What Would a Carol and Daryl Date Would Look Like on The Walking Dead
A few months ago, I decided to do some date ideas for Daryl and Connie since it was Valentine’s Day. The fanbase would like to see them two get together to be a couple and I can see why. But it is also to note that there are fans of Daryl and Carol that would like to see these two in a relationship as well due to the fact that these two have been seen together for nearly a decade on the show and I can also understand this side too due to the history that Carol and Daryl had. This is also something I am curious about as well as these two characters really do understand eachother inside and outside as their bonds were build up from the moment they meet, to right now at this current state. Now what would happen if these two had a date? Today, I am going to come up with date ideas between Carol and Daryl.
First, I have to think of how this would be established? Who would actually ask the question of a date in the apoclapse. I think I would lean towards Carol since she can really open Daryl up for a discussion and we have seen that in the past. But what would the conversation be like? Maybe the two are already talking about something else alone and she brings up the date idea. Daryl might be taken off guard at first, but he will think it is not a bad idea at all. Carol is very convincing when she speaks and Daryl has cared for her all these years so it would make sense for these two to have a date. Now that it is established, here are some date ideas I have thought of.
A Boat Ride
I chose this because not only would these two enjoy a good time in the sea, but Carol could also show Daryl where the island she was on when she left. That would also be a great time for them two to bond during this journey to their private island, and maybe catch some fish along the way too. Plus, Carol and Daryl would not have to worry about any walkers as this would be a peaceful ride.
Building Dog a Doghouse
I am a dog lover so the thought of Carol and Daryl building a doghouse for Dog would be cute. There are a lot of wood and tools at Alexandria and it could be built at the back of Daryl’s house. Whether if Dog actually stays in that house would be another question, but I am pretty sure that Carol would also come up good designs of what colors the doghouse would have and Daryl would come up with the interior look as well.
Double Date with Rick Grimes and Michonne
Although Rick Grimes was saved by Jadis, and Michonne went out to find him, What if after Rick and Michonne reunites, they have a double date with Carol and Daryl. And the timeline could match up perfectly at The Commonwealth, or one of the CRM communities since they are heavily guarded. It would be normal life over there so Daryl and Carol would be fine having a double date with Rick and Michonne as they all can catch up and do activities at one of these communities without worrying about the dead coming. Plus, Carol and Daryl would most likely talk about the double date after it is over when they are alone.
A Photoshoot
I did not forget that Alexandria has a camera since Rick took that polaroid camera from The Saviors. Why not put it to use and I believe The Princess would set this up since that would match her personality. She can even be the costume designer for this photo shoot between Carol and Daryl. Plus, this would the opportunity for Carol to tell Daryl to smile on camera and he would do it. Especially if they both have on really funny costumes. Plus, Dog would be in this shoot too!
Motorcycle Race
Remember that episode of Ride With Norman Reedus when it was him and Melissa McBride overseas? Why not bring elements of that episode, to this date as not only Daryl would teach Carol how to ride a motorcycle, but they can also have a fun race with it. Maybe after they use motorcycles, they can switch to horses. A race from one end of The Hilltop, to the other end would be fun as both of their competitive side would come out.
A Movie at The Kingdom
I know, That festival did more damage than good back in season 9. But for this case, The festival never happened. Daryl would surprise Carol on a movie date and whatever they will watch will be fine since nobody has seen any movies or television since before the apoclapse happened. And it would be a private screening so they can both be alone in that theater until the movie ends. Plus, no way would Alpha disguise herself since The Kingdom soldiers will be guarding the front and back door.
What do you think of these ideas? Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @julianexcalibur for more content.
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NWO 2000 or WWE’s NWO: Which Was Better?
The New World Order is regarded as one of the best professional wrestling stable of all time. They came at a time when both WWE and WCW were still in the age of the flashy-cartoon character stytle of presentation and a change was needed. When the group formed in July of 1996, it changed the industry forever as many other groups in professional wrestling in different promotions were formed that were inspired by this faction. But as good as the original NWO was, there were two specific versions of the group that are not well recieved.
That is, NWO 2000 which was formed in late 1999, and WWE’s version of the NWO. Today, I am going to compare and contrast between the two versions and make my opinion on which was better between the two.
How Did it Start?
At Mayhem in 1999, Bret Hart became the WCW Champion after winning the tournament finals. Bret Hart and Goldberg also became the WCW Tag Team Champions on an episode of Thunder not too long after this. But these two would then have a match for the WCW Championship at that year’s Starrcade. That match is infamous because it was the match that Bret Hart recieved a concussion due to a stiff kick by Goldberg which eventually lead to the end of his career.
On the next Nitro, Bret Hart and Goldberg had a rematch for the WCW Championship as Roddy Piper would be the referee of that match. During the match, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash made a run in and we thought that they were there to attack Bret Hart, but they attacked Goldberg. Jeff Jarrett also appeared and smashed his guitar on Piper’s head. They then proceeded to spray paint Goldberg and Piper’s body with spray paint (which was silver this time instead of black) as Kevin Nash went on the mic to say that “the band is back together” as this was the formation of the NWO 2000. It is important to note, that all four members of NWO 2000 held championships at the time.
Over in WWE, the NWO was brought into the company a year after WCW was bought by WWE. Hogan, Hall, and Nash all had contracts with Warner Media and WWE could not bring the three of them in during the Invasion Angle. The NWO were brought in to WWE by Vince McMahon to “kill WWE” since Vince McMahon and Ric Flair were feuding at the time. The NWO then made their debut at the No Way Out pay-per-view as they opened the show with a promo from the three of them. The three members also attacked Steve Austin at the end of the show during his match against Chris Jericho for the WWE Championship.
Looking at how these two first started, I will have to give the slight edge to NWO 2000. I liked how WWE debuted their version of NWO, but it did not have the same effect as it did when NWO 2000 formed.
The Initinal Run
WWE’s NWO’s major feuds were against the top stars at the time which was The Rock, and Stone Cold Steve Austin. The build to that year’s Wrestlemania was originally intendeed for Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan, but due to creative differences, it was changed to The Rock and Hulk Hogan. The same night when The Rock challenged Hulk Hogan for a match at Wrestlemania, The NWO attacked The Rock and even did a skit where Hulk Hogan drove his truck to crash his truck towards the ambulence The Rock was in.
Steve Austin was left to feud with Scott Hall and during this feud, there were times that WWE inadvertently exploited Scott Hall’s alcoholism. Including at one point where Steve Austin poured a large amount of beer on Scott Hall before giving him a stunner on Smackdown.
Over in WCW, on the next Thunder, Bret Hart, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Jeff Jarrett cut a promo explaining how this reuinon was built up for the entire month. I give it to them for contunity. Their first set of attacks involved Goldberg, and Terry Funk. And a match was made for Souled Out 2000 as Bret Hart will defend his WCW Championship against Sid. But before this match, Bret Hart faced Terry Funk in a hardcore match. His injuries he suffered at Starrcade got worse during this match. Terry Funk then set up a match between Kevin Nash and Bret Hart for the WCW Championship on the line.
Not only this match ended in a no contest due to the interference of Sid and Arn Anderson, but it would also be Bret Hart’s final match as a full time wrestler. Also on this same Thunder, Jeff Jarrett was injured for suffering a concussion when he was attacked in the cage as Chris Benoit and Jimmy Snuka did dives from the top of the cage that landed on Jeff Jarrett. Things are not going so well for this version of the NWO.
For the initinal runs, I will have to give this to WWE since Hogan, Hall, and Nash had feuds with the top stars of the company that lead to Wrestlemania. The first feuds of NWO 2000 lead to a minor show and was affected by injuries. But more on that on the next category.
After the Big Matches
At WCW Souled Out 2000, WCW finally aknolwdged that Bret Hart had a concussion at Starrcade which means that he is unable to defend his WCW Championship. The Championship became vacated and Chris Benoit was the one to take Bret’s place. Benoit defetead Sid to win his first and only WCW Championship. But it was too late as he, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn jumped ship to WWE a week later.
The reason why Bret Hart and Sid was going to have a match, is because Sid replaced Goldberg, who was injured by breaking an ungimmicked limo glass with his hands that also severly cut him. According to Vince Russo on the WWE documentary NWO: The Revolution, Vince said that NWO 2000 was not going to work without Bret Hart and Jeff Jarrett as Vince Russo wanted those two to be the central focus point of the group. In fact, the first thing Vince Russo wanted to do when he came to WCW was to push Bret Hart and he did exactly that.
Also, Scott Steiner joined NWO 2000, but was suspended a few weeks after he joined for cutting a shoot promo on Nitro. What came next was at Superbrawl 2000 when it was a three-way dance between Sid, Jeff Jarrett, and Scott Hall for the WCW Championship even though Jarrett and Scott Hall were members of the NWO. Scott Hall got a neck injury during the match as Jarrett smashed a guitar over Hall’s head. Scott Hall then got in trouble during the european tour which lead to him being sent home and to never appear on WCW televison ever again. The NWO 2000 quietly disbanded as the next major storyline was The New Blood vs The Millionare’s Club.
After Wrestlemania 18 in which we seen The Rock defeating Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin defeating Scott Hall, Hulk Hogan turned into a crowd favorite again due to his reception and fan support at Wrestlemania. On that week’s Smackdown, X-Pac returned from injury and also became the next member of the NWO as he attacked Hulk Hogan. This was four years in the making since Hulk Hogan said that X-Pac “could not cut the mustard here in WCW” on a promo he did on Nitro in 1998. But this feud never started since NWO was drafted on Raw, and Hulk Hogan was drafted to Smackdown on the first ever WWE Draft. NWO then continued their feud with Steve Austin, and also feuded with the likes of Bradshaw and Kane. After the Insurrextion pay-per-view, Scott Hall was fired due to his involvement of the plane ride from hell incident.
From this time until Shawn Michaels returned to WWE and joined NWO, Booker T, and Big Show became members of NWO and Kevin Nash was still healing from his injuries. On that next Raw, Booker T was kicked out of the NWO and he started a minor feud with X-Pac. Then on the July 8th episode of Raw, Kevin Nash suffered a torn quadricep during a 10-man tag team match. Then the next week, Vince McMahon oficially disbanded the NWO.
What happened with NWO 2000 after Souled Out creativly, is way worse than how WWE’s version of NWO was handled. Even though WWE’s version of NWO was doomed from the start, at least the group had a longer presence on televison than NWO 2000 did. Plus, they tried to make it work with WWE’s NWO and we would not know how far NWO 2000 would have went if Bret Hart and Jeff Jarrett got injured as the group was just starting. But for this round, I will give it to WWE’s NWO and with those results, I believe that WWE’s NWO is better than WCW’s NWO 2000.
What do you think of this? Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @julianexcalibur for more content. Contact me at julian@alternativemindz.com
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Power con online this weekend
10 Years in, and There Are Still No Emmys For The Cast and The Crew of The Walking Dead
AMC’s The Walking Dead has been on the air for ten years now. And within those ten years, not once was any of the cast nominated for The Emmys. I know it is easy to say that they all have won awards from different award shows and I am not disputing that at all. But the talk is always about The Emmys when it comes to the mainstream attention of award ceremonies and year after year, The Walking Dead gets snubbed for unknown reasons.
There are a few years where they are nominated for Outstanding Special Visual Effects categories, as well as Outstanding Sound Editing. But the focus on these awards have to be put on the cast. We would have thought that The Walking Dead would have at least had more than one nomination per year. But that always go to the shows like Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, etc. Those are really good shows, but the cast on those shows are not as diverse as The Walking Dead.
Andrew Lincoln who stars as Rick Grimes, has been on the show for nine seasons. He has had Emmy worth performance scenes during his time on The Walking Dead. The first I can remember is way back in season 4 of the show where he tried to convince The Governor to not take over The Prison, and to not kill Hershel. If those judges in that council room did not feel that sadness during that scene, then I do not know what were they thinking at the time. Another scene where I believe Andrew Lincoln should have gotten an Emmy for is his breaking moment the entire time when Negan made his introduction. That esculated even further on the season 7 premiere when Negan broke Rick Grimes infront of everyone. The tip of the iceberg here, is when Negan tried to force Rick Grimes to chop off Carl Grimes’ arm off and while Rick was crying and pleading for Negan to stop this, a snot bubble came out of Rick Grimes’ nose on contact, and without the use of CGI. Andrew Lincoln is a great actor and he knows how to get a reaction out of the viewer in particular scenes whether if he is speaking, or not.
I will also bring up Melissa McBride. She has been on the show as long as Andrew was and she is still on The Walking Dead as she is here for her tenth season. This season alone, Carol has been the center of this season due to her feud with Alpha that has lasted for most of the season. But it is not just the feud that put the spotlight on Carol, it was also everything that surrounded it too and how Carol had to go through a rocky road to overcome the damage Alpha and The Whisperers inflicted on Carol. Melissa McBride had a lot of good scenes that she acted out this season. Some of my favorites were when she interrogated that Whisperer after he spit his food on her, Her conversation with Daryl on “Lines We Cross”, her conversation with Kelly, and also with Lydia.
But it was more than that too as Melissa McBride’s potential has really risen after the second season of The Walking Dead as she did great Emmy worth performances on earlier season episodes such as “The Grove”, “The Same Boat”, “Wildfire”, “Cherokee Rose”, and even “The Well.” Each season, Melissa McBride has broght in something different out of Carol and Carol is a very good and more complexed than her comic book counterpart. Carol can just be in one room talking with any of the characters, and you will get more out of her than you usually would with other characters.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who plays as Negan, should have recieved a lot of nominations from The Emmy’s the second he appeared on screen. I know that there are fans that do not like Negan, but Negan really fits Morgan and I could not see anyone else playing as him. From his debut until season 8, he was very charismatic, and also dangerous. But from season 9 until recently, Negan has went a complete change and showed his genuine side as he seeks his redemption. You do not see that often from major television villians in that scale. Of course, we do not have to forgive what Negan done, but Jeffrey Dean Morgan brought that character to life. He has had many great performances as Negan, but my favorite has to be the season 7 premiere, and also the season 9 finale. On those two episodes, it is night and day to see Negan as he was then as a ruthless leader, to the caring person he became at the end of season 9.
Norman Reedus is another person I would have considered for a nomination of an Emmy especially for his work from season 9, to current. Norman Reedus’ performance on the last two seasons has been the best for the Daryl character. Daryl is still a badass, but I felt that these last two seasons, we finally got more of a human side of Daryl and I honestly wanted to see that from Daryl for a while. While Norman and Melissa had great scenes together for this entire decade and built a chemistry, he has also built a great chemistry with Lauren Ridloff, Cassady McClincy, and Cailey Flemming these past two seasons and his chemistry with all of those names really shines on screen whether if it is good momnents, or scary-situational moments. Even though Daryl was given more words than ever these last two seasons, Norman Reedus made sure those lines have substance when he acted out those lines.
I know that there are many other actors that (In my opinion) deserves an Emmy nomination because this show brings out the best out of the cast. You cannot find a strong cast like this on The Walking Dead anywhere else. I know for sure that The Emmys is very selective and we will never know the answer why, but The Walking Dead will never be overlooked in the eyes of the fans that care about the franchise. It is just a shame that the powers that be will never reconize the cast for any consideration to be part of The Emmys.
Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @julianexcalibur for more content. Contact me at julian@alternativemindz.com
Super 7 and Disney ultimates
Super 7 and Disney
San Diego Comic Con at Home Should Not be a Yearly Event
The ongoing pandemic caused for San Diego Comic Con to switch to virtual this year. When this was announced, many fans were curious to see how this would be pulled off. I was also one of them to think that way too since I cover San Diego Comic Con every year. As the online event finished last weekend, I have gathered all of my opinions to why this would not work every year and also, why some aspects of this year’s event should be carried over to future comic cons.
One thing I have to get out of the way, is that Comic Con International has tried their best putting together the good content that was shown last week. From The Walking Dead, Bill and Ted Face the Music, The New Mutants, Motherland: Fort Salem, and even panels with upcoming Marvel and DC comics, there was a lot to digest with those panels. But that is where the first problem arised. There were way too many panels being shown at either the same time, or at different times on different channels outside of the official San Diego Comic Con channel. I feel that all of the panels should have been on one channel from the start, to the finish of the day. It is however, nice that you can watch them at your own home. But the experience of being in those panel rooms with nearly a few thousand fans cheering at every announcement and exclusive footage cannot be stripped away and it is severly missed. Yes sure, some of the big announcements that happened on the virtual panels were exciting to hear and witness, but it is also lacking the energy that we all feel in person. What I would suggest for next year, is for a hybrid version of this. That way, the ones who cannot attend the panel, can watch it either at home, or on their screen.
But there is another issue to tackle with that too since many big studios premiere sneak peaks to the live audience exclusively. How would it work for those studios to premiere that exclusive to the fans in attendance while people are watching it at home knowing that select footage cannot be filmed? Believe me when I say this because I was at the screening of IT: Chapter II at SDCC in 2019 and there were security guards at that theater watching everyone like a hawk since you could not record footage. And the studios would most likely not stream that same footage too. It is just something to think about since that kind of content is exclusive to the fans and press in attendance. But going back to the panels, it was understanding why many of the big studios did not want to showcase any material for this year’s event due to the pandemic. But the marketing aspect of SDCC at Home was abysmal. Only fans of comic con knew that this was taking place, but not the general public. I know many people that did not even know that San Diego Comic Con was happening as a virtual event this year until a few days later. And some did not know until the panels showed up as a recommendation on YouTube. I know that comic con sells itself, but there should have been more effort to market this event to every fandom. Speaking of effort, Most of the panels took place on zoom and there were a lot of technical difficulties that I noticed. But I wish that a few of them would have been live because whether if you like fan interraction at the panels with live questions or not, they are important. The feeling is not the same when panel hosts have to read tweets and Instagram comments as questions since we cannot assume that everyone that goes to comic con, has social media. That is why their only opportunity for the most part, is when the talent is on stage when you get your opportunity to ask your question. You would think that these panels that were pre-recorded, would have been edited very well. But no, that was not the case on most of the panels.
Another thing I wanted to bring up, is that it is named “comic con” for a reason and it did not feel like that since the virtual panels were more talked about than the virtual convention itself. I personally, not only go to these conventions to cover it, I also spend time at the artist alley, the gaming area, and the cosplay area. Everything that makes a comic con should have been happening last weekend, but the talk of the panels diminished that. Sure, there were links to check out the vendors, but there was barely any mention of any of them at all outside of a few tweets. I think that there should have been more on a spotlight on the comic creators and vendors too.
And finally, I have to bring this up because this was a big problem starting from Wednesday night, until the final day. Funko went virtual for the first time during comic con weekend. Normally, you would have to enter a lottery for your chance to buy a Funko exclusive and if you do not win the lottery, then you will have to go to the retailers that have the shared exclusives. Since there was no lottery, everyone had the chance to buy their Funko Pops. But seconds after the stores online opened, many of them were already sold out as confused buyers questioned how this even happened.
It got worse when buyers already had their selections in the cart to checkout and when they did, the “sold out” icon appeared. This went on to the next day as the buyers had to wait at least an hour or two, to even attempt to buy their item. And at the retailers, many retailers had to put a limit to how many of the same item you can purchase. Those signs went up at some of the retailers after the fact since there were a number of people buying multiple copies of the same Funko Pop. The CEO of Funko even had to make an apology for everyone that is having a bad experience.
I can hope that next year, San Diego Comic Con (And even other comic cons across the world) can return in full swing and better than ever. I appreciated what we got this year, but I know for sure that everyone felt it in their hearts that comic con has been affected by the pandemic. I also wonder if and when things get back to normal next year, how much could they limit the crowd due to social distancing. The entire experience of San Diego Comic Con cannot be duplicated, or bitten down to size infront of a screen because it is more than a convention, it is a week long event that thousands of fans love to attend each year.
Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @julianexcalibur for more content. Contact me at julian@alternativemindz.com