Vengeance is Mine - like quite literally Vengeance is my little baby fanfic. RICHONNE Brought me here and the friends I've made kept me here.Mommy, Avid Reader- guilty pleasures - YA books - if its got more than one book to a series, a love triangle, dragons and/ordystopian society I'm all in. Fan Fiction and anything with Hobbits or Magic and film lover.
Up to this point we'd been having such a nice time with our little lovebirds...and then there comes a snake in their midst. 😪
But one of the things on my internal TOWL wishlist was Michonne having the chance to finally confront Jadis and tear her up...and well, TOWL yet again said 'wish granted.' 😌🧞♀️...
Outside of Richonne’s cozy cabin of love, we’re given our first indicator of how the world will soon be back to screaming at them when we see none other than trifling Jadis ominously making her way to the cabin. 😒
gif cred: @nerd4music
But before Jadis confronts Richonne, there’s a flashback to three years ago when Jadis first met up with Father Gabriel for the start of their annual tea times. 🙃
Now, I tend to want to fast-forward most of these Jadis/Father Gabriel scenes during a rewatch since they’re a little dragged out to me. But there is one particular thing that I very much loved hearing during their meetups. We'll talk about it later.👌🏽
Also, let me just say that this revelation that Jadis had been visiting Father Gabriel annually had me side-eying both of them hard. 😒
You mean to tell me, for years Jadis got to look forward to her little meetups with Gabe while knowing she’s the reason Rick doesn’t even get to know if his wife and daughter are okay or get to see them ever again??? Jadis isn't just trifling, she's evil. 😤
And as for that man Father Gabriel…😑. Seeing his involvement in these secret meetups had me like...
I was truly looking at Father Gabriel like SIR, if you would have let Michonne know that Jadis - who disappeared around the same time as Rick - meets up with you and she has a whole helicopter, I just know Michonne would have put two and two together very quickly.
Like Daryl is an elite tracker and he was never able to trace down Rick almost as if Rick, idk, just disappeared into the sky or something. If Michonne and Daryl knew about Jadis and her helicopter I just know they’d tell Father Gabriel to expect some company during his next annual meeting with that snake. Because they’d want to come along and ambush Jadis to try and get some potential answers about Rick's whereabouts.
And I would've been in full support of Michonne and Daryl's tea-time ambush, like...
When chatting with Father Gabriel, Jadis acts like she doesn’t know anything when he says Rick died on that bridge and again - Jadis, you beast.
I feel like these flashbacks were intended to humanize Jadis but a lot of it just made me think about how heartless and selfish she is by seeking her own moments of personal connection with Gabriel while keeping Rick from his family. Had me looking at Jadis like...
So then they cut to Rick and Michonne looking precious and serene while they sleep in that tiny bed. ☺️
Seeing them like this made me so happy because, after years of going to bed alone, they finally get to fall asleep in each other's arms again, where they’re most meant to be. You just know this is some of the best sleep they’ve got in years. 👌🏽😌
gif cred: @nat111love
And, it's only seen for a split second, but I love how Rick is holding Michonne with his bandaged arm and she has her arm over his. Like I'm just so glad that Rick gets to go from experiencing the wild, lonely, and traumatizing day he chopped off his hand to now having that very arm held by the love of his life while they peacefully sleep. 🥹
And clearly, whatever they were up to the night before had Richonne knocked out, because Jadis is fully in the room with guns aimed at them and they don't even wake up until she actually speaks.
gif cred: @taiturner
I admit I did like hearing Richonne be called 'lovebirds' as Jadis greets them saying, “Morning, lovebirds.” 🤭 But at the same time, Jadis has always taken an odd and intrusive interest in Richonne's relationship so it was annoying hearing this come from her as well 😑
And this moment is very much giving similar vibes to Richonne’s canon ep in season 6 when they’re fast asleep and Jesus pulls up on them and startles them awake.
(Side note: I was thinking about how Jesus walked in on them in 6.10 and he really was too bold for that. 🙈 Like not only does Paul enter their house in the wee hours, he enters their bedroom. 🙃 And then even seeing that Rick is asleep and naked in bed with someone, he's still like psst we need to talk. And with what he had to talk about...it was important but it wasn't 'roll up on you and your woman in bed' urgent, so he could have waited a minute. 😅 But Paul's bold self barging in made for an iconic moment so I'll take it, even tho he definitely tried it lol.)
Both in the season 6 moment and this episode 5 moment Richonne immediately hops out of bed and grabs weapons and I love how in TOWL there’s sort of a weapon reversal with Michonne grabbing the ax and Rick grabbing a sword.
Two things about Richonne: they sleep very well after a night together & they're also instantly ready to be in fight mode if need be.
And, I love the little detail of having Michonne in Rick’s boxers. 😊 Also the body = ☕️, of course. 💅🏽
gif cred: @nat111love
Jadis tells Michonne to tie Rick to the bed and sit down. They know they’re kinda cornered so Rick drops his weapon. And you just know Rick is extra pissed because he had every intention of starting their morning more like this...
And then I like how Michonne lingers a little bit and just stares Jadis down before dropping her weapon. Baddest 👏🏽 Chick 👏🏽 In 👏🏽 The 👏🏽 Game 👏🏽.
gif cred: @tangerineprettygreen
Once again, if looks could kill Michonne’s stare would have Jadis dropping dead right then and there. I had been very eager for Michonne to have a chance to tear Jadis up after everything she’s done and Michonne looks like she wants to do exactly that now that they’re finally face to face. 💯
So Michonne ties Rick to the bed and then they prove that a couple that death stares together stays together the way they both look at Jadis like it’s about to be her last day on earth.
gif cred: @figmentof
Michonne calmly asks Rick, “You think she’s alone?” And never one to miss an opportunity to call Jadis out, Rick answers, “She’s alone. And I bet nobody knows she’s here.” He knows Jadis acts in self-interest so she’s probably trying to handle this solo to keep the truth about Rick and Michonne from linking back to her.
gif cred: @figmentof
Jadis says, “That’s just rude,” and then y’all, we get more um shall we say 'insight?' into Richonne as a couple when Rick pretty effortlessly tightens Michonne’s zip ties with his teeth. As many have noted, this felt a little too natural to be a first-time thing for them lol. 🤭
gif cred: @figmentof
I love how they so easily operate like a well-oiled machine doing this, and again they seem more inconvenienced than threatened by this snake in front of them.
One of the many things Michonne and Rick have in common is they aren't afraid to be a little petty with an opp every now and then, so once again Michonne is just talking to Rick like Jadis isn’t even in the room when she asks, “How do you think she found us?”
Michonne's letting Jadis know girl, you don't even deserve to be addressed directly.
gif cred: @figmentof
Jadis realizes this petty couple is probably gonna keep ignoring her unless she interjects, so she says she’s just gonna jump in. And then she explains how she found them. She was suspicious of the circumstances surrounding their disappearance and when she went to the wreck she noticed a missing yellow truck.
As Jadis goes on and on about following their breadcrumbs on the route to Virginia, Rick again doesn’t address Jadis as he tells Michonne, “Nobody knows she’s here.” He’s over this serpent.
And Michonne confidently responds, “She missed her chance. She should’ve killed us while we were sleeping.” Richonne's energy here was really giving 'anyway...back to the conversation.'
Also, Rick and Michonne truly are cut from the same cloth because Michonne saying what Jadis should have done to them in this scene reminded me of Rick in the season 6 premiere when he finds that shady Alexandrian, Carter, going behind his back and he tells Carter how he would have done things if he was in his shoes lol.
Also, I love how within a span of 24 hours, Richonne has had guns pointed at them twice and both times they act like the one with the gun is the one in danger. And they’re correct. 👌🏽
It was fun seeing Richonne operate in the spirit of petty and unbothered together lol. They’re fed up with Jadis and y'all...
Jadis says she didn’t kill them because she previously left things unsaid between a confidante and didn’t want to do that before killing both of them.
Rick accurately tells Jadis about herself when he accuses her of just playing games and not really caring about the army or the city. She really does just play games in this franchise - putting the Anne in shenanigans for years and years. 😪
And Rick calling her Anne seems to get under Jadis' skin as she insists that she does care about the CRM and their mission and she’s not that woman she used to be in TWD. Also - the way Richonne is looking at her while she talks, it’s giving lethal lovebirds. 😌
Despite Jadis’ yapping about who she is now and why she’s doing this, Rick still is adamant that she’s doing this for her. Jadis says if she let Rick and Michonne go home then her important work would end if another officer found them.
And then the snake tries to pull her reoccurring line to Rick by looking at him and saying, “I saved your life.”
Jadis has spent years trying to force that 'life-saving' narrative on Rick but see, this time it goes a little different because now Michonne is here to set the record all the way straight.
gif cred: @taiturner
I appreciate that the second Michonne hears Jadis say she saved Rick's life, she immediately shuts that down and addresses Jadis directly for the first time to remind her, “You took it. You took it from him. You took it from me. You took it from our children.” 👏🏽💯
Exactly.
I love how Michonne is so fiercely defending her family and how she phrases it in a way that makes it clear that Jadis taking Rick took life from him and it took life from each of the members of his immediate family. Their family is their life and in keeping them from each other Jadis really did take so much from them. 😔
And now that Michonne knows Rick had been living while dead with the CRM, she really does mean it when she says Jadis took his life. (Also again, hearing Michonne or Rick say “our children” never gets old.)
Michonne continues, passionately saying, “All those years they grew up without their father. All those years I didn’t know if he was alive or dead.” I’m so glad Michonne got a chance to go off about this because truly these things she's talking about are a big part of why what Jadis did is so appalling.
Judas really forced kids to be without their father for years, and she knew it too. She might not have known about RJ (even tho who knows what Father Gabriel might've told her during one of their meetups) but she knew Rick had a young daughter. She knew he had a wife. And yet she still used Rick as leverage to 'upgrade' her life. So to Jadis I forever say...
And Rick is ready to match the energy and cosign everything Michonne is saying when he declares, “You stole our family, Anne.”
gif cred: @ricksmarlene
Richonne letting this snake finally know the truth of the matter, truly had me like...
But of course, Jadis acts like she doesn’t care and is unmoved by the damage she caused to the Grimes family. 😒
She explains why she didn’t kill Rick and Michonne in their sleep, saying she needed to thank them.
Jadis states, “By dying here today, Alexandria will remain safe and your children will have a better world.” What kind of screwed-up logic has her thinking Judith and RJ will have a better world without their parents in it??? The CRM has people losing their everloving minds. 😑
Once again the subject of 'choices' comes up when Jadis says, “You could have made other choices, but you didn’t lose here. You won a different way. It’s the end of your story. Let that be your peace.”
I don’t exactly know everything that Jadis’ work entailed with the CRM since I think it was explored more in spin-offs which I didn’t watch, but I can tell that she clearly is used to these assassinations going her way. However, baby, this is Richonne so of course they are not about to go out like this.
The second Judas shoots at them, Rick and Michonne quickly get out of dodge. Rick tosses the bed on her and then Michonne is able to get in a much-deserved swipe at Jadis with RJ's ax which feels poetic somehow. 👏🏽 Like after Bowlcut played a big role in RJ not having his dad in his life for the first 7 years, now her time is getting cut short by the very weapon his parents got for him. Idk I just like to think of it as Michonne & RJ getting their lick back. 😋
Jadis scurries away and Michonne is ready to end her asap when she tries to shoot at her but Rick stops her. And the way Michonne says Rick's name, the woman is seeing red when it comes to killing Jadis. And same here, cuz I was yelling at Jadis like...
Rick says they need to go cuz they have to stop her. So Michonne breaks her zip ties as they then head off for a little car chase action where Michonne will remind Rick of exactly why Jadis has gots to go today. 👌🏽😌
Favorite Moments from TWD: The Morning After (S6 E11)
The intro to this round-up and other installments can be found here.
Excuse me while I scream a little bit because are you kidding me?
Michonne blushing like "Wait... are we...? Did we...?" and Rick reaching over to hold her hand as if to confirm that "Yeah, we did and we are."
Omg, stop.
But obviously keep going.
Okay, so let's set the scene:
After a rocky start filled with distrust and intrigue, Michonne and Rick quickly discover that it's truly above them. In fact, here's a live look at their hearts and minds:
The two have a bond that people write sonnets and songs about because in each other they're able to find support in times of struggle, a sounding board in times of confusion and uncertainty, a friend to crack jokes with, and an accountability partner to keep them in line, even when they'd rather they didn't (here's looking at you, Mr. "I didn't tell you about the gun because you could have made me change my mind" 🙄🤣)...
So when they finally have a moment to breathe...
and when they're sitting on the couch after a long day and he tells her to have her mints...
and when their fingers linger...
and when she looks at him with questions in her eyes and he returns her look with so much certainty in his...
them adding physical intimacy to their relationship makes all the sense in the world.
So yada yada, they eventually summon Jesus (lol), everyone immediately finds out thanks to a different Jesus (lol), and we get this scene in the van the next morning.
By this point we've seen many versions of Michonne—we've seen her be a warrior, a mother figure, a friend, a confidant, a voice of reason, an optimist—but this is new. She's a woman experiencing and receiving desire. Even after all that they've done, she's still shy around him!!!! I swear if melanin wasn't in the way, we'd see her blush!!!!!
I've read enough about the source material to know that I'm so so so thankful that they went in a different direction in the TV version because what a waste it would have been to have this iteration of Michonne be soaked in violence and trauma.
It's boring. It's stale. There's no shortage of trauma porn in media built on the backs of Black women.
Instead we got to see a crush. We got to see nervousness. We got to see excitement. We got to see wonder. We got to see giggles.
I mean come on!!!!!
The way she looks at him shyly.
The way he's smirking because (as TOWL S1 E5 later confirms) his dreams were coming true.
The way everyone else is like "finally."
I love it, I love it, I love it.
As a Black woman, it's a joy to see another Black woman—specifically a dark-skinned, physically, emotionally, and mentally strong Black woman—be loved out loud for all that she is because it's one thing to know this type of love and appreciation exists in real life and it's another to see it be intentionally showcased in one of the most consequential pieces of mass media and pop culture.
I wasn't a viewer when this episode aired live or even during the height of the show, but given the responses from some folks about The Ones Who Live, I can only imagine how it was received, both positively and negatively.
And to their credit, they (the writers, the cast, the crew) stuck with it.
There's much that can be said about some of the ways they handled Michonne as an individual and as a romantic partner for Rick, but all in all, theirs is one of my favorite relationships because of scenes like this—moments where the object of her desire desires her in equal measure. Moments where he doesn't leave any room for doubt. Moments where they can be at odds with a problem, but never with each other (I write about this at length here). Moments where her softness is an asset, not a hinderance. I think Danai describes it best when she said in a 2016 interview with Entertainment Weekly:
"She was covered in armor that was impenetrable, and piece by piece, season by season, the armor’s been removed, but it hasn’t made her weak, it’s just made her strong in a different way. That warrior hasn’t gone away, but she started to find her voice and open up, having heart to hearts with Carl... He blesses her with this position in their home, and I think it gives her permission to be open and to let go a little bit and to let her heart actually express itself. The idea of having her heart touched so unexpectedly by Carl in that previous scene, it allows her heart to take the driver’s seat, and that is the moment where she’s able to actually see this man sitting in front of her, for what she’s actually seen him as but never really has acknowledged to herself."
And that is what is at the core of this scene for me: honesty.
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