#bethyl fan fiction

[ultimatebethylficlist]

#BHF2023: Christmas

Bethyl Holiday Fest 2023: Christmas

Thank you to everyone who created these wonderful holiday works to make the Bethyl fandom Merry and Bright!

Silent Night:

Small Miracles by SquishyCool (@im-immortal)

Beth Greene is not dead. Though it is not for a lack of trying. After eight long years spent in the CRM's grasp, struggling to find reasons to continue surviving, Beth finally finds her reason: Rick and Daryl are alive, and they are closer than she ever could've guessed. Now she must take advantage of her only opportunity to escape and track them down. Along the way, she revisits all of the places that changed her into who she has become. And she is forced to remember who she truly is at heart despite how unrecognizable she finds herself. But she has an unexpected ally along for the journey. Just the same as her, he is somewhat of a living miracle. Except he's no longer living... he's a walker. written for Bethyl Holidays Fest 2023 prompt: Silent Night

Christmas Carols:

I'll Be Home For Christmas by @mistressheroine

Beth Greene had returned from the dead a little over three months ago. Even though the snow is falling over Alexandria, Daryl Dixon can't help but notice he rarely sees her without her grey beanie sat firmly on her head. He thinks he knows why, and decides it's time to make sure she knows just how much she means to him. Written for Ultimate Bethyl Fic List holiday prompts for BHF23. This one is for "Christmas Carols".

The Accidental Christmas by @gneebee

It should have been a simple twenty mile drive home, but trouble started when Beth made a wrong turn and found herself lost. Bad went to worse when she swerved to miss a Doe and her Fawn, and now she finds herself with her car in a ditch in the middle of nowhere. Her only hope is to try and make it on foot back to the roadhouse she passed a mile or two back.

Merry Christmas! We can't wait to see what you come up with for the New Year prompts!

[rckyfrk]

Calling all Bethyl-ers!!

Do you remember what tomorrow is?

I do, too, Beth…

It’s a Bethyl/Waiting For Beth chat in the discord server!!

Chat will run 8:00 am to 3:00 pm CST tomorrow, Friday, August 11. Come and go as you’re available!

The goal is to catch up with each other, encourage each other in whatever WIPs we have going, fic recs…and whatever else we want!

If you need an invite to the discord server, please let me know.

And do me a favor - please reblog and/or tag others to help spread the word!

[boltthrutheheart]

WIP challenge

Thank you for the tag @mistressheroine

in a reblog (or new post w/ rules attached), post up to five (5) filenames of your WIPs; not titles, file names.

post a snippet from one of them. snippet must be words you wrote in the last 7 days. we’re posting progress here. if you haven’t made any, go make some and come back to post!

after you’ve posted, people can send you an ask with one of your file names. you must then write 3 sentences in that file. if the filename is one you can’t share from (for example, an event fic), write 3 sentences on it anyway, and then 3 more on another to share.

that’s it! you can invite others to join in, or just post.

File names:

I WIll Follow You Into the Dark

Wasn’t Born an Angel

A soft knock on the bedroom door that wasn’t her door rattled Beth’s heart…if it was Daryl…she had absolutely no idea what she was going to say to him.

But it wasn’t Daryl…

“Beth…” a voice she knew but couldn’t recall ever saying her name…

 Another soft tap on the door…

“Beth, it’s Rosita, can I come in?

Such an absurd question…it was clearly Rosita’s room.

“I’m sorry…” Beth squeaked, reply muffled by her face buried in her lap. “I’m sorry…” lifting her head just as Rosita cracked the door.

“Are you alright?”

Never having really become acquainted with Rosita, her concern was unexpected.

“Yeah…yes…I just…” How could she possibly explain what was wrong?

“You just needed a door to slam.” There was such a sultry ease in Rosita leaning up against the doorframe, light from the hall spilling into the dimly lit bedroom. “I do it all the time to Abraham when he’s being a dick, and he’s a dick a lot. It feels much better with the guy getting the door slammed in his face though.”

Beth’s lips turned up slightly, maybe imperceptibly. And Rosita was right. She did need a door to slam.

[mistressheroine]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love❤

Thank you for the tag @gneebee 🥰 I don’t have many or even five to choose from right now so here’s basically everything I’ve written ☺️

Something

That was what Rick had said right? “I know you lost something back there”. She was more than something.

Keep Me

The young woman singing so beautifully mere feet from him was his ghost. She had sunshine blonde hair, loose curls gathered into a high ponytail with a single braid running through it at one side. Her eyes were cornflower blue and there were three pretty distinctive scars across her otherwise perfect face - two crescent shapes across the left side of her forehead and her right cheek with a small puckered circle above her right eye just below her hairline. She looked older but Daryl knew without a doubt who she was. He had heard her melodic voice in his dreams enough times to remember exactly how she sounded. It was embedded deep in his bones.

A Stolen Moment

There she was, his Beth Greene. The porcelain had survived under the layers of steel.

I tag the amazingly talented @im-immortal @littlelindentree @raginglittlehurricane @boltthrutheheart and anyone else who wants to participate 🥰❤️

[frangipanilove]

Interesting article - not sure I agree with all of it/the slant outs written from, but worth a read https://winteriscoming.net/why-daryl-s-kiss-on-the-walking-dead-daryl-dixon-caused-so-much-controversy-01j9msj0fjct

Hi friend, thanks for this and I’m sorry this has taken so long, this is all yesterday’s news now I guess. October has been beyond busy here and I’m only now catching up on Daryl Dixon discourse. I remember seeing this article when it came out and didn’t really have time to delve into it, but I will say, it’s written by what I understand is a die hard c@aryler, and as I’ve expressed other places this season, I’m not impressed by the abilities of some c@rylers to actually watch the show, rather than just watch for the things they want the show to be, and then be disgruntled when the show doesn’t cater to their specific preference of fan-fiction.

I for one never understood that whole thing about Daryl’s core personality trait being loyal to Rick and his family. Sure, he can be that too, but that doesn’t mean Daryl doesn’t have an individual desire for belonging to someone of his own and having a family of his own. People have been saying that Daryl is acting out of character this season, I strongly disagree, I think he’s more in character than ever. He has evolved, he’s not the same person he was in season one, and I have personally always seen him as someone who desperately wants to belong to someone and have a family of his own. That doesn’t take away anything from his relationship to Judith and RJ, he’s their uncle Daryl. But a man can be an uncle and a father simultaneously, he doesn’t have to choose.

The article reveals its bias when it states that Daryl has never canonically shown romantic interest in anyone. That’s classic c@ryler ignorance. I’m not bashing most c@rylers here, but a certain vocal sub category of them, who pride themselves in not having watched the bethyl episodes, which of course renders them ignorant to Beth’s impact on him. Us Bethylers know that it’s factually incorrect that he’s never shown romantic interest on the show, case in point 4x13 Alone, and since the article was released, we obviously also got Norman’s glorious confirmation of Bethyl as bona fide lovey dovey, boyfriend-girlfriend stuff.

I binge watched the entire season when it aired, and to me it was clear that this season was about Daryl’s desire of having a family of his own, and while he clearly became attached to Isabelle, it was always about Laurent for him. This season wasn’t about Daryl getting a girlfriend, it was about Daryl becoming a father. I think that’s 100% in-character for Daryl🥰

[gala-art]

Hi! I recently come across your art on pinterest and found your blog thanks to the link. I apologize in advance for the errors in the text, because I speak English poorly, I write through a translator (hello from Russia!). I just want to thank you for the atmospheric and cute drawings (of Daryl and Beth), I often review them. I am also an artist, I have an audience (1,500 people have subscribed to me on the VKontakte social network), and I wanted to ask you if you have come across any hate to the fact that you paint Bethyl? If you have encountered this, how did you react to it? On Pinterest, I often noticed people who strongly hate Bethyl, saying that they have a big age difference and other age-related arguments (in my personal opinion, meaningless arguments that can be strongly argued with, but it's still a shame when cute pairing is condemned from scratch). Because of such people, I'm a little afraid to share the art related to this couple. Your advice will be useful to me. Thanks in advance for the answer!❤️

Hello! Thank you so much for your kind words, and for your ask. I'm always excited to meet other artists and fans who support bethyl. They are a beautiful ship. I love to hear that you have a following for your art in your home country. I would love to support your art. If you ever consider sharing it on tumblr, or if there's a way for me to find it on pinterest or elsewhere, please let me know!! The bethyl community here is still active and very supportive.

In response to your question: Yes, I have received hate on my art. And I know that many of my friends and our fellow shippers have also received hate even just for posting their opinions about bethyl online. It's unfortunately not that uncommon, though as I've heard, it used to be a LOT worse. Unfortunately, there are people on the internet who think that they are a kind of "morality police." It's usually because they simply want another character to end up with Daryl in the show, so they use any excuse to invalidate ships they don't agree with. For bethyl, that happens to be the age gap. It often results in all kinds of bullying. Name-calling, harassment, etc. I've seen people refer to Beth as a "kid," even as that is clearly a lie.

As you said, and as we see here, there are of course arguments to be made, ie: Daryl and Beth are both adults, it's a fantasy, it's a fictional apocalypse setting, shipping something or liking something in fiction doesn't mean you'd condone it in reality, etc. etc. etc. Unfortunately with these people, none of that stuff matters. It doesn't feel good.

SO. The best way to deal with it is mostly to just ignore it. In the past, I've mostly just told people to go away. If you're being harassed, block the person, report them on your platform if possible. The last thing I try to do is argue with them, because it's pointless. I also try not to let it affect me and my love for bethyl and my experience as a fan artist too much. The thing to remember is that bethyl was and still is very popular. Most people don't care about the age difference. Most people aren't sitting around and thinking up ways to make other fans miserable. Being a part of a community, if possible, is the best way to fortify yourself against antisocial bullies. Having friends and mutuals on your platforms who lift up your art and support you, and who you support in return, is the best defense against haters. I have made many friends in this fandom who I will cherish always. That's why I am here.

On that note, try not to be afraid to share art of the couple you love. This is a hobby, a passion that we take part in for free. And there is nothing morally wrong or "problematic" with bethyl. Haters will make that claim, because they will say anything to bring other people down. If people are put off by the age difference, that is of course their right. They are entitled to their opinion. But that is JUST their opinion. It doesn't mean that their opinion is more correct or better than anyone else's, no matter what they say, and it DEFINITELY doesn't justify hate and abuse. So surround yourself with friends and a community of people you enjoy. Even if it is very small, it's enough! Ignore the haters, and block/report them if they become a problem. They will always be there, as haters are a fact of life. So we just have to persevere. That's my advice. I'm very flattered that you would ask for it ❤️

[galadrieljones]

30 for AO3 wrapped!

Thank you for the ask, beach ^_^

30. Biggest surprise while writing this year?

I would say that my absolute biggest surprise while writing this year was the reemergence of Solas and Solavellan to the forefront of my creative life. When the year began, and even halfway through, basically through August, I had been writing exclusively for a different fandom, namely Bethyl in The Walking Dead, which I have been writing for since 2020. It's a fandom I still hold dear and have not forgotten. It's just on hold for the moment. I'm not really in the loop of things lol, and so when I found out that DA4 was actually happening, and it was happening this year, and then that Solas was this major part of it, it took me a really long time to process. Like, what did that mean? I didn't really think I could pick it all up again. It was so much last time. Solas was basically the reason I started writing fan fiction, or coming to this website at all. I needed someone to share all of this agony with. So he's like the seed from which all of this has grown, all of my friendships, over a million words. When I was first working on Riptide, which was just meant to be kind of this personal exercise, I started to remember how important Sene Lavellan was, too, and her relationship with Solas, how epic and how intense and layered, and how much I just really love writing her. Then I finished Veilguard, and I was like, ended. It felt somehow even more intense than finishing Trespasser. An ending, but also...a beginning? Too much lol. So yeah, I guess my biggest surprise this year was Solas. Retaking my heart once again.

AO3 Wrapped Asks - Feel free to send some more ❤️

[gneebee]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by @pipergirl17- thank you my friend!❤️

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I have 92 works on AO3!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

2,556,425 -- Holy Mole!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I write for The Walking Dead with plans to write for TWD Daryl Dixon soon. I write for several different pairings / ships within the fandom

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

A Place Called Heavenly (Daryl Dixon/Beth Greene)

Just Playin' (Rick Grimes/Beth Greene)

Two Doors Down (Rick Grimes/Beth Greene)

The Wonder of Christmas (Rick Grimes/Beth Greene)

Love's Long Road (Daryl Dixon/Beth Greene)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Always - if I didn't it's because I somehow missed it. Fic writers live for comments and I believe in acknowledging those who leave them.

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I have fics with plenty of angst, but not at the end

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

All my stories have happiness at the end - there's enough bad crap going on in the real world.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No, but I have had people trying to start fights about content that didn't even exist in my story, and I've had the occasional meanness, I just wonder why the hell they read it if they don't like it, then move on

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do, not in every story, but in some. I've only written F/M and no kinks.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Not as a rule, however, I did write a two chapter Bethyl Comedy called The Makeover where Daryl gets a visit from the fellows at Queer Eye for the Straight Guy

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Oh yes. I have had my dialog copied verbatim, the plot and characterizations used, even nicknames I gave characters. By far, the worst was my entire story "Love's Highway" was stolen. "Only the names were changed" . It was made into a novel and was for sale on Amazon and Goodreads. A reader advised me and I got it removed quickly enough. I was not the only writer this happened to at the time, it was several writers who had works stolen

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I'm aware of

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

Yes, I have co-written three, although I no longer credit my co writer because she asked me not to. She chose to give up writing and didn't want anyone to ever know she once been involved in writing FF

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Daryl Dixon and Beth Greene - by a mile

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

All my stories are complete except my current WIP Love at the Solo Cafe, and a couple of others I am working on behind the scenes

16. What are your writing strengths?

In the fan fiction world I would say my biggest strength is I have extreme OCD and so I always finish what I start.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm easily distracted haha Also, I have no patience with my characters. I want them to get together and quit dancing around their attraction to one another.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I have written sign language - ASL - for TWD Connie, but other than that, I just haven't done it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

TWD

20. Favorite fic you've written?

That's an incredibly difficult question to answer. I have a great personal closeness to several. I'll say Love's Highway because it's closest to home for me and the hub.

Thank you again @pipergirl17 I will tag @rckyfrk @sasusc @mistressheroine @roksolanna77 and whoever else who wants to participate

#dash games

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Dead City, Ep 4: Everyone Gets a Prize - Analysis

@wdway

I'm hoping that this is a way that they would set up Maggie having a flashback. Maybe a scene of Beth on the other side of the doorway talking to her Maggie from s4. A new scene build on what we did see that would be great.

The other thing that stood out to me and I'm not giving anything away on the storyline but the showrunners comments at the end of episode, it really caught my attention because he compared something that happened in the episode a scene in Les Miserables. I never read the book, but the broadway musical play is my all-time favorite, so I really caught that remark. I thought what a strange connection he's making to a very famous book and musical plat about the French Revolution.

@galadrieljones

I never really watch the commentary after the show unless you guys say I should (I know I know I should lol) so I’d be interested to know the comparison to Les Mis!!!! I love Les Mis. There is I guess kind of a Fantine/Cosette thing going with Maggie and Ginny and ofc Negan could be compared to Jean Valjean, the ex-con who is still being pursued by moral purist Javert (re: Armstrong). Great catch with the French comparison

Also I have similar hopes re: flashbacks but more so with Daryl’s spin-off. Idk how they will skirt the Beth issue if they do flashbacks. I think a lot of ppl would notice if they did.

@wdway

He compared the scene between Negan and Armstrong with Jean Valjean saving Javert. The comparison was that the hunted saved the hunter.

@galadrieljones

I never thought of Negan as a Jean Valjean character, but I love it.

@wdway

Neither had I, but I still think that the comparison to Les Miserables is a bit pushing it. I think it was more about just putting that in the minds of the viewers.

@galadrieljones

Okay so it's not a spoiler so I will just share my google results. It was really kind of weird like it made me blink multiple times rapidly and lean so close to the computer I almost bumped it with my nose lol. This is what I saw:

NAFC, the way it's stylized, looks like it's some sort of fighting guild.

I was fully prepared for NAFC to not be real btw, and it's not. But I wasn't prepared for the first and only real hit for what NAFC means irl

It's not so much what it is, but WHERE

It's literally located AT King Street Station, on the DC Metrorail, which begins in Alexandria, VA

Idk if you guys remember my insane rant about the DC Metrorail, which was actually the rant that got @twdmusicboxmystery to invite me into your group chat

I surmised after Acheron 1, due to Negan's subway directions, that they probably ed the DC metrorail subway at the King Street Station in Alexandria. Negan's subway directions took them toward the Shady Grove stop, which is a terminus: “Yellow Line North. Switch to Blue at Reagan National, then hop the Red toward Bethesda.” Anyway, this is a wild callback to Acheron Pt. 1 and 2, which largely take place in the DC underground. With Maggie and her group now ing the NYC subway, I can't help but think this is on purpose.

Anyway, this isn't a Bethyl thing. But it's just like, for me, confirmation that they are ABSOLUTELY hiding clues in the real world.

They are counting on certain types of fans to google stuff and find these clues, like the coordinates, which lead to the Canary Islands

This is also taking me way back to Acheron 1. One of the subway stops they pass, and Daryl shines his light conspicuously on the sign, is the "Pyron" Station:

The Shady Grove underneath means that it is the terminus for that particular line.

When I initially googled "Pyron Shady Grove" a million years ago, idk what I was expecting. Essentially, it lead me to the Shady Grove stop on the DC metro (which is real), but that word, "pyron," was bizarre. It means literally nothing. I was kind of thrown for a loop as to why they included that nothing word.

Note that if you search these keywords now, you'll first get a hit for this fictional subway station, but when I initially googled "Pyron Shady Grove," that page hadn't been created yet, so at the time, when searched together, these keywords showed very few hits. There was one, however, that I could make heads or tails of. It was a hit for a cemetery, called the "Northcutt Pyron Cemetery," which is in Acworth, Georgia.

Not three miles from this cemetery is another cemetery, called the Shady Grove Cemetery. Acworth is in Cobb County, GA. Cobb County is where the filming location was for the CDC in season 1. Further, the Shady Grove Cemetery has a church. It's called the Shady Grove Baptist Church. It looks SO familiar, but I don't think it's ever been filmed at. It's not exactly a "white church," but it has a white steeple:

ANYWAY, Idk if you remember @twdmusicboxmystery, but I spammed you with this 84 years ago in your DMs, and that's the day you invited me to this group chat. I remember it as "my audition" to be a TD theorist LOL.

At the time ultimately I was like, no I am being a conspiracy theorist, BUT, this NFCA thing has made me wonder if the writers do think about and test-run the google algorithm before they make these choices. For example, there is like a net zero change that they chose "NFCA" not knowing that the search results would turn up a certain hit.

Just like "Biomedicine." There's a net zero chance they chose "Biomedicine DMII" for the WB coda not knowing that "France Biomedicine" would turn up the Pasteur Institute.

Now, per the word "pyron." I remember talking to my husband about how the google algo works. He told me that the algo can be spammed in certain ways to promote search hits, but that this would never really work now UNLESS the search term in question is super unique, ie: "pyron," which is REALLY unique. Can it be a coincidence that there's a cemetery in Cobb County, GA with the extremely unique word "pyron" in its name? And that that said cemetery would be located so close to another cemetery with the words "Shady Grove" in its name? And that the Shady Grove Cemetery has a church with a white steeple? And that Cobb County contains multiple filming locations for TWD, including the filming location for the CDC? I mean ofc it can be a coincidence! But after Acheron, Pt. 1, I mostly stopped thinking about the cemetery coincidence because it just never came up again, UNTIL NOW, when I'm taken BACK to Acheron 1 via another real world clue related to the DC metrorail, and now I'm really starting to wonder. Are these...actual clues?

(Oh also I feel it's important to mention that the Pyron Shady Grove search can STILL be replicated to this day. Even though there is now a bunch of hits pertaining to it as a fictional location in TWDU, you can still find the hit for the cemetery on page 1 of Google)

Honestly, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that this clue is directing us back to this moment to rewatch, ie: the DC metrorail, the subway scene in Acheron 1. Maybe to google the Pyron Shady Grove sign, if we haven't already, on like a wild goose chase. Ofc I am a conspiracy theorist so...

@wdway

What struck me when I was reading is how you were talking about (Washington) DC metro rail in s11 and now you're talking about the DC subway in Dead City spin-off. Try and convince me that wasn't on purpose. Try. No, really I don't think you can convince me.

@galadrieljones

Not to mention that Acheron 1 and 2 are basically 100% Maggie/Negan tension and here we are…

@wdway

Okay, Miss Research Queen of TWDU. Here's your assignment. I've only watched the episode once, I only took one shot, I know it must mean something because Maggie all but come to a complete stop when she saw it. Let's see what magic you can do.

I have to tell you my mind went straight to some possible chapter and verse in the Bible. I have no idea what it could be. That's as far as I got.

@galadrieljones

I have not had time to look into that one yet tho it is 100% in my notes. My only initial observation was that Pennsylvania could be a reference to Rick and the CRM. I had not thought of the Bible but that is genius !

Okay I found out that LIRR Access means Long Island Railroad Access so we’re really cookin lol

Maggie really stares at this sign for a long time. I noticed that. She had a lot of interesting internal moments in this episode.

So literally it means 31st street-38th street. You can access the LIRR from Penn Station which is on 31st. I think I recall them talking about ing via “the thirties” when they were trying to decide how to get into the Croat’s sanctuary

Per your idea I also searched for Bible passages at 31:8. Everything comes up Deuteronomy 31:8 - “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

@twdmusicboxmystery

While you were both mentioning Acheron and how it was all Maggie/Negan tension, I had a thought. If those episodes foreshadowed the current Maggie/Negan story in DC (and they totally do) the that might be a hint to where Daryl is while DC is happening. In Acheron and the following episodes, he was with Leah and the Reapers. So, while Maggie and Negan are in NY, is he with Beth? The CRM? Is that why Maggie didn’t ask him along? Probably. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@galadrieljones

Yeah, I was trying to think along those same lines but I never got quite that far. Like, if this is showing us that Acheron was foreshadowing, what else from season 11 is foreshadowing? In 11a, it’s a bit inverted, as it’s Maggie being hunted, and now it’s Negan. Their relationship is also growing. It’s feeling healthier, or like there’s hope they can live side by side. Like that they no longer constantly want to kill each other.

These are inversions. In Acheron, Daryl runs off after Dog and “goes down the rabbit hole” alone. It’s worth noting that Carol isn’t even along. She’s back home, but she’s looking for someone—Connie. Daryl ends up looking a Beth imposter in the eye and then he’s abducted. He infiltrates an enemy faction and helps bring them down from the inside. Looks like in the spin-off, he may also find himself face to face with a Beth lookalike and fighting against an enemy faction.

Didn’t we hear in some leaked footage or something that the nun refers to Daryl as “the one,” or something like that? In Rendition, Pope refers to Daryl as a Chosen One. There’s a lot of parallel. Idk but it also seems weird that in both season 11 and the spin-off there’s a Beth lookalike. One is a nun, one works for a “Pope.” Will Beth actual be in some way entangled with Catholic imagery? I keep coming back to the DaVinci Code and the Louvre but it’s all to far and wide yet to find a template.

@wdway

I just want to throw out some thoughts I had while reading comments above. Acheron 1,2 is Maggie's mission that Daryl is helping her with. In RIP Maggie gives Daryl a mission to go explore for new communities.

At the end of Acheron 1, Daryl leaves Maggie and the group but tells Maggie that he'll meet up with her at the other end. Daryl leaves the group to go look for Dog (Dog=Beth?) because he heard Dog heard dog barking in the distance. He goes through an unknown space searching for Dog. I want to point out that it is at the other side of the tunnel where Daryl miraculously finds the Morningstar (Sirius/Beth?) that we hadn't seen for a long time.

Daryl and Dog fight walkers and sees a mural of how the rich uses their power over the poor but the poor rebel and bring down the rich (Commonwealth?). In this parallel tunnel/world to Maggie and group he comes across belongings of a brother and sister whose family has left them and that they go looking for (possibly the orphanage with the religious order of nuns).

Daryl and dog eventually makes their way back to Maggie and group just in time to join the fight and help save them. They all then meets the Reapers. This sequence of events are not exactly in the order that we saw them in the show, it's out of sequence, kind of like how the last scenes of RIP were.

On a fun note I've been watching the old TV series Medium. I always loved watching it back when it was airing. Guess who I saw today in an episode, a very young Kary Payton/Ezekiel.

@twdmusicboxmystery

Lol. He’s a baby!

Love your thoughts on the Acheron symbolism. Totally agree! I hadn’t gone through and figured out details, but it’s exactly the kind of thing I was thinking.

I was curious about the song that played in the background during the entire arena sequence. The lyrics are in another language, but the subtitles kept popping up with the name of the song, which made it seem important. So, I just googled it. The translation may be rough, but even so, there are definitely some fun Beth references here.

It almost has a "Struggling Man" vibe to it.

@wdway

You had me with the title, Dawn Will Cry.

@galadrieljones

Okay, also, guys I'm going to just share my general notes on "Everybody Wins a Prize" now, since I've got a bit of time! There were some interesting callbacks here, mainly, I thought, to season 4/5 and also to Glenn.

There were two death fake-outs in the episode. The first one was Hershel. The scene where they find the young boy in the chair, with Negan picking up his head, revealing it to be somebody else, and a live walker, really reminded me of the scene in Try when Daryl and Aaron find the blond walker, Daryl picks up her head, and she is NOT Beth.

Tommaso also has a death fake-out, when he's taken away by walkers and then reemerges. A lot of ppl on social media are worried that Tommaso has been bitten and that they're hiding it from us, and while I wouldn't be surprised if this was the case, I'm not so sure. It reminded me more of Tyreese in the end of "Isolation," when the car headed to the Veterinary College gets overwhelmed by walkers. The group escapes, but Tyreese stays behind, seemingly consumed by the horde. He ends up escaping unscathed, however. Ofc, he does die later on. So I'm not sure what this indicates.

Maggie's harmonica story was really interesting to me. It's a music reference and reminded me of Beth.

There is a crumbled, broken clock in this episode, which is another reference to seasons 4/5, particularly "Still" and "WHAWGO"

There are major cop references in this episode. They are in a massive parking garage, and Maggie shown near multiple cop cars

There is also a Winnebago in the parking garage. It's shown two times.

It's a Winnebago "Warrior," which is a real type of Winnebago and also a song by the Dead Kennedys

Bird cage sighting

There's a major visual Glenn reference with the CD as well, which the young woman with the short hair inserts into the AV system before turning it on and leaving.

It's the same exact shot

Reference to things "going sideways." I can't remember if this is common in TWD, but it's definitely mentioned in Coda, I think by Daryl.

And we've already discussed this, but the Subway is playing a big role here, which feels like a redirect back to Acheron 1 and 2.

Also, back to the harmonica, that whole part was a bit odd. It seems to come out of nowhere, and we never get to see who's playing it. It's almost like the wolf howling in "Diverged," ie: a clear audio cue and signal toward something. Maggie has her story and clearly she's thinking of Hershel, but both times it plays, she looks very inward and a bit confused. She has a lot of these "looks" in this episode, like she's remembering or realizing something.

Speaking of Hershel, we never saw him or any reference to him in this episode. There was also no reference to him in the preview for next week's. Based on his type of arc, it seems like he is going to be forced to survive in some way. It pulls reminders of both Andrea and Beth, who at one point have death wishes, or seem unwilling to survive. But when push comes to shove, they learn they want to live. I wonder if that will happen to Hershel.

There's also another shoe/boot reference in this episode. Negan and Armstrong end up in a shoe repair shop.

There is another Kennedy reference (re: Winnebago Warrior) via the Taxi with a flat rate service to JFK airport

I think this is it for my notes.

(aside from the crazy NAFC thing)

@wdway

I have some things to add to your episode list. First I want to say there is a reference to young Herschel, it's when Maggie is remembering when Herschel was pulled away and taken.

I think all the meat is ham.

A total call back to Andrea with the governor. The girl actually reminded me of the Tales episode with the one armed girl in The Preserve. More instruments for harm or for good depending on the person using them and their intentions. For me a bright Spotlight is always a call back to the lights around Beth at Grady especially Slabtown

I red fire extinguisher.

What looks like a single candle in the dark, a reference from Daryl about Beth. But it's over on the left side that's really intriguing, because there's what appears to be a red fire pull alarm and above it we only see two lines of a sign, I think the first word is in red, AND RETURN.

You mentioned the shoe repair store did you notice this.

@galadrieljones

The candle was memorable to me too and also reminded me of Beth and the last supper. It was used as a delayed fuse for the explosive bins which ignite the methane and blow the barricades, letting the walkers into the arena. I was trying to think of other instances of this, aside from the hwatcha.

@wdway

It reminded me of the scene in RIP where they rigged the record player and the bombs and when they blew them up wasn't the record playing mentioned jfk?

@galadrieljones

Turtle?

@wdway

It definitely looks like a turtle to me. I should say a paperweight turtle, haha.

@galadrieljones

I did but I didn’t write it down!! I was overwhelmed with imagery and forgot till just now

@wdway

Not sure exactly what this says other than we can make out the year so it was purposely done this is when they were walking through the garage. Of course I obviously enlarged it.

I feel the vase near the paperweight Turtle to be interesting, it looks familiar

I was also going to say all the things that relate to jfk. The president that was shot in the head on the 22nd of November.

@wdway replied to themself

The vase looks Greek to me.

@galadrieljones

That’s what I was trying to think of! Thank you. And yes the song is “Cult of Personality” by Living Color. There’s a Kennedy ref in the song (among many references) and I think a sound clip of one of his speeches?

Also, I like your comparison of the urn to a Grecian Urn. That really stands out in a shoe repair shop. Idk if it could be a reference to the famous Keats poem Ode in a Grecian Urn which is all about the silence and yet actually shares a lot of themes with FG’s sermon in WHAWGO, ie: what lives and what is seen is temporary, but that which cannot be seen, and which exists only hypothetically or in the realm of belief (in this case, art), is eternal. I remember Keats well from college. This is his most famous Ode and contains the famous line “Beauty is truth, truth beauty.”

I may be reading too much into this but there’s already apparently been a Les Miserables reference in DC and like I said earlier a shoe repair shop is an odd setting for a Grecian Urn

Also sorry for all the typos above lol. I got excited about the possibility of a Keats reference Would fit nicely with all the Frost references. Is Gimple a poetry fan?

There’s a stanza in Ode on a Grecian Urn that that references basically the eternal truth of unrealized love: Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on[…] Really reminds me of FG’s sermon. This stanza reminds me of Daryl and Beth, in how they never kiss and so their love is sort of suspended between life and death. It is initiated but never realized and in this lives forever. What never lived can never die. Seems romantic, but we see how this lack of closure has ruined Daryl: Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss, Though winning near the goal—yet, do not grieve; She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss, For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!

This stanza is specifically about love and how a lover who is never kissed or with whom love is never realized will remain forever young, and the love will never die. Once again, that which never lives, never dies. It could be about the bittersweet of a short life. Keats had tuberculosis and died very young.

(I’ll stop with the poetry now LOL. Nuns and poetry; a big day for me )

@wdway

Seriously, if TWD can drop hints using Frost references than why not Keats! It is not like they're leaving this for the general audience. And that's not a slam on them, it's just that they leave these types of things for a very few. Probably more than we realized, but still in the scheme of things a very small amount of people. I would have never thought of the poem by Keats, but together I helped to spark the thought for you and I think it's very valid. The poems beautiful and it fits Daryl memory of Beth. For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!

About the strict order of the nuns. Did that not remind you of the very zealous monk dressed man on a mission from the church in the book/ movie, The DaVinci code? Certainly feels that way to me.

@galadrieljones

Good call, yeah I think his name was Silas

@wdway

Silas A tie in to TWB?

@galadrieljones

Probably on purpose! Lol. The names in WB are really on the nose in some ways: “Hope,” “Iris,” “Leo,” “Lyla” (Lie-la)

@wdway

Definitely. Iris is not only a flower but could always be the iris of the eye.

Negan's been talking an awful lot about Hope lately

@galadrieljones

Yes that’s how I see it, ie: Iris “sees.”

Good point. Remember the French doctor too in the coda. She says the phrase “hope beyond hope” twice

@wdway

Yes, and remember how I went through and compared it to the Beth's monologue and Inmates. Her speaking of hope. And those episodes were written by the same person.

@galadrieljones

Hope was staying with Dr. Ellis to continue their research. He seems to be affiliated with the French teams, somehow. Eugene references him in connection to the Human Genome Project. At the Pasteur Institude, they specifically are known for DNA sequencing new viruses and pathogens. Hope is near?

@galadrieljones

Wait which writer?

@wdway

Matthew Negrete.

@wdway

He was also the showrunner for tbw

@wdway

He and Canning Powell wrote, Inmates, Slabtown and others. He was the showrunner for TWB she the showrunner for Tales, I believe.

@galadrieljones

Right! Ty. Also wrote Indifference, Slabtown, and Consumed

Yep Powell was showrunner for Tales!

She also wrote Davon specifically

@wdway

Yes. Remember I did that long list of all of his episodes. It's been a couple of months but Liesel used it on her post so you could probably go back and find the whole thing.

It does same as if these writers communicate with each other. That there is an ultimate storyline that ties this all together. Don't tell the carylers they would never believe it, haha. I couldn't help myself.

@galadrieljones

Yeah i did a similar thing some time ago, trying to see whether there was a “cabal” of writers who know or have insight into Gimple’s “Grand Scheme.” It was like Kang, Negrete, Powell, and Cory Reid.

[yourselina12]

41

Love fan fiction cause the fans knows and pays attention more closely to their favorite characters than the writers of show and movies

Started fanfics at 18 yrs old Roswell

Now hooked on bethyl and Dramoine

Reblog if you’re over 20 and still read/write fan fiction.

I’m curious!

[bethgreeneprevails]

list 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who reblogged something from you! get to know your mutuals and followers <3

Thanks love!🥰

• My husband

• My kitties 😻

• Concerts

• Bethyl Fan-fictions…and also Bethyl in general…and also Norman & Emily

• Food (literally all kinds except seafood ew)

[ultimatebethylficlist]

BHF22 Christmas

We are excited to share the submissions for the Christmas protion of Bethyl Holidays Fest 2022! These creative pieces make the holiday just a little bit more merry and bright!

Chicken Feathers by @galadrieljones

Three weeks after burning down the moonshine shack, Beth and Daryl find shelter in an abandoned RV. It's Christmas. The whole world is full of hope and love now, thinks Daryl. Chicken feathers, rose hips, Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill. Candle light shining on the furniture in winter. She makes him feel brave.

A Bethyl Christmas Poem by @sasusc

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the Prison,

Not a creature was stirring, not even the Dead;

The backpacks were full of emergency supplies, 

In case of a herd overrunning their home;

The Family was huddled all together for warmth;

Except for a couple out in the watchtower,

Keeping a watch for Walkers and human dangers;

The Hunter couldn't keep his glaze off the woman,

And the Babysitter kept scooting closer;

Daryl slowly slid a hand over hers and Beth,

She took the opportunity to kiss him.

The moonlight shown down on the dazed couple,

Daryl pulled back, his face showed befuddlement;

And all Beth could say was "Merry Christmas, Daryl!”

Ghost of Christmas by @boltthrutheheart

Thank you to everyone who participated! We can’t wait to see what you have to share with us next! 

[boltthrutheheart]

Daryl and Beth: Honey and the Moon

Hey guys…I’m don’t really get personal about my life online…on any sort of open forum or platform, but I guess it is time to open up a little. Writing Bethyl fanfiction has been such a passion of mine since…well, since I first binged TWD in early 2014, and Beth and Daryl, their story, and all of their possibilities (before Still and Alone aired) captured my heart and imagination. It has been such a constructive creative outlet for me, and although through the years, my fic writing went from posting chapters sometimes twice a week to having a more complicated life that only allowed me to update once a month, to even less than that, a few times a year, I have always held my fics very dear to heart. When Covid came around, the uncertainty of life during that few year period really sucked my creative spirit right out of me, and I hoped it would get better as we learned to live with Covid and we got back to normal life. But then something all the worse happened. My Dad got really sick in October of 2021. His doctor didn’t take him seriously…until he did…but by the time he was taken seriously and sent to a specialist in early December, my Dad was mostly bedridden, and it was too late. He had a very aggressive form of cancer, and it was at the terminal stage. With Chemo, we were able to buy some time together…my Dad was my best friend and my business partner…and I am an only child to boot, so it hit me as hard as anyone can imagine. In the spring, the doctors saw some improvement that they thought might give us a substantial amount of time…but in the end, those results were somehow read wrong, and by the beginning of July, my Dad passed away. During all the time he was sick, I was his caretaker (at the end, 24 hours a day), and I was happy to be there for him, I wouldn’t have had it any different, but needless to say, there was no time or inspiration for me to pursue any sort of thing that I used to have passion for. I would peek in on the fandom from time to time, but I was mostly separated from it. Even now, two months after my Dad’s passing, I am still so devastated and bereft that sometimes I can’t even comprehend what happened over the last almost year, but I am trying to find ways to get back to who I used to be…trying to get back into the creativity that I love and need so much.

Then…inspiration just found me…a prompt for the UBFL summer writing contest. I just sat down and found it in myself to write again, and at the end of my little one-shot, when I read it back, it brought me warmth, a sense of sweetness that is still possible in the world, and a sense of accomplishment that I didn’t know I would or could feel again. And then this little one-shot went on to win the contest…when I found out, it honestly made me tear up…in a good way…which hadn’t happened in a very long time. So it is with such a sense of delight and accomplishment that I get to share my newest Bethyl fic with the fandom. I want to thank anyone who voted for me…I am humbled by it, and I really appreciate it more than I can say. It came at the time I needed it the most. I would also like to say that it made my heart happy to see so many wonderful writers submit fics to the contest. The Bethyl fandom might not be as active as it used to be…but those people who still share their creations so freely with the fandom bring such heart, love, and passion to those who still wait so eagerly and need the stories that present all the possibilities of the lives Beth and Daryl could and should have shared. Also...thank you so much @ultimatebethylficlist for continuing to bring us events to keep the fandom active and inspired.

 So, again, thank you all so much for this opportunity to share my fic and find my creativity again. I can’t say that I will be back to writing on a regular basis anytime soon in regards to my long WIPs. I am currently in a certification program since I am pursuing a new career for this new chapter in my life, but I hope by the new year when I have received my certification that I can dive back into fic writing with my full heart.

 My Bethyl fic, Honey and the Moon, can be found on both AO3 and FFnet at the following links:

(x) Honey and the Moon AO3 (x)

(x) Honey and the Moon FFnet (x)

The title as well as the lyrics in the fic are from the song Honey and the Moon by Joseph Arthur.

[rckyfrk]

I broke 8000 words today, even when the thunderstorm that hit our area knocked out the power for a while. That's right, I went old school, pen and paper, to keep the mojo going. Then I realized I have to make sure to hide this better because both my boys know how to read now, so new security measures must be taken.

Kids. Am I right?

That’s great news!!!! I will be eagerly awaiting an update! Thanks for sharing!

Aww, thanks, nonny!

Today I worked for a solid hour and a half. I’m closing in on 8,000 words, and nowhere near finishing yet. So. That’s a thing.

I really hope everyone likes it after all this build up. No pressure, right?

[leather-n-laces]

Bethyl - Pacific Rim AU

(This is an excerpt/intro from what would have/may possibly be a Bethyl Pacific Rim AU. Not sure if I’ve posted before!)

Sometimes he doesn’t know how he got there. It’s not that he’s stupid; it’s not like he can forget - it’s more a wondering how the hell his life went this way. How did he go from being invincible to stepping into a dead man’s harness, chasing shifts across the globe?

It was a waste, the walls. He wasn’t sure how the UN, or any governmental system has ever cleared the idea. How they could possibly justify the cost for some steel and cement. Steel and cement which were proving to be of little difficulty for the monsters they were meant to provide protection from. It didn’t stop them, it only served to slow them down. Delay the inevitable by an hour or two, sometimes more. The chaos always came. In its wake, tragedy.

Used to be able to stop them. Used to have a chance. They’d built monsters to fight monsters and they’d gotten damn good at it, too. The PPDC racked up wins. They became heroes. They found purpose in the PPDC. If there was one thing the Dixon’s knew, understood, it was how to fight.

As luck would have it, it turned out that they also possessed a special ability not found in your average person. They were drift compatible. Their minds could meld, they could become one entity. They could control the behemoths of steel with ease.

Which is exactly what they did. For a few years they were virtually celebrities. Renowned for their fighting prowess and kill count. Things started looking up, for the first time since the first Kaiju made landfall humanity looked like it stood half a chance.

Then it went to shit.

They’d fucked up; not the PPDC but he had. Him and his brother. It didn’t matter how it happened - even if he’d spent years going over it in their head. He’d lost Merle fighting those fucking things. He felt it; the Kaiju may as well have taken him too.

Merle’s death was only the beginning. The Kaiju started getting smarter, the attacks began to increase in frequency. Soon around the globe, Jaegers and their pilots were being destroyed left right and centre. That was until the UN decided to shut them down.

With the increasing lack of failure shown by the PPDC, the UN decided to take another avenue. The coastal walls, all along the Pacific. Funding from the Jaeger program dried up; the trickle that was left diverted to pay for the walls. Shatterdomes shutdown left, right and centre. The program was touted as a waste of time and resources; rebuilding Jaegers took too long, took too much money. Even if they built them - who would run them? The pilots who hadn’t died in battle were few, he was part of a small group who had made it out alive. They weren’t receiving funding and the domes were shutdown; making training virtually impossible. It was a shitshow, start to finish.

After Merle died he didn’t stick around. They tried, said he could rehab his shoulder and he could get back. They could run the trials again and find him another partner. They needed people like him. He’d seen it back then - how futile it all was. He had still been connected to Merle when he had died. There was no rehabilitation for that. He’d made a promise to himself he wouldn’t let it happen ever again. He’d died before he set foot in another Jaeger.

The world could end - he’d watch it from on top of one of the walls.

( yo @g-r-a-u imma tag you in all these posts lol don’t hate me)

[dixonfaels]

Question for ya...

What makes Bethyl so good? Is it the history, the forced togetherness? What makes you feel like they are so good and so great to write fanfic about?

I'm wondering what makes their pairing so special.