#this post brought to you by i keep getting rick rolled in my own brain when trying to remember what friday night sounds like

[koiryuu]

i think in the rgg universe friday night functions exactly the same as never gonna give you up. kids on the internet are totally Friday Night!ing their friends and haruka's lame dad doesnt get the joke and just enjoys the song whenever he (very frequently) gets tricked into clicking on the link.

[twdmusicboxmystery]

10x18 - TTD Clues

Okay, let’s talk TTD. Usually I just have like 4-5 talking points from TTD, but there was a LOT in this episode. And, let’s face it. Given that it’s the Leah episode, there’s lots to discuss anyway. But everything in TTD just backs up what I’ve already said. Namely, that Leah and Daryl are NOT soulmates. And that there’s a lot of Beth symbolism and foreshadow here.

So, let’s just dive right in.

1)    Despite Chris calling it a “powerful relationship” in the intro (thanks a lot, Chris), when Nicole Mirante-Matthews, the writer, starts talking about it, it’s much better. She says this Leah thing will be relevant to a lot of things moving forward, including Connie. Which I take to mean that this affected his mindset and will probably change how he approaches things we’ll see in his story. 

She says that these were two lost souls, who happen to meet at a specific place and time and sort of crash together. That specifically suggests that it’s not a long-term thing. It’s more of a rebound and they were both lonely, and that’s why it happened. Then she says that this will affect things “reverberating forward into his present day story, which we’re rolling out here.” Because we understand the Bethyl template, and that Beth will be returning soonish, that just screams Beth to me.

2)    Chris talks about the grave marker Daryl looks at and how it’s kind of a fake out, as many people (who hadn’t read spoilers) would assume it was Leah’s grave. I talked about this Monday, and how it reminded me of the Beth/Tyreese fake out. I got that from TTD. Because I’d already read spoilers, the idea of that being mistaken for Leah’s grave wouldn’t have occurred to me.

And of course if she’s a hallucination, the grave marker may even be Leah’s. 

3)    Chris also mentioned massive time gaps. Now, he’s talking about the six-year time gap in which Leah happened, but still. I felt like the way he said it is to remind us that there are time gaps that have to be explained at some point, *coughs missing 17 days*

4)    Fun fact: the puppy’s name is Carl. Now, I can’t REALLY point to that as a TD thing, because the puppy’s name really is Carl. But I couldn’t help but wonder if THEY named the dog that. And even if not, they still felt the need to mention it here. I’m side-eyeing a little. Only because there are such strong symbolic ties between Carl’s death and Beth’s return. But hey, take it or leave it. Just my TD brain working overtime.

5)    They mentioned the map in the “in memoriam.” So, you know how I said yesterday that Map = Beth. Yeah, they actually treat Map as a lost character here. I’m just saying.

6)    Denise Huth’s pre-taped interview talks about a “lightening” for Daryl. Uuummmm. I don’t want to go into this in too much detail here, but this is part of the eclipse symbolism. Okay, I’ll just run through it super fast, but I’ll probably do a post in more detail later. Beth = sun. In an eclipse, the sun is hidden by the moon. So it’s the “what is hidden” or “what is not seen” theme. Some of the sun’s light is still seen around the edges of the moon (think of that as the symbolism that seeps out) but the sun itself (Beth) is still hidden. Gimple described Coda using the word “penumbra” which is the darkest part of the shadow thrown during an eclipse, and Maggie told Glennin 5x10, “This is just the dark part.” If things are getting lighter, it’s because the eclipse is almost over. The darkest part of the shadow has passed and things are getting lighter. And that’s actually what we see in the eclipse scene with Daryl and Leah. The eclipse being almost over and the sun starting to peek through. So this is all just another way of saying Beth is about to appear.

7)    There’s a point where Lynn Collins suggests that maybe we would have seen a Daryl/Leah kiss if not for Covid restrictions, but the writer immediately corrects her and says it was a creative choice. She sights reasons such as the fans being protective of Daryl and not trying to piss them off too much, but that seems very significant to me. I think they didn’t want to show Leah and Daryl kissing (even though the sex implication is there) because they’re saving that for someone else.

8)    At one point, talking of Daryl and Carol’s fight, MMB mentioned the scene in S2 where they fought over Sophia. Just seemed significant to me that she brought that up, because that’s basically ground zero for the missing girl theme, and the first person we saw Daryl searching for. Now, this entire episode, he’s searching for Rick, and it’s full of Beth themes.

9)    Back to the map. I said Monday I would go back to the opening scene where Carol picked up the piece of the map and put it in Daryl’s bag. I never did. Lol. Sorry about that. I threw a LOT of info at you and totally forgot to go back to it. Just keep in mind that this was probably a foreshadowing, and Map = Beth. And they specifically brought that scene up on TTD and drew attention to it, though of course they talked about it in the context of Daryl and Carol.

The other thing that several people have brought up is that map seems to be destroyed, and then whole again. I suppose I just thought he got a new map when I first watched the episode. Now, I agree with other that the state of the map is one of many ways they were hinting that parts or all of this is a hallucination. And again, they drew attention to the map on TTD.

10) When Chris asked the writer what the inspiration was for Carol’s “strong right foot” story, she got REALLY flustered. Now, that’s definitely TD symbolism. Related to the “missing foot/shoe” symbolism, in my opinion. In fact, if they’re synonymous (we’re just not entire certain yet) then this would definitely be a reference to both Beth and Ezekiel being missing. But anyway. The writer finally came up with how and why she had Carol tell the story of her grandmother. And I’m not saying it was a lie. The grandmother story is much more incidental than the “strong right foot” bit. But I don’t think Nicole expected that question or was prepared for it.

11) They did talk extensively about parallels between Leah and Carol, and I had to chuckle at what was said. They were just doing a lot of back-pedaling. So, first they said they are two completely different characters. Then they said they share a lot of qualities that Daryl recognizes. Then they say his relationship to Leah in the flashbacks is absolutely nothing like his relationship to Carol, both in the present and as it has been for many years. Did you catch all that? It’s their way of pointing out the parallels between Leah and Carol, but also taking care to make sure people know that Daryl and Carol are NOT romantic the way Daryl and Leah are. Lol. This is why I say its kind of the death knell for that ship. But again, why put parallels between Leah and Carol if the romance angle isn’t there? For the answer, read my very long analysis from yesterday.

12) On the “Inside the Dead” portion, it says that the breed of dog they use for Dog is often used for Military and Police K-9 Unites. Yeah, that’s purposeful. I think they specifically chose that breed of Dog to use on the show as Daryl/Leah’s dog, because it both calls back to Grady (police) and foreshadows the CRM (military).

13) Norma’s interview! Yay! This might have been my favorite part of TTD. Because the way he describes Daryl’s arc here makes it clear that it was one chapter of Daryl’s life that is now over. And what he says about Daryl being unable to allow himself to be happy with Leah says to me that he’s still hung up on someone else.

This probably made me happier back when I thought Leah was real. But the other thing is that he specifically uses a Matrix metaphor (the red pill vs the blue pill.) Umm? The red pill vs the blue pill situation in the Matrix is what brought Neo out of the construct and into reality. This is Norman’s very obvious way of telling us that Leah isn’t real. Daryl is in the Leah Matrix in this episode.

14) When speaking of the arm that Leah throws at Daryl, they said something really interesting. My fellow theorists and are still batting around ideas for what the arm symbolism might mean. But MMB called it “dead weight” that Leah was basically getting rid of. And they all agreed that symbolically that was true. So the arm represented Leah getting rid of the dead weight of her past and working through it. Wow. Where to start with this?

If she were real, that just shows that this is all this relationship was. Once she’d worked through her own losses, she wanted Daryl to commit to her, but he couldn’t. Because he hadn’t worked through his. Plus, a relationship built on this sort of thing, as I’ve already described, is never going to last in the long term. But of course, assuming she’s a hallucination, this is really just Daryl trying to work through his issues and shed his past. It doesn’t really work. 

Dead Weight is literally the name of the episode in 4b where the Governor was a MASSIVE Beth proxy.

Shedding one’s tragic past while in a little cabin in the woods, with DARYL, is pretty much the synopsis of Still. So, it just backs up the symbolic retelling of Bethyl.

All right. That’s what I got for TTD. Anyone see anything I missed?

[straightouttaneptune]

Could u possibly write a Carl Grimes x reader where they have been best friends since the prison but when she goes to help everyone at the quarry she gets seperated from everyone but when she finally gets back to Alexandria Carl sees her after thinking she’s dead and just heartfelt reunion with a confession? Sorry for being hella detailed...

With love - Request

Pairing: Carl Grimes x reader

Warning: Fluff is what I was going for…?

Summary: ^

A/N: My first request!! And don’t be sorry! It’s amazing that it’s detailed! I hope this suits what you were looking for, xx!!

Italics are flashbacks/ past occurrences

—————————————————————

“Y /N!”

You grumbled and pulled the blanket over your face, in an attempt to shield yourself from the light beaming into your cell.

“Y/N, come on!”

You weren’t a morning person, and you would’ve liked to sleep a little bit more…

“Y/N, I swear to god!”

You heard his footsteps and the creaking of the cell doors, before feeling a sort of foam? On your poked out head.

Your eyes shot open immediately and were met with your best friend, Carl. And his mischievous grin. You placed your hand over your head, and felt what seemed to be… whipped cream. Your eyes narrowed as you looked at him, laughing and carrying a can of whip cream.

“You look adorable.” He chuckled, and you hid your blush by flinging your blanket dramatically, chasing him out of block C, yelling incoherent words of playful anger.

The duo ran out into the fields where Rick and Hershel were growing crops, laughing and spraying whip cream on each other. As per usual, the team watched the two of you, amused.

You and Carl’s friendship never faded, having each other’s backs through thick and thin. You both survived the Governor’s attacks, went through Terminous together, and the strong bond continued to where the two of you are now. Alexandria.

He could never admit it to you, but he has been attracted to you for a good amount of time. Times he’d spent with you must’ve been the happiest times his mind could recall since the apocalypse happened. Everyone knew he had this thing for you, except for you.

If only he knew that you return his feelings. 

A problem had been brought up in Alexandria. A giant herd of walkers has been spotted filling up the quarry, and it would only be a matter of time before they started flooding the sanctuary they finally found.

“So, who’s in?” Rick laid his plan of drawing the walkers away, and it sounded pretty foolproof.

“Me.” Michonne volunteered as soon as he asked for volunteers.

You spoke up without missing a beat. “I’ll go.” You didn’t have to be asked twice.

“Okay. Anyone else?”

-

You returned from the meeting to Carl, informing him of the plan and what you’re going to do.

“Wait. What?” Carl gripped your hand, his intense stare burning into your eyes.

“I’m going to help keep the walkers in line.” You said innocently, wondering why Carl was acting up.

“You’re going out there?“ His voice sounded unusually strained, filled with what could only be identified as worry. “It’s not safe. I-I don’t want you in danger.” You felt like you were hit right in your heart when Carl blurted out those words. His considerate words melted your heart, but you knew he only felt this way because you are his Best Friend. Nothing more.

“It’s okay. I’ll be safe. I’ll be with Michonne and Rick and everyone else.” You could only smile reassuringly, walking away from him and slipping your hand away from his grip to go train with Daryl. 

-

The day finally came when it was time to lead all those walkers to a different location. The plan was perfectly laid out, and everything was good to go. 

Y/N’s group was going steady until an odd and loud alarm started to sound through the forest. More than half the walkers started going out of line, jeopardizing the whole plan. 

Y/N stayed when everyone else ran the other direction, doing everything she can to keep them all in line somehow. Because of her efforts, half of the straying away walkers returned in line. But there was a problem. She couldn’t locate anyone around her anymore.

She had no choice but to escape into the forest. It was only a matter of time before the herd noticed her presence.  She left the herd, heading back to Alexandria. Or, the direction she thinks Alexandria is. 

-

The group barely defeated the group of unknown people with “W” on their foreheads, many either injured or dead. 

Carl rushed to his father as soon as the fight ended, relieved that his father was safe. But it didn’t take long before he realized that you were nowhere to be seen. Panick rushed over him, his mind assuming the worst. 

“Where’s Y/N?” His voice came out a little too sore than he would’ve liked, tears starting to well in his eyes. 

“I- wait, she’s not here?” Rick stuttered, he thought you were already back in Alexandria, possibly hiding or fighting beside Carl. 

“Oh my god.” Maggie looked over at Glenn worryingly, you were basically her sister. You were everyone’s family. But what everyone knew, is that if you were gone, it would hit Carl the hardest. 

Carl ran off with tears rolling down his cheeks. He couldn’t lose you. He hasn’t even gotten the chance to tell you how head-over-heels he was for you. You can’t be gone. You just can’t. 

“She’s a strong girl. She’ll return to us.” Carol placed her hand on Daryl’s slumped shoulder, praying that her own words wouldn’t betray her.

-

It has been a week since your disappearance, and everyone was looking for you 24/7. But Carl was the only one who took only 30 minutes of sleep every night, investing his time on looking for you out in the woods.

It had gotten so bad that Rick had to hold him back from going out there before taking healthy hours of sleep.

It felt like the Sophia situation all over again, and it brought big mental damage to the group.

And just like Sophia’s situation, as the days went by, people started to lose hope. Carl’s fire to find you were starting to be extinguished. He only felt hopeless and lost.

He didn’t let anyone clean up your room, though. He visited your room every day, in a little hope that you might be there. But you weren’t, every time, and he was all alone with his tears.

-

However, you had already been accustomed to surviving on your own. It didn’t take a miracle for you to figure out which direction to go in, and finally locate the gate.

Your clothes were torn and you hadn’t eaten anything but berries in days, but all you could think about was how happy you would be to see Carl again.

You knocked your weary knuckles against the steel, hoping that someone would be at the post.

And hallelujah, someone was. The gate unlocked as soon as the knock sounded, and unveiled the very person you wanted to see.

Carl.

He stood there frozen, staring at you wide-eyed as if he didn’t believe you were standing in front of him. Drops of tears fell from his blue orbs, reflecting the sunlight shining down on the two of you.

All your brain allowed you to do was jump into his arms. You and Carl just felt each other’s presence, the fact that you both were still alive. His skin was warm, and you could feel his fast heartbeat against your chest.

Without warning, tears started to slip out of your eyes, starting to get uncontrollable as you just nuzzled your head in the crook of his neck.

“I thought you were-“ Carl choked on his words as he held you tighter, repressing all the horrendous images his brain came up with of how you could’ve ended up.

“I’m okay, Carl. I’m okay.” You closed your eyes and held him as if he was going to somehow disappear.

Carl started to loosen his grip on you, and you assumed he was letting you go. But, he placed his hand on your neck and suddenly clashed his lips on yours.

Your heart fluttered in a way you swear you’ve never felt before. You didn’t want the kiss to end. It felt like a kiss so long overdue, something that was meant to be from the very start.

While the two of you were wrapped up with each other, people in Alexandria started to notice your return. The word spread fast, and a small crowd started to form around the two of you.

Glenn and Maggie came first, then Rick, Michonne, Judith, Carol, Daryl, Rosita, Abraham, Eugene, Tara, Sasha and every single one of your family.

“Y/N, I love you.” Carl let your lips go hesitantly, confessing his love for you not a second after. You felt something ignite in your heart as if a thousand fireworks were going off in your mind.

“I love you too.” You smiled at him shyly, looking up at him through your lashes.

“Whoohoo!!” Daryl suddenly howled beside you, startling you to death since you didn’t even notice him there.

“Oh my god!” You jumped backward towards Carl, pushing him down on the ground with you.

There was a wave of emotions in the crowd, everyone laughing and crying at the same time. The relief and happiness of you being back, the excitement of you and Carl finally being together, it was all stuffed together into a great moment.

Carl climbed above you and placed a kiss on your lips, making a few yell out “Get a room!”.

You then reunited with everyone from the group. They were more than ecstatic now that you were back and safe.

But after the whole ordeal and things have calmed a little bit, you returned to Carl. He held your hand, gazing at you as if he was unable to believe that such a girl like you was his.

The look in his eyes when he looked at you never changed from back when you and Carl were in the prison. Maybe he was always looking at you the same way.

With love.