My opinion has been fluctuating about the Carol x Daryl situation as seasons progress. At first, I was very "mother and son" coded, then I was thinking friends, and for a moment I was thinking maybe lovers, but in the end, I think this is where I settle (at least for now I'm only up to season 5 and there's a spin off I need to watch)
But what I think it is is that Carol loves Daryl, romantically, the whole fluffy 9 yards. But Daryl does not, he doesn't love Carol any less, hell he probably love Carol more than Carol love Daryl. But it just isn't romanitc
Whether it's because he's a repressed queer, aroace, or too traumatized to love like that (ever and/or again) he just can't love her like that
And she respects that, but she's never not going to feel for him because the world is too small and too fucked up for her to worry about banishing feelings, if they've talked about it, and he's ok with ehr being the same as she always was, she's going to keep being the same and he's going to keep loving her the way he can
It's one sided but it's been talked about, they are grown adults and they can handle these feelings amicably whilst still being friends. And they can still be closer than ever
