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twdmusicboxmystery · 3 years

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TWD 11x06: On the Inside - Analysis

Okay, how did everyone like this episode? I loved it! It might be my favorite episode of the season so far. Partly because of all the horror movie vibes and jump scares. I thought that was delightful. And Lauren Ridloff did an amazing job. But more than that, it's because of all the symbolism and what I think this represents. Seriously, I think I might have like fifty-six theories come out of this one episode, LOL. Not brand-new theories, but just connecting symbols in a way I haven't before. For now, let's talk about the broad arcs here and what they mean.

***As always, spoilers abound below for 11x06. Don’t read until you’ve watched! You’ve been warned!***

Basically, we’re following two storylines in this episode. The first is Connie and Virgil. The second is Daryl, Leah, and the Reapers. I suppose you could call Kelly and Carol looking for Connie a third story line, but given that they're searching for Connie, it's really just a subplot of Connie's arc.

Connie and Virgil:

There are a lot of people saying that they might be setting Connie and Virgil up as romantic partners. I think that's probably the case, for a lot of reasons. They were very purposely put together in this house. After the episode, Angela Kang talked about how Virgil basically had to suppress part of his heart in order to get through the death of his family. That's why he seemed a little bit villainous when we first met him with Michonne.

Actually, we're seeing a major theme here that we've seen with other characters. Near the end of the episode, Virgil tells Connie, "I lost myself for a long time." It's very reminiscent of what Michonne said to Carl in 4x14. It's a theme we see where the character goes through some kind of trauma, and the aftermath of that trauma is very much a PTSD thing. They lose themselves to insanity for short time, but then someone is able to bring them back. We see this with many characters over the years. And this is something they're doing with Virgil. So this was Virgil kind of coming back to reality. Michonne gave him the chance to come back first, but he also says that her giving him that second chance led him to Connie and he sees that as Providence.

So basically, A.K. is saying that Virgil lost a big chunk of his heart when his family died, but he's rediscovering it here with Connie. And that's very important. I can't imagine them saying that, or him having this kind of arc, if there isn’t going to be a romance between them. Which, for the record, I think is cute. I totally ship it. (Totally objective over here. As always, of course. ;-))

But the big question is, what does this foreshadow? I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count.

I think this is a foreshadow of Beth and Daryl. I'm sure you're shocked to your toenails. I'll give you a moment to recover. Good? Okay.

A lot of us got Alone vibes from this episode. Just the two of them in house together. The undercurrent of possible romance between them. There's even a hug at one point.

Actually, the white, plantation style house with the white pillars immediately struck a cord with me. Back when they were filming the missing scenes from S5, they filmed in a house just like this one. it wasn’t the “white cabin” as we always refer to the house Emily was seen going into. But it was next door to that one and had a sign up about not mowing the lawn because it would be used for filming.

I don’t know if this is actually the same house, but I’m willing to bet that this will end up having parallels to something we see when we finally get those missing scenes.

Once they get inside the house, we see Connie holding the door shut against walkers. It's very reminiscent of Daryl doing that at the funeral home in Alone.

The thing is, I don't even think callbacks to Alone are the big cheese. (For the record, we also saw them around Kelly, but I'll get to that in a minute.)

Because more than being a call back, this is a foreshadow. It represents some time in the future when Beth and Daryl will be together inside the CRM and trying to escape. Remember that “No Exit” sign in Beth’s cell?

We have a situation here where Connie and Virgil are trying to get out and there's literally no exit. All the doors are locked, they’re being trapped everywhere they go, they get separated. Even when Connie is in the wall, looking at Virgil, she wants to warn him of things, but she has no way to get into the room with him. There's literally no exit for her.

There are so many parallels to Beth and Daryl.

They emphasize the fact that Connie is lost. After getting out of the cave and walking around for walkers for so long, she clearly lost her bearings and doesn't know where she is or which way to go to get to Alexandria. It puts me in mind of the scene from 6x10, where Carl was talking to Judith and said if she was ever LOST and needed to find her way HOME, she should use the North Star. This is another way in which Connie is being paralleled to Beth. She's lost and needs to find her way home.

Virgil talks about wanting to get Connie HOME. To get her back to her family (which just so happens to be her sister). Of course there's the undercurrent of romance.

I also couldn't help but notice outlets throughout the episode. This house is very dilapidated and dirty. There's grime and rust and darkness everywhere. But we can very clearly see the outlets on the walls, as though they’re brand-new. I believe that's to draw our attention to them. Outlets suggest power, which suggests lamps or batteries.

Remember how I said that the whole battery theory is about resources and that it indicates the CRM? This is why I think this house represents the CRM. And I'm not at all saying that at some point, we’ll see Beth and Daryl running through a house together, as Connie and Virgil do here, trying to escape some threat. I think this represents a much bigger arc of them being inside the CRM and trying to get out. It will probably span a lot of episodes, maybe even multiple seasons.

At one point, we see a red coda pendant hanging in the window behind Virgil. Remember that, via the Matrix theory, red represents the outside world that TF is currently unaware of, and of course Coda suggests Beth. That’s a big part of the evidence for this template being a foreshadow of Beth and Daryl.

I’ll go over all the background details tomorrow, but pretty much every detail I found suggests what I've laid out here. I'm going to do completely separate post on the awake/asleep theme as well as the mailbox theme. That one stemmed from last week's episode (11x05), but I haven't gotten a chance to post it yet. And of course we saw the mailbox feature prominently in this episode as well.

We also have a situation where Virgil basically tells Connie to go on without him and that it’s very important to him that she gets home. And then he gets stabbed, and she not only saves him, but pulls him out of the house. We’ve always said that we think there will be a time when Beth will save Daryl. I think this is a foreshadow of it.

I think we'll have a situation (again, much bigger than what we see here in the single episode) where Daryl will be willing to sacrifice himself, his life, to get Beth back to Maggie. Of course she's not going to allow him to do that, but he'll probably be hurt very badly.

(And for the record, I think we've seen foreshadows of this and other arcs. Daryl getting hurt when fighting Alpha was probably a foreshadow of the same thing. I'm sure we could identify others.) I think he will be hurt and Beth will save him, and that will happen as they’re figuring out how to get out of the CRM.

To touch on Kelly’s side of things, we see her find a camp that Virgil and Connie had previously been at. She finds Connie’s stuff there, and the orange backpack that Virgil must have left behind. The thing that jumped out at me here is that, in the foreground, we saw ropes around the camp with cans attached as an alert system.

That was featured very prominently in Alone, both because Daryl set up something like that at the funeral home and also because the other half of that episode was about Maggie/Sasha/Bob and they did the same thing in their camp. So again, major callbacks to Alone, and to what this is probably foreshadowing.

But my favorite thing about this was connections that I made. Things that kind of confirm events we’ve suspected in 4B, but have never been able to prove. Let me explain.

First, there’s the reunion between Connie and Kelly. And this really jumped out at me. Not only because it's two sisters reuniting, but because of the way it was shown.

When approaching Connie, Kelly is crying and says, "I'm sorry." And that's out of character or out of place in any way. She’s sorry that for what happened to Connie and that it took them so long to find her. All that is completely understandable. But at the same time, Kelly has no reason to feel bad about what happened to Connie. It wasn't her fault, and she's been a dutiful sister looking for her intensively ever since.

But I think the “I'm sorry” will make a lot more sense if we hear Maggie saying it to Beth, given everything that's happened, and especially what happened in S5. I mean, Beth did get left behind.

The other thing is that when they see each other and then hug, the background music almost sounds angelic, like a choir. I mean, they really wanted this to be a big deal, the reunion between these two sisters. And not that the Kelly and Connie's reunion isn't a big deal. It's very sweet, but I feel like this a foreshadow something much bigger. And what other reunion between sisters could qualify for something like that except Maggie and Beth, who didn't get the reunion in season five?

We’ve always said that Connie was a proxy for Beth, and that the cave-in, followed by her being missing was a parallel to Beth’s arc. So, this arc ending in Connie finding someone she’ll eventually have a romance with and then finding her sister is makes me very hopeful for what we'll see when Beth returns.

I have to say that this is kind of a relief to me. Because of Daryl's line back in Still about how, "you ain't never going to see Maggie again," I’ve gone back and forth about whether Beth and Maggie will actually get a reunion. Yes, there are plenty of ways to explain away that line, and I don't disagree with any of them. But I’ve still been really back-and-forth about whether this is going to happen. After seeing Connie and Kelly really reunite, I have no doubt that eventually will see a Beth/Maggie reunion. Yay!

Next, is the fact that Virgil and Connie talk about how the people living in this house lured them into a trap.

This is talked about very much anymore, but was always but what happened in Alone was always so wonky to me. I know it was supposed to be, but the whole thing felt like it was orchestrated somehow. I mean, what happened to the dog? We hear barking, but we didn't actually see the dog again, because when Daryl open the door all the walkers were on the porch. But how did that many walkers get up to the porch without them hearing it?

When Beth and Daryl sat in the kitchen staring at each other, they heard the cans rattle and then at the dog bark. I think that the idea was that Daryl thought it was the dog moving the cans and that's why he was going to open the door and get it to come in. He didn't understand that there were walkers there. But why didn't they hear the walkers? More importantly, why would that many walkers go up to the door if they couldn't see any humans on the inside? It's completely weird behavior for walkers. And then when Beth leaves the house, she just happens to be picked up by a car?

Like I said, I just always felt like the whole thing was really orchestrated, but even at Grady, we were never told that it was. Gorman suggested to Beth that they happened upon her accidentally. Of course, Gorman is the opposite of trustworthy, but we also understand better now the way that these episodes are often approached. We sometimes see things from one character's point of view over another. Clearly, Slabtown was seen from Beth’s point of view, so if she couldn't see the truth about what happened, that's why we couldn’t neither.

My point is, in this episode, Virgil says that he and Connie were herded there like prey. These feral people apparently went to the camp (Kelly says the left in a hurry and something was very wrong, and I think she's right. Given that Virgil and Connie left all their stuff behind; Connie would not have left behind her slingshot on purpose). Which means the creatures came to their camp, scared them away, chase them toward the house, herding them that way, in order to eat them.

Now, I'm not saying that's specifically what happened in Alone, but I think it kind of proves that what happened was an orchestrated trap that was set up to capture Beth.

And we do get the sense from what Noah told her that Grady purposely left the strong behind and took the weak. So, I'm not sure if Beth and Daryl were actually herded toward the funeral home. From what we saw, it really was more like they happened upon it. But I'm wondering if once there, someone observed them, or observed them approaching, and decided that they would be optimal targets. Given that Beth was injured (which they would have known if they saw Daryl giving her the piggy back) obviously it would always be her that was taken, while Daryl—obviously the more survival-oriented of the two—would be left behind.

And I love this connection because it proves (as far as we can prove theories 😉) that there are things they haven’t shown us, not just in S5 with the missing 17 days, but reaching all the way back to S4.

The other thing that's just kind of cool to consider is that, as I said before, the other half of the episode was about Maggie/Sasha/Bob, right? There are a lot of things that their sequence foreshadows as well. And in the episode, Maggie is specifically looking for Glenn, not Beth. However, given that this episode with Connie and Virgil also featured Kelly, Connie’s sister, looking for her, it just doesn't seem like it could possibly be a coincidence that the other half of Alone was Maggie searching for someone. What I’m saying is that both Alone and this episode, 11x06, foreshadow what will happen when Maggie and Beth reunite. I'm sure I could go into the details of Alone find a lot of connections, but I don't have time to do that right now. Maybe during the hiatus. Maybe. ;-).

Daryl and Leah:

Okay, I guess we need to talk about Daryl and Leah’s part of this episode as well. I don't have as much say about the symbolism for them. This is really more about where this is going.

Daryl tortures Frost, which I'm sure some people are going to have a problem with. But A.K. said that this is really about Daryl wanting to stay on the inside with the Reapers. As I said after ep 4, Frost is smart and he understands what Daryl is doing. A.K. said he did exactly what Daryl wanted to do him to do here. Daryl wanted him to give them a basic location but not an exact one. In other words, to tell them the neighborhood but not the exact house. And that's exactly what Frost did. Angela says Daryl did this because he was trying to save Frost’s life. Unfortunately, by the end of the episode, we see that didn't work out so well. But he was attempting to save him.

You have to watch the details closely to pick this up, but the first house that Daryl, Leah, and Carver go to is not the house Maggie is in. That's why Daryl says they should stick around and look around for things, because he knew Maggie wasn't there and wanted to give her time to escape. But the second house we see them go into is where Maggie and co are hiding under the floorboards.

At first, it seems to be empty, but when Daryl comes downstairs, he sees the place where they might be hiding and slides the rug over it. In the end, Carver sees it and checks, but Maggie and the others have already made their escape.

I had to stop and think about that for a minute. Since Beth wore yellow and we think yellow equals life and escape, I would have thought the yellow house would be where Maggie and the others were hiding and then escaped from. That would've made more logical sense. But actually, the yellow house was a decoy.

It gave me a whole new insight into the meaning behind the color yellow in TWD universe.

I still think yellow represents escape, among other things. But it also represents looking for someone in the wrong place. Even if you think about Rick’s mini death fake out in 7x12, there was probably only 12 feet between where Michonne thought he was (right side of the screen being eaten by walkers) and where he actually was (left side of the screen coming out of the yellow carnival car) but still, she was looking for him in the wrong place and assumed he was dead because of it.

I also thought of the Glenn situation in S4. Maggie looked for him on the school bus (yellow). And in both cases, it was because that’s where Rick/Glenn were last seen, but what was UNSEEN was how they ESCAPED. So, TF was looking for them in the wrong place.

And I’m sure something similar will happen with Beth during the missing 17 days. It doesn’t really change what we believe happened with Beth, but it makes me want to re-examine every yellow reference we’ve ever seen on the show, which is probably hundreds by now, lol.

At one point, Carver is coming down the stairs and Daryl runs over to him and starts talking really fast. He says that they (Maggie’s group) will not to come back here, that it wouldn’t be smart, etc. The first time I watched it, I remember thinking that Daryl was being really obvious. It made him seem nervous and like he was hiding something. And he probably was somewhat nervous. The reason he ran over Carver right then, is because he didn't want Carver to see the hiding place where Maggie and the others were (because Daryl himself noticed it when he was coming down the stairs).

But the other thing to remember is that Daryl knows Maggie and the others are down there. He was using this to give them information. He talks about how the Reapers have walls and weapons, twenty people inside their town, etc. That is also him getting Maggie information so she would know what they're up against. It was actually very smart on his part, even if it kind of tipped Carver off.

By the end, they returned to Pope and find that Frost is dead. I thought it was super weird and creepy that Pope started laughing when Carver said they had lost Maggie's group. That's very out of character for him. Angela Kang said Pope was purposely playing mind games to make Daryl and Leah paranoid, but even so. That laugh was just maniacal.

So, not sure exactly where this is going, or what Pope's plans are. He kind of suggests that maybe Frost turned on Daryl and sold him out before he died. I doubt that's true, but Pope also strikes me as the kind of guy who, if he's decided Daryl is an enemy, doesn't actually need proof of it. So, we'll just have to see where this goes.

Okay, that's it for today. I'll do details tomorrow. How did you all like the episode?

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

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astridthevalkyrie · 4 years

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Do you think AOT is better than FMAB?

sorry not sorry for the blunt answer but no, never, not in a million years, not even close, not for a number of reasons.

few reasons under the cut, because apparently I’m doing this instead of focusing in class. obviously there will be spoilers for both shows, and obviously some of this will be based on personal preference.

1. Genocide/Oppression

so both shows have some vivid imagery of nazi germany. bradley is addressed as the fuhrer in fmab, and the eldians wear stars on their sleeves in aot. and even if the aot writer wasn’t pretty much confirmed to be a nationalist and raging anti-semite, it’s rather painfully obvious which show handles it better.

in aot, the eldians are oppressed because they can turn into titans and were originally trying to take over the world or something, which is so blatantly anti-semitic that it’s terrible. shows are allowed to tackle these kinds of topics, but they should handle them well, not be a stand in for nazi propaganda. this is something so many fucking shows do wrong whenever they make an oppressed group of people - there’s always somehow a reason for having them be oppressed. take bbc merlin. wizards are oppressed because they can do magic and so they’re dangerous, just like how eldians can turn into titans and so they’re dangerous, and that’s a bad thing to imply, because it implies that jewish people somehow deserved what happened to them and that’s a fucking dangerous idea to put into an already anti-semitic world.

and that’s exactly why i was so relieved and appreciative of how fmab did the battle of ishval. it is clear who the bad guys are in that scenario, and it’s clear that it was never deserved and that the soldiers who carried it out are war criminals and deserve to be put into jail. riza says as much herself. while i think scar shouldn’t have been as guilted as he was (sure, he shouldn’t go after innocent people, but him killing winry’s parents is not comparable to what happened to him and doesn’t put all of them on equal footing), i was pleasantly surprised that he lived and wasn’t killed off in some stupid form of “redemption.” if roy deserved to live, so did scar, a hundred times over.

2. Characters

characters in fmab are done ridiculously better than in aot. let’s compare similar characters!

edward and eren - the protagonists

up until the third season onwards, eren is very one dimensional and uninteresting. he’s entertaining, but his one and only goal is killing the titans and it’s super frustrating because they lay down the groundwork for more, but it’s never really addressed. show more how he cares about his friends, show him dealing with his trauma through anger and how it’s unhealthy. (actually, a lot of problems could be fixed if they showed more of the cadets’ training days. i feel like i wasn’t feeling as betrayed by annie and reiner and bertholdt because i never really felt they were that close to eren.)

ed is a delightful main character. he too is angry and doesn’t mind talking with his fists, but at the same time, he’s starchly against killing anyone and has multiple goals. ofc his primary one is getting their bodies back, but when he finds himself in the conspiracy about amestris, he doesn’t hesitate before making that his problem as well. every relationship he has is wonderful. i could get bored with eren on the screen, i wasn’t bored with ed.

armin and alphonse - the deuteragonists

i’m sorry but armin is literally just “the smart one.” that’s it. he’s also the dreamer but it only comes up when they’re about to do something dangerous.

i feel like i don’t even need to go into how good of a character al is? he’s very obviously multifaceted and the epitome of sweet and badass at the same time.

winry and mikasa - the love intests-ish

i don’t like referring to either of them like that, but while mikasa is the tritagonist (or deuteragonist, her and armin can interchange there), winry is not.

and surprise, surprise, this is actually where i’m not so sure winry comes out on top. mikasa is, in my opinion, the most interesting out of the trio. she also has a very single-minded goal, but seeing her interact with other characters (armin, jean, levi) who either fall in line or disagree with that goal is fun to watch. she’s also obviously super competent and i have a thing for competent characters.

winry is a good character and i love her, but it’s always bothered me how out of place her scenes feel in relation to the entire show. and as much as i know it doesn’t deter her agency, there’s just something off about ed telling her to have an apple pie waiting for them. it actually brings in one of my few problems with fmab. while its female are pretty good, they’re far from perfect, and that’s because nearly all of them exist because of their relation to the more important male character. winry is ed’s mechanic and the elrics’ family friend. riza is roy’s lieutenant. lan fan is ling’s bodyguard. izumi is the elrics’ teacher. i’m not saying that’s all they are, but this is a major part of their role in the story (olivier and mei stand out as female characters with goals relating to themselves and not a guy around them.)

so who’s the better character? mikasa is more fierce and winry has better lines that aren’t just calling out the protag’s name. i’m gonna give it to winry, but by a short shot.

roy and levi - the op fan favorites

this one’s much easier. roy is not just a badass who’s also the hero’s direct superior like levi is, he’s a person with clearcut goals and weaknesses and he has to make sacrifices and work for what he wants. levi has all the makings for a great character, a tragic backstory and a chill personality, but he doesn’t have a reason to stay in the scouts, he just...does. out of loyalty to erwin, i guess? it’s not clear and it’s even worse if you don’t watch the ova. roy’s reasons are clear and relatable. he also has a dorky and endearing side, plus the political side of things he brings to fmab is interesting and an equally important part of the story. his fight with envy is satisfying and thrilling. levi’s fight with the beast titan, while it is super well animated and cool, kiiiinda falls flat because there was no set-up for him being the one to take the beast titan down (should have been connie). it also ends a bit too fast, honestly.

but hey, you say, aren’t you the one writing 15k worth of fanfiction for levi within two weeks? didn’t see you writing that much for roy. yeah, well, unfortunately, my attraction doesn’t determine the better character and i never said i was proud of this, please leave me alone.

there’s more comparisons i could make - carla and trisha, hohenheim and grisha (ha, trisha and grisha rhyme), roy can also be compared to erwin, there’s multple side characters, but fmab wins, you guys get it.

3. The Story, Plot, Deaths

listen, i get it. aot is a bloody, brutal show and you’re not supposed to get attached to characters. i’m not gonna complain about pointless deaths, because that in itself is the point. it’s like twd or got, it’s gonna have lots of death. but the deaths don’t have to be so stupid. i’m specifically thnking of levi’s squad, because the way they die is so dumb. gunther should not be taken down by a cadet, petra shouldn’t be flying so close to the ground, oluo should know not to engage the female titan alone. these were elite titan killers, they knew not to be stupid. there were ways to kill them off without making them look so stupid. and if there’s not, consider not killing them off just for shock value.

fmab’s deaths mean something, especially since one of its central messages is that life is precious, no matter whose it is. everyone’s life means something and no one dies in vain.

there’s more i could go into, but i just spent my entire classtime doing this and now my second one for the day is about to start, sooo i think i’ll stop here. thanks for the ask!

#fmab #anti aot #anti fmab #at some parts #aot is anti-semitic please be careful when watching it and think about the media you're consuming

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waynedunlaptheorgandonor · 4 years

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can i say a sort of pointless rambly thing i was thinking about that i can't put under the cut bc i'm on mobile?

jk, i'm not actually asking. ramble below, not edited for clarity. the following is completely unclear and i will not fix it:

i've been thinking about how part of the reason i'm so chill about caryl is bc growing up as a queer woc 99% of my main ships were like, never gonna fucking happen bc they literally couldn't. it was like, "omg, they gazed at each other from across the room, let's analyze the homosexual subtext of this one scene for the next fifty years, that's not necessarily hyperbole." i've watched all my ships fuck other ppl/have other love interests, and i knew that my thing was never gonna be canon, so to see like, one thing being like, "one half of my ship fucked another person several years ago while pining for the other half of my ship," i'm like...#nice, bc that can and likely will be used as a plot point to get them together later on, whereas in other situations i've been in i just kinda had to deal with it. so my impulse when i see ppl losing their shit is to be like

and to be slightly annoyed, tbh, bc the ship is still on track to be canon, and it's like, literally two white heterosexuals, they're prime candidates for juicy angsty pining that actually gets a resolution.

but!

that being said, i recognize that that attitude isn't necessarily fair. for one thing, i'm not the only queer woc (or some variation thereof) in this fandom, and some ppl's impulse might be exasperation instead, bc like, "wtf, even my mayohet ship has dumb fucking drama," and that's valid as hell, and i get it.

and also, i get that, even if you didn't grow up shipping impossible ships (or mulder/scully, bc that's a brand of bullshit all its own), this has been a suuuuper drawn out process where sometimes it feels like they're legit sprinkling crumbs to keep you hooked, just to play you again, and when you are invested in something, like /rly/ invested, especially if it's a form of escapism or hyperfixation or whatever, that can be e x h a u s t i n g. and i get that. i truly do, and while i make a lot of snide comments about the fandom being bonkers, i do get where the bulk of you are coming from (unless you're one of those ppl who hate on actors and esp actresses for just doing their jobs, and attack them on social media, in which case i am very much judging you and you need to get your life together).

i also realize that in the scheme of things i'm still a newbie. i've been here, what, twoish/threeish years, whereas some of you have been here since the beginning, so i'm not as worn out as y'all. but i also think that gives me a bit of objectivity that some of y'all have (understandably) lost.

my positivity is not meant as a sleight against those of you who are feeling negative, but is more of a semi-objective viewpoint (i say semi, bc lbr, i'm invested af in this, so i definitely have bias), and to me the threads of the storyline they're crafting seem sort of obvious.

like, let's look at it, yeah? they have one season left of this show that has been on for over a decade. they need to cater to everyone to give them a satisfying ending, while still hanging on to carylers bc of the spin-off. darylrreah seems like a very calculated move, bc it gives them both something to make abcers happy, while also creating tension and suspense and pining for carylers (i think they might underestimate just how fed up some carylers are tbh, and are banking on us to hang on for one last ride, which, honestly? if they play it right will probably work.)

if they end up doing a dumb love triangle thing, which, without seeing the episode and gauging the subtext i can't confidently say if i think they will or won't, it will ultimately end in our favor. it has to, bc leah isn't going to third wheel them on the bike in the spin-off. we can say with good authority that whatever that relationship ends up being (again, idk if they'll drag it out or not) it will be temporary. which leaves caryl open to ride off into the sunset and then bone down in every state in the united states and in puerto rico for good measure.

it's a lot of cheap drama, but i really and truly do not think it's anything to worry about, and i still really and truly trust kang to not make it out of character. ik ppl still don't agree with me on that point, and i'm not gonna argue, but to me it really does make perfect sense.

and i also predict that they are gonna play it up hardcore in the promotional shit and talking dead, but when that happens, remember it's bc it gets attention. regardless of where the story is ultimately going, relationship drama gets attention, which gets viewers, which gets amc and twd producers nice and comfy with full pockets

idk. to sum up ig i just wanted to clarify that i don't mean any harm with my relentless positivity. my history in fandom has just made this seem like nothing in comparison, bc while ppl are freaking out, i'm like, "oh damn, they're actually gonna get together by the end of this, aren't they? i didn't know that could happen!" and that makes me excited instead of upset

and you definitely don't have to listen to me. maybe i'm actually wrong. maybe i'm completely full of bullshit and am just good at making things sound confident. i got a lot of As on papers in college over books i never read, i know how to bs. but i also know how to analyze, and i while i will be the first to tell you i am not the best at a great many things, i do know that i am good at critically analyzing text while taking into account the context it was written in, and imho all signs point to canon caryl. when, i'm not entirely sure, but i see it happening. if it doesn't then they severely fucked up their storytelling, and that'd just be bad writing on their part.

(if you want proof that i'm good at reading writers'/producers' intentions, consider that i watched like, 8 seasons of supernatural before giving up, and said to myself, "i think they're gonna make destiel canon, but not until the very last second bc they are rly into catering to their fans but also have to consider their dumb fanboy audience so they can't do anything crazy overtly gay," and guess who hit the nail on the fucking head on that one)

none of this is important, but it was rattling around my mind grapes and i wanted to write it down into something vaguely coherent, and where else better to do it than here. i can word vomit and then send it into the ether and pretend i never said a thing. i love this horrible website, nothing can compare

i have no real conclusion to this, it was mostly stream of consciousness, but i hope it sort of helps y'all understand where i'm coming from, and why i am as chill as i am about things. not about y'all. y'all cause me so much anxiety i get physically sick and have to legit block tags, but with the actual show content i'm zen as hell

the end ig?

it feels weird even signing off on this, but w/e

-diz

#idk #caryl #caryl positivity #caryl spoilers #twd s10 spoilers #dunlap tp

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soniaxdixon · 4 years

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The New World; Series, Pt 4.

okay this one is definitely longer than the others but I just kept writing. Things get a little more heated in this chapter ngl. I rushed through the first part a bit, I’m kinda assuming we’ve all seen season one so everyone gets the gist of this part.

TW, Shane is a dick in this and starts to get a little too close

Warnings: Swearing, Angst but it gets real fluffy.

Word Count; 3175 - sorry in advance, I skimmed through reading it so if there are any grammatical errors, my bad.

Okay so this is my first time writing a fic and obviously will be my first series but I’ve just rewatched TWD for like the 17th time and my obsession with Daryl has reached new levels. I hope that it isn’t too shit and that you guys actually read/like it. Thank you in advance for baring with my average writing but I mean, how else will I learn? Anyway, enjoy!

Sonia x

pt 4 of ??

The events of the day that followed your night encounter with Daryl went by quickly. Between watching Andrea mourn the death of her sister while the rest of you grieved for the people you lost, you felt the day slipping away fast. Finding out about Jim being bitten broke your heart and before you knew it, you were packing your life away yet again and preparing to head to the CDC.

You crammed your camping gear in the back of Shane’s car along with your bags, walking over to your group when you heard Morales say that he and his family were not going to the CDC with you, he had to do what was best for his family and you understood that. You all said your good byes as you headed towards your cars.

“Y/N, you can ride with me if ya want.” You heard Shane say and you nodded. Your stuff was already in his car, you may as well.

“Thanks, Shane.”

Daryl shot you a look that you couldn’t quite comprehend as you jumped in the passenger side of Shane’s car. He scoffed and rolled his eyes, stepping into his pick up truck and slamming the door shut as you all began driving away, towards what you hoped was safety.

The RV came to a halt in front of the convoy, smoke and steam spilling out of the front. Jacqui interrupted everyone with news about Jim’s state. Shane said he was going to head up to what he thought looked like a gas station while rick stepped inside the RV to see Jim. He came out soon after breaking the news to you all that Jim wanted to be left here to die.

“He said he wanted to be with his family.”

Tears formed in your eyes as you thought about leaving the man who had become a dear friend.

The group decided to do what Jim had asked. Shane and Rick helped place him gently under a tree as you all stood around him and shared one final moment. You walked up to Jim and kissed him carefully on the forehead, caressing his hair one final time, forcing yourself to look into his eyes as you said good bye.

You watched as Daryl simply nodded to the man and you all made your way back to your cars, ready to continue the journey you had started.

After a while, the CDC finally came into view, you all slowly got out of your vehicles, hands on weapons as you hastily made your way to the entrance. Walkers were strewed across the ground, the smell of decaying bodies filling the air making you gag repeatedly. Shane and Rick began bashing on the front of the CDC roller door as walkers started approaching.

You began pacing, looking for ways to get in to the building when you looked up at the camera as it moved.

“The camera, it moved.” You heard Rick say

Dale was quick to respond “You imagined it.”

You backed Rick up “No, I saw it move too. It moved.”

Walkers started approaching quickly, threatening the groups safety. While Shane attempted to convince Rick to leave the CDC you started bashing on the door, yelling at the camera.

“I know you’re in there, let us in!”

Rick joined in, bashing on the roller, “I know you can hear me, please, we’re desperate.”

More walkers began pacing towards you while there was still no answer.

Shane started dragging Rick away while he was yelling.

“You’re killing us, you’re killing us!”

And then the light shone upon you. The doors opened emitting the brightest light you have ever seen. You all froze.

You followed Rick’s lead and stepped in cautiously, guns raised. A man rounded the corner, gun aimed at you all.

“Anybody infected?”

“One of our group was, he didn’t make it.”

“Why are you here, what do you want?”

“A chance.”

The only thing the man asked of you was to submit to a blood test which made you feel sick. Walkers, they were scary but you could handle them. Needles, now that’s where you drew the line. Rick looked at you when he remembered your fear. You locked eyes with him and then you looked around, it was the first time that you had walls surrounding you in a long time and if a needle was what would allow you to have that safety again, you would do it. You looked back at Rick and nodded.

“We can do that.”

“You got stuff to bring in you do it now, once that door closes it stays closed.”

You grabbed your bags from the cars and ran back inside, allowing yourself to finally take a breath. You heard the man say his name was Dr Jenner as you followed him into the main room. Rick asked the question that you were all thinking. Where were the other doctors? Jenner replied saying that he was the only one left.

Your leg started bouncing up and down while you sat and waited for your turn to have your blood test. You felt a wave of nausea over come you, your head became heavier and you felt like you were about to pass out. Jenner called you up and your knees became weak, you braced for your fall but Shane caught you.

“Woah there, don’t go fallin’ for me.”

You chuckled, “Ain’t gonna be that easy, thanks for catching me.”

“Ya still scared of needles?” He asked while linking his arm around your back and leading you towards Jenner.

“Never got over the fear, still scares the shit out of me.”

He gently placed you on the chair and asked Jenner if he had a smaller needle or something to help you calm down. You looked up at him in surprise at how kind he was being right now.

Jenner reached for the butterfly needles and proceeded to set it up, as he grabbed your arm, you subconsciously reached for Shane’s hand and squeezed it slightly, looking into his eyes as Jenner pushed the needle into your arm.

“Thanks, Shane.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Daryl was forced to sit there and watch the entire interaction between you and Shane, seething at every word that came out of Shane’s mouth. His heart tightening when you were returning the affection towards him and when you grabbed Shane’s hand his heart broke. That should have been him comforting you but no one knew about the night the two of you had, no one knew about the feelings you shared and now he wasn’t sure if you were even telling the truth.

Jenner led you all to the dining area, food graced the table and Jenner even brought out a few bottles of wine and other alcohols. You all laughed like never before. Telling each other stories, relaxing more and more as the alcohol set in. You were on your third glass of wine, glancing occasionally at Daryl who was drinking straight from the bottle. You wondered why he hadn’t spoken to you since last night and why he looked so angry every time your eyes crossed paths.

Shane brought everyones mood down instantly when he began questioning the doctor about where all the other staff had gone. You just sat and listened while Jenner explained everything, including the way that some of the doctors ‘opted out.’

Jenner began taking you through the halls as he explained that most of the rooms had couches but there were some beds available, all though some people may have to share rooms. There was also a rec room down the hall filled with books which made you extremely happy.

“If you shower, go easy on the hot water.”

Those words were like music to your ears, shower, hot water. Things you always took for granted in the previous world.

You walked past a few of the rooms that were already taken, Glenn and T-dogg sharing one, Lori, Carl and Rick in another when suddenly Shane stopped you.

“You can share a room with me if you’d like.” You looked up as Daryl walked past and saw the sudden look of hurt flash across his eyes.

“That’s okay Shane, thanks for the offer.”

You chased quickly after Daryl after he had turned into a room that had a double bed, he threw his bag on top and then threw himself next to it. You knocked on the door quietly and he shot up.

“The hell do ya want?”

The sudden burst of anger had your chest aching.

“Excuse me?”

“Ya heard me, what the hell are ya doin’ in here?”

“I was coming to ask if you wanted to share a room, you know, after last night and all.”

He scoffed at you “Last night was a mistake.”

And there it was, you felt yourself grow angry at his words but you knew this was what he did, he pushed people away to make himself feel less attached.

“What did you just say?”

He stood up from the bed now, stomping over to you, his face inches away from yours. “I said, last night was a fuckin’ mistake.”

“Thats bullshit Daryl Dixon and you know it.”

“I meant what I said.”

“Fuck you.” It came out as barely a whisper but it was enough for him to hear it, tears started uncontrollably streaming down your face as you wiped them away quickly but they fell too fast for your sleeves to stop them.

Daryl looked at you crying and felt his heart break even more. To think that he was the reason for your crying broke him. “M’ sorry.”

“No, fuck you, you don’t get to apologise just like that. You don’t get to say that last night was a mistake when you know it wasn’t. You told me how you felt, you expect me to think that just went away over night.”

He went to reach for your arm but you smacked his hand away. “Are you kidding me, don’t try and touch me, don’t try and comfort me, just tell me why you’re fucking acting like this.”

“Ya should be with Shane, not me.” He couldn’t stop himself from blurting it out.

“What?”

“Ya deserve someone better, like Shane. He’d treat ya better than I ever could.”

“What in the world makes you think that?”

“I saw the way he was helpin’ ya before, I didn’t even know ya were scared of needles.”

“Daryl, I don’t like Shane, I like you.”

“Naw, ya just sayin’ that, just like ya said all that shit last night, ya didn’t mean it.” You could see the pain in his eyes when he forced himself to speak his worries.

“I meant every word and I’ll say it again. I like you Daryl, I’ve liked you since the day I met you. Seeing you walk into our camp with your brother, I knew you would be a pain in my ass and I was right but God, I wouldn’t change that for the world. I know you like me too, I know you’re scared to admit how much you like me, but I know you do.”

He just stared at you, his eyes flicking between your eyes and your lips until slowly he reached up and pushed a strand of your hair behind your ear. “Ya know I’m not good with words but can I, uh…”

“Yes.”

With your permission he leant down and kissed your lips, so gently that you could hardly feel him, your hands reached behind his head, entangling in his hair and pulling him in closer, deepening the kiss.

After a short while of staying in that moment you pulled away from him to look in his eyes, your hands staying in his hair.

“Do you believe me now?”

He just nodded and leaned his forehead against yours.

“Will ya stay with me tonight? I’ll take the couch. Ya can have the bed.”

You chuckled slightly pressing another gentle kiss to his lips before completely stepping back. He watched in confusion as you walked away into the hall, leaving him standing there alone, only to return with your bag in your hand, putting it down on the couch. His eyes grew brighter when he understood that you were staying.

“We can both stay in the bed but God I need a shower…And so do you.”

“Nah, ya heard what Jenner said, there ain’t much hot water, ya go and have a shower, I’ll wait here.”

“Daryl Dixon, I am not sleeping in a bed with you if you’re dirty, you’re just gonna have to shower with me.”

His heart raced at your words, his cheeks flushing red and then he remembered his scars and you saw the panic set into his face.

“You can face me the whole time, I promise I won’t make you do anything you’re not comfortable with.” You walked closer to him, grabbing his hands and slowly pulling him towards the bathroom. He allowed you to lead him.

You turned the water on and let out a small squeal of joy when you felt the hot water hit your hand, this earned a small smile from Daryl. You slowly removed your shirt, then your pants as you watched Daryl struggle to figure out where he should be looking. You laughed softly at the awkwardness of this man which drew his eyes back to you, the tips of his ears turning red. He began chewing his thumb as you pulled off the rest of your clothes and stepped into the shower, relishing in the hot water, something you didn’t realise you had been craving for so long.

“Whenever you’re ready, only if you’re comfortable.”

You heard him undo his belt and a minute later he was stepping into the shower with you. You pulled him carefully under the water and watched as the dirt began to discolour the floor beneath you. You placed your hands gently on the sides of his face, pulling him into a slow kiss, breaking away moments later. You reached for the shampoo behind you and put some in your hands as you reached up to his dirty hair and began to wash the dirt away, watching as Daryl’s face softened and his eyes closed at the feeling.

“Hold your head up while I rinse, I don’t want to get it in your eyes.”

He tilted his head up and let the water wash the soap out of his hair, you couldn’t help but smile at how relaxed he was in this moment, because of you. No one had ever cared for him this much.

He slowly put his head back down, looking at you before he placed his hands on your waist and pulled you into him, burying his head in the crook of your neck, letting the water wash over the both of you. Your hands found his hair as you played with his wet locks until you were both ready to get out.

You got out first so you could pass him a towel to cover his back. He took it from you nodding as you dried yourself off and began to dress in some clean pyjamas. He pulled on some loose pants and one of his tanks before making his way into the room that you were both sharing. He laid down on one side of the bed, covering his eyes with his arm.

“I’m gonna go and check out the book collection, I’ll be back.”

“M’kay.”

You felt like you were on cloud nine as you made your way just down the hall into the rec room, Carl and Lori had just walked out as you walked in, you ruffled Carl’s head on his way out and he gave you a cheeky look.

As you shuffled through the books you heard a door shut and you jumped slightly at the sound. “Jesus Christ Shane, you scared the shit out of me.”

“Ya with the redneck now? That how it is?”

Your eyes snapped to him quickly as you heard his words, you could hear they were slurring slightly from the amount of drinks he’d had.

“He has a name, ya dick.”

Shane began pacing towards you, forcing you to put your hands against him when he slammed his body against yours, pushing you both into a wall.

“Ya know he ain’t gonna treat you right, girl. Ya know I can.”

“Shane, get off me, now.”

“Ya know I’ll protect ya better than he ever can.”

“Shane I’m warning you, get off of me.”

“What are you gonna do girl.” He dropped the bottle that was in his hands to pin your arms above your head, holding you in place against the wall as his lips found your neck.

“Shane please, stop, please.”

“Beg for me, I like it when ya beg.”

You twisted beneath him trying to get out of his grip but it was no use, he had you pinned and you couldn’t move.

“DARYL!” You yelled as loud as you could.

“Shut up, god damn it.” Shane slammed you into the wall again, winding you. You couldn’t find your voice to yell again so you prayed that Daryl had heard you.

Within moments, Daryl came barreling into the room ripping Shane off you and throwing him to the floor.

“Ah shit” was all you head Shane muster before he copped punch after punch, Daryl’s weight completely holding him down. You reached for Daryl’s hand as he was about to swing yet again.

“Daryl stop, please.”

He looked at you, you had never seen him this angry but when his eyes found yours, the anger melted away.

He stood up, climbing off of Shane, looking down at him again.

“Ya ever touch her again, I’ll fucking kill you.”

Daryl grabbed your hand and quickly led you back to the room where he checked you over for any injuries, lightly tracing his fingers over your neck sending shivers down your spine. You wrapped your arms around his middle and he felt your tears start to soak his shirt. He caressed your hair as you stood there for a good five minutes until you finally let go of him and looked up.

“I didn’t think you heard when I yelled. I thought he was gonna…”

“Stop. I’ll always protect ya, ya hear me. Always.”

You felt the effects of the long day start to take a toll on you as you led Daryl towards the bed, pulling the covers back you climbed in on one side and Daryl climbed in on the other. Something about being with him made you feel calm, made you feel like everything was going to be okay. You turned over on your side, your back facing Daryl as you felt his arm snake around your waist, pulling you into him. You fell asleep within minutes of being in his arms. It was the best sleep you both had in a long time.

#daryl dixon #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixion imagine #daryl dixon x you #daryl dixon x grimes reader #you x daryl dixon #y/n grimes x daryl dixon #y/n x daryl #y/n x daryl dixon #twd #twd fic #twd series #twd fic series #the walking dead #the walking dead fic

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letterstomilen · 4 years

Text

i discuss the classification of igneous petrology as you fall asleep during my lecture (PART 1) (ASMR)

Childe/Zhongli, Alternate Universe (read part 2 here) When Childe's younger sister tells him about the volunteer at the library, he does not make the connection between that and his new favorite ASMR YouTuber, Rex Lapis.

Childe has a very effective method of getting through college. His little sister, who’s caught him making coffee at three in the morning on more than one occasion the past week alone, would beg to differ.

“You’re the best older brother,” she starts off, and he’s sure she’s trying to convince herself more than him at this point, “but you need to fix your sleeping habits.” Then, because she’s his little sister, she’d flash him a smile and pat his shoulder reassuringly.

(The comment is not lost on him though. He understands his sleeping situation will eventually wear him down if it hadn’t already, but he believes if he’ll drink a coffee every morning and a Monster every night, he’ll get through three days. By the third day, he’ll hardly be coherent but that doesn’t matter because he’ll conk out for the next twelve hours and then repeat.)

“Don’t worry, Tonia,” he says, trying to sound as reassuring as possible as he contemplates whether it’s worth it or not to swallow a pill of 5-hour energy with his morning coffee. “Once break ends, I’ll get back to normal.”

“You said that six seasons ago.”

Childe frowns, trying to remember if his sleeping schedule was this dysfunctional last year. “Huh?”

“The Walking Dead seasons,” Tonia clarifies, as if she’s not twelve years old and the show is for grown adults. He thinks. He hasn’t checked Commonsensemedia ever since La Signora labeled him as a “helicopter parent” and his Netflix tab has been playing How to Get Away with Murder as background noise for the past few weeks.

Isn’t it a show about zombies though? Tonia’s sheepish smile tells it all, because it’s the same exact guilty look he had when he got caught red-handed as a kid.

(Once he remembers later, Childe promises himself, he’ll check out The Walking Dead.)

“Oh. Well. I have a lot of shows to catch up on, you know. Not to mention a ton of my professors gave me reading for over the break.”

A half lie. They did give him a lot of reading because each professor assumed that their classes were his only one, and with seven days left, he still has a textbook worth of reading to go through. But there are no shows that Childe would sacrifice his precious sleep for. As a matter of fact, he would love to sleep. He’s spent the majority of his classes back in high school sleeping and faking attention, saving his grade at the last minute — it was quite the extreme sport really, if he says so himself.

Whenever he tries to sleep recently, his thoughts run at several hundred miles per hour, and he spends several hours staring at the ceiling before succumbing to the computer at his desk and watching trashy movies. At this point, he must have gone through the entire romance comedy list on Netflix. (Not a proud point in his life but if anybody ever wanted him to give a list of best to worst romance comedy movies, he now has one.)

Tonia, on the other hand, isn’t incredibly convinced.

Admittedly, the excuse was lame. Also, he can’t easily lie to his little sister, who’s far shrewder than he takes her for at times.

“You never start your reading in advance. You like to speed read it right before your class or watch a five-minute video on the chapters while your teachers take attendance. But that’s… uh, ‘a bad work ethic.’” Tonia looks immensely proud of herself as she says this, finishing it off with, “Zhongli told me that.”

“Zhongli?” he repeats, trying to remember if that’s one of her classmates or some stranger that’s hoping to kidnap his sister.

“The guy that volunteers at the library sometimes. He recommended me a loot of good books to read, but he talks like an old man.”

“How old?” Childe can tell she’s enjoying this — talking about her new friend at the library that he’ll probably have to run a background check on.

“Like he’s in his sixties or something. But he looks… actually, he looks your age! And he’s a student too. I told him all about you.”

Well, that doesn’t sound very reassuring coming from the mouth of a twelve-year-old. He’s not sure if that translates to his social security number, his current dilemma, or just that he’s her older brother.

“Like all of the stories you told me when I was a kid. And then when Lumine came to pick me up, she stayed to show him pictures of you too.”

“Of course she did,” he mumbles, ruffling her hair. One of these days he’s going to move without telling his classmates and the twins won’t enter his apartment unannounced. (But Tonia adores their company and the stories they tell her far too much for him to actually do it. But that doesn’t mean he’s above making threats when they tell his little sister about the bet he made about white-out and how it could dye hair. The jury is still out on this one.) “She’s just mad because I get away with it and she doesn’t. But don’t do it yourself. It’s a bad habit,” he adds, remembering that he should at least try to be a good influence on his younger sister when he can.

“Okaaay,” she says unconvincingly, before shaking her hair and running off to her room with lunch he prepared for her.

Watching her close the door and no doubt continue her binge of The Walking Dead, he takes out his phone and texts Lumine.

Childe