Daryl Dixon/Carol Peletier

Daryl Dixon/Carol Peletier, commonly known as Caryl, is a popular het pairing in The Walking Dead television series fandom. Their canon relationship is complex — some fans (especially those shipping Bethyl) see them as having a mother/son dynamic (despite the actors being only a couple of years apart in age); a lot of the fans see them as emotional with romantic undertones.
==Fandom==
===Statistics===
*In 2017 Daryl Dixon/Carol Peletier was the 3rd most popular Walking Dead pairing on Archive of Our Own.The Walking Dead A03 Statistics
===Common Tropes in Fanworks===
* No Zombie Apocalypse AU - A lot fanfics are written as AUs where the zombie apocalypse never happened. In most of those Carol's daughter Sophia is also alive. They often still deal with the abusive relationship with Ed at the very beginning, as Carol gets out of her toxic marriage. In some Ed is already out of the picture (dead or otherwise) and Carol is moving on.
* Sophia - Some fics deal with Sophia's death in season two. Sometimes the writers choose to deviate from canon and have Daryl find Sophia before it's too late. A lot of fics written around the time seasons 2 and 3 aired focused on the way Daryl and Carol grew closer because of his quest to find her daughter.
* Carol's Banishment - often present in Fix-It fics where Daryl brings Carol back to the prison, or leaves after her.
* Abuse - Past abusive relationships of both Daryl (Daryl's father and/or brother) and Carol (her husband) often play an important part in fanfics, with a lot of writers addressing the characters painful past one way or another.
*Prison or Alexandria Safe Zone: Set within either the Prison or the Alexandria Safe Zone, providing a calm environment during the Zombie Apocalypse to develop Daryl and Carol's relationship.
====Popular Side Pairings in Caryl Fics====
In fanfics that center around Daryl and Carol, writers often incorporate side pairings that serve either as supporting characters/pairing or are a secondary focus of the fic. Most popular side pairings are canon pairings of Rick Grimes/Lori Grimes (sometimes with the canon storyline of Shane Walsh/Lori Grimes and Rick Grimes/Shane Walsh/Lori Grimes love triangle) and Glenn Rhee/Maggie Greene.
In fics written during or around season 3 of the show a very popular side pairing was Merle Dixon/Beth Greene. Another Merle pairing very popular in Caryl fics is Merle Dixon/Andrea Harrison‎.
Slash pairings are rarely present as side pairings in Caryl fics.
===Challenges and Activities===
*Caryl Fanfiction Awards
*Caryl Secret Santa
*USS Caryl
===Other===
*Fans against the Caryl pairing are sometimes called ABC Shippers ("Anyone but Carol") or ABD Shippers ("Anyone but Daryl")
==Caryl vs Bethyl War==
Starting with season 4, a conflict developed between some Caryl shippers and fans who were shipping Beth Greene/Daryl Dixon that escalated to a Ship War so big that even actors and creators of the show became aware of it. A Caryl-centric Tumblr tag Operation Levity is a direct result of that war.
== We Ain't Ashes Collective ==
It was announced in April 2022 that Melissa McBride would not be joining the previously announced Daryl and Carol spinoff, which became The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon.https://thealisthype.com/fans-are-mad-at-amc-for-moving-caryl-spin-off-to-europe-and-forcing-melissa-mcbride-out/ The show's relocation to France was cited as an issue for McBride, and originally announced showrunner Angela Kang also dropped out of the project. Fans were critical of Norman Reedus's decision to stay attached to the show without Melissa and disappointed that the possibility of a Caryl-friendly spinoff had evaporated. They started the We Ain't Ashes Collective to exert pressure on AMC through letter writing campaigns, Twitter blitzes, and other social media tactics.https://x.com/WeAintAshesCLTV McBride was spotted filming in France in July 2023https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/melissa-mcbride-filming-the-walking-dead-spinoff-norman-reedus-daryl-dixon-carol/ and ultimately announced to be rejoining the show's second season, now titled The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon: The Book of Carol.https://people.com/the-walking-dead-daryl-dixon-season-2-trailer-debuts-at-comic-con-2024-8682591#:~:text=On%20Friday%2C%20July%2027%2C%20AMC,after%2011%20seasons%20in%202022.
==Example Fanworks==
===Fanfiction===
* Broken Mirrors by theramblinrose. A No Zombie Apocalypse AU fic
* Sweet Junction by theramblinrose. A No Zombie Apocalypse AU fic
* Snake by Axelrocks. A High School AU
* On the wings of a fallen angel by SpikesSlayer08.
* Chance Encounters (offline)Chance Encounters by EnglishPoet18 at Archive of Our Own, archived 25 May 2015 by the Wayback Machine. by EnglishPoet18.
* There are Monsters in the Mirror by Haitus80
* Scrap Metal series by mizdiz (also known as carol_is_daryls_favorite_meal). A High School, No Zombie Apocalypse AU that eventually becomes Zombie Apocalypse AU.
* How Carol Got Her Groove Back by Trogdor19. A winter between Seasons 2 and 3 retelling.
* Rough and Tumble by iliveatlast. A No Zombie Apocalypse AU, Sophia Lives AU.
* Hearts and Bones by lighteneveryting. A No Zombie Apocalypse AU.
===Fanart===
* by hella-queen-helena. Drawing referencing an interview with Melissa McBride and Norman Reedus and the song they came up with about the pairing.
* by Pasita
* by Pasita
* 5x02 episode tag by stuff-so-far, crack comic
* animated drawing by stuff-so-far
* episode tag by veronikalovesthis
* by jwcloudcaryl
* art by veronikalovesthis
===Fan vids===
* 101 Reasons To Ship Carol + Daryl by margeya1. A ship manifesto vid.
* Carol & Daryl Crack!vid by HuddyElectra, a meta Crack!vid
* You+Me by adelicateflower08
* Maybe by gracefull mess
* What's a Soulmate? by blessed cohan
===Meta===
* by sanjamac
* Nine Lives Two Mics by by Shalaka and Laura (2023-ongoing)
==Archives and Communities==
* Nine Lives, a Dark Solace Caryl Fanfiction Archive
* USS Caryl, Tumblr blog
* Daryl x Carol livejournal community
* Cherokee Roses Daryl & Carol fanlisting
* Caryl World Forum
==Resources==
* Daryl Dixon/Carol Peletier tag at Archive of Our Own
* Stories marked Daryl D. + Carol at FanFiction.Net
* Tumblr Tags: Daryl x Carol, Carol x Daryl, Caryl
==References==
Category:Het Pairings
Category:Walking Dead Relationships
Category:Social Media Feature-Ship Sunday