#michonne effect

[restesdelune]

✨️ Michonned Rick (1) ✨️

They were like

Suddenly he just

But she was

Then he realized

So when she got

He was like

And also

And he kept saying

I enjoy my Rick Michonned, how 'bout you?

Happy Shipping

[restesdelune]

Michonners Assemble ⚔️❤️‍🔥

Michonne is such an incredible mix of warrior and loving human. How do you think this beautiful character development was conveyed in the storytelling to highlight the nuances of her humanness, while also spotlighting the absolute goddess she embodies?

Love the way you worded this.🥹 Michonne really is the best and an inspiration, especially for those reasons. To answer this question about her character development and the way her humanness and strong goddess-ness were both on display in the story I went season by season from s3-s6 and wrote it all out below ⬇️💗:

Season 3:

In season 3 we’re quickly introduced to the warrior goddess aspect of her with how sharp and capable she is and also her fearlessness to not back down even when confronted by intimidating people. And then that humanness is shown early in her nurturing side toward Andrea and it gets shown even more once she bonds with Carl in Clear where we see more of her personality and that there’s a really kind and refreshingly lighthearted side to her, after previously seeing her be more serious most of the time. Also, her ability to pick up on Rick’s mental state more than anyone else in the group, shows she has this unique level of empathy and can recognize people’s anguish/pain because she’s experienced it firsthand herself. And even with the pain she carries, she still has this admirable poise and compassion for people.

Season 4:

In season 4, Michonne’s innate warrior is demonstrated through her determination to find and kill the Governor especially. But what I really love is that in season 4 we get some of the most compelling explorations of Michonne’s humanness throughout - from her holding Judith and crying, trying to return to her lone wolf ways after the prison but mustering up the strength to instead find the two who have most become family to her, being haunted by her past while vulnerably talking to Mike about how she misses him, strengthening her bond with Carl and Rick during their travels, and opening up about Andre for the first time with someone. We definitely see Michonne grow and heal a lot this season as a human being, and she even falls in love even if she doesn’t realize that’s what happened yet. 

Season 5:

In season 5, Michonne is pivotal to the group’s survival. It’s her push and insight that lead them both to head to Washington and to arrive at Alexandria. And her willingness to speak up and stand firm in her opinions even with Season 5 Rick who was at his most feral and on edge, was huge as she was able to reach him in a way that only she could. The warrior in her has Deanna instantly recognizing that she too should be put in charge of keeping the community safe alongside Rick. And then her humanness is depicted in both her desire for a home (especially in one of my fav episodes 5.09) and her internal restlessness when she finds one. A lot is weighing on her once they’re behind the walls of ASZ and we get glimpses of that with her being unable to sleep, standing alone at the party, and then when she goes to find Sasha and starts shooting the walkers and having flashbacks. Like many characters that season she’s wrestling with who she used to be and who she’s become. Rick and Michonne also have some of their most vulnerable pre-canon conversations in season 5, where we nicely get to see both of their humanity on display. 

Season 6: In season 6, we get one of the best developments in Michonne’s humanity as she finally embraces the true love she found. And it’s a journey to embrace it, with the universe having to send her several signs that it’s okay to acknowledge she’s fallen in love with Rick - like that dying Alexandrian telling her his love story which mirrored her own and Deanna urgently telling Michonne to figure out what she wants for her own life on her deathbed. She’s been so focused on what she gives and does to others, that this season was encouraging her to know it’s time to also let herself be loved as fully as she loves. Her humanity is also on display in her compassion for those Aleandrians in 6.03. And even once in her outwardly in-love era post-canon, she’s still the warrior goddess she’s always been because she’s still as active as ever in handling business and taking down threats with warning pops and more. 

Her humanity and inner warrior really are harmoniously hand in hand in seasons 7 through 10 as well, and especially in TOWL which includes my favorite depiction of Michonne. I could say so much about Michonne in those seasons and TOWL but I know this post is already long lol. So I'll just conclude saying I really do adore the way Michonne is a character who has such inspiring fight and capabilities in her as well as such endearing humanness and vulnerability. A goddess of a human being through and through. 👑👌🏽 Thank you for asking this, anon, and giving me another reason to rave about one of my absolute favorite characters. 🥰

[stelacole]

psd coloring : 𝐏𝐒𝐃 𝟐𝟗𝟗 : 𝐌𝐈𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄

a free psd coloring for my tip jar/subscribers i made & spend my time on on my deviantart !  feel free to adjust layers if you want to. just keep the credit to me still ! it might not work on all colors the same. this psd coloring comes with some adjustments !

PRICE : none. only for my tip jar/subscribers ( if you don’t have deviantart or don’t want to subscribe to the tip jar, / hmu and i can send you my ko-fi you can donate on and ill send you the psd after it !

[carlsangel]

pure regret (g.i.t.w, ch.5)

carl grimes x fem!reader

warning: mentions of puking and fearing it? idk, gutting walkers, death.

masterlist here!

other chapters here! (plus a map of alexandria to make it make sense is here!)

Carl ran through Alexandria, doing what he could to protect the people around him while simultaneously scrambling to find his father. Meanwhile all that was going through his brain was you. He obviously wanted to be with his family but over the course of the week he’d spent with you he really connected with you. He genuinely cared for you. While running inside of Jessie’s house, he’d looked around the trees surrounding the walls for you. Just in case he’d see you. But he didn’t.

You were watching him the entire time, however. Every step he took, every walker he plunged his knife into. You tracked him the entire time. You lower your rifle once he disappears into the house and you take in your surroundings. Below you, there were walkers passing by to the open passage so you were trapped in your tree. You had to make do with what you had. You steadied yourself on the thick branch and silently opened your bag to find any ammo. You found a good amount of bullets and slid them into your jacket pocket, sinking the thin fabric down with the weight of the metal and gunpowder.

You sat there frustrated. You wish you weren’t so fucking stubborn. Maybe you could be down there with him and could help. No one there knows who you are, you’d just be a stranger. Probably wouldn’t be the best decision after the community was just invaded. Plus you’re safer outside the walls, but even then you want to protect him. You were filled with pure regret.

You lift your rifle back up to your eye and look through the community, seeing those you’ve observed over and over scramble to find shelter. Some made it, some didn’t. You look back to Jessie’s house, focusing in on the windows but it was a bit far to understand exactly what was going on. It wasn’t long until the windows were covered with sheets or whatever it was they were using in that house. You thought about it for a while, realize it’d probably be best to not shoot from your tree. You knew you’d have to leave the tree at some point.

You planned an escape, there weren’t many options. You could always just shoot from the tree, except with the amount of walkers surrounding the area and the incoming walkers as well, there was a good chance the tree wouldn’t withstand it. You needed something that wouldn’t break, something that could withstand the insane amount of walkers.

A house perhaps.

You wanted to rule out shooting from the community, although it’d make the most sense since it was already filled, but also you’d draw more. That’s when you heard a couple of ruckus’s from the houses. You knew they’d draw more and more regardless of the shots. It didn’t matter, you wanted to shield him. You knew he had a baby sister too, although you didn’t know her you wanted to protect her.

You hated the effect Carl had on you. Now you started to care for not just him but also his family.

─── ⋆⋅ ꒰ა 𐚁 ໒꒱ ⋅⋆ ───

Carl pushed back the white sheet that covered the window back every couple of minutes to look for you. He thought maybe you’d not actually left Alexandria and you were inside the walls looking for him. He knew you weren’t that stupid though. He just wanted to be around you, experience this with you. Everything he did that led up to this point didn’t matter. He wanted you.

“S’it bad out there?” Michonne approaches him as he gazes out the window. He turns back to glance at her then back out to the sea of the dead. He wasn’t paying attention initially. He was looking for you. “Yeah pretty bad.” He lets the sheet fall from his hands and he turns to look at Michonne. He looks distressed which is reasonable. “Hey don’t worry…we’re gonna get through this. We always do.” Michonne explains, doing her best to comfort him. He nods which led to him shaking his head. “No it’s not that. I know we’re gonna make it, it’s just…others i’m worried about.”

She had a sneaking suspicion there was some deeper reasoning. He’d been acting strange ever since he met you and everyone could notice except him. He’d been disappearing for hours, he recently brought home a broken rifle he was oddly obsessed with…Michonne had an inkling he’d found the ghost in the woods. That’s what the other kids told her he’d been out looking for. “You found her didn’t you?” She inquires amused. He furrows his eyebrows. “Found who?” Like Michonne was stupid.

“You know who I mean. The girl who lingers in the trees.” Carl catches himself almost smiling, but he knows it’s not the time. “Yeah. I found her.” He looks back out to the trees and Michonne gives him his space.

Meanwhile the area beneath your tree was clear, most of the walkers had gotten into Alexandria and the surrounding woods were empty (minus a few stragglers.) You slowly lower yourself to the woods floor. Over the amount of time you’ve been on your own, you know how to be quiet when walking through the forest. So, you use that to your advantage. You manage to sneak up on a lone walker.

You plunge your knife through its head and catch its body, laying it out on the floor. You look down at it and contemplate your life for a couple seconds, mentally preparing yourself for what comes ahead. You take in a deep breath and begin to slice open its torso, slicing it open to pull out its insides. The smell of rotted meat fills your nose and you struggle to keep it together. You spread its guts all over your jacket and jeans. You wiped your hands off and found a small bit of mud to spread on your face, anything to make you smell and look dead. You were praying to God that when this was all over you’d be able to shower at Alexandria, or at least wash your clothes.

“Oh fuck.” You mutter, feeling what you fear most. You feel like you’re going to puke. Growing up it was your worst nightmare, it always made you feel like shit. You look up to the orange sky as the sun was setting and you shut your eyes, breathing in deeply. You needed to do this, you needed to protect him. It’s not like you believed he couldn’t do it on his own, but you knew that if he had someone on the outside, he’d have better odds at escaping.

You slowly make your way to a different crate that was placed against Alexandria’s east wall and climb up, just to hear some commotion that somehow sounded over the entire sea of walkers. It comes from the direction of Carl’s house, which at this point is straight ahead. You aren’t sure what to do in this moment, your head is scrambled with what could be happening to him as you watch the walkers make their way over. You push through, however, and the only thing motivating you is that Carl could still be alive. However likely that is.

You jump down to the floor, catching the attention of some walkers, but you use the skills you built to find a way to climb up the nearest house onto its steep roof. This house is at the edge of Alexandria, you can see almost everything, except the large apartment building almost blocked the infirmary. What really matters, is that you can see Carl’s house. However, your shoes are so worn down you were sliding while climbing. You straddle the roof almost and lift the rifle back up to your eye to spot people standing at the porch of his house. They apparently had the same tactic that you learnt early on in the apocalypse.

You watch as they slowly make their way through.

Carl, however is incredibly annoyed. If it wasn’t for Ron, no one would be in this situation in the first place. But he takes this opportunity to look for you some more. He looks around while clutching Judith tightly underneath. He gives up when the group approaches to a stop. You’re confused as to why they might do that but you see Carl with a baby in his hands which makes you realize that’s his little sister. He hands her to a priest, the one you remember seeing from the gates but he wanders off. They all begin to walk again and the sun is setting which makes everything so much more difficult to see.

Not to mention they begin to walk past towards the gates, but you start to lose sight of them. Without getting killed, you slide onto the balcony, off the house and to a house further in the neighborhood. Just three houses over which was shorter and easier to climb onto. You still needed the high ground, and you didn’t want to draw attention by joining his group. You didn’t want to be seen, either.

─── ⋆⋅ ꒰ა 𐚁 ໒꒱ ⋅⋆ ───

You watched carefully as the group made its way out. You followed the line with your rifle and you could help but cringe whenever the little kid would call out for his mom. You couldn’t focus on that though, you train your scope back into Carl and continue to watch. That was until they came to a full stop.

Your eyebrows furrow as you watch Carl tug a bit and move to the small child who seems to be panicking. That kid was always so nosy. It wasn’t long before his screams overpowered those of the dead. You realized you could be doing something here, you could be helping but you didn’t want to kill anyone. Not a human. You wanted to save every human life you could, especially after your family passed. You notice the mother of the kid sobbing profusely, but you can see Carl tugging his wrist away.

There’s nothing you can do, but they’re being surrounded.

Carl scrambles to come up with any solution, so he calls out for his dad who isn’t all there. He’s distressed as he watches the walkers pile over the child and the woman. Carl calls out a couple times and he pulls out his axe to sever the woman’s arm. Carl topples over, you see Ron, the other boy grab something from the floor and get up quickly.

It all happens so fast, but for the both of you, only one moment slows down time.

The moon glares against your scope, it’s trained on him so he sees a gentle beam of light cross his eyes. His eyebrows furrow as he spots you on a roof in the distance. He can almost smile as relief fills his body. He hears his dad behind him, bringing him back down to the situation in front of him.

He looks down to see Ron, he’s holding a gun in his direction.

That’s the last thing he sees before the gun goes off.

a/n: ALMOST OVERRRRR i hope this was banger and it made sense, look to the link of the map if it doesn’t!!! if u have questions let me know i’m terrible at directions SHANBDBDND

tag list: @zomb-1-egutzz @lunarnightt @ilikestrawberriesandwomen @hiro--aoki @h00d-tr4sh @callsignwidow @lilyglasergrimes @smollbean42905 @deadgirlwalkingx @txrasbae @lalaloopsie12309 @crusadecherryblossom @violetashfall @zombiigrll @amanita-raine @prettylittlevampire12 @shadowybasementmiracle @junkyard-juno27 @th3-3d3n-g4rd3n @sophiaatwdluver @baileebear @tabathastan @sstar-ggirl

[richonnelovers4life]

Only Michonne has this effect on Rick

[grim333z]

Dad! Carl x gn!reader headcannons

MASTERLIST

(I'm on s5 and seeing carl and judith is making me tweak out like he'd have been such a great dad and the lack of dad!carl on here is dispicable so here some headcannons)

☆He'd name his kid after someone he'd lost like lori or sophia if it was a girl and Glenn or Patrick (I know him and Patrick weren't that close just shh shhh) if it was a boy

☆He'd take after Rick his kid would be everything to him, and he'd do litterally anything for his kid, especially to keep them safe

☆after seeing him with judith you'd just known he would've been an excellent dad, and he never proved you wrong.

☆he'd always be the one going to change diapers and nighttime feeds just so you could get some more rest.

☆He had that kid learning survival skills as soon as he had his kid out learning to Use melee weapons and guns as soon as he could though you'd been slightly hesitant on the idea the first time he mentioned it.

☆He'd keep his scar covered even though he'd eventually grown to accept it not wanting his kid to have to see the effects of the world carl had to grow up in, especially since he was such an integral part of building the world his kid now gets to grow up in

☆But if the kid asked about it or to see it, he'd tell them what happened, let their little fingers trace the numb bumpy skin.

☆He'd pass the hat down as soon as the kid was old enough to grasp the history behind it, spending hours cleaning it up after years of wear and tear, but the small dents still remain.

☆he'd stay back with Rj and judith while michonne was out trying to find rick, growing exceedingly giddy at the thought of rick meeting his grandchild.

☆He'd tell story's of what he remembered from the world before,the walks he'd go on with rick, his birthday party's and Friday night pizza

☆he'd go on the same walks him and rick did when he was small, along the farms in alexandria.

☆Carl would try to do absolutely anything to give his kid the childhood he deserved after watching his own childhood fall short.

[youledmehere]

THE ONES WHO LIVE EPISODE FOUR: WHAT WE

[WRITTEN BY DANAI GURIRA]

-> Vulture: After some tedious lies and deceptions, in Michonne’s words, they needed a time-out. That’s exactly what they get in one of the best stand-alone episodes in all of The Walking Dead. (…) It’s like watching a two-person play, which makes sense, as the episode’s writer, Danai Gurira (Michonne herself), is an acclaimed and Tony-nominated playwright (…..) “What We” is not a bottle episode. Multiple sets in a single location, two characters with an internal conflict, and the special-effects budget make it a “Suitcase” episode. Editors Rating: 5 stars

Bloody-Disgusting: Andrew Lincoln once again showcases a masterclass of acting as Grimes cycles through his damaged psyche, desperately trying to figure out how to connect with Michonne. Gurira matches Lincoln’s emotional performance, evoking Michonne’s desperation and anger with authenticity. Letting Gurira take over writing duties for this specific episode proved extremely beneficial given the emotional legwork the character trudges through in this particular installment. If there’s anyone who can understand Michonne the best, it’s Danai Gurira.

The Hollywood Reporter: As the writer of the episode, Gurira felt she clearly understood Michonne’s arc, but she wanted to make sure her co-star and fellow executive producer Lincoln had enough meat to sink his teeth into, as well. “You want to give an actor like him everything you can,” she says. “Andy’s such a fantastic actor who throws everything into it. I was keen to give him that workout.” Lincoln added to THR, “It was thrilling to do all of this with friends, but Danai had one heck of a role as well as showrunning the fourth episode as an added responsibility. I thought the work she did on that was an astonishing testament to her skills, especially because apparently she only needs two hours a day to sleep.”

Den of Geek: To call it a bottle episode is dismissive. Certainly, there’s one major setting, and most of the episode contains little in the way of special effects (by the standards of the average Walking Dead Televisual Universe show). However, most bottle episodes aren’t this interesting, or this gripping. “What We” feels like The Walking Dead taking a stab at doing a spinoff of the Richard Linklater Before trilogy, not wallowing in the usual zombie action or soap opera frippery. It’s almost certainly going to be polarizing, but it’s one of the most captivating, emotionally-deep episodes of television from this universe, and it’s all down to the powerhouse that is Danai Gurira.

SpoilerTV: “What We” is a captivating exploration of love’s transformative force. Rick and Michonne shed their pretenses, abandoning deceit to forge a profound reconnection. Andrew Lincoln’s performance brilliantly resurrects Rick from the abyss of a living man who is dead inside, courtesy of Danai’s masterful writing.

Bleeding Cool: But it’s Gurira pulling double duty that deserves all of the attention and tons of praise. Proving that she knows this couple and their dynamic better than anyone, Gurira presented us with what felt like a real couple going through the problems with real reactions- even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. I know that reviews can sometimes go to the extremes-positive or negative- but in the case of “What We”, we have an easy contender for one of the best single episodes of the franchises run.

[flutterbyoz]

A year ago today, what I can easily say is my favourite TWD episode ever, aired.

'What We' has been widely praised by fans and critics alike and rightly so. Danai Gurira did a phenomenal job writing this episode, her understanding of these characters, her love for them both as well as their relationship and her dedication to telling not only a brilliant story but a story that handles the trauma and PTSD Rick is suffering from in a sensitive and accurate way is easy to see. She put everything into this.

Andrew Lincoln was also amazing, his emotions, inner turmoil, the way you could see he was fighting with himself, between what he wanted and what he thought he should want, is incredible.

The biggest reveal happened in this episode, one that so many fans have been wanting to see and hear for years and though it may not have been how many people had imagined I thought it was so well done. You could see the break in Rick's well constructed mask when he found out about RJ, the son he never knew existed. That inner turmoil must have exploded at that second but still the effects of the CRM still had such a strong hold on him.

So many emotions were felt, frustration, heartbreak, joy, love, even a little humor and everything in-between, this is without a doubt one of the best episodes in this franchise and my personal favourite.

We got to see quite a different side to Richonne, a side we haven't really seen before, the tension was palpable, the frustration, the anger, the sadness, both Andy and Danai played this perfectly. And though they were at odds, quite understandably, for part for the episode, the love between them is always evident. The fact they are still so deeply in love just makes it ever harder, but wow, were they both amazing!

Some of their very best performances were seen in this episode.

We the enjoyed the most beautiful coming together of these two lovers, the reconnecting, the love making, the tenderness, the sexiness, the happiness it was all perfect. And though we got the heartbreak of realising what was really going on inside Rick, the fact he felt he had lost Carl and then lost Michonne and in order to keep living he had to mentally die, was both hard to watch and impossible not to.

Michonne knew exactly what her man needed, she knew he needed to get it all out in order to be able to move forward and she gave him that safe space to do just that. As she admits earlier in the episode, she only feels safe when she's with him and here she was his safe space, his sanctuary, his oasis from the darkness that had enveloped him for the past 8 years, just like she's always been. Michonne is his guiding light and shelter from the storm, they protect each other.

By the end of this episode, Richonne were back to being the in sync power couple we all know them to be. They fight their way out of that collapsing apartment building, working together, in sync and in tune and of course making out any chance they get. They couldn't keep their hands off each other and you know as soon as they were far enough away they were getting busy in that yellow truck!

I've lost count the amount of times I've watched this episode but to me it is perfect and just like every other episode in this series/season, I can watch it over and over ❤️

And should we get Rick and Michonne back, please can Danai write again because she knows these characters and their relationship better than many of the writers and she showcased that without fault in 'What We'.

A 10/10 episode for me!!

[tllgrrl]

Grimes 68 by @tllgrrl aka nefertiri jones

Summary: After almost 8 years apart, Michonne finds Rick Grimes, the love of her life and father of their children, and he brings her into the Civic Republic Military. For the time being: 1) She has to pretend to be someone else to avoid being seen as a threat; 2) He has to figure out a plan for the two of them to get out; and 3) They have to try and act like they’re strangers to each other instead of reunited lovers.

(The key word is “try”.)

* * * * *

*CLANK…CLANK…CLANK…*

The steel kill sticks striking against the brick wall rang in the parking lot of what was left of a post office.

A former postal service semi that now had protective grills over the windows led the next herd of the dead, or what the CRM called “deltas”— “delts” for short—into the large space on the one side of the harvest wall.

The shuffling hoard was drawn by the noise and flashing lights mounted on the truck.

*CLANK…CLANK…CLANK…CLANK…*

The consignees readied themselves on the other side, and as the delts shambled to open spaces in the wall, each one was met with a blow that drove a sharp, prong-ended spear (“kill stick”) into its skull, followed by a twist of the wrist that destroyed its brain, effectively and finally killing it.

It was a repetitive, bloody, mind-numbing grind, and some said that it was brutal for the workers because it wasn’t easy to completely forget that the delts were once living human beings too.

Grimes had done his time at The Wall. He’d even become a legend with the number of kills he could rack up in a shift.

It was painted in big letters on the side of a nearby building, for all to see:

GRIMES 68.

He was also well-known for the number of attempts he’d made to do something no one else in the City wanted to do: Escape. Wanting to leave the safety and security of the CR so badly that he actually cut off his own shackled hand at the wrist, only to fail again and be brought back to the Wall.

Time and time again an officer in the Civic Republic Military gave him a chance to join up, and he refused each offer, preferring to be at the culling facility, killing the dead and planning his next escape attempt.

Then one day, he accepted the offer. He traded his Consignee jacket for a CRM uniform. Instead of using a kill stick, he got a fancy, deadly prosthetic hand with a retractable blade. He got all kinds of specialized training, all the perks as he rose through the ranks, and he never had to cull delts again.

But now, after having been gone for years, there he was. Back at the Wall. Watching.

Watching her.

The new consignee.

The dark-skinned Black woman with her hair cut short on one side of her head, exposing a beautiful profile; and locs cascading down just past her shoulder in the back and on the other side of her face .

The woman who, after her on-boarding interview, was designated a Type “B”, seeking safety, willing to work, and keeping to herself, but had the carriage and demeanour of an “A” who was always observing, was more than capable of defending herself, and being a provider of safety. A leader.

Word soon got around among the Consignees that the ex-consignee/now military officer known as “the famous Rick Grimes” had not only survived a chopper crash, but he’d started showing up at the harvest wall. Coming back to a place he’d gotten away from years earlier, only to return when a mysterious new consignee was brought into the CRM.

*CLANK…CLANK…CLANK…*

“Hey. Look who just pulled up,” said a consignee who had her red hair tied back with, of all things, a bright pink ribbon that was tied in a bow.

“Holy shit! ‘zat Grimes?” another consignee added, tying a bandana on his head, cholo style, then slipping on his face shield. “He doesn’t have to be here any more. What’s up with that?”

“Bethune’s not-so-secret admirer,” snickered the worker to pink bow’s left, stabbing his kill stick into a delt that sagged and dropped. “She doesn’t see him yet. But she knows he’s there. Watch. In 3..2..1.”

Michonne—known to the other consignees as “Dana Bethune” —stationed at the far end of the wall, continued to methodically dispatch delts.

Then she stopped, looked over her shoulder, and found the tall CRM officer. Standing there, at ease, even with his helmet and face guard on, she knew he was watching her.

It seemed like they stood there, the only people at the wall. 5…10…15 minutes. Watching each other. Breathing the same air. At last…

3 seconds later, she turned her head back to the oncoming delts, and went back to work.

Behind her mask, the other consignees couldn’t see the small smile that graced her lips, or hear her whisper “I found you.”

Behind his mask, no one could see the CRM officer smile as he whispered “You found me.”

*CLANK…CLANK…CLANK…*

“You see that?” drawled the consignee to pink bow’s right, continuing to spear oncoming delts. “Somethin’s up with those two.”

“I know, right? For the past two weeks, he’s here. Same time every day she’s on shift, just before third break. Look at him lookin’. Even wearin’ the consignee jacket, the mask, an’ her hair all tucked in, it only takes him a second to find her. And a second for her to know he’s here. Like they’re—”

“Might could be that ass is imprinted on his brain!” laughed a big man nearby with a bushy black beard.

“Maybe it’s because she saved his life out there.”

“Peterson said somethin’ about that. It’s true?”

“‘parently so. His chopper went down. Got blown right outta the sky and crashed.”

“You serious?!”

“Word is it was a scrub with some kinda RPG an’ shit,” a consignee added to the story while wiping a splatter of brains and blood off of his face guard.

“Stop lyin’! How’d they even get that? After the Fall, CRM took over most of the bases out there with a quickness.”

“There was military stuff out in the wild even before everything went to shit. All kinds o’ stuff is still out there,” bushy beard opined. “Shouldn’t be a surprise all these years later somebody has a bazooka or some ordinance hidden away. There’s jeeps, even tanks here and there. I lived in one for a couple o’ months before I got found and brought here. CRM scoops ‘em up quick as they can, but—”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. So anyway, the scuttlebut’s that Sargent Major Loverboy there, an’ the other troopers jumped out of the wrecked chopper an’ the scrub starts firein’ on ‘em. The ones he could catch, he slit their throats…with a sword.”

“A what?” bandana scoffed, stabbing into what was left of the next delt’s face. “Get outta here with that BS, man!”

“I’m just tellin’ you what I heard! Grimes was about ta get got, when Bethune comes runnin’ outta the woods, grabs one of the dead trooper’s weapons and shoots the scrub!”

“Wow. Maybe that’s why he’s here all the time,” pink bow chuckled. “Hell, I’d be in love with her too.”

“Get in line,” beard snarked. “You really think those two know each other?”

“Know each other?” the woman laughed, stabbed a delt and shook its eyeball off of her kill stick. “I think they’re fuckin’.”

“No way!” bandana exclaimed. “She just got here!”

<<<Good work, Section 5 and 6 Consignees. Bethune and Clifton, please report to post-shift health check before boarding transport.>>>

“Think about it,” pink bow explained. “Grimes is an officer on the inside now and doesn’t need to be at the Harvest Wall any more. Who’d come back to this shit after their 6 years of consignment is up? Now, all of a sudden, he’s back. Out here almost every day. Why?”

She tipped her head toward the driveway and they watched Grimes remove his helmet and turn completely around to watch “why” aka “Dana Bethune” walk past, avoiding his eyes.

*CLANK…CLANK…CLANK…*

“Oh, yeah…” pink bow grinned. “They’re fuckin’.”

* * * * *

This bit of nonsense was inspired by The Walking Dead spin-off, The Ones Who Live - Episode 3: “Bye”.

Click HERE for the AO3 version.

Thank you for reading!

[restesdelune]

The Michonne Effect

Can’t think

Can’t dream

Can’t live

To be found against all odds

To see and touch her again

To be woken up from a nightmare

To be met in the middle

Together again

To be brought back

Love takes its roots

Michonne really is the one.

A human, hero, woman, warrior, lover, leader, mother, spy, wife and so much more...

Rick Grimes is the luckiest man ever, and he knows it now.

[whateverisbeautiful]

Richonne in Retrospect - The 💋 List

(every Richonne kiss ranked)

#6: The All-Consuming Kisses (1.04)

Whew 🔥🔥. In trying to think of what to label these kisses, the word that most came to mind was "all-consuming." Because even with everything going on and their unresolved conflict, these kisses make it to where all Rick and Michonne can think about anymore is just each other, as their intense desire for one another fills the air. Also, the label felt fitting because they really do end up practically consuming each other as these golden kisses progress. Episode 4 had some stellar kiss scenes but this one right here takes the cake as the best kisses of the episode to me 👏🏽...

I mentioned in the reveling of this scene, that this is one of the biggest examples of Richonne's kisses being communication, because this kiss was a whole conversation. And a very persuasive conversation at that. 😏 Richonne's love is legitimately nourishment to them and with each of these kisses they communicate how much they not just want but need this nourishment after being starved of it for years. Richonne has had sexual tension since season three of TWD, but never has the sexual tension been higher than when they return to this apartment. Their hunger for each other is visceral and the slowness of this buildup just makes it tremendously sensual.

I love how Rick is so fixated on her once they're back from the apartment and that Michonne gets a front-row seat to the spellbinding effect she has on her husband. And he has a very alluring effect on her too. She knows she's supposed to still be pretty upset with him for his behavior and refusal to go home, but it's sweet seeing how she can't help but fold in Rick's presence and just let herself get lost in this moment with him.

I like how Rick knows to take his time with each kiss as they make the first steps toward reconnecting after all their conflict. I love how the kisses get progressively more intimate, and how you can visibly see Michonne being won over completely by Rick. The way he reaches down before that third kiss and she takes that breath before leaning into the kiss - yeah they both know this is the moment they're going to finally make love again after not doing so since the last day they spent together in Alexandria.

And then those three kisses were already great, but being spoiled means we always end up getting more than we expected so there's one more extremely hot moment as Rick picks Michonne up and they passionately resume kissing before transitioning to bed. The way he holds her and the way she lets him, I just adore that kiss and the way it's shot.

Oh to relive watching ep 4 live - I so clearly remember the elated astonishment I had watching this golden buildup moment and the following bedroom moment for the first time. What a time. 🤩 And I appreciate that Richonne's anticipated moment of making love ignited even before they made it to the bed with this ultra sultry buildup scene. ♥️

[sylvies-chen]

I need to explain why forgetting carl had such a deep impact on rick because there’s this whole other level to it ok bear with me here:

there’s this term used in many different academic fields— anthropology, psychology, history, migration and decolonization, ethics— called memory work. it’s basically the process of remembering the experience of history and the studying of social memory. it’s largely used in relation to migrants who don’t have homes, steady routines, or consistent grounding details to help their memory, so the one space they don’t have to flee from or that hasn’t become “colonized” is their minds. memory is a way of preserving not just personal memory, but social and cultural history.

so the fact that rick can’t remember carl is HUGE. when the dreams stop, that is a big deal. because so much of what they went through as father and son happened when they were effectively displaced from their home by the circumstances of the world. their constant process of migration in the original show probably affected social memory and people’s capacity to remember in really massive ways. plus, rick’s love for carl especially is thematically embedded with ideas of legacy, memory, and the intergenerational transmission of knowledge as motivation for creating a better world. he wanted to make a new world for his son! their relationship was symbolic of the construction of a new civilization and cultural identity. that’s part of why rick grimes was so revered and admired, because his memory work helped forge a new identity and home that everyone could ground themselves in.

but then rick gets to the CRM, where there is a consistent routine, confinement to a specific place, a value on sameness and cohesion from obedience, and an isolation from these sort of “cultural” objects or artefacts that might help jog his memory of carl (familiar places like ASZ, carl’s handprints on the porch, judith’s drawings of their family, carl’s letter to rick, etc.). this means that the CRM effectively tried to destroy rick’s capacity for memory for 8 years.

he performed memory work to resist, by getting the faces of his loved ones drawn onto phone screens, writing letters to michonne and judith, keeping any possessions from ASZ that he could. but the chaotic outside world he travelled through under extreme, stressful circumstances becomes harder to carry with him when he’s being presented with an environment so sturdy and consistent that denies him contact with anything to preserve his memory of history.

so effectively, the CRM and the way their city is set up uses tactics one would see in brainwashing and the formation of cults or colonial projects. the CRM relies on separation of families and the destruction of memory to succeed.

this isn’t just rick being worn down and losing his spine. it’s deeper than that. it is the erasure of his social and cultural memory of the apocalypse and of alexandria. and carl grimes was the first price that had to be paid.

[tangerineprettygreen]

Outside of Mr. ‘we are broken’ being a loverboy, I love the callback to her gas attack recovery and how even as ‘A’ as she is, Michonne has also really been through some shit, one of which has lasting effects.

[pinkfey]

tagged by the lovely @risingsh0t and @thedeadthree; tysm angels 😚💕💕

tagging @rosebarsoap @lvllns @tethrras @maxthetruman @celticwoman @sorctiefling @sotc @aelyosos @dannyburke @elgaravel @florbelles @gortash @ortanthaig @pavus @bhalspawn @aemondtargeryen @rosykims @rosenfey @mrs-theirin @sylkana @waspgrave @yharnams @aelyosos @southernreaches @rococoelf @druidgroves @vyrantium @ustalav @nocticulas @cryptwood @aeronbracken @wincott @kymal @statichvm @morrigano @jamessunderlandgf @shadowglens @aezyrraeshh @rynegaias @avvidstarion @hylfystt @anoramactir @deadrlngers @calenhads @bryoria @claudiawolf @nsewell @onewingedangels and YOU!!!!!!

major apologies for any double tagging/missed tags/etc; i tried to tag ppl who afaik are still active and also remember all the new urls as best i could ☺️🌼

[carlsangel]

STUPID

carl grimes x reader

(you punch negan at the lineup.)

tags: angst, fluff

masterlist here!

Sometimes, you do things without thinking which was very prevalent during the lineup. Sitting there silently while watching Negan torment and murder your family was complete torture. Coming along on this trip wasn’t supposed to turn out this way. Carl didn’t even want you to go in the first place.

During the lineup, the two of you were separated which somehow made everything much worse. You were sat between Michonne and Abraham. That definitely wasn’t the most ideal position to be in. Directly next to Abraham. You didn’t look, you couldn’t. You knew Carl had probably watched it all to make sure he’d remember it.

You thought it couldn’t get any worse but Negan decided to torment Rosita about it. You knew they had some sort of issue before all of this, that they’d broken up. But it was still cruel and just as hard to watch. Negan thought he was funny. So you clocked him in the jaw which is fair, who wouldn’t?

You were tackled and pinned to the floor as expected, you had heard the others protest while they screamed at Negan’s men telling them you’re just a kid. They weren’t planning on having mercy on you, but Negan did. He scolded you and told you there’d be consequences to your actions. You sometimes wish it was you. Glenn was a huge loss to the group, you couldn’t help but feel like it was your fault.

After everything you thought you’d be given the liberty of going home with your family. But he took you as punishment. He’d told you on various occasions that you were brave. Brave makes a good soldier, so he would try and break you. Turn you into a savior, into Negan. You were under the control of Dwight who locked you in a room and basically starved you, feeding you dog food and made you suffer by repeating songs over and over. He made you spend time with the dead, and that was the next time you’d see Carl.

You saw him through a gate first, he killed some of Negan’s men and that already stressed you out to no end. You were worried about what he’d might do to Carl. You finally got to leave the dead to service Dwight and Negan once again. You held a tray of snacks for the man, it was quite humiliating to say the least. But you were able to see Carl. The look he gave you was heartbreaking. He was so worried to see you there in that state. “Why’s he here?” You ask Negan. He sort of laughed at your question. “Well the last time I checked, that was none of your business. Don’t make me take out the only eye he has.” He teases. So you stay silent, that was probably the first you’d spoken in a while.

Later that day you were able to see him two more times, once during the iron and right before he left back to Alexandria. You knew that if he didn’t have his bandage, Negan had definitely tormented him. Eventually you were back locked into your cell, but not for long because you were soon given the supplies you’d need to leave. So you do, effectively disguising yourself and escaping. You made to ur way back to Hilltop, thanks to Jesus.

There you were well taken care of, you were given a shower and real food. Somewhere to sleep. You had nightmares about the Sanctuary, about Negan and Dwight. It sounds stupid but you were worried, you’d thought about it and realized you were still an escaped hostage, they could look for you at any moment. But that didn’t stop you from wanting to see Carl. Your plan was to leave Hilltop early in the morning to head back to Alexandria. You wake up early and grab a couple things you’d need in a bag. You sneak off to a side wall and before you can start to try to escape, you hear Maggie calling you and Sasha.

You walk further into the settlement to see that the gates are opened and he’s there. Carl is there. You let your bag slide off your back and the both of you make your way to each other’s embrace, still sort of shocked. He hugs you so tightly, tighter than he ever has before. He shoves his face into your neck. “Thank god.” He mumbles against your skin. After a moment you pulled back to look at him. He looks at you a bit wearily as the last time he’d seen you it wasn’t in the best condition. He leans forward and plants a kiss to your forehead, his eyes shut as he feels a wave of gratefulness flood his body.

Soon you guys would be sitting down in Barrington house while you guys caught up. Although, he seemed to be doing most of the talking. You were very silent. “After the Sanctuary…he went back to Alexandria. People died. He took Eugene.” He explains solemnly. He looks at your face for any expression and there is none. “Cmon you gotta say something.” He examines your face and realizes how much pain you’re in.

“I just…I feel so stupid.” You mutter. He tilts his head to get a better look at you. “If i hadn’t done what I did…Glenn would be here. I wouldn’t have gone to the Sanctuary. It was bad Carl it was so bad.” Your voice trails off as tears fill your eyes, you can’t help but cover your face but all you can think of was the cell they’d keep you in, constantly being taunted and picked on.

He immediately went to comfort you, running his hand over your back to calm you down. He wasn’t sure what to say, he didn’t know how to help you. But all he knew was that you needed comfort. He pulled you close, wrapping his arms around you tightly. It was almost like he was telling you that you were safe now.

Negan wouldn’t hurt you again, and he’d make sure of it. “Whatever happens next…you have to sit out.” He tells you, still holding on tightly. You pull back and look at him puzzled. “Sit out?” You sniffle, “This isn’t a game, Carl. This is war.” He breathes in deeply and considers your response, although he can’t agree. “That doesn’t matter to me…but you do.” You shake your head and stand up from the couch.

“That’s unfair. I can fight and I’m going to.” You retort. “No. You’re not. Not like this.” He demands. How doesn’t he understand? You can’t let whatever it was stop you, not now. “Is this for revenge?” He questions. You turn back to look at him with a small glare as he remained on the couch. “If that’s how you want to look at it, yes. But to me it’s justice. Not just for me… but for Abraham and Glenn.” Carl keeps quiet and looks at you intently.

“Even though what happened to Glenn was my fault.” You say sort of quietly, looking. down at your feet. Your words struck Carl hard. So he stood up and forced you to look at him, just to make sure you understood. “That’s not what happened- we were put in a shitty position. None of that should’ve happened anyway.”

You say nothing. It’s hard to feel any other way. Like it wasn’t your fault. Carl took you in his arms anyway, it was probably the most comforting hug you’d gotten since the start of it all. He pulled away from you to hold your face gently in his hands. “If fighting makes you feel better then you can fight. But you have to stay by my side. Can you promise me that…please?” His voice was gentle and reassuring, it really made you feel better.

You nod. “I promise.”

a/n: the rest of the match ups are gonna be done somewhat soon, i’m having quite bad mental health issues currently so they’re kinda getting hard for me to get through T-T

anyway mannnn 0-0 this was FUNNN it was just so depressing but i suppose that’s the point shrug THANKS FOR THE REQ ANON IT WAS BANGER also sorry for it coming out A MONTH LATER HDHDHDHD

tag list: @zomb-1-egutzz @lunarnightt @ilikestrawberriesandwomen @hiro--aoki @h00d-tr4sh @callsignwidow

[duchessonfire]

Savior Carl!AU re-read Part 2 Chapter 5

Follow-up of my re-read of Part 2 Chapter 4. If you're not interested and don't want to have your dashboard spammed, you can block the tags Duchess reads and Savior Carl AU reread.

Commentary for Part 2, Ch 5 below the cut (spoilers for part 2 ahead):

So funny thing, this chapter ("Claimed") was supposed to happen much earlier but I kept being sidetracked by Carl and Negan's slow burn. The Claimers were always going to be a part of the AU series, and they were one of the first things I added to my draft for part 2.

I will never tire of saying this: the way the series just handwaved away the trauma of Carl's near sexual assault is absolutely infuriating. Plenty of characters have had better exploration of their abuse and the lasting effect it had on them (Daryl and Carol, just off the top of my head, but also fucking Maggie who has been carrying her PTSD from the line-up for 5 seasons and one goddamn spin-off), but apparently we're all supposed to believe that Carl, who was anywhere between 13 and 16 in the series, just brushed off the time a man pinned him on his stomach and almost raped him in front of his family before watching his attacker get brutally gutted by his father? That doesn't deserve more than one passing mention by Michonne, which was more about the fact that Carl was giving the cold shoulder to Rick than about the trauma he just went through? Yeah? Okay...

My boy deserves better than this so I really wanted a story that focuses fully on the Claimers episode and explores the lasting consequences it will have on Carl. Also, I'm always a sucker for any opportunity to show what an absolute badass Savior!Carl is. Obviously he's 18, so he's not a brutal killing machine nor does he have the physical strength for it. But he's like Carol in the show (or at least before they absolutely butchered her personality and story arc in seasons 9+): shrewd and quick on his feet.

I also knew the Claimers would be the perfect characters to introduce a line-up. You can't write an apocalypse Negan story without a line-up, and I knew this would be a good opportunity to have Carl do the line-up with Negan, for him be on the side of the attackers for once, the hunter and not the prey. Back when I wrote part 1 in 2021, a lot of Cegan fics were variations of the line-up episode: some were about how Carl and Negan already knew each other from before and got reunited when Negan lines up Carl's group, other fics were about Carl working with Negan and being the one who put Rick and his ground on their knees in the clearing (I think I even read a few where Carl and Rick had been separated and this was how they reunited). This is to say that the line-up is a big and powerful moment in the Cegan fandom so I knew I had to include one. However, I also knew I didn't want Carl wielding Lucille in this one. Carl had already done that when he killed Shane and I really wanted to preserve the singularity of this moment, which would have been somewhat trivialized if Negan just started handing Carl his bat to kill people with left and right. So instead, I went with the screwdriver.

For the life of me, I can't remember where I got the screwdriver idea from. I definitely think it's from a TV series or movie of some kind, but I can't tell which. However, I can tell you that any time Carl is being a badass in the Savior!AU, it is one way or another inspired by Marvel's The Punisher, which I re-watched obsessively to get inspiration for Shane in the Savior!AU (and I am so excited that Frank Castle is back in Daredevil:Born again!!)

Okay, now that I'm done babbling, let's get into the chapter:

Carl dreams about the first night they spent in Alexandria, all of them huddled together in the living room of one house, not wanting to be split up, so suspicious they took turn to keep watch, every single door and window barricaded. They were all wary after Terminus, and this fairytale town seemed too good to be true, everyone a bit too quick to welcome them with open arms. They didn’t sleep, just dozed off in turn, jerking awake before they could start falling into dreams.

This flashback was directly taken from the series, when Rick & co arrive in Alexandria. Deanna gives them two houses but they all pile up in the one house that first night and sleep together in the living room while some of them keep watch. There's this delightful moment after, when Deanna comes to check on them in the morning and finds them all huddled together like a pack of feral dogs and is just awed.

It happened several times during the night, too many for Carl to count, but every time exactly the same. Shane would jerk awake and look at Lori, look at Carl, and look at the door. Again and again. Lori, Carl, the door. A holy trinity. Lori, Carl, the door.

Little moments like that are so important to me because, yes, Shane was a grade-A abusive asshole, but his abuse was rarely gratuitous. 90% of the time, Shane's actions were fuelled by his need to protect Carl and keep him alive. Shane only let go of Carl after Carl lost the eye and even that stemmed from Shane's honest belief that Carl would be safe inside the walls of Sanctuary, that Negan would feel indebted enough to Carl to keep him as a worker of some sort and keep him protected inside the factory. Shane weighed Carl's options and found Carl would never make it out in the wild with him, so he just left Carl on Negan's doorstep the way people will abandon a dog in front of a pet shelter. Like, yes, it's a shitty thing to do, but it's still better than leaving them in a dumpster.

Everyone is so focused on her, no one pays attention to him. He makes his way into an empty space toward the back and Carl thinks he is out of the woods when Negan suddenly looks up, and his gaze hones in on him like a missile. Carl’s breath catches in his throat. Negan inspects him for a second before smiling slyly, like they’re sharing a dirty secret. The motions of his gloved fingers on the bat turn intentional, long up and down strokes along the smooth handle that make Carl’s stomach squirm. He knows, Carl thinks with horror. Somehow, he knows. The tip of Negan’s pink tongue darts out to wet his lower lip, his eyes dark and seductive, before he shifts his attention away from Carl and back to Regina.

I love, love, LOVE those little moments when Carl and Negan look at each other and the rest of the world disappears. There are so many moments like that in the Savior!AU and, in most of them, they don't even talk to each other, just exchange a glance, and yet there's a whole conversation happening, a conversation that only they know, and everyone else either doesn't notice or is left confused by it. These two are so connected, they (almost) always know what the other is thinking.

“You were late,” Negan reprimands. “I’m sorry,” Carl apologizes immediately, hoping he’ll just get an earful and maybe thrown into a cell as punishment. Instead, Negan grins from ear to ear. “I bet. Long night? I take it you enjoyed my gift? Put it to good use? Maybe you need another bottle already?” Carl’s cheeks turn crimson and he keeps his eye down on the concrete floor, hoping that a show of deference will appease Negan, make him so bored he’ll put him aside in favor of another chewtoy. Of course, it’s never that easy. Things go from bad to worse when Negan presses the blunt head of the bat to Carl’s chest, forcing him to step backward until he hits the door. Carl grits his teeth and he drops his mask of subservience, fed up with being herded and cornered like a sheep for the second time in two days. His glare adds fuel to the fire of Negan’s amusement and the man leans forward, his hand pushing until the hard weight of Lucille presses painfully against Carl’s sternum, squeezing the breath out of his lungs.

One thing I completely forgot and that I'm now rediscovering during this re-read is how often Negan touches Carl with Lucille. I remembered all the times Negan used her to touch Carl's shoulder in part 1, but I forgot how much Negan uses the bat to push Carl around in part 2 (and later part 3). It goes without saying that the bat is phallic symbol 101 so do with that what you will.

"But guys like Pete?” Shane chuckles, and there is nothing nice about it. “They’re vicious. They’ll beat up their own kids just because it makes them feel like a man and then they’ll go around and pretend they’re God’s damn gifts to the world. So if he comes to you again, you run to me. You don’t fight, you don’t stop, you don’t go to Glenn, or Maggie, or Abraham. You come to me, alright? I’ll deal with that piece of shit for you. Got it?” Carl looks at where Ron and Sam are arguing next to their dad, a perfectly normal family. The kind his parents always wanted them to be, trying so hard to pretend that everything was fine even when they spent entire evenings locked in a screaming match, until his dad inevitably gave up and walked out the door for a drive, leaving Carl alone with a frustrated mother. Then, the next morning, they would all gather around the breakfast table and eat the awful pancakes that Lori made them, chuckling quietly when his dad would ask who wanted the last piece, more floury lumps and pieces of eggshells than cooked batter. That’s what families in the old world used to do. Pretend. Pretend to be happy and satisfied and normal. It wasn’t an act aimed at other people, to make them lower their guard and put down their weapons, like the Cannibals at Terminus pretended. It was an act designed for the family itself, to fake happiness and contentment and normalcy, in the hope it would eventually turn into a reality. But in Alexandria, just like at Terminus, Shane could sniff out the bullshit quicker than anyone else. “Got it,” Carl answers.

That flashback is very dear to me for several reasons. 1. It shows that Shane wasn't always delusional. In fact, he was often more clear-sighted than most people around. 2. It's a reminder that things in Alexandria weren't rosy before Shane & co showed up, and that they still aren't now that Negan is in charge (Spencer, your days are numbered, buddy). 3. It's another instance of Shane being fiercely protective of Carl. If the Claimers had happened on Shane's watch, you can bet that he would have pulled a Rick and chewed out Joe's jugular as well, no questions asked. 4. Even when Shane is protective, he's also deeply possessive, telling Carl to go to no one but him, because protecting Carl is his job, because Carl is his. This, of course, is especially important to understand why Carl is so deeply attracted to Negan. After his mom died, Carl's only source of parental love came from Shane, who was defined by possessiveness as much as protectiveness. For 4 long years, this is what Carl has come to understand as love and affection. And of course, because fate works nicely like that, it's exactly the same way that Negan expresses his own love and affection: through protectiveness and possessiveness.

“I feel bad for what happened to that Savior girl,” Eduardo says at one point, interrupting Davey’s frustrated monologue about Richie’s choice of music. Behind the wheel, Davey scoffs. “You ever met Lara Lee? She would have shanked her own mother for a fix.” Eduardo shakes his head. “Still, man. She didn’t deserve to die like this.” Then, more quietly to Carl, “My cousin got gangraped. Before. Some white college douchebags at a party spiked her drink, even filmed it. That video went through the whole school. It was sick.” In the rearview mirror, Davey rolls his eyes. “Your cousin said she was raped. Girls always say that when they get found out. They go to parties and get frisky with the guys, shaking their little ass at them and then they change their mind when people start calling them sluts. Am I right?” he asks Big Richie next to him. The Savior shrugs, uninterested in the whole thing. Eduardo frowns. “Negan’s right. Rape’s fucked up. We can’t call ourselves Saviors if we let it happen.” “Give me a fuckin’ break. Negan’s only saying that because he’s got all the pussy he wants. If the wives weren’t lining up to be his private buffet, he’d be singing a different tune, let me tell you that. Same goes for you, by the way,” Davey mutters, his eyes narrowing at Eduardo in the mirror. “You think we don’t know how you’ve fucked half the lady workers on the floor? Is that why you always take their side? So they’ll keep serving you their pussy on a silver platter?”

Can you tell that Creepey Davey is a creep even in part 2? Also, RIP Eduardo, you were a nice cinnamon roll and you didn't stand a chance in the apocalypse. Also RIP DJ, I still don't know why I killed you off when you lasted so long in the series (if I remember correctly, DJ is one of the few Saviors we see fully integrated in Alexandria after the war, like Laura).

Obviously I'm not going to quote the whole Claimers attack, but I'll just say that this was the first Shane hallucination and it will not be the last. In fact, I always planned on Shane haunting Carl, and the Claimers episode felt like a natural beginning for that. A friend said in the comments of this chapter that Shane has his claws in Carl even after being dead, but this time it was for good, because it's what allowed Carl to escape the Claimers. This is 100% right. To me, the Savior!AU is as much about Carl & Shane as it is about Cegan. Shane is not going anywhere, whether it's in flashbacks or adrenaline-fueled hallucinations.

In front of him, Dwight whistles, and a girl he recognizes as part of Regina’s team hands him a walkie. “It’s Dwight,” the Savior says. “No sign of them but we found the kid, about two miles north from B point.” A voice crackles on the other end, and Carl freezes when he recognizes Negan, his tone unusually flat through the speaker. “Is he dead?” Carl finally puts the bottle down, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt. The dirty fabric comes out red from Eduardo’s dried blood still on him. “No. He’s alive and well. Doesn’t even have a scratch on him,” Dwight answers with a shake of his head, slightly awed. No response comes back, and the both of them wait expectantly. After more seconds of worrying silence, the blond Savior frowns down at the walkie. “You copy?” Static buzzes. “Yeah,” Negan finally says. “Tell your team to keep looking but bring the kid home. I want to hear what happened.”

I debated a lot on how to make this scene happen. In the end, I went with complete silence on Negan's part because I felt like it would be the best way to subtly say a lot while saying nothing at all. This conversation on the walkie was of course a direct echo in the series to when Rick tells Negan that Carl is dead over the walkie. Negan's silence, his closed eyes and deep sigh, conveyed a lot while at the same time being extremely subtle. Same went for when Michonne read him Carl's letter over the walkie. JDM, the actor that you are <3

They drive in silence, and Carl doesn’t mean to fall asleep, but he just does. He drifts off without even realizing it, his head tilted against the window, warmed by the comforting rays of the sun and lulled by the roaring engine of the car. He jerks awake when the door suddenly opens. It takes him a second to figure out what’s happening, to recognize the moans of the walkers on the fence, the smell of metal and rotting flesh of the parking lot. He’s home. A pair of legs topped by a familiar belt buckle stops right in front of him and Carl blinks back against the blinding sun, suddenly high in the sky when it seemed to be morning only a few minutes ago. When he can finally see clearly, he finds himself face to face with Negan, bent down to peer at him in the passenger seat. He looks tired and angry, the circles under his eyes deeper than Carl remembers. But then their eyes meet, and the frown over his brow clears up as his lips stretch into a slow, slow smile. Negan laughs, a rough, warm sound. “God damn, kid. God damn.”

Another scene where I debated on how to make it happen and ended up settling on minimal words from Negan. Instead, it felt more right to give subtle signals of what this must have been like for Negan to think Carl was dead: the dark circles under his eyes showing he hadn't slept, his angry temper that clears when he finally sees Carl... When the Negan pov is ready to post in some more or less distant future, I'm really excited to share what this event was like on Negan's end, spending a whole night grappling with guilt over the fact that he likely sent Carl to his death.

Okay so I was trying to find a short passage to quote from the infirmary scene when Negan discovers what happened to Carl, but I just can't decide on a few lines so, to avoid copy/pasting everything, I just won't quote anything. BUT it was definitely so fun to write. Negan knows Carl better than anyone so he can tell that something happened that Carl isn't admitting to. He's frustrated by Carl's silence but at the same time he wants to be gentle so he has to refrain from just grabbing Carl by the ankles and shaking him upside-down until the truth falls out. He plays a guessing game until he finally gets it, and when he does, he has to physically restrain himself from going berserk and instead put Carl's medical care first. I love those moments when several emotions are battling inside of Negan at once: his rage, his heart, his reason, his needs, his duties... He's a complex character and far less impulsive than people might assume.

Same thing for the line-up episode, I'm not going to quote everything, but I'll just say that when Carl has to inflict violence, Shane always appears, because Shane will always be the embodiment of violence for Carl. He's the one who taught Carl to fight and be angry, he's the one who created Carl's violent tendencies and encouraged them to flow. Carl isn't a showman like Negan. He doesn't hurt people to teach them a lesson. When he hurts someone, it's either for survival or payback, nothing else.

Also, can we talk about @besosderuina's amazing fanarts of Shane and Dan???? Forever in love with their fanarts for the Savior!AU <3

Finally, he turns toward Carl and says, “Look, I know you and I had that moment in the parking lot before… And I just wanted to make clear that… well, that…” He fumbles for a moment, then seems to give up. “Holy hell, I’m not good at this touchy-feely shit,” he grumbles. “I’m sorry, is what I’m trying to say.” And it’s the first time that Carl has ever seen Negan apologize, to him or to anyone. “I thought I was helping you back then, being all sex-positive and shit. But after what those scumbags did…” His face scrunches up, like he just smelled something foul. “It was just really, really shitty timing.” “…Okay,” Carl says when Negan gets quiet and looks at him expectantly. He wonders if this is it, if Negan came all this way to apologize, but he doesn’t seem to be done. “I want to make one thing crystal clear: no one gets to touch you like that. Not them, not me, not anyone. And what you do—or don’t do—on your own free time is no one else’s business but yours. I screwed up, before. I crossed a line. And, Carl, I need you to tell me the next time that happens,” Negan pleads urgently, stepping forward before stopping himself, like Carl might get spooked if he gets too close. “Look, I know who I am. What I am. I’m the kind of guy who can waste people all the goddamn day. I’ll bash their heads in, iron their face off, make their wives and kids widows and orphans, but I don’t just do it for the kick of it. I’m trying to make order out of chaos. I’m bringing civilization back from the ashes and that means getting my hands dirty and scaring the living shit out of people so they follow the rules. Same thing goes for you and the rest of my Saviors. I’ll throw you in a cell and let the guys beat a lesson into you once in a while. Hell, I might even fantasize about having a go at you myself,” Negan says with a wry smile. Then, he sobers up, his eyes grave and steely once again. “But that’s it. I’ll never touch you below the belt like those assholes did. Whatever next rebellious little act you pull out of your hat, no matter how absolutely insane you drive me when you refuse to obey, that will never be part of the punishment. You hear me?” Carl nods, mystified. Negan opens his mouth like he’s about to say something else, but then bites his lower lip. He sighs and lets himself drop on Carl’s bed, his elbows on his knees, his leather jacket half-open like a crack in the armor. He looks exhausted, nothing like the excited showman of last night, making knock-knock jokes as he bashed in the heads of the Claimers with effervescent brutality. “Carl,” he sighs again, “I know you were all traumatized yesterday and that’s why you couldn’t talk to me… But I’m goddamn serious here. I need to know if anything like that ever happens again, especially in Sanctuary. I had a couple of guys a few years back who thought they could force workers to give them blowjobs in exchange for points, and I straightened that shit out the second I heard about it. So, if anyone tries something with you—or if you even see it happening to someone else—you come to me directly. I’ll take care of those dickheads for you. You understand?”

My favorite line here is the simile of the open leather jacket being "a crack in the armor". My second favorite line is me shooting myself in the foot by making Negan say he will never use sex as a punishment and then having Negan use sex as a punishment several times in part 3 (just off the top of my head: the failed blowjob, the sex against the door after the inhaler drama, the failed masturbation in the cell, the dick in the eye scene...). I'm a clown. *sad honking noise*

Conclusion; tldr: The Claimers never stood a chance against Negan. Carl is a badass. Negan doesn't know he's in a throuple relationship with Shane's ghost. Rick & co will appear in part 4 once I figure out how to make it happen. If TWD writers can handwave the plot away then so can I.

You can find the commentary for part 2, chapter 6 here.