"My mission in life is not merely to survive,but to thrive; with passion, compassion, humor, and style."-Maya Angelou She/Her|Pan - Just your friendly neighborhood queer intersectional feminist, activist, day dreamer, married to my lady wife, dog & cat mama, singer, ukulele enthusiast, fangirl, shipper, cosplayer, social worker, and beach bum. Random Fandoms; if it is led by amazing, dynamic, intelligent women; brave, gorgeous, queer people, or other beautiful, underrepresented souls & stories chances are, Iâm into it. #RepresentationMatters
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Actually, âpeople get upsetâ because romantic potential between Carol & Daryl has long been used as a plot device, or a way to exploit and manipulate a portion of the audience, or in the case of The Book of Carol, as a complete marketing misdirection. You want a happy audience, pick a narrative direction and commit to it 100%. Carol & Daryl aren't wishy-washy characters so why should their relationship story be any different?
Exactly this. At this point make them happen or don't, but stop shipbaiting people to get an audience to your shitty show and then mock the same audience for having certain expectations. The fuck is up with the mocking tone? This is what antis don't get and those who think the fandom is toxic and dramatic. Some of that is true, fine. However, who wouldn't be pissed off after watching 12 years of character development and waiting for the right moment when these two would become a thing because the promise of it happening has been dangled in our faces for forever?
It is not a delusion. We have been shipbaited to hell and back for over a decade.
Twelve years of writers coming and going and while many of us were happy with the friendship they built as well, you cannot say they haven't toyed time and again with the possibility of more, mainly to get people to keep watching even when the show went downhill.
This is why I stopped watching TWD for a good while and have little interest in the Daryl Dixon circus of fuckery outside of Melissa McBride and her fantastic performance as Carol.
Keep Carol and Daryl as friends, they are one of the best friendships on TV, period. We know that.
Have Daryl suck face with any rando he meets, have him mope and angst for people he has known for two secs and send him to Antarctica next, idgaf anymore, but leave the ship alone. It is the baiting and mocking that is pissing everyone off.
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Actually, âpeople get upsetâ because romantic potential between Carol & Daryl has long been used as a plot device, or a way to exploit and manipulate a portion of the audience, or in the case of The Book of Carol, as a complete marketing misdirection. You want a happy audience, pick a narrative direction and commit to it 100%. Carol & Daryl aren't wishy-washy characters so why should their relationship story be any different?
The stark differences in reception to Carolâs and Darylâs arcs in The Book of Carol
When a show makes its audience work overtime to either rationalize, or completely pan its choices, thereâs a fundamental disconnect between the producers, writers, and the characters theyâre supposed to understand. Itâs frustrating when the fans can see the potential in a character or dynamic that the creators donât seem to fully grasp, or worse like with #TWDCaryl , choose to exploit the shit out of it for purposes that just seem illogical on all fronts.
For years, inconsistencies in both Daryl and Carolâs storylines on the flagship left us trying to bridge gaps that should have been addressed at the time. Historically, the audience has always had to make sense of the disconnect, but nothing compares to what we're seeing now.
Carolâs current arc in The Book of Carol, is actually making brilliant amends in that regard. Melissa has such a strong sense of who Carol isâher trauma, her growth, her motivationsâand sheâs not just acting; sheâs advocating for a coherent, cohesive story. Melissa continues to prove that when you have a deep understanding of your character, strong advocacy for said character, and the ability to execute the vision, amazing things are possible.
On the flip side, watching Daryl get almost the opposite treatment makes it clear whatâs missing. Itâs not just a missed opportunity, itâs genuinely sad when you know the character, what he is capable of when given the right depth and development, AND what the actor can do with it. Without a clear understanding of why or when the actor has to explain what's happening by literally retconning his own character instead of showing it in the performance, we get a Daryl who, at best, feels like a hollow shell and at worst, a different person entirely.
The saving grace is supposed to be the dynamic of Carol and Daryl and the sorcery that Melissa and Norman create when theyâre together. The Ole Caryl magic is undeniable, not just because of their chemistry but because they make each other betterâboth the characters and the actors. The creative teamâs failure to capitalize on that, and even worse, cheapen it, especially when itâs so obvious and beloved by fans, is just an insult to the core audience and the biggest waste of rich opportunity.
Even if S3 pulls it together, it wonât completely undo the damage already done. Weâve seen the show pull itself together beforeâS9 and 10 are proof that with the right focus (and leadership), characters can make sense again in the larger story. But they need to get back to what works, and fast. The time for retelling old storylines and recycling old scenes is over.
Some of the fans are still here, waiting for that spark, but the clock is ticking, and the cost has already been too high. The narrative needs to stop feeling like a jumbled mess of mischaracterizations and creative whims and get back to the grounding force, the HEART & SOUL of the story, Carol & Daryl on the same path forward together.
A) America remains a democracy (mostly) and people can protest and strike and pressure their congresspeople and pressure the White House and generally do everything they can to stop America's support of Israel; or
B) Everyone in America who isn't a straight white cis Christian male is either deported, enslaved, imprisoned, forced into pregnancy, or murdered by the state.
God this is *such a difficult choice*.
P.S. anyone who thinks B is even a tiny bit of an exaggeration isn't paying attention.
Isabelle: tropes, misogyny, and the recurring problem in TWD
This is exhausting, y'all. Isabelle's treatment in The Book of Carol is an old, tired, repetitive textbook example of how female characters have been so often mishandled to push male narratives forward in The Walking Dead Universe.
The show's history of using women as emotional props for male character pain and growth is glaring (HAS BEEN for over a decade) and Isabelle's arc-with such a talented actor and Queen of the Beauxbatons ClĂŠmence PoĂŠsy-just reinforces this issue.
The rest is under the cut for references and spoilers for season 2.
Instead of giving Isabelle her own rich and fully realized storyline, the show has decided to lean into well-worn tropes: reducing her to a manipulative guide whose primary function is to "heal" Daryl emotionally and make him feel worthy, while simultaneously suggesting that her own worth is diminished in comparison.
The narrative centers around his pain, his growth, while she fades into the background or worse, becomes a tool for shipbaiting-dangling potential romantic tension without real payoff, only to discard her once that tension has served its purpose.
It's particularly painful when the show teases us with the potential for rich character development, and/or friendship development only to quickly revert to tired tropes. Isabelle's m emotional manipulation of Daryl as part of her "role" not only diminishes her worth but also plays into a damaging stereotype that women need to manipulate or "fix" men.
It creates a power imbalance, suggesting that Daryl's growth and self-worth come at the expense of Isabelle's agency, and apparently her life. That her worth is completely diminished by the importance of his pain.
It's a huge missed opportunity and speaks to the deeper issues that The Walking Dead franchise continues to struggle with women being used as plot devices or emotional springboards for men. Isabelle deserved better. ClĂŠmence PoĂŠsy deserved better and Daryl deserved better. This pattern is tiring, and the show needs to move beyond it if it wants to give its female characters the respect they deserve.
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I appreciate this point and thought-provoking question so much @thegratefulsouth ! Carol has such a long history in relation to lying, deception, and moral ambiguity on the show, but then again, so have most of the characters. Personally, I think the audience is always harsher on Carol for doing the same things that other characters have done or would do. Historically, this was seen through the main show over and over, and the double standard towards Carol, I think is largely rooted in sexism, ageism, and misogyny, and her long, complex history.
Carolâs journey has been defined by increasingly difficult and morally complex decisions, which she takes on at great personal cost. Her lies, manipulations, and choices always feel deliberate and weighed heavily in the story, making her actions seem more scrutinized. Because viewers have been exposed to her growth over a long period, they often impose higher expectations on her, sometimes unfairly. Itâs almost as if Carolâs perceived strength and resilience cause people to forget the emotional toll that every one of her decisions takes on her, and they judge her more harshly because of it. The audience might excuse or more easily forgive similar behaviors in Isabelle because they are encountering her struggles fresh and within a narrower context, without the same layered history to unpack.
Isabelle, as a newer character with a more perceived singular motivation (protecting Laurent), may receive more immediate empathy, and/or some critique, even as she also lies or manipulates to the point of emotional abuse. The GA may more readily accept her actions as situational, possibly because she presents as a more traditional, figure without the weight of past trauma-driven complexity that defines Carol. Thereâs can be a bias where characters like Isabelle can still be seen as redeemable, while someone like Carolâwho has made similar but sometimes darker choicesâmight be viewed as âdamagedâ or morally ambiguous due to her longer arc.
In both cases, itâs clear that lying is tied to survival and protection, but Carolâs lies come with a depth and weight that the GA might interpret as more morally questionable, even when they shouldnât. Itâll be interesting to see how these dynamics play out, especially when Carol comes clean with Ash, which will likely serve as yet another test of her resilience and emotional reckoning. Hopefully it will end in a deeper understanding and acceptance for Carol in all ways and success in this new beautiful friendship between kindred spirits.
Hi, I just recently found your texts about Carol and Daryl and love them.
Did you write anything about other characters from TWD?
Hiiii! THANK YOUUUUU! That means a lot, honestly. I have written a meta about Isabelle in regards to the current season, but havenât posted it yet. As far as other characters, I havenât written about anyone else since about 2016, lmaooo. That may change as the spin-offs continue!
This is so relatable @carylisbeautiful Thank you for sharing your feelings and understandable worries. A lot of folks are feeling just like you and thatâs totally valid. I am actually feeling pretty optimistic that the show wonât take the characters in that direction or keep them in platonic land much longer, and I explain a bit why below.
Iâm putting this under a cut for very vague references to spoilers for season 2.
I actually think everything in The Book of Carol, including Darylâs situationship with Isabelle, is actually leading up to #Caryl coming to terms with each other, expressing their feelings more, deepening the bond, and moving toward romantic canon, not permanently friend-zoning them or making them wing-people for each other, or otherwise keeping them stagnant. The motion forward may be slow, but I still think what theyâre going for is bringing them closer together.
It makes sense to me that everything would build toward Carol and Daryl confronting their deeper feelings and pushing past the emotional boundaries theyâve kept for so long, especially after they have a chance to sit with and process everything that happens in France. The idea that, once reunited, they will no longer feel the need to search for connection outside of each other is powerfulâit really reinforces how integral they are to one anotherâs emotional well-being. And that has its own compelling issues and pitfalls when considering both Carol and Darylâs trauma and relationships past. The Isabelle angle, though completely unnecessary for Darylâs character, will be used as a means to an end to get Carol and Daryl on more equal footing as they go deeper into their connection.
I think S3 will be an opportunity to explore what their reunion will mean for them, not just in terms of their deep bond but also how they might finally allow themselves to open up to the more passionate side of their relationship. Thereâs something incredibly satisfying in the idea that this slooooooowwwwwwwwwwww burn is leading toward a richer, more complete connection, one that acknowledges their spoken mutual love, in addition to the deep connection, passion, spice, that has always been simmering under the surface.
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This comment/question on the post about Daryl: relationships + trauma, is so great and really got me thinking about Zabelâs âmature relationshipâ comment, so much so that the response became itâs own beast! Thank you @thegratefulsouth for your kind words, and excellent q! I donât think anyone was expecting another meta about this, but here we are!! Also, Iâm long winded, lmao
As far as âmature relationship,â thatâs the story they may think theyâre telling, or maybe thatâs Zabel being cheeky, but we know the ACTUAL mature relationship is Darylâs relationship with Carol. Daryl and Isabelle are something else. Again, coming from a trauma lens and not the trope-y, sexist, misogynist, storytelling choice lens - Daryl is exploring with Isa like heâs a literal kid whoâs left his real home for the first time. Heâs disconnected from home, and I feel like heâll see Isabelle as a way to connect with someone the way he hasn't before. Because he has a solid foundation of attachment with his OG fam, heâs now grown to a point where he is more open to others. The disorientation of being completely âaway from homeâ will possibly move this to a new place than weâve seen from Daryl, making him look like an entirely different person. Even different from the Leah-era, where Daryl was still in physical proximity to his actual âhome.â
Rather than mature, itâs the idea of Isabelle symbolizing more of a way for him to try something new, rather than a fully grounded or mature relationship. Again, it CAN make sense given his long history of trauma and the way heâs developed emotionally over time, that doesnât mean it does. His connection with Carol is rooted in mutual understanding, something that transcends surface-level emotions or fleeting circumstances. It seems like Darylâs search for support in Isabelle is more about seeking comfort in his unfamiliar surroundings, and trying to embrace a different perspective, but itâs the connection he has with Carol thatâs the real anchor for him. Theyâve been through so much together, growing and healing in ways that only they can understand. That shared foundation is the true mark of maturity, even if itâs not always perfect. Itâs almost like Daryl is searching for a way to extend what heâs built with Carol, but nothing else will ever reach the same level. In that sense, itâs interesting to think of Isabelle as a reflection of Darylâs arrested developmentâa way for him to figure out new aspects of connection but from a much less grounded place than with Carol.
-Inspired by listening to Iâve Never Been to Me and Crazy by Patsy Cline on repeat
Shared from a recent post I made on Twitter
Itâs not news in the TWD fandom how Melissa McBrideâs insight into Carolâs journey has always been spot-on, especially when it comes to the deeper emotional layers that drive her.
Carol lives and breathes inside Melissa and Melissa LOVES and KNOWS Carol better than anyone. Period. As we keep hearing, the way she describes Carolâs current headspace seems to be centered in unresolved trauma, PTSD, and confronting her survivor's guilt. Like so many of us here who love her, I AM HERE FOR IT. It literally brought me back to this fandom after years away because the promise of Carol Peletier is unlike any character from any medium, and Melissa McBride is just as rare and special. She and Carol have more story to tell and after episode 1 of The Book of Carol, it is BEAUTIFUL already.
For so long, Carolâs very identity has been shaped by lossâboth the loss of others and the parts of herself sheâs had to compartmentalize to survive. This compartmentalization was initially a survival mechanism, a way to navigate both the horrors of her pre-apocalypse life and the new terrors of the ZA. But then, she was so good at it, it became her superpower.
She became a master at putting up emotional walls, donning her many masks to navigate her compounded grief, loss, and trauma. But over time, what began as a means of survival and a means to find peace, has left her fragmented, and the only two people to have ever been able to see inside those walls are Sophia and Daryl.
Carolâs journey, especially in connection to Daryl, has always been about finding that elusive peace. Her origin story of connection with him is intimately tied to the search and consequent loss of her daughter, and he is literally the only one left in her life who was there. The fact that their bond was forged out of that loss is such a crucial element. Her struggle with survivorâs guilt now with Daryl being gone, links directly back to that time and feels like the ultimate test of her emotional endurance. Like she needs another test?!?! đ But, I digress.
One of the problems now is Darylâs situationship in France. Carol has always been so attuned to the needs of others, especially Daryl, but often at the cost of her own needs and her own healing. The way Carol perceives his survival without her now, and how it will reinforce her own insecurities, is fucking heartbreakingâ because itâs not a reflection of her worth but of the trauma sheâs carried for so long. Sheâs also constantly torn between protecting others and protecting herself, and her methods of self-preservation often come at the cost of personal connection, believing she doesnât deserve the happiness and wholeness she craves.
Integrating all her masks, not dropping them completely, but integrating them and the pieces of her fragmented self, is key; to accepting that all these partsâher resilience, her vulnerability, her love for those around herâare not mutually exclusive, but rather, all facets of the same powerful survivor. And again, Daryl is the one person left who has seen her in her truest form, which makes his absence (and her perception of his ability to survive without her) even more painful. But with or without him, for Carol, this next step seems to be about reconciling her sense of worth, and realizing she deserves to heal and feel whole.
The hope for her in reuniting with Daryl, her soulmate, is not just about a physical reunionâitâs about the emotional closure she deserves. Itâs about Carol finally allowing herself to not only protect those she loves but to be loved, fully and without condition. Sheâs fought for everyone elseâs survival, and now itâs time for her to fight for her own peace and happiness. The question now is will Daryl fully understand that quest despite whatever the fuck he is doing. Oops, I mean despite the separate connections he is making and the emotional regression, confusion, guilt, and projection that seems to be happening. Itâs going to be a bumpy road ahead in France, but then again, Spain is still out there.
Melissaâs love letter to Carol - Paraphrased from Iâve Never Been to Me by Charlene
Hey lady (Carol), youâre cursing at your life. Y
ouâre a discontented mother and regimented wife,
With a weary heart whoâs lived a million lives.
I've no doubt you dreamed about
the things you'll never do, youâve ran out of places and friendly faces
Because you had to be free
Youâve spent your life exploring
The subtle whoring
That costs too much to be free
Youâve been to paradise, but youâve never been to YOU.
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origamiaround
turnnoffyourmind
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yousharknotpass
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