#i love their dynamic- and i wish we got more rick and beth instead of ‘rick and jerry’ and ‘rick and summer’

[hazelnut-u-out]

Dude I’m so dumb but how does our Rick have any memories of froopyland? Or like, how does he know anything about Beth’s past at all?

OKAY… so i don’t have a definitive answer for this, but i have some theories that line up.

so at the beginning of “the abc’s of beth,” beth and the kids are listening to the news anchor talk about tommy’s dad’s execution.

beth mentions that, as a kid, she told herself that “tommy had just gotten lost in the magical realm of froopyland.”

then, we immediately hear glass break in the kitchen and rick pokes his head around the corner…

on a first watch of the episode, i thought this was rick being eager to listen in on the conversation. on a rewatch with full context, it makes so much more sense that he was SO shocked that he dropped whatever he was holding and immediately peered around the corner. i think that THIS was his realization that this beth had a froopyland, too- and he was a bit taken aback.

he mentions that a lot of beths had froopylands- specifically because beth was a “scary” kid. so, it’s not that odd that she would have one, too.

as for how exactly he had memories of this froopyland, he mentioned in “the rickshank redemption” that the same thing happens multiple times across infinite timelines. therefore, if this beth had a froopyland and so did his beth, then the odds are that they would’ve been extremely similar to one another. the divergence in their timelines probably happened when beth’s rick decided to abandon her and our rick’s family died.

in relation to his memories of beth’s past, we have to remember that he really can’t offer any insight to what she was like past young childhood- the same level of knowledge about his daughter that a rick who had abandoned them would have. i think it’s also safe to say that beth probably doesn’t remember a lot of her childhood- especially because she so easily accepted everything rick revealed to her as fact and completely misremembered the tommy incident.

this box of toys confused me a bit, but i think that when rick finally decided to leave the house he shared with diane, he packed up beth’s little toys to take them with him… because he’s a sentimental old sappy girl dad.

ouch.

#rick sanchez the ultimate girl dad #rick and morty #rick sanchez #beth smith #i love them #he’s such a good dad #this is one of my favorite episodes #i love their dynamic- and i wish we got more rick and beth instead of ‘rick and jerry’ and ‘rick and summer’

[thesoftboiledegg]

Hoo boy...that episode was a lot. I think I'd have to rewatch it a few times to catch everything, but these were my main takeaways:

I'm kind of disappointed that Rick and Summer went on their first adventure (besides that godawful Gazorpazop episode) just because Rick wanted to make Morty jealous and not because he actually wanted to hang out with her. They had a nice moment together at the end, though. Rick and Summer have a great dynamic, I wish they'd interact more often.

I'm glad to see that the family dynamic is starting to come back into focus. Beth and Morty had great interactions, and we saw the return of Beth using wine to cope. Beth also stopped being nice to Jerry for a second there--maybe the old antagonism is returning.

Man, this show keeps getting opportunity after opportunity to explicitly show Rick's pansexuality, and the writers won't take it. I'm not saying he can't have a preference for women, but come on.

Morty's turning into more and more of a monster. He's standing up for himself, but he's also straight-up killing people without blinking an eye. One day, he's going to kill someone without even trying to justify it to himself.

This show is ramping up the explicit sexual jokes, huh? It's not necessarily a new thing (look at the second episode of the first season), but it's gotten so graphic that they have to straight-up blur the character's expressions and facial gestures, which is...not something I've ever seen in a cartoon before.

I was happy to see Summer have a wholesome moment with Rick that was healthy, genuine and not borne from a weird obsession with him, like the one she had at the beginning of season three.

Interesting that Rick has no problem graphically talking about sex acts in front of his granddaughter, but when Summer says she loves him, he thinks it's "weird." (OK, he was probably just being a hard-ass.)

This might be the first time that Beth's acted motherly toward Morty because she cared about him, not just because she wanted to piss off her father. I guess it took 14 years for her to realize that she wants to have a relationship with her son?

I see that Jerry isn't eating what the rest of the family is eating in that screenshot I used. Instead, he's got toast and a soft-boiled egg. Just a random observation.

Aaaaand my main takeaway from all of this: Rick dragged Summer on an impromptu adventure, went on a drunken, self-destructive bender and rambled on about how love is bullshit just because Morty went on a date with a girl. This also pretty much proves my theory that Rick abandoned the family in "The Vat of Acid Episode" because he couldn't stand the fact that Morty had an important, healthy relationship in his life. Jesus, this guy has issues.

#rick and morty #rick sanchez #morty smith #summer smith #beth smith

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Clues for 10b...

Good morning! This won’t be a full theory but just a quick note to point a few things out.

A few days ago, I posted an Ask where Nonny pointed out that the blue wing on Daryl’s vest can be linked to the Carl and Judith’s blue hand prints, back when Carl died. (X)

I’m really a fan of that idea. 1) Because we believe blue is a Beth color. (Has everyone read @frangipanilove​’s Blue Clues theory?) and 2) because it links to Carl’s death.

Anyone who’s followed me for long knows I’m a bit of a broken record when it comes to Carl’s death. I believe, at some point, we’ll be able to draw a straight line from Carl’s death to Beth’s return. We just don’t know exactly what the pathway will be, yet. 

I’ve thought for some time now that it will take one of two avenues: either through Siddiq, who Carl died bringing into the community. Or through Negan, who Rick spared to honor Carl’s last wishes.

Now, on the one hand, as of 10x08, you could argue that the Siddiq avenue has kind of closed. After all, both Siddiq and Dante are dead, now. So the Siddiq thing isn’t in play anymore, right?

Or is it…?

More on that in a minute.

But I really love connecting the blue wing to the blue hand prints, because it also connects it to Carl’s death, which is a long-standing theory of mine. (Yea!)

So, then we recently got some new pictures for 10b. @frangipanilove brought this one to my attention over the weekend.

Of course, being TD theorists, our first reaction is that this is an obvious resurrection symbol. You don’t get a more potent symbol of coming back from the dead than when someone is digging their way out of their own grave. (Dean Winchester, anyone?)

In terms of the plot, I’m pretty sure the person in the grave is Cheryl. The elderly woman Dante murdered. We saw the cross hanging over her bed, and then beside her body when he was burying her. We assumed she would be buried with the cross, but he seems to have used it as her grave marker instead.

If she’s reanimating, he obviously didn’t stab her in the brain. No idea why. I can’t help but think it must have been done on purpose. And no idea where it will lead.

(Here’s a guess, but this pic from the trailer where Daryl is wearing the blue wing on his vest and obviously going to investigate something in the dark with a mace? I’m wondering if this is him finding Cheryl as a walker. Like someone heard something strange coming from the graveyard or something.)

So, it is not actually Beth digging her way out of the grave. (I don’t think ;D). But the fact that it’s probably Cheryl is a big deal symbolically. It means the Siddiq/Dante dynamic is still in play in some way.

Then, @angelwhowasfound​ sent me this yesterday morning.

The “Who said they were dead?” bit comes from the official TWD account.

Now, obviously Cheryl really is dead. We saw her die and be buried (as opposed to certain others…) so why would they say this? It can’t possibly apply to Cheryl. Or Siddiq or Dante.

The only explanation is that they’re hinting at…something else.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It will be interesting to see what else unfolds as 10b draws closer.

Update: Spoilers

If you don’t want spoilers, don’t click past the Read More. After writing the above, these came from the spoilers site.

They’re saying that the grave is Cheryl’s (as I wrote above) but the hand coming out of it is actually Beta’s. The theory is that Dante--remember, a Whisperer spy--purposely buried Cheryl atop a pipe. He probably did stab her brain if this isn’t her hand, but he did that because Beta wants to use the sewer (same one they all hid in when Carl was bitten) to invade Alexandria and using the freshly turned dirt of a grave is easier than pushing through harder-packed earth. 

I’m not sure any of that is confirmed, so take it with a grain of salt. But it makes sense. It still supports everything I said above (with the exception of the hand belonging to Cheryl) with the added detail of Beta using the same sewer system used in conjunction with Carl’s death.

Also, some things in the trailer--like the Whisperer suddenly standing over Baby Coco’s bed--are coming into context. 

If the spoiler site is right, and the hand is Beta, then the official account’s tweet is probably technically about Beta. They’re hinting that the person coming out of the grave isn’t Cheryl (who is dead) but Beta. I’ll admit that let the wind out of my sails just a tad where this is concerned.

But symbolically, everything still applies. We’re still talking about a probable foreshadow in which a person who was never actually dead is pushing out of a grave (resurrection symbol). Also connected to the Whisperers, Siddiq/Dante, and Carl’s death, all of which had massive TD symbolism around them.

I think this promises to be a super-exciting, super-intense back half of the season.

Who’s excited? 🙋🙋🙋

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #td theories #bethyl

[kalinara]

So I have now made it to season 4 of the Walking Dead.  I have many opinions.  I like how the show doesn't glamorize Rick, and the other characters, becoming harder and colder.  It's a necessity, and it's satisfying watching them be badass.  But it's sad too that they've become so distrustful and wary.  I was SO relieved when they took in the Woodbury group at the end of the season.  It felt like a move in the right direction.

Though...dumb question.  Why didn't they all go settle in the fortified town instead of the prison?  (I hope they at least went and looted the library.)

I enjoyed Rick's foray into insanity a little too much, I think.  I don't think it was all because of Lori.  He was clearly fraying at the edges at the start of season 3 and it just got worse...a lot worse.

At the beginning of season 3, I was thinking "that man looks like a stiff breeze would knock him over.  He clearly needs to go hide some place and cry for a while."  Then it became very clear that no amount of time in a crying room was going to fix that.

Rick is surprisingly productive and group oriented, even when in the grips of mental illness.  Clearing out a cell block, hallucinating helpful people.  (...I am a little alarmed that season 4 Rick seems to have stolen his three questions from his hallucinations, but okay then.)

That said, I kind of think that there was a point where the others should have been willing to remove him from leadership.  The man has literally broken with reality, Hershel.  Please stop guilt tripping him.  He is sick.  Let him rest!

Also, I honestly expected the Ricktatorship to be more, I dunno, dictatorial?  But it seemed like Rick only made one or two decisions total against the wishes of the group, and at least one of those were when he was seeing dead people.  The rest of the time was basically leading by committee.

(It's actually a really interesting contrast with the Governor.  The Governor wears the title of an elected official but is an autocrat.  Rick claims to be a dictator, but mostly leads according to the group wishes.)

I'm increasingly bewildered at the fics and meta I see that characterize Rick as a "natural leader" though.  Because he is clearly so much happier at the beginning of season 4.  He doesn't even have that "Oops, here I am giving orders again, sorry" that most abdicated leaders have in this sort of story line.  He’s like “Nope.  I’ll help in a crisis but I won’t give orders,  I AM WORKING ON MY CROPS DAMNIT.”  He's a GOOD leader for the most part, (in as much as while he makes mistakes that have consequences, those mistakes are reasonable based on the immediate problem and the knowledge that they have at the time), but he's definitely not naturally inclined to it.

Which leads me to the logical conclusion that Rick Grimes is totally a submissive in the bedroom.  That is a man who is begging someone, ANYONE, to take the burden of decision making away for a while.   

But while he seems happier at the beginning of season 4, and Carl certainly seems healthier, I'm not sure Rick's coping mechanisms are any better.  "No, going outside without my gun is completely reasonable."  It's good to see Rick acting a little less like a feral cat, but sweetie, direct martyrdom isn't a good idea either.

In the end, I didn't hate Lori as much as I expected to.  I actually thought MOST of her behavior made some sense.  There were three big points against her though:  1) Her reaction when Shane wanted to leave in 2x01.  Honey, just let him go.  He's a horrible person.  2) Her reinforcement of gender roles within the camp.  I hate Andrea, Lori, but she's right.  Standing watch is more important than laundry.  Also, you could actually get the boys to help.  I mean, the men are the ones benefiting from the rigid enforcement of gender roles here, but I don't get the sense that it's on purpose.  They probably don't even notice.  I think if you pointed the inequity out to Rick, at least, he'd take steps to try to change it.  3) Her reaction to Shane's death.  Because seriously?!

Now ANDREA was awful.  While I loved season 2 in general, it was a bit painful in terms of the women.  Maggie was great, but Carol and Beth were mostly non-entities, and Andrea and Lori were outright frustrating.  The gender divide in terms of skill sets was annoying too.  Season 3 was a vast improvement on that ground.  We had Michonne.  Maggie and Carol seemed to have taken an upgrade to their skills.  And while Beth seemed to take a more traditionally feminine role in taking care of the baby, she did it in a way that didn't feel like a reinforcement of gender roles.  She just did what suited her best.    I'd like to think somewhere along the way the men figured out that they too can do laundry and everyone is much happier.

Andrea being annoying in season 3 was far less frustrating, because the female characters actually got to do things.

Though one part made me laugh.  When Carol told Andrea what happened to Shane, she just kind of stammers "But Shane LOVED Rick."  And while I actually agree with her, I was amused because I'm not sure when that would have come up in conversation.

I like to imagine that it came up during sex.  "Do you think you could be a little more sanctimonious when we're doing this?"  "Have you considered wearing button down shirts?  You'd look really hot, especially from behind."

(And while I'm pretty sure Andrea meant a fraternal love, I remember that creepy fucking washcloth scene after Carl got shot, so *I* think there was a sexual component there too.)

The show spent a little too much time in Woodbury in my opinion.  Michonne was great, but honestly, the Governor and Andrea were not compelling enough to warrant that much direct attention.  Especially not when compared to what's going on back at the prison.

"Lori's dead!  Carl's becoming a child soldier!  Rick's disassociating and hallucinating!  Maggie and Glenn are traumatized!  Daryl just LEFT!  WHY ARE WE HERE AND NOT THERE!"

Tyreese and Sasha are so great.  It's lovely seeing Michael Burnham in a different kind of role.  It was a little uncomfortable though how the show seemed to have a trend of killing off one black guy just as they introduced another.  T-Dog - Oscar - Tyreese.  I was happy to see Season 4 finally realize that yes, you can have more than one black guy on the show at once.  I hope they don't fuck that up.

They're probably going to fuck that up.

I have mixed feelings about the Maggie storyline in season 3.  I'm not a huge fan of sexual violence storylines in general.  But I will give the show credit for realizing that they can hit all of the important beats of a sexual assault storyline without including a rape.  I feel like too many shows don't realize that.  I wasn't a big fan of Glenn having the bulk of the focus in the aftermath though.  He’d been through a terrible experience too, but I wanted more about HER.

I like Daryl a lot more now than I did at the start.  But I still don't get why he's the fandom favorite.   I still think that a good three-quarters of Daryl's fandom characterization is stolen from either Glenn or Rick.  Which is a shame because ACTUAL Daryl is a lot of fun.  I wish I got to see him more in fanwork.  But I think I've come to terms with the fact that I will never see eye-to-eye with a vast majority of the fandom.

(Also, please tell me Beth-Daryl won't be a thing in the show.  I like their dynamic AS FRIENDS, but she's SEVENTEEN.  He is old enough to be her FATHER.  And while age differences don’t have to be bad, she is literally still a child!)

The Prison is actually looking quite comfortable now.  Plague aside.  I can't wait to see the show ruin it.  :-)

#walking dead #season 3 reactions #rick grimes is a feral cat #I will fight you on this