Richonneaholic

Michonne inadvertently healing Rick's wounds showing him that even through disagreements and the biggest grief he could ever imagine, she never withheld her love and affection for him, if anything it increased.

(The fic is linked above ⬆️😊)

Chapter 3 - The Right Place

When I thought about the different offscreen moments I’d want to write for each chapter, there were two key time jumps that immediately came to mind. Because those are offscreen times where it’s clear some very substantial Richonne developments occurred. And one of those is the time between Season 3’s finale and Season 4’s premiere.

With the season 4 premiere titled "30 Days Without an Accident," I wanted to explore exactly what I think went down during those 30 days to have Rick and Michonne grinning and very glad to see each other by the time we saw them again at the start of the season 4 premiere. What got them to that point in 4.01? That’s the question I aim to answer within the next 3 chapters.

Thank you to everyone who's reading! Thank you for commenting, liking, and everything. It truly brightens my day. 💗🙏🏽

Michonne: We all owe Carol.

One of my favorite types of questions I've always loved to receive over the years is how I envision certain off-camera moments between Rick and Michonne.

And so, with having also been asked a lot over the years about writing a fic, I figured for my first long one that I would write a fic that fleshes out exactly how I picture certain off-camera moments happening between Rick and Michonne.

There were so many great moments that happened in Richonne’s on-screen slowburn, and there are also those off-screen time periods that I know so many of us have often wondered about and written about. And so this fic is me aiming to paint a picture of how I envision these moments playing out and contributing to Richonne’s journey of falling in love.

The fic is called “How Did You Get Here” because that is the question that I try to answer with these off-screen Richonne moments from season 3 - season 6 when Richonne becomes canon. (Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here by Deborah Cox was also stuck in my head while writing pre-canon Richonne 😋)

I pinpointed several moments between those seasons where I wanted to explore how Rick and Michonne get from point A in one episode to point B in the next. And I challenged myself to try my best to be canonically accurate as I sewed together how I imagine events occurring between episodes.

So we’re starting with Season Three. And I figured, let's kick it off with 2 chapters instead of one.

With Season Three, what I'd often wonder is how Rick asks Michonne to go on a run with him and Carl for Clear? Like, at the end of 3.11, it’s not like that’s just an obvious choice for him to take only Michonne with him and Carl to King County. So I wrote out how I like to think things went to get Rick and Michonne from the end of 3.11 to the start of 3.12 - Richonne’s OG Episode ‘Clear’👑

To each person who has encouraged me to try fic writing over the years, thank you. 💗 I wrote all this for us, and I hope that you’ll enjoy it!

I'm not sure if anyone has asked this before, but I'd really love to know your thoughts on episode 9x14, where Michonne goes through all that torture and brutality. There’s a constant debate in the fandom about how Michonne was subjected to excessive violence, and how that episode only served to reinforce the "Strong Black Woman" trope—showing that even while dealing with so much trauma (Rick’s "death," facing a pregnancy completely alone, an impending war), she still has to endure it all and be this indestructible "superwoman." And whenever this topic comes up, someone always chimes in to say that white characters suffered just as much as she did.

Plus, it's an episode that clearly explains why Michonne isolated Alexandria, yet people still think she was wrong for doing whatever it took to protect her children.

Also, do you think Danai—who was always known for bringing her own ideas and improvements to the scripts—might have altered something in this specific storyline? She rarely speaks about this episode, and the few times she did, she was very vague. What's your take on all of this? Thank you! 😊

Thank you! And yeah 9x14 always stirs up mixed feelings for me for these reasons. Danai’s performance was excellent throughout, she and Rutina had presence together, and there’s some genuinely powerful moving moments with Michonne and Judith. At the same time I absolutely felt the violence toward Michonne was unnecessarily excessive in that episode.

I really don’t think they would’ve depicted a pregnant Maggie or Carol being beaten with a pipe. Like the show could’ve totally communicated the intensity and even brutality of Michonne’s situation with Jocelyn and the children of the corn without it being as graphic. I get that it’s TWD and they don’t hold back with the violence, but this felt like an overboard attack on Michonne’s body.

What’s interesting with the suffering comparisons is that I have a feeling if those other characters went through what Michonne did in Scars, people would be adamant that it was easily one of the worst things anyone had to go through. But when it’s Michonne there’s this want to downplay her suffering and I do think it has to do with the way people consciously and subconsciously think pain inflicted on Black bodies is less brutal. Which is a shame.

There’s strong elements of this episode, and elements I think could’ve been adjusted. I’d be curious what thoughts Danai might’ve had about this ep.

I remember seeing the way some viewers refused to understand the reasons behind Michonne’s leadership choices both before this ep and after which was frustrating because one; Michonne’s human and allowed to not always make the perfect choice, especially when she has a pretty sterling track record of making the right choice.

And two; her choice was never rooted in selfishness or lack of care. She wanted to do whatever she could to protect her children and all the children and she felt less travel would keep everyone else safe too. She’d been validly traumatized from that 9x14 experience and I wish more people in-show and outside of the show could’ve shown more understanding.

Y’all, I cannot express how incredibly thrilling it was to see the love for @lamorenareina in my previous recommendation. Please continue to send her your love, prayers, uplifting vibes, and much‑deserved flowers.

I must confess, I want to keep y’all guessing with who’s next in these posts. It’s been a minute since I’ve enjoyed interacting and engaging in fandom in this way—writing something that didn’t strictly involve curriculum.

I’m having so much fun!

Now.

DRUM ROLL

Wait—can’t forget the obligatory PSA: As before, minor spoilers, major feelings, and language that is absolutely NSFW abound in the proceeding.

Okay.

Brace yourselves, y’all.

We’re going down the emotionally unhinged rabbit hole that is @foxissofoxy

Oh yeah—I bit off WAY more than I could chew with this one. Suffice it to say, after my initial draft of this post, I had to take a meclizine and lie down like a Southern Belle with a case of the vapors or a Yankee with a severe case of ageda.

Shit, I had a straight‑up patatú. (It’s one of those essential Puerto Rican words—and quite apt. For reals.)

Okay, so back to Foxissofoxy.

For those unfamiliar with her writing, you’re in for a hell of a trip (and I don’t just mean that figuratively).

I came upon her stories under another author’s favorites, and, like all previous authors, I started at the beginning. As I went from one story to the next, it was like stepping into a David Lynch production (Twin Peaks) colliding with a Tyler Perry Madea movie. Surreal yet visceral; outlandish and still… familiar. And most of all—addictive.

Oh, just wait.

Her themes run the gamut from daytime‑soap melodrama to Southern Gothic thriller—imagine a script with the best elements of your favorite soap opera (mine growing up was Days of Our Lives, later General Hospital), the V.C. Andrews sagas (mine was the Dawn series), and the most iconic episodes of The Twilight Zone. I can picture Rod Serling taking a cool, matter‑of‑fact drag of a cigarette as he begins the preface to one of Foxy’s stories.

If @lamorenareina is the poet‑philosopher, Foxy is the unmedicated screenwriter who escaped the writer’s room with a Bible, a bottle of tequila, and a stack of case files.

Her stories are messy, bold, culturally rich, trauma‑aware, and absolutely unforgettable.

Hauntingly so.

And with an extensive bibliography (35 stories deep in the FF.Net vault), there was no way I could structure this post the same way I did my previous one.

Remember the patatú?

Yeah—I’d be writing a 100,000‑word dissertation, and I have a whole list of writers I want to get to.

So instead, I’ve narrowed my focus to two of Foxy’s stories (and two of my personal favorites) that showcase her signature style and her penchant for writing Rick and Michonne with a level of psychological depth that should honestly count as continuing education credits.

Her use of dissociation in the forthcoming examples isn’t just a theme—it’s a narrative engine, a structural device, and a psychological metaphor.

So let’s take a deep dive into the first story: “Til the Casket Drops: REDRUM.”

Imagine Rod Serling and Homicide Hunter Lt. Joe Kenda introducing the opening of this story with their signature delivery as you read the opening lines:

“I murdered my husband. I stabbed him 34 times.”

“Hi. My name is Rick Grimes… I murdered my wife.”

Lt. Joe Kenda: Well, my, my, my.

No shit, Joe! Right?!

That’s how this beast begins. It’s the kind of opening that slaps you across the face and dares you to keep reading. From that moment on, Foxy drags you into a world where Michonne is a former lawyer turned mortuary hairstylist, Rick is a former cop turned grave digger, and both are haunted—literally and figuratively—by the ghosts of their pasts.

Granny Mabel (a Foxyland original who appears throughout her works in one incarnation or another) presides over the chaos like a Southern Gothic guardian angel. And the sexual tension between Rick and Michonne is so feral, so palpable, I could feel the heated breath between them on my face.

But REDRUM is more than trauma, humor, and heat. It’s a psychological mystery that immediately made me think of the ensemble slasher‑noir film Identity (2003). If you haven’t seen this film, reading REDRUM will give you the same sensation; the ground beneath your feet is never stable, and every revelation forces you to question what you think you know. Foxy constructs a narrative where Rick and Michonne may not be the Rick and Michonne we assume. Their world feels slightly off‑axis, as if time, memory, and identity have been rearranged by trauma.

The fic invites the reader to wonder whether we’re witnessing a parallel universe, a shared delusion, a dissociative break, or simply the world as it appears through the fractured lens of two deeply damaged people.

Foxy never answers outright—and that ambiguity is the point.

REDRUM becomes a Southern Gothic psychological horror wrapped in a Richonne romance: dark, hilarious, unsettling, and profoundly human. Rick and Michonne are mirrors here—two killers, two survivors, two people who see the worst in themselves and still choose each other.

HUFFS.

And of course it’s un‑fucking‑finished.

Screams and then takes a drag from Rod Serling’s cigarette.

Oh, and never you mind, REDRUM is a mere ficlet compared to the next one.

Takes another drag.

Let’s continue the proverbial plunge toward Foxy’s next story.

If REDRUM is her chaotic masterpiece, then “All I Need” is her magnum opus of trauma and mental illness. This story is long (60 chapters, y’all). It’s layered, deeply character‑driven, and opens with a deceptively simple exchange:

“Eight bags of potato chips and three two‑liter bottles of soda pop… ‘All I need.’”

Beneath that deceptively mundane encounter between Rick and Hershel (Note: both REDRUM and All I Need are AUs) lies a psychological portrait of an individual carrying the weight of a deeply traumatic experience. Likewise, Michonne in this fic is a revelation—her dissociative manifestations, the result of her own horrendous trauma, further shaped by generational superstition, are a case study to behold.

Her family—Granny, Uncle Charlie, and the entire Foxyland clan—feel like they stepped out of a Zora Neale Hurston novel. They carry the same folkloric weight and cultural specificity rooted in oral tradition, shaped by community memory, full of humor, superstition, and the kind of lived‑in Southern wisdom that feels both ancient and familiar. They are not caricatures; they are cultural architecture, grounding the story in a Black Southern lineage that feels authentic, textured, and deeply human.

Rick, by contrast, is quiet, avoidant, hypervigilant, emotionally suppressed, and lonely in a way that aches. He is seemingly drawn to Michonne not by choice but by something that feels like fate. Their “first meeting” on the airplane is one of the strongest and most compelling opening sequences between Rick and Michonne in Foxy’s entire bibliography; awkward, hilarious, tense, intimate, and charged with the kind of chemistry that feels predestined.

“All I Need” is a story about trauma, yes, but it is also about healing, choice, and the slow, tender work of becoming someone who can be loved.

Seriously, I haven’t done All I Need enough justice. It is ambitious and substantive. Not only are Rick and Michonne incredibly layered and developed, but so is every single supporting character in this epic ensemble. Y’all don’t understand how difficult it is for me to keep things vague while not revealing any more specifics of the plot and cast of characters in this epic.

It’s

SO.

DAMN.

GOOD.

These two fics are representative of one of Foxy’s signature trademarks: nonlinear, psychologically disorienting storytelling.

“All I Need,” a story in which identity itself becomes a puzzle, is maybe “less” non‑linear (less Foxy non‑linear, not normal less‑non‑linear);

…feels another patatú coming on…

Yet grounded in dissociation, generational trauma, Southern Gothic realism, and richly drawn characters who feel like they’ve lived entire lives before stepping onto the page.

One story presents Richonne as mirrors in madness; the other presents them as two souls pulled together by fate. Both are masterclasses in trauma representation, mental illness depiction, cultural specificity, nonlinear storytelling, and character‑driven romance. Foxy writes like someone who understands that love is not always soft—sometimes it’s the thang that drags you back from the edge.

What I love most about Foxy’s stories: The endgame is always 100% Richonne.

If you want Richonne fics that are bold, messy, brilliant, culturally rich, psychologically complex, and absolutely unforgettable, then Foxissofoxy is your girl. “Til the Casket Drops: REDRUM” and “All I Need” are not just mere works of fanfiction—they’re experiences. They’re the kind of stories that stay with you long after you close the tab.

And before I close, I would be remiss not to mention two additional hallmarks of Foxy’s signature storytelling that truly set her apart in this fandom. Beyond her meandering narrative, psychological labyrinths, and Southern Gothic atmospheres, Foxy is one of the few Richonne writers who consistently centers characters who are neurodivergent, disabled, or otherwise “other‑abled” without ever reducing them to tropes. From canon characters—Eugene, Carl, Andre—to her Foxyland OCs, these characters are written with realistic depth. They exist not as side notes, but as fully realized people whose lives shape the emotional landscape of the story.

And then there’s her treatment of infidelity—a theme present in 99% of her works. Most Richonne writers keep infidelity locked safely inside the Lori/Shane box, filtered through Rick’s betrayal and grief.

Not Foxy.

She does something far more intriguing, compelling, and frankly brave: she explores infidelity through Rick and Michonne themselves. She refuses to sanitize them. She refuses to flatten them into moral absolutes. Instead, she leans into the messy, uncomfortable truth that desire, trauma, loneliness, and human frailty don’t always align neatly with fandom expectations.

And I

LAP.

IT.

UP.

In Foxy’s hands, infidelity isn’t just a plot device or a simple means to an end; it’s a psychological fault line, a mirror held up to two people who are trying (and often failing) to outrun the versions of themselves they fear most.

It’s bold.

It’s controversial.

And it’s one of the many reasons her work lingers in your psyche.

I love reading author notes and getting insight into their process, mindsets, and motivation. Foxy often self‑deprecatingly refers to her works as “nonsense.”

Gurl, please.

Your ideas are GOLD.

¡QUIERO MÁS, COÑO! Stomps foot.

In all seriousness though: I know all you wonderful writers have priorities and commitments outside of fandom. Thank you, @foxissofoxy, for sharing your distinctive brilliance. Thank you for triggering me with your themes—they made me laugh, cry, and most of all, made me feel seen.

What is Michonne's preferred way of showing love? How does Rick express love? I know they always engage in physical touch, express love with words, give gifts, do nice deeds, and spend time together, but what truly makes their love connection strong?

I recall Rick was not very expressive verbally when he was around Lori. But, with Michonne, he is always open to showing and sharing his feelings, emotions, and vulnerability.

I love this question, especially because I was just thinking about how Rick and Michonne are both very good at all five love languages.

Gifts

Quality Time

Words of Affirmation

Physical Touch

Acts of Service

There’s oh so much that makes Rick and Michonne Grimes' love connection uniquely strong. And I’d say at the root of what makes their love connection so special and enduring is their “I’m yours” mentality.

This is Michonne Grimes

She is everything to Rick Grimes. His partner, his lover, his confidant, his best friend, his saviour, the mother of his children, his sun, moon and stars, she is his wife, his soulmate and the love of his life. She is his entire universe, his reason for everything and he would choose her in any life and any universe.

Contrary to what I've seen some people say, Rick would not walk away from Michonne if Lori miraculously returned from the dead, he would not do so if Jessie came back either. Had Lori or Jessie lived, Rick and Michonne still would have found their way to each other because they are meant to be, in any lifetime and in any and all versions of reality.

Rick is the man who didn't think of moving on even after 8 years, who wrote love letters and dreamt about her to keep himself going, and lets not forget what he had to do just to be able to go on without her. And for Michonne, she couldn't truly believe he was gone despite the fact she saw the bridge he was stood on literally explode, she kept believing and searching for years, never moved on and went through hell to find him again.

The Walking Dead and especially The Ones Who Live have made it exceptionally clear what their relationship is, how important they are to each other, how deep and unbreakable their love is and how they would go to the ends of the earth for each other. Not everyone is going to feel a connection to Richonne, I get that and I'm not trying to say otherwise (despite the fact I don't think I'll ever understand how anyone can watch their love story and not fall completely in love with their love!) but canon is canon, you can not feel a connection to them and still respect their story and acknowledge that they are 'it' for each other. To disregard that is to ignore their whole story.

Michonne Grimes is Rick Grimes one true love, she is his whole world, she and their children are his priority, he will put them before anyone else, and yes, even above Daryl. So, while we are all entitled to an opinion no one can really deny that Rick and Michonne are completely and utterly head over heels in love, someone's personal view of them as a couple does not change that fact.

This is THE couple of The Walking Dead and IMO the best couple to have ever graced the screen. They are everything to me and they are everything to each other