Who We Are
We are the first and only all-Caryl fanfiction archive and community!
Our intention is to provide a safe haven for Caryl fans. To paraphrase the words of our founder, Ravenesque, we believe there is a great need to foster community around our ship, gathering all our fantastic fanfiction in one place so that anyone seeking it out can find it easily. With this site we hope to foster that sense of safety within our own community, support for writers and readers with the inclusion of the shout box and chat room, a beta service, a moderated service that helps those entering the fandom to improve their work and thus improving the reading experience of all Carylers that want to read quality fanfiction. What we are about is acceptance and support, love of Carol and Daryl, Melissa and Norman, and hopefully a place where our detractors can recognize that this is not their space to impose upon.
Our History
Nine Lives was created at the start of 2014 as a safe-haven for Caryl fans to find fantastic fanfiction.
When Nine Lives was first conceived, the Caryl fandom had been on the go for over two years, growing with each passing season of The Walking Dead, and moments of deliciousness between Daryl and Carol. However, the infamous "slow-burn" of their relationship was driving many to frustration and people sought out the comfort of fanfiction to fill in the blanks or advance the story at a faster pace.
As the amount of readers and writers grew, so did the desire to have a Caryl-only spot to read these glorious texts. This was especially true as other ships started to arise in the fandom; ships that a Caryl fan may accidentally stumble on whilst reading what they thought, or hoped, was a Caryl fic. Things got heated and many started to become discouraged. It was in order to prevent this happening, and to create a community and haven for the Caryl fans, that Megan (Ravenesque, formerly Peta2), Fairies Masquerade and Atoizzard got together to create Nine Lives. Thanks to Megan's experience and influence in the Spuffy fandom, Susan from the Spuffy Archive Elysian Fields kindly agreed to host Nine Lives on their server.
So in January 2014, Nine Lives went live.
In the 20 months since Nine Lives opened, it has grown tremendously and changed a lot. However, one thing remains the same and that is the ethos behind the site. Nine Lives is the place where Caryl fans can come to enjoy (or post) the best that Caryl and McReedus fanfiction has to offer. It is a community where readers and writers are here to support and encourage their fellow Carylers, and help us all get the best experience out of this ride we call fandom. Be it multi-chapter AUs, fluffy drabbles, angsty post-episode fics or wild and crazy smut, here your every desire for Caryl (and McReedus) can be explored and delighted in with like-minded fans.
Meet The Staff
Fairies Masquerade - Owner/Site Administrator
I’ve often thought it’d be fun if my life were a musical - perhaps a beautiful cross between Chicago, Little Shop of Horrors (except with the alien invading plant being friendly and awesome instead of wanting to literally devour humanity), the roller skating parts of Xanadu and the parody of ‘Puttin’ on the Ritz’ from Young Frankenstein - and given that I work in theater, the likelihood of a song-and-dance number spontaneously erupting around me is actually pretty good! When I’m not lurking in the bowels of a theater (trying to find who took my mask - I mean wut), I pretty much live and breathe Nine Lives. Occasionally, I pretend to write. Far too obsessed with Caryl. Carol Peletier is my spirit animal.
Subversivegrrl - Archive Administrator
subversivegrrl is the offspring of a family of itinerant giraffe trainers and amateur lexicographers. She sometimes writes. More often she stares in abject terror at the computer screen. In her spare time she enjoys arranging scraps of paper into stacks.
Ikkleosu - Archive Administrator
Ikkleosu is a 40-year-old Scottish personage with chronic illness, chronic forgetfulness and chronically bad typing. She was likely shipping the doctors in her delivery room and has continued to be a UST addict for life. She loves facts, hummus, Irn Bru and Caryl.
Tech Guy - Technical Support
Tech Guy is a savvy, suave techno-superhero who lurks deep within the wilds of Scotland, fueled entirely by coffee. You never know when he’ll show up, but he’s always ready to be the computer whiz we need.
Meeshie - Chat Administrator
meeshie is an American east coast ex-pat living it up in the Pacific NW, where she attempts to be productive in her job as a web developer, but usually ends up drinking local beers or coffee while getting lost in the black hole of her ships, especially Caryl. Occasionally she takes a break from shipping to sing with her band, or write a fic here and there. She loves animals and awesome human beings.
Jaibhagwan - Chat Moderator
Caryl is my crack. Writing is my 12-step program. Traumatized by TWD for various reasons, I just need to vent some serious feels. Writing is more than therapy. It's transformative. Everyone on Nine Lives is part of my support group. You are all wonderful enablers!
Sweetooth7 - Chat Moderator
My name is sweettooth and I’m addicted to Caryl. I sold my soul to them back in season 1 the instant Carol held her hand out for that pickaxe. I love everything about fanfiction – reading and writing and the world of possibilities it represents, and I'm so grateful for the Caryl love-fest that Nine Lives has given to us. Because sometimes my feels take advantage of me and I just need a little support group to hold me close. I’m in love with Daryl Dixon, but even more so with Carol Peletier. I am terrified of birds, and my favourite food is bread and butter. And cake.
AlannasTara - Chat Moderator
33 year old, hot-mess mom of two, with a memory span the size of Rick Grimes' pea pods. Between playing chauffeur/jungle gym/referee and finally remebering to switch loads of laundry so they don't reek of mildew, I sometimes read and write Caryl fanfiction. Caryl is my first experience in fandom and also my first experience writing fanfiction. Aliases include: Angst Monster, Destroyer of Feels and Queen of crack!ships.