my-mt-heart

[my-mt-heart]

Do you know of a message board or a place to discuss Daryl and Carol, Caryl specifically , that isn't filled with hate? The private groups and message boards I'm apart of are so toxic. It usually just turns into a group of people making fun of other fans for having an opinion that differs from them. I want to discuss the actual characters, and their story lines. I don't want to listen to people attack other fans because they think one way. I just want a group of people who want Caryl together.

Most of the really honest conversations about the characters and the show happen way off the radar in my experience. This is just a personal preference, but I really enjoy one-on-one conversations with other fans. I think there’s less pressure to conform to this or that mindset out of fear of being bullied, rejected, etc.

[my-mt-heart]

What do you think happened between Daryl and Carol in season 11 between the time they took back the Commonwealth, and Daryl leaving. Carol made the comment, " I think it will be good for both of us" Something happened in that year that we didn't see and I would love to know what you think it was.

Those scenes leading up to their talk on the bench were shaded like a married couple building a life with their three kids and the I love you’s at the end didn’t feel like the first time they had said that to each other. It was subtle (🙄), but that’s what was there, which makes Daryl’s dialogue in the opening minutes of S3 about never having the chance to do anything even more ridiculous.

[my-mt-heart]

Pre-empting any asks about the opening minutes, all there is to say is that I stand by this.

I got some asks about the new teaser, so I figured I’ll just address them all here. My biggest takeaway is that there’s nothing for me to invest in. The dialogue is awful, the writing looks disjointed, and as I feared would be inevitable, I don’t see my favorite characters in it at all. It’s very clear that AMC wants to reinvent them which is bad enough, but also, the way they’re going about it is by severing the emotional journey that’s already been earned over the years and forcing them both into cheap situations/connections that won’t carry any weight. There’s no beating heart anymore. There’s just an awkward storyline for Daryl and a smaller, but just as awkward storyline for Carol to tide each fanbase over. If you liked both characters in the flagship show and you liked their chemistry, whether you shipped them or not, well fuck you I guess? I don’t think it’s going to work. I think AMC is just going to end up fragmenting the audience even further, but they want to keep throwing spaghetti at the wall and twisting themselves in knots to appease a few individuals instead of listening—I mean *really* listening—to what their audience is saying (and not saying). That’s on them at this point. I do support Melissa, but as I’ve explained before, watching S3 just because she’s in it doesn’t support her in any way. It just enables the men in charge to keep getting away with their misogyny.

[my-mt-heart]

Do you have any thoughts about the new teaser for S3? I didn’t like it 😢

Hello, dear anon. My initial thought when I saw the teaser was:

“Bet on hope? Why exactly?”

The teaser is completely focused on Daryl’s story, which is solidified by the title at the end that only features Daryl’s name. Daryl is still talking about the “friend” he’d known for a few weeks who told him to bet on hope, while Carol is shipbaited with someone she just met. The teaser made it clear that they ignored us. Daryl gets to do a lot of “badass” stuff while Carol appears briefly in a few scenes. She is sprinkled through the teaser to calm us down with no real drive. Reminds me too much of previous seasons in the flagship show. 

From a marketing perspective, this feels completely unbalanced. A teaser is supposed to put your best foot forward and give a snapshot into what the show will be about while amplifying the tension to get people excited. This just riled me up, not in an “I’ll hate-watch it” way or “I guess I’ll check it out to see where it goes” way, but in a “thanks for confirming my fears, I’m done” way.

If the showrunner is focusing so much on ship baiting and mindless violence, it's probably because that’s the only part they believe will elicit reactions, and it doesn’t seem to matter to them what kind of reactions. 

I made the mistake long ago with S1 and S2 to wait until we learned more. I gave the show the benefit of the doubt, but I have enough proof with S1 and S2 to come up with a conclusion now. You decide how you feel about it, but I don’t like what I’m seeing, and I will not show up for Caryl crumbs because just maybe someday the guy in charge will change his mind about them, even though Zabel has explicitly told us multiple times through written articles that he won’t.

I know Melissa will make magic with what she has, but they turned Carol into a footnote in the season with her name in the subtitle. What will they do in the season that doesn’t even feature her name? The current leadership is comfortable because they hope for free publicity. They’re hoping fans will take the crumbs and be happy so they can continue ship-baiting our favourite characters with new characters. So when we get angry for their treatment of us and the characters, our excitement is thrown in our face by calling us hysterical and telling us “they don’t write for us.” 

I refuse to fall into the trap of “be a good fan and don’t defy us” thing the current leadership has got going on. For me, being a fan means being able to criticize the show and the leadership when they mess up. Ultimately, this direction is costing them ROI because the showrunner keeps alienating the audience. In this scenario, continuing to support this means they will assume I am okay with Carol not being equally represented on her own show. I'm not okay with it. I don’t like the show's trajectory or where this PR narrative is headed. I’m not falling for that line of marketing, nor giving them a dime. 

I think it’s also important to reiterate something I mentioned in a post earlier:

We need to be careful about using the word "willingly" when power dynamics are at play. Women don't willingly stay in toxic work environments. Women don't willingly ask for poor treatment. Women don't willingly accept degrading storylines. Women don't willingly ask for less. Women don't willingly stay small.  The term "willingly" is PR speak to build a narrative that supports the power hierarchy (in this case, the male EPs). A show of willingness during the PR circuit protects EPs — and gives them cover for controversial choices — while holding the female talent as a shield. If they're praised, they can show how "progressive" they are by doing the bare minimum of letting a woman speak uninterrupted, and if there is backlash then she faces the brunt of it.  Majority of the times the options are to do it "willingly" or get labelled as "difficult to work with" and risk your career and reputation. The only form of protest is absence or silence unless it is also overridden by someone in power. In this particular case, the male EPs have done everything I mentioned here and more. Vile is an understatement.

To end this long answer, anon - I am sorry you didn’t like the teaser. I’m sorry we’re here. I’m sad that it’s been years of this, and it won’t let up. I’m sorry that we don’t have a better showrunner who cares about the characters and the audience. You decide what to do next, where this season is concerned, but I’m not betting on hope.  – Shalaka

[my-mt-heart]

I got some asks about the new teaser, so I figured I’ll just address them all here. My biggest takeaway is that there’s nothing for me to invest in. The dialogue is awful, the writing looks disjointed, and as I feared would be inevitable, I don’t see my favorite characters in it at all. It’s very clear that AMC wants to reinvent them which is bad enough, but also, the way they’re going about it is by severing the emotional journey that’s already been earned over the years and forcing them both into cheap situations/connections that won’t carry any weight. There’s no beating heart anymore. There’s just an awkward storyline for Daryl and a smaller, but just as awkward storyline for Carol to tide each fanbase over. If you liked both characters in the flagship show and you liked their chemistry, whether you shipped them or not, well fuck you I guess? I don’t think it’s going to work. I think AMC is just going to end up fragmenting the audience even further, but they want to keep throwing spaghetti at the wall and twisting themselves in knots to appease a few individuals instead of listening—I mean *really* listening—to what their audience is saying (and not saying). That’s on them at this point. I do support Melissa, but as I’ve explained before, watching S3 just because she’s in it doesn’t support her in any way. It just enables the men in charge to keep getting away with their misogyny.

[my-mt-heart]

What we were promised: “Monster of the week”

What we actually get: “Romance of the week”

Lolz

[my-mt-heart]

Heading into the promo circuit for S3, would the powers that be ever tell Melissa to tone down her displeasure? For S2, it became clear that she had some thoughts. Seeing Melissa like that right away, before S3 even airs, would only confirm what we all know but I wonder if AMC would tell her to be more "positive" in order to try and get us to watch?

Both AMC and the male EPs try to use Melissa as a shield from feminine audience rage. The idea is that if she supports them, then we’ll support what she supports. You’re not ever going to hear her say something negative about a show she’s obligated to promote. White men can get away with saying whatever they want. Women and POC cannot. That’s why it’s important to listen to what isn’t being said along with what is.

[my-mt-heart]

Carol Peletier – A Lighthouse in the Dark

How Carol Peletier became one of the most impactful characters on television

The world is on fire, and we’re running out of heroes. 

We live in a world full of superheroes, traditional heroes, anti-heroes, complex heroes riddled with a traumatic past, surface-level heroes with a snippy sense of humour, and Deadpool. But the world is on fire, and you’re running out of heroes if you’re a woman. Or a woman raising a woman. Or a woman godmother to women. Or a woman who is friends with women. We can relate to male superheroes, of course, but it hits differently when you look at the screen and see someone like you – struggling like you, living like you, loving like you, giving like you, surviving like you. 

In the last few years, I’ve turned towards television for solace, and I've realized that the few women whom I looked up to are gone or forgotten. As we rapidly descend into what feels like a psychedelic dystopian hellfire trip inspired by A Handmaid’s Tale, I find myself wondering – who do I hold on to? I grew up living and breathing television and struggling to find multifaceted women who were flawed and messy and real and powerful. I watched demure, dainty, traditional, and feminine women who were punished if they strayed away from gender roles, and whatever mortifying fever trip I Dream of Jeannie was.

For a WOC like me, the world is an even scarier place right now. Building connections is tricky. True allies are few and far between, and sometimes you don’t find out until it’s too late – and if you’re lucky, you get to leave the situation without scars (physical or emotional). And I have come to an important realization after coursing the tumultuous waters of the past few years. 

When you’re drifting in the darkness, find your lighthouse – for me, that’s Carol.   

The Beauty of Carol 

Carol is deeply flawed. She’s messy, quirky, sensitive, unafraid, ruthless, soft, and terrifying. When I think of her growth, I can hear her beating heart. When she’s in pain, I can feel the ridges of the scars she carries with her. I wonder sometimes if the old bullet wounds that almost killed her still hurt. I want to know if her pregnancy with Sophia was a difficult one, and if she thought of it a lot when she was raising Henry. I want to know what her favourite brand of chocolate is. I want her to tell me what young Carol wanted to be when she grew up. 

I want to sit with Carol, and talk to her about her life over an empty bottle of cheap Moscato, and make the three-and-a-half sips left in chapstick-stained wine glasses last a bit longer. I want her to catch me up on her woes and stories, as if she’s a childhood friend I haven’t seen in ages. 

If I’m starting to worry you about my mental well-being, let me assure you that I know Carol is fictional. The beauty of Carol is that she thins the veil between you and the screen and makes you feel for her. She can disarm your guard with a blink of an eye, and before you know it, you’re holding her up as she weeps for her little girl. You’re starting to move in front of her to shield her from a grown-ass man who throws a tantrum and makes her flinch. You’re feeling the pain she feels. 

She fucks up, makes mistakes, tries her best and fails sometimes, faces heart-cleaving loss – and when she’s given the space, she grows from all of it. This quality may not appeal to those who prefer characters to be flawless, but to me, her perfection lies in the scars she's still healing. It niches down her audience to those who won’t admonish her for her mistakes, but will revere her for continuing to do her best. 

That right there is why she continues to build a loyal fanbase who will stand up for her when necessary. She doesn’t feel like a character; she feels like a dear friend who deserves the whole world.

The Flawed Perfection of Carol

Melissa McBride recognized Carol's imperfection and adorned it with gold. 

Carol has found her kin in the deep crevices of this world where the misunderstood folks reside. People who are deemed unconventional because they don’t conform – the misfits, the mavericks, the lonely, the survivours, the neurodivergent, the POC, the queer folks, the forgotten. Melissa gently picked up the pieces from all of our lives and melded them into Carol’s. 

We are often harsher on ourselves than others, but through Carol, we have the space to heal the wounds we carry within us. By standing up for her, I have learned how to stand up for myself. She has helped me heal wounds I had forgotten about. I’ve learned discernment by seeing her in her light and her integrity, and by refusing to fall for whatever drivel is being served by the current leadership. Finding a woman to root for means everything in a world where we’re watching rights being stripped away from women. And I’m rooting for her. 

A Lighthouse 

Carol exists because Melissa had the courage to dig deep into this character’s psyche. Because of her, Carol has loved deeply, she has felt her life’s jagged edges, she has rooted in her empathy, she has drowned in sorrow, she’s been crippled by guilt, she has watched her heart shatter into a million pieces, and she has fallen into a bottomless pit of darkness and crawled her way out through it to find her light.  

She is here because Melissa refuses to give up on her. She’s here because Melissa is still fighting for her the best she can. She is here because Melissa refuses to leave her side. She’s here, shining bright – stalwart and strong – guiding us all so we may find our way back home to ourselves the way she is trying to. 

No matter what happens or what the current EPs try to tell you about Carol, remember that many men before them also underestimated her. Yet, Carol is still here and she always will be. Because we won’t forget who she is. Melissa has made sure of it.

Melissa has dedicated years to building this character, and it is time Carol gets to live the life she has more than earned. 

If you’ve found your way all the way down here, I hope you’ll join me in wishing a very happy 60th to the radiant, the beautiful, the generous, and enchanting Melissa McBride. May this be the year that all her wishes come true. 

[my-mt-heart]

Happy 60th birthday to Melissa McBride and a sincere thank you to her for radiating kindness, devotion, and resilience whenever she's on our screens or meeting us in person. She's a rare gem not only in the industry, but in this upside down world and deserves every bit of the support she receives with each new day.

[my-mt-heart]

Hey! You didn't answer my questions :(

I don’t know which questions were yours, but I’ve been very selective with my asks in the last little bit. While I appreciate and welcome all asks, I’m short on time, so I want to make absolutely sure that what I’m putting out there when I do have time is the most helpful it can be.

Again, not sure what you asked, but as a general note to anyone who reads this, I tend to block or delete asks that come off as unnecessarily hostile or misogynistic to me, other Caryl fans, or the women who work on the show.

[my-mt-heart]

Any thoughts on the Carol-focused promo that AMC released?

Like I said, AMC still wants Carol/Caryl fans to watch, so they’ll throw crumbs. The problem is, their main focus is on drawing a younger male viewership, so the nonsense in the Daryl-focused promo is a much stronger representation of what people can actually expect when the show airs 🤷🏻‍♀️

[my-mt-heart]

Where is Angela Kang and why is she in hiding?

Are you asking why she doesn’t insert herself in any coverage of TWDU? Because she’s not an active EP (and not an egomaniac like the others 🤷🏻‍♀️)

[my-mt-heart]

Why would MMB come back for this willingly? It cant be to honor Carol. Quite frankly, the men are making her character embarrassing.

Why can’t it be to honor Carol? The changes to the title and to S2 happened after she was already under contract. It’s not her fault that her co-workers decided to do something petty and underhanded. Those guys are vile🤷🏻‍♀️

[my-mt-heart]

Why would MMB come back for this willingly? It cant be to honor Carol. Quite frankly, the men are making her character embarrassing.

Why can’t it be to honor Carol? The changes to the title and to S2 happened after she was already under contract. It’s not her fault that her co-workers decided to do something petty and underhanded. Those guys are vile🤷🏻‍♀️

[my-mt-heart]

Don't know if you have seen it, Lauren said it was AMCs condition that she and Jeff will get equal salary and both had to be EPs. Any thoughts on that?

Why would they treat any other female equally with her partner? Damage control because of numerous posts about them being misogynistic? Or maybe the truth?

I don’t know what the circumstances are on Dead City and I haven’t seen that quote anywhere, but I assume AMC are hoping—whether it’s true or not—that it curbs some of the misogyny accusations or at least shifts the blame somewhere else. To be fair, the circumstances on the Daryl/Norman show are unique because Norman is prone to lashing out if he isn’t treated as more important than everybody else. He more than deserves his share of responsibility for the inequality, but at the same time, who do you blame when you have to watch a kid throw a tantrum nonstop? The kid or the parent who won’t step in? 🤷🏻‍♀️

[my-mt-heart]

I just mean - should zabel not be at least aware that the audience had originally been expecting a Carol and Daryl spinoff? I understand he was hired for a Norman Dixon show and then Carol got inserted as a surprise to him, but he shouldn’t be surprised if the audience was expecting it to become closer to the original Angela Kang concept when she returned, rather than her being a side character. I think amc are aware of this because they originally started trying to imply it would return to that sort of concept with the “road show” idea, and even Norman actually said that, but it seems that yet again, Zabel is ignoring all of that and doing his own thing, completely oblivious to audience expectation.

It’s pretty obvious that Zabel has neither watched the flagship show in its entirety nor done any research on the fanbase. I think he feels secure in whatever the guys who hired him say or what his own biases tell him. In his mind, Carol/Melissa can’t possibly be a lead because she doesn’t check any of the traditional boxes and the fans who love her + ship her with the male hero can’t possibly be taken seriously because they’re just a bunch of hysterical women who lack the intelligence to comprehend his genius🙄

AMC still want Carol/Melissa/Caryl fans to watch. Some of them don’t take us seriously because again, hysterical women and all that, but money is money. That’s why they try to promote the western road show that we were promised and that clip of Carol’s exposed shoulder. The goal is to lure us in without actually delivering what we want. It’s a short-term solution to a much bigger problem that will keep backfiring on them. They need a massive creative overhaul if they want to see real results🤷🏻‍♀️

[my-mt-heart]

Is zabel even aware the spinoff was originally meant to be Daryl and Carol? He seems completely clueless.

The spinoff was meant to be a Caryl show when Angela Kang was the showrunner. Zabel was hired to write a Norman Daryl show. He and Norman can talk about Carol "always" being part of their plan as much as they want, but everything from the writing to the promo strongly suggests otherwise and worse, it reeks of resentment.