to your father in private?" You nod and get up off of the chair you were sat on and followed Rick inside.

"What the fuck is this?" Rick begins. "What do you mean 'what the fuck is this'? Dad, me and Negan are together, I thought you might've come to that conclusion when he flirted with me and took me to the sanctuary?" You argued back. "Y/n, you are sleeping with our enemy! I'm your father for god's sake! And you just decide you'd rather be with the man who killed Glenn, Abraham?! He was going to make me cut off Carls arm and made me risk my life for a damn axe! I could be dead because of him, Carl could be missing and arm because of him, Glenn and Abraham are dead because of him! But you're stuck to his side like a lost fucking puppy!" Rick raised his voice but kept himself quiet enough as to make sure Negan didn't hear him. "You don't get to speak to me like that anymore dad! You never made me feel worth anything, you constantly shit on me for every little thing I did that you didn't agree with and I felt like I wasn't worth anything to you, I felt like my own fucking dad didn't love me! I finally found somewhere were I am loved and you still shit on me! You really cannot stand seeing me happy can you Rick!" You spat, your words were filled with a new found confidence and hatred you gained due to your time with Negan. Rick was lost for words knowing what he'd done and a guilty look washed over his face.

Without saying anymore you stormed out and made your way back to the truck, Negan shouted after you but didn't follow instead going into the house to most likely give Rick a peice of his mind.

The thought of Negan hurting your father like your father hurt you made you grin as you stepped into the truck and got comfortable waiting for Negan.

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A/n: Hi, just a shorter one as I'm slowly getting back into writing. Slowly getting through requests but am completely hyperfixated on TWD rn and Pedro fics are gonna be slow coming out. But hope you enjoyed <3

Joel Miller X Fem!Reader - Last of Us - Part 13 - The End

A/N: this is the last chapter of a series. read part 1 ! read part 2 ! read part 3 ! read part 4! read part 5! read part 6! read part 7! read part 8! read part 9! read part 10! read part 11! read part 12!

Taglist: @midgetpottermills @casssiopeia @flyingmushroomss @amethystwonders11 @hiphopdancer101universe @kiszkawagnerwhore @littleshadow17 @rh1nestonecowg1rl @alm0501 @ch4rcuterie @lodeddiperrodrick @amandalove1355 @laurathefahrradsattel @moshpot24x @middleof-thenight @kettlechips3 @happymakercollectorsworld @alainabooks143 @mikariell95 @superbreadsoull @twd-rocks-blog @livmadsen11 @sage-bunn @emmy626 @somenerdyuserr @vitavenio @yjnicks @littleshadow17 @honeybunzzzz @thenovelcarnival @shypositivitywritinghorse @kik51199 @lovelyygirl8 @adriennemichelle98 @imobbssed @sofsofsposts @axshadows @ipadkidsworld @dorck26 @somebodytookmyusername @bubblebuttwade @tartiflvtte @simplycomplicatedlifeofdenisa @zbeez-outlet @psychomanias

Warnings: dark themes; substance abuse; post-apocalyptic dystopia; death of reader's minor child; probably a lot of non-canon details since I've never played the game; not proofread; spoilers if you haven't seen the show/played the game Word Count: 1926 Abbreviations: QZ = quarantine zone; FDRA "Fedra" = Federal Disaster Response Agency

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You watched Joel from the log you were resting on next to Ellie. He was smoothing the last mounds of dark soil over top of Tessa’s freshly dug grave with his hands. Aside from the rhythmic soft slap of Ellie’s switchblade smacking her palm as she tossed it up and caught it, all you could hear was a gentle brook babbling merrily in the woods behind you. 

“You think he’s gonna be ok?” Ellie asked bluntly after a few more tosses of her knife. You chewed on your lip thoughtfully as you considered her question.

“I don’t think ‘ok’ is much of a thing anymore,” you replied quietly, your mind inventorying all the things you’d lost in the twenty years since the outbreak. Joel had his own losses, things he’d probably never speak of out loud. Tessa was just the latest in a long line of grief. That was life in the world now.

“That’s fucking bleak.” 

You chuckled at Ellie’s irreverence. Gabriel used to say the same. He’d had such optimism, such a zest for life. He’d been born into a bleak world - like Ellie - and somehow they’d both found a way to still be kids. It was incredible to you, and one of the few things that gave you hope. As Joel laid a few wildflowers on top of the grave, a soft smile curled the edges of your lips. Joel Miller had recently made your list of things that gave you hope. 

“Tell you what else is bleak,” Ellie chimed in. You turned to her, raising an eyebrow in interest. “Watching you fall for a grouchy old fuck with graying hair. I mean, shit, are pickings really that slim in the QZ?”

You couldn’t help but let out a ripping, belly laugh. 

“There’s a lot to love about Joel,” you informed her once you’d stopped chuckling.

Ellie gave you a skeptical look as she continued flipping her knife in the air.

“Like what, his rich vocabulary?” 

You snorted again, shaking your head at her irreverence. You knew she was joking: she’d hardly left Joel’s side since the daycare. Although, neither had you for that matter. A comfortable, unspoken understanding had settled over the three of you. You were a unit now, a family of sorts. Where one went, you all went. 

“Certainly not his punctuality.” Ellie titled her head pointedly in Joel’s direction, where he was kneeling at the foot of the grave in a moment of quiet. She’d been itching to go for about an hour now, although you were unwilling to rush him in his grief.

“Soon, Ellie. Give him some time.” 

She huffed but let the issue drop for the moment. You watched the blade of her knife spin in lazy loops. You made a mental note to ask her to teach you how to do that one day.

After a few minutes, she flicked the switchblade closed and rose from the log in a huff of restless energy. 

“I’m gonna go talk to him,” she announced indignantly as she stalked off in Joel’s direction. 

“No, you’re not.” You rose from your own seat with a stiff, waddling-like motion to avoid bending your bruised ribs. 

“I’ll go,” you told her, using your best don’t-mess-with-me mom voice. She rolled her eyes but nodded sullenly, sinking down onto her haunches in front of a tree trunk where she started picking at the bark with her fingers. 

You wove your way through the trees to where Joel stood at the foot of the freshly dug grave. He was staring down at the grave, his eyes glassy and his face unreadable. You weren’t sure he’d even noticed you were there.

“This is a nice place to be buried,” you mused, taking as deep an inhale as your ribs would allow, drinking in the cool air. 

Joel nodded solemnly next to you. “As good as any.”

A few moments of easy quiet stretched between the two of you, nothing but the gentle sound of running water and spring birdsong to keep you company. You snuck a glance over at Joel, studying his profile as the shadows lengthened between the trees. His eyes still had the weight of grief, but there was something lighter about him. He caught you looking at him, catching your gaze with a crooked smirk.

“You know, we have a real knack for meeting up in shitty circumstances,” he said with a low chuckle. 

You smiled at the teasing tone in his voice.

“Not too many circumstances that aren’t shitty these days,” you countered. He nodded in agreement, his eyebrows knitting together as the light melted from his eyes into worry. He shot a glance over his shoulder in Ellie’s direction. You could see him falling into his own thoughts.

“I’m not sure I know how to do this,” he stammered awkwardly. When he looked at you, his eyes were swimming with something between fear and hope. “I mean… a teenager? Again? In this shit? And not just any teenager… this teenager.” 

You knew what he meant. Ellie wasn’t just another post-outbreak orphan. She was an answer, a signalfire. Not just for you two, but for the world, even if they didn’t know her yet. 

You followed Joel’s gaze toward Ellie. She’d become totally engrossed in de-barking the tree you’d left her in front of, now using her blade to remove thick slabs of it like she was performing surgery. She must have found a bug because at one point she yelped, tossing a piece of bark like it had burned her and frantically wiping her hands on the knees of her jeans. The sight of the world’s greatest hope frightened by a bug made you and Joel chuckle in unison. 

“Kids deserve to be kids, even in this fucked up world,” you told Joel. Eddie used to say that to you when you’d worry about Gabriel. “Best thing we can do is keep her safe and let her be a kid as long as we can.” 

Joel chewed on your reply for a moment before turning away, a bit of the tension fading from his face. You knew it would take Joel a while to adjust to the news of who Ellie was. You and Ellie had filled him in on the crucial details while you’d been restocking at the daycare. Joel hadn’t said much: he’d just taken it all in with reserved seriousness. After you’d all refilled your packs, Joel had used one the walkie talkies to get in touch with Marlene. He stayed up almost the entire night, arguing back and forth with her in hushed tones from the hall where he’d put himself on watch. You’d been so exhausted that you’d slept through most of it, along with Ellie, in one of the classrooms. By the time morning came, Joel told the two of you that going back to the QZ wasn’t an option, and that Marlene wasn’t healthy enough to rendezvous with you. It was up to you now to get Ellie to where she was going. The weight of that responsibility should have felt impossible, but knowing you had help to carry it eased the burden considerably. 

You sidled closer to Joel, your uninjured hand searching until your fingers intertwined with his. His hand was warm and strong. He squeezed yours gently, shooting you as close to a happy smile as you’d probably ever get out of Joel Miller.  The sight made your heart stutter a little in your chest. You laid your cheek against his shoulder, nuzzling the rough fabric. You felt Joel take an inhale next to you, exhaling as his shoulders relaxed slightly and his chin came to rest on top of your head. You closed your eyes, breathing deeply.

For a few moments, that was all there was. 

“If you two are done making eyes at each other, do you think we can get this show on the fucking road?” Ellie’s sarcastic voice cut the moment like ribbons. You jumped a little as you and Joel turned to face her, separating from each other reluctantly. She was leaning against a tree nearby with her arms crossed over her chest. 

“We weren’t making eyes at each other,” Joel chided. Ellie rolled her eyes dramatically in reply.

“Well, whatever you call that, it’s gross,” she announced. You caught Joel’s eye as he winked at you. 

“I figure we’re ready to head out,” you offered, letting go of the tender moment you and Joel had stolen. 

“We’ve got a stop to make first.” Joel gestured Ellie forward as he pulled a folded map out of the back pocket of his jeans. He handed one side of the map to you so he could gesture with his pointer finger to a small circle he’d drawn on its surface.

“Marlene mentioned a compound outside of Ottawa in an old government facility. In the early days, FDRA helped relocate a bunch of big-wig researchers up there. We don’t know what kind of shape it’s in, but that’s where she was angling to take you. It’ll take us… maybe four weeks on foot, three if we’re lucky.”

He traced the major highways inked onto the map between Boston and Ottawa with his finger.

“We won’t have to worry about snow, so that’s something at least,” you observed idly. Joel nodded in agreement. 

“If we move now, we can make it to Frank and Bill’s before it gets too dark.” Joel folded the map back into a neat square before tucking it into the back pocket of his jeans. He walked over to where he’d leaned his pack against a tree, lifting it with easy strength and settling the weight on his shoulders.

“Who’re Frank and Bill?” Ellie asked eagerly. 

“Friends.”

“No one has friends these days,” she observed incredulously, earning a laugh from you.

“I have friends these days.”

“Friends and a girlfriend, apparently.”

You felt a warm blush spread across your cheeks as you opened your mouth to argue. Before you could, you felt Joel wrap his arms around your neck and pepper your temple with exaggerated, loud kisses for Ellie’s benefit.

“Ugh! You’re gross, you know that? All this empty space in the world and I still have to watch your guys’ PDA!” 

Joel’s display had its intended effect. Ellie darted off into the woods, heading back towards the road the three of you had used to leave the city earlier that day. 

“Hey kid,” Joel called after her. His grip had loosened, but his arms still hung around your neck. You didn’t mind at all.

Ellie didn’t answer, throwing up a middle finger over her shoulder in response.

“You’re going the wrong way!”

You and Joel had to bite your lips to suppress giggles as Ellie did an abrupt about-face and came skulking back towards you. 

“I guess immunity from the infected doesn’t come with the ability to read a map, huh?” 

Joel released you from his arms, his fingers ghosting a trail across the back of your neck that sent shivers up and down your spine. He ruffled Ellie’s hair, earning another indignant complaint from her. 

You let the two of them walk a few steps ahead of you, enjoying the sounds of their teasing back and forth as you carved a path west towards the setting sun. Despite the unknown ahead, you felt a deep sense of calm settle over you. A soft smile turned up the corner of your lips, and for the first time in a long time, you felt completely alive...

thank you for reading!!!! i have been blown away by the positive reception on this series!! if you like my joel miller writing, feel free to shoot me a request <3

How I fell in love

with The Walking Dead, Bethyl and Team Delusional. No one asked. Lol but I wanted to share! Back in 2014 I had heard of TWD but had never seen an episode, had no idea of the plot or who the characters were, all I assumed that it was a "scary" TV show and that was it. So in July I was flipping through the channels and ran across the dead, white and blue marathon. I was working but yea I could do my job and watch TV with no interruptions from my then 1 yo. The very first episode I laid my eyes on was Still. Can you believe that? The first random episode I found was my now favorite Still!! I had no idea of any background stories, I didn't even know their names at the time. All I seen was 2 young people running around an apocalypse with zombies who had major chemistry. It felt like a normal date night in the country. Finding an old abandoned house in the woods, drinking moonshine, someone getting too drunk and wanting to fight or argue, sitting on the porch and the crickets in the back ground. Sounds like a normal night in the south especially for a young couple. Hell, the first time my husband told me he loved me was when he was drunk on homemade moonshine and I live in NC but that's a different story. I kept watching these two characters and thinking they are going to at least make out! Really thinking they were going to go back into that cabin and (insert smut) however we all know they didn't. They did burn it down which again is a typical thing to do in the south burn something or have a big bon fire. I never once felt that there was some crazy age difference. I had no idea of their ages. After watching that episode I watched the next few and quickly realized that TWD was not all about scary zombies. I was in love and obsessed. I went and bought every season which was 4 at the time. By October I was completely caught up and so excited to find out what happened to beth and wanted the Bethyl reunion! I had not shipped a tv couple so hard since Spike and Buffy in high school!! Then Coda happened and I was so effected. I felt like I was actually mouring someone real not just a fictional character on a TV show. I cried myself to sleep. Now mind you at the time I was a 20 something year old women with a family and for days I was actually overcome with grief! Then it hit me. The whole thing did not feel right. The way she was shot and the angle of the gun. The way the music played at the end. I began to search on the internet because in my mind I really thought this has to be a fake out death and maybe someone else thought so or there was a spoiler of some sort to prove she was alive. That's when I found tumblr. I didn't know what that was before either. I found team delusional. Some of the people I followed are gone now but what everyone was saying and fact there were missing scenes that they filmed all made sense to me. I continued to watch the TWD until around season 7 or 8 then I lost interest. I never stopped following TD to see what they had to say, hoping eventually TWD would bring beth back. I never stopped reading all the bethyl ff. I did start back the main show to finish the last 2 seasons. Then of course the DD spin off. I notice the parallels on the DD show because the earlier seasons are my favorite and I have rewatched so many times. The parallels i see are of the end of season 4 and the beginning of season 5. All of the big beth episodes. I do believe that we are closer now than we have been to seeing her again! I think currently the writers want the GA to believe that Daryls happy ending will be with either Isabelle or Carol, however I think they are writing the story to seem like that, so it will be an even bigger surprise when Beth returns. ❤️

Lets Talk About TOWL: A Rant

Spoilers for The Ones Who Live, The Walking Dead, and trigger warning for brief mentions of SA

This is all my personal opinion on the show.

Overall, I thought the plot was good. The CRM is fucked up, but there's also some kind of twisted logic behind the mass amounts of violence they commit.

Much like most of the decently large communities in this franchise.

I thought that Rick's rise to the highest of ranks was pretty obvious, and gave him loads of opportunities to...be Rick. As a side note, I was very happy when he lost his hand because that happened all the way back during The Governor era in the comics. It felt long over due, but I felt it was a fantastic sort of....hook, into the show.

The humor was there, and my favorite line of the entire show was Rick saying to Jadis "You're a hero, with a shit haircut."

However, that's about all of the positive things I have to say about it.

My biggest issue with the show was the dialogue.

I'm not unfamiliar with dialogue that sounds off is the best way I can put it. For example, one of my favorite series is The Hunger Games, and while I think that Suzanne Collins is a wonderful author and her descriptions and world building is immaculate, her dialogue never reads to me how actual people speak to each other.

That's how it felt watching this show, especially the finale.

"Love never dies." (ep 6) "I've been wanting to say something. It's a broken world, Michonne, and you're the only thing that puts it back together. 'Til my last breath, I am yours." (ep 5)?

3/4 of the dialogue in this show felt off and dare I say even slightly out of character?

In TWD, when Rick and Michonne got together, the last thing said before they went off and had sex was "Have your mints."

It just felt like the entire show was trying to force these two to be poets when before their declarations of love weren't so much with words, but with gestures, and actions.

I don't know if this is an unpopular opinion or not, but everything just felt forced and wrong regarding the dialogue between the two of them.

Anyway, one last thing honorable mention for The Claimers and Carl getting SA'd finally getting mentioned after 10 fucking years of radio silence on the matter.

"What's the worst thing you've ever done to keep someone alive?"

"I killed someone with my teeth. Like they do."

Rick honey, no, you deserve a round of applause and a medal. Probably financial compensation, too.

Don't get me wrong, I love Rick and Michonne, but the dialogue bothered me. I'll probably think of more examples, especially in the finale later.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

Ok hi so y’all just know I LOVE making comparisons with virian n whatnot.

But hear me out.

THESE TWO ladybug And chatNoir.

Okay so I love to imagine varian as a masked hero ( this goes for Spider-Man) I think he’d more confident And open as a masked hero BC no one knows him and even with those who judge or dislike him, he’s not effected by it as much. Also smt I noticed when writing this just now.

Adrien: Dad, no mom.

Mari: Mom & dad.

Varian: Dad No mom.

Violet: Mom & dad.

Ahaha.. I’m so sane listen to me. 🥰

But yeah I’m all for varian being a cocky little Bastard As a masked hero.

BUT ALSO- not related..

I was on this topic awhile ago- but if Varian’s villain arc went differently and went down a darker route. He wasn’t wanting to actually hurt anyone in the show as said to Andrew / Hubert ( I can’t take him seriously omfg )

But imagine if it went differently, But combine Him with the moonstone.

A darker and more unhinged Look and Attitude.

For anyone who’s seen TWD ( the walking dead ) this isn’t rlly a spoiler ( to me ) but if u know Maggie, for unalives someone’s Worker..? Or smt and puts him In a coffin as a warning to a guy who just won’t say. But imagine smt like that.

Like I mean DARK. literally wanting to cause harm, Darker varian owns my heart. Like despite bro being 14, 15 ( bc if he was to get the moonstone it would be season 2 starting of season 3)

So imagine him sat on a throne Made of black rocks ( like cass ) and the visual of:

Varian Sat in the Throne, the black rocks shimmering in the moon light provided from the rise of the moon, The blue beams hitting the rocks And shining into the Empty Structure, there sat on his throne, Varian. A Sort of demented look, as the moonlight shone brighter with the rise of the moon, the light hitting his face in a way to Illuminate his features, The look in his eyes making him Feel bigger, the slight spark from the moonstone that was attached to his chest, his hair stripe giving a faint glow as its colour had changed from its usual turquoise colour to now a Blue matching the Opal.

“You want to play princess?”

“Then let’s play”

“I will take 𝑬𝑽𝑬𝑹𝒀𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑵𝑮 you ever loved as 𝒀𝑶𝑼 took from 𝑴𝑬..”

Varian cocked his head to the side with a Malicious smirk Forming, His gloved Hands Caressing the rocks on his throne before standing up and walking over to the window Of the tower, his Eyes Scanning the grounds before they landed On the castle.

“ they’re going to 𝑷𝑨𝒀 ”

*CHILLS* Imagine if I actually wrote smt for that.. haha anyway. I got so off track 😍

Ummm...I might have stumbled onto something big here guys.

WARNING: THIS POST MIGHT CONTAIN CASTING SPOILERS FOR TWD DARYL SPIN-OFF....READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

So last week, Norman posted this picture of an adorable little girl on his Instagram who is apparently going to be part of the Daryl Spin-off:

And I found myself stewing all week over this picture because I couldn’t help but think that little girl seemed so familiar. We don’t know her name but she’s been seen before in things related to the new show. We also don’t know who her character will be - though there is a certain ship who assumes that just because she appears to be of mixed race, she will actually be Daryl’s child with a certain someone. 

*However, I do not think this will be the case - and no, it’s not just because I’m biased. I’m actually working on a post explaining why at the moment* 

Anyhow, all we currently know for sure is it seems like this little girl will play some sort of role in the spin-off - at least initially. The rumor floating around certain trusted spoiling circles is that she might be palling around with Daryl for at least a little while. 

So since she looked so familiar and I’ve failed at identifying the actress using the normal methods, I’ve passed this post around to some of my crew all week long to see if any of them recognize her. That answer was a firm “No” but everyone did agree that she was definitely a child acting in some capacity on the show. Here are some things my peeps pointed out:

She is in full costume

She is not a Zombie 

She is in special effects makeup

She is wearing a lace front wig (apparently you can see how they blended it into the dirt makeup on her forehead) which makes sense because who would want to attempt to get all that gunk out of a child’s hair everyday? Imagine the knots!

She is absolutely adorable!

And then it finally hit me where I might have seen her before…

So do you all remember last week when I pointed out the Junona Fashion House picture Emily recently shared as an Instagram story?

It happened to be from the Paris Collection and I observed how coincidental EK posting something related to Paris right as filming for the Daryl Spin-off starting up was.

Well let’s just say there might be even more to this “story” than I originally thought. 

Because if you look at some more of these Paris Collection pictures side by side with the one Norman posted - you realize that the model looks an awful lot like the one appearing in the Daryl Spin-off:

Of course, there’s no way to know for sure if it is the same girl until we get a couple more straight on shots from the Spin-off showing her entire face.

However, when I passed this comparison around to the same crew from before, everybody’s consensus was the model was probably the same child pictured on set by Norman - only in a lace front wig.

So while we can’t be sure if it’s her or not, it’s definitely more than enough to raise suspicions. For now, the resemblance is a bit more than simply uncanny.

If they do end up being the same girl, this is huge! Because the question becomes why would Emily have any connection to the child actress appearing in Norman’s spin-off being filmed in Paris unless she was also somehow connected to the little girl and the show?

For the record, I was able to identify the Junona model as a little french girl by the name of Halima or Hali for short. I do not know anything else about her (and would honestly feel creepy if I did - she’s a little girl) other than she’s done lots of other Paris fashion houses, seems to be at least bilingual (French/English), and this was her latest fashion shoot done not too long ago.

I could not find any acting credits but that would not be unusual without a last name and with all the information available about her being limited to this particular fashion shoot. Also, she is young and this could be her first acting gig.

Just to cover my tracks, I could not find any apparent connection between the Canadian-born - but mostly International (mainly Paris and Brussels) - child photographer, Emily Kornya and either EK, TWD, or any other project EK has worked on. She has done work in NYC a few times here and there so unless they crossed paths or circles somehow when EK lived there, it doesn’t appear that EK knows her personally or anything.

Anyway…thoughts?

how to remember Commonwealth’s Carol and Daryl? still hyperaware of their surroundings, not properly comfortable quite yet cause they do not easily trust people, so they are trying to work it out from the inside and to find necessary allies. they don’t have much personal time to figure out what is going on between them yet, but they are making an effort to spend more time with each other.

Daryl does not ever lose an opportunity to get his favorite donuts from a particular bakery in order to catch up with a special baker with an old interest in tabloids, and casually ask her out on lunch dates. on the other hand, Carol immediately calls in the cavalry and saves the life of the hottest new trooper in town cause he was 5 mins late for the lunch. the two still got time to co-parent the Grimes kids. and soon, they will both be pivotal in the fight to take down corruption at CW.

FUNNY STORY (minor ending spoilers after the jump) so YOU’VE BEEN WARNED

when the caryl spinoff was still a go, it was argued uncle! Daryl would/could never leave Judith and RJ behind, but no one ever mentioned how aunt! Carol might feel about it. it was always assumed she would be fine leaving those kids, when she had such an important role in Judith’s early life, specially in keeping her alive and taking care of her. yeah, after Rick’s disappearance, Carol didn’t see Judith for a longest time, but they were always and always will be family. it’s not Daryl saw much of Judith either for all those years he was living and searching for Rick in the woods.

anyways, uncle! Daryl and aunt! Carol would always be two of the most important people in the Grimes’ kids lives. they would always be the closest people they would have to their actual parents. no one can erase that family history. SOOOO, after the caryl spinoff cancelation and the confirmation of a Daryl solo spinoff, i find it ironic, it will actually be Daryl the one who will leave those kids behind to go on some sort of crazy suicide mission in Europe.... a whole ocean away from the people he loves the most. 

i’m not pointing fingers (JUST THE IRONY!) cause we all know AMC’s TWD is not character driven - so the character (Daryl and Carol, included) will not do what makes most sense for their characters’ story/development. the characters will go wherever the plot takes them no matter how contrived it may sound/look.

no matter what, fanon will forever be superior. so for me personally, after co-parenting/dating/taking down the whole CW government, Carol and Daryl will take time for themselves, go see the world and whoever is left out there on their way to New Mexico. they will finally arrive at Roswell, where they will encounter the first alien walkers in TWDU. they continue their journey further east, and finally settle down for a good vacay at an abandoned luxurious waterfront mansion in Malibu and that’s MY TWD ENDING! 

CARYL ON!

TWD

So, I just finished all 11 seasons of the walking dead and I have some.... thoughts.

I just started watching twd a couple of months ago, and I never thought I would get this emotionally attached to a show, like it so much, and also be disappointed in it. It is one of my favorite shows if not THE favorite, but I feel like it definitely could have been handled better.

I'll try to avoid getting into the full rant circulating through my mind but seriously, the last three seasons didn't even feel like it was the same show anymore. I know this kind of post has been done a bunch of times before, but I think they definitely lost sight of what the story was supposed to be about. A father, and his son surviving the apocalypse. I know there was a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes, but killing off Carl Grimes was the worst decision a show ever made and I will die on this hill.

I cannot accurately describe in one post how I feel this show was both incredibly great, and handled so poorly. There were characters that got awesome development, only to be killed off as soon as they started to become good characters. Beth, Tyreese, Denise, Noah, and so many others. Carl had the greatest character development, we literally watched him grow up on the show, and Chandler Riggs did an awesome job bringing that character to life. the way the character and the actor were treated still makes me furious.

Nevertheless, I loved the show, and the last few seasons did have some gems. But I never thought I would get this invested in a show, or in these characters. I'm honestly thinking about writing more about this, because right now it's just living in my head rent-free.

thanks for listening (reading, I know) to my thoughts on this. this was an incredible show, and Carl Grimes was easily my favorite character. From season three onward I guess, he was a bit annoying at first, but you know, a young kid, whose world has drastically changed, and he's still learning what that means in the first two seasons. anyway, just wanted to get that off my chest because wow, this show really got me invested.

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon | S1E2 Thoughts

⚠️ SPOILERS AHEAD ⚠️ do not read below the cut unless you’re okay with spoilers

Positive Thoughts

The opening scenes in Paris at the start of the outbreak? Genuinely got my heart pumping and my adrenaline rushing. I was actually freaked out. I wish TWD would have shown the outbreak actually happening more than they did. It would've been really interesting to see how each character ended up at the quarry, going all the way back to season 1 of TWD, but that's irrelevant lol

Camerawork is crazy good??? I mean, I don't really know anything about cameras but I thought that there were some really cool dynamic shots, especially in the flashbacks.

Isabelle is growing on me a LOT. I am so glad she is turning out to be her own character so far. I mean, I don't completely trust her because I think she definitely has her own agenda (can't really blame her), but I like her character. She hasn't annoyed me once which is crazy because even DARYL has annoyed me a few times in this episode lol

I loved the little detail of Sylvie being at the abbey when Isabelle arrives with Lily. Just a cool little detail where we see a little bit of Sylvie's story, too

The entire concept of Laurent being born to a walker is cool as hell and idc what anyone says. I wonder if him being born to a walker actually has some kind of effect on him. Of course, my first thought goes to maybe he is immune or something, or he carries the cure to the virus in his blood. I am so excited to see how that pans out. Idc if it's "ripping off" TLOU (I don't think it is tbh)

Speaking of Laurent, I have a newfound appreciation for him. He's so cute and sweet, and I felt bad for him when the children were picking on him

Lou's group is SO COOL. I love that they're a little group of children who raised themselves. Kinda reminds me of Jocelyn's kids from season 9 of TWD, but less evil. MUCH less evil. Not evil at all, actually. They remind me of the Lost Boys from the movie Hook, which is based on Peter Pan. That dinner scene was especially reminiscent of that for me

Daryl being undercover as a priest LOLIONGJWKDS

Daryl has some amazing sassy/cute moments in this episode. I think my personal favorite is when he loudly slurps down the soup at the dinner table. I also loved the little detail of Daryl starting to eat before everyone else/before they said grace, signifying how Daryl doesn't really have good table manners (which I love). It's so cute when he starts saying the prayer with food already in his mouth lol

And Norman's acting in this episode was once again so good. There's a scene when they're watching the TV where the camera slowly zooms in on Daryl. His smile begins to fade and you can just see in his eyes how much he misses home, and how much he wishes he could be with his family, even Merle, who he is probably thinking about, too, since he used to watch the show with him.

DARYL USING A MORNINGSTAR DARYL USING A MORNINGSTAR DARYL USING A MORNINGSTAR DARYL USING A MORNINGSTAR DARYL US--

That annoying American was slightly entertaining. Mostly annoying but slightly entertaining as well

Daryl and Laurent are very cute. I love how Daryl sort of relates to him in that they were both outcasts as children

Negative Thoughts

There are a few things Daryl does in this episode that rubbed me the wrong way just a tad bit. Of course I still love him but I just don't understand some of his decisions lol. Like when he let the mule go instead of just getting off his ass and taking out those walkers. He could've done it! Especially with the help of Isabelle and Sylvie. They probably could've taken out that herd without sacrificing the mule. Just kind of a stupid decision imo. Unnecessarily cruel too. I also didn't get why Daryl locked Lou in that shed. Kinda not cool? He could've just said, "hey, you stay back and I'll handle this." I didn't really see the point in having him do that :/ and he lies a lot to Lou and the kids in order to get what he wants. I mean, I get that he doesn't owe anything to these kids, but still... just seems a little callous. It's giving Carol vibes lol. They're basically making Daryl do things the way Carol does them—by lying, manipulating, and being cruel to children. I like Daryl because of his kindness, not this weird deceitfulness that he has going on suddenly. Again, I get that he is in a foreign place and these are all strangers to him so why should he care, but it just really doesn't seem like our Daryl. Other than that, I liked Daryl a lot in this episode, but there were just some little things I didn't vibe with

This episode did seem to veer away from the main plot quite a bit. I wonder if Lou's group will return later to help Daryl and the others in his group, or if they were just a one and done storyline. While I loved this little adventure, it did seem to not really add to the overall arc, and the little scene at the end with Codron walking around the abbey did seem a bit shoehorned just to remind us of the actual plot, but who knows?

Neither Positive Nor Negative Thoughts

So lets talk about the bed scene. Idk. I didn't hate it because I didn't see anything romantic there between Daryl and Isabelle, BUT it was a little like... can't you guys just have there be two beds lol. I really just think it's baiting, once again. I don't feel any romantic connection between them, and I don't think the show is necessarily trying to get that across to us, but I do think that they're like "well if people do think this is a romance, it will get them to continue watching the show and see if they get together!" So basically I think it's just a way to get people interested, but I don't think anything will happen. I think they will stay friends, otherwise it would be very awkward, at least from the way their relationship is so far

That's about all I have to say I think! Thanks for reading my thoughts. Hoping to get Chapter 2 of Begin Again out before the next episode, but no promises <3

Look, I see why people ship Daryl and carol, though I don't really see it personally. Then a lot of people say they're either platonic soulmates or siblings, but I have an even better, more specific, dynamic.

Big sister/little brother vibes.

He is aggressively protective of her but always turns to her in moments of vulnerability. He seeks her validation constantly, will do anything to make her smile, and is constantly working her nerves. he would die for her, he would kill for her, he would go to war for her. anyone who goes anywhere near her has to pass his smell test. her safety and comfort are above anyone else's, especially his. But at the end of the day, he looks to her for guidance, comfort, and acceptance.

She is a lot more covertly protective, with quiet threats and unspoken accommodations. Even when she doubts him, she makes sure no one else messes with him or loses their confidence in him. she knows his every tell and knows how to support him even in his darkest moments. She's scraped him off rock bottom over and over again. she holds him when he needs to be held, lets him yell when he needs to yell, makes sure he knows he's loved when he feels unloveable. she teases him and makes him feel like just about anywhere can be home as long as they have each other. But ultimately, he is her responsibility; she's always looking out for him, to protect and love him, to make sure he takes care of himself when he's too busy taking care of everyone else.

They are each other's crutch; they need one another to survive. They bring each other some sort of normalcy in a broken world. They heal one another physically, mentally, and emotionally. They may have only met each other when the world ended, but they are truly siblings, even if they don't share blood.

Disclaimer; I am only on season 4 of TWD, please no spoilers.

Okay, let’s talk about The Last of Us s1

I feel it’s important to mention I don’t like zombie shows/movies. I watched The Walking Dead but only because it centered on the characters and what they were going through more than the zombies, though I’m not sure if that’s true for later seasons. I stopped watch in season 8. But I was intrigued by The Last of Us. I never played the game (again, I don’t like zombies; the draugr in Skyrim is as close as I get) but the show looked really good. And now that it’s over, I really only have two thoughts.

So, spoilers. Duh.

Thought One: I got that initial outbreak that I was missing from The Walking Dead. With TWD is my only frame of reference for apocalyptic zombie media, I’m going to use it a lot. What I was missing from that show, though, is how the outbreak started. And yes, we did sort of get that from Fear the Walking Dead, but they skipped over the good parts, if memory serves. One minute there was a mystery disease and the next... apocalypse. When we started with TWD, we were still in the beginning stages of the apocalypse. Everyone was still adjusting to their new normal and holding on to whatever they could from the old world, that was the exact same stuff we got in Fear the Walking Dead. It brought nothing new to the table. It didn't give me what I wanted.

What I wanted was the horror. The dread. The knowing the outbreak is coming, but when? And who? I got that with TLOU. It was compounded by the fact that we’ve been through a pandemic; we know how easy it is to spread disease. It went global and then a week later the whole world shut down. No one turned into fungus monsters or the walking dead, but still. The dread in the first episode was palpable, and I have no doubt that even if the pandemic hadn't happened, it still would have been deeply effective. It used dramatic irony well. The show knew we knew the outbreak was coming and used that knowledge to its advantage. Incredibly well done.

Thought Two: I think making the main story take place 20yrs after the outbreak was a bad idea. I know in the game it was 10-20yrs since the outbreak (I googled it, but I couldn't get a straight answer for some reason) but that feels too long. I don't get a sense of urgency. There's supposed to be urgency, that's the feeling I got during the scenes between Marlena, Joel, and Tess when Marlena was begging them to take Ellie to the Fireflies outside the QZ, but I don't feel any of it carried through the rest of the show. Because there wasn't really any urgency at all. The plot was "get Ellie to the Fireflies" but is that supposed to happen sooner rather than later? Is there a time frame? At any point Joel and Ellie could have chosen not to keep going. They could have stayed with Tommy and Maria in Wyoming. I know that it was important to Ellie to make everything that's happened during their journey mean something, but I have no reason to believe she felt like that before meeting and killing David. And if she was supposed to start feeling that way after Sam and Henry died, then they didn't do a good job of showing that to me. And I'm by no means shit talking the show. I was just missing that extra little motivation.

I also assume that after 20yrs most people would have given up on the idea of a cure or vaccine. This is the world they live in now. I can understand wanting a treatment maybe, so clicker bites aren't deadly anymore. To that extent I can get behind sending Ellie to the Fireflies, but I can't get behind finding a vaccine. And no, it's not because there can never be a vaccine for a fungus (that's not how vaccines work), but it seems like, for the most part, no one's worried about the clickers unless they get too close to a big city. There's not even the threat that if someone were to die they would become a clicker like in The Walking Dead. (For those who don't know: In TWD, everyone is infected with the Wildfire virus so it doesn't matter if you're bitten by a walker or not. If you die, you turn). This circles back to my issue of urgency. Again, if they were searching for a treatment, I would understand. But they want a vaccine. I want to say they must know there's no way to cultivate a vaccine against a fungus, but I can't be sure. They said in the first scene that it's not possible for a fungus to take over the human body because our bodies are too warm, but cordyceps took over human bodies anyway. So maybe they're operating under the logic of "if that's possible when they said it was impossible, maybe a vaccine is possible, too."

Anyway, those are my only two thoughts, really. I mean, I have more than just those two, but I don't know how many times I can say "I loved it and I can't wait for season two" before everyone gets bored of what I have to say. I think my feelings about the show are pretty on parr with everyone else's feelings (except for the Ben Shapiros of the world, complaining about episode 3. I loved episode 3 and it wrecked me).

I loved it and I can't wait for season two.

Edit: I called ber Marlena the whole time and her name is definitely Marlene

To those 3 ppl that yelled "PREV WHAT" at me on that post about english teachers

Context: I was 16ish on school and there was this one retired punk metalhead english teacher who everyone liked. I was uninterested and non caring abt that person at all, barely put attention in class as I played pokemon and stuff on my phone.

I kind of started getting along with them because of walking dead. My family had a thing for that show and I watched a few episodes with them when I had dinner with them and was the hit show then so, everyone had that show on every conversation, that one teacher included. Could even call him the biggest TWD fan.

And was this episode where this one guy hit with a bat to death to two guys, you could see their eye pop out and all. Pretty bizarre and shit but seems to be a big deal to people who liked the show by the reaction of my family to that.

So, next day at class I open un my "normie chatting topics to fit in" folder on my brain and tell the teacher "dude! I wasn't expecting that (character) died, quite shocking!"

My teacher then yelled at me and had a breakdown cuz I just spoiled him a major death. What i didn't know is that the channel i watched Walking Dead was some sort of premium channel that casually had the New Episodes a day before it was shown on cable TV FOX, where seemingly my teacher watched it.

I was embarrassed cuz I just ruined it for them, now picture me trying to console him telling them "hey but. I didn't spoil you all way through... someone else dies too but I wont tell you who is it"

I'm a little stupid

Teacher hated me lots and was a little but harras-y after that and mean to me. Kind of a South Park Kenny treat. Butt of his jokes and comparisons. Called me childish in front of everyone for playing pokemon, mocked the wig I used to go to school some days and went as far to show his taser/zapper (whatever it is called, the self defense electric thing to paralyze ppl) to the class and my friends and many times during class pretend he was going to zap me. Turning it on and making it SHOCK next to me to scare me I guess(? Too close to comfort and tbh didn't feel like a joke

He was cranky and pissed at me and never let me forget they hated me. I think that became his whole personality after that cuz people really noticed go out at it at any given time and started to feel off about them.

Iirc, my classmates wanted them gone cuz he was much of a jerk after the spoiler.

Kinda sucked, what a bummer but that's that!

I'm really side-eyeing EK's stories lately and just today she posted this:

This must be the script for whatever project she is working on and she is even showing us some tidbits. I know it's not much but maybe something comes to your mind when reading these lines?

But honestly, she is teasing us 😭

Yeah, for sure. I totally agree. Make sure to read @mindynichole's response to the last story Emily posted about memorizing lines. No one knows what this acting project is. It hasn't been announced. And that's super weird. There's no reason for it unless they're specifically trying to keep it secret. So basically, the ONLY explanation for this weirdness is if this is TWD and they're keeping it hush-hush.

I totally agree that she's teasing us. And no way it's a coincidence that she keeps doing this the week of comicon.

As for what I'm specifically seeing, the hearing impairment bit definitely has ties to TWD, both because of Connie and because of the hear-no-evil theme.

In fact, earlier in the week, a tiny spoiler leaked on Twitter. It really was miniscule. Something about Daryl and Connie walking through a tunnel or something. But now Emily is posting something about hearing impairment. Coincidence?

It's also unclear if she wrote the "You're pretty good!" bit on the paper herself, or if someone else wrote it to compliment her. But my mind immediately went to, "We'll be good."

And honestly, when I read the "They hug" bit, I see this:

Am I reaching? Possibly. But even if this script turns out to have nothing to do with TWD, I still feel like Emily is posting it in a "coming attractions" sort of way. And I am 100% okay with that. 😝

Xoxo! ☀️🔥💖