Untitled

[pob61]

[gunmetal-ring]

The fact that ppl are still reading caryl (which ik they are bc I'm getting kudos and comments on years-old caryl fics) truly warms my heart like this just shows how deep-rooted and true caryl is. It carries itself through basically 15 years of amc's ageist sexist bullshit bc it's the TRUTH, they are in love and have been in love and belong together forever and even if we don't see it on the screen we know it's true

[alatariel-gildaen]

I love how TWD ended with Daryl telling Carol "I love you," and her saying it back, and then how after he rode off on his bike he went "what the fuck am I doing?" and turned around and came back, kissed her to dispell any doubt of what the words "I love you" could possibly mean, then they looked after Judith and RJ together until Rick & Michonne returned, and we had the greatest reunion in the history of TV. One of the all time great tv endings tbh

[gunmetal-ring]

Anybody else remembering how carol and Daryl got together after the gang settled into the prison and they lived happily ever after or is it just me

[pob61]

🙌

[lab-gr0wn-lambs]

I actually feel like I'm going nuts with the whole Carol/Daryl "best friend" agenda, like I swear to god if they were both the same gender the network would have forced them to rein it in for being blatantly gay as fuck. Kissing and cradling and holding hands and giving eachother little flowers and bracelets and flirty nicknames and getting obviously jealous over other love interests- those two have more romantic tension than most of the characters who were actually together, but they're literally trying to gaslight everyone out of reading into it at all. No show should ever have to make anybody's ships canon but they're pushing back so hard for what? Because they accidentally wrote a compelling cishet romance that's somehow so unthinkable that they feel the need to shout "best friend" at every given opportunity? I can't be the only one who thinks they doing too much 💀

[bellapasionada]

So I see TWD marketing and PR departments are still a dumpster fire. It's oddly comforting to know that some things never change.

~~~said in a sarcastic tone accompanied by a HEAVY dose of eye-rolling ~~~

"Carol's best friend"

"Daryl's best friend"

WE GET IT ALREADY. THEY'RE BEST FRIENDS!

Your PR and marketing has made sure to push that narrative HARD. So since they're bffs and not much else according to TPTB, do us all a giant favor and stop trolling the ever-loving sh*t out of the Caryl fandom. Y'all always want it both ways.

P.S. - Well over a DECADE of TWD Universe on TV and not a decent showrunner to be had since Darabont. Whose soul needs to be sacrificed to get someone who UNDERSTANDS Daryl and Carol as individual characters as well as a unit? Get rid of Zabel, give Gimple a retirement package and get a REAL showrunner already.

[pob61]

“do us all a giant favor and stop trolling the ever-loving sh*t out of the Caryl fandom.” 🙌🙌🙌🙌

[pob61]

[pob61]

I have started, paused, and deleted various posts over the last couple of days. And I’m probably not going to get into trying to tease out facts at the moment, because honestly, who the hell could even tell what’s true at this point, given the multiple stories going around.

But let me return to a point I first made back in the summer.*

AMC is apparently totally cool with their communications strategy being “let the EPs say whatever tf they want, as long as there’s maximum contradiction in public.”

They either don’t care that the stories are all over the place, or that’s their intention.

Which is it? And why?

AMC, you good?

* This summer being the last time AMC relied on its male leads/EPs to be the PR mouthpiece for what are ultimately corporate decisions affecting TWDU women’s careers

[pob61]

A question that needs asking: why on earth, with Greg being the only person probably allowed to do promo of any sort right now*, is he spending every last breath trying to convince the world that the lead actor insisted on a new showrunner, insisted on “only” him being there, etc.

AMC wants us to blame an actor for these decisions.

Why? What does AMC have to gain? Ask. That.

Melissa, Angela, and Caryl deserved better—but whatever is going on here makes no sense, and AMC thinks people aren’t going to ask.

What do they gain from this?

* I remain waiting for time-stamped proof that David Zabel isn’t a cardboard cutout. Even before the strike, you’d never know.

[pob61]

The story we were told almost a year and a half ago was that the relocation to Europe became “logistically untenable” for Melissa McBride, and thus she was unable to participate in her own spinoff.

So, I guess that means that people who are watching tomorrow—unlike me—will now get to answer the question:

Was it worth it?

Was the France location so iconic that it was worth sacrificing Carol?

Does this story expand TWDU in such a way that it was worth jettisoning Melissa McBride because it had to be told, had to be told now, and couldn’t be told any other way or in any other setting?

And if this wasn’t the story that she was dropped for—if it’s just what they landed on after flailing because of her departure—what story would Carol have been a part of in s1 that would have made any more sense anyways? It’s still France.

Was it worth it?

You decide. I’ve already decided, and that’s why I’m not watching—for a while, at least.

P.S. yes, still haven’t forgotten that Angela Kang was supposed to be showrunning. Do you think this is the story she was laying the groundwork for? And was blowing that up worth it? You decide.

[my-mt-heart]

Let's get one thing straight. New Mexico was never Daryl's plan. It was always Daryl's and Carol's plan. Idgaf what happened irl, but on the show Caryl was supposed to ride off together. What's in New Mexico/people who weave bracelets and New Mexico's still out there are canon. Fuck everyone (except Melissa) and their constant bs.

[my-mt-heart]

Thank you to everyone who sent me such kind and supportive messages yesterday. It hurts that I can’t be the beacon of hope right now. It’s not because I can’t read the subtext or see what the intended endgame is. I can, but to me, the positives are significantly overshadowed by the ways AMC mistreats their target audience and if I don’t call it out, then their push and pull strategy stays the same while our chances of satisfaction get smaller and smaller.

From what I’m told, Melissa wants fans to look forward to watching, to take comfort or find some support in the show and characters like Carol and Daryl, who she loves as much as we do. She knows they’re an outlet for those of us who are struggling in real life.

S1 may not have been aimed at Carylers initially, but now that we’re the ones who can ensure the show’s longevity, bringing us comfort is the most logical thing AMC can do. Yet, they fall back on old patterns, going all out to make us think Daryl’s replacing his real family with French surrogates while only dropping subtle hints to the beats we really want. And without the payoff, those suggested beats mean nothing.

Maybe the spinoff won't lead to a dead end the way S11 did, but we need a show of good faith this time around, *especially* during S1’s promotion. Releasing old photos of Melissa and liking Caryl posts does not provide any reassurance, it just shows how low AMC thinks they can set the bar. We’ve been shouting at them for over a year that we want equality between Norman and Melissa—and Daryl and Carol—so why are they sticking with a title that positions the woman as less than? We’ve said no more shipbaiting, so how did that scene make it into the first 20 fucking minutes of the show? We’ve said Melissa should be announced, but they let another actor on a different show hijack her moment of joy. We’ve said we don’t want Melissa or her fans being subjected to online cruelty anymore, but all of the above makes it worse.

There are ways to address these issues without spoiling the “plot twist,” so I don’t know what the holdup is. Control? Contractual obligations? It’s gross and unethical regardless and I won’t pay a dime for any of it. Studios always treat viewers like numbers, but if AMC doesn’t start acknowledging the human needs of its viewers—sooner rather than later—then the numbers they like so much will just keep dwindling.

TWDU's SDCC 23 panel without actors

Star Trek's SDCC 23 panel without actors

[pob61]

Just A FRIENDLY REMINDER that we should have spent today seeing a promo for season one of Melissa McBride’s Caryl spinoff.

THAT IS STILL A THING.

[pob61]

Thanks, AMC, for confirming that I don’t need to worry about resubscribing to AMC Plus anytime soon! I’ve got plenty of better things to do with that money.

Clearly.

[my-mt-heart]

I don't know whether to start: with the title or the scene in the bath where Daryl tells everything about himself to the first person he sees for 5 min (ofc, a young nun)

Doesn’t matter where you start, it’s all bad. Idc how many shots of Carol were added in post to placate us. Blatantly handing over the fundamentals of Caryl’s relationship to an unknown character is pretty much the last straw for me. I know Carol will be in S2. I want to support Melissa after everything she’s been through. But if they’re not changing the title to include her or bothering to keep Daryl in character, then what am I rooting for? I was so worried I’d resent Daryl before Carol showed up. I haven’t even watched anything and I already feel that happening. The other issue is we don’t know how soon they’ll be able to finish shooting S2 because of the strike. I don’t want to deal with several more months of ship wars or ageist comments about Melissa while AMC shoves a cheap imitation of TLOU down my throat. I don’t want to keep hearing about Daryl saying or doing things that aren’t like him. He was my favorite male character on TV and this just hurts. I have enough studio bullshit to tackle at the moment. AMC is a special kind of bullshit, and if I’m just going to keep shouting into the void, then it’s probably time to quit their content all together.

[pob61]

Can’t decide whether the fonts or the titles are more embarrassing.

AMC r u ok?

[pob61]

It’s embarrassingly obvious that they’ve sandwiched the release of the “let’s tour France”/“what nuns?” promo with two solid weeks of Melissa McBride sightings. I presume this is telling us what AMC/TWDU management of 2023 understands about what’s going to build hype for the show.

Real shame they didn’t figure that out a few years ago when they were reworking solidifying plans for season 1.

(Also a real shame that random dudes from the cast of the other TWDU spinoffs didn’t get the intern’s memo about correct messaging. No hype for the official trailer, though? It’s almost like…promoting the actual show wasn’t the primary objective of the noise last week. shocked face)