I'm Riding With Caryl

Okay, first of all, been an interesting year for me personally. Had a big health scare in the spring which involved a hospitalization with some surgery. It's all resolved now, I am in a much better space health wise now and still moving forward. It helped me put things in perspective in all things related to Caryl.

I am still ride or die Caryl, but I have been enjoying Season 3 immensely. To be submerged into the Spanish culture has been an added bonus and the cast are all wonderful actors. I am realitively spoiler free (I do know a few things, but to quote Norman from earlier TWD history, "I am unphased by that") It's been very helpful to have @lola-andheruniverse to counsel me on things I have found troubling and it's given me a much better understanding of the show this season. I still think Caryl is endgame, yes even with the show commentary and with interviews I have read.

What I'm not gonna do is allow parts of the Caryl fandom who disagree with my opinions of the show, to dissuade me from watching the show with my eyes wide open and to form my own opinion about how I see things. I think criticism of the show is fair, but some of the things I am seeing online are downright mean and cruel to the cast and creatives and especially the Spanish members of the cast who seem to be very excited about the show that is showing their culture and some of their history to an audience who otherwise might not see that history otherwise.

So, I know there are likely Carylers who are quietly watching and enjoying the show and feel like they are the only ones doing so. Just know this, you are not alone. There are more of us than you realize. I will ship Carol and Daryl forever, no matter what. And always remember...

Also those who don’t like the spin-off or have negative things to say about it? You shouldn’t listen to them about the spin-off.

Hell even those who said they stopped watching years ago … You shouldn’t listen to them about the spin-off.

What should you do?

Watch the show for yourself because no one is gonna know what is right for you or how you feel more than you do. Afterwards, if you have feeling about it OFC you’re more than capable to express them + converse to your hearts content. But making up your mind based on what someone else says is like getting the news from Ticktock…

Seriously, quit infantilizing Melissa McBride. Quit making her a victim of the patriarchy when she seems to be very happy with the way things are going.

Seriously, please keep your promises to go away from the show and quit watching. But the narcissist in you (see I can quasi diagnose people as well) needs to hang around the fandom and gaslight those of us who look forward to season 3.

Dear fellow carylers, I have two WIPs for you today, both written by ICanStopAnytime. Our author here is a very prolific and talented caryler who excels in writing incredible ZA AUs with interesting new communities and characters. Her stories are guaranteed passports to new ZA worlds and great reading material for a leisurely weekend. The first WIP is a unfinished story with a great twist right on the beginning and that may be continued if you guys give it a try and leave her encouraging reviews. 🤞 The second one is a brand new comeback fic with six chapters posted so far and a new take on the consequences of the Savior War. I truly hope you read and enjoy both of her stories. Please, give them some love, okay? Love is what keeps an author inspired and a fandom alive. I'm counting on you!

Sponsored is posted on 9Lives and FF.net. Summary: Carol’s struggling to survive the apocalypse alone with her daughter, but she’s not sure how much longer they can make it without the support of a camp. She's going to have to take a gamble on strangers.

Okay, let's all share one thing that Zabel did with or in The Book Of Carol that you liked, loved, or thought he got right.

It could be a favourite scene that Zabel wrote. It could be a creative choice that he made. It could be to do with the storylines, arcs, or characters more generally, including his original characters. It could even be giving us hot as hell Ash in that cool ass plane!

The only rule is it must be something positive. This is an appreciation post only. If you have nothing positive or nice to say about Zabel, this is not the post for you, so please scroll past. All negative comments & reposts will be deleted - you have your own posts for negative comments.

I'll start. I absolutely loved all the fun and comedy moments Zabel wrote. In particular, I loved the car scene when Caryl were bickering like an old married couple. It was absolutely hilarious. Also, the field scene when Carol was trying to convince Daryl she needed to go into Ash on her own and then nearly took her eye out on the tree/bush as she rushed to get past him to get in front.

Okay, let's all share one thing that Zabel did with or in The Book Of Carol that you liked, loved, or thought he got right.

It could be a favourite scene that Zabel wrote. It could be a creative choice that he made. It could be to do with the storylines, arcs, or characters more generally, including his original characters. It could even be giving us hot as hell Ash in that cool ass plane!

The only rule is it must be something positive. This is an appreciation post only. If you have nothing positive or nice to say about Zabel, this is not the post for you, so please scroll past. All negative comments & reposts will be deleted - you have your own posts for negative comments.

I'll start. I absolutely loved all the fun and comedy moments Zabel wrote. In particular, I loved the car scene when Caryl were bickering like an old married couple. It was absolutely hilarious. Also, the field scene when Carol was trying to convince Daryl she needed to go into Ash on her own and then nearly took her eye out on the tree/bush as she rushed to get past him to get in front.

Naive/delusional

Sunshine and rainbow Positive Polly’s who see everything as glass half full people (trust me, that doesn’t describe me in ANY way lol)

Someone who must not have watched the entire series.

Stans for any particular character & pretending certain plot lines didn’t happen, because SHOCKER, 90% don’t like/love all aspects of the storylines.

What they are:

Regular people whom through their own personal experiences and POVs use critical thinking to come to a conclusion about how they see things/what things mean.

Shippers as much as anyone else even though they don’t agree or follow along with a cause.

Individuals who are entitled to have & share their feelings publicly without being told moments later in comments/tags/reshares/anonymous posts how they are wrong. (Don’t her me wrong, healthy debate is great when that is the actual intended purpose)

Now, it's become a toxic cesspool that spends more time shitting on the creator and writers and actor(s), missing the forest for the trees all because it didn't fit the story, the arc, the plan, the preconceived notion that ya'll had in mind. Instead, too many of you are following the direction of hiveminds who haven't even bothered to WATCH THE DAMN SHOW!!!

Instead, too many have taken their direction from mighty on high Carylers who did watch the leaked 2nd season with the determined stance to hate it no matter what, spilled that hate, and soaked it up as gospel. Ya'll didn't bother to form your own opinions, but rather joined the hivemind of hate.

i seriously need you to tell me what the heck do you think is going on here?