Enduring, Unconditional, Passionate Love

I don't think Rick would be hesitant about it. I feel like "baby" is common enough that it doesn't come across like recycling someone's specific term of endearment. Like it'd be different if someone called their former partner something unique to them and then started calling their new partner that exact word/nickname. But with "baby," it's such a universal one. I also think it's the kind of word that carries different meanings based on who it's applied to. Like Michonne calls her kids "baby" and Rick, and it carries its own meaning for each of them. So even with Rick calling Michonne "baby," it would carry its own meaning between them, and I believe it'd hold an even more affectionate meaning, considering the two have a deeper, more affectionate love.

Sometimes I'll try to think of which TWD or TOWL scene I could've most seen Rick calling Michonne, "baby." I'd be curious to hear if anyone has a scene in mind. There are a couple that come to mind for me, but I could really hear a "Michonne, baby, I promise" in this TOWL ep 2 moment. 😊

I think it’s something she thought about during the pregnancy. I could see it going where, at first, when Michonne learns she’s pregnant, she feels all those bittersweet feelings and perhaps feels extra anxious to make sure this baby makes it all the way, especially because, as far as she knows, their baby is the final piece of Rick. And with her mentality of envisioning winning and not fantasizing about failing, I can see one of the ways she locks in on her hope is by thinking of baby names. And I think that’s when she’d decide that if the baby is a boy, she’ll name him after his dad.

I like to imagine that once Michonne gave birth and held RJ for the first time, she knew instantly that naming him Rick Grimes Jr. was the right choice. The way Michonne would see certain admirable traits in RJ and attribute them to Rick, I feel like, on top of being a clear product of her own resilience, Michonne would have an outlook that even as an infant, RJ already had Rick’s resilience by making it healthily into the world after everything she and he had been through together during those 9 months.

Yeah, that time is one of the saddest for me to think about because of how deeply somber it was for Michonne. 💔 I think about how she told Ezekiel it’s harder the second time around, because it already took so much for her to come back after what she lost at the beginning. And then to open your heart just for it to get so wounded all over again from losing her son Carl and then her soulmate, is very painful. She’s very resilient to have kept going after that. And I love that wearing Rick’s clothes was part of how Michonne healed and remained close to him. She often finds a lot of sentimental value in items that remind her of her loved ones. Wearing Rick’s clothes was a way to feel like he was still with her and they were still connected. It also probably helped her feel like she was garnering some strength from Rick, the way Carl felt wearing Rick’s hat.

Michonne and Rick had expressed in different scenes throughout the series that they wanted to take on the future together, and I love how Michonne was still determined to take on the future with Rick, even when he was away. When the 6-year time jump happened, she was still so in love with him, and it warmed my heart to see that desire to still do life together communicated through all these different ways, including wearing his clothes. Especially her wearing Rick's denim shirt that he wore during so many memorable Richonne scenes. 🥲

Thunderbolts has a few moments like that, and I'm annoyed but not surprised at how many people miss it.

- Val talking about the Red Hulk and how there are no more reliable heroes. Sam defeated the Red Hulk, put him and two other bad guys in jail, prevented a war. Yet here is the villain of Tbolts subtly calling him an unreliable hero. This statement is never checked by the movie, letting it stand as a "true" statement to audiences - especially those who didn't bother seeing Cap 4.

- In fact, even Bucky repeatedly doubles down on the silly notion and message that nobody else would show up, even though Sam has been showing up for three years in universe as Cap, and is rebuilding the Avengers, which Bucky knows about.

- not Sam related, but Val also makes a straight up Aryan joke about how she had Bob dye his hair as Sentry. This is also never checked or challenged. Just figured I'd mention it. It goes well with the racist tones of this movie.

- Sam is never called Captain America, but there are SEVERAL jokes about how Walker used to be Cap. Sam is referred to by name multiple times in the post credits, but never as Cap.

- if you want some more charged things - the movie includes several black characters, and impacts several characters who are black but not depicted on screen. On screen: Congressman Gary, Olivia, Ava. Gary gets screwed over by Bucky, Olivia gets screwed over by Walker. In both cases the emotional journey of the white ""hero"" is centered. We don't get to experience sympathy for the black people in this movie who get screwed over. Ava is part of the blunderbolts, but she gets screwed over by the narrative - she has a few lines and moments, but is left out of merchandise and overshadowed by every single white person on her team. Which is everyone else in her team. The movie also mentions Sam, who gets screwed over, but we focus on white people being annoyed with him or sad about the situation with him. Again, a black character is negatively impacted, but not the focus of where the movie wants the audience to invest sympathy. And then there are the Wakandans, who Val has harmed, yet they are neither mentioned nor is the harm done to them by the white protagonists' choices acknowledged or depicted.

- this is Sam Wilson's only mention in any project outside his own, and the movie uses that opportunity to put him down. And the fandom eats it up. Tbolts stans by and large conceive as Sam as in the wrong, because they take the movie's "yay the white terrorists get to be avengers down" moment as triumph and not a bad in universe outcome. This has led to a noticeable increase in racist commentary about Sam Wilson.

- I'm gonna repeat it here: the movie refuses to call Sam Captain America, and belittled him as "having the shield", which implies that him having it is the only thing thst gives him any leeway. It is condescending, it is nasty, and it comes from Bucky, who cannot be arsed to stand up for the person who HE WANTED TO BE CAP.

I've thought about scenarios for this, too. 🥀I can see Rick being so deeply moved by being back with his family and getting to do life with them. And sometimes in the beginning, maybe he’d be looking at his kids and Michonne at home and feeling really guilty that he almost chose not to come back to this, and that without Michonne fighting for him, even when he pushed her away, he might’ve missed out on all these precious moments he’s now present for. I could see after one of their family nights, when Rick and Michonne are alone getting ready for bed, Rick comments on how he almost missed out on the best thing that ever happened to him, and that he’s so sorry he made her think for even a second that he wouldn’t come home. I can see him directly apologizing for how he hurt her, and I feel like Michonne would then remind him that they’re here now and that’s what matters most, and he doesn’t have to carry guilt because, like she said in ep 5, being back with their family is more than enough. Plus, while she appreciates words, Michonne seems like an actions-over-words person. So the way we know Rick would show how committed he is to their family through actions would be what most effectively communicates how determined he is to not hurt her again.

I can recall the moment in S3 of TWD when Michonne first arrived at the prison fence and found Rick there, when she also found Rick after the prison collapse caused by the governor in S4, when she found out that Rick is alive after she thought the walkers ate him in S7, and when she found Rick 8 years later after the bridge in S1 episode 1 of TOWL. ✨

They are truly soulmates and they remain connected no matter where they are. ❤️

I am curious about your perspective on it. 🌸

I love this. Rick and Michonne really are soulmates who find each other every time. 🥹 And since they are truly magnets, I think even if Michonne had left that apartment and gone home, it wouldn’t have been the final time she and Rick saw each other. They’d come back together at some point, as always. Wrote out the rest below 💗: