#twd 11b

[taiturner]

they had to cut the tomi / ezekiel kiss from the finale because they ran out of time but don’t worry it was there it happened

[thewalkingdead-imagines]

are u still writing?

Right now, as much as I don’t like this answer, no I’m not.

I hope that I can get back into it at some point but at least for now, I don’t see it happening any time all too soon.

I’ve stopped watching the show (which i never thought I’d ever do, seriously) because I don’t want the rest of season 11 to ruin the show for me even more than it already has. I’ve been so invested in this for years and it just doesn’t feel the same anymore, the writing is god awful in my opinion and I don’t even wanna start rambling again about my disappointment / anger about Negan’s plot in 11B and C besides the fact that this character feels like an entirely new character to me that I don’t feel any attachment to.

I don’t know if / how I will return to writing the series, I wanna give it an ending and I wanna complete it because it was such a huge meaningful thing for me but right now, I have 0 motivation to write for Negan and I don’t know when it may return. I honestly wish they would’ve send him off after s10 and would have given him a spin off in an entirely new setting without ruining him just for the sake of other forced plots but oh well, here we are.

I do have a Joel miller fic in my drafts and I could honestly see myself rather writing a bit for him (and tlou) more than I could see myself writing for twd / Negan at this point. Maybe motivation will come back when I rewatch some old seasons but I don’t wanna make any promises.

Let me know though if you’re interested in reading these type of fics!

Im sorry things are like this rn, I wish things were different but maybe I’ll get to come back and finish the Negan series at some point!

[shimmershae]

My thoughts on the Walking Dead Series Finale, Rest in Peace.

Or did they change the title?  

No matter.  Spoilers ahead.  So tread carefully through the lengthy landmine of my consciousness, lol.  

Placing behind a cut because reasons.  Oh and typos abound because it’s 3 am and I haven’t gotten a good night’s sleep since this episode so.  

Some general thoughts about Season 11 and TWD in general—much like the season, this is gonna be all over the place so BEWARE and read accordingly

 ·      Carol and Daryl deserved a better ending than that.  

·      Except for the images of all the characters we’ve loved and the ones we’ve lost along the way saying “we’re the ones that live”?  I basically hated that Richonne coda.  It was too long, too detailed, and too ambitious for a show that all too frequently in its latter season dropped the ball on the little things that would have paid off big.  

·      I’ve lost count of how many fucking time jumps this show has taken over the span of its entire run, but I do know there have been too many.  Not only that but they’re always skipping valuable character moments and arriving at their “end destination” without any build up because, yep, they skipped it.  What could have been forgivable a few times turned into one of this show’s biggest liabilities.  

·      So many characters just disappeared with little to no explanation.  Off the top of my head?  Heath.  Cyndie. Hell.  All of Oceanside was hand waved away this season.  Virgil.  Like did the dude die or what?  And what of Annie?  Negan’s insta-wife carrying his redemption-baby?  After having comparable screen time to the show’s leading lady (c’mon, you know it’s true, especially in 11A and 11B), she just vanished.  

·      Speaking of screen time, what in the actual fuck were TIIC thinking sidelining their leading lady, their most talented actress, the heart and soul of the whole damn show?  As Carol, Melissa McBride is an incomparable actress.  Absolutely phenomenal.  And as one of two OGs, she should rightfully have figured very prominently in the main storyline threads this entire season, not just had her appearances sprinkled over the last 8 episodes.  

·      Inexplicably, it seems Carol’s screen time was “given” to Maggie so that she might have a circular argument with Negan for 2/3’s of the season and only see any real forward momentum and emotional realism in the last handful of episodes. The final episode really.  Given that she has her own spinoff with Negan, it makes very little sense and made for an extremely dull first 2/3’s of the season watching them basically meep, meep like the Road Runner on a treadmill going nowhere.  

·      About that “heart to heart”—I cannot overstate how much it pains me to call any moment between Maggie and Negan that, especially when the pair most deserving of a bonafide heart to heart only got the skim milk version when they should have gotten the full fat, vitamin D version-- in the final episode, it was overdue and I loved that Maggie didn’t pull any punches with Negan because the man murdered her husband with more glee than most children open presents Christmas morning and that’s saying something.  He can seek redemption all the day long and keep “proving” himself. But does that mean he will ever “deserve” Maggie’s forgiveness?  Personally, I don’t think so and feel it is selfish to want it.  Negan suffering the realization of what he cost Maggie and Hershel frankly isn’t enough, IMHO.  I don’t care how much the fangirls cry about his woobie face.  He’s come a long way and morphed into a character I find multi-faceted and entertaining if not wholly likable during Angela Kang’s tenure and I appreciate that.  But as his exclusion from Team Family’s Thanksgiving-esque feast following their last battle proves at least to me?  He’s a bad man that’s done some good things not a good man that simply lost his way because lovelies?  That road was lost ten thousand detours ago.  

·      Random observation.  Or more like questions, lol.  Just who in the hell prepared that big ass feast Team Family enjoyed in the finale to the tune of Stevie Nicks’ Landslide?  Who had the energy?  It couldn’t have been too long after the battle because generally Walker bite victims don’t tend to linger terribly long, unless TIIC threw their usual conventions out the window with Rosita.  Which, come to think of it, wouldn’t be outside the norm.  They’re always changing things to suit their current needs. 

 ·      Ah, Rosita. I knew she’d been bitten soon as she fell into that sea of Walkers and the fact she didn’t have any torn or disheveled clothing was an eye-rolling moment for me.  Also that she wasn’t bleeding because that, to me, suggests the bite didn’t break the skin and you know. Maybe I haven’t paid that much attention to all the various Walker bites in the past, sometimes I simply look away because of the gruesomeness of it all, but usually it takes a break in skin for infection to spread.  I guess she got the Bob treatment, come to think of it.  

·      All that nitpicking aside, Rosita’s sendoff actually had some very lovely moments.  Once I pushed back on how pissed I was that TIIC were leaving another child motherless.  Were killing a WOC who had only recently enjoyed added dimension in her character and story (although…Rosita, like Carol, seemed be to relocated to the back of the class in Season 11 after having much more impactful screen time in Season 10, a far superior season).  Her goodbye scenes with the people she loved, particularly Eugene, hit hard.  But even those didn’t tug at my heart near as much as her trying to soak up every last second she could of her remaining time with Coco.  That made me ugly cry.  

·      Know what made me ugly cry that I was in no way expecting?  Luke’s death scene where Yumiko and Kelly and Magna and Connie were covered in his blood and their tears, sobbing as they fought futilely to save him.  I don’t know. I wasn’t attached to him.  I liked him well enough in the very small doses we got of him.  But I didn’t actually expect to cry over him dying.  Especially since we hadn’t seen him all season and he was obviously brought back to be sacrificed for a bloody death.  Angel Theory, Eleanor Matsuura, Nadia Hilker, and Lauren Ridloff were very convincing in their love and grief for him.  

·      Carol and Daryl were no less convincing in their worry for the little Ass Kicker they both love but to be honest?  Judith coming to in the nick of time and finding superheroine strength while being seemingly severely injured (I mean, she had blood coming out of her mouth) to rescue Uncle Daryl in the opening scene took me out of the moment so bad I had a hard time taking the ensuing scenes with her life being in jeopardy seriously. That and she might as well be wearing chain mail because Scott Gimple done fucked up once (and many times afterward, he’s a rambling, riddler of a perpetual fuck up) before by killing Carl and you’d hope AMC would have learned their lesson by now.  I personally think not, but let’s move on from that, m’kay? I’ll address more on the Carol and Daryl front later.  If I do so now, that’ll be all I talk about because I have a lot of feelings.  

·      Was Jules’ death a callback to Noah’s in that revolving door because it kind of felt like it?

·      Sorry I’m bouncing around a lot here but these “reviews” of mine are always stream of consciousness and hey.  I’m basically a human Dug, lol.  

·      So Daryl wakes up in that hospital bed with a massive shiner and gauze wrapped around his head. How’d he get there?  Who else felt cheated by not getting to bear witness to Carol seeing her Pookie passed out cold on that hospital lobby floor alongside Judith?  Who do you think she went to first?  Judith or Daryl?  Who helped her get them to safety?  She’s the only one that has been shown to have the bare minimum of medical experience and it makes little sense she wasn’t taking lead on amputating Luke’s leg, at the very least assisting; I’m not discounting Connie’s bravery.  Anybody that’s managed to survive in their world and make their disability their “superpower” would have to be, but I don’t see her taking that initiative.  Assisting, yes.  But holding the knife?  No.  Same thing with Kelly.  So that part rang a little false for me but whatever. Anyway.  Don’t you love how we have all these time skips and scene cuts that skip the parts we’re always curious about?  Just me then?  Okay.  

·      I can’t be the only person distracted by the increasing visibility of Norman Reedus’s real life tats.  I mean.  Daryl keeps having all this ink showing up, continuity be damned.  

·      Carol stroking Judith’s hair while she’s lying on that stretcher makes me wish we’d gotten more scenes of the two of them together.  Maybe one where Judith, missing her mom, asked Aunt Carol to brush her hair at bedtime.  Maybe even braid it.  I mean, they established in one of the earlier eps Carol had been taking care of the kids in Daryl’s absence.  They definitely could have spared a minute or two giving us a heartwarming scene like that to show a few things—how much Carol loves Judith despite trying to keep her somewhat at arms’ length, how very much she still misses Sophia, and where she was sleeping in Daryl’s apartment when he wasn’t there and if she and Dog were still missing him and sharing cuddles.  😉

·      They really missed the boat big time not having Carol help Siddiq in the infirmary at Alexandria.  I mean, sometimes I felt like they were hinting at it.  Remember when Siddiq called Carol on the radio for Ezekiel and Dante answered?  He was like “she’s right here.”  I’ll forgive them not doing more with that though because Season 10 was chockful of Carol and she had so much going on.  I didn’t feel the need to fix-it fic her into the fold because she was quite literally the fabric of the whole season but again.  Let’s not dwell on that because feelings.  I got lots of them.  

·      Mercer’s reunion with Princess was cute.  She scaled that big man like a Sequoia, lol.  It reminded me of how much I loved the idea of them earlier in the season.  I really hate they got the fast-forward insta-couple treatment thanks to those oh-so-lovely time jumps and scene cuts because their courtship would have been something else.  Literally so much of Maggie and Negan’s storyline could have been skipped over in favor of them and it wouldn’t have made a damn bit of difference other than the audience actually being more entertained and less exasperated.

·      Okay though. I have to wonder two things about how the fuck Lydia and Aaron came to be back at the Commonwealth.  How in the world did Lydia manage to stay upright much less walk with as much blood loss as she sustained?  Also?  That blood loss had to have her smelling like a Happy Meal to those Walkers.  I mean, logic says so anyway, but I guess we all know logic doesn’t live here in this place.  

·      Rosita finding and rescuing Coco and there being a baby each for her, Eugene, and Father Gabriel made me laugh, not gonna lie.  

·      The callback to Shane blocking Rick’s door with the stretcher was a nice touch.  

·      Come on. Am I the only one LMAO at the obvious doll legs and feet in those shots of Eugene and Father Gabriel climbing that pipe?  I mean, it was definitely distracting.  Again, I ask how the fuck a Walker bit through the thick material of Rosita’s hoodie. It’s not like those assholes have shark teeth.  Oh well, abandoning all measures of believability, I enjoyed how much of a fight Rosita put up and was inwardly cheering her on even as I had to refrain from rolling my eyes.

·      We were robbed of witnessing Carol and Daryl’s reaction to seeing Lydia.  Robbed, I tell you.  Then again, we’ve been straight up pick pocketed all season.  

·      Negan looking concerned for Judith and flanking Lydia was an obvious blink and you miss it ploy to remind us he’s not all bad and it worked a tiny smidgen because JDM’s a softie with kids.  

·      I love that Aaron has come around where Lydia’s concerned.  She’s a sweetheart of a kid that deserves all the love and Aaron has a lot of love to give at his core and experience with the situation she’s now in but dammit.  Carol was right there and Melissa and Cassady would have literally brought us to our knees with nothing more than another tearful  hug to mirror their last embrace.  Why AMC?  Why?  

·      Gimple’s version of Negan could never.  That apology was a long damn time coming.  Long damn time.  

·      Finally, I don’t feel resentment towards Eugene’s scenes this episode.  Like for so very much of this season, Eugene and Maggie have been Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man, gobbling up all the airtime with stories we felt no emotional connection to or were just tired of hearing about because nothing novel happened but in this episode?  They were stripped down to the heart of the matter.  Somewhere along the way I fell a little bit in love with Eugene’s friendship with Rosita.  I never expected to.  There was an ick/cringe factor in the very early days.  That changed about the time Rosita firmly friend-zoned him.  I felt sympathy for the guy then even as I cheered Rosita on for saying the words he needed to hear.  So him sussing out the truth of Rosita being bitten and her reaction to that?  It broke my heart more than I ever thought it would.  Their “I love you’s” were sweet and made me tear up and they were shaded so much differently than another pair of “I love you’s” that touched a nerve with a certain faction of fandom.  I bet you can all guess who I’m talking about without my naming names.  😉.  I mean, it’s not the first time the two relationships have been in direct juxtaposition with each other, demonstrating the true differences between platonic and romantic love.  

·      The silent look that passed between Daryl and Carol as they sat vigil at Judith’s beside was intense and full of all the things they’ve never dared speak between them. No two do it better than Melissa McBride and Norman Reedus and that’s 100% fact.  That said, the time for their long, long, long overdue “heart to heart” should have been right there in that very moment.  Or at least the beginning of it.  Because all that chilly distance Daryl’s been keeping between them all season melted with that look at her.  He already knew his feelings.  He tried to tell her then show her why it wasn’t like that before the cave in.  And being faced again with the fragility and brevity of the one life they’re given?  It just seemed like the perfect time for confessions to be made, even if they were in the form of a simple “I can’t lose you” echoed back to Carol this time. For apologies to be spoken and accepted. But the lazy AMC scribes relied on the power and magic of Melissa and Norman’s chemistry to do all the work for them like they have basically all season and seriously.  Fuck that.  Those intense gazes have lit me on fire each and every time all season but goddammit. We’re past time for words here. They’re the OGs.  The OG ship.  The ship to end all ships on TWD whether some people want to admit it or not. The least they warrant is an actual honest conversation where they stop dancing around the hot pink elephant in the room—they are in fucking love, your honor.  Anyway.  Let me nudge these thoughts along before I write ten more pages about that.  

·      Carol’s stroking Judith’s hair again and I can’t help feeling that the walls she’d erected around her heart to protect herself after losing Lizzie/Mika/Carl/Henry started melting like an ice cream cone on a hot summer’s day because she hasn’t been shown to be that tactile with Judith since the Grove.  In that respect, what comes later, her staying to help care for the kids, isn’t as much a WTF moment as it could have been. 

 ·      The ensuing moment, however?  Judith’s comment to Daryl—“Sorry I didn’t tell you before.  I was scared that you would leave, too” and Daryl’s response of “I’m right here” definitely adds to the WTFuckery of Daryl’s ultimate exit.  

·      Ezekiel’s pontificating is an obvious setup for what comes next for him.  And like, it’s been obvious all season.  But I will say this.  I personally resent the fuck out of him leapfrogging Mercer, a figure that’s already been established to have celebrity status with the people of the Commonwealth, someone that’s been there since the beginning, and having a leadership position. Their positions should have been switched but again.  Logic has no rightful home in this place.  

·      It’s the small things.  Carol and Daryl barely letting each other out of sight the whole episode makes my heart sing.

·      Father Gabriel letting the people inside the walls, especially after the way he was introduced, really makes it strike home how much he’s changed.  

·      There would have been something poetic about Walker Lance ending Pamela, not gonna lie. But then we wouldn’t have gotten Carol being Queen of Sass with her so.  

·      Okay. The scene where they’re trying to corral all the Walkers to end them should leave me with more than the thought of “Wow, what a waste of all that fuel, it’s not like there’s an endless supply.” It was anticlimactic but whatever. I’m not here for the fights or explosions or the damn zombies.  They could have mentioned it in a line of dialogue and I would have been largely satisfied at this point because we’ve lost so much time this season with so many characters.  Carol was criminally underutilized until 11C.  I’ll never forgive TIIC for that.  Ever.  

·      “We already had to make an ugly decision.  Kept you alive.” LMAO, I love it when Carol’s a savage queen.  “…At least we don’t have to worry about who gets your house.”  

·      Glenn was beautiful, Maggie.  So beautiful. I still miss my baby.

·      The scene between Maggie and Negan where she tells him she can’t forgive him? It is literally the best scene Maggie has had all season.  I don’t want to remember Glenn like that either.  

·      Who cooked a Thanksgiving feast?  Who?  

·      Eugene watching Rosita with Coco.  Mercer and Princess cuddled up.  Carol smiling and laughing.  Dog. All to the tune of Landslide.  My heart is so full.  

·      Rosita watching it all and confessing to Father Gabriel about being bitten with Judith noticing had me teary again and I’ve always been in the WTF camp with Rosita and Gabriel.  Cailey’s little face, though.  The child has a bright future.  

·      Carol and Maggie helping Rosita to bed and saying their goodbyes.  The way Rosita seemed to squeeze Carol a little extra hard. I mean, everybody seems to just sink into a Carol hug and I’m pretty sure that’s all thanks to Melissa.  Wouldn’t you?  I know I would.  

·      “We’ll see you again someday.”  When Father Gabe said that to Rosita, I let out a little sob and I never liked them as a ship.  I was full on crying when Rosita told Eugene she was glad it was him with her in the end.

·      Another fucking time jump.  When will they ever end?  

·      Eugene and Max naming their baby Rosie was a sweet touch.  

·      I still can’t get over them making Ezekiel Governor instead of second in command to Mercer.  

·      Sounds like Daryl and Connie only see each other when he visits the different communities. I have many words for that but I won’t say them, lol.

  ·      Lydia looks happy.  She deserves it.  

·      Negan giving Judith her compass back—I’d honestly forgotten she gave it to him, it feels like forever ago.  So I’m guessing he finally left like Carol tried to get him to when Maggie first returned. That’s what I got out of that scene anyway.  

·      They didn’t show us the whole memorial wall so all I can see is what looks like NIE, but I’m guessing Annie and the baby didn’t make it.  Which is honestly too bad.  In spite of her convenient insta-existence, I liked her.

  ·      So. This time jump starts at the Commonwealth, goes to Alexandria where we see Carol with her beautiful short curls and the kids are there.  The way Gracie greets Judith makes it plain Judith and RJ aren’t at Alexandria anymore. Carol’s little running hug of Aaron is adorable.  Lydia and Elijah seem to go back and forth between the communities.  Carol and Daryl, too, as evidenced by them traveling from Alexandria to Hilltop.  Sorry for the run-on, thinking out loud commentary, lol.  I’m just trying to piece everything together.  

·      Oh my heart. There’s no longer distance or the symbolism of distance between Carol and Daryl.  They’re on the same side of the river, literally side by side.  I mean, they’ve been that way the whole episode but this is different and you all know why.  

·      Can’t help being a little resentful of Maggie’s talk about the future that leads Daryl away from Carol’s side.  Because ugh. All that talk of “we have a future” and him spending chunks of it away from her.  Ugh.  Did I say that already?  I don’t care.  

·      Carol saying it’s a beautiful day to head out and Daryl looking right at her as he agrees. I’m crying.  

·      Nowhere in the fuck of ever has Carol expressed any interest in having Hornsby’s job so fuck whoever decided to retcon that into the narrative.  

·      “It’s not like we’ve never gonna see each other again.”  But can you promise that, Daryl?  Can you?  Tomorrow isn’t promised.  The world is shit sometimes.  I hate TIIC for separating them and for why?  Why?  I know why, spinoff reasons, but narratively why?  Make it make sense.  You cannot. It’s not like he’s going out to look for Rick and Michonne because a year has passed and it’s apparent he hasn’t ventured all that much further than their established communities. He’s been out “in the frontier” but not so far out that he and Carol and the kids don’t have regular contact.  

·      So.  They left Hilltop and went back to the Commonwealth? Did Carol ride home with him on his bike?  Did the kids take a wagon or train?  Somebody explain this to me like I’m 5 years old, please.  I can’t help thinking she clung to him on the bike ride home, neither one of them really talking about what Maggie proposed because they didn’t want goodbye to be even closer and then they had that emotional talk by the river and oh my heart.  It hurts. It hurts.  It hurts.  

·      They’re beautiful.  I love them. Now and forever.  

·      So what? Are the kids staying with Ezekiel now? Aunt Carol?  I’m a little lost.  

·      Judith promising to keep an eye on Dog and Daryl having her promise to keep an eye on Carol.  He loves her so much.  It’s almost like…you know what?  I swear to god if they went canon off-screen and had their first kiss and everything but exchanged those three words…

·      Judith looking at Aunt Carol while telling Daryl he deserves a happy ending too is obviously a subtlety lost on a certain faction of shippers and I cannot fathom why because it is so very loud, lol.  

·      The fact that Judith called him Daryl instead of Uncle Daryl makes me think he’s still involved in their lives and loves them very much but he’s not involved in their everyday lives and he’s distancing himself from them.  Then again, it could just be that Judith’s growing up because Cailey has grown so very much since she first started the show.  

·      Speaking of growing up, dwell on this little nugget.  Daryl’s been in Judith’s life from the start.  Rick was only there for maybe the first 3 years.  Like the man has missed the entirety of RJ’s life and the majority of Judith’s and then they had Michonne leave them basically searching for a needle in a haystack, no guarantee she’d ever find him or make it back to them, and now she’s missed what?  Almost 2 years of those babies’ lives?  I know the storyline was steered a certain way because of Danai’s exit from the show but it will never sit well with me that a woman, fictional though she may be, would ever leave her children to go on a search that might lead to absolutely nothing in such a dangerous world.  Especially with her history of losing Andre.  By the time Michonne (and Rick) makes it back, those kids could be half grown and that’s sad AF.  

·      That hug between Ezekiel and Daryl was a weird touch but hey.  Maybe they’ve made their peace with each other and their respective places in Carol’s life.

·      I mean, Ezekiel took those kids with him to give Daryl some privacy saying goodbye to her so.

·      Carol waiting by Daryl’s bike.  😊 ☹.  She’s never shied away from showing Daryl affection in the past.  Pre the Prison falling.  She’s been more reticent and careful since then unless they’ve embraced.  Then she’s clung to him like a lifeline she never wants to let go of.  The way she fusses over him and his poncho seems domestic AF and like something a wife would do.  Plus, it’s giving her a reason not to look directly into his eyes because she doesn’t want to risk falling apart like she did a little bit at the riverside.  Honestly it feels like she’s trying desperately not to ask him to stay.  With her.

·      Daryl telling Carol he loves her is a huge deal. HUGE.  Carol saying it back to him is just as big because Lizzie is the only person we’ve ever heard her say it to.  And look.  I think she is trying to inject some lightness into a heavy moment because despite what she said to him while they were sitting on that bench?  She doesn’t want him to go. He doesn’t want to leave her. He looks like he wants to change her mind before he rides off.  She wants to make it easier for him and I want to die.  

·      I don’t think anything will ever hurt me as bad as watching him ride off without her. FUCK AMC for that.  Because it didn’t have to be that way, solo spinoff or not.  They could have still left together.  They could have shared those “I love you’s” and a kiss 12 years in the making.  If this episode wasn’t a springboard for the spinoffs like Gimple claimed it wasn’t?  Why not give us and them the whole enchilada?  It’s been more than earned.  They could have gone all in on them, finally made clear that they were IN LOVE, had them leave TOGETHER, and then cut to a shot where Daryl wakes up somewhere by himself and calls out her name or vice versa.  Same result.  Still painful AF to think of them spending any time apart.  But not without hope because they weren’t separated willingly or by some asinine reason that wasn’t even explicitly spoken.  But I guess we all know why AMC didn’t do that, don’t we?

·      UGGGGGGHHHHHHHH.  

·      I’m not going to say too much about that coda.  It was bad.  The clips of dearly departed characters, though.  The clips of all the people they and we loved and them saying “we’re the ones that live”?  Those parts struck a chord and made my heart swell with remembered love for this show. They’re the parts that gave me chills. The other parts were dramatic but meh. Otherwise, I think having Rick’s voice crackle over a walkie talkie or just getting a glimpse of his silhouette or even having him wake up in a hospital bed again a la the very first episode would have been much more effective and not locked them into anything so far as the spinoff goes or given too much away.  But that’s just me.  Your mileage may very well vary.  I did find it fitting it ending with that shot of Judith and RJ.  So there’s that.  

·      Anywho. Those are just some of my thoughts and there’s a lot of them but this is just the tip of the iceberg.  I won’t bore you with anymore tonight, lol.  Er, this morning.  Happy Thanksgiving, lovelies.  I’m headed to catch a few hours’ sleep.  

[wicked-chocolatine]

So that's it. The walking dead is over. I haven't watched the final ep (I have to catch up 11B and 11C first) yet so I have nothing to say about it, I only know the caryl content and I don't have enough context to give a proper opinion. But this really feels like the end of an era.

Thanks to TWD I met a lot of wonderful people. Spent hours making gifs and discussing the show and caryl and mourning way too many characters lol

The walking dead fandom is quite a mess but it was a fun ride.

I'm grateful.

[theteasetwrites]

I just finished watching twd’s final episode (ya i know im so late) aaand I totally agree with you. That episode was so rushed, everything happened so fast. As expected it was a total chaos.

I literally cried when Rosita died, I really wish it was Judith or RJ just to give Michone something to be guilty abt. Yaa I’m not a fan of Michonne and her leaving the kids to find Rick.

I loved the scene between Daryl and Carol in the end, it just showed how platonic their love for each other and nothing more people!

The explosion? UGHH.

The dinner after the explosion? Major cringe and very confusing, I mean not like they celebrated after the war with the Saviors? It just didn’t make sense.

And oh Maggie, my dearest. She deserves peace and happiness but I get her, if I were her I would’ve killed Annie so atleast we’re even.

Kinda disappointed. After 11 seasons we deserved a better ending. But hey, I am excited that Rick Grimes is back.

And yes, Daryl deserves a happy ending too. And thank goodness we have you to give him that! <3

Yeah it was very rushed, messy, lazy, and insulting. I mean it could've been a lot worse, but it could've been so much better if they had actually taken the time to make a good, well thought out last season instead of throwing in so many useless storylines. I mean the whole Reaper arc should've been thrown out. They could've used that time to delve into the Commonwealth stuff earlier. Also when they spent that whole episode in 11b focusing on Eugene trying to solve that mystery with Hornsby and Stephanie and all that shit... so ridiculous just give me 45 minutes of Daryl showering and I'll be happy

Anyway, Rosita dying was horrendously sad. I mean it was a beautiful death that was at least peaceful which is what she deserves, but it was still so sad. At least she died in the very last episode instead of in the middle of the series, so we got as much Rosita content as we could get.

I WISH JUDITH HAD DIED TOO HAHA. No fr what was the point of Judith getting shot if she wasn't going to die? Just to fuck with us? And to waste time? Seriously her getting shot was such a waste of time, it's insulting. She should've died and then it would at least have some payoff. But noooo they just had to do that stupid Carl/Rick parallel with Judith and Daryl. I rolled my eyes so hard man. It was just so lazy and they thought they were being so clever like ok get over urself besties

And you're so right, Michonne should feel guilty for leaving her kids! I mean tbh if Judith and RJ were my kids I'd probably abandon them too (not really lol) but yeah.

The Carol and Daryl scene was also pointless imo. I mean I guess it was cool if you like their friendship but I don't even think their friendship is that fun to watch lol so yeah. The "I love you" was definitely platonic but it read as more caryl baiting for the carylers.

That explosion was so ridiculous. How did they pull that off in a matter of a few hours? I was baffled. It was so weird and unrealistic lol. I mean I realize I am asking for realism in a show about zombies, but at some point realism is required for the show to make sense within the context, you know?

Everything was just way too convenient in that last episode. The explosion, Daryl just so happening to have the universal donor blood type (yeah fucking right), Judith surviving that gunshot wound, barely anyone in the main cast dying, everyone celebrating after destroying half the city and a ton of Commonwealth civilians dying... SUPER WEIRD.

Yeah the dinner was so cringey I'm sorry. It just felt so unearned and wrong. I mean they just faced a tragedy. Luke died hours ago and his group went from sobbing uncontrollably to laughing as they clink glasses at the dinner table like EXCUSE ME lmao. And once again, that huge explosion must've been super devastating to the structure of the city. How can the group be celebrating at a time like this? Also don't get me started on how EXHAUSTED they would've been after all of that, and yet they made a five course Thanksgiving meal in less than 24 hours after a really bad walker invasion??? And I know for a fact it was less than 24 hours later because Rosita was still alive and you can't live more than 24 hours with that fever from the bite. So stupid I'm sorry guys I wanna like it but I just can't.

MAGGIE SHOULD DEFINITELY KILL ANNIE HAHAHAHHAHAHAH

I totally agree my friend. Sorry for ranting but you made some great points that got me thinking about how irrationally mad I am at the finale lol. I just think it could've been so much better. And then after the one year time jump, it was way too saccharine and didn't match the tone of the rest of the episode or the season. I think that they still could've given them that happy ending without it being so colorful and bright and everyone smiling super big and idk it was just way too perfect and utopian looking. They could've done a way more nuanced thing that didn't make me feel as uncomfortable as it did lol. It was almost uncanny how saccharine the ending was.

Daryl is going to get the happiest ending of anyone in the series by the time I'm done with him in my series. He is gonna grow old with his wife and kids. He will know peace <3

[my-mt-heart]

Hey! So I've been a fan of caryl for years and I looked up your blog literally eveyday, but I kind of "gave up" during the hiatus because I stopped watching TWD (i mainly stopped watching it when they announced that the Caryl spin-off wasn't gonna be Caryl anymore, but only Daryl's, and Im a bigger fan of Daryl than carol, but I felt insulted tbh, and everything that happened with Norman and Melissa was weird. Btw, are they ok now? ) and now I checked and I've seen that carol and Daryl had a mission together and they kind of hold hands and stuff. They talk about Connie too. I'm really really lost... And I'm sorry to ask you this because I'm sure you're tired of writing this everyday lol, but Was that all that happened? Ive seen that there's only 1 episode left and they have barely talked to each other since I stopped watching TWD (around 11x10). And I wanted to ask you if you still have hope for Caryl

I like to avoid discussing the actors' personal matters on here because it isn't my place, but as far as Caryl goes, they have a shared emotional arc this block, which is more than I can say about 11A and 11B. If I'm reading between the lines correctly, because unfortunately their arc has just been a lot of subtext and micro expressions so far, the setup for canon is there. It's just a matter of whether or not the show follows through and makes it worth the long wait. So yes, I do have hope, but I'm also prepared to be let down. The finale is just a few days away. I'd encourage you to check back in on Sunday to get the verdict if you don’t feel like powering through the episodes you missed :) <3 And then we can all cry together in solidarity. Tears of joy, tears of sorrow, who knows. 

[haruhey]

chronological thoughts of twd 11x17

- saw sebastian and threw up a lil in my mouth

- saw negan and threw up a lil more in my mouth

- omg rick

- did judith start having an accent omg

- SEASON 5 🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶

- where r they

- omg lance hornsby girlboss

- daryl’s stupid scar pls

- DONT TALK TO MAGGIE SHUT UP NEGAN

- carol being the first line of defense iktr iktr ❤️

- omg daryl with the slay plan

- i hate negan i hate him i hate his screentime i hate him not a redemption arc let him die please i so viscerally need him to die

- this WILL NOT be the season i like negan shut up stop trying to make me

- oh a whisperers comeback

- omg that walker MACKIN

- i love my flustered angry boy lance 🫶

- its giving my math prof when his mic wasn’t working and he almost cried

- AHAHAHA lance got shot

- OMG DARYL

- lance is in his thanos i’ll do it myself era

- oh that scene of him glaring in the car was kinda sexy ngl hi sir

- i wish i could drive this good

- OH MY GOD THEY GOT SIDEFUCKED BY DARYL

- oh slay kill sebastian

- omg yumiko i haven’t seen her in a hot minute

- WE WANT JUSTICE DELIVER SEBASTIAN NOW WE WANT JUSTICE DELIVER SEBASTIAN NOW WE WANT JUSTICE DELIVER SEBASTIAN NOW

- overthrow the government OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT

- let rosita take her personal day mercer get ur stick out of ur butt 💔

- ew i hate negan’s stupid dumb face

- oh who is april what is the tea

- negan killed her didnt he

- they should kiss maybe i think

- wait what is this plan are they sending negan in to keep the people in there safe?? how is this accomplishing that?? is he tattling on hornsby???

- oo “if no one else is playing by the rules why are you?”

- CAROLLLLLL

- OMG CAROL IN HER NANCY DREW ERA 🫶🫶

- her shirt looks so comfortable

- omg gracie called daryl a dumb loser idiot who sucks

- omg omg omg what is going on they look like they suck so bad

- do u think if u pressed the ice machine ice would come out

- OMG THE PHOTO

- no daryl why are you so sentimental with ur stupid picture of u and the kids u love so much

- wait no i think carol just has a picture of them omg 🫶🫶🫶

- OMG CAROL IN HER MICHAEL MYERS ERA W THAT KNIFE PLSS

- THE SHOT OF JUDITH IN THE CUPBOARD PLS ITS NOT FUNNY BUT IT IS

- JERRY IS JUST SO ?? HIMBO??? I LOVE HIM???

- yo what are you doin’ here man?

- “where is carol?” me throughout 11B man

- OMG A GIRLBOSS COLLAB

- they should team up and kill negan together and then make out

- how long do u think negan practiced that line in his head so he would look cool in front of carol be honest

- OMG NEGAN SPILLING THE TEA

- carol girlboss 🫶🫶🫶

- SHUT UP PAMELA WE LITERALLY KNOW WHO DID THIS

- omg the dad slayed

- yumiko should have just let them kill pamela

- HELL YEAHHH DOWN WITH THE MILTONS THE MILTONS ARE MURDERERS HELL YEAHHHHHH

- omg yumiko and magna back on their girlboss wlw relationship love them together

- OH NO JERRY GOT SEEN

- omg the commonwealth people got their backs

- UNION STATION????

- oh my god negan shut up carol does not care

- OMG IS HE SCARED CAROL IS GONNA KILL HER

- carol is like ??? u??? when my boytoy is out there fighting for his life???

- omg maggie and daryl both look so haggard pls someone just give them a hug 😭

- ewww theyre talking about leah

- GLENN NAME DROP

- ok daryl and maggie kiss now

- gracie’s cardigan looks so comfortable

- omg they’re so super stealth rn

- that man is such an idiot fr

- god rosita is so slay i love her so much its insane

- the sewer is so disgusting i would never go down there rip to them but i’m different

- annie leave negan for maggie challenge

- carol and negan r so bold

- carol is my girlboss fr fr 🫶

- IS THAT

- oh my god hes disgusting

- yeah that’s correct u suck so bad sebastian

- NEGAN SAYING “i have seen her pull bunnies right out of her ass with my very own two eyes” CAROL GOES 😐😑

- carol continuing to be described as the epitomy of girlboss in the show iktr iktr

- ARE THEY GONNA SHOOT THEM

- omg thats what negan deserved i have no pity for him

- pamela lies! sebastian kills! period!

- wtf are those walkers how did they get so close is nobody doing their jobs

- TEAR GASSING THE CROWDS??? R U KIDDING ME??? THATS SO FUCKED??/!-???

- omg am i mercer

- be the change you want to see in the world mercer kill pamela

- rosita pubging irl rn

- OMG TORN IN HALF REST IN PIECES FR

- people in power stop drinking when there’s trouble challenge

- no fucking way pamela is ‘boys will be boys’ing this shit no fucking way pamela istg

- OH MY FOS SHE HIT GIM

- omg carol is playing along with pamela to get what she wants thats so slay of her

- where did they get all of that rope to tie that walker up omg

- AHAHAHAHA GET HIM DARYL GET HIM

- nooo the smirk lance is insane he needs to go to therapy or smth fr fr

- omg angsty caryl moment my heart literally dropped

- boo negan should just leave boo negan redemption arc booooo

- omg negan slept with mercer to get into the commonwealth

- um he also tortured the love of her life for like a week ofc shes wary of him???

- ok but yeah he does owe it to maggie idc idc idc

- AHAHAHA LANCE LOOKS LIKE SUCH AN IDIOT WHEN DARYL KNIFE TO THE THROATS HIM

- if daryl yelled at me i think i would cry i hate it i hate it i hate it

[what-do-1000-swords-look-like]

finally binged the last season of TWD and I have to say, I'm okay with how it ended. I won't lie, the Commonwealth arc was a little boring for me. It didn't feel as high stakes as other villain arcs in the past have felt like the Whisperers or the Saviors or even The OG Governor, but I think that's why they upped the ante on the walkers themselves. Which...maybe I missed it but did they ever say why the walkers were suddenly climbing up walls and picking up weapons? Talk about terrifying. LOVED that they brought back the Whisperer angle this season by the way, in all aspects. That was really cool.

I'm a hardcore Caryl shipper but I was okay with how they left things with their story. I know some might not be happy with it but Idk I got a very unfinished vibe from it? Like there's more to their story. Idr if Melissa McBride has said she'll make an appearance on the Daryl spinoff or not, but I still get the 'there's something there and it's still unspoken' vibe.

I felt absolutely horrible for Luke and Jules. I didn't expect that one. But it also kind of made me think they brought them back to be the ones to die so none of the mains had to. Again, the whole Commonwealth arc just didn't feel as high stakes, even when Eugene was on trial for his life, even when Ezekiel and the others were taken. The only other time it felt high stakes is when Negan and Annie were about to be executed and Ezekiel and the others stepped in. Not saying that I wanted any of the mains to die; they had more than earned those endings but I felt like it kind of got away from the theme of the show a little, if that makes sense.

Judith getting shot was indeed shocking and you do worry for her, but it was obvious they were doing a callback to the pilot, with us seeing her pov from the pain haze she was in at the hospital, Daryl blocking the door to her room like Shane did with Rick. Not a bad callback at all, I appreciated it, but you knew then that Judith wasn't going to die. (which thank goodness she didn't because I'd riot)

Rosita's death was tragic but at the same time beautiful. Christian and the others did a wonderful job and my heart broke for Rosita (she was one of my favorite characters too). I had heard Christian's explanation of why she wanted Rosita to die from it being mentioned by a fan at a recent SPN convention to Jensen (in relation to Dean's ending and how he felt if there was closure or not), but now having seen the season, it makes more sense.

Idk, overall, I just felt like it was a good tie-up besides some of the issues I mentioned. I was happy to see Rick and Michonne at the end but I do wish I could have seen them reunite with their kids, ngl. I'm hoping however the movie goes, that's the ending for the Grimes family. Like Judith said "we're the ones that live". After everything they've been through, they deserve it. Rick deserves to see Judith and RJ at least once.

One thing that popped out for me that I didn't expect was Maggie x Negan. Holy crap, I did not see that ship coming. It feels so wrong for many reasons but JDM and Lauren just have that chemistry as those two characters. And while I enjoyed Negan/JDM as a villain, and he was alright in his limbo phase, I never was a Negan fan so to speak. But after the bottle episode from season 10 and we see his backstory (which he and Hilarie crushed btw), I became very interested in his 11A arc, especially where Maggie was concerned. When he showed up with a pregnant wife in 11B, it felt off to me. Like I get that was his redemption arc in full swing and it was done to get Negan to the point where he earns his place at Alexandria 2.0 (3.0?) if he wants it, that Maggie can be the one to extend that offer (which leads them into the dynamic/place they need for their spinoff) because he finally understands how she must have felt when he killed Glen and he apologizes, and Daryl gives him a nod of semi-respect at the end, but idk it just felt off to me. It should be interesting to see how things occur for Negan and Annie moving forward. Will they be in the new series, too? And I'm not really a hero x villain kind of person (i.e. I'm not a Reylo shipper at all) unless it's something really great like Dramione but Negan and Maggie, I can get on board with that one a bit. And even if that never occurs, I am good with just seeing those two on my screen together. I can't wait to see the Maggie and Negan spinoff!!!

So yeah, an end to an era but I'm personally okay with this end. I still love the series and it's definitely one of my favorites.

[vvalliu]

Same vibes.

[haircoveredwriter]

TWD S11B trailer

[darealsaltysam]

this trailer is so bisexual

[mothman-my-beloved]

Me: *watching Negan fight Carver in 11×09*

No one:

My dumb brain:

[lola-andheruniverse]

So I just watched 11x09! Pretty neat episode, good pacing, lots of things happened (thank God) and not one to demolished our ship. Yey!

First of all, I'm so happy TWD is back! I really missed this zombie telenovela full of nonsensical action scenes and contrived dialogues hashtag my favourite show.

Nobody asked me but here are my few cents about it, I tried not to be too spoilery and I don't know how to add cut on the app so proceed carefully:

TWD SPOILERS TWD SPOILERS

1. All the action scenes with exploding zombies and all just felt a little meh to me. Like I think they were properly done yeah but I don't get on the edge of my seat anymore. Guess that's okay, too many years watching these fucking dumb zombies to feel threatened by them. TWD zombies got nothing compared to TWD spoilers.

2. Gracie really needs to learn how to defend herself. Loved all Aaron scenes, as usual.

3. Don't have anything to elaborate about Lydia. She's babe and deserves all acceptance and happiness and love and I hope we will see more of her on 11b.

4. Father Gabriel had is chance to talk to the religious Reaper and it was marvelous. Great scene, great pay off! I wish he got the chance to meet Pope as well, but we need to be happy for whatever crumbs this show gives us. He and Rosita..I think she's still mad he left with Maggie to a suicide mission and managed to get back alive but just barely. Girl was just really tired after fighting dozens of walkers in the middle of a storm and really hungry and that's what saved him of a 'cabron, I told you so', fucking stupid man'. They still a strange pairing but they really felt like a married couple with things to discuss on their reunion.

5. Talking about married couples who need to have a conversation cough caryl cough that little hug full of relief and tension and let's talk about it later because we are still stranded but we love each other hug cough. So nice to see Daryl hugging his family, Carol taught him to be a hugger and now he can have all the hugs he wants. He deserves them all. D*nnie reunion was very sweet and not charged with heavy emotions AT ALL. And to think people were talking about a new Terminus hug. They really need to stop exaggerating on spoilers before a caryler has a heart attack induced by stress. Am I the only one who thought it was interesting to not see Daryl's facial expressions when he hugged the Dixon family but that we did see his face when he hugged C*nnie? And the juxtaposition of that scene with Carol and Maggie reuniting? AK we know what you're doing, you're not mysterious at all.

6. They are really keeping RJ on silence because the boy can't act. Poor kid. He's still very cute looking at his apple with his neutral face.

7. We got our Alden question answered and it shocked 0 people. I liked the dude but he won't be missed. Anyways, I thought it was a beautiful scene delivered by Lauren Cohan.

8. Couldn't care less about Maggie x Negan sorry but I'll miss him serving as comic relief. I feel we'll have another Negan bottle episode on the near future and I don't know how to fell about it.

9. All the Reapers are gone except Leah. She'll steal more precious screen time with her drama but what can we do besides pray to have her ass kicked by Carol, right?

BEST SCENE OF THE WHOLE EPISODE: Eugene lonely clapping after introducing Lance to our exhausted and suspicious Team Family. Chef kiss 🤌

Also..where is Nabila and her adorable kids? Jerry, what they did to your family? They = TPTB

And that's it, I'm ready to the Commenwealth bonkers spoilers now. Send them all!

[allthegothihopgirls]

!!!TWD 11x09 SPOILERS!!! twd 11x09: my take

!!! heavy spoilers for the latest episode of the walking dead !!!

now that twd is back, it’s time for me to start nit-picking every episode!! 

i managed to avoid spoilers completely this time round, did hear a couple people say stuff like “best episode since- ever” on reddit which got my expectations really high especially because of how critical people are on the subreddit usually. man i was impressed though.

fair warning, this rant is not in any particular order, so be prepared for a jumble of words. 

first off, GABRIEL MY MANNNN, jesus i was not prepared for that sniper scene. i paused my video for a solid 5 minutes with my jaw on the floor. throughout the past season-ish i’ve been seeing people say how awesome gabriel has become, and i’m just seeing that now. imo, yeah he had his scenes here and there, but i can TELL he’s gonna be like this for a while now which has me so hyped.

next, alden. when i saw callan mcauliffe’s name in the opening credits i had a bit of hope, even said to someone “mcauliffe in opening credits = alden alive??” i swear i’m actually blind it’s such a classic amc move, god it was so depressing. alden was one of my favourite characters and i really shouldn’t have had hope in the first place, i think i only wanted to believe he was still alive because i liked him so much, even though it was so illogical. my love for side characters is absolutely killing me, i’ve gotta starting liking some characters with plot armour fr. also what’s gonna happen to adam??

aaron and gracie. my HEART was in pieces that whole scene, i feel so much for the both of them. gracie is another case of “side-character syndrome” i have so much love for her but god she has zero plot armour. i was convinced someone was going to die, and even for a second thought it might have been aaron. i love aaron so much more after that, it really goes to show how far he’s moved on since we first saw him. honestly been loving his character so much since the amputation era. the whole lydia and aaron bond had me a little confused though as we haven’t really seen them together much on-screen. on a lighter note miss grimes was so badass in that scene??? but that conversation’s for another point.

leah. i haven’t liked her from the start, actually thought maggie was going to kill her and was so happy for a minute. maggie not going after her after daryl caught up really just proves that no one fucks with daryl still which is always good. i just REALLY hope we don’t see too much more of her. if anything i’d be fine with an episode where she reappears for the purpose of daryl’s character development at MOST, she doesn’t deserve a meaningful death.

miss not so little ass-kicker. judith has this reserved part of my heart always, she can do absolutely no wrong. her kicking those walkers heads in?? so badass, cailey plays her so well. also the loyalty she has to gracie is so sweet, protecting her over everything. gracie looks up to judith sm though and it has me slightly concerned because it’s something like that that gets side characters killed.

negan. my lord does he NOT want to fuck with maggie. that look he gave her after she did what she did really just said “yeah no i fully believe you every time you ever said you were going to kill me. holy shitballs what a psycho” which was hilarious. out of all mc’s, i think negan is likely to die. it was also EXTREMELY convenient that he left when he did.

in terms of maggie, i don’t really have much to say. i’m not too sure what to think of her at the moment, especially after the last scene with daryl. was cheering at the screen when she killed leah’s friends though.

now i wanna talk scenes.

the flashfoward - the trailer makes SO much more sense now, my train of thought was so messy trying to figure out how there was going to be all these plot lines in 16 episodes but now it’s so much easier to look at. maggie and daryl?? kinda getting flashbacks to michonne and maggie’s fight. and hoLY shit is that hilltop?? really invested to see who’s on what side, also wondering what happened to make daryl be on the commonwealth’s side as he’s usually against people like theirs.

negan and maggie - negan is making a comeback i’m calling it now. really conflicted by my own character biases on their situation. negan has always been a favourite, and i would really love to see him as a MAJOR mc again.

church scene - maggie’s emotion toward alden’s death really tells me that this front she’s putting on is only a facade, she’s not as strong as she’s making out to be. she’s gonna crash hard which might lead to the situation with daryl. she’s acting out of anger and protection of her ego which never ends well.

donnie reunion - love connie, one of my favourites but god i’m not going to stand the donnie stans. could make a whole other post about why they’re family not lovers, please just look at how he embraces her, that’s not what it would look like if he was in love with her.

lydia and negan reaction - lydia’s gonna go after negan i bet, her emotion was too disregarded in this episode for it not to come back up. either her or negan is going to die in the process and i think negan will be a big death this season for the shock factor. i’m gonna be really excited if lydia does get a bigger story.

last segment: predictions for the rest of the season

-negan and lydia plot -a kid dies -aaron death, either saving gracie or defending home -judith and daryl based episode -gabe dies (don’t want it to happen but i have a feeling) -a character conflicted on sides, either aaron or jerry -one of magna’s group dies -stephanie was not the real stephanie -rosita becomes a mother for judith / daryl becoming more focused on carol -rosita and eugene really awkward to watch scene -hershel jr in danger or dies

other:

by the end of the season, i believe that for the “carol and daryl riding into the sunset” theory to happen it needs to end one of two ways:

1. everyone else is either dead or status unknown, extremely unlikely. compromise to this option is everyone in the MAIN group is either dead or unknown status, commonwealth still potentially safe, maybe a major conflict.

2. everyone is safe or at least all plot lines have been tied, daryl and carol have another new mexico conversation, they both leave on good terms with everyone. still unlikely though. more likely it’s daryls choice, he leaves either in spite or in content-ness

it does raise a lot of questions though, what happens to judith in that situaton? (possibly rosita takes parental role?), who of the cast will be in the spin-off other than carol and daryl? etc.

if anyone has any ideas or discussion on any points i’ve missed, i would love to discuss them :))

[thewalkingdead-imagines]

FINALLY

We’re finally gonna get a look at 11B tomorrow!

[nerdside]

The Walking Dead s11e09