#( noah grady // main )

[pcetstcrtured]

open to: anyone muse: noah grady, golden boy with his own inner demons - further info can be found on muse page suggested plot: they're exes? ex friends? ex something? either way they haven't seen each other in years and are now having a painful? reunion

noah swallows hard as he looks at the other, trying to ignore the pang that goes through his chest at the sight of them. "uh, hi." he greets quietly, carefully - attempting a smile, and he thinks he actually manages a pretty good one. "you, uh, you look good. how you have you been?" i miss you, it's so nice to see you, things haven't been the same without you in my life. but he won't say any of that out loud. "up to anything exciting lately?"

[frangipanilove]

Bluebird Symbolism in TOWL 1X4 And Its Relation To The Numbers "10" and "2"

I’ve written a bunch of posts on bluebird symbolism before, particularly during TWDDD, that show was full of these bluebird references. Go read those posts (for exemple here, here, here or here) for more in-depth analysis of the symbolism, but long story short, the bluebird symbolism was the reason we really could tell for sure that Rick and Beth are two sides to the same coin as far as resurrection symbolism goes. We all remember the Blue Heron painting behind Beth in Still, as she and Daryl emerged out from the labyrinth of death that was the golf club. “We made it!” she exclaimed, effectively foreshadowing her future fate.

Then, through foreshadowing provided by Noah’s t-shirt, (with a stylized blue heron) we see, in TWD 8x2 The Damned, another Blue Heron painting, this time behind Rick!

We didn’t know it at the time, but we later learned that Andrew Lincoln would be taking a break from the franchise, and his character Rick would be “just gone” for the unforeseeable future. But, we also knew he would eventually return, as the OG Sirius character he is. And that’s interesting for TD, because Beth and Rick are paralleled so closely when it comes to the resurrection symbolism they’re surrounded with.

In TOWL 1x4 What We, we see this tapestry fairly early in the episode.

The birds are peacocks, and peacocks are definitely blue birds.

@angelthefirst1 posted an excellent post on elevators and the 10 - 2 symbolism this morning, and I wanted to piggyback off of that because of how it ties neatly into the bluebird symbolism and the numbers 10 and 2.

Elevators, much like bridges, ladders, stairs etc, are metaphorical passages through which the characters can move between the "realms". These liminal spaces are what allows characters like Beth and Rick to return to the realm of the living, after having stayed in the "death realm", the "underworld" for an extended period of time. And we saw that in Still, when Beth and Daryl moved through what a Gimple described as “the nine circles of hell” at the golf club, before they returned to the "realm of the living".

We also saw this theme of "passages", liminal spaces between the realms, around the second blue heron painting, the one from TWD 8x2 The Damned. We specifically saw Rick and Daryl move up through the elevator shaft in order to reach the floor where the Blue Heron painting was.

We first see Daryl opening the elevator shaft from the inside, he then gets up and subsequently helps Rick up into the corridor.

The elevator shaft is the metaphorical passage that foreshadows Rick's journey to the "death realm", but it is also, as seen in TOWL 1x4, what allows him to return to the realm of the living. And as @angelthefirst1 pointed out, him doing so was accompanied by a voice repeating the numbers “10” and “2”.

And this is where it gets really interesting.

Because yes, it is a reference to the Slabtown clock, the “Get Well Soon” clock. We all have our different takes on that. It can be interpreted in several interesting ways. I believe one of the main purposes of the clock was to call back to the red fire engine we first saw in 5x5 Self Help. That fire engine, Engine 82, was present at the heartbreaking last shot of Coda, when Daryl carried Beth’s seemingly lifeless body out of Grady. I'll explain why below.

Remember, ladders, like elevators, stairwells and bridges, are metaphorical passages through which characters can move between the realms. Take Rick for instance, his death was foreshadowed by the elevator shaft and the blue heron painting from 8x2 The Damned. Then he “died” on a bridge.

We were specifically shown a ladder in 5x7 Crossed, Maggie used it to provide shade for Eugene after Abraham had knocked him unconscious. The ladder literally helped him “wake up” from an unconscious state.

It’s no coincidence that the fire engine from season 5 specifically was a number “82”, pointing towards episode 8x2. Episode 8x2 The Damned specifically foreshadows Rick's "death" and "resurrection".

It’s no coincidence that it was Noah’s t-shirt, with the stylized heron, that foreshadowed Rick’s “death” and “resurrection”, and that the t-shirt specifically pointed us to episode 8x2.

It's no coincidence that we see Engine 82, complete with a ladder, front and center as Daryl carries Beth out of Grady. Engine 82, with the ladder, foreshadows her resurrection.

And it’s no coincidence that in TOWL 1x4, we see another representation of a blue bird, this time a peacock, right before Rick metaphorically “returns” to the realm of the living, to Michonne, to the life he knew. Because those blue birds herald resurrection.

(Obviously Rick hasn't physically returned to his previous life and his family yet, but he experienced a psychological breakthrough, where he chose Michonne, he cose his family and he chose "the realm of the living". He chose to reject the CRM, where he had learned "to be dead" as he explained to Michonne in the episode)

So finally, let me return to the voice repeating the numbers “10” and “2” from TOWL 1x4. We know the Slabtown clock can be interpreted in a multitude of ways, and like I said above, I believe it's a callback to Engine 82 from 5x5 Self Help. I'm getting to that in a minute, first let's briefly explore some of the other potential interpretations, because of course, they're interconnected.

I’ve described a few ways of interpreting it in previous posts, one way to interpret it is to break down for example the “2” into “one one” which is a reference to the “one one” on Noah’s t-shirt.

You can also read it as a reference to episode 10x11 (read 10 - one one), which was called “Morningstar”, an obvious reference to the Venus/Sirius symbolism (read more here).

Interestingly, 10x11 Morningstar is the episode where Daryl got his upgraded vest, and in this article on how Daryl got new wings, I found this part particularly interesting:

Cailey Fleming, who plays Judith, explains how she restored the tattered wings so that Daryl now finally has TWO wings again, dotted with TEN stars.

See how that’s another representation of the numbers “10” and “2”? In an episode foreshadowed by the Slabtown clock, if you read it as 10 - one one? An episode literally named Morningstar, which is a Sirius/Venus reference?

And see how one of the wings are now blue? That’s another representation of bluebird symbolism!

In TOWL 1x4 we see Michonnes scar, and she tells the story on how she and Daryl got branded. Daryl's scars interestingly form a constellation along with other scars that reasonably be interpreted as the Roman numerals X II, which translates into 10 and 2. Or if you read it as 10 - one one, you could say it points to episode 10x11 Morningstar.

To recap, in TOWL, we see michonnes scar, an X, in an episode where we also see two peacocks, two blue birds. See how that conceptually shares similarities with the scars on Daryl's back, that forms a X II, pointing to an episode where he gets a revamped vest with TEN stars and TWO wings, one of them blue? See how the 10 2 symbolism and the bluebird symbolism keep popping up together?

In TOWL, the voice repeating the numbers 10 and 2 is tied to the elevator, and remember, elevators = passages between the realms. And the same goes for ladders. Now let me remind you of Engine 82, last seen as Daryl carried Beth's lifeless body out from Grady, and why I believe the Slabtown clock is a callback to it.

I mentioned above that one of my favorite ways to interpret the 10 and the 2 and the Slabtown clock is that it serves as a callback to episode 5x5 Self Help, where Abraham, Eugene and the rest of Team Washington found Engine 82. And when they did, it was backed up to a building marked with this particular number:

That's right, Engine 82 was first seen backed up to a building marked 102! A direct reference to the Slabtown clock, and directly foreshadowing Beth's "death" and "resurrection".

Imo, the voice repeating the numbers “10” and “2” in TOWL 1x4 were referring to the building where we first saw the fire engine, back in 5x5, well before Beth “died”. The “102” on the building foreshadowed the Slabtown clock, the Slabtown clock was a callback to the 102 on the building where we first saw the fire engine.

Engine 82 represents the presence of metaphorical “passages" between the realms, such as elevators, stairs, ladders and bridges, through which the characters can travel unhindered between the realms. They are what foreshadows "death", but also what allows for "resurrection".

Depending on how you choose to read the numbers on the Slabtown clock, you could also argue that they point to episode 2x2, which is when we first meet Beth, or 2x10, which is 18 Miles Out, the episode where she initially attempts suicide, but eventually decides she wants to live (again, foreshadowing her surviving).

Like I mentioned, it could also refer to the “one one” on Noah’s t-shirt with the stylized heron, and it could refer to episode 10x11 (read 10 - one one) which is called Morningstar (straight up Venus/Sirius symbolism).

Or, like I’ve described above, it could be a reference to the building where we first saw the fire engine, Ladder 82, in which “ladder” is one of the metaphorical passages which allows characters like Rick and Beth to undergo a “death and resurrection” arc.

No matter how you chose to interpret the numbers “10” and “2”, it’s safe to say they indicate “resurrection” for anyone associated with them. Particularly when they’re accompanied with the presence of blue birds!

(Side note, Ladder 82 is noticably very red, and it was backed up against a red door on the building marked with the number 102. I call it “red controls the gates” symbolism, illustrated by the red fire engine backed up against a red door. I've been tracking this symbolism for a long time, and have several posts on it. If you want to explore the symbolism surrounding the color red, read this and this)

[acotars]

hey! could you please recommend me some romance books with the second chance trope or that are similar to You Deserve Each Other ? you have great taste in books 🥺

omg!!! crying that’s so sweet!! here are nine of my favorite second chance romances:

happy place by emily henry harriet and wyn have been the perfect couple since college. until they broke off their engagement six months ago and still haven't told their friends. now they're stuck at their friend group's annual maine vacation, lying through their teeth and pretending they're still madly in love with each other. only, harriet's discovering, it is all too easy to pretend to be in love in public. it's infinitely harder when it's just the two of them, and she has to pretend not to be. a fantastic second chance romance that's told in then-and-now alternating timelines, showing readers how harriet and wyn fell in love and wondering how they could have ever fallen out of it.

do i know you? by emily wibberley and austin siegemind-brokka eliza and graham are as out-of-sync as can be on their vacation getaway meant to celebrate their five-year wedding anniversary. the spark is just... missing. when another guest at their resort mistakes them both for singles and introduces them, eliza and graham decide pretending to be perfect strangers could actually be just the breath of fresh air this trip needs. what happens when you fall in love with a stranger who actually happens to be your wife? again, very similar to ydeo, as the couple never broke up, just lost sight of each other. a great read if you love the tough conversations!

the neighbor favor by kristina forest after being ghosted by the obscure author she'd been falling in love with over email, shy bookworm lily decides she needs to get out of her head and get back on the dating scene, and enlists the help of her dashing new neighbor (and secret obscure author!) nick. this is primarily a two-person love triangle (my personal favorite trope!!) with a hefty sprinkling of second-chance romance in there as well. the second chance comes in strong in the second half.

romantic comedy by curtis sittenfeld sparks fly on set between late-night comedy writer sally and heartthrob pop star noah while they work together on the sketches for the week he's hosting the live comedy that airs saturday night. sally's convinced noah is out of her league, but can't deny the pull she feels from him. a series of will-they-won't-theys that keep ending in won't-they until finally in the quiet isolation of the pandemic lockdown, sally and noah decide to go for it. this story is told over the course of several years, and noah and sally keep dancing around each other, but sally's self-image keep complicating things. this story is set very majorly within the pandemic, so trigger warning for that!

before i let go by kennedy ryan yasmen and josiah have loved each other since their teens. they built a life and a business and a family together, but when life delivered blow after devastating blow, the two found that love alone couldn't save everything. now divorced and co-parenting, they're finally settling into their new rhythm, but yasmen can't help feeling pulled to josiah like she hasn't in years. is it too late for them to find forever? or are some things stronger once they've been rebuilt? a truly gorgeous novel. heavy trigger warnings for miscarriage, mental illness, infertility, and deep depression. but josiah and yasmen's love story is one forged in fire.

something wilder by christina lauren lily wilder is keeping her gaze forward, guiding tourists on fake treasure hunts through the canyons of utah in an effort to save enough to buy back her family's ranch — and she is most definitely not still hung up on former ranch-hand leo grady who stole her heart a decade ago. that lie's a whole lot easier to believe before leo shows up, unbeknownst to them both, on a bro-trip guided by none other than lily herself. if only their romantic history was the biggest thing to worry about. this is a romantic adventure novel, full of action, betrayal, peril, and heart-pounding suspense. it delivers a great dose of that pining-longing-guilt that is expected of second-chance romances, but the resolution is a lot cleaner than many others in the genre. i loved this book so much, but it's definitely a polarizing one.

thank you for listening by julia whelan former actress turned successful audiobook narrator sewanee lost sight of her dreams after a tragic accident, but finds a new journey of self-discovery, love, and acceptance when she agrees to narrate one last romance novel, starring opposite anonymous heartthrob brock mcnight. sparks fly as the two pass samples over comfortably anonymous emails, neither of them knowing the other is actually the missed connection from their whirlwind night in vegas. another story featuring a two-person love triangle with sprinklings of second-chance romance. the healing arc in this story is extremely similar to ydeo, like two sides of the same coin.

twice in a blue moon by christina lauren sam was tate's first everything, including her first heartbreak. the two meet as teens on a two-week london vacation, where they fall hard and fast for each other. the only complication? tate is holding a big secret about her identity. when sam finds out and betrays her trust, it thrusts tate into an international limelight she never wanted for herself, and she never sees sam again. not until fourteen years later, when the filming location of tate's upcoming blockbuster film is sam's family farm. with a likely academy award on the line, tate must focus all her energy on her performance, even while she feels her heart pulling her towards sam. classic christina lauren. classic heartbreak. loose retelling of a room with a view, which is done so beautifully.

love and other words by christina lauren macy hasn't seen elliot in ten years. not since the day that changed everything. after the death of her mother, macy's father bought a cabin in the california wine country — a place the two of them could escape. macy finds her greatest escape in the bookish neighbor boy elliot, with whom she spends lazy summers devouring books and sharing favorite words. as the two fall more enamored with each other over their teen years, glimpses into their future show macy engaged to another man, and still agonizing ten years later over elliot's betrayal. this one is a doozy. told in alternating timelines, this novel is like seeing the wreckage before being told the agonizing story of a train crash. trigger warnings for parental death, grief, anxiety, and sexual assault. i... love this book.

i hope this list is helpful for you! if you'd like to see in-depth reviews for any of the books above, you can always add me on goodreads!

[antihcroes]

#ANTIHCROES is an extremely selective & private, independent, multimuse as penned by pluto

THIS BLOG IS CURRENTLY ON SEMI-HIATUS, MORE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND HERE

affiliated with: @liveshaunted, @souldivine, @heartfe1t (all blogs), @inspotlight (all blogs), @phantomloved (all blogs), & @sapphiredhearts

muse list can be found under the cut (ages listed are just the main ages i'll write them in, but i am willing to write any of them at any age)

OCS

daisy beacon. 19. FC: madelyn cline (she/her, pansexual/panromantic) - FANDOMLESS

violet cooke. 19. FC: emma myers (she/her, pansexual/panromantic) - FANDOMLESS

cori edwards. 18. FC: katherine mcnamara (she/they, pansexual/panromantic) - JATP

dani fernandez. 19. FC: olivia rodrigo (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - FANDOMLESS

noah grady. 18. FC: peyton meyer (he/him, bisexual/biromantic) - FANDOMLESS

maya kent. 18. FC: giorgia whigham (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - DC UNIVERSE (SUPERMAN)

betty mclanden. 19. FC: kristine froseth (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - FANDOMLESS

gracie mercer. 18-30+. FC: grace van dien (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - JATP

krista patterson. 18. FC: india eisley (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - JATP

callie peters. 22. FC: odeya rush (she/her, demisexual/demiromantic) - FANDOMLESS

riley mills. 18. FC: mary mouser (she/her, pansexual/panromantic) - FANDOMLESS

isabelle reid. 18. FC: bailee madison (she/her, pansexual/panromantic) - FANDOMLESS

rory reynolds. 20. FC: sadie sink (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - FANDOMLESS

tommy warwick. 19. FC: rudy pankow (he/him, bisexual/biromantic) - JATP

raine wilson. 21. FC: sabrina carpenter (she/her, pansexual/panromantic) - FANDOMLESS

CANONS

wednesday addams. 18. FC: jenna ortega (she/her, demisexual/demiromantic) - WEDNESDAY

jay al-jazari. 19. FC: booboo stewart (he/him, bisexual/biromantic) - DESCENDANTS

zay babineaux. 20. FC: aubrey joseph (he/him, pansexual/panromantic) - GIRL MEETS WORLD

yelena belova. 30. FC: florence pugh (she/her, asexual/aromantic) - MCU

amity blight. 18. FC: kristine froseth (she/her, homosexual/homoromantic) - THE OWL HOUSE

ricky bowen. 18. FC: joshua bassett (he/him, bisexual/biromantic) - HSMTMTS

robin buckley. 18. FC: maya hawke (she/they, homosexual/homoromantic) - STRANGER THINGS

sam carpenter. 25. FC: melissa barrera (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - SCREAM

tara carpenter. 19. FC: jenna ortega (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - SCREAM

kc cooper. 21. FC: zendaya (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - KC UNDERCOVER

missy cooper. 23. FC: liana liberato (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - YOUNG SHELDON

alice cullen. immortal. FC: alexandra shipp (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - TWILIGHT

emmett cullen. immortal. FC: alex fitzalan (he/him, bisexual/biromantic) - TWILIGHT

renesmee cullen. immortal. FC: hailee steinfeld (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - TWILIGHT

sharpay evans. 18. FC: olivia rose keegan (she/her, homosexual/homoromantic) - HSM

ryan evans. 18. FC: owen joyner (he/him, homosexual/homoromantic) - HSM

katniss everdeen. 24. FC: naomi scott (she/her, demisexual/demiromantic) - THE HUNGER GAMES

mal faery. 19. FC: dove cameron (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - DESCENDANTS

mack fox. 21. FC: maia mitchell (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - TEEN BEACH

nick franzelli. 19. FC: paris berelc (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - NO GOOD NICK

monica geller. 23. FC: kaylee bryant (she/her, pansexual/panromantic) - FRIENDS

rosalie hale. immortal. FC: florence pugh (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - TWILIGHT

melinda halliwell. 20. FC: danielle rose russell (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - CHARMED

pj halliwell. 18. FC: katie douglas (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - CHARMED

steve harrington. 19. FC: joe keery (he/him, bisexual/biromantic) - STRANGER THINGS

maya hart. 19. FC: kathryn newton (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - GIRL MEETS WORLD

michelle jones-watson. 18. FC: zendaya (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - MCU

cassie lang. 18. FC: kathryn newton (she/her, homosexual/homoromantic) - MCU

jake long. 21. FC: ross butler (he/him, bisexual/biromantic) - AMERICAN DRAGON: JAKE LONG

jo march. 22. FC: maya hawke (she/her, homosexual/homoromantic) - LITTLE WOMEN

riley matthews. 19. FC: zoe colletti (she/her, pansexual/panromantic) - GIRL MEETS WORLD

alex mercer. 18. FC: owen joyner (he/they, homosexual/homoromantic) - JATP

farkle minkus. 20. FC: corey fogelmanis (he/him, bisexual/biromantic) - GIRL MEETS WORLD

julie molina. 18. FC: madison reyes (she/her, pansexual/panromantic) - JATP

gabriella montez. 18. FC: isabella gomez (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - HSM

randy meeks. 18. FC: tyler posey (he/him, bisexual/biromantic) - SCREAM

luz noceda. 18. FC: jessica sula (she/they, bisexual/biromantic) - THE OWL HOUSE

peter pan. 19. FC: tom holland (he/him, bisexual/biromantic) - PETER PAN

peter parker. 18. FC: tom holland (he/him, bisexual/biromantic) - MCU

peter parker. 22. FC: andrew garfield (he/him, bisexual/biromantic) - TASM

luke patterson. 18. FC: charlie gillespie (he/him, pansexual/panromantic) - JATP

kim possible. 19. FC: sadie stanley (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - KIM POSSIBLE

sidney prescott. 18. FC: danielle campbell (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - SCREAM

tatum riley. 18. FC: madison iseman (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - SCREAM

barbie roberts. 32. FC: margot robbie (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - BARBIE UNIVERSE

liv rooney. 19. FC: dove cameron (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - LIV & MADDIE

audrey rose. 19. FC: sarah jeffery (she/her, homosexual/homoromantic) - DESCENDANTS

justin russo. 23. FC: froy gutierrez (he/him, bisexual/biromantic) - WOWP

enid sinclair. 18. FC: emma myers (she/her, pansexual/panromantic) - WEDNESDAY

gwen stacy. 18. FC: milly alcock (she/her (trans female), bisexual/biromantic) - SPIDER-VERSE

gwen stacy. 19. FC: meg donnelly (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - MCU

gwen stacy. 22. FC: josephine langford (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - TASM

bella swan. immortal. FC: nina dobrev (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - TWILIGHT

jeremy thompson. 21. FC: nick robinson (he/him, homosexual/homoromantic) - NO GOOD NICK

xavier thorpe. 19. FC: felix mallard (he/him, bisexual/biromantic) - WEDNESDAY

bethany walker. 21. FC: virginia gardner (she/her, pansexual/panromantic) - JUMANJI

kate wallis. 19. FC: olivia holt (she/her, demisexual/demiromantic) - CRUEL SUMMER

addison wells. 21. FC: meg donnelly (she/her, pansexual/panromantic) - ZOMBIES

nancy wheeler. 18. FC: natalia dyer (she/her, bisexual/biromantic) - STRANGER THINGS

carrie wilson. 18. FC: savannah lee may (she/her, homosexual/homoromantic) - JATP

hunter wittebane. 19. FC: danny griffin (he/him, bisexual/demiromantic) - THE OWL HOUSE

[fanthatracks]

Lucasfilm have revealed the cast and crew they're putting forward for Emmy consideration, and it's a long list as the creatives behind the third season of The Mandalorian go for gold. Every episode of the third season gets some kind of nod, including submissions for every big-name member of the Mandalorian family; Pedro Pascal, Katee Sackhoff, Dave Filoni, Jon Favreau, Rick Famuyiwa and more. This is certainly a comprehensive list, so plenty for the powers that be to think about. OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES Jon Favreau, Executive Producer Dave Filoni, Executive Producer Kathleen Kennedy, Executive Producer Colin Wilson, Executive Producer Rick Famuyiwa, Executive Producer Karen Gilchrist, Co-Executive Producer John Bartnicki, Producer Carrie Beck, Co-Executive Producer DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES Rick Famuyiwa (307) Rachel Morrison (302) Lee Isaac Chung (303) Carl Weathers (304) Peter Ramsey (305) Bryce Dallas Howard (306) WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES Jon Favreau (307) Dave Filoni (307) Noah Kloor (303) LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES Pedro Pascal LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES Katee Sackhoff SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES Carl Weathers SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES Emily Swallow GUEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES Omid Abtahi (303) Ahmed Best (304) Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (305) Jack Black (306) Christopher Lloyd (306) Giancarlo Esposito (307) GUEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES Amy Sedaris (302) Katy O’Brian (303) Lizzo (306) CHARACTER VOICEOVER PERFORMANCE Shirley Henderson – Anzellans Crew (301) CASTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES Sarah Halley Finn, CSA CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR A DRAMA SERIES Dean Cundey, ASC (304) David Klein, ASC (307) Paul Hughen, ASC (306) FANTASY/SCI-FI COSTUMES Shawna Trpcic, Costume Designer Elissa Alcala, Assistant Costume Designer Julie Robar, Costume Supervisor Julie Yang Silver, Costume Supervisor PERIOD AND/OR CHARACTER HAIRSTYLING Maria Sandoval, Hair Designer (303) Ashleigh Childers, Key Hair Stylist Sallie Ciganovich, Hair Stylist PERIOD AND/OR CHARACTER MAKEUP Cristina Waltz, Department Head Makeup Artist (306) Ana Gabriela Quinonez Urrego, Key Makeup Artist Alex Perrone, Makeup Artist Crystal Gomez, Makeup Artist MUSIC COMPOSITION IN A DRAMA SERIES (ORIGINAL DRAMATIC SCORE) Joseph Shirley (308) and Ludwig Göransson ORIGINAL MAIN TITLE THEME MUSIC Ludwig Göransson SINGLE-CAMERA PICTURE EDITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES Jeff Seibenick (308) Dylan Firshein (306) Rachel Goodlett Katz, ACE (307) J. Erik Jessen (306) PRODUCTION DESIGN FOR A NARRATIVE PERIOD OR FANTASY PROGRAM (ONE HOUR OR MORE) Andrew L. Jones, Production Designer (307) Doug Chiang, Production Designer Oana Bogdan Miller, Supervising Art Director Amanda Serino, Set Decorator SOUND EDITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES Matthew Wood, Supervising Sound Editor (308) Trey Turner, Supervising Sound Editor David W. Collins, Sound Editor (Sound Design) Brad Semenoff, Sound Editor (Dialog) Luis Galdames, Sound Editor (FX) Joel Raabe, Sound Editor (Foley) Stephanie McNally, Music Editor Nicholas Fitzgerald, Music Editor Shelley Roden, Foley Artist' SOUND MIXING FOR A DRAMA SERIES Scott R. Lewis, Re-recording Mixer (308) Tony Villaflor, Re-recording Mixer Shawn Holden CAS, Production Mixer Chris Fogel, Scoring Sound Mixer SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SEASON OR A MOVIE Grady Cofer, Visual Effects Supervisor Abbigail Keller, Visual Effects Producer Paul Kavanagh, Animation Supervisor Cameron Neilson, Assoc. Visual Effects Supervisor Scott Fisher, Special Effects Supervisor Hal Hickel, Animation Supervisor J. Alan Scott, Legacy Effects Supervisor Victor Schutz IV, ILM Visual Effects Supervisor Bobo Skipper, Visual Effects Supervisor STUNT COORDINATION JJ Dashnaw, Stunt Coordinator STUNT PERFORMANCE Lateef Crowder, Paul Darnell, JJ Dashnaw, Ryan Ryusaki (308) Bedst of luck to all concerned, and we'll be sure to bring all the nominations once they are chosen and announced.

[twdmusicboxmystery]

FTWD 7x15: Amina - First Analysis

Okay, how did everyone like FTWD 7x15. There is SO much to unpack with this episode, so I might have a few posts this week that are just back and forth discussion. As always, I’ll discuss the biggest things that jumped out at me today, and then I’ll do Details and Discussions over the next day or two.

Me and my fellow theoriests often talk about how they seem to use Fear to sort of define the symbolism for us. What we mean by that is that where something is more subtle and nebulous in regular TWD, they just seem to be more literal and on-the-nose with it in Fear. So, Fear can help us better understand the symbolism in the main show. This episode was no exception.

***As always, spoilers abound below for this episode. Don’t read until you’ve watched!***

The first thing to talk about is the template for the missing 17 days from S5 and Beth’s story line. @galadrieljones first pointed this out to me. We think a lot of what happens here with Alicia is a clue as to what went down during the missing 17 days with Beth.

The first thing we see is Alicia being carried away from the tower. (I think we’re all on the same page that Strand’s tower represents Grady.) So, it's important that she's being carried away, she's injured, and it is the other people in TF that are carrying her. It occurred to me that Dwight standing over her was a little bit random. They could have picked anyone, but they picked Dwight. I wonder if he represents Daryl. We also see June. I don't know who she would represent. Carol or Rick maybe?

When Alicia wakes up on the beach, we hear June talk about saline and epinephrine to help her with the fever. I also thought the dialogue was interesting. Alicia asks, "where are we going?" June answers, "we don't know." I know in TWD S5, they went to take Noah home, but right after Beth got shot, they didn't really know where they were going. Taking him to Virginia was something that was decided after the fact.

Then, of course, Alicia sees a little girl and chases after her. The interesting thing is that no one from TF noticed Alicia leaving. They tell us this, because when we see her heading toward the tower with the gas mask on, we can hear Luci on the radio calling for her. Saying, "Alicia, where did you go? Tell us where you are." That's a parallel to Beth's body disappearing. Like, you can imagine TF saying this about Beth. Where did she go? Tell us where she is.

Then Alicia passes out and wakes up in the MRAP. She asked the little girl, "what's your name?" The little girl doesn't give it there, but it's a parallel to Beth being asked if she remembers her name when she woke up at Grady. The other thing I thought was interesting here is that the little girl comments on the fever. When Alicia says she’s looking for fever reducers, the little girl says, "isn't the fever what's going to kill the infection?"

The little girl is actually right about that, but I felt like it was purposeful. They're trying to make us think about the fever versus the infection. At first, I wasn’t sure what she was getting at. Upon rewatching, and talking to my fellow theorists, I think the point may be that because Alicia didn’t find any medicine or fever reducers, that’s how she kicked the fever.

I’ll talk more about whether Alicia is alive in a minute. For now, overall, we think she is. Which means she triumphed over the fever. That’s SUPER significant, guys. It pretty much confirms the bite/cure theories, and that someone can be bitten and still survive. Which means Beth could have been.

But again, I think because she didn’t do anything to bring down the fever—except drink water, which is also super significant and I’ll talk more about that in the next day or two—and the fever got so high that she passed out on the beach, that’s actually how she beat it. He fever raged high enough to kill the infection, but not to actually kill her. And obviously that’s not always how it happens. Usually, people are bitten and their fever can’t beat the infection. It gets higher and higher until it starts to cook their brains and then their hearts stop.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see if they ever give us a scientific explanation for it. But that’s where our thoughts are for now.

When she was out with little girl, she tries to kill a particular walker that looks like it has some sort of diamond-shaped fencing on it. She falls down trying to kill it and the little girl kills with the hammer. I'm not sure what the fencing is. It doesn't quite look like chain-link, but it's too thick to be barbed wire. Anyway, I felt like the diamond shapes were important.

I almost feel like diamond-shaped might represent something that was a character is struggling with. We often see them in the background behind characters that are really going through something. Obviously, we’ve seen them a lot around Beth and Rick, but we’ve also seen them around Rosita and Aaron, to name a few, during times when they were struggling with things. Just a thought.

And in this case, the fact that Alicia is trying to kill it but can't suggests some sort of inner struggle she's wrestling with.

The next really interesting line that I noticed is that when we reach the perimeter of the tower, Alicia tries to get the little girl to go back to the beach with her. The little girl refuses. Alicia says at one point, "if I go with you, we both die." The little girl replies, "I'll die if we stay out here." And Alicia asks, "what does that mean?" The little girl simply says, "you know exactly what that means." But it never specifies what they're talking about here.

The ‘I'll die if we stay out here’ reminded me of the Daryl and Buttons story arc. The fact that they can be out there too long, or they lose their humanity. I'm pretty sure this is what the little girl is talking about, and I'll come back to why I think that.

The showrunner also said at the end that every time Alicia exerts herself physically, the fever gets worse. And this is when she passes out. But to me, it almost seems like it's every time she starts killing walkers. And I think that symbolic of her fighting against her own nature. Being warlike instead of merciful. Not that she shouldn’t kill the walkers to defend herself. It’s just symbolic of what she’s struggling with psychologically, rather than physically.

The next point to make in the template is that Alicia ends up back at the tower. We believe that Beth ended up back at Grady. And we’ve seen this with other character arcs as well. The one that jumps to mind for me is Glenn in S4. He was on the bus when Maggie last saw him. When the bus took off, she assumed he was on it. Therefore, she went looking for him on the bus. But he wasn’t on the bus at all. He was back at the prison, where they’d originally been and where she assumed he'd gone away from.

I think that's a template for what will happen with Beth. They took her away from Grady and when she disappears, it doesn't even occur to them that she might be back at Grady. But that's exactly where she's at. It also goes along with the template we noticed around the reapers this past season. Looking for someone in the wrong place. Looking for Maggie in the yellow house, when really, she was in the green house.

Let's talk about what Alicia and the little girl represent. I wanted to try to figure out a way to explain how they each represent Beth, because obviously they both do in various ways. But the little girl, during her conversation with Alicia in the tower, actually lays it out pretty well for us.

The little girl says that Madison didn't die so that Alicia could defeat Strand. She died so that the part of Alicia but doesn't give up on people would live. Then she says, "I'm still in you. But you're the only one who can make sure this is the end for me."

So overall, what I'm getting is that Alicia as herself represents the negative mindset. She's in a harsh, unforgiving, violent, selfish mindset. I don't mean that in a critical way. It's just something she's going through. Very similar to what we've seen Rick in the past not being merciful, or Daryl being vengeful during AOW. Alicia has become harsh and unforgiving. And that's not that's just not the healthiest place to be. The physical representation of this is the fever and how sick she's become. But there's a psychological issue going on here as well.

I don't think anyone would fault Alicia for wanting to take out Strand, given how villainous he's become. But whether Strand deserves it or not is not the point. It's all about her, as the little girl keeps saying. It's about Alicia's own soul, and humanity.

So, the little girl represents that more kind, merciful, part of her that doesn't give up on people. Basically, the essence of who Beth was. The person who saves people and is optimistic, has faith, believes having humanity matters, etc. That’s why she says that if they stay out there, she’ll die. It’s Alicia’s humanity that will die if she doesn’t go save Strand, despite all he’s done.

(It looks like they’ll be giving Strand a redemption arc, much as they have with Negan in the flagship show.)

We also hear Madison say something similar on the tape: that Alicia’s kind nature is getting less and less with each passing day they’re out there. Alicia’s humanity is dying, and this is about her saving herself. Her own soul.

So, I absolutely think this is a template for the missing 17 days. I think it's also a foreshadow of stuff we haven't seen yet. For a long time, I've had something of a head cannon that maybe Beth wakes up without TF, and somehow, for some reason, believes they’re dead. It would just make sense that she would think Daryl is dead because he thinks she is dead. And their arcs very much mirror one another.

Anyway, she would probably go through a period of extreme darkness if she believed that. I believe this is what this episode is telling us about Beth's arc. She'll go through a period of extreme darkness where shall become kind of dark and vengeful, very unlike herself. But she'll need to emotionally save the person that she always was and go back to being that person. As she told Daryl, she needs to stay who she is, not who she was.

The fact that TF leaves Alicia behind at the end, and goes off without her, also is part of the template for the missing 17 days. We even see Alicia wake up and observe that they’re gone, and she is alone. Alicia then goes back to the tower to try and help anyone she can who might show up there.

I kind of think that at some point Beth will choose to remain within the CRM to try and help bring people out of it or try to help the good people who are inside of it. It's what her conscience will demand once she chooses to be the person she always was.

At the end, when the little girl shows she has no bite, she says, “it means you saved me.” Meaning, Alicia saved the good, optimistic part of herself. And that’s when the fever goes away. Because she was true to herself and saved her own humanity.

It's interesting, because it means that the physical bite also represents an internal wound. I've never thought of it that way before. I wonder if with everyone on the show who gets bitten, the writers are always thinking that of that as a physical representation of the spiritual. And remember that in 9×05, we heard Beth’s voice say, "what your wound?" When Morgan first said that to Rick in S1, he was talking about a physical wound. Rick had a fever and Morgan wanted to know if he’d been bitten.

But when we hear it over and over again in 9x05, before Jadis takes Rick into the CRM, it’s talking about emotional/psychological wounds. And in this show, those wounds always result from separation from family. Which is why we hear that before Rick is separated from Michonne and the kids, and why the last thing he says before he blows up the bridge is, “I found them.”

Some other, smaller things that back this all up:

It’s the little girl, rather than Alicia, who breaks the window. Her faith filled, optimistic self is stronger than she is. Her more negative, vengeful self didn’t have the strength to break the glass. At the end, the showrunner said Alicia needed to save the part of her who would give someone who is beyond a hope a second chance. That just screams Beth.

And kind of answers a question my fellow theorists and I have discussed before about whether Beth would give Negan a second chance, even after learning he killed Glenn. I already mentioned how they’re doing something similar with Strand that they did with Negan. Made him do really despicable things, including murder, etc. And something about him may lead to Madison (Alicia’s subconscious kept saying he knew where it was and could get them there). So, something about Negan could still tie into Beth’s arc.

The showrunner said this part of Alicia is the belief that there can be good in people. Again, an echo of Beth’s “there are still good people, Daryl.” And then he compared it to Madison’s “No one’s gone until they’re gone.” So, we have the showrunner basically admitting there’s a tie between Beth and Madison’s characters. And now Madison is returning.

Another point they made is that, even if they die, even if Alicia died, she could live on by saving others who don’t necessarily deserve it. I think that’s a huge theme for the entire show. Self-sacrifice is relatively easy when it’s someone you love. But saving a villain or enemy is another game entirely. Carl died saving Siddiq. Rick spared Negan to honor him, etc.

Speaking of Carl. This is just a small digression, but I had the thought that they openly talked about Madison in this episode and showed flashbacks. And it’s obvious that Alicia’s entire arc, all of her motivations since Madison disappeared at the stadium, has been trying to make sure her mother’s sacrifice meant something. But they haven’t really talked about it much until now. I’m sure they mentioned it a time or two, but it’s not like she’s said that every episode for 3 years.

It just made me think of Carl and how they didn’t really talk about him killing that kid in S3 very much. They talked about it right after it happened, and then it was mentioned in one of the flashbacks in 4x16, but I don’t think it’s been talked about since.

So, my thought was just that this is how the TWD writers do things. They aren’t obvious about the character motivations until the end of the arc. Only then will they be much more clear about telling us what they were all along. I’m sure if we rewatched and traced Carl’s arc as closely as we do Beth and Daryl’s, we would been able to discern the path clearly. But they didn’t actually give us the key to understanding it until he was dying.

So, just an observation about how the writers operate. And we can apply that to why they talk about Beth so little. They don’t want to openly say that everything Daryl does is tied to him losing Beth. But I bet when she returns, they’ll say something obvious about it. Just as they did with Carl, and here with Alicia.

Next thing I want to talk about is how I believe the episode is trying to clarify several symbols for us. First, is the bird. Of course, we talked a lot about how the bird represents something that is trapped wants to be free, and we saw this very obviously this episode. But from a metaphysical standpoint, I think the bird represents the character's true self. Their good, merciful, optimistic self, which is so often trapped by the violence and the death that is constantly around them in this world. And that's why so many "good" characters who act as moral compasses for the group die. Once they let go of the violence and all the negativity of the world, it sort of sets their spirits free, and they passed away on the show.

(I’ll just take a moment to preach to the choir by pointing out that this was not where Beth was in Coda. If anything, she embraced violence in that moment because she stabbed Dawn. So, the formula for the character arc doesn't apply to her.)

Rewatching the episode, the bird also represents who the person is supposed to save. This will make a lot more sense for Beth when 7x16 airs next week. But if you think about it, Alicia freeing the bird from the tower was a mini-foreshadow for the end of the episode. She made it possible for the bird to fly free and escape its imprisonment in the tower, where it would inevitably have died. But she didn’t go with it. It flew away without her. While she did end up on the beach at sometime, she still went back to the tower.

At the end, TF sailed away without her. So, she made it possible for them to escape, but didn’t go with them. And of course, this is also what happened with Beth. We don’t know exactly how she would have made it possible for them to escape, but something about what happened there (still very mysterious) did. But they left without her. She didn’t go with them.

And this is yet another way this episode with Alicia mirrors Beth. TF left Beth behind. When she woke up, they were gone. Onto other places and homes and adventures, but without her.

I also thought about the beach symbol a little bit. I believe one thing the beach represents is peace. If you think back to Abraham's famous line from Sasha's flashback in S7, he said, "Alpha to Omega, battlefield to beach." (I hope I got that right.) Alpha and Omega are opposites, which suggests the battlefield and beach are opposites. So, the beach represents peace of some kind.

And that works well with what happens here with Alicia. They all find a little bit of peace on the beach, at least from Strand and the tower and walkers. They just have to set sail immediately so they can't stay for long. But I think that's part of the beach too. It's a launching pad for the next leg of the journey. But when Alicia wakes up on the beach, there's definitely a heaven vibe going on. No fever, the bird landing beside her. The beach is very peaceful.

I also thought a little bit about what the roof of the tower represents. Watching these past few episodes, it’s occurred to me that there's a motif about pushing toward the roof for some reason.

And I'm sure there are other instances we could look at, but there's four that came to mind. Obviously, we have the roof of Strand’s tower. A lot of stuff happened there throughout the arc, but last episode, they were pushing toward the roof in order to turn off the beacon. The reason for that is that it was specifically calling the dead. So, they wanted to turn it off. That's important.

In this episode, Alicia goes to the roof several times looking for the little girl. What I noticed is that, even though the tower was burning, and the fire started on the roof last episode, somehow, none of the roof was burned. There's a lot of smoke, and maybe even some damage, but we saw a lot of green plants still growing up there that hadn't been touched by fire.

Last week the show runner also mentioned the tower arc for Al and Dwight's episode last season. In that case, they made push for the roof as well, and once there, Al sent a message to Isobel, who was in her helicopter. Here in this arc with Alicia and Strand, the roof was also where Alicia sent a message. 

So, these two roof tops had that in common. But not all of them do. We didn't see a specific push for the rooftop at Grady, but we did see Beth go up there with Edwards at least once. We didn't see any messages being sent from there, but I imagine that if Grady was in communication with the CRM, they would probably have been sending messages from the roof, simply because that is how they could broadcast the farthest. There might be some messaging going on there that we just are privy to yet.

The last rooftop that I considered was from S1. When they go back for Merle, there's a very obvious push for them to get up to the roof. The camera literally shows them running as fast as they can up the stairwell. Of course, there's no message here, and not necessarily any greenery. This is where they discover that Merle is gone, he left his hand behind, and we see Daryl’s first real meltdown of the series.

So, while I saw some similarities, not all of them are present across the board, so I wasn't entirely sure what to make of that. But re-watching the episode, I came up with something. I noticed that when Alicia was trying to talk to the little girl on the walkie, she was sitting on the stairs. 

And what we've been saying about stairs and elevators came to mind. Traveling between the realms of the living and the dead. When Beth and Noah tried to escape, they went to the basement, and there were tons of walkers down there. 

So, the basement or ground floor, I believe, represents the realms of the dead. (And that's not true for every location in the show. It specifically around the tower motif.) We saw walkers around Strand’s tower, we saw them in the basement of Grady. I can't remember for sure, but I think there were probably walkers on the ground floor in Al and Dwight’s episode, and we know that there were some in the mall where Merle was left. So, the ground floor represents the land of the dead.

Which means, the roof represents the land of the living. That actually does make sense across the board. When they send a message, they’re contacting the living. Green things growing up there represents the living. And even with Merle, it showed that he didn't lay down and succumb to dehydration. He did what he needed to do—brutal though it was—to make sure he would survive, and then he took off. So, he was still alive somewhere.

And actually, someone NOT being there represents life. Because otherwise, there would be a dead body. This is also why them turning off the beacon that is calling the dead is significant. They went to the realms of the living (the roof) to stave off the coming of the dead. Not even really relating that to anything TD. Just something that I was thinking about.

Oh, and the bird flies up the staircase toward the roof. Obviously, the bird is something that wants to be free, and were seeing it fly up toward the land of the living.

The last thing I wanted to touch on was something that the showrunner said at the end. He said the end was a reawakening of Alicia. It was like a new world of newfound strength. Obviously, we think that will be the case with Beth too. She’ll return stronger and be able to do more good. But the reawakening also shows that it was something of a resurrection, which is another thing that points to her being alive.

I also had a thought about the people in the opening credits of Fear. Last week, I commented on the fact that it was Wes. It seemed an odd choice at first, since the episode focused so heavily and Alicia and Strand. But then, Wes died. They obviously were hinting that this was an important episode for him.

Then, in this episode, it wasn't Alicia herself in the opening credits. It was the little girl. Her subconscious. And the little girl was saved by the end, though she kept telling Alicia she might die if Alicia didn't save her.

So, I think the person it shows in the opening credits is always on the chopping block. They might live, they might die, but the point is their life hangs in the balance in this episode, either literally or figuratively. I think that's usually obvious since the episode tends to focus around one particular character, and they're usually the ones featured in the OCs. But, just another, more nuanced way to look at it.

I’ll stop there for today. More discussion to come!

[ddixons-angel]

Fated: Season 5

Summary: Gloria Rhee narrowly escapes Atlanta with her brother as the outbreak reaches the city. Luckily, they find a camp outside the city and together, they fend through encounters with the living and undead.

Starts a little before Season 1 and then follows the main storyline of the show.

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Glenn Sister!OC

Warnings: major TWD spoilers, language, violence (the typical TWD stuff)

A/N: So the last two chapters have been rather depressing with only a little bit of light at the end but barely anything that passes as fluff, I swear it does get better in this chapter though!! Please bear with me~~ :D I also completely forgot I chose this gif xD 

Chapter 7

The weather was not kind to the group as they all travelled down the road. It was scorching hot with the sun beating down on them. The tree sap Gloria had gathered for the group could only do so much for their hydration as she was only able to collect just a little more than half a bottle. Daryl was still pushing himself away from Gloria and even the rest of the group. Glenn had tried to offer him water but like he did with Gloria, Daryl brushed him off completely. 

“Tell ‘em I went lookin’ for water.” Daryl tells Abraham then he walks off into the woods. 

Gloria sighs as she watches him leave the group. Carol pats her shoulder as she walks beside her, Gloria glances at her and smiles softly. Daryl still hadn’t spoken to her yet, it seemed as though he was avoiding her whenever she tried to approach him. She tried to brush it off as him not wanting to lash out at her again, but it still stung. 

“What’s that?” Glenn says, looking in the distance.

In the middle of the road, there seemed to be a package of something that looked like bottles. As the group came closer, they saw that they were indeed bottles full of water. They all circled around it cautiously, not knowing what to do with it. They were all on borderline dehydration so the fact that they had bottles upon bottles of water in front of them was beyond tempting. Rick goes up to the bottles and picks up the paper on top of it. 

“‘From a friend’.” Rick reads, then scoffs and looks around. 

Shortly, Daryl comes out from the woods and he has a questioning face as he approaches Rick who hands him the paper. Gloria frowns when she notices burn marks on his left hand, he’s never had those before and they looked rather fresh. 

“Well, what else are we gonna do?” Tara asks, looking around the group.

“Not this,” Rick says firmly, “we don’t know who left it.”

“If that’s a trap, we already happen to be in it. But I, for one, would like to think it is indeed from a friend.” Eugene says, his eyes never leaving the bottles of water.

“What if it isn’t? What if they put something in it?” Carol says.

“There’s no way this is safe, it’s too good to be true.” Gloria says, shaking her head. 

Eugene doesn’t heed their word and goes for the water, picking up a bottle and opening it, calling it ‘quality assurance’. Rosita and Tara call out to him in protest and as he is about to take a drink, Abraham knocks it out of his hand, the contents of the bottle spilling all over the ground. 

“We can’t.” Rick says, eyeing Eugene.

There is tension within the group as they all stay silent, then they all look up as thunder rumbles. Soon enough, it begins to rain on them. Rick instructs them all to use anything they have to collect the rainwater. However, before they were able to, another roar of thunder sounds and in the distance, they all see dark storm clouds rolling in. 

“There’s a barn!” Daryl shouts to Rick over the sound of pouring rain.

“Where?” he shouts back.

The group follows Daryl’s lead to a barn nearby. Rick opens the door and he, Maggie, Carol, and Abraham scope out the place to make sure no one is inside. Once it’s cleared, the rest of the group file inside. The group dry themselves off then get ready to rest for the night. Daryl had started a fire for the group on one side of the barn and when he deemed it good enough, he went off to sit by the wall across the door with his crossbow. Gloria rummages through the bag of medical supplies, taking out an alcohol swab, a bandaid and an ointment for cuts and burns Steven had packed for her. She makes her way over to Daryl and kneels down beside him. 

“You don’t have to talk to me,” Gloria tells him, her voice soft, “but let me take care of the burns on your hand. The last thing you want is for it to get infected.” 

Daryl glances at her then down at the ground again, still not saying anything. However, he nods, granting her permission to help him with his burns. A small smile tugs on Gloria’s lips then she carefully takes his hand and places it in her lap. She opens the alcohol swab and proceeds to clean the burn, furrowing her brow when she sees that it’s a circular burn, like that of a cigarette. She sighs but doesn’t say anything about it, not wanting Daryl to pull away from her any more than he already has. Once cleaned, Gloria opens the tube of ointment and squeezes a small amount onto her finger, then gently dabs it onto the wound. She then patches up the burn with a bandaid. 

“All done,” she says with a small smile as she looks at him.

“Thanks...” Daryl says, biting his lip hesitantly.

Gloria closes the tube of ointment then hands it to him, “I’ll leave this with you, there’s more bandaids in the bag if you need to change it.” 

Without waiting for him to respond, she gets up and walks towards the door. A part of her was hoping that Daryl would grab her hand and pull her back to sit with him, but all she felt was disappointment when he didn’t. They’d drifted so far apart in the last few weeks, it was almost as if they reverted back to when they had just met at the quarry. 

Gloria makes her way to the door, wanting to tighten the chain that was holding it together so that the others wouldn’t be disturbed by its constant clanging. She is about to reach up to grab the chain when she sees a herd of walkers just outside the barn. She lets out a gasp at the sight, then pushes the door closed with her entire body. 

“Shit!” Gloria curses as the walkers had made it to the door, pushing and trying to get into the barn. 

She knew she wouldn’t be able to hold the door on her own, there were way too many walkers. Daryl was instantly by her side, pushing the door when he saw her struggling. Her eyes connect with his and he nods at her, reassuring her silently that they would be okay. Soon, they’re joined by Maggie, Glenn, Carol, Rick, Michonne, Sasha, Abraham, Rosita, Tara, Noah, Eugene, Gabriel, and Carl. Their entire group, minus Judith, were working together as an entire unit to keep the barn safe from walkers. 

---

The morning was peaceful compared to the night before. The storm had passed in the night, allowing the group to get some rest. Gloria’s eyes flutter open at the sound of birds chirping outside the barn, a familiar scent of smoke and leather consuming her. She sits up and rubs her eyes before realizing that there was something covering her for warmth as she slept. A smile tugs at her lips as she recognizes the angel wings on the leather vest. Gloria looks around and spots Daryl awake and fidgeting with his crossbow. Holding the vest in her hands, she gets up and makes her way over to him.

“Thanks,” she says as she hands it to him.

Daryl stops fidgeting with his weapon and looks at her for a moment before shrugging and taking it back from her, “‘ts nothin’... ya looked cold...”

Gloria smiles as she watches him shrug the vest back on his shoulders, “I was, but then I wasn’t, thanks to you.”

He lets out a small scoff but doesn’t look at her, seemingly avoiding her gaze. He is about to say something else when the door to the barn opens and Maggie calls their attention. Shortly after, she brings in a man who introduces himself as Aaron. The sudden appearance of a complete stranger rattles them all and they are now on full alert. 

It turns out that the group was being watched by Aaron and his friend. Maggie and Sasha decided to bring him in after he approached them both, only to be interrogated by Rick. Aaron told them all about his camp, a community called Alexandria, and wanted to bring them all back with him but after Terminus and what happened at Grady Memorial, none of them were trusting his word. Rick made this clear when he punched the man in the face. After interrogation and sending out a group to see if what he was saying about the routes and cars were true, Rick decided that they would take a look at the so-called community. Now, at night, they were on the road. Glenn, Rick, Michonne, and Aaron were in one car while the rest of the group were in an RV provided by Aaron, driven by Abraham. 

“Shit!” Abraham swears as he slams the breaks on the RV.

The road ahead of them was swarmed with walkers, Glenn’s car was ahead of them and had run into multiple walkers. Daryl was in the seat beside Abraham holding the map and navigating him on where to drive for a detour, hopefully to meet the others. 

“Look!” Maggie points at the flare that was shot in the distance, “you think that’s them?”

“Only one way to find out,” Abraham says as he starts to drive in the direction of the flare. 

They soon come across a herd surrounding a car and Gloria notices underneath the car is a man struggling to hide from the walkers. As the RV approaches, the walkers are attracted by the headlights and begin to make their way towards the vehicle. 

“We gotta help that guy,” Gloria says, putting attention on the man trapped under the car, “he must have been the one who shot the flare.”

Abraham looks at her then nods, without saying another word, he gets up from the driver’s seat and heads out the RV, smashing all and any walkers that come near him. The others follow suit, killing off all the walkers in the area before helping the man under the car. 

“It’s okay, they’re all dead, you can come out,” Gloria says, crouching to look at the man. 

“I can’t... my foot...” the man whimpers. 

She looks at the man’s foot and gasps when she sees that it’s trapped under the back wheel of the car. Daryl and Abraham take action immediately, carefully lifting and pushing the wheel off his foot, they drag him out from under the car. They thought it best that they would get somewhere safe before Gloria took a look at his foot and so they found an empty garage-like building and made their camp there. They had set up a makeshift bed and leg rest for the man to rest on as Gloria examined his foot in the second room.

“Looks like your ankle is broken,” Gloria says, then she looks around finding some wooden sticks and a cloth, “this is gonna hurt, I’m sorry in advance.”

“I don’t think it’ll hurt as much as when it actually happened,” the man chuckles, “I’m Eric by the way.”

“Gloria,” she says, “and I wouldn’t be so sure about it not hurting as much, just brace yourself.”

Eric is about to say something when he cries out in pain when Gloria begins to wrap his foot in the cloth with the sticks to keep his ankle in place. She gives him an ‘I told you so’ look and chuckles when he scoffs playfully at her. 

“Thank you, for saving my life and helping me with my ankle,” Eric says with a smile.

“It’s not a problem, treating a broken ankle is a lot better than the other things we’ve seen,” Gloria smiles back at him.

“I’m glad you decided not to leave,” Eric says sincerely.

Gloria frowns at his words in confusion, “what?”

“Alright, I’m gonna be very honest with you right now, Aaron and I were listening to you and your group before we approached you,” Eric says carefully then adds quickly, “but only because we weren’t sure whether you were good people or not! We couldn’t risk coming up to you without knowing.”

“That’s totally an invasion of privacy... this better not be a habit in your camp.” Gloria eyes him warily.

“It isn’t, I promise.” Eric says, “anyway... I just wanted to tell you that I think Glenn’s right, this group needs you. And right now, I may be biased because you helped me with my ankle, but I really do think it’s a good thing you decided to stay and not leave.”

Gloria ponders for a moment before chuckling, “if I left, you would have been fine regardless, Maggie knows how to do this too.” 

“I think I would have tried to track you down if you really did leave,” Eric grins at her.

She rolls her eyes at him then pats his knee, “I’ll let you rest.”

Without another word, Gloria gets up and walks out to the other room where the others are. Soon, Rick and the others arrived at the building. Gloria was relieved to see Glenn safe. Aaron had reunited with his boyfriend, Eric, and Rick had finally decided that they were trustworthy enough to take them back to their community in the morning. Gloria decided that she would help take first watch that night as she now sat outside in front of the door. An hour into her shift, the door opens and Daryl walks out. 

Gloria looks at him in confusion, “what are you doing?”

He leans on the wall, not responding to her question, “ya were gonna jus’ leave...?”

A pang of guilt hits her as she realizes that Daryl must have overheard her conversation with Eric earlier. She looks away and sighs, silently giving him his answer, but he wanted her to say it. He goes to her and pulls her up by her arm, his grip gentle but firm.

“Ya were gonna jus’ leave without sayin’ anythin’ to me?” Daryl asks again.

“I thought about it...” Gloria says, unable to look at him. 

“Why?” he asks, frowning.

Gloria finally looks at him, but she didn’t know what to tell him. She couldn’t say that a large reason was that he pushed her away and ignored her when she kept trying to reach out, she knew exactly what that would do to him. Gloria knew very well that he felt guilty for Beth, just as much as she did, and his way of coping was to push everyone away. She was sure he knew how much it hurt her, but she also understood why he still did it. 

“Was it ‘cause o’ me...?” Daryl mutters, looking at her, guilt in his eyes.

“No,” Gloria says almost immediately. 

The look on Daryl’s face told her that he didn’t believe her. He knew that when he pushed her away, it hurt her and he hated himself even more for it. Whenever Gloria tried to reach out to him, all he wanted to do was go to her and let her soothe his pained heart. The only place he wanted to be was in her arms as she comforted him and chased all of his guilt away. But he couldn’t allow that, he felt that he didn’t deserve any of that. Her affection, forgiveness, love. He had let them down, he let them all down. If it wasn’t for him, Beth wouldn’t have gotten taken by the people at Grady Memorial, and she would have never met Dawn, and Dawn wouldn’t have ever had the chance to kill her. 

That guilt weighed heavily in Daryl’s heart and he felt the need to let it eat away at him, because he felt that he deserved it. He couldn’t let Gloria talk him out of it. He knew that she was the only one who would be able to, so he had to push her away, but when Daryl hit the bottle out of her hands that day, he realized that he had almost hit her. And that terrified him more than anything. Daryl was so afraid that he would some day turn into his dad, which was why he did everything he could to avoid being anywhere near Gloria. If he ever hurt her, he’d never forgive himself. 

“I pushed ya away...” Daryl mumbles sadly.

“No matter how many times you push me away, I’ll always come back to you, Daryl,” Gloria reassures him.

“I almost hit ya...” he says, his voice small but thick with emotion as the tears in his eyes threaten to fall.

“But you didn’t,” she says back, taking a step towards him and caressing his face with her hand, “you’d never hurt me.” 

That was all it took for Daryl to break down, he lets out a pained whimper as he repeats her words, “I’d never hurt ya...”

He allows himself to lean into her as she wraps her arms around him. He rests his head on her shoulder as he cries, letting out his emotions as he holds onto her for dear life. Gloria holds him close to her, rubbing small soothing circles on his back. She lets him cry in her arms for as long as he needs and soon, his sobs die down to small shaky breaths. Daryl pulls away from her with a small sniffle and Gloria smiles softly at him.

“Feeling better?” she asks, her head slightly tilted to the side.

Daryl nods shyly, as if embarrassed that he cried in front of her. Gloria gently puts her hand on the side of his face, stroking his cheek with her thumb lovingly and he can’t help but lean into her touch. 

“I love ya.” he says, looking her in the eyes. 

“I love you, too.” Gloria says, smiling lovingly at him.

He finally breaks into a small smile at her words then pulls her into his embrace, wrapping his arms around her body. She snakes her arms around his waist, her head resting on his chest. They stay like that in a comforting silence for a small moment.

“Daryl...” Gloria calls out softly, but she doesn’t move from her spot, “do you have any more cigarettes?” 

Her question causes him to frown in confusion and he looks down at her, “what?”

Gloria pulls away from him to look up at him, “do you have any more cigarettes?”

“I do... why?” he answers, hesitant.

She lifts her hand with her palm up, “give them to me.”

Daryl furrows his brows even more, “but ya don’ smoke.”

“I don’t, but you do,” Gloria says, making him even more confused, she sighs softly, “the burns on your hand... I know where they’re from.”

Daryl purses his lips, unable to say anything as a guilty look falls on his face once more. He hurt himself, he burned himself with a cigarette on purpose and she knew. He didn’t want her to be able to figure it out but he knew that she was smart enough to put the pieces together. Without another word, Daryl reaches into his pocket and puts his remaining cigarettes in her hand. 

Gloria looks down at them, “the next time you want a smoke, you ask me, and I’m going to check your hands before and after.”

He nods obediently. Even though he did feel like he was being treated like a child, deep down he felt oddly warm. No one but Gloria has ever shown this much love, care, and respect for him, and it made his heart swell. 

“I love ya.” he says again.

“For taking away your cigarettes?” Gloria tilts her head, slightly confused, she thought he would get upset.

“For carin’ so much.” he says with a side smile then he leans in to kiss her lips gently.

Gloria smiles into his lips and kisses him back, wrapping her arms around his neck. She was aware that she was on watch duty, but her and Daryl needed this time alone together. Somehow, she just knew that their group would be safe that night and she had a good feeling that their journey to this Alexandria place would be a good place for them all to start something new. 

---

Next Chapter

And they’re back together!! Yayy!!! Well they never actually split but you know what I mean haha and they met Aaron and Eric! And now they’re off to Alexandria~! See, a lot of good things happened :D Please let me know what you thought of this chapter, all of your comments/likes/reblogs mean so so so much to me and I appreciate every single one of you ^^ 

I’ll be replying to any comments in a new post because this is a sideblog!

Taglist (please let me know if you’d like to be added/removed!):

@twdeadfanfic​ | @fandomfanatic97​ | @crossbowking​ | @watchmeaspire​ | @spidergirla5 | @kamieshep | @letsstarsfalling | @molethemollie​ | @alicewinchester99 | @neilox | @womanup22 | @jodiereedus22​ | @theonlyone-meeeee | @theunofficialduke | @inlovewdxx | @delightfullykrispypeach | @mrsfortune1306 | @wolfkg | @funeral-7 | @wnygirl2012 | @alispaceme | @themihala | @aavocadocloud |  @polkadottedpillowcase | @felicisimor | @depressedfrog2 | @spacexkiddo0

[savedpeople]

1. What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?* //6. Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?* //10. Most disliked arc? Why?

Salty Ask List | Accepting | @wexarethewalkingxdead

Out of the main popular ships, Daryl/Beth is the one I get the least. I mean I get why people ship them, but I’m just not comfortable imagining Daryl with a girl half his age that he met when she was sixteen. Like most people agree that shipping Daryl with Lydia is gross yet she’s the same age Beth was. 

I don’t think the fandom has made me like any pairing I originally hated. Maybe it’s made me like or think more positively of a ship I was previously neutral towards, but not any ships I already hated.

Most disliked arc... it’s been ages since I’ve watched anything from seasons 2-6 but from what I remember, the Grady Memorial arc was my least favorite. I just wasn’t into it and both Beth and Noah dying so close together made a lot of it feel pointless. I also didn’t care about the Wolves at all. If we’re including the comics, the Commonwealth arc was also a least favorite. It was slow and dragged on and felt like whatever buildup there was fizzled out. It barely felt like twd. So I’m praying the show makes it more interesting.

[spn-meanttobe]

Summaries Part Two [51-100]

Claiming Info -- FAQs/Rules The first Claims post will be a separate post going up on Saturday, November 7th at 12 pm EST. The second Claims post will be a separate post going up on Sunday, November 8th at 12 pm EST.

51. My Only Vice She's as pretty as a daisy... Sexy, easygoing Rosie Bliss may look like an innocent flower-shop owner, but former vice cop now police chief Sam Maguire is suspicious of the so-called herbs she grows along with her blooms. As sweet as a rose... So the serious detective launches an investigation into Rosie and her very mysterious past. But his most disturbing discovery? He's irresistibly attracted to free-spirited Rosie. And as dangerous as a Venus flytrap! Then cool, controlled Sam accidentally drinks a cup of her special brew and loses it completely! Not only does he end up sleeping with his suspect, he craves more – of Rosie, the most potent drug of all.

52. Night Shadow In a city ruled by fear... A solitary figure shrouded in black walked the night, determined to awaken a terrified metropolis from the nightmare of crime. There was nothing -- no bullets, and certainly not legal technicalities -- that could deter the man they called Nemesis from his mission. Deborah O'Roarke, an idealistic young prosecutor waging her own war against crime, owed Nemesis her very life. She shared his passion for justice, yet she could not accept his lawless methods. Still, though she fought her unwelcome desire for this disturbing stranger, she was unable to deny her longing to share the shadows that were his home.... After the night he saved Deborah O'Roarke from an attacker Nemesis rediscovered the sweet ache of longing. As Gage Guthrie he could woo her. But the idealistic prosecutor abhorred his vigilante approach to crime fighting. So how could he reveal he was the phantom who lurked in the Night Shadow? Fear casts a long shadow....

53. Night Shift Her voice was like whiskey, smooth and potent, but it was her contradictions that fascinated Detective Boyd Fletcher―the vulnerability beneath her tough-as-nails facade. Late-night radio announcer Cilla O'Roarke was being threatened by a caller, and it was Boyd's job to protect her no matter what. But the sultry deejay was getting under his skin, and the undeniable attraction that sizzled between them concerned the detective…because anything could happen on the Night Shift.

54. No Good Duke Goes Unpunished The ruin of the lady means the taming of the scoundrel. A rogue ruined... He is the Killer Duke, accused of murdering Mara Lowe on the eve of her wedding. With no memory of that fateful night, Temple has reigned over the darkest of London's corners for twelve years, wealthy and powerful, but beyond redemption. Until one night, Mara resurfaces, offering the one thing he's dreamed of: absolution. A lady returned... Mara planned never to return to the world from which she'd run, but when her brother falls deep into debt at Temple's exclusive casino, she has no choice but to offer Temple a trade that ends in her returning to society and proving to the world what only she knows...that he is no killer. A scandal revealed... It's a fine trade, until Temple realizes that the lady--and her past--are more than they seem. It will take every bit of his strength to resist the pull of this mysterious, maddening woman who seems willing to risk everything for honor... and to keep from putting himself on the line for love.

55. Once Smitten, Twice Shy Legend claims this antique Irish wedding veil can grant your heart's deepest desire. But be careful what you wish for... Wedding videographer Tish Gallagher is at the end of her rope. Her business is about to go bust. She's just spent her last buck on nonreturnable (but oh so fabulous) shoes. And her most sustainable relationship is with a pint of Häagen-Dazs. So she makes a wish on the lucky wedding veil to get out of debt...and sees the man she never stopped loving, her ex-husband, secret service agent Shane Tremont. Sure, their chemistry was off-the-charts sizzling hot, but their clashes were legendary, and no amount of longing will change that. When her dream job of recording the first daughter's wedding appears out of the blue, Tish knows it's her only shot to get out of the red. Just one teensy glitch: Shane is the groom. From the moment they see each other, she knows nothing's changed - the same old black magic is still between them, as irresistible and potent as ever. But he's promised to another and Tish has been burned before. Will she always be... once smitten, twice shy?

56. One Night with Morelli Warning: one night will never be enough… Draco Morelli: ruthless businessman, adoring father and wary ex-husband. This gorgeous Italian only ever signs up for temporary flings with glamorous women who know the rules of the game. Until he is blindsided by the one woman in all of London not interested in a relationship with him…. Eve Curtis: dedicated workaholic, loyal friend and self-professed singleton. Determined to remain independent, Eve has been happy keeping men at a safe distance. Until now. Because when Draco sweeps her off her feet and into his bedroom, he opens her eyes to a whole new world of sin and seduction!

57. One Night with the Shifter A one-night stand with a werewolf has unexpected consequences. After he is exiled from his pack, Tyee Grayson must learn to make it on his own. But one night with a beautiful stranger who has luminous blue eyes changes everything…. Especially when his instincts shout that she is the one. All elementary school teacher Jessica Brierly wanted was a night on the wild side, but when she finds herself pregnant, all the rules change. Not only does her lover have more secrets than she ever imagined, but suddenly they're both fighting off vampires. When vampires attack the town she dearly loves, Ty must work with his old pack to save them from a ruthless enemy who could kill not only his mate and his unborn child – but the entire human race.

58. One Texas Night Melinda Amery awoke to the double-barreled deep blue eyes of Lieutenant Grady Sloan. A more formidable – or handsome – man she'd never seen. And he wanted answers about a murder. Only, Melinda had none. She had no recall, except she knew nothing good would come from remembering... Grady was the kind of cop who wouldn't let go until he got what he wanted. With his job on the line, he needed to break the case. But the only witness had amnesia – and tormented dark eyes that needed healing. And Grady couldn't help his overwhelming attraction toward Melinda. But would her hidden memories reveal more than either of them wanted to know... ?

59. Pushing the Limits No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible. Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

60. Red, White & Royal Blue When his mother became President, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius—his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There's only one problem: Alex has a beef with the actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex-Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse. Heads of family, state, and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: staging a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instagrammable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations and begs the question: Can love save the world after all? Where do we find the courage, and the power, to be the people we are meant to be? And how can we learn to let our true colors shine through? Red, White & Royal Blue proves true love isn't always diplomatic.

61. Renegade Protector When intimidation turns to deadly force, it's time for Frontier Justice. If ruthless developers want Mariana Balducci's land, they'll have to kill her for it. And they nearly succeed—until Ty Morrison foils her attacker. The sexy San Francisco cop is part of a secret organization called Frontier Justice. Mariana is tough, but she realizes she can't win this fight alone. And when bullets fly, Ty realizes battling bad guys is easier than fighting their sizzling attraction.

62. Rocky Mountain Wedding Melody Pennington fled to Montana for a new start as a mail-order bride. Gabe Brooks, handsome older brother to the man she was supposed to marry, helps her settle in. But what Melody doesn't expect is to fall for the rugged, closed-off lawman...

63. Romancing the Chef When Veronica Howard is invited to compete in an all-star TV cooking contest, the up-and-coming restaurateur is ready for a fair food fight. Then she discovers who her main competition is: Ace Brown, her friend from culinary school – now the world's hottest celebrity chef. Has she gone from the frying pan right into the fire? Ace Brown – aka the Sexy Chef – knows what women want. After all, recipes for desire are his globe-trotting specialty. Ronnie may not have given him the time of day back in school, but this time Ace is cooking up a surprise she can't resist. Seducing the voluptuous foodie will be his pleasure…until she turns up the heat. With sexual sparks flying, is the footloose bachelor about to become a connoisseur…of love?

64. Rumors that Ruined a Lady Amongst the gossip-hungry ton, no name has become more synonymous with sin than that of Lady Caroline Rider, cast out by her husband and disowned by her family. Rumor has it that the infamous Caro is now seeking oblivion in the opium dens of London! There's only one man who can save her: notorious rake Sebastian Conway, Marquis of Ardhallow. Soon Caro is installed in his country home, warming his bed, but their passion may not be enough to protect them once news of their scandalous arrangement breaks out.

65. Secrets of a Gentleman Escort He's the talk of the ton – for all the wrong reasons! Society's most outrageous – and popular! – escort Nicholas D'Arcy is renowned for his utmost discretion. So when he suddenly finds himself named and shamed by a jealous husband, he reluctantly accepts a summons to the countryside…a fate worse than death! Annorah Price-Ellis isn't what Nick is used to – innocent, feisty and decidedly uncomfortable with the spontaneous heat between them! Suddenly, London's most audacious lover is out of his depth, and in danger of revealing the real man behind the polished facade….

66. Seduced by the Operative For psychologist Claire Cantwell--code name Cyrene--the stakes couldn't be higher. Tapped for a top-secret mission for the president, the OMEGA covert operative needed the unique expertise of a man with whom she'd shared danger--and her bed. Lethally attractive special ops agent and ultra-suave diplomat Luis Esteban wanted more than Claire was ready to give. Now, with their very survival at stake, Claire has to trust Luis with her life... even if that means surrendering the one thing she vowed never to give: her heart.

67. Serendipity Faith Harrington was the classic girl of privilege - until her father was convicted of running a Ponzi scheme and then her marriage crashed and burned. Now Faith is back in her hometown, hoping for a fresh start. But her father's betrayal has rocked Serendipity - and not everyone is ready to welcome her with open arms. Then she runs into her teenage crush - the dark, brooding Ethan Barron. Ethan, no stranger to scandal himself, never imagined he'd own the mansion on the hill, much less ever again come face-to-face with Faith - the princess he once kissed senseless. The chance meeting reignites the electric charge between them. Still, when Ethan hires her to redecorate what was once her childhood home, Faith is sure that getting involved with the town's notorious bad boy will lead only to trouble. But her heart has other ideas. And so do the townspeople of Serendipity...

68. Shades of Desire Natalie Jones is the lucky survivor of an elusive killer who preys on young women and then disappears from view. And since her harrowing ordeal, the once gutsy photojournalist has remained isolated in her home, paralyzed by fear and her failing vision. Special Agent Liam "Mac" McKenzie has scars of his own. But despite his efforts to ignore the attraction that simmers between him and Natalie, he needs her help to catch a predator. Soon, they will forge a tentative alliance, charged with desire. Through a soft-focus lens, Natalie dares to envision a future with Mac beyond the investigation & never guessing that the clues hidden within her photographs are drawing them into an explosive confrontation with a madman.

69. She's Got it Bad Twelve years ago Zoe Ford let Liam Masters break her heart. But now? There's not a chance. Zoe is as tough and wild as they come. So when Liam shows up at her tattoo parlor, she's more than ready to take him on again. That's not going to be a hardship, since he's hotter than he ever was. This time she's staying in charge. And she's not going to consider their score settled until he's hot, bothered and begging for more! Then she'll move on as callously as he left her. Unless all that deliciously bad sex is just too good to give up….

70. Snowbound with the Soldier Maybe this Christmas…? It has been seven long years since Kara Jameson last saw Jason Greene. Returning home as a wounded war hero, Jason looks a shell of the man she once knew. Yet her heart still skips a beat as if it was yesterday…. Stepping back into civilian life, Jason looks to Kara for help. But there's too much water under the bridge – not to mention too much lingering attraction. But it seems that the mountain weather has other ideas, and when Kara and Jason end up snowbound together they are forced to confront the ghosts of Christmas past.

71. Soldier Caged

He'd lost blood and comrades on the world's battlefields, but neither compared to losing his memory. Waking up in a secret military bunker, drugged, with vague images of a mission gone bad, Jonah had nowhere to turn. Until help came in the form of the one woman he'd always remember... Psychologist Sophia Rhodes never got over the bad boy who'd stolen her good-girl heart a decade ago. But without military training, how could she possibly steal Jonah from a high-security facility? She had only one hope--that he'd never forgotten her, either. Sophia knew the breakout was the easy part. Somehow she had to help Jonah focus his hazy images--before a desperate man made sure he'd never remember...

72. Sound Bites Renee Evans has a knack for trouble. After walking in on her best friend and boyfriend in bed together, twenty-five-year-old Renee flees her dream job as a music journalist in sunny Los Angeles and returns to her hometown of Boston – only to meet Dylan Cavallari, the mysterious, aspiring musician who lives in her apartment building. Dylan's piercing gaze and womanizing demeanor make him exactly the type of guy that Renee should steer clear of – which is most likely the reason she falls for him. But when Renee's troublesome ex comes back and threatens to drive her and Dylan apart, Renee is forced to face her past and save her relationship with Dylan before it's too late.

73. Succubus Blues When it comes to jobs in hell, being a succubus seems pretty glamorous. A girl can be anything she wants, the wardrobe is killer, and mortal men will do anything just for a touch. Granted, they often pay with their souls, but why get technical? But Seattle succubus Georgina Kincaid's life is far less exotic. Her boss is a middle-management demon with a thing for John Cusack movies. Her immortal best friends haven't stopped teasing her about the time she shape-shifted into the Demon Goddess getup complete with whip and wings. And she can't have a decent date without sucking away part of the guy's life. At least there's her day job at a local bookstore--free books; all the white chocolate mochas she can drink; and easy access to bestselling, sexy writer, Seth Mortensen, aka He Whom She Would Give Anything to Touch but Can't. But dreaming about Seth will have to wait. Something wicked is at work in Seattle's demon underground. And for once, all of her hot charms and drop-dead one-liners won't help because Georgina's about to discover there are some creatures out there that both heaven and hell want to deny...

74. Tell Me Your Secrets It was a dark and sexy night... And Brooke Ashby knew she was in over her head. As head writer for the soap opera Secrets, she was used to living vicariously through her characters. But that all changed the day she learned she was adopted, and that her identical twin sister had mysteriously disappeared. What else could she do but try to discover what had happened, even if it meant taking her sister's place? It shouldn't be hard. After all, she was good at research and had a talent for acting, if she did say so herself. Her plan seemed foolproof…until Brooke found herself in bed with her sister's fiancé….

75. Temptation's Kiss Patrice Sutton has just landed the role of her career. Snagging the female lead opposite devastatingly handsome, six-foot-three movie idol T. K. McKenna is a dream come true. When she learns they'll be filming out West she's secretly thrilled…and ready to show her gorgeous co-star the ropes of life on the ranch. Until T.K. turns the tables – by initiating her into the art of seduction far from the camera's glare. T.K. knows that with her incredible beauty, talent and sweet sincerity, Patrice has what it takes to make it really big. And the burgeoning film star is showing T.K. a passion more real than anything he's ever experienced on – or off – the screen. But what will it take to prove to her that she's the only woman he'll ever desire…and love?

76. Texas Mom Texas veterinarian Delaney Blair will do anything to find a bone marrow donor for her four-year-old son, Nickolas. The only likely match is his Argentinean father, Dario. But Dario and Delaney didn't part on good terms. In fact, he doesn't even know he has a son! Delaney travels to Argentina to find him, and Dario, shocked, returns to Texas. It's not long before Nick and Dario become close. Not only that, Dario can't hide the feelings he has for Delaney – feelings that have been there since they met. Dario's family doesn't want him to be with her. But now they have to see if the love between them is strong enough to keep them together.

77. The Cajun Cowboy Talk about a bad hair day! Louisiana beauty salon owner Charmaine LeDeux has a loan shark on her tail, and Raoul Lanier, the six-foot-three hunk of testosterone she thought she divorced, has just delivered a bombshell: They're still married! At least the rundown ranch they've inherited together is the perfect hideout. Holy crawfish! It's hard enough for Raoul to play cowboy to a bunch of scrawny steer, let alone suffer the exquisite torture of living with the delectable Charmaine, who's declared herself a born-again virgin. What's a man crazy with desire to do? Seduce her on their home on the range, even if it means taking advice from bachelor ranch hands, Charmaine's belly-dancing great-aunt, and St. Jude, patron saint of lost causes. With the moon shining over the bayou and the Dixie Mafia in hot pursuit, this Cajun cowboy must sweet-talk his way into his wife's arms again...before she unties the knot for good!

78. The Happy Baker We've all been there. The blind date from hell. The Big Hurt. The guy who details his various surgeries over Caesar salad on the first date. Who needs a pint of rocky road when you can head to the kitchen and work out your heartache with a whisk and a bottle of wine? Erin Bolger has been there, dated that and baked through it all. Turns out the more bitter the heartbreak, the sweeter the batter. So don't cry over bad dates, bad boyfriends or bad breakups – whip up a batch of My-Mom-Didn't-Like-You-Anyway Cupcakes and bake yourself happy.

79. The Heist FBI Special Agent Kate O'Hare is known for her fierce dedication and discipline on the job, chasing down the world's most wanted criminals and putting them behind bars. Her boss thinks she is tenacious and ambitious; her friends think she is tough, stubborn, and maybe even a bit obsessed. And while Kate has made quite a name for herself for the past five years the only name she's cared about is Nicolas Fox -- an international crook she wants in more ways than one. Audacious, handsome, and dangerously charming, Nicolas Fox is a natural con man, notorious for running elaborate scams on very high-profile people. At first he did it for the money. Now he does it for the thrill. He knows that the FBI has been hot on his trail -- particularly Kate O'Hare, who has been watching his every move. For Nick, there's no greater rush than being pursued by a beautiful woman... even one who aims to lock him up. But just when it seems that Nicolas Fox has been captured for good, he pulls off his greatest con of all: He convinces the FBI to offer him a job, working side by side with Special Agent Kate O'Hare. Problem is, teaming up to stop a corrupt investment banker who's hiding on a private island in Indonesia is going to test O'Hare's patience and Fox's skill. Not to mention the skills of their ragtag team made up of flamboyant actors, wanted wheelmen, and Kate's dad. High-speed chases, pirates, and Toblerone bars are all in a day's work... if O'Hare and Fox don't kill each other first.

80. The Inn at Eagle Point It's been years since Abby O'Brien Winters set foot in Chesapeake Shores. The Maryland town her father built has too many sad memories and Abby too few spare moments, thanks to her demanding Wall Street career, the crumbling of her marriage and energetic twin daughters. Then one panicked phone call from her youngest sister brings her racing back home to protect Jess's dream of renovating the charming Inn at Eagle Point. But saving the inn from foreclosure means dealing not only with her own fractured family, but also with Trace Riley, the man Abby left ten years ago. Trace can be a roadblock to her plans...or proof that second chances happen in the most unexpected ways.

81. The Klone and I After thirteen years of marriage and two kids, Stephanie was devastated when her husband left her for a younger woman. Suddenly she was alone. Then a spur-of-the-moment trip to Paris changed everything. Peter Baker was a handsome high-tech entrepreneur also visiting the city. Stephanie was certain it couldn't possibly work. But much to her amazement, he contacted her when they returned to New York. And Stephanie embarked on a bizarre and hilarious adventure beyond her wildest dreams. Shy, serious Peter, chairman of a bionic enterprise, was supposed to be away on business. Instead, he's standing at her door, wearing satin and rhinestones. Naturally, Stephanie thinks it's a joke -- until the truth suddenly dawns: this isn't Peter playing a role. This is his double! Calling himself Paul Klone, this wild, uninhibited creature isn't even remotely like Peter except for his identically sexy good looks. This uproarious novel explores the outrageous love triangle that develops between Stephanie, Peter... and The Klone.

82. The Man from Atlantis These days, eligible, attractive, single men weren't exactly coming out of the woodwork! So when Jenna stumbled across a gorgeous male specimen, she couldn't let a mere ten-thousand-year age difference interfere with romance! Besides, everyone knows older men are sexy!

83. The Man With Emerald Eyes A victim of her brother's gambling debts, lovely Theone Danvers had been left to choose between the hell of debtor's prison - and the lecherous arms of the Marquis de Juliers. But Theone was a fiery beauty with a mind of her own. Disguised as a lad, she took to the highroad with smoking pistols, and stole herself a fortune in gold. Then, in the green depths of the forest, she meets a rival - a highwayman with haunting emerald eyes, a price on his head, and a noble secret in his past. They join forces, and Theone rides headlong into the greatest danger of her renegade career: the unquenchable passions of a woman's first love!

84. The Prince Charming List Heather Lowell asked herself this question after moving to Prichett, Wisconsin, to temporarily manage the Cut and Curl Beauty Salon. She's hopeful that this summer she will finally find the love of her life. She even has a list detailing everything she wants in her Prince Charming. But when two men enter her life, Heather suddenly needs to figure out what she really wants – and whether handyman Ian Dexter or rebel-artist Jared Ward figures into her happily ever after.

85. The Ranger Texas Ranger Mitch Striker's uncomplicated bachelor lifestyle suits him just fine: catch the bad guys and move on. But there's nothing straightforward about struggling single mom Brandie Ryland or her adorable four-year-old son, Toby. The beautiful redhead is the prime suspect in Mitch's undercover investigation. But when a hostage standoff leaves Brandie's family vulnerable and uncovers a roomful of contraband and drugs, Mitch second-guesses her involvement in the crime…and his ability to keep his emotional distance. With the danger growing and the clock ticking, Mitch must save Brandie, catch the perps and handle the daddy heartstrings Toby keeps tugging on. Then he'll have to face the secrets he's sure Brandie's keeping – before they become his undoing.

86. The Rose Contract Love is free. Innocence has a price. Raena Barren was born with a secret: of all the magic users in the kingdom of Soma, she is the only one who can hide her power. As a child, she used this magic to help her survive on the streets--until she saved the life of a strange boy called Jorr Portent. He rewarded her with a job in the castle of Soma--and Raena spent the next ten years falling in love with him. But while Raena's life as a servant is sheltered, Jorr's world is one of spies and assassins. When Raena comes of age, their paths will diverge forever… unless Raena can earn a place by his side. To become one of Jorr's operatives, however, Raena must get to know her own body, and outsmart the deadly people around her. She must also sell her innocence to whatever man pays the most… even if that man can't be Jorr.

87. The Secret His Mistress Carried Hiding from the Greek… The ink is barely dry on Giorgios Letsos's divorce papers, but there's only one thing on this unstoppable Greek's mind: finding Billie Smith, his mistress before his marriage. But the sweet, pliable woman he once knew slams the door in his face! Billie fought hard to heal her broken heart after Gio chose to marry someone else. When he storms back into her life, she's determined not to fall for his seduction again. Especially now that she has a secret to protect…their son. But she hadn't counted on just how badly he wants her back in his bed!

88. The Space Between Us Tesla Martin is drifting pleasantly through life, slinging lattes at Morningstar Mocha, enjoying the ebb and flow of caffeine-starved customers, devoted to her cadre of regulars. But none of the bottomless-cup crowd compares with Meredith, a charismatic force of nature who can coax intimate tales from even the shyest of Morningstar's clientele. Caught in Meredith's sensual, irresistible orbit, inexpressibly flattered by the siren's attention, Tesla shares long-buried chapters of her life, holding nothing back. Nothing Meredith proposes seems impossible – not even Tesla sleeping with Meredith's husband, Charlie, while she looks on. After all, it's all in fun, isn't it? In a heartbeat, vulnerable Tesla is swept into a spectacular love triangle. Together, gentle, grounded Charlie and sparkling, maddening Meredith are everything Tesla has ever needed, wanted, or dreamed of, even if no one else on earth understands. They're three against the world. But soon one of the vertices begins pulling away until only two points remain – and the space between them gapes with confusion, with grief and with possibility….

89. The Texas Ranger's Reward Is he seeing double? He can't believe his eyes. When Travis Stillman meets Melissa Dalton, it's as if he's seeing the ghost of his late wife. That explains why his young son warms to Melissa so quickly. The orthopedic therapist is working wonders to help Casey readjust after an accident -- his boy has come alive again. But that's no reason for this former Texas Ranger to let his guard down as he settles into life as a P.I. and single dad. No woman can replace his wife -- especially not one who could be her twin. And when Melissa hires him to investigate a break-in at her family's cabin, he's even more determined to ignore the growing attraction between them. Now he's got to protect both Melissa, and his heart.

90. The Vampire Affair The world knew Michael Brandt as a playboy tycoon. The underworld knew him as a fierce vampire hunter. Armed with a wooden stake and superior strength, Michael targeted the most powerful overlords in a clandestine do-or-die operation...and then tabloid reporter Jessie Morgan uncovered his secret. Only once before had Michael allowed a woman into his secret lair. Now he'd fight heaven and hell to keep Jessie from the same fate. But he couldn't fight the attraction that drew him to her like a bloodlust. An attraction that might prove deadly...or worse. For Michael was going up against the most powerful of the undead--and that vampire had his fangs bared for Jessie.

91. Thief of Hearts An Innocent Beauty. Prim and pampered, Lucinda Snow knew little of men and nothing of danger, until the fog-shrouded night she found herself abducted—and at the mercy of the legendary Captain Doom. Ruthless and mocking, tender and virile, the notorious pirate awakened all Lucy's passionate longings, then abandoned her with nothing but a kiss... A Pirate's Prize. Now safely at home, the alluring waif is tormented by treacherous memories—and by the presence of Gerard Claremont, her mysterious new bodyguard. Everything about him, from his forbidding size to his impertinent manner, sparks her defiance. And even when Gerard's smile turns seductive, no one can make her forget Doom. Yet only when Lucy's path crosses the captain's once more, will she learn who is on a voyage of retribution, and who is out to steal her heart...

92. Things Good Girls Don't Do Good girls don't steal. Good girls don't visit sex shops. Good girls don't have one-night stands. For Katie Conners, being a good girl just isn't worth it anymore. It used to mean getting the life she always wanted. But that was before she got dumped and her ex got engaged to his rebound. So, after a bad day and one too many mojitos, Katie starts making a list of things a girl like her would never do, not in a million years... As a tattoo artist with a monster motorcycle, Chase Trepasso isn't the kind of guy you bring home to mom and dad. And when he finds Katie's list in a bar, he's more than happy to help her check off a few items. Especially the ones on the naughtier side... Katie's more than tempted by Chase's offer, as long as they keep things uncomplicated. But as they spend more time together, she may just wind up breaking the most important rule of all: Good girls don't fall in love with bad boys.

93. This Tender Truce The Boutonnet vineyards, passed down in her family for generations, mean everything to Tory. But she hadn't counted on her grandfather's one condition of her taking over: marry his godson, Chance Mobley. Unfortunately, Tory had decided long ago that she could never truly love the arrogant Frenchman. He had been raised alongside her, and she had loved him once – a child's crush. But Chance has no business being officially inducted into the Boutonnet family, and certainly doesn't deserve her beloved vineyard. As it turns out though, wine might not be the only thing for which Tory has a passion. And Chance has a few things to teach her about love.

94. Undead and Unwed It's been a helluva week for Betsy Taylor. First, she loses her job. Then, to top things off, she's killed in a car accident. But what really bites (besides waking up in the morgue dressed in a pink suit and cheap shoes courtesy of her stepmother) is that she can't seem to stay dead. Every night she rises, with a horrible craving for blood. She's not taking too well to a liquid diet. Worst of all, her new friends have the ridiculous idea that Betsy is the prophesied vampire queen, and they want her help in overthrowing the most obnoxious, power-hungry vampire in five centuries--a badly dressed Bela Lugosi wannabe, natch. Frankly, Betsy couldn't care less about vamp politics, but they have a powerful weapon of persuasion: designer shoes. How can any self-respecting girl say no? But a collection of Ferragamos isn't the only temptation for Betsy. It's just a lot safer than the scrumptious Sinclair--a seductive bloodsucker whose sexy gaze seems as dangerous as a stake through the heart...

95. Unguarded Rhiannon Jenkins is an events planner on the rise. And her latest client, Shawn Emerson, could make her career. Too bad the gorgeous man insists on mixing a lot of pleasure with his business. In Rhiannon's books getting involved with a client is the fastest way to exit a job. So, no. She'll resist all his come-get-me looks and tempting offers. While his charm is easy to overlook, Shawn in the role of confidant and friend breaks down all her best defenses. Suddenly the tables turn and she wants to be close to him. That means opening up about the ugly events of her past – a risk she hasn't taken before now. Oh, but he could be so worth it!

96. Walking Dead For once, Joanne Walker's not out to save the world. She's come to terms with the host of shamanic powers she's been given, her job as a police detective has been relatively calm, and she's got a love life for the first time in memory. Not bad for a woman who started out the year mostly dead. But it's Halloween, and the undead have just crashed Joanne's party. Now, with her mentor Coyote still missing, she has to figure out how to break the spell that has let the ghosts, zombies and even the Wild Hunt come back. Unfortunately, there's no shamanic handbook explaining how to deal with the walking dead. And if they have anything to say about it – which they do – no one's getting out of there alive.

97. What Waits Below Out of the depths... – All her life, Kendra Tremaine had trembled at the very thought of Lynx Lake. She had known even as a child that something unspeakable waited below the surface of the water and she had long sworn never again to set foot on its shore. And yet now she was back to take possession of the family estate that was her unwanted legacy. The legends of Lynx Lake had summoned another visitor, a man of strange powers and dark knowledge. Hart Rainwalker's obsession with the lake's secrets terrified Kendra, even as his brooding passion called to her soul. He claimed only he could protect her from the awful presence that threatened her. But who would protect her from her self-appointed guardian?

98. Wife for Hire The Prospective Husband with a Racy Past... Hank Mallone spotted trouble when she sat down and said she'd marry him! Maggie Toone was a tempting firecracker who'd make his life delightful hell if he let her pretend to be his wife in order to improve his rogue's reputation. Would his harebrained scheme to get a bank loan for his business backfire once Maggie arrived in his small Vermont town and let the gossips take a look? Maggie never expected her employer to be drop-dead handsome, or to affect her like a belt of bourbon on an empty stomach, but she was too intrigued by his offer to say no... and too eager to escape a life that made her feel trapped. The deal was strictly business, both agreed... until Hank turned out to be every fantasy she'd ever had, and Maggie was so bright, funny and downright irresistible that Hank fell head over heels in love! While the town watched, Hank wooed his wife with a charm that had never failed him yet. Could he make her dreams real by proving she belonged in his arms?

99. Wild Heat Sometimes old flames are the hottest of all... In the quaint little town of Cailkirn, Alaska, it's impossible to keep a secret, especially one as juicy as the unexpected return of Kitty Grant. Tack MacKinnon remembers her wild red curls and even wilder spirit-and still feels the sting from when she shattered his heart in college. But there's a pain in Kitty's gorgeous eyes that guts him to the core and Tack is determined to do whatever it takes to see the woman he still loves smile again - even if it means taking on her demons as his own. After fleeing an abusive ex-husband, Kitty decides that the best way to heal her broken heart is to come back home. But she gets a whole new shock when she sees how undeniably sexy Tack has become. More handsome, more muscular, more charming-more everything - he's impossible to resist. Before she knows it, they're reigniting sparks that could set the whole state of Alaska on fire. Yet trust doesn't come easy to Kitty anymore, and as things heat up between her and Tack, she can't help but wonder if one of them is going to get burned...

100. Zombie Moon Caleb Locke lived for one thing — killing zombies. And this man — this legend — was exactly what Samantha Wagner needed. In mist-shrouded alleys, hunted by zombies, haunted by fear, she vowed to find Caleb and convince him to help her. But she hadn't counted on falling in love…. Caleb kept his own secrets — like the one he couldn't hide when the moon was full. But his wolf was drawn to Samantha, recognizing her as his mate. With her in his arms, Caleb reveled in passion… and rued his deception. Would she still love the man who fought by her side if she realized that zombies weren't the only monsters? Samantha would have to make a choice—and she only had till the next full moon.

[angelthefirst1]

Ride with Norman Reedus, and clues for Beth’s return beyond The Walking Dead.

I want to show you how the symbolism in the walking dead is being used outside the show as well.

 In this post I will focus on Ride with Norman Reedus, in particular the episode with Melissa McBride (Season 3 episode) and a few other clues from The Talking Dead.

 I have been saying for years that Carol and Beth are heavily intertwined. They are Mother Daughter versions of each other. They are the same, but on different timelines, and going down different paths.

What if Beth had ended up being romantically involved with Noah after making it out of Grady alive while Carol ‘died’ in Grady?

That is the story they have shown us through Carol and Ezekiel, the different path way chosen.

 I want to show you what I see…

I see Grady as a form of hell, and when both Carol and Beth Entered they were trapped, Daryl went into hell to rescue them, but could only get one back at a time.

Due to Carol and Beth being the same but choosing different pathways.

From the Grady hallway onward where Carol came out alive and Beth ‘didn’t’, they have been showing the Carol side of the coin (story or pathway) flipped up.

Meaning we would see her story go ahead, while Beth’s side of the story was flipped facing down (on hold) and we would not see her story until the coin flips back the other way and her chosen path plays out (which I believe will be with Daryl)

In this episode of Ride with Norman Reedus, both Melissa and Norman show Beth’s pathway both past and future.

Now Melissa does have Scottish ancestry and in this episode they travel to Scotland to look into and track her family roots.  

While this is real for Melissa and her quest to find information about her family history, they have very cleverly used this episode to show what Beth and Daryl have already experienced and will experience.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words so let’s look at some of the visual similarities between this episode and Beth and Daryl in The Walking Dead.

First they have a reunion of sorts in Scotland in a sweet little tea house

(This small reunion is also pointing to Daryl and Beth’s reunion to come, and Carol and Daryl’s past reunion in 501)

Whilst sitting across from each other eating in this sweet little tea house setting, is Carol’s/Melissa’s version of this scene below:

They discuss the first scene they ever shot together, and how Norman was being antagonistic towards Melissa and kept putting more blood on the axe she was killing walker Ed with.

Norman talks about how in grade school when you like someone you poke them or annoy them and Melissa says after that moment, she thought to herself “I’m gonna like this guy”    

“What an Arsehole”

Norman agrees and says “What a Jerk”

This scene is pointing to the fight Daryl and Beth had in ‘Still’, where Daryl was being antagonistic toward Beth and Beth called him and Jackass and a Jerk.

‘After that’ (like Melissa said) at the funeral home as they eat together they ‘like’ each other

Melissa then goes on to talk about her Scottish heritage, saying she “has roots here” in Scotland.

Melissa is tracking her family roots in this episode but this is also Beth’s future story of tracking her family.

Melissa even tells us she is tracking her family, which we all know plays into Beth learning to track from Daryl and the concept that she will have to use that skill on her own again.

This theme is be repeated by Judith in 1015 when she tells Daryl she wants to learn to be like him and protect her family, just like Beth did. 

One HUGH clue is what Melissa says next…

“I have roots here… I have this genetic memory that’s somehow being passed down through the generations… You get this little piece of memory. When you get a hit (of memory) it’s like OH this is so exciting! It’s like uncovering a mystery”

Beth is going to have memory problems and every now and then something will trigger a memory that will uncover more of who she was and her past, and those ‘uncovered mystery memories’ will eventually help her ‘TRACK’ or find her family

I cannot tell you, just how many shows and movies are portraying this theme right now, of a blond girl having memory loss and uncovering little pieces of memory along the way.

This is seen in Captain Marvel and Homeland just to name a few.

In the latest season of Homeland when the main Blond character with memory problems is talking to another character about not having all her memories the line ‘The Walking Dead’ is even used.

This topic might be a very interesting post for another time as it’s quite extensive.

But just remember this theme of memory loss and let me know if you see it in any other shows you might watch, I’d love to look into them.

Norman and Melissa go to many locations in this episode; here are a few that defiantly stand out. The different scenes individually don’t seem that interesting but when you put it all together wow, it’s unmistakably Beth and Daryl’s story. 

The Dog trot and dog theme (we all know this is important)

 Norman and Melissa go to a dog training school (more on this soon)

The new clothes...

Norman and Melissa go to a tartan shop to find her family’s signature tartan

 The fight in ‘Still’ and the Booze hunt...

  Melissa and Norman go to a bar where Melissa discovers the last name of the person who owned the bar was McBride, her one of her great grandfathers who died in that very bar.

Remembering the dead...

 Melissa and Norman go to a cemetery where they find her great grandfathers grave, they even take a rubbing of it.

Which is a repeat of the scene where Beth and Daryl stop and remember Hershel through the beloved father gravestone.

Melissa is very thankful for Normans kindness in giving her this moment.

Later on in this episode there is also hand holding

Trying to get dog to come in...

Norman and Melissa meet with a dog trainer and Norman is taught how to be assertive enough to get the dog to go with him keep.

(I also think the scene with Melissa and Norman below will be repeated with Beth, Daryl and Dog at some stage, in that dog will happily jump all over Beth with Daryl watching on)

Making Music together...

 Norman and Melissa go and play the bagpipes together, Norman is not sure if he is ‘making music right’ he ends up scaring Melissa out of the room with his attempts to play.

Now making music has a double meaning so just to spell it out for you all, this is what it also means...

‘A couple who meet and enjoy each others company are said to make sweet music together. They have a harmonious relationship. There is also a sexual connotation about what the couple does together and the noises they make being ‘sweet music’

When Melissa runs out the room after Norman attempts at making music, it is a complete call back to this moment...

Daryl has just let Beth know has feelings for her and quickly leaves the room in a panic, so flustered that he opens the door without checking. 

Feasting together...

At the very end of the episode Norman and Melissa have a big feast, where Norman is very happy!

The Crossover...

Another peculiar thing happens during this episode and this is what i call the crossover

Basically Beth and Carol are equal opposites and will crossover at some point, just like the first time in Grady they will switch and yes i do think Carol will die.

First lets look at these scenes below from Ride.

At one point in the episode Norman and Melissa are looking for directions to find the statue of William Wallace (this is significant)

Norman spots this lady walking towards them and says “Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me”  really wanting her attention and hoping she will stop and give them directions.

Melissa and this blond mystery woman are going in opposite directions, and crossover. The blond woman has long locks and a braid in her hair, she represents Beth and Carols stories and their crossing paths. (and yes i do think this was a planned and deliberate scene) 

Negan = Daryl

Alpha = Carol

Blond faceless woman = Beth

The boundary line = a representation of the crossover

The very next stop after this for Norman and Melissa is the William Wallace statue which is for Carol where her story could end.

William Wallace defeated an English army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge.

He was appointed Guardian of Scotland and served until his defeat at the Battle of Falkirk.

In 1305, Wallace was captured in Robroyston, near Glasgow, and handed over to King Edward I of England, who had him hanged, drawn and quartered for high treason and crimes against English civilians.

Unfortunately i think a version of the Hung Drawn and Quartered aspect of William Wallace’s death is going to be given to Carol and will be a twist on Father Gabrielle's comic book death, where he falls from the Water Tower and gets disemboweled by Beta.

Some other clues i found, are from The Talking Dead episode after Coda with Emily.

I know some if these things have been discussed in the past but i want to bring attention back to them now in light of what is happening currently on the show.

So on The Talking Dead we saw some odd things said, some of them i believe are clues as to when Beth will return.

First odd thing:

Then

Its all planned...

Carol wanted Alpha Dead, Just like Beth wanted Dawn dead.

Eugene is a Beth proxy here, they both know what it feels like to want something so bad you ‘almost’ get people killed, still have nothing to show for it.

Once Carol does kill Alpha she still isn't satisfied, her subconscious tells her she wants one more thing. 

Beth wanted Dawn dead and almost got herself killed in doing so.

In the hallway of Grady Beth wanted two things...

1. Noah to get out with her.

2. Take down Dawn

Carol has taken down Alpha the other thing she wants...

Its not to be alone, she wants to save Ezekiel, and just like Beth i think she will pay the ultimate price to save him.

In The Talking Dead, Emily is talking about fond moments outside the show and is triggered to cry when she says the name Melissa, which i always thought was odd (until now because i see its been planned)

Like sure... she is friends with Melissa but at the time i would have guessed she would talk about Lauren or Norman and cry thinking about them, not so much Melissa.

she cry's at the name Melissa because Carols character will die around the time Beth comes back.

The reference to a large football field and it pouring rain, made me again think of this location and the crossover it represents

When the crossover happens it will be Beth and Daryl alive and Carol dead.

When Negan (who also represents Beta) takes Daryl to the spike in the field where he left Alphas head, its pouring down with rain.

Negan Kills Alpha...

And Beta could end up killing Carol (in a William Wallace manner), which will be a repeat of Dawn (Supposedly) killing Beth and Daryl killing Dawn.

This will possibly be in the final episode of season 10 and if they delay the final to around the time of July 4-5th well that wouldn't surprise me, but we will see with that one.

I have posted these pictures in the past, where Tara looks at her watch and it reads 10:28

Carol then looks at a flower drawn on the bridge they are sitting on, i originally thought maybe it points to half way thorough season 10, Carol would die... but obviously that didn't happen

 I now think this may point to Carol’s death in 1016.

10

and

2x8=16

10:16

I have a few follow on things about THE TOWER (1015) which i will be doing a post on soon.

The name is a callback to Grady and also the episode ‘Claimed’, both of which have huge connections to Beth and her soon return.

So look out for that!

[northknot-hq]

Hey friends! It’s time for the costume contest voting. Below the cut you will find a list of all the characters’ costumes and an additional list for couples’ costumes (both platonic and romantic). By clicking on this link, you will be able to vote for your top three costumes in five categories. You should be voting for individuals in every category except for the couples one. Please vote by the 2nd of November so the winners can be announced before the end of the event. If I’ve missed any of your characters or couples on the list, please message me via the main. Happy roleplaying!

Adelina de Salazar - Frida Kahlo

Aiden Carlisle - Skeleton

Althea Whitehart - Sally (Nightmare Before Christmas)

Astra Grimsbane - Poison Ivy (DC)

Athelstan Blackthorne - Winter Soldier (Marvel)

Atlas Laveau - Alice (Alice in Wonderland)

Bryce Sinclair - Maverick (Top Gun)

Caleb Findlay - Spiderman (Marvel)

Camille Severin - Cher Horowitz (Clueless)

Carolina Dixon - Queen of Hearts (Alice in Wonderland)

Christian Davies - Captain America (Marvel)

Clarissa Gooding - Lara Croft (Tomb Raider)

Daniel Andreu De Costa - Owen Grady (Jurassic World)

Danika Vale - Mia Wallace (Pulp Fiction)

Eleanor Grimaldi - Pennywise (IT)

Elsa Morgan - Black Canary (DC)

Emilia Santiago - Cruella de Vil

Erastea Morgan - Cat Noir (Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir)

Erik Blackthorne - Peter Pan (Peter Pan/Disney)

Everett Moore - Jack Skellington (Nightmare Before Christmas)

Frida Eydis - Cleopatra 

Halliwell Brookes - Harry Potter (Harry Potter)

Honor Hudson - Black Swan (Black Swan)

James Davidson - Beast/Prince Adam (Beauty and the Beast)

Juliet Robinson - Skeleton

Kinsey Simons - Devil

Lachlan McLagan - Joker (DC)

Laurel Parks - Tinkerbell (Peter Pan)

Lucrecia Nair Rosales - Pirate 

Lukesh Virani - Tutankhamun

Marcelline Fontaine - Mad Hatter (Alice in Wonderland)

Margaret Grimaldi - Semadar (Samson & Delilah)

Miles Greenwood - Indiana Jones (Indiana Jones)

Miriam Blackthorne - Shego (Kim Possible)

Nadia Sinclair - Vanellope Von Schweetz (Wreck-It Ralph)

Naomi Kennington - Flapper Girl

Nate Kennington - Pinky (Pinky and the Brain)

Noah Greenwood - Spiderman (Marvel)

Nova Blackthorne - Red Riding Hood (Fairy Tales)

Olivia Bancroft - Belle (Beauty and the Beast)

Olve Blackthorne - Romeo (Romeo & Juliet)

Orlaith Callaghan - David Bowie

PJ Simons - The Brain (Pinky and the Brain)

Reagan Grimaldi - Winnie the Pooh (Winnie the Pooh)

Remington Phinleigh - Batwoman (DC)

Rhiannon Blythe - Juliet (Romeo & Juliet)

Sebastian Young - Skeleton

Seraphina Blackwell-Byers - Kylo Ren (Star Wars)

Skylar Thomas - Catwoman

Sloane Carlisle - Persephone (Mythology)

Tabitha Davidson - Faun (Mythology)

Vanya Blackthorne - The Galaxy

Violette Cunningham - Angel

Xavier Barrington - Prince Charming (Cinderella)

Zehavit Ashkenazi - Wonder Woman (DC)

Couples

Aiden & Juliet - Skeletons

Atlas & Marcelline - Alice & Mad Hatter (Alice in Wonderland)

Everett & Althea - Jack & Sally (Nightmare Before Christmas)

James & Luna (daughter) - Beast/Prince Adam & Bella (Beauty and the Beast)

Nate & PJ - Pinky & The Brain (Pinky and The Brain)

Olve & Rhiannon - Romeo & Juliet (Romeo & Juliet)

Xavier & Natalie - Prince Charming & Cinderella (Cinderella)

[pcetstcrtured]

@heartsrecycled liked for a starter!

"i miss moments like this more than anything."

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: April 2019

Good riddance, April! It starts out as a joke and ends a day early. Who even needs April? Also taxes are due! Ugh what a month.

……….FILM……….

Paddington (2014) I lost my wonderful, albeit elderly, cat at the start of the month and this was a perfect pick-me-up. It’s heartwarming and earnest and beautifully shot and really well-written. It’s a film that totally embraces visual storytelling and the story it has to tell is so pure and loving that I’m glad we watched it when we did.

Avengers: Endgame (2019) You know...I didn’t know what to expect from this but it really delivered. There are a few things that bugged me (mostly the rest of the team’s bullying of a grieving Thor) but there’s no denying that the payoffs worked on me because I’ve been following these characters for so many years. Now I’m ready for more standalone stories.

……….TELEVISION……….

Queer Eye (Episode 2.01 to 2.08) Another season finished and geez is this good-natured television. They were a little rough on the guy who pretended he graduated college, but maybe that’s what he needed? Also I’m so deep in the trenches on this that I’ve been looking to buy more polos and am considering a French tuck.

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Episode 2.01 to 2.07) While season 1 ended...poorly...in my opinion, I’ll admit that Season 2 seems to be finding its stride. It’s a little campy and a little spooky and the Spellmans are a wonderful family unit.

……….READING……….

My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix (Complete) I really appreciate when a book’s title delivers on the premise. It has friendship, it has demonic possession, and it has a thick layer of 80s nostalgia on top. The 80s stuff was a little heavy for me at the start, but it thins out as the story progresses and I took it to be a reflection of the character’s priorities. It’s hard to focus on what store you visited in the mall when your best friend is up to supernatural shenanigans. Super fun and easy read and try to pick up the paperback version cause the art is so so good.

Player of Games by Iain M. Banks (Complete) This was loaned to me by a friend and while it’s not my usual choice (the main character is unlikeable and it’s high sci-fi with a lot of time spent on the nuance of the world-building), I really enjoyed it. The book sticks the landing and I really wasn’t sure how it would play out. It’s a little heavier and requires your full attention but it’s all worthwhile.

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 1 by Ryan North, Erica Henderson (Complete) After reading the graphic novel I couldn’t pass up trying the main series. It’s fun, looks at the history of the Marvel Universe through the eyes of an enthusiastic and knowledgeable fan, and avoids solving conflict with violence as much as possible! Great all-ages book and I really mean that; all ages will enjoy this.

Coyote Doggirl by Lisa Hanawalt (Complete) Beautiful and super funny. It’s a story the is confident enough to let the visuals do a lot of the narrative stuff and they pair well together. Definitely worth checking out and it’ll teach you about horses (if like me, you know nothing about horses)!

The Umbrella Academy Volume 2: Dallas by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba (Complete) I read this after finishing the Netflix series and it really emphasized the differences for me. The comic is franetic, exaggerated, and light on character beats. The show, which didn’t really click with me, was the opposite. I appreciate that they do different things and the medium affects the message, so i’m happy there are still more comics to read.

……….AUDIO……….

Sooo Many White Guys (Podcast) The new season is up and is really great! Trevor Noah and Jamella Jamil were super fun but all the latest interviews have been equally informative and entertaining.

……….GAMING……….

Maze of the Blue Medusa (Satyr Press) The party continues to explore an overrun garden but have since discovered there’s a lich in the area so...they’re changing course. Also one party member nearly died after thinking areas were “cleared” and travelled alone to collect firewood. He barely survived.

And that’s it! As always, please feel free to share recommendations for stuff to watch, read, hear, and play!

Happy Tuesday.

[bethgreeneishopeunseen]

I got the last 8 seasons of TWD on DVD and like I kinda paused on the Season 5 DVDextras when I saw “Beth’s Journey”... Why? Why have that? “Beth’s Journey”, “Bob’s Journey”, “Noah’s Journey”, “Tyreese’s Journey”... Why have these?? This is stupid I don’t understand. That’s insulting. They kill them off and talk about their journeys...

https://bethgreeneishopeunseen.tumblr.com/tagged/commentaries

https://bethgreeneishopeunseen.tumblr.com/post/127639414496/are-those-the-only-two-episodes-without

The season 5 DVD commentaries also didn’t feature any of the Grady-centric episodes, and Emily never appeared in the other commentaries. TPTB didn’t have commentary for a MSF that included the death of a main character, one who received an arc separate from the group and an original setting.

[antihcroes]

@painbears liked for a (lyrical) starter! drivers license - olivia rodrigo

"you said 'forever', now i drive alone past your street."

[gdwessel]

The New Beginning USA Night 1 - 1/30/2019; Full Giant Baba Memorial Card Released: Tanahashi/Yoshitatsu v. Miyahara/Sekimoto

The first of the New Beginning USA shows took place last night in LA.  We all know the issues with these cards, and I’ve already bloviated at length about them. They are what they are. 

The New Beginning USA - 1/30/2019, Globe Theater, Los Angeles, CA

Alex Coughlin TLD Clark Connors (10:00)

Jonathan Gresham d. Tyler Bateman (Modified Jackknife, 11:36)

Colt Cabana d. Shane Taylor (Clutch Hold, 10:22)

Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. [SZKG] d. Marty Scurll & Brody King [Villain Enterprises] (Archer > King, Killer Bomb, 13:09)

Jeff Cobb [FREE] d. Karl Fredericks (Tour of the Islands, 6:57)

David Finlay Jr. [Lifeblood] d. Chuck Taylor [CHAOS] (Trash Panda, 15:31)

One Night Only Roppongi Vice: Juice Robinson & Tracy Willams [Lifeblood] d. Trent Beretta & Rocky Romero [CHAOS] (Robinson > Romero, Pulp Friction, 32:20)

Y’know, I love me some Roppongi Vice, but I am not sure we needed a 32:20 prelude tag match for Juice Robinson v. Trent Beretta, which will be Friday. Finlay v. Chuckie was No DQ, and pretty surprised Finlay won that, if I’m honest. Doubly surprised Brody King took the fall in that match. Cobb must have squashed Fredericks, good grief... No word yet as to video release of this show.

AJPW released the full card for the Giant Baba Memorial show on 2/19/2019, today being the 20th Anniversary of Baba’s death at age 61 from cancer.

The main event of the show is an absolute stunner: IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi will be teaming with former partner, and current AJPW freelancer, Yoshitatsu, against AJPW’s Triple Crown champion Kento Miyahara and BJW World Strong (and AJPW World Tag Team, and ZERO-1 AWA World Heavyweight) champion Daisuke Sekimoto. Sadly, I know who’s taking the fall here, but this should be a GREAT match.

Tomoaki Honma, whose career began in BJW before working in AJPW and NJPW, will be in an 8-man match with Young Lion Ren Narita, BJW’s Yuji Okabayashi & AJPW’s Naoya Nomura. The only real change from what we knew before, is Naomichi Marufuji v. Masaaki Mochizuki has become a tag match. 

Abdullah the Butcher’s retirement ceremony will have all sorts of luminaries as part of it, including Keiji Muto, Stan Hansen, and the original Tiger Mask, Satoru Sayama. Should be a real hoot of an event, honestly.

Full card for the event:

Giant Baba Memorial Battle Royale: Mitsuo Momota, Kim Duk, MEN’s Teioh, TARU, Ryuji Hijikata, Yuto Aijima, Joel Deaton, Masao Inoue, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, Masahito Kakihara, Tamon Honda, Yasu Urano (Referee: Mighty Inoue)

Masanobi Fuchi [AJPW], Yuma Aoyagi [AJPW] & Yoshiaki Fujiwara [FREE] v. Taichi, TAKA Michinoku & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Eight Man Street Fight Bunkhouse Tornado Tag Team Deathmatch: Atsushi Onita [FREE], Kendo Kashin [FREE], Hideki Suzuki [FREE] & Hideki Hosaka [FREE] v. Shuji Ishikawa [AJPW], Great Kojika [BJW], Mitsuya Nagai [Dradition] & Hikaru Sato [Pancrase MISSION]

Tomoaki Honma [NJPW], Yuji Okabayashi [BJW], Naoya Nomura [AJPW] & Ren Narita [NJPW] v. Kazushi Miyamoto [FREE], Tomohiko Hashimoto [A-TEAM], Daichi Hashimoto [BJW] & Takuya Nomura [BJW]

Abdullah the Butcher Retirement Ceremony: Guests: Keiji Muto, Stan Hansen, Satoru Sayama, Hisashi Shinma

Naomichi Marufuji [NOAH] & Jinsei Shinzaki [Michinoku Pro] v. Masaaki Mochizuki & Shun Skywalker [Dragon Gate]

Jake Lee & Koji Iwamoto [AJPW] v. SANADA & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] v. Ayato Yoshida [K-DOJO] & Shota Umino [NJPW]

NOSAWA Rongai [Tokyo Gurentai] & Kaz Hayashi [W-1] v. Mil Mascaras & Dos Caras

Jun Akiyama [AJPW], Takao Omori [AJPW] & Taiyo Kea [FREE] v. Satoshi Kojima [NJPW], Yuji Nagata [NJPW] & Osamu Nishimura [FREE]

Kento Miyahara [AJPW] & Daisuke Sekimoto [BJW] v. Hiroshi Tanahashi [NJPW] & Yoshitatsu [FREE]

The next show of the New Beginning USA will be tomorrow, 2/1/2019, although much like last night’s show, I won’t be blogging about it until Saturday, which is also when the first night of The New Beginning in Sapporo takes place. See you then. There will be a title match main event, and Tomoyuki Oka makes his US debut in his Dominator Great O-Kharn gimmick.

- 2/1/2019, Grady Cole Center, Charlotte, NC

Karl Fredericks v. Clark Connors

Colt Cabana & John Skyler v. Lance Archer [SZKG] & Shane Taylor

Dominator Great O-Kharn USA Debut: Tracer X v. Dominator Great O-Kharn

Jeff Cobb [FREE] & Jonathan Gresham v. Marty Scurll & Brody King [Villain Enterprises]

Alex Coughlin v. Davey Boy Smith Jr. [SZKG]

David Finlay Jr. & Tracy Williams [Lifeblood] v. Chuck Taylor & Rocky Romero [CHAOS]

IWGP US Heavyweight Championship: Juice Robinson [Lifeblood] © v. Trent Beretta [CHAOS]