There is something intrinsically special about Rick and Michonne.  I think it was the perfect storm of the actors, their natural chemistry, the writing, and Scott Gimple.

This is not the first interracial pairing, nor will they be the last.  But they stand apart from all the rest. Why?

1. I must reiterate the chemistry.  Even when they don’t speak, if all they did was stare at each other from across the room, they got me.  They got you, too.

2. Danai Gurira: she is a black woman apart from the rest.  If you put her next to Kerry Washington or Nicole Beharie or Candice Patton, then you know what I mean. There aren’t just racists out there, but there are also colorists.  The black community is particularly rife with it.

I don’t believe it was the intent of Scott Gimple to make a political statement (in fact, I think Richonne happened organically, as the actors on-screen moments were carefully observed and scrutinized, and their progression was shown to be inevitable), but it made one all the same.  To put someone as dark as Danai, and as “ethnic-looking” as Danai with the white male lead–not as his side piece, but as his love interest?  As his love?  As the mother of his children?  As his wife?

That is everything.  EVERYTHING.

Michonne is not a dark secret, a side piece, having an affair, a one off, being cheated on, seen as just the muscle/asexual/undesirable–she is Rick’s one; the yang to his yin; the woman he wants to spend the rest of his days with; the woman he wants to make love to; the woman he worries for; the woman he wants to make happy; the woman whose smile he lives for; the woman he is devoted to; the one person who can with utter ease change his mind; the woman he adores.

Michonne is the right one; she is the woman for him.

For us, she is well rounded; she is strong; she loves; she cries; she is passionate; she’s a mother, a lover, a friend, and a warrior.

She is neither damsel nor machine; she is just a helluva woman.

Michonne, in my opinion, is the best female character we’ve seen on TV in decades, black, white or otherwise.  As a woman, this is important.  As a black woman, it’s even more so.

For young black girls/women, it might be everything, too.

I chose the title The Living Richonne not only because of the contrast with the title of the show, but because for me, Richonne does live; they are present and relevant to what is happening in the world, particularly America, where black women can be diminished, left feeling unloved, unwanted, or overly sexualized.  Through Michonne, we are nurtured; we are nourished.

We are loved.

Maybe I’m projecting, so I’ll just speak for myself.  That’s how I feel.  I respect this ship a great deal, and while I know at times I can use profane language or gifs to convey my message, make no mistake that I love this ‘ship, and I love both characters that make this pairing.  I hope my posts, or at least my fan fiction speaks to the reverence that I have for both them.

…Yeah, that’s about it.

<–has a cache of saved gifs [particularly for Richonne]; doesn’t make any gifs ever; takes no credit for them; will take indirect credit for the Andrew Lincoln gif, as she was the one who asked the question he is answering in it