#season 6 episode 16 twd | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

justinewt · 2 years

Text

Second Chance - TWD Rewrite Chapter eight

[TWD FANFICTION-MASTERLIST]

Previous chapter / Next Chapter

Summary: After everything that had happened, Anna was in despair. She hoped things could get better, for her, for her father, and for everyone else. But to get to something better, they had to erase in order to start over, and give everyone a second chance at life, in this apocalyptic world where becoming hopeless was an easy task.

Words: 7.3k

Warnings: huge spoilers season 8 (episode 16) and 9 (episode 6, violence, angst angst angst, scars, lots of blood, fights, season 9 timejump

Anna wondered what her father and the other Saviors could be doing at this point. She hoped that everything would be fine for Dwight, crossing fingers for him to still be of this world, alive, and not dead or in a state just in between. She straightened up, thinking that instead of doing nothing sitting there, she could be useful to the other survivors in the camp. She took a few steps as Siddiq approached her.

“Anna, can you come to the infirmary with me ? I need to check your wounds.”

“Sure.” She nodded and followed him.

It had been a few days since the night of the incident when she got bit at her calf. To be honest, she hadn’t thought about it as the pain faded away and the bite healed. At first, she was limping a little bit, but now after some time and some rest, she was walking noticeably better, the pain would kick in if she wasn't paying attention and put too much pressure on her leg but other than that it had improved quickly. She was lucky. The scratches at her arm didn’t need to be mentionned as she didn’t even feel them at all anymore. It felt like she had gotten them a lifetime ago. As they walked toward the trailers among which was the infirmary, she had felt multiple people staring at her or giving her sidelong glances but she started to be used to it. She didn’t care if there were any rumors going around about her. This was already a thing when she was in the Sanctuary.

Once they reached the infirmary, Anna went to sit on one of the beds and took her jacket off. Siddiq first checked the deep scratches on her arm. They were healed so he just cleaned the blood that had dried around them and threw away the bandage. She then sat further in the bed, stretching out her leg and pulling up her jeans so he could take care of the bite. It wasn’t as healed and pretty as the scratches, some skin had been ripped out when she had taken the walker off of her leg, but it wasn’t that bad and gross anymore. He cleaned it with a cotton ball soaked in alcohol and made a sort of cream penetrate it before putting on a new bandage. It stung but she could handle it.

“Come back in a few days, so I can monitor the evolution of the bite and make sure it keeps healing. It will leave a nasty scar though, even if I do anything I can to help it heal.” Anna nodded, looking down at the said bite. “The scratches are gonna be fine. The scars won’t be as bad.”

“Got it.” She put her jacket back on and undid the hem of her jeans before getting up. She walked out of the trailer and wandered around for a moment until she walked into the area of a makeshift cemetery. Cross-shaped sticks were planted in the dirt. She looked around wondering who was buried there as there wasn’t any name and stood there in silence for a few seconds before eventually going back to the house. As she went there, she turned her head to the gate that was just being closed. Movement around the pen caught her attention for an instant and she watched someone push Gregory back inside. He was an annoying character, that’s for sure. Anna could see why Maggie disliked him so bad. Not far from there was Maggie, standing while Rick and Michonne approached her. The leader of the Hilltop turned to them and she handed them a folded paper. Rick took it in his hands and read something written on it. He unfolded it and looked at Maggie. Anna frowned, she was curious but she figured it wasn’t much of her business so she just looked away, glancing at the locked gate behind. Things were about to get real, she could feel it in her guts. She got snapped out of her thoughts when she saw a figure near her. It was Michonne.

“Anna, we don’t have much more time.” She had a serious expression on her face, to which Anna frowned slightly. “We gotta deliver the message to your father.”

She remained silent and simply looked at the ground, following her to the car. Rick and Maggie watched them as they left the Hilltop. After a while, they reached the city and got on the roof of one of the surrounding buildings. From this building, they could see the Sanctuary far ahead of them. Michonne took a radio and pressed the button, counting on Negan to receive the call, and pick up.

“Negan, it’s Michonne.” She paused, waiting for a response just to be sure he copied. “I’ll wait.”

“The one with the dreads, the sword ? Is that you ?”He replied, in a lazy but embittered tone. “Rick there with you ? Why don’t you put him on ?”

“This isn’t about Rick. It’s about Carl. He wrote you a letter, and I’m delivering it because that’s what he wanted.”

“Well, I can’t promise not to kill the messenger.” Anna listened to them, in silence, swallowing in anguish.

“All of this, there is no getting out of it now.” Anna clenched her jaw at his response, figthing the urge to grab the transmitter from her hands and speak. “I wouldn’t accept your surrender if you came to me on your knees. See, winning, isn’t about beating you. Winning, is about killing every last one of you. That, is starting over. I never wanted this. Rick made this happen. You tell him that. No more talk.”

“Just shut up and listen.” She unfolded the sheet of paper and proceeded to read. “Negan, this is Carl. I was helping someone. I got bit. Didn’t even have to be doing what we’re doing, I was just helping someone and now, I’m gone. You might be gone too. Maybe my dad made your people give you up and he killed you, but I don’t think so. I think you’re still around, and you’re working on a way out. Maybe you got out. Maybe you think we’re a lost cause and you just want to kill all of us. I was lucky enough to meet Anna before dying, I talked with her.” The late teenager bit her lip and looked away as a tear rolled down her cheek. “She’s one of the people that stayed good, despite all of this. And it made me think that, maybe you think you have to be who you are. I just wonder if this is what you wanted. I wanted to ask you. I wish I could have, because just know that, she told me she wished it could be different. Maybe you’ll beat us. And if you do, there’ll still be someone else to fight. The way out, is working together. It’s forgiveness. It’s believing that it doesn't have to be a fight anymore. Because it doesn’t. I hope my dad offers you peace. I hope you take it. I hope everything can change. It did for me. It has to change for Anna too. Start over. You still can. If not for you, if not for anyone, do it for her.

Carl.”

She could feel he was about to hung up but giving in to her urges, she took the radio and pressed the button desperately. She was in great need to hear her dad talk to her.

“Dad–” There was a silence as Michonne snatched it from her hands. She thought for a second, that he had not heard her, that he had already cut the transmission, destroyed his radio or something like that but his voice, angrier and louder than before, rose.

“What the hell was that, Michonne ?!” She looked at her and Anna stepped back, kind of regretting doing this.

“She wasn’t supposed to say anything, but anyway, that’s none of your business right now, am I right ? You don’t have time to take care of anyone but yourself.”

“You got my daughter, motherfuckers.”He spat out. “If you touch her, if anything happens to her… I swear that I’ll--.”

She then cut off the transmission herself and pushed Anna to walk in front of her as they walked down the building. They got back in the car and took off.

“Michonne–” She spoke over her, obviously mad at her a little.

“Good job, now he knows you’re with us.”

“I mean… he kind of already knew that.” Michonne looked at her from the corner of her eyes.

“What do you mean, Anna ?”

“I mean that, before coming back to you guys, I left him a letter, in my room. So, he had to know where I was already.”

She sighed, closing her lips shut and didn’t say anything else to Anna until they reached the Hilltop. Anna went right back to her room and was practically ordered to stay there. The next day arrived rather quickly, so quickly that she almost didn’t see the time pass. She woke up and curled up in her bed for a little while, staring at nothing. Actually, she wasn’t staring at anything, she was staring at her reflection in a miror on the wall. She stared at herself and wondered if this was true that she looked like her mom. She had green eyes and fair hair like her but, did she really ? No matter what the answer was, she was her daughter in any case. She remained the daughter of Lucille and Negan Smith, no matter what had or would happen. She was Annabelle Smith. She lied on her back, looking at the ceiling as she sighed. She eventually got up, put her clothes on and went downstairs. She raised her eyebrows and slowly walked out, closing the door behind her. She noticed a gathering near the Hilltop’s gate, which was wide open, and jogged over there to go check out what was going on.

“Let’s keep getting ready everyone,” Rick urged the group. “First team is going in twenty.”

As Anna walked over to Alden, wondering what was going on, she suddenly realized, they were going to attack the Saviors, today. She swallowed harshly, tightening her low ponytail. She was very apprehensive of what was to happen.

“He said, when we roll out.” She looked at Alden. Arriving mid conversation, Anna had to catch up on the situation but she figured out they had probably been arguing about who was going or when or whatever. “Anna comes, she’s the bait.”

“What ?” She exclaimed but Maggie ignored her and didn't even look at her.

“We need her. But you and the rest of your people aren’t coming. You can be here, but you’re not us.”

“At least, we got that straight.” Alden sighed as Anna crossed her arms, watching Maggie walk away.

“That's for sure.” She said. He turned his head to her.

“Be careful, okay ?” She nodded and they briefly hugged before he eventually walked away as well since he wasn’t allowed to come. Anna stayed near Rick. she didn’t know what she was supposed to be doing in the meanwhile. She wandered around, walking in circles and accidently eavesdropped a conversation between Rick and a man.

“You’ve done plenty…” Rick said as everyone got back in the compound and they closed the gate

“I have to.”

“Morgan…”

“Rick.” He paused. “I have to. I have… to… It’s not me. It’s everybody else and I'm gonna keep ‘em alive. I’m gonna keep Henry from… from… We…” He shook his head. Anna didn’t know what they were talking about but apparently, it made this Morgan quite emotional, she could hear it in his voice. “We are worse than we were, me and you, we are. Giving your word to those men back at the bar. I mean, it’s what it took, yeah, but… but there was something else. There was something wrong, for you. And we crossed into it because… because… we’ve both lost everythin’, everythin’ good. What does it matter if we spend whatever’s left on keeping people alive ?”

“Cause we haven’t lost everything. Not yet. ”

“We have.” He insisted. “And we can’t go back. So, let’s just finish this.”

Anna had sat down a little further so the two survivors wouldn’t think she was listening on purpose, because she wasn’t. She looked down at her hands, fidgeting her fingers. She definitely didnt look forward to whatever was about to happen, and the worst part was that she had to come with them. She understood why. She was to come with them and, in a way, it was for the best because she wouldn’t quietly wait for something to happen. She would rather be in the heart of the action than in the background, even if it made her be scared. When they were about to leave, Michonne and Rick came to her and she knew it was time, so she stood up and grabbed the scarf they handed to her.

“What’s that for ?”

“Well, damn, Rick. Look at that.” She hid behind some of the trees so she wouldn’t be easily spotted and tried to stay calm and don’t freak out as she heard her father speaking over a megaphone, a radio or whatever. “Pegged again. Pegged so very hard. I ambushed your ambush with an even bigger ambush.”

“Cover your face.” Michonne ordered. Anna nodded and put it on before following them. Obviously, she wasn’t allowed to have a gun, which kind of made sense. She wasn’t them as Maggie had told Alden and her, so even though Rick or Jesus might trust her, it wasn’t the case for everyone. But, they didn’t take her knife from her though and she was happy about it. She would never give it away again.

**divider**

They walked through a bunch of leaveless trees in the middle of a plain, surrounded by hills. Anna was in the very middle of all of them, just standing there, the lower part of her face hidden, her hand gripped onto the handle of her serrated knife. She hadn’t been told what the whole plan was and she didn’t dare ask so she just followed them around until they stopped. She looked around them and she froze upon hearing a whistle echo in the plain. It wasn’t just any whistle. It was her father’s typical whistle. At first, it was only one person whistling but one after the other, they were joined by more and more other people. Everyone in the group around her was aiming above the hills, waiting for anyone to show up so they could shoot.

“How about you step out and face us ?!” Rick yelled.

“Oh, I am everywhere, Rick. Some more bullhorns, more walkies. Pick a direction to run. See how you do. Make it fun for all of us. Guess what else I did… I brought you some of your old friends. You remember your old buddy Eugene ? Well, he is the person that made today possible. Same goes for Dwight boy here. In case you were wondering, he didn’t ream you on purpose. No, he just a– a gutless nothin’ that sucks at life,” Anna’s fists and jaw clenched in anger when he mentionned Dwight. “and now he gets to stand up here and watch you all die, and he’s gonna live with that. Gabriel, well… he’s gotta go, too. We are cleaning house today, Rick. And then… there’s you. It never had to be a fight. You just had to accept how things are. And you could at least stop taking my kid away from me, that really hurts my feelings, Rick.” He taunted. “So… anyway, here we go. Congratulations, Rick.”

There was a heavy silence that took place. the tension was palpable. Clinging to their weapons, they all looked around feverishly, watching for any movement from the Saviors. They must have been further on the hills since they could see them but the survivors gathered alongside Rick couldn't. Eventually, her father broke the silence and started a countdown.

Anna closed her eyes shut but she slowly reopened them when she heard the guns explode in the hands of the Saviors as they screamed, instead of shooting at them. She was confused, and wasn’t the only one. Rick then took advantage of this unforeseen event. They could hear their enemies shout in the distance.

“Three ! Two !” the Saviors showed up on the hills. There were so many of them, many a hundred or so. “One !”

“Now !” Rick ordered and the survivors followed him as he ran up the hills. Anna didn’t move for a second but she went after them, taking off this scarf. She was tired to have it covering her face. She figured that it wouldn’t matter if anyone saw her anyway so there was no point in keeping it on. She looked around and saw Dwight in the distance, rushing to her father. His hands were tied but he fought Negan, trying to punch him as hard as he could. She took her knife in her hand and ran over to him as he hid behind a car because of the gunshots, panting. He raised his eyes to her while she crouched next to him and cut his ties. He stared at her, in shock, not expecting to see her here.

“Anna ? Are you okay ?”

“Well, I’m not the one with dried blood on my face.” She shyly joked before hugging him tightly all of a sudden. She broke the embrace when she heard the gunfire subside, going so far as to stop almost completely after a hot minute. She stood up and looked, wondering what they were all doing as of now. She narrowed her eyes, noticing them further away. Some Saviors had surrendered. She twitched when she heard a single gunfire in the distance and ran towards the source of the noise, slaloming between the cars. She heard Dwight call out to her from behind but she didn’t stop in her tracks and kept running. She stopped behind a pick-up and watched Rick chase after her father. There was another gunshot but it didn’t hit her dad as he hid behind a tree with stained glasses that hung from the branches. Rick tried to shoot a third time but his gun clicked and he ran toward the tree, to take care of Negan in close combat. Anna didn’t know what to do. She knew it wasn’t the best idea to intervene because she would probably get hit by one of them by accident. They were both grunting loudly, hitting and punching one another. They fell to the ground after Lucille was thrown away and rolled over. Dwight arrived behind Anna and he passed an arm around her stomach to keep her from going there right now. He didn’t want her to get hurt. He wouldn’t let her get hurt.

Negan kicked Rick in the ribs and he fall on his back. He went to Lucille and picked her up before going back to Rick, still on the ground. She saw her dad’s lips move and wondered what he was saying to Rick. The latter ended up kicking Negan’s leg and he fell over. Rick sat up as Negan got back on his feet while they talked again. Rick stood up, facing the Saviors’ leader. Anna's eyes were hazy, tears trapped between her lids went unleashed when she saw her dad fall dead stick on the ground, blood flowing from his neck. She screamed and cried at the same time, her heart torn apart. She freed herself from Dwight’s arm and ran to her father’s side. Her lips were trembling so bad, she couldn’t even speak. He looked up at her, his hand at his throat, covered in blood.

“Dad… Dad, no....” She cried out, holding onto his leather jacket as if her life depended on it. She raised her head to Rick. “Rick, please… please, don’t let him die…” She begged, whining and whimpering.

He let the piece of sharp glass he had cut her father with fall onto the leaves on the ground and glanced behind him. Everyone was there now, staring at them in silence. He walked to them.

“Save him.” She let out a cry of relief and wiped away her tears, sniffling, knowing that they were going to keep her father alive. Maggie took a few step.

“No !” She protested, held back by Michonne. “No, he can’t ! No ! No, he killed Glenn !”

“We have to.” Rick said.

“We have to end it !” She pressed. Anna wasn’t crying in shock and grief anymore as Siddiq and another survivor were taking care of her father’s wound. She was staring at Maggie as she shouted and cried.“Rick ! We have to make it right ! No ! It’s not over ! It’s not over until he’s dead ! It’s not over ‘till he’s dead. No… No ! No…”

“The ones who have ‘em up, put your hands down.” Rick looked at all the former Saviors while Maggie had let herself fall on the grass against Michonne. “We’re all gonna go home now. Negan’s alive. But his way of doing things is over. And anyone who can’t live with that will pay the price, I promise you that. And any person here who would live in peace and fairness… who would find common ground… this world is yours, by right. We are life. That’s death !” He pointed away toward the forest and Anna stood up to see what he was showing them. A horde, bigger than she had ever seen before, swarmed below. “And it’s coming for us. Unless we stand together ! So go home. Then the work begins. The new world begins. All this… All this is just what was. There’s gotta be somethin’ after.”

Anna turned around and looked at Rick as he walked over to them, briefly looking down at his hand, covered in blood. She sat back down, her breathing was a bit choppy and her eyes red from crying. She felt exhausted and drained from any ounce of energy she had left in her body. Negan was then taken away in one of the car and she walked over to Dwight, who was standing there, waiting for her to come to him. Knowing that now that he was freed from her father’s grasp, he would live and she wouldn’t see him again, she hugged him tighter than ever.

“Find her. Now that you can, promise me you’ll find her and be happy.” She mumbled.

“Don’t worry, Anna. I promise you I will.” He breathed out in her hair, holding her in his arms as well. She was enjoying every second of this probably last hug she could ever share with him.

Negan had been brought to Alexandria, or what was left of it and put in a room of one of the houses that hadn’t been damaged by the fire. Rick and Michonne had let Anna come inside with them and she was grateful. She wanted to see her dad. Staring at him, eyes still red from crying earlier, she fidgeted the red scarf that she had recovered from the Sanctuary. It was the scarf her father sometimes wore. The former Saviors that went back to try to make something out of it on their own had let her recover some of her things, like all her diaries, the family pictures she had, the little figurines carved by Dwight and her necklace, which she was currently wearing underneath the scarf.

“We know you’re awake.” Michonne said.

“I never said I wasn’t.” He replied, weakly, keeping his eyes closed.

“Good, because we need to tell you some things. And you don’t have to open your eyes now. But you’re gonna open them soon, because we’re gonna make you watch what happens.” He slowly opened his eyes anyway but didn’t look at any of them right now.

“And this isn’t about who you killed.” He looked down and met Anna's gaze, leaning on the wall, behind Rick. “No, we killed people. No, this is about what you did to us, what you put your own daughter through, what you did to so many people, how you made people live for you, how you put people under your boot.”

“I saved people.” He grunted. He tried to sit up but Michonne pressed her fingers on his neck to keep him in place. “I only ever tried to protect her.” He scoffed.

“Michonne.” Siddiq warned so she wouldn’t press too hard.

“He needs to know. This isn’t a discussion.”

“We can open up the stitches for a little while just to remind him.” Rick added. The images of my father with a bleeding throat and her, crying, sitting on the leaves on the floor came back to Anna like flashes. She closed her eyes for a second and sswallowed harshly. “Carl pictured something better. All of us working together for something bigger than all of us. And you’ll have a job too.”

He walked around the bed, going to stand next to Michonne, and Anna silently watched them.

“Yeah.” She removed her hand from his neck. He had closed his eyes once again. “You get to be a part of it. You’ll be an example of what this will be.”

“We’re not gonna kill you. We’re not gonna hurt you, no, that we promised to her.” He pointed at Anna. “But you’re gonna rot in a cell.”

“For the rest of your life, day after day.” Negan looked at Michonne.

“You’re gonna be evidence that we’re making a civilisation. Something like what we had. Something we’re gonna get back.”

“And you get to watch it happen. And you get to see how wrong you were, about what people can be, about what life can be.”

“You, alive, it’s gonna help show people that things have changed. And keeping you breathing, earns another way, a better way. That’s the part you’ll play.”

“So after all,” She sighed. “maybe you’ll be good for something.” Michonne looked at Anna as she stepped back. “For now, you’ll watch. You’ll watch as your daughter moves on with her life, without you, because she is a part of all this too. She’ll help us build this new civilisation.”

Negan looked at his daughter from the corner of his eye, staying still. Anna watched Michonne and Siddiq walk out of the room. Rick looked at her and they nodded at each other before he followed the two outside and closed the door, not shut though. Anna grabbed a chair and sat near the bed, on her father’s right. He slightly rolled his head to the side, wincing, to get a better view of her.

“You look so much like your mother.” He mumbled, staring sadly into her green eyes.

“I never wanted you to die. Never. I just– I just wanted my father back.” She shrugged, looking down at her hands. “Back at the Sanctuary, I survived thanks to Dwight. He was a father to me when you weren’t. I even thought you hated him so bad not because of Sherry and all, but also because he cared so much for me… You know, when I went missing… I actually spent almost a whole month on my own. I thought I would die of hunger at some point but Carl saw good in me and gave me a chance and… him and Rick saved me.”

Her father hadn't taken his eyes off of her as she spoke. She took a deep breath and took her jacket off to show him the scratches on her arm. He looked at it, trying to get up a little but grunted because of the pain.

“I got this when we tried to go back to the Sanctuary after being trapped in the trailer. I thought I was gonna die, that’s why I wrote you a letter but, It healed, like any wound…” He listened to her, processing that she hadn’t been turned after being hurt by a walker. She stood up, put her boot on the chair and rolled up her jeans, so he could see the bandage of the bite at her leg. “I got bit one night, at the Hilltop. But I didn’t turn either so, I figured that maybe I'm like, immune to this shit…”

“How’s that even possible ?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged, pulling back down her jeans to cover the bandage and stood there, biting on her lips nervously.

“I know why.” He smirked and she looked at him, “That’s cause you’re like me. Too tough to get killed.”

“Judith !” The 10-year-old little girl had ran off for whatever reason and everybody had went after her to find her. They had all went into the forest together but, as the adventurous little Grimes that she was, she had given them the slip. Anna was there too, among Rosita, Aaron, Laura and Eugene. They all had went out to hunt a little and they were now looking for Carl’s little sister. Anna looked ahead and saw a small figure run in the distance. Aaron saw her starting to run and called out to her but she didn’t stop and she met up with Judith. She kneeled down and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Judith, are you okay ?”

6 years (and a half) later

“I heard them calling.” She simply said as she turned around to show a group of people coming from behind her. “They need our help.”

Aaron put Judith behind him and all five of them looked at the strangers. They looked exhausted, the only man among them leaned on a tree as he arrived at their level. By reflex, she draw her gun out and Aaron put his metal hand on her arm and she lowered it a little, keeping her hands on the gun. Anna hadn’t thought about actually shooting them, she only didn’t want to let her guard down if the group happened to be hostile. They were breathing loudly, out of breath.

“Our rig–” The man whined as he leaned on the tree. Eugene put the animal he was carrying on his shoulders, on the ground. “it got overrun by sickos. We owe our lives to Miss Grimes here.”

“They still need our help.” Anna put her gun back at her belt and watched the little girl grab Aaron’s bottle of water and gave it to a woman of the group. She was on the ground, a piece of fabric covering her head. She had blood that had rolled down her forehead and temple and she drank as if she hadn’t drunk in days.

“We can’t. You know that.” Rosita told Judith.

“But–”

“Hey, uh, I dabbled in the culinary arts, uh, once upon a time ago and, uh…”

“Luke.” One of the women in the group called out to him but he kept talking.

“…you know, with a little bit of help, I can help with this buck into a mighty fine osso bucco.”

“Stew.” Eugene stated. “We make stew. More milleage for the masses.”

“There are more of you ?” Asked a light red-haired woman.

“Way more, with walls and–” Laura cut Judith off before she said too much to those strangers.

“Incoming.” Everyone looked ahead and saw a few walkers coming in their direction. Anna took her serrated knife and walked at the first walker in sight.

“Anna–” Aaron sighed and rolled his eyes as she didn’t listen to him, once again. She stabbed the undead in the head and kicked him away. She repeated the action on the two other walkers that were coming and was done before anyone else could do anything. She crouched and cleaned the blade on a walker’s clothes.

“There’s more on the way.” Laura warned. Anna looked back at them and stood up. “We gotta get outta here.” She was right, walkers could be heard in the distance, growling. Anna walked over to them as she put her knife back at her belt, next to her gun.

“They need food and water and medicine.” Judith was just like her older brother, always trying to help people, pleading their cause. They just had to hope it wouldn’t get her killed too. “If they don’t go, I don’t go.”

“Jude…” Anna sighed at her determination to help them. She had learned to think about her safety first and she was maybe not as altruistic as she but she was rather headstrong. Aaron, Anna and Rosita all looked at each other, wondering what to do but eventually they gave in.

“Come on.”

Dressed with her tank top, and her leather jacket tied at her waist, a pair of old ripped jeans and her boots, she wandered around Alexandria, eventually walking over to the house that was formerly Rick's and now only Michonne and Judith’s. Years had passed since her father had been put in this cell where she had herself been once before. All her walker caused wounds had healed, she didn’t hid the scars on her arm anymore, and the one on her leg sometimes hurt and the skin felt stiff in this area but in the conditions they lived in, Siddiq had done everything he could to help the healing process and avoid a nasty nasty scar. It was still not pretty to look at, but it could have ended up worse. And Rick… Rick was gone. She didn’t know the whole story but she just knew that the man that had helped save her and give her a better life, was gone… As she approached the house, looking at Judith who was sitting on the stairs, a big book on her laps, she heard her father’s voice. She could hear Judith read a math problem to him. The closer she got, the more distinct their voices were.

“You’re gonna help me, or what ?”

“All right, let me ask you some. You ever seen an airplane fly, in any direction, at any speed ?”

“No.”She replied, staring at her book. Anna still had a little less than thirty feet before she got to the house. From where she came in, they couldn't really see her. She wasn't coming straight from the front. She paused for a moment to listen to them, leaning against the wall of the house. Hearing them reminded her of her and her father when she was in elementary school doing her homeworks.

“Do you think you ever will ?”

“Probably not.”She sighed.

“So, what the hell difference does it make ? Maths are supposed to apply to the real world. You want my help, give me a question or a problem from right here right now.” She closed her maths book and stared at a little figurine in her hand.

“You know the strangers we brought here yesterday, my mom’s gonna make them leave.” She sounded almost saddened by it.

“No, I didn’t know. But let me guess, you being you, you wana help ‘em.”

“I found ‘em, I brought them here.”

“Let me tell you something, when I was about your age, I used to bring home stray dogs. My mom, she hated it. Never understood why, they always seemed so friendly and grateful. Till one day, I brought home the wrong dog.”

“What happened ? Did it bite you ?”

“Not me. That dog killed all the other strays. Chewed off half my mom’s ear when she tried to stop it. The thing is, that dog seemed just as friendly and grateful as the rest of ‘em.”

“And what about after that ? You ever bring home another dog ?”

“Well, hell no. I wised my ass up.”

“Did Anna ever brought dogs at home ?” He laughed at her question.

“No, never. She was a good kid. Just once, she tried to climp up the apple tree in our backyard and fell.”

“Did she get hurt ?”

“She’s tough. Was ever since she was born. Luckier than me.”

“I figured so. Look how great everything turned out for you.” She closed her book and stood up.

“Wait a minute, where you going ? I thought you wanted my help.”

“I do, but just with math.”

“Why just math ?”

“Because it doesn’t matter if you’re a good or bad person on the inside. The numbers don’t care.” Anna straightened up and took a few steps in front of the house. Hearing the steps, Judith looked and smiled at Anna. There was a brief silence and Negan probably wondered why she was just standing there. “Hey Anna.”

“Hi big girl.”

“You ever seen a plane fly ?”

“Yep. Come on, let’s get in. I didn’t get to go to school for long but I can help you a little bit. I’ll be here in a minute.” She nodded and went inside. Anna took a deep breath, staring at the front door of the house and went to open the little gate leading to the basement where Negan’s cell was. She leaned against the wall in front of the window and she stared at her father for a moment.

“You look so much like her. Your features, the way you talk… The more you grow, the more you ressemble her.” She looked away, crossing her arms over her chest. “Judith makes me think of you when you were little.”

“I know, dad.”

“How old are you now ?” He inquired. She raised her head, thinking about it.

“Uh, probably around… 24... 25 or 26. I think. I don’t know.” He scoffed.

“Makes me feel old.”

“You know,” She ignored his comment. “you weren’t there and, even though other took care of me, it had always been only you and me. And no matter what shitty things you do, it will always be so.”

It was her way to tell him she loved him and will love him to the moon and back, no matter what could happen to them or to the world around them. She looked at him in the eyes as she walked back to the street level and walked inside the house. Judith was seated at the table in the kitchen, looking at her math book. She was reading the problems over and over again.

“So…” She sat next to her. “let’s see. This one is hard ?”

“Yeah, and this one too.”

“Okay.” She read the math problem and before she was even finished doing so, she felt the little girl’s gaze on her.

“I was wondering…” Anna didn’t move, looking at her from the corner of her eyes.

“This doesn’t have anything to do with math, does it ?”

“No. Actually, my mom told me not to ask you but, I still want to ask you.”

“What do you want to ask me about ?”

“You and your dad.”

“On one condition young girl, if you can solve this math problem. You get one question for each step you find. Deal ?”

“Deal.” She smiled softly and looked at the book, thinking hard and trying to find the right answers to solve it. With Anna’s help, she managed to see it through. She would tell step by step and each time she got it right, she would smile because she knew she got the right to ask her another question. Once they were done, she wrote everything on a sheet of paper to show to Michonne later.

“All right, go on.”

“Why don’t you ever go see him down there ?”

“Because, six years ago, your parents told me not to. It was hard so I just pretended he didn’t exist for a little while, but it wasn’t a long term solution.”

“Why ?”Anna had a moment of thought. She didn't know how to tell her, who no longer had a father.

“You know, when your whole world revolves around one single person, it feels weird when things change and you have to let other people in. That’s probably why I never had a relationship, because in the end, I was too dependent of him. I would always go back to him, even if he hurt me.” She nodded, processing all the information I gave her.

“So you went back to him anyway ? How long did you obey ?”

“Uh, about three to four years, maybe. I–” She cut herself off and stood up. “Well, end of police questioning. I need to go see Siddiq at the infirmary. Maybe he's already back from the council meeting.”

Anna smiled, rubbing Judith's head and walked out of the house, pulling her hair back into a ponytail, down the front steps. She untied her jacket from her waist and draped it over her shoulders. She felt like she was standing like her father. She knew he was watching her walk away from his cell. Siddiq was indeed already waiting in the room, busy putting away some trinkets lying around. Hearing the door open and close, he turned his head to Anna and greeted her with a smile.

“Always on time.”

“What do the blood tests show?” He shrugged.

“Unfortunately, we still don’t have the equipment to study it here and to understand what makes you different, and immune to the virus. So for now, we’ll just keep drawing blood and keep it for later. We can’t just use your blood on people, cause if we do that, there is a risk of injecting pathogens into people's bodies as well and that could accelerate their condition. Having those pathogens isn’t mortal to you, because your antibodies and whole immune system is so efficient but it could instantly kill someone more vulnerable.”

“So what's the point of continuing to draw my blood?”

“The point is, if someday we find what we need to separate the pathogens from the antibodies in your blood, we could finally save lives.”

He thrust the needle into the bend in her right elbow and drew some of her blood for a few seconds, filling the syringe with this thick, deep red liquid. Then he pointed the needle at the ceiling, observed the blood inside and tapped lightly on the clear tube before doing as always and emptying the content into a kind of small vial and store it in the cold in a refrigerator powered by the camp's solar panels, with the others. Thanks to the solar panels, they could have enough electricity to power certain things, in particular this fridge, which contained dozens of vials of her blood. We knew it couldn't be used like that on someone, but if Anna ever needed an IV they would at least have something to help her with. It was the bright side of it. After several minutes, he checked, as always for years, the condition of her bites to make sure the scars were aging well, before letting her go again. She got out and put her jacket back over her shoulders. The day was well started and she wasn't sure where to go now. She then walked towards small pontoons that led across a small body of water in the heart of Alexandria. She sighed. She needed to let off steam a bit. She went and picked up a long branch, as long as a sword, stuck in the earth in the middle of the plantations and left behind a building. She began to practice fighting with this makeshift weapon until night began to fall. No one had been looking for her and it was fine with her.

[To be continued…]

Previous chapter / Next Chapter

Published (12/16/2021) by Andrea

Taglist: @cathrin2405 @kika64

11 notes · View notes

walkerwords · 3 years

Text

Walker Words TWD Question Tag!

I was bored and drinking so I came up with this! Feel free to reblog it and answer the questions yourself! I’m curious to see what ya’ll answer!

*contains spoilers for entire aired show*

QUESTIONS

1) RICK OR DARYL?

Rick

2) WHAT COMMUNITY WOULD YOU WANT TO LIVE IN?

Alexandria

3) IF YOU COULD BRING BACK ONE DEAD PERSON, WHO WOULD IT BE?

Carl

4) IF YOU COULD KILL A LIVING PERSON WHO WOULD IT BE?

Magna, sorry not sorry

5) BEST NICKNAME FOR THE DEAD?

Walkers, obviously

6) WHICH IS YOUR FAVOURITE SEASON?

It’s a tie between season 6 and season 10

7) BEST VILLAIN?

Alpha

8) WORST VILLAIN?

Governor

9) TOP FIVE FAVOURITE CHARACTERS?

Rick, Daryl, Negan, Aaron, and Lydia

10) DOES NEGAN DESERVE REDEMPTION? WHY?

Absolutely. I think people tend to forget that Rick and people killed so many damn saviors and Negan literally only killed 3 of them by his own hand. I think that he is a much more complicated character than people think. I think his actions in both seasons 9 and 10 show that. Give me redemption arc!

11) SADDEST DEATH?

Carl, I couldn’t stop crying

12) WHO’S BACKSTORY (ALIVE OR DEAD) DO YOU WANT?

JESUS

13) FAVOURITE DEATH?

Either Alpha and Joe from the Claimers

14) FAVOURITE WALKER KILL?

Daryl with the chain in the loading dock

15) WHO DESERVED BETTER?

BETH AND SIDDIQ

16) WHO WILL BE THE LAST ONE STANDING?

Probably Daryl or Maggie

17) WHAT WOULD BE YOUR WALKING DEAD WEAPON OF CHOICE?

Yumiko’s compound bow or Michonne’s Katana

18) FAVOURITE EPISODE?

No Sanctuary and Squeeze

19) SAVIORS OR WHISPERERS?

Whisperers, only because they scare the shit out of me

20) IF YOU WERE IN TWD, WHO WOULD YOU RELATE TO THE MOST?

Either Tara or Alicia from Fear

#the walking dead questions #TWD tag #the walking dead #walker words #twd #TWD question tag

25 notes · View notes

sarcasm-is-my-native-tounge · 3 years

Text

Meet the blogger

I was tagged by @flames-bring-a-ton-of-ash because yall love tagging me in these and i love it lmfao

1. How/why did you choose your URL?

Idk it came to me one day and i thought it was fitting. Then after i changed it i realised the last word is spelled wrong and someone else has the same name but spelled correctly lmfaoo

2. Any side blogs? If you have them, name them and explain why you have them

Nah I am 100% on mobile and i dont have the energy for that shit. I just have the one dumpster fire and that's all

3. How long have you been on Tumblr?

I recently had my 9 year anniversary for this fuckin thing. Holy crap.

4. Do you have a queue tag?

Pfft fuck no lol. I'll que a couple things here and there for date-specific shit but thats all

5. Why did you start your blog in the first place?

Hell i dunno i was in high school and a bunch of my friends were on here. I never had steady internet acess until about 3 years ago so i never did much on here until recently

6. Why did you choose your icon/pfp?

It's just my face. I never had this as a fandom-specific page so i figured might as well.

7. Why did you choose your header?

It fit with the url and i still like it today. Used to be James Hetfield from Metallica there for a while lol

8. What's your post with the most notes?

Oof uh i think a TWD one i made during an episode of season 9? I dont remember what it was and im on mobile so fuck if I'll be able to find it.

9. How many mutuals do you have?

Ballpark 10-15 i think? 8? I dunno

10. How many followers do you have?

Uuuuh 335 or so. I block all bot accounts but if I didnt it would be pushing 2k probably lol

11. How many people do you follow?

Wow only 120 jeez no wonder my dash is so dry sometimes. If you're reading this far reccomend me some cool shit

12. Have you ever made a shitpost?

Hell probably. I don't post stuff that often really, i just reblog stuff i like

13. How often do you use Tumblr each day?

I usually use it to wind down at night or read a new chapter of a fanfic (shouts out @letsby for these primo Tony Stark fics lmao) so a couple hours a day or so. Used to be a lot more but tiktok is stealing my soul i stg

14. Have you ever had a fight/argument with another blog? Who won?

No. I dont care enough lol

15. How do you feel about "you need to reblog this" posts?

I hate them. Idc how much i agree with the post, the moment i see that "i don't care what your page is about, you have to reblog this" I specifically will not out of spite.

16. Do you like tag games?

Heck yeah. I get 2 notes per but i dont care lmao

17. Do you like ask games?

Eeh, i dont see them much anymore and i never got any myself so I don't really care

18. Do you have a crush on a mutual?

👀

Tagging @tortoisesforhire and @araviixi because why not.

#tag game #meet the blogger #idk these are fun feel free to ignore

1 note · View note

yessoupy · 3 years

Text

i recorded an audio file of me talking about the walking dead because i listened to @imetyouonljpodcast‘s episode from today about zombies and i just had so many things? i wanted to say? to @phrasesandmeter and @glycerineclown? but then the file was too big for tumblr and so i cut it down a bunch and it was still too big so i gave up. lol.

anyway i love this show even though i hate it. seasons 1-4 are straight fire; season 5 has some great moments and some annoying ones; season 6 is also kind of a crapshoot but RICHONNE and JESUS!!!; season 7 is fucking sad and i basically hate it for those reasons BUT upon my first re-watch of most of it i did appreciate it more; season 8 is too fucking slow (i think the whole 16 episodes take place over a few days??????) and its only saving graces are baby gracie and jesus’ hair (WHAT is morgan doing); season 9 is when i was resigned to being intensely disappointed BUT THEN there were some great episodes on the front half before THEY KILLED JESUS (who is alive and well at the end of the comics with his boyfriend aaron) and the back half was just .... ugh anxiety-ridden and then after the finale i just felt hollowed out?; front half of season 10 i wallowed through and then in the BACK half it got GREAT again and knowing how the comics end and that they’ve introduced elements of the last big arc i think! i can! finally finish the show!!! below the cut is my more direct commentary about things brought up in the episode so don’t read unless you’ve listened!!

okay SO it was super interesting to hear y’all talk about daryl like you had to be careful around him. idk if it’s because i’ve read so much fic OR listened to norman talk about the character so much, but the impression i have from that (that isn’t jossed by the show), is that once daryl got the corrupting influence of merle out of his life, he was finally able to start being the person he’d always wanted to be but because he was a dixon society hadn’t ever let him be. the bike he rides with the SS was merle’s bike.

in season 4 (??? actually maybe 5) when they’re starting to reunite after fleeing the prison and rick takes down the claimer by biting out his jugular (...uh) and later on when he and daryl are kind of resting after all that trauma rick calls daryl his brother? that’s like the final point where we see that daryl really has found his place. he’s found his family. i do love daryl and his character’s growth.

ALSO! it was so interesting to hear y’all’s thoughts on TWD AUs and that you didn’t think you could get into them. i LOVE them, because it’s so interesting to try to think of the ways that these characters would be different if they DIDN’T meet in the apocalypse. my daryl/jesus longfic is a teacher au, and i spent so much time thinking about how daryl could get to a place where he could have a relationship with a man and it NOT be a coming out story. i basically landed on the idea of getting the corrupting influences out of his life as soon as i could and! he got to be a real person. ANYWAY i was thinking about making a reclist of stuff i loved during the pandemic and i read a LOT of rickyl so look for that. if you want. lol.

LOVE richonne. at the beginning of that episode (6x10, maybe my fave ep for fun reasons) rick and michonne and carl are very domestic and when it aired, since there’s a little time between 6x9 and 6x10 i thought they were ALREADY together? it was so nice seeing them smile at each other and like, exist in that house as a family. so then at the end when it finally DID happen i realized “oh, THIS is where it starts” and then i thought “omg yvette nicole brown is going to be SO. HAPPY.” also that is jesus’s debut episode and rick and daryl get a little roadtrip supply run that is just so nice.

another thing i love about richonne is that michonne was there from DAY ONE of judith’s life. she literally brought judith’s first meal to the prison (which she picked up when merle took maggie and glenn hostage). daryl fed judith her first meal, but michonne provided it. so to see their relationship in later seasons -- mama michonne!!!! -- ugh it’s so beautiful.

re: the comics. if you think the violence/gore in the tv show is on the border of being too much, the comics WILL be too much for you. it’s black and white, but it doesn’t matter. everything is more violent, there is more rape, glenn’s death is somehow WORSE even though it’s the same .... but if you can handle that, or just do a good job of turning pages, it’s interesting to catalogue the differences between the comics and the show. there are 193 issues (last issue was july 3, 2019, it is DONE) and i think i have through 105 in google drive so hmu if you want access.

#twd #twd-rewatch #the walking dead #i met you on lj podcast

4 notes · View notes

baseballbitch116 · 5 years

Text

Sweetheart - part 6

He continues absentmindedly poking the skin on the ground, thinking of Y/N, hoping that she made it out of there. He tried so hard to find her, he stayed as long as he could. The place was falling down before his eyes, towers crashing to the ground with the fences and parts of the building. He couldn’t find anyone, it was a horrible mess. He could only manage to get Beth out of there. Daryl was hoping that you were on the bus and had escaped, that you were with Rick and Carl. More than anything, he wished he was with you guys. He felt all alone again, like he was going to lose himself. Thankfully he had Beth, even if he wasn’t close to her, because he couldn’t bare to be all alone right now.

His eyes leave the guts of his kill, wandering up the trees and landing on the stars. He remembers the couple of nights that he spent outside talking to Y/N after everyone had gone to bed. A sigh escapes his lips as he feels heart aching again, missing all of people he had come to care for. He watches the sky, wondering if you were out there, and if he would ever see you again…

---

* Takes place in season 4 episode 16/season 5 episode 1

** Does not entirely follow the plot of the episode, I put my own spin on a few scenes

Word Count: 1185

Warnings: Violence, angst

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Masterlist

Prompt List | Submit A Request

The trip to get to Terminus took a few days, and you were in no rush, to be honest. You were afraid that you were going to get there and it will have been overrun, or that nobody else will go there. You are too afraid to let yourself have any sort of hope, the one thing that Maggie is clinging to. You know that Daryl is a strong ass man, and so are many of your friends, but that doesn’t mean that you’ll get lucky enough for them to stumble across the signs.

You absentmindedly followed the three of them wherever they went, not caring much for anything. You guys haven’t been eating much, only some berries here and there or one tiny rabbit that had to be split between four people. You couldn’t find a whole lot of drinkable water either, so you were very low on energy, just trudging on.

When you finally arrived to Terminus, everything went downhill. They took you guys hostage and locked you away in a train cart. You were in there for two days straight, and both nights, men came in and tried to take you women, but you put up a hell of a fight. The four of you managed to keep them from succeeding, but you didn’t think it would last much longer. You needed to find a way to escape.

And then the day came that they took you all out. You couldn’t manage to fight them all off, heavily outnumbered. They tied and blind folded you up, leading you guys into a room. When your blindfolds were removed, you were kneeling in front of a drain-pipe sort of thing, multiple men surrounding you guys. They discussed something in hushed voices, then all of them left except for two. One aimed a gun at you guys, and the other held a bat, standing behind you’s. And just when you thought it was all over, and the man started to swing the bat toward Bob... A huge explosion shook the building, stopping everyone in their place.

You took that as your opportunity and quickly threw yourself on top of the man with the gun, stomping on his head until he no longer moved. Maggie and Sasha took out the other man with the bat, and after a little struggle, you managed to use their knife to free yourself, then the others. The four of you ran out of there, shooting down men as you went, shocked when you heard other firing as well. The place was being attacked.

The four of you managed to escape the complex before it became too overrun with walkers, and you watched from the woods as you saw people running around, some getting shot down, some doing the shooting. And then you saw it...

A woman with dreads wielding a katana. “Michonne!” You exclaimed, pointing toward the courtyard where she was taking down walkers and men. The four of you begin making your way back down toward them, trying to catch up to where they were heading out of the fence. You ran after them as fast as your weak legs would allow you, desperate to reunite with your friends, praying that Daryl was with them.

Sasha and Maggie managed to get to them first, you trailing behind about a minute later - and that was it. You froze where you stood, out of breath, and stared in shock, face to face with everyone you loved. Maggie ran into Glenn’s arms sobbing, Michonne hugged Sasha... And you stared at Daryl. He stared right back, an expression as if he’d seen a ghost. Your eyes burn with tears as your vision blurs. You start taking steps toward him, and to your surprise, he runs at you and throws his arms around you in a bone-crushing hug, lifting you off the ground a little as he embraces you. You hug him tighter than you’ve ever hugged someone, fearing if you let go that you would lose him.

Tears dripped down your face as you hid your face in his chest, the smell of him bringing a wave of comfort over your exhausted body. No words were spoken, none needed to be. He pulled away for a moment, looking at you like a heartbroken child, and catches you off guard again, leaning his face on your shoulder, his arms hanging limp at your sides, and a small quiet sob escapes his lips. You rub his back and hold him, your heart breaking and swelling at the unashamed affection he is showing.

Eventually, he steps back and you laugh sadly at him, wiping away a stray tear from his cheek lovingly, and he smiles sadly. He takes another step back to allow Michonne to hug you and everyone else to reunite together. And then after everyone is out of shock, you agree that you need to get out of there before a hoarde of walkers invade the place. The group starts heading into the woods, and you don’t leave Daryl’s side even for a moment. He surprises you yet again when he interlocks his fingers with your’s and hold’s your hand, giving you a shy sad look as you walk beside him. You smile and bring his hand up to your mouth, giving it a kiss. You catch him blushing as he tries to hide his embarrassment and you let out a little laugh, following him and the others through the woods, your heart feeling whole again.

---

Being on the road again was tough on you all, but you were stronger together. For the entire first day, you didn’t stray more than five feet from Daryl. He constantly checked over his shoulder to look at you, and when you would get more than a few feet behind him, he would stop and wait for you to get beside him, walking slower to stay beside you. It warmed you heart how much he was showing you he cared, nothing else in the world compared.

When nighttime came, you guys gathered in the road, some of the new people making a fire that everyone sat around. Daryl and Rick did a little perimeter walk for a few minutes, making sure nothing was around, then rejoined you guys. Daryl sat right beside you, bringing his legs up and resting his elbows on his knees. You rested your head on his shoulder as you stared into the fire, a much different feeling now than you had been feeling just a few nights ago. You couldn’t ask for anything more - you had your family back.

Daryl interrupted your thoughts by taking your hand from your lap and holding it in his own, toying with your fingertips, sending shivers up your arms. He looks at you as he does so, a neutral expression on his face, but you can tell how content he is. You place a small kiss on his bare bicep, leaning your head on his arm once more and closing your eyes, allowing yourself to feel hope once again, something that only Daryl was able to make you feel.

---

Let me know if you would like to be added to one of my taglists

< Previous | Next?

@lokilover2000-blog @tv-show-shit @mtngirlforever@jodiereedus22

@cole-winchester @loudlydarkcollective @tehfabbooty @momc95

@fuzzy-panda @sourwolf-sterek32 @mwesterfeld1985 @badluckgirl@namelesslosers @my-current-fandom-is @zzeacat @twdeadfanfic@elamy17 @fangirlsarah16 @gryffindorshadowhunter@justaclosetedthesbian @a-little-piece-of-heaven-xox @twdeadfanfic

@hello-valerie @huntress-valkyrie @pleasepleasepleaseme@fangirl-juchan

@dotslabyrinth @isayweallgetdrunk @vibhati123 @ask-kakashihatake

@clumsy-writing-rdb @07chenzo03 @iminlokisarmysofi@daryldixonandfrogs @franzixlovesxsomeone @ivars-snowflake@duchessdeer @mazerunnerrose

@gruffle1 @harry-titss @coffeebooksandfandom @marissacooper@neeadinghugs @theserpentinequeen @firelonewolf @habelm @isilmiel @itsmysticalmystery @misscamptl @escapetothemind-dancefloor @dixonslover@walkingdeadfan25 @qrangr

@mblaqgi @daryldixon83 @negansviolentdelights @multiefandamn@fandom-trash99 @bvbwestfall @sugoichenzo @daryldixonswifey @thoughtsmeander2tumblingblindy

@esdlaliniadedurin @jasminetherandomweirdo @abilostinlight@thebeckyjolene

@too-many-fanfiction-fandoms @celticheart72-masterlist@whizzer1320 @nohemi2500 @nugget3455 @fxckyourlife@topsykretts926-blog @skvatnavle @lighthope08@runlikeclockwork @elysijin @mummy-woves-you

@axelwolf8109 @twd-imaginesss @hells-mistress @kaleeandspn @sekkitsu @fxckyourlife @topsykretts926-blog @lighthope08 @runlikeclockwork @elysijin @mummy-woves-you @princess-of-idgaf @icantstopreblogging @rhyatt-deauxtreve @nikki082489 @twdeadfanfic @superdeadwalker @ringpopdust @twdsfix @dixonluvv @angelophany @imaginecrushes @the-wonderful-werewolf @chocolatealmondmillk @catlya @firedancernix @princessxpunk @collecting-stories

343 notes · View notes

clexa--warrior · 4 years

Link

Season 5 of Fear the Walking Dead was a rough one for the characters on screen. They started off filled with hopes about providing hope and help to those in desperate need of both, but by the end of the season had been conquered and divided by Ginny’s group — with the last scene showing a shot Morgan lying down alone as hungry-looking zombies descended upon him.

It was a rough one for some fans as well, who complained about the plot and pacing of a season that appeared to have less impact, tension, and drive than those that preceded it. But is that all part of a grander plan? In the fourth and final part of our Walking Dead franchise overview discussion with chief content officer Scott M. Gimple, we spoke about the criticism of season 5, what’s in store for season 6 (including what sounds like a time jump at some point), and news of even more Walking Dead content coming our way. (Also read part 1 of our interview about the Rick Grimes movies here, part 2 about The Walking Dead: World Beyond right here, and part 3 about The Walking Dead having no timetable for ending.)

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: There was some pretty critical takes out there about season 5 of Fear the Walking Dead. When you look back on that season now, what’s your take on it? Is there anything you feel didn’t work as well as you had hoped, or was this just part of this plan and this is a stretch of this plan that you need to go through to get to somewhere else?

SCOTT M. GIMPLE: Right there. You just said it. We’ve been lucky enough on that show to be able to do these long-range plans. Season 5 was about setting up this journey that these characters are on through there to season 6, and I think people are going to see the relationship between those two seasons. I think even getting to the very end of season 5, the last few moments, really informing that whole season about reaching for benevolence and reaching for sweetness and art and just life and how in the circumstances they’re in, it didn’t work, and how we leave a person that put that forward isolated, alone, bleeding in a dead town.

I’m curious how people will watch that season in the future. Season 2 [of The Walking Dead], when we did it, we were assailed in a lot of ways. “Why are they on the farm? Why are doing this? Why are they doing that?” I think in subsequent years, people watching that season had different takes. This season 5 as a piece setting up season 6 into a truly serialized entertainment, I think people might see the relationship and the journey, why the journey went the way it did. I was so happy with the way that everybody did. I think it really did come together in the end in this really tragic way that we couldn’t have gotten to without the journey that we had been on.

It’s funny you mention season 2 of TWD, because I remember the complaints during that, but as soon as the barn doors opened, everyone was like, “Oh, okay. Yeah, right. Well, that was worth it.”

It was cumulative. I think everybody’s opinion is … as long as their opinion is come to honestly, nobody’s opinion is wrong. It’s how they feel about what they consume. But the one aspect that could potentially temper it is just taking the whole of it together. It is asking a lot of the audience to do that though. It’s an interesting thing that we face, and if you look at The Mandalorian, you look at a lot of shows on Hulu, and I think what Disney+ is now going to be doing, they are showing shows week to week. It is interesting, it’s a challenge that I think people will continue to have because the story might not go the way the audience wants it in the short term, but it’s all towards telling this grander story for them in the long term. I hope that anybody who had an issue with it can see this upcoming season and see how that led to this, because it was always the plan, to tell a story of some serious contrasts.

How much do you pay attention or modify or pivot because of critical feedback?

It’s a tricky thing because, again, as long as somebody is coming at their opinion having watched the show, and as long as they have an open mind to start with, anybody’s opinion is valid. One of the reasons I don’t read them is because it’s endless. It’s not, “Okay, I’m going to read this person, this person, but I’m not going to read the other 15 articles, and these people have the mic.” It’s not quite fair, nor do I think it’s storytelling with integrity to just seek out what peoples criticisms are and address those criticisms without looking at the whole of the audience. And does online criticism represent the entirety of the audience? It is the same sort of demographics that are issuing those criticisms that are watching TV, just as far as their interests or their history with the show or any of those things.

And it works both ways. People are saying awesome things about the show. I also don’t think it’s like reading that and be like, “Ah yes, nailed it.” I don’t think that’s fair either. It’s a tricky thing because I don’t want the feeling that we’re ignoring it, but also I don’t think it’s wise if you print them all out and try to address everything. It’s just not telling a story with integrity. I mean would we have told [episodes 905 and 906 of The Walking Dead] the way that we did if we were just full of worries, if we were just trying to make sure that we weren’t taking a risk and ensuring that everybody in every sort of quarter would be happy with it, with the outcome, with Rick going? Which was happening either way, by the way.

So how do you decide in terms of when to creatively pivot or change course?

I truly believe that it is our job as storytellers to take risks, to do the unexpected and not just to shock people. I want to take stories in different directions than that have gone before. In taking those risks, the only thing you’re risking is the audience’s interests or their opinion of you. There’s a lot of people out there who don’t want to do that, who just want to go down the center path and ensure that there’s nothing for the audience to be upset with them about. If you’re truly serving the audience, if you truly care about the audience, if you’re trying to give them something different, you have to take risks.

I know it can be hard, and I know that people can be upset and you don’t want to upset people, you don’t want to make people sad in perpetuity, but you also don’t want to just give them a story where you didn’t try your best to do something special, unusual, something that they might remember the rest of their lives. If we’re not taking risks, we’re not serving the audience, we’re just serving ourselves. We’re just serving, making sure that no one’s upset with us. To really serve the audience, you got to put your neck out there. I’m very proud of these showrunners who have been taking incredible risks, and I’ve been standing right beside them every step of the way with it and sometimes pushing those risks forward very, very much myself.

It’s actually the thing I like most about the franchise. Even when you guys were pulling in the most insane numbers in the history of television on TWD, you were still doing crazy stuff you would never expect such a popular show to be doing. You mentioned that obviously this is all leading to season 6. What can you say at this point about what you all have planned creatively for season 6 on Fear?

I don’t know how much has been shared yet, but I’ll share a little of it unilaterally. Structurally, the show is going to change quite a bit. There’s going to be a great deal more focus within the stories, a little less vignette-y in telling 16 little movies. The guys are out of the gate wonderfully with the first two episodes, and it is a differentiating thing. It’s something that separates that show from the other two shows, telling these 16 little movies, being a bit more anthological. It still is a serialized story, but it’s told through these very focused perspectives.

I think that’s going to be something that the audience really digs. There’s these episodes like Al and Isabelle or June and Dorie that were super focused episodes, that were some of our favorite stories to tell, and we’re leaning into that a little more. That’s something that’s very exciting. Just what these characters are dealing with is very unusual to anything we’ve seen on the shows. Last season, there was a singularity of purpose, which is all these characters landed in this place of needing redemption. These characters are going to be in very different places now, and that’s going to add to the variety of storytelling, the conflict between the characters and the drama that springs forth from that.

I was talking to your showrunners Ian Goldberg and Andrew Chambliss about that — how interesting it was that the end of season 4 was all about everyone finally coming together, and now at the end of season 5 you split everyone apart.

That was after they couldn’t have been more together, and more on the same page — really just going down the same path completely. They’re on a lot of different paths now, and that creates problems and it creates these very intense reunions. It just sort of widens our frame quite a bit, all these different perspectives telling all these different stories.

When you talk about intense reunions, could one of those intense reunions involve Sherry?

It could. It’s a pretty determined character. You never know. You don’t want me to say for sure.

Because I asked if the Commonwealth was part of the CRM, what about this group of Ginny’s that took everyone. Are they related to the CRM?

They are not. That’s an example, like when we talk about the Commonwealth, when we talk about Ginny — that is a rich and interesting story, and it’s big. We can have World Beyond touch upon it and actually sort of be living in it, and yet it still has this very, very different life in the movies because obviously Rick was on one of those helicopters. However big that story is, we don’t want that to be the story of The Walking Dead. I think that stuff is going to be super cool and people are going to dig it, but The Walking Dead is The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead is Fear the Walking Dead. It’s not like they might not touch upon it again, but it’s super important that they have their own stories. We are developing other mythologies like the CRM mythology within this universe, and this is sort of the first mythology, but there’s going to be more.

Do you envision a time jump on Fear to get it more in line with the other shows in terms of timeframe or not?

That is something we’re playing around with for the future, and time is actually going to be played around with on this season of Fear the Walking Dead. Yeah, who knows? I would love to get to be like Crisis on Infinite Earths. That would be super cool, but that’s way down the line.

When you say time is going to be played with on next season of Fear, what do you mean?

We’re going to see a lot of time pass. There is a lot of time that can pass, yeah.

I don’t know how you could have time for anything else while doing all these shows and the movies, but in terms of other forms, formats, video games, whatever — are there are other things percolating in the Walking Dead universe, even if it’s down the line more?

Oh, absolutely. We’re working on a big push of something I was working on originally and then I got much more focused on the shows in my first year on this job and developing World Beyond and getting the movie going. We really do want to come out with different TV formats, meaning shorter things, and then some event series, limited event series. I’m trying to get together a number of different things that we can show at different times during the year, and this focuses on characters we miss and we lost. It focuses on aspects of that new mythology. It focuses on stories that occur in our universe and have nothing to do with anything. Nothing to do with the shows or the movies, that are just these little zombie tales that happen in our world with our rules and our timeline but are just really great zombie stories, really great stories of the end of the world. I’ve been working on that with a variety of people, and that’s actually proving to be super fun and interesting.

What about filling in some backstories for characters and characters maybe that have already died along the way on Walking Dead or other shows?

That’s exactly what we’re doing. I mean, it isn’t the only thing we’re doing. It’s not like everything is like Gotham, but that’s one of the sort of three kind of categories that we’re tackling. It’s awesome. It’s awesome to be able to play with characters that we’ve lost, and it’s awesome to fill in some of the blanks.

#posted w/o comment #ftwd

10 notes · View notes

twdmusicboxmystery · 2 years

Text

TWD Symbolism Analysis Vids (YouTube)

Episode 1: Welcome and Explanation of Account

Ep 2: The Many Types of TWD Symbolism

Ep 3: The Evolutions of Daryl’s Romance Arc

Ep 4: The Weirdness of Beth’s Death

Ep 5: Missing Season 5 Scenes

Ep 6: What Happened After Coda

Ep 7: Intro to 5x10 - Them

Ep 8: Sirius Symbolism

Ep 9: Deer Symbolism

Ep 10: Clock Symbolism

Ep 11: Strawberries

Ep 12: Color Schemes

Ep 13: Rule of Threes

Ep 14: The Cure Theory

Ep 15: Clues in Beth’s Cell

Ep 16: Big Spot (Not Watchable)

Ep 17: Pattern of the Death Fake Outs, Part 1

Ep 18: Pattern of the Death Fake Outs, Part 2

Ep 19: Foreshadows at the Big Spot

1 note · View note

sidecastr · 2 years

Photo

For Tonight, Mon Oct 24:

Sidecastr’s social DJs curate the best comments from the live tweet stream for:

Bachelor in Paradise: 'Season 8, Episode 8' (ABC, 8:00p ET) #BachelorInParadise, DJ'd by @daniellek86

The Voice: 'Season 22, The Battles Part 4' (NBC, 8:00p ET) #TheVoice, DJ'd by @melanie616

NCIS: 'The Good Fighter' (CBS, 9:00p ET) #NCIS, DJ'd by @alijen

The Good Doctor: 'Shrapnel' (ABC, 10:00p ET) #TheGoodDoctor, DJ'd by @alijen

You can watch this repeat episode tonight with Sidecastr's web app or Sidecastr for iPad for synced replay of best tweets curated from its original airing:

Modern Family 'A Tale of Three Cities' (CW 11:00p ET - 1st aired 9/21/16) #modernfamily

Last night’s recap:

DJ @alijen chose 349 tweets for #TheEqualizer (~6/min)

DJ @wat2384 chose 899 tweets for #SNF (~5/min)

DJ @alijen chose 374 tweets for #HouseOfTheDragon (~7/min)

DJ @pthalocyanine chose 383 tweets for #TWD (~7/min)

Go to our Sidecastr web app or Sidecastr for iPad for a time-synced feed of our chosen tweets - whether you're watching live or later via your TV, laptop or any other video source. To see which shows we curate, check out our Covered Show List.

#bachelor in paradise #the voice #ncis #the good doctor #sidecastr #social tv #curated tweets #top tweets #tv tweets #time synced tweets #tonight

0 notes

dailyfeartwdgifs · 4 years

Photo

Fear the Walking Dead has a time jump coming in season 6: Scott M. Gimple also teases plans for upcoming TWD event series “Structurally, the show is going to change quite a bit. There’s going to be a great deal more focus within the stories, a little less vignette-y in telling 16 little movies. The guys are out of the gate wonderfully with the first two episodes, and it is a differentiating thing. It’s something that separates that show from the other two shows, telling these 16 little movies, being a bit more anthological.”

EW: It’s funny you mention season 2 of TWD, because I remember the complaints during that, but as soon as the barn doors opened, everyone was like, “Oh, okay. Yeah, right. Well, that was worth it.”

SG: It was cumulative. I think everybody’s opinion is … as long as their opinion is come to honestly, nobody’s opinion is wrong. It’s how they feel about what they consume. But the one aspect that could potentially temper it is just taking the whole of it together. It is asking a lot of the audience to do that though. It’s an interesting thing that we face, and if you look at The Mandalorian, you look at a lot of shows on Hulu, and I think what Disney+ is now going to be doing, they are showing shows week to week. It is interesting, it’s a challenge that I think people will continue to have because the story might not go the way the audience wants it in the short term, but it’s all towards telling this grander story for them in the long term. I hope that anybody who had an issue with it can see this upcoming season and see how that led to this, because it was always the plan, to tell a story of some serious contrasts.

EW: How much do you pay attention or modify or pivot because of critical feedback?

SG: It’s a tricky thing because, again, as long as somebody is coming at their opinion having watched the show, and as long as they have an open mind to start with, anybody’s opinion is valid. One of the reasons I don’t read them is because it’s endless. It’s not, “Okay, I’m going to read this person, this person, but I’m not going to read the other 15 articles, and these people have the mic.” It’s not quite fair, nor do I think it’s storytelling with integrity to just seek out what peoples criticisms are and address those criticisms without looking at the whole of the audience. And does online criticism represent the entirety of the audience? It is the same sort of demographics that are issuing those criticisms that are watching TV, just as far as their interests or their history with the show or any of those things.

EW: So how do you decide in terms of when to creatively pivot or change course?

SG: I truly believe that it is our job as storytellers to take risks, to do the unexpected and not just to shock people. I want to take stories in different directions than that have gone before. In taking those risks, the only thing you’re risking is the audience’s interests or their opinion of you. There’s a lot of people out there who don’t want to do that, who just want to go down the center path and ensure that there’s nothing for the audience to be upset with them about. If you’re truly serving the audience, if you truly care about the audience, if you’re trying to give them something different, you have to take risks.

EW: It’s actually the thing I like most about the franchise. Even when you guys were pulling in the most insane numbers in the history of television on TWD, you were still doing crazy stuff you would never expect such a popular show to be doing. You mentioned that obviously this is all leading to season 6. What can you say at this point about what you all have planned creatively for season 6 on Fear?

SG: I don’t know how much has been shared yet, but I’ll share a little of it unilaterally. Structurally, the show is going to change quite a bit. There’s going to be a great deal more focus within the stories, a little less vignette-y in telling 16 little movies. The guys are out of the gate wonderfully with the first two episodes, and it is a differentiating thing. It’s something that separates that show from the other two shows, telling these 16 little movies, being a bit more anthological. It still is a serialized story, but it’s told through these very focused perspectives.

EW: I was talking to your showrunners Ian Goldberg and Andrew Chambliss about that — how interesting it was that the end of season 4 was all about everyone finally coming together, and now at the end of season 5 you split everyone apart.

SG: That was after they couldn’t have been more together, and more on the same page — really just going down the same path completely. They’re on a lot of different paths now, and that creates problems and it creates these very intense reunions. It just sort of widens our frame quite a bit, all these different perspectives telling all these different stories.

EW: When you talk about intense reunions, could one of those intense reunions involve Sherry?

SG: It could. It’s a pretty determined character. You never know. You don’t want me to say for sure.

EW: Because I asked if the Commonwealth was part of the CRM, what about this group of Ginny’s that took everyone. Are they related to the CRM?

SG: They are not. That’s an example, like when we talk about the Commonwealth, when we talk about Ginny — that is a rich and interesting story, and it’s big. We can have World Beyond touch upon it and actually sort of be living in it, and yet it still has this very, very different life in the movies because obviously Rick was on one of those helicopters. However big that story is, we don’t want that to be the story of The Walking Dead. I think that stuff is going to be super cool and people are going to dig it, but The Walking Dead is The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead is Fear the Walking Dead. It’s not like they might not touch upon it again, but it’s super important that they have their own stories. We are developing other mythologies like the CRM mythology within this universe, and this is sort of the first mythology, but there’s going to be more.

EW: Do you envision a time jump on Fear to get it more in line with the other shows in terms of timeframe or not?

SG: That is something we’re playing around with for the future, and time is actually going to be played around with on this season of Fear the Walking Dead. Yeah, who knows? I would love to get to be like Crisis on Infinite Earths. That would be super cool, but that’s way down the line.

EW: When you say time is going to be played with on next season of Fear, what do you mean?

SG: We’re going to see a lot of time pass. There is a lot of time that can pass, yeah.

EW: I don’t know how you could have time for anything else while doing all these shows and the movies, but in terms of other forms, formats, video games, whatever — are there are other things percolating in the Walking Dead universe, even if it’s down the line more?

SG: Oh, absolutely. We’re working on a big push of something I was working on originally and then I got much more focused on the shows in my first year on this job and developing World Beyond and getting the movie going. We really do want to come out with different TV formats, meaning shorter things, and then some event series, limited event series. I’m trying to get together a number of different things that we can show at different times during the year, and this focuses on characters we miss and we lost. It focuses on aspects of that new mythology. It focuses on stories that occur in our universe and have nothing to do with anything. Nothing to do with the shows or the movies, that are just these little zombie tales that happen in our world with our rules and our timeline but are just really great zombie stories, really great stories of the end of the world. I’ve been working on that with a variety of people, and that’s actually proving to be super fun and interesting.

EW: What about filling in some backstories for characters and characters maybe that have already died along the way on Walking Dead or other shows?

SG: That’s exactly what we’re doing. I mean, it isn’t the only thing we’re doing. It’s not like everything is like Gotham, but that’s one of the sort of three kind of categories that we’re tackling. It’s awesome. It’s awesome to be able to play with characters that we’ve lost, and it’s awesome to fill in some of the blanks.

#ftwd #fear the walking dead #Scott M. Gimple #season 6 #article #interview #EW #news #aheartfulloflexa #camila #the things i have to read with my own eyes #is2g #https://ew.com/tv/2020/01/09/fear-the-walking-dead-season-6-time-jump/

8 notes · View notes