Bonus | The Many Ways We Love Richonne [with Erin Qualey, Ashley Jordan and Bim Adewunmi]

Happy mid-The Walking Dead hiatus!

 

It’s been three months since we saw the last episode of season 8 and it will be another three months until season 9 starts. San Diego Comic Con is next week, and along with that comes a trailer and premiere date for season 9. Also, it’s 7/12. Also, it’s our two year anniversary! So what better way to celebrate than to talk about the love that keeps us going: the love between Rick Grimes and Michonne. Let’s say it all together now: Richonne!

 

We sat down to speak with Erin Qualey (Hidden Remote), Ashley Jordan (Richonne fanfiction writer) and Bim Adewunmi (BuzzFeed senior culture writer, co-host of the Thirst Aid Kit podcast) about all manner of things, including how Richonne's relationship helped both parties move from a place of hurt to a place of healing, the real world effects that this fictional interracial couple has on representation of black women in the medium and the intimacy and desire that these two characters (by way of two amazing actors) bring to the screen. But these conversations will take you everywhere; we may start with intimacy, but we may end up shading Michonne’s wig or talking about flicking Kirkman on his forehead (we say “we,” but we really mean Bim, though we completely co-sign). We loved having these kick-ass women on for these intelligent, hilarious and meaningful conversations.

 

We also reveal the winning moment of our our #ChampionsOfRichonne bracket and, along with that, the person who won our crazy huge Champions of Richonne prize pack. Did you guess right?

 

We talked about a lot of things this episode; here are the links if you’re interested in reading more:

"Let’s Talk About Rick and Michonne’s Very Big Night on The Walking Dead" - E. Alex Jung, Vulture

"Why 'The Walking Dead' Has Become Fanfiction’s Muse" - Bim Adewunmi, BuzzFeed News

Gwendolyn from Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples' "Saga"

 

Bim's Fan Fiction Corner:

Tigerwalk ("Summer Nights," "Day by Day") | B and M ("The Plan," "Night Shift") | bana05 | jonesywrites | charrrmed | iminyjo (".css-j9qmi7{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:2.8rem;width:100%;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:start;justify-content:start;padding-left:5rem;}@media only screen and (max-width: 599px){.css-j9qmi7{padding-left:0;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;}}.css-j9qmi7 svg{fill:#27292D;}.css-j9qmi7 .eagfbvw0{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;color:#27292D;}