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I'm currently watching the High Rollers - Shadows of Athkatla game, and it's made me wonder if anyone's written a fic of Astarion hitting on a disguised Gale yet? I'd love to read it if there are any! (not necessarily based on this specific campaign, just the concept in general of Astarion hitting on Gale without realising is hilarious to me).

There are only 212 fics on Ao3 for DD in total. That's nearly unheard of. 53 of them are Daryl/Reader and probably not really set in DD. Only 42 are Daryl/Carol, a pairing that was once so popular, you literally could not escape a mention/question about it whenever either of the actors were involved. They had MERCH. There are 4 fics with Daryl/Isabelle, his only on-screen kiss in the franchise. I can't find any fics for Carol/Antonio, their much-hyped "it" couple for the last 2 seasons they've tried shoving down our throat at every interview. No one cares about the relationships in that show. No one feels inspired to produce anything. I'm not sure I've ever been in a fandom where this happened. To have the writing be so completely uninspiring, people can't even be arsed to try to fix it... Incredible.

But it's only Ao3, maybe it's just not an audience that would write fics. Fair. But then I look at the official posts from the show/network accounts and they get less engagement than I got on Twitter before I deactivated, and I was NOT a big account with AMC numbers. It's just that NO ONE CARES. I see people posting old Caryl content on Twitter that gets more numbers than official DD promos. And it's not just the social media either! Every official interview I watch on YouTube has virtually no views and maybe 3 comments max. Articles? Forget it, crickets. No engagement whatsoever. People. Don't. Care. If there IS a comment anywhere, it's "when will Daryl and Rick reunite?"

NO ONE CARES ABOUT DD. It's like someone actively tried to make the least watched, least talked about show possible that no one would ever get emotionally invested in, and they've succeeded. And instead of fixing the stuff people have complained about back when some diehards still cared a tiny bit, they doubled down on the stuff no one cares about so now they're truly playing to an empty theater.

1. Isabelle is DEAD. She ain't coming back. She's gone gone. Daryl feeling bad about it and mourning his lost love doesn't go anywhere narratively. If the point is him realising he WAS in love with her, that's the end of the road. It can't lead to anything. What's the payoff for that story? He spends all season moping about losing Isabelle, his one true love, and then... What? He's emotionally in tune enough to realise he loved her? To tell other people he loved her? And then what? He vows to never love again? Or he's like YOLO, I'm totally cool loving any stranger I meet now? What's the end goal here? What's the payoff? It doesn't make sense. The narrative is dead like Isabelle. Even Laurent has been kicked off-screen for a blank slate. So again, WHAT IS THE POINT?

2. Norman doesn't seem to think Daryl was in love with Isabelle and has been very resistant to talking about the kiss outside of complaining about mosquitoes in his mouth. Knowing that he must have known at that point that Isabelle would die soon, it makes sense that he didn't get invested and didn't think she was Daryl's one true love or anything. But then what was the point? Well, according to him:

So the entire storyline with Isabelle was just "dépaysant" - "a nice change of scenery that makes you look at things a different way." She was never written to be a serious love interest for Daryl. So what's the point? Why is Daryl sent on a journey to "make him look at things a different way", specifically with a potential lover?

From the rest of the season, and what the cast/crew have said about s3 (and what we've seen in clips/trailers), it sounds like Daryl IS realising he's tired of spending his whole life fighting and is looking for something else (and we keep hearing the theme of s3 is love). But again, why? Why with this random love interest never built to last? There's only 2 seasons left in this show. Are they going to try and make him fall for another total stranger in Europe? That doesn't explain his reaction to Isabelle's kiss (which was apparently just an experiment), her love confession, and when Carol tells him he loved her. Either he WAS in love with Isabelle (which again, won't go anywhere) or he's thinking about something (or someone) else.

The "something" might very well be his realisation that his old way of life isn't what he wants anymore. But why tie this to a romance? That could have just been accomplished with Laurent and wanting to raise the kid in peace and quiet. What's with him zoning out after leaving the married couple's place? It doesn't make sense to me to add any of this unless he's thinking about settling down with someone specific (which could have been Isabelle, but again, what's the point of that narrative now?).

So the "someone" else: how many options are there? Leah is dead. Daryl didn't seem terribly broken up over it either and didn't hesitate on that trigger, so I doubt it's anything to do with her. Connie is the only other option that's been even vaguely hinted at, and while she's been mentioned in DD - barely. And their goodbye at the end of the flagship show was beyond lacklustre if we're supposed to believe that Daryl left the community and has been pining over her ever since. I also doubt she's gonna join the cast in the last 2 seasons of DD, so the relationship would have no time to build until they get back to the US. So again, what's the point? The narrative can't really go anywhere unless Connie somehow manages to wash up in Spain.

I offer:

Instant best friendship

Video clips of any Caryl moment I encounter during my rewatch

Multi-page essays about why this still has a hold on me 15 years later

An intense desire to read YOUR multi-page essays and every single thought you have about them in your brain. Literally nothing is too small. I will be your hyperfixation chamber and I'll thank you for it.

Ha! Would you believe it if I told you that I've had dumber discourse since? 🤔

Honestly, it's ridiculous. Long story short, I thought a lot of people wouldn't know what it is (which was correct), but I figured the most that would happen is people would go "oh I didn't know that!" - if they'd mention it at all. Did I think it would start a debate that would split the Fandom and have people I otherwise liked softblock me for the high crime of not ending the story on anal? No.

I genuinely thought people were joking when the discourse started, so a lot of my initial replies were jokes in response, and I realised waaaaaay too late that people were serious 🤦 I dropped the chapter shortly before going to bed and woke up to... Whatever it was that happened.

It was weird. It was overblown. I have thoughts on WHY, but I'm controversial enough as is without airing them. Let's just say I should have taken it as my cue to peace out because it only got worse from there 😅