#Bethyl in the prison

[twd-alternate-timelines]

[olpie]

Chapter 1

Maggie finds some notes in Beth's cell.

Read it here.

[paledarklight]

Most important

Daryl Dixon in Every Episode - When the Dead Come Knocking (S03E07)

[emeryhiro]

What are your thoughts about the whole bethyl thing? I personally saw it more as Daryl finding hope and light when he was in a place of deep despair - she showed him that there's still good to be seen in the world. And so it was a major loss to him personally when she died. Plus she helped him process part of his past trauma.

But I've seen Norman Reedus and Greg Nicotero say that while romance wasn't scripted, there was a taste of it in the air when it came to acting choices. I hate that idea bc she was a teenager and it makes me feel less good about Daryl. I guess I'd hope that if he started catching some feelings "he didn't understand" (as NR puts it), then he would see that they're too far apart in other ways for it to go beyond a father/daughter big brother/little sister sort of bond. What do you think?

Hey Anon!

Thank you for your questions 😊 I'm sorry it took me some time to respond. I just wanted to be careful with what I say and how I explain my opinion since the last thing I want to do is disregard or disrespect anyone else's opinions on the topic.

I agree with you. I always saw that the reason Daryl grew to care so much for Beth was because she gave him hope and didn't allow him to shut off from the world after he thought he'd lost everything and everyone that mattered to him. This ultimately made him feel like he owed her because she saved him, maybe not in the literal sense, but definitely mentally. Her persistence ultimately leads him to finding everyone again.

Only hours before having to be on the run with Beth, Rick had told Daryl about how he'd sent Carol away for killing Karen and David, and we saw how defeated that made Daryl feel. Realising that Carol had to shoulder that responsibility on her own and that he wasn't able to be there to stand up for her put him in a really bad place mentally.

This guilt was then compounded by the governor returning to the prison and killing Hershel infront of everyone, and the guilt that Daryl felt for giving up his search for Governor, which in his mind was the reason Hershel died and they lost the prison.

So all these things combined meant that Daryl felt responsible for EVERYTHING that had just happened TO EVERYONE. And no one was there to help him sholder that pain and responsibility.

Ultimetly his instincts kick in, all the walls that he'd slowly been breaking down come right back up, and he starts to go cold again just to numb himself from everything he's feeling.

And this is where Beth came in. Firstly, her innocence and optimism was the only thing stopping Daryl from completely shutting off from the world. She kept reminding him that the other's could have made it and that if they got out then odds are others must have as well. And secondly, she kept him busy, she was something that needed his protection and that gave him porpose and a reason to keep going.

After Beth gets taken, Daryl ends up with The Claimers, who he thinks are exactly the type of people he deserves to be around, because (in his mind) he can't seem to be capable of keeping and protecting anything good that comes his away, but by some miracle he's reunited with Rick, Carl and Michonne again, and this is where he realises that Beth was right, and if Rick and co have made it then it probably means others have as well.

I think this moment above was the beginning of Daryl starting to believe that he has value again. Rick's words begin to soften him again, but even after reuniting with almost everyone again, we don't actually see Daryl's guard come down until this moment below.

Every single shield/wall he'd been putting up until now is instantly shattered. He's completely exposed in this moment. His mind and body take a few seconds to register what his eyes are seeing and what his heart is feeling, and he's instantly running to Carol and into her arms without any other thought. This is the moment we can get a true reading of his feelings.

Regarding how he felt for Beth...

Yes, I think there may have been some confusion from Daryl's side about what he was feeling for Beth, just like how Norman has described it previously; he cared for Beth, she was nice to him, and that was so rare in his life that he misread the whole situation and couldn't interpret what he was actually feeling. In my opinion, there was no romantic feeling or intent on either side; they were both just navigating a new form of friendship that they'd never experienced before. And if I had to, I'd compare his relationship with Beth to his relationship with Lydia. To put it very simply, he felt responsible for protecting these young girls who, at the time, had no one else on their side, and ultimately, both girls saved him in return and looked up to him as a role model.

~~~~

Thanks again for the questions 🩵 I really hope I did this justice because my main goal is to keep my blog a positive place for everyone.

I know there are many varying opinions on this topic, but I'm glad I got the chance to share mine, and I just wanted to once again say that this is my opinion and not meant to invalidate anyone else's 🩵

[doe-rose-q]

March 2, 2024: Happy STILLiversary!

🐞🐍🔪🏌🏾‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♀️🧟🍑🥃🥃🏚️💵🔥🖕🏻🖕🏼

10 years ago today, my very favorite episode of THE WALKING DEAD first aired—Season 4’s “Still.” It’s widely known in the fandom as “the Beth and Daryl episode.” 💘💘

The Bethyl ship had officially launched in the first episode of THE WALKING DEAD’s season 4—“30 Days Without An Accident”—when Beth Greene hugged Daryl Dixon during a tender moment shared while they were in her prison cell. But “Still”—the 12th episode of that season—remains the most significant in their relationship timeline because it’s when they truly begin to mutually understand and appreciate each other. It’s also important because it was the first ever “bottle episode” of TWD—meaning that it focused on only 2 characters’ shared story throughout Its entirety. Emily Kinney and Norman Reedus absolutely shine in their acting in “Still.” And their chemistry is so compelling, electric, and romantic! 💞

I created this Bethyl edit to not only commemorate this special anniversary, but to also bring Daryl and Beth into the Barbiecore era of 2024.🩷

Notice the price tag of this Beth & Daryl doll duo is the original air date of “Still”: 3/2/14. 😉

The Beth Greene and Daryl Dixon packaged dolls in this pic are actually the McFarlane Toys action figures. It’s a photo of my own Beth & Daryl figures that I took several years ago. They are dressed in the outfits they wore in the “Alone” episode—the next one after “Still.” Also, the photos of Beth and Daryl that I used on the “packaging” are from “Alone” along with Beth’s line of dialogue—“Don’t you think that’s beautiful?” 👱🏻‍♀️💚

So in a way, my post and edit here honor both of these beautiful episodes that feature this couple that I STILL ship so hard… 😍🥰😌

Beth + Daryl! 📗🏹

Beth and Daryl forever!!! 🐞♥️🐍

[frangipanilove]

Fighting Fire With Fire Part Three:

Pharmakon And The LK8-4167 Licence Plate

(read parts one and two here)

This really has been the season of licence plates for me. I’ve written about the resurrection symbolism around the XH6-S781 and the LC6M187 licence plates. Today I want to expand on the licence plate LK8-4167 that we first saw in 5x10 WHAWGO. A brilliant Bethyler back in the ancient times of Early Team Delusional discovered that it could potentially refer to the Bible verse Luke 8, which happend to tell a story of resurrection (If anyone remembers the name of the person who discovered this, let me know so I can give them proper credit).

Then, when 6x10 A New World rolled around, we saw the same licence plate again, which I wrote about in this post from a few weeks ago.

There’s actually a third car with this particular license plate. It appears in 6x6 Always Accountable, and the scene and episode in which it appears is full of resurrection symbolism. Let’s dive in!

I first wrote about the LK8-4167 license plate in this post from 2020. It’s old and somewhat dated, but it’s also fairly thorough, check it out for the basics of the three/tree/trunk symbolism.

The licence plate first came on to TD’s radar after 5x9 WHAWGO. Obviously, 5x9 was the first episode after Beth had been shot at Grady, and it was also the last episode Beth appeared in, as she appeared in Tyreese’s fever dream before he died.

WHAWGO was an episode where the audience needed to pay attention. One can argue that TPTB intentionally tried to trick the audience from the get-go, for starters, it opened with someone digging a grave. Everyone assumed it was Beth’s grave, as her “death” had been the last thing we saw in the episode prior. Then came the plot twist, when it turned out to be Tyreese’s grave. We still don’t know if/where/when/how Beth was buried, we learned from Talking Dead that 17 days had passed between 5x8 Coda and 5x9 WHAWGO, but we know nothing of what transpired in those days.

The lack of a funeral for Beth, and an outright fake “trick” funeral intended to lure us into believing she had been buried has emerged as one of the most pressing unanswered questions for Team Delusional. Was she buried? If so, where? When? And if not, why?

Glenn explained the rules back in season one: "We bury the ones we love, and burn the rest". Through the years we've seen an enormous focus on getting people, and at times animals like goats and sometimes even baseball bats, a proper burial.

But not Beth. Why not? TD has questions.

As the group struggled to save Tyreese in WHAWGO, we could hear Beth’s voice singing Struggling Man in the backround. We watch them reach the cluster of cars where they were parked, and we see this female walker in a car. Interstingly, we see this scene paralleled in 6X6 Always Accountable, where a walker was trapped in a car in a similar way:

And while we hear Beth/Emily singing Struggling Man in the background, we see Rick deliver this line, which is a callback to when Beth sang the Tom Waits classic "Hold On" at the prison back in season 3:

There’s something strange about how they all reacted with fear and horror to the cluster of cars, it's as though something had happened that inflicted some kind of shared trauma associated with walkers in cars on them.

We also saw that in the next episode 5x10 Them, where they came across a different cluster of cars along the road, and reacted as though it was the most frightful sight ever. It was in one of these cars Maggie found the blond, tied up walker, a walker that has been confirmed to be meant as a reference to Beth, in a scene that seemed to haunt Maggie to an almost unreasonable degree.

It doesn't quite add up. They were all seasoned survivers at this point, they had all seen, and neutralized, countless walkers. What was it about the walkers trapped in cars from WHAWGO and Them that stood out to them as particularly terrifying and traumatizing?

This could be a reference to another cornerstone TD belief. Had Beth been left in a car during a walker attack directly after the events of 5x8 Coda? Is that why she was so heavily surreounded by trunk symbolism? Was it foreshadowing?

And as they desperately tried to get their car unstuck from the mud, we saw the red vehicle with the LK8-4167 license plate.

When we seek out the corresponding verse in the Bible, we find a story about healing a girl and a resurrection. We’ve heard Beth’s voice singing Struggling Man up until this very moment.

"She is not dead but asleep".

However you might feel about it, it's hard to deny that the licence plate could refer to resurrection. And it's difficult to argue it was about Tyreese. We saw Tyreese get stabbed through the brain to prevent him from reanimating. And we saw him get buried. The symbolism was not about him.

It is much more likely that it was about the girl whose voice we heard in the background the whole time, the girl we never saw put down or buried, the girl who was also last seen in 5x9 WHAWGO. It’s more likely that it was about the girl who's been surrounded by all kinds of resurrection symbolism, and who's been closely paralleled with Rick, someone who now has died and resurrected twice.

The fact that there were human torsos (or simply "trunks") stored in the car is three/tree/trunk symbolism, which I’ve talked about elsewhere (such as here and here), and I won’t discuss that in this post.

But let's now return to the licence plate we saw in 6x6 Always Accountable. It's an interesting episode for many reasons, and it's also an episode in which we learn more on how TWDU uses the concept of "fighting fire with fire".

As Daryl, Sasha and Abraham finish operation Lead The Walkers Away, and are about to return home to Alexandria, they are suddenly attacked. As they speed up to outrun the gunfire, the become separated from each other. And it is during this car chase we see the third LK8-4167 licence plate:

Daryl takes a tumble right next to a Jeep Cherokee. I went into great detail on the resurrection symbolism around that, and how Jeep Cherokees and Cherokee Roses are synonymous, here.

He falls off his bike, injures his elbow but quickly gets back up on the horse. I'm not going to overstate the symbolism of that small detail, but it does constitute a representation of falling down (death) and getting back up (resurrection). On it's own it's merely a fun fact, rather than some super compelling evidence of resurrection symbolism, however it does fall in line with everything else we see, so I'll allow it. Let's agree it indicates resurrection symbolism at the very least. And it happened directly after we had seen the LK8-4167 license plate, that we now know represent resurrection.

Also, we did see a Jeep Cherokee at the end of 5x8 Coda, as Daryl carried Beth's seemingly lifeless body out of Grady Memorial, it's in the bottom left corner in this pic:

Keep the Jeep Cherokee in mind, because we'll return to it shortly.

Every Bethyler watching instantly knew that 6x6 Always Accoutable would be a treasure trove of Bethyl-coded symbolism the minute we saw this shot from after Daryl’s bike broke down:

He immediately tries to establish contact with Sasha and Abraham, but they’re out of radio reach. When they don’t respond he goes out in search of them.

He soon gets into trouble when Dwight, Sherry and Tina finds him and mistakes him for one of Negan’s Saviors. They tie him up and take him through a burnt forest that used to be their home, before it was overrun with walkers.

This is a good time to once again reflect on the meaning of pharmakon, a poison and a cure. Fighting fire with fire.

As they walk through the burnt forest, we get subtle clues pertaining to the fire symbolism through the dialogue:

Dwight and Sherry explains how they flooded the area with fuel, lit up a matchbook from the Sweetwater Beer Company, then the walkers "just walked right into the flames”.

Notice how Dwight and Sherry here reveal something crucial about how the wildfire virus affects the walkers? Walkers, meaning wandering undead corpses having succumbed to the wildfire virus, are hardwired to walk right into fire!

They are drawn to flames! This is quite iterally fighting wildfire with fire.

Then, it’s also important to note that the reference to "the Sweetwater" is a reference to the beer bottle in which Daryl placed a Cherokee Rose and gave to Carol in 2x4 Cherokee rose. Sweetwater is a brand of beer. The beer bottle he used was one from Sweetwater. And as I’ve explained here, ethanol/beer is the key to the cure, the antidote, the pharmakon.

And as we remember from season 3, Daryl placed a Cherokee Rose on Carol's empty grave, marking it as a scene for a future "resurrection", symbolism which was fulfilled when she was found alive in the tombs of the prison a few episodes later.

Daryl is eventually able to break free from Dwight and Sherry, and as he escapes into the woods, we see a walker with a Cherokee Rose on its back:

Again, this is the first Cherokee Rose we've seen since season 3, it's quite a significant moment, symbolism wise, because it's all about resurrection.

Then we turn our attention to Abraham and Sasha. They eventually end up near the same Jeep Cherokee, where they have a conversation about being left behind and having someone return for them. Again, TD has discussed these themes for years in relation to Beth and those 17 days post-Coda.

Many of us believe Beth was left behind in Atlanta, for reasons we don’t yet know. It’s significant that Abe and Sasha talk about these themes about being left behind and someone coming back next to the Jeep Cherokee.

This plays into the widely held TD belief that whatever it was that happened after Coda, it somehow involved getting overwhelmed by walkers, then placing Beth in the trunk of a car (foreshadowed in Still and Them), with every intention of returning to her, but then for some reason being prevented from doing so. And when they eventually did, perhaps she was "just gone".

Back to Daryl for a minute. Being who he is, he tries to make allies and friends out of Dwight and Sherry. This backfires on him as they betray him and steal his bike and his crossbow.

But Daryl is resourceful, and manages to find a truck full of fuel hidden under some greenery:

Please note the licence plate, PATTY002, on a truck labeled 002. I've discussed these numbers in countless other posts, so I won't elaborate on it here. However, it needs to be mentioned, because the symbolism around the 22/Morningstar/Lightbringer comes into play in a big way.

I'll just briefly mention that we could easily draw on the "one one" of Noah's t-shirt, we could interpret the 2 as in roman numerals II, which could also be read as the number 11, which again could be a reference to TWD 10x11 Morningstar.

We could also interpret the two 2's as the number 22, which I've written extencively about. Again it is a Morningstar reference, and it highlights the duality that we see around "pharmakon", in that both Christ and the Devil has been referred to as the Morningstar. Lucifer Morningstar. Lucifer means Lightbringer. The Devil and Christ. A poison and a cure. Fighting fire with fire.

Obviously, Sirius and Venus are both morning stars, in that they appear in the morning (and for the record, Venus is a planet, but was initially percieved to be two wandering stars, one that appeared at evening time and one that appeared in the morning)

And all of that suddenly comes into play, when Abraham finds a yellow Humvee with some serious rocket launchers, or should I say “light-bringers”, included.

And it's a good thing he did, because in 6x8 No Way Out, on their way home to Alexandria Safe Zone, they run into this group of unsavory characters; Negan's Saviors.

The Saviors demonstrate an atrocious lack of manners, and Daryl eventually teaches them a lesson, using one of Abraham's rocket launchers.

The symbolism here is interesting. The rocket launchers came from a yellow Humvee, something which brings our minds to the other yellow vehickles that's encompassed by the "yellow" symbolism. I wrote about it here.

And Daryl reached for one from the back of the 002 Patty002 fuel truck, which could be interpreted as part of the "one one" Morningstar symbolism, as well as the 22 Morningstar/Lightbringer symbolism.

But we learn more about how it relates to the pharmakon/fighting fire with fire symbolism once they reach Alexandria:

Alexandria Safe Zone, now completely overrun by a massive walker horde, is losing the battle against death. The undead outnumber and outcompete the living.

But Daryl has learned something from his encounter with Dwight and Sherry. He now knows that the walkers are drawn to flames, that the wildfire virus is attracted to fire. He arranges for the fuel to be poured into the lake, and then fires a rocket into it. The lake blows up in an inferno of flames, and as anticipated, the walkers walk right into the fire. Fire destructs the wildfire virus. Fighting fire with fire.

And above all, it’s very poignant Lightbringer/Morningstar symbolism. Daryl’s rocket launcher literally lights up the place.

The LK8-4167 licence plate is about resurrection. And resurrection in TWDU is associated with fire. We've seen that through the Sirius symbolism throughout the seasons. The Sirius symbolism revolves around Sirius The Dog Star, which returns to the sky one morning right before dawn, after having been gone for some time. Beth became inextricably linked with the Sirius symbolism after 4x13 Alone. The word "Sirius" comes from Greek "Seirios" and means "glowing, scorching.

Sirius The Dog Star returns one morning right before dawn... or shall we say sunrise?

An interesting detail is that while Daryl is out in the burnt forest with Dwight and Sherry, Sasha and Abraham seek temporary refuge inside the offices of a car insurance company called Sunrise Auto Insurance.

Remember Operation Cobalt, which included the decision to try to contain the spread of the wildfire virus by dropping napalm bombs on metropolitan areas all over the North American continent, likely killing hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of civilians. An alternative name for Operation Cobalt was the Sunset Protocol:

If "sunset" represents the end of humanity due to the wildfire virus itself, in addition to the use of napalm on civilians, through Operation Cobalt and the sunset protocols... could "sunrise" represent the opposite? A cure or an antidote. Pharmakon?

Both "sunrise" and "sunset" describes actions of the sun, which is a literal burning ball of gas. Fighting fire with fire.

And of course, there's this scene, in which we saw a "resurrection" of sorts, when the music box "came back to life" during a beautiful sunset after a particularly stormy night:

Sunrise heralds resurrection. Literally and metaphorically speaking.

Finally, a few words on things to potentially be exited about going foreward. In the TWD World Beyond coda, it was more than implied that the origin of the wildfire virus came out of a French lab. The grafitti on the wall translates to "the dead were born here".

We now also know that the French created variant walkers, specifically designed to function as weapons. In TWDDD 1x12 L'ame Perdue, we saw Daryl cross paths with one of these variants called les brûlant, burners, due to their blood that burn like acid when it comes into contact with human skin.

We saw Daryl suffer a bad burn, and we saw how he was later treated with cauterization, a technique that involves burning the affected area with a red hot iron. The "cure" hides in plain sight; fighting fire with fire.

Isabel explains that cauterization is they best way to prevent burns from les brûlant from spreading. It's a small scene, but it is one of the first things we learn about how the virus has affected France, and more importantly, it is confirmation that the symbolism is the same across TWDU: fighting fire with fire. A burn from a burner/brûlant is healed with cauterization, fire... Again, we see fire as pharmakon, a poison and a cure.

@bookqueenrules recently made me aware of a yellow car that's been involved in filming of what appears to be large parts of season 2. I wonder if it could possibly be a Jeep Wrangler. That would be an interesting reference to the symbolism around Carol's Jeep Cherokee from season 1, and it ties in nicely with all the other yellow vehicles we've come across that has serious resurrection undertones to them.

Having said that, I'm no car expert, and it could easily be something else entirely, time will tell. But it is yellow, that's for sure, and therefore it's part of the yellow vehicle symbolism, Jeep or not.

(ETA: I think it might be a Land Rover, now that I’m looking at it. But like I said, I’m not an expert, it could be anything really)

These symbols, the fire symbolism, the yellow symbolism and the Jeep Cherokee/Cherokee Rose symbolism, they intersect in really powerful ways, and I'm super exited to see how this all continues in TWDDD season 2, The Book Of Carol. And the concept of pharmakon, a poison and a cure, exists on both sides of the Atlantic.

[ultimatebethylficlist]

#BHF2023: Christmas More to Love

Bethyl Holiday Fest 2023: Christmas

We have another Bethyl Christmas fic to extend the holiday joy!

Silent Night by Olpie09 (@olpie)

On Christmas Eve at the prison, Beth looses her voice before the Christmas party. Having to be quiet is hard for her but she finds comfort in Daryl Dixon. Inspired by the Bethyl Holidays Fest 2023 prompt of Silent Night.

[galadrieljones]

Author Interview

Thanks for the tag, @littlelindentree ^_^ Happy New Year!

1. how many works do you have on AO3?

20

2. what's your total AO3 word count?

981,132

3. what fandoms do you write for?

I have written for Dragon Age: Inquisition, Red Dead Redemption 2, Horizon: Zero Dawn, The Last of Us, and The Walking Dead

4. what are your top five fics by kudos?

The Lily Farm (Arthur Morgan x Mary Beth Gaskill, RDR2)

That he may hold me by the hand (Arthur Morgan x Albert Mason, RDR2)

The Dead Season (Solavellan, DAI)

Magnolia (Bethyl, TWD)

Yours, Sadie Adler. (Sadithur, RDR2)

5. do you respond to comments?

Yes, as often as I can. Sometimes, I forget on older fics. I'm sorry about that. If someone is rude to me in the comments though, I will respond rudely!

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably Teen Wolf. It's a story collection so the ending isn't really "true," but it's the end of Solas and Ghilan'nain's love story, in my mind. It's sad and bittersweet, as in the story, they are talking about building a house on the back acreage of Solas's mother's property, but I envision the very next day as being the day that Andruil invades the Weathers, kidnapping both Ghilan'nain and Solas's mother Leanathy, and beginning the Great War. In the ensuing days, Andruil's men leave Solas for dead, and when he wakes up, he goes to Mythal and begs her to free his mother in exchange for his loyalty. She accepts, rescuing and protecting Leanathy in her Blue Palace, and Solas becomes her Bodyguard. Eventually, he is elevated to her General, then he becomes her lover. During the war, after Ghilan'nain's betrayal, the Evanuris murder Mythal, and Solas, out of vengeance and grief, builds the veil and imprisons them all, including Mythal's soul, which would, over time, resurrect into her body, using special magic taught to her by Solas's mother many thousands of years before.

7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Well, most of my long fics are unfinished. I'm sorry about that. I think that The Dead Season has a happy ending. So does Yours, Sadie Adler., thought it is bittersweet.

8. do you get hate on fics?

Not tons at all. I have gotten a few rude commenters over the years, mainly people being weirdly critical of my writing style in ways that are, frankly, moronic, and also some people who just want me to write more smut. But I don't write much smut anymore, and I don't think fics need smut to be worthy or interesting. If you only want a smut fic, you probably won't like my writing. Remember that tags exist so that you can see what you're getting into before you crack the first chapter!!!!

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

Lol. Speaking of. I used to write much more. It was never the overly explicit kind and I didn't have any specific kinks I liked to explore, but I wrote a lot of it for DAI and RDR2. I still write sex scenes for sure, it's just that they tend to be character driven.

10. do you write crossovers? what's the craziest one you've written?

I have never written a real crossover; however, I do have some crossover characters in The Lily Farm. In the later chapters, I have two main characters who are taken from other texts: Woodrow Call from Lonesome Dove and LaBoeuf from True Grit. Both are Texas Rangers, and in my fic, they owe Dutch a few rather large favors. They help Arthur and Mary Beth on the river boat job, which goes terribly wrong. They also help break John out of federal prison. They are two of my favorite characters in the fic.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of. I've had plenty of art stolen over the years and I don't even keep track anymore. Mainly it just gets reposted without credit on like, Pinterest. Oh well!

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of! But I am amenable.

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

I don't think so!

14. what's your all-time favourite ship?

I have several though Bethyl and Solavellan are probably tied for first.

15. what's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

The Lily Farm. In truth there's not a ton left to write. But it's been 84 years like I don't even remember the geography of the game. I would have to replay RDR2, at least through chapter 4. I also wish I could finish Zero, my Niloy fic for HZD. I still think about them, and I still occasionally get really really nice comments on that fic. I honestly wish I could finish all my old fics. Like That he may hold, which also has maybe one closing chapter left to write. I wish I could finish As You Were, too, my TLOU fic, just so that I can save Joel's life, and as a big fuck you to Neil Druckmann.

16. what are your writing strengths?

I'm not sure. Pacing has probably always been my greatest strength.

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

Overwriting, getting bored. My issue is often that I start a fic with modest goals but then those goals get bigger and bigger as I go, and I can't help myself. Then, I eventually get bored and I don't finish. I view fanfic as a way for authors to express themselves and their hyperfixations in the moment. I think that the quality of being "unfinished" is, in an of itself, conventional to fanfiction; however, I still view my general lack of focus as a weakness.

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Don't translate it. Just put it there. If your reader cares enough and doesn't know the translation, they'll look it up. If they don't care enough to do this, then they're not your target audience. The internet makes this sort of thing very easy.

19. first fandom you wrote for?

Technically it's the boyband fandom (*NSync and Backstreet Boys, mainly) in like 1998, but in actuality, it's Dragon Age: Inquisition in 2016.

20. favourite fic you've written?

Probably Yours, Sadie Adler. It feels the most complete, and I still don't know how I managed to write that fic so quickly, when I was like three weeks postpartum with my second baby, and with very little revision. It just flowed out of me, like it was already written in my mind, and all I had to do was type it out. I have received some really lovely comments on it over the years. It seems to affect people deeply, which makes me very happy, because it came from a very raw place in my heart.

I will tag @thevikingwoman @bearlytolerant @roguelioness @gneebee @shallow-gravy @a-shakespearean-in-paris @pipergirl17 @sasusc and @im-immortal <3

[paledarklight]

How long have you been a Bethyl fan? And what made you love them and be a fan of them

Oohhhhh , man...I've been a fan for a long time . I can't tell you when it started .

Beth's very sweet and innocent, don't let that be confused with being simple or naive.

She is fully aware someday she will die but she doesn't want that to be a excuse to not live or to be a coward.

She was a mother of Judy without complaining, she did what was asked for and more z she took on Ricks job of being a parent to his kid.

She killed walkers , she cooked, she mended clothes, she was also prepared to save Maggie.

She risked her life to save Carol who was in a coma , she got in trouble for it.

She saved Noah even though it cost her everything. .

Yes she was a brat mostly but Carl has had his times and no one complains about him half as much.

Daryl feels comfortable around Beth. He can be truthful and she accepts it, she doesn't shame him or yell at him except for when she really has to ..

He said that Faith ain't done shit, not even for her dad and Beth was hurt but she didn't force a apology.

When Zac died she comforted Daryl and asked him if he was okay vs him comforting her. He tells her truthfully " I'm tired of losing people" (he lied to Carol, he told her what she wanted to hear)

Beth only really yells at him twice. When she wants him to get off his butt and either help her find their people or help her find some booze cause it was something she wanted (I interpret this she knew she needed to get him moving and she needed to give him a reason because he was starting to shut down)

And the second time they fight is when she tells him that he needs to stop acting like he doesn't feel anything, which is exactly what Carol tells him post Coda , you need to let himself feel it

But she is never malicious towards him.

But she isn't afraid to bump heads with him either.

When they talk about his brother she doesn't make him feel ashamed vs Carols speech " he's not good for you"

He doesn't need somebody else telling him, he is fully aware who his brother is he is still allowed to miss him that's the only family he has.

He didn't need one more person telling him that his brother is a junkie and will probably hurt him again he is fully aware of that he isn't a child he's a grown man

BETH accepted his words and says " it's okay I hear you I miss my siblings too"

There was a love and sweetness that he got from her she was able to give him hope in a way nobody else was able to. She was able to show him things that changed him.

Before Beth he did not try to look for anyone he shut down he went back to how he used to be

Now... We literally have a show about him looking for Rick, that's because of her.

He put a blanket over a Walker. That's because of her.

Even the scene of him tossing water to Carol and her dropping it, he's so used to BETH knowing his next move that Carol not grabbing the water and letting it fall, thus that precious water spilt was wasted.

Beth would have caught it without question.

When Daryl is walking through the tunnels with the claimers and he tells them that they are not very friendly

He is used to somebody kinder somebody gentler.

When Carol sees him years later and she says you were like a boy and now you're a man she sees the change in him, why is him with Carol at the prison never made him a man vs Daryl and Beth alone for years from summer to winter and he becomes a man.

Being alone with her changed him for the better and he has forever different because of her, even if the show tries to give him another woman they will never know who he was before so they can't see the difference of growth in him.

Beth is and always will be the apple in the middle of the forest and he's dying of hunger -Norman

"Daryl is like a cat out in the rain they're hiss and bite you but if you take them in and you dry them off and feed it it's going to follow you for the rest of his life" -Norman anyhow Daryl shows love

Daryl only loves once in his entire life.

He can't love anyone else

[bethylmethbrick]

BETHYL FanFiction LOVE’S LONG ROAD Daryl Dixon and Beth Greene ZA AU

New Chapter: Her mind isn't yet fully awake, it's caught somewhere between the farm life of her dream and the reality of this room in a prison, then she smiles as she feels the power and warmth of his strong arms wrapped around her. Bethyl Love

Read on AO3

Read on FFN

[bethgreeneprevails]

A Few Thoughts About Daryl’s Pig Story:

• The story is about “Jimmy”. Jimmy was the name of Beth’s first boyfriend.

• Jimmy got a pig as a Christmas present. Last time we heard Daryl talk about Christmas presents (“never got anything from Santa Clause”) was with Beth in “Still”.

• Pigs can be correlated with Bethyl because of the pigs feet Daryl ate in “Alone”. He specifically grabbed a pigs foot to eat right before he opened the door in “Alone” because he thought the one eyed dog was there.

• Which leads to the next thing Daryl says that the piglet followed Jimmy around like a dog (Sirius symbolism).

• The pig waited for Jimmy after school. Another reference to Beth. One of the last things Maggie says to Beth is to get the kids and get on the school bus at the prison when it’s under attack. Maggie believed Beth was on the bus but when she found it later on she realized she never got on it.

• Jimmy takes the piglet and ties it to a tree in the backyard trying to kill it quick and painlessly but instead stabbing it over and over until it eventually bleeds out and dies. This made me think of the walker in “Still” that is tied to a tree in the backyard that Daryl uses as “target practice”. Beth eventually puts the walker down quickly and painlessly might I say? (not that walkers feel pain or do they?! 🤔)

Side note: I’m not sure how I feel about whether or not this story is about Daryl or Merle. I’ve seen a few theories. I don’t think it really matters either way because this is a symbolic story which makes Daryl’s comment that he “made it up” even better because it’s supposed to be unimportant who it’s actually about. We are supposed to see this story as completely symbolic because it is.

[olpie]

New Year's Day

Beth finds a note in her cell from Daryl.

Read it here.

[twdmusicboxmystery]

not sure if you are aware but amc plus is not doing early release of any of the daryl dixon episodes. My initial thoughts are, is this because they do not want anything spoiled, that they want everyone to see the same episodes released at the same time. If beth returns I do believe there will be mixed reviews from the GA, the same with the hate that TD got especially in the beginning.

Another thought, Glenn's fake out death. On the Talking Dead right after the episode where he is revealed alive, one of the writers- can't remember which one said something along the line that the reason they did the fake out death for Glenn was to test the waters on fake out deaths. TDers always believed this was about beth. That they planned to revealed her alive. Imo bringing back Madison and Troy are examples of seeing how the GA feels about bringing back "dead" characters. As far as I have read, the GA wasn't mad about them returning.

I have always wondered if the backlash about bethyl was why they didn't bring her back sooner. In the beginning the writers played with her age too much. At the farm she was a teenager. Hershel makes the comment about this, when talking about her and Jimmy. At the prison she is raising a baby yet she tells Axel she's 16 or 17 I can't remember, then daryl refers to her as a dumb college b. Yet EK was in her 30s and you could tell. For example other young characters like lyda, Enrid or Carl seem young on the show, they felt like teens. Beth never did. She should have been aged in the beginning the same as tara or rosita. Everyone argument about bethyl was age. Still is if you follow reddit. After all these years beth would not be in that teenage category. Possibly meaning the GA would be more open to the idea.

Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it?

I think they messed up from a PR standpoint when it comes to not showing the episodes to those who pay for the app early. Personally, I don't really care when the episodes drop. I'm watching them either way. But they've released them early for all the shows for so long now that if they were going to change it, they should have done a very big, very obvious announcement about that, and they didn't. People were expecting to be able to watch it yesterday, and that's not happening. So, now they're doing a lot of damage control. Not good.

As for the rest, you make good points about them wanting everyone to watch the episodes together. I seriously doubt it's about episode 1. So much of that episode--practically all of it, tbh--has been spoiled already in one way or another, that it wouldn't matter if they showed that episode early.

But it's probably not about the first few episodes at all. Maybe they're just setting a precedent so that everyone watches the last episode together. And if that's the case, it does suggest something huge happening in that episode. Let's hope so!

I really enjoyed reading what you said about tptb testing the waters for the fakeout. I'd forgotten that about Glenn's death. And I agree that no one seems particularly angry about Troy's or Madison's return. Which means tptb have done their job, getting the GA used to this sort of thing so there will be less of a backlash. There will always be detractors, of course. And Troy and Madison aren't a big part of the shipping wars, as Beth is, so there's that. But still, all great points.

And yes, I totally agree that no one will be able to say anything about Beth's age anymore. She told Axel she was 17, and that was only a year or two into the apocalypse. I read in one of the review articles that the Daryl spinoff goes out of its way to tell the audience we are now 12 years into the apocalypse. There must be some reason they are being so specific about that. So, without a doubt, Beth would be close to 30 now.

And just like that, arguments about her age are gone. ;D Anyway, thanks for your thoughts. I guess we'll have lots to talk about on Sunday. 😊 Xoxo! 🍁🍂💓

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

Hey! I know you usually write stuff about spider! Buttt I saw you reblog some Twd stuff (which I Love)

So I was wondering what some of your opinions are about the Twd characters? (You don’t have to answer since I know you usually do stuff with the avatar fandom!)

Oh please, I would LOVE to answer. I was, of course, originally a Walking Dead blog as evidenced by my name. I love any and all asks about any of my fandoms lol.

Very open ended question there are so so many characters, so if you have any specific characters you want my opinions on feel free to ask. Obviously when I was larger in The Walking Dead/Fear the Walking Dead fandom I was a gleggie blog, mostly a Glenn Rhee blog. I, like a lot of other people, stopped watching after season seven. It wasn't really an intentional thing, my family fell behind and we never bothered to catch back up. We rewatch the first few seasons very regularly though. I am of the opinion the show was really fantastic until about... generously season five-ish. The first three seasons of that show are some of the best television out there. My favorite episode is Seed (301), and my favorite part of the timeline is 4A, I ADORE prison era the most, as most of the fandom does, but the farm has a special place in my heart.

Opinions on characters, I think highly of most of them. I'm trying to think if I have any controversial fandom opinions. Oh, I do not understand bethyl hype and I was never that passionate a Beth stan. I never cared about Dale that much. I love Shane as a character, he's so haunting and such a fantastic parallel to Rick in the first two seasons. I hate Negan and my family was all turned off by the fact that he lived. My mom is a staunch Lori hater and she thinks Sam Anderson was a really ugly and annoying kid, which was always really funny to watch. Obviously like most Glenn blogs I think Glenn was really misused as a character, especially towards the end. I am a richonne stan and I will be watching that spinoff. I am, however, disgusted by the Maggie and Negan spinoff and by all Negan stans. Dude really was a rapist and we all do be forgetting that. Oh, and I am an Andrea hater and a Merle Dixon apologist.

I have Fear the Walking Dead opinions too, since you're all Avatar people you might not have seen my top FTWD post about my literal icon bestie badass Travis Manawa (Cliff Curtis) beat that walkers head in with a cinderblock and then throw it at racism border patrol asshole Noel Fisher (who I constantly forget was in this show) because fuck weapons when you can possibly hit that guy you're mad at. But you'll like it.

But tbh that show, although cool at the beginning, killed off more cool poc characters than fucking history itself. We stopped watching that one quick as hell.

[rckyfrk]

If you could have any other small group* post-fleeing-from-the-prison meet up with bethyl before the end of Alone, which would you pick? How might’ve changed things? 🐞

*Going off the theory that Team Family was never that far away from each other the whole time.

Of all the groups, I would pick Glenn and Abraham & Co.

If they'd found Rick, Michonne, and Carl, or Carol and Tyreese, or even Maggie, Sasha, and Bob, Beth would never get to show how strong she was, wouldn't be given the chance to hold her own, because someone from the other group would make sure she was protected. She'd never be given her chance to shine.

And yes, Glenn would have done that, to a point, but I think he would have seen what Daryl had seen and would have given her the chance to test her skills, but he'd always be there as back up, just in case...again, like Daryl had.

Yes, Rosita and Abraham were both strong fighters and survivors, but their concern was focused on protecting Eugene, so they would have left Beth to her own defenses. Meanwhile, Tara would have seen Beth almost as a kindred spirit - someone who had never had opportunity to test her skills and show how strong she was.

[ultimatebethylficlist]

It's once again time for the Moonshine Awards! Since we've got some new members to the Bethyl fandom, we figured it was a good time to once again go over the rules.

Nominations:

The fics and fan art that can be nominated must have been posted or updated between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022.

To be eligible for the Breakthrough Author of the Year category, the author has to have posted their first fic after January 1, 2022.

Once a fic or fan art has been nominated, it is in for voting. So no need to nominate the same fic, art, artist, or author every day. 

Previous winners of a category are ineligible to win the same category with the same fic. If the previous winner is nominated with a new fic or piece of artwork, they will be eligible for voting. There is a list of ineligible fics in each category below.

Best Classic fics need to have been completed by December 31, 2021. Previous winners are ineligible.

Previous winners of Author, Artist, and Fandom Supporter of the year are not eligible to win again.

Ineligible Fics:

Best ZA (WIP)

Gracie by Courtneyshortney82

Wasn't Born and Angel by Airebella

Let the Good Times Roll by gutsforgarters

Best AU (WIP)

Don't Make Me Haunt You by SquishyCool 

In My Blood by Courtneyshortney82

Doo Wah Diddy Diddy by gutsforgarters 

Best Multichapter (WIP)

Gracie by Courtneyshortney82

I Will Follow You Into the Dark by Airebella 

Most Wanted by SquishyCool 

Best Series

The Humbling River by devils_might_heed_us 

Doo Wah Diddy Diddy by gutsforgarters 

I Need A Life, A Love Life by arrowsandangels

Bump Series by LemonStar 

Fifty-Four Days by LemonStar 

Best Prison 

Baby, It's Cold Inside by Pipergirl17 

No Red Thread But A Bowstring by wandering_gypsy_feet

Marlboro Man by gutsforgarters 

Sleep Deprivation by wallflow3r 

What We Become Along The Way by onborrowedwings

Big Ideas by ivyandocean

Best ASZ

Gracie by Courtneyshortney82 

Maybe Everything That Dies, Does Come Back by leftmywingshome 

Someday by EmmyGreene

Everything Where It Belongs by dynamicsymmetry 

Best Reunion/Fix It (WIP)

Gracie by Courtneyshortney82 

Wasn't Born an Angel by Airebella 

Fog on the Windows by thedevilyouknow16 

Best Humor

Who Let Dog Out? by Courtneyshortney82 

Doo Wah Diddy Diddy by gutsforgarters 

Don't Make Me Haunt You by SquishyCool 

Best Smut (WIP)

You Do Me Good by witchmars

Doo Wah Diddy Diddy by gutsforgarters 

Best Classic

Fifty Four Days by LemonStar 

Fix by thedevilyouknow106 

Spiced Molasses by MonDieu666 

I'll Be Yours For A Song by dynamicsymmetry 

The Wood Sculptor by gneebee

Author of the Year

SquishyCool 

Lindentree 

gutsforgarters 

Artist of the Year

gala_art

Best Fandom Supporter

Courtneyshortney82

Boltthrutheheart 

GracieMae11