#joan twdg

[bourbonificould]

twdg tweets pt. 31 (LETS GOGOOGOO

[adoredmarigold]

wanted to draw the new frontier leaders for practice but gave up halfway lmao

[thecrusadercomrade]

Question: if you were part of Javi's group at the end of A New Frontier, would you want to stay in New Richmond, or would you want to leave?

For me personally, I'd want to leave. I like the idea of a safe, secure, community, but I don't think Richmond is gonna be that, and I'll explain why shortly. If the rest of the group wanted to stay, I would too, but I'd do my best to convince them otherwise.

For one, how many of the people left were in on Joan's plan to raid other communities? We can't have gotten rid of all of them. Furthermore, how many people lost friends and family when the herd got into the settlement, and how many of those people are going to blame us for that?

If I stayed in Richmond after that, I'd be worried about getting my throat slit in the middle of the night. Maybe New Richmond COULD become better with the right guidance, but I wouldn't want to take the risk of sticking around. That's not even getting into that Joan could potentially still be alive depending on your choices, so she might be able to rally her loyalists to kill us. It's just not a good idea, and I wish there was an ending where Javi and what's left of his people just straight-up leave.

[the-delta-42]

The Walking Dead Game What Ifs: What if the New Frontier stole from the Saviors?

[First] [Previous] [Next] [Next Alternative Link]

Settle the Score

What if the New Frontier stole from the Saviors? (TW: Violence and Negan)

Clementine swallowed, Javi was at the base of the gallows, while Tripp, Ava and David were being held hostage. She hadn’t been at her best, especially since she saw the Saviors mark on some of the supplies in the warehouse.

Then, without warning, a flare went up, cutting Joan off and making everyone go silent. Then she heard it. The whistle. That fucking whistle. As if everyone knew who it was, the crowd parted and he casually strolled up to the stage.

“Hello.” Drawled Negan, looking around the group, “Now, I usually wouldn’t just, invite myself in.”

More people started to appear, with Clementine freezing, recognising some of the faces.

“But,” Negan grinned up at Joan, “a little fruit told me that you,” he pointed Lucielle at Joan, “had your people stealing.”

Clementine looked down, ashamed of how fast she told Negan.

“Clementine,” Sighed Joan, before Negan cut her off.

“Oh no, she’s smart.” Negan looked around, “I mean, your surrounded by a bucha guys and you just happen to have stabbed their leader? Ooh, she was in a really bad position.”

Negan looked around, “Alright, round ‘em up.”

Everyone in the square soon found themselves on their knees, with one Savior roughly shoving Kate down next to Javi.

“You okay?” Whispered Javi, getting a brief nod from Kate.

He pointed his bat at someone, “Eeny.” He pointed his bat as he counted them off at random, walking up and down the line up, leaving a word for each person, “Meeny. Miny. Mo. Catch. A tiger. By. His toe. If he hollers. Let him go. My Mother. Told me. To pick. The very. Best one. And. You. Are. It.”

Negan looked down at his victim, “If anybody moves, anybody starts something,” he pointed at Clementine, “cut her hand off and feed it to that prick next to her.” He looked back at his victim, “It’s okay, you can breathe, you can blink you can cry. Hell, you're all gonna be doing that.”

STS

Gabe sat in the church; Clementine had fallen into an uneasy sleep. He saw the council sitting towards the front. Clementine’s hand was in bandages, Lingard managed to sew up most of the damage, so with some hope, it would heal, even if it would take the better part of a year and it wouldn’t be as strong as it had been.

“Their definition of half isn’t half,” Said Eleanor, “it’s most of what we have.”

“David?” Lingard looked at Gabe’s father, “Anything to add?”

David didn’t respond, instead getting up and walking out of the building.

“Does he usually do that?” Asked Eleanor, getting a scoff from Clint.

“No, but Joan did get people killed.” Clint glared at her, “We should’ve listened to him.”

“I was going what I thought was best.” Sighed Joan, trying to ignore the blood on her clothes.

Clint glared at her, before leaving after David. Lingard sighed, “Clint has a point. Your…greater good got people killed, and, if what Clem told us is true, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill the rest of the community if we fought him.”

Joan sighed, before she looked over at Clementine, “Why did she tell them where to find us?”

“Who knows.” Eleanor glared at Clementine, getting a snort from a guy lounging in a pew at the back of the church.

“He probably already had this place cased out,” The man sat up, “he wouldn’t have a force this big if someone squealed to him. He was coming already, he just wanted to play mind games with someone who managed to get away from him.” The man glanced at Clementine, “She’s probably scared out of her mind, given she’s just a child.”

STS

Tripp scowled, getting up and walking off as Eleanor approached him, while Gabe helped a limping Clementine to the truck.

“Dr. Lingard told us that AJ’s at a place called McCarroll Ranch.” Said Gabe, as Kate looked on from the truck, “He’s given us some supplies, but we’re going to need to scavenge for stuff.”

“You’re leaving?” Eleanor spoke up, walking up to them.

“Er…” Gabe looked around, “Yeah, I mean, look at this place, it’s not safe.”

“That’s because—” Conrad cut her off, “People got killed? Yeah, that’s why we’re going.”

“Javi got them killed.”

“And you sold us out.”

“Because the plan was going to get all of us killed,” Eleanor looked around them, “I was trying—”

“To save your own neck.” Kate snapped, glaring at Eleanor, “You might like living in a prison, but some of us prefer to live freely.”

“Richmond isn’t a prison.” Protested Eleanor, as the group joined Gabe and Clementine in the truck.

“Maybe,” Kate looked around, “but, from what we’ve been told about…them, it’ll soon be.”

Kate got back in the truck, before they drove off, leaving Eleanor staring after them.

STS

Clementine winced as AJ tugged on her hand, collecting AJ had gone more or less smoothly, she supposed having David with them helped.

“Clem.” Babbled the toddler, prompting Clementine to readjust him.

“Hey goofball.” Clementine’s response got a giggle from AJ.

To the group, the change in Clementine’s demeanour was like whiplash, especially since they hadn’t actually heard her laugh before.

“So,” David looked back at them, “about…what happened back there…”

“At the ranch or Richmond?” Asked Tripp, returning David’s look.

“At… at Richmond.” Clarified David, “I…I know that I should’ve done more.”

“Negan’s a psychopath.” Said Clementine, “He’s the type of crazy that keeps everyone afraid.”

“He’s not gonna chase us, is he?” Asked Conrad, looking at Clementine.

“No.” Clementine shook her head, “He chases large groups, not small ones or individuals. I ran into him a couple of years ago, the woman I was with got hurt, so I took some of his group’s medical supplies. He caught me and, in a panic, I stabbed him. It was almost funny, he seemed more amused than angry and had me sit down and tell him what I was taking them for. It was like a teacher finding you taking crayons or something.”

STS *Three Years Later*

“So,” Clementine looked over at Kate, “about… Gabe.”

Clementine noticed the others stiffen up, “I’m not going to break every time he’s brought up.”

“You get angry though.” Said AJ, getting a flat look from Clementine.

“Seriously, I’m fine.” Clementine stood up, before looking around, “Where’s David?”

“He’s watching Mari.” Answered Kate, “He’s… going through losing Gabe.”

“You don’t have to speak like I’m going to go crazy.” Said David, returning to the group, gently cradling the new born, “There’re signs for a school nearby, hopefully, we can have separate rooms to sleep in soon.”

“If it’s clear.” Said Clementine, giving him a look as she took the baby from him, “I don’t think Tripp want to deal with another Walker while he’s…”

“Taking a shit.” Finished AJ.

The group stared at the toddler, before Tripp sighed, “Why’re children like sponges?”

STS

Clementine looked around the school grounds, they, somehow, managed to get the people to let them in. Apparently, they survived since the outbreak, with the help of the school Nurse, Clarissa Martin. Unsurprisingly, she and Conrad hit it off and the residents slowly came around to them, especially since they managed to drive off those raiders that’s started giving them grief.

“So,” Louis leaned against a wall next to her, as the group sat around a fire, “Do you want to talk about that day?”

“It’s pretty sickening.” Warned Clementine, “But, we might as well. You see, David and I we were part of this group, called the New Frontier. I was kicked out for taking some medicine for AJ and David found out that the New Frontier was raiding and stealing from other communities, one of which being the Saviors.”

Clementine swallowed, “They were led by this man, Negan. He followed the who ‘eye for an eye’ approach. So, when he found out that the New Frontier had stolen from him and killed some of his men, he decided to settle the score.”

STS *Flashback*

He raised his bat, as Clementine tried to move to stop him. As he brought his bat down on Ava’s head, Clementine was shoved to the ground and had her left hand struck by a Savior’s machete.

Negan continued to beat Ava over the head, until she collapsed forwards and Negan smashed her head into a bloody pulp of shattered bone, brains and teeth. Clementine grasped at her bloody wrist, with one of Negan’s followers making sure she watched the beating, tears running down her face.

“Whoo!” Yelled Negan, stepping away, “Now that—”

David rushed forwards and punched him, making Negan stumble back and laugh.

“Ooh,” Negan touched his face, “that was uncalled for.” Negan looked down, “Now, I’ve got to show you that there are consequences to your actions.”

Without any warning, Negan brought Lucielle down on Javi’s head. Kate let out a short scream, as Negan gave another blow, making one of Javi’s eyes pop out of its socket.

“Oh, god!” Negan laughed, “Look at this gross shit!”

Javi tried to speak, turning to Kate, getting a laugh from Negan, before he brought Lucielle down on Javi’s head again. Kate screamed and cried and pleaded, as Javi’s skull split open and Lucielle pulled his brain out, killing him.

Negan looked around, as Kate started screaming herself hoarse, “You know what, I don’t think that does it. Kill half of ‘em.”

Almost immediately, the Saviors gunned down half of the residents of Richmond, leaving the remaining line up member in steadily growing puddles of blood, with Kate trying to get Javi to speak to her, despite his head being destroyed.

STS

“He didn’t kill any children,” Said Kate, “but, he made his mark.”

“We had a friend, Eleanor, she seemed to think that Richmond could be saved.” Tripp continued, “We left her behind and haven’t looked back since.”

“What about that Gabe guy AJ mentioned?” Asked Tenn, making Clementine look down.

“He was David’s son and…” Kate glanced at Clementine, “and Clementine’s boyfriend. He got bit on the back of the next while looking for supplies about three or four weeks ago and…had to be put down.”

“Whoa.” Muttered Louis, “So…It was a horrible few days for you?”

“That’s the understatement of the century.” Muttered Clementine, as Mari started fussing.

“Are you still thinking of moving on or…” Violet looked around, “because it’d be nice to have all of you around.”

Clementine and her group shared a look.

“Yeah,” David spoke, “We’ll stay.”

Next Story: What if the Bandits captured the Motel group? (TW: Rape/Non-Con, somewhat Graphic Violence and homophobic language)

[yellowsugarwords]

Ok. Angsty request time. Set before Javi and co find Richmond. David, Ava, Lingard and the other new frontier people find out Clementine died after they kicked her out.

OH HOLY SHIT LET'S GOOOO (ima make this a headcanon)

David seldom thought about people once they left Richmond.

Why bother?

But something about the look on Ava's face told David something was wrong.

Seriously wrong.

"Ava?"

"I'm gonna need to round up the group," Ava said.

Her voice was low. Almost solemn.

"I have some news to share."

By the time everyone had gathered, David felt deeply unsettled.

Lingard, Clinton, Joan, David, and Ava all huddled together,

Ava's expression was low and hesitant.

"I have some bad news."

David crossed his arms, squeezing,

Hoping it might distract the anxiety rising in his gut.

"Clementine's dead."

Silence lingered overhead.

David was taken aback, head shooting straight up.

"What?"

"How do you know?" Joan pressed.

Ava sighed, closing her eyes to regain composure.

"One of the new guys that just joined. Said on the way here he passed by a dead girl in the forest to the west."

Lingard's shoulders fell, knowing what was coming.

"I asked what the girl looked like. She was wearing that same damn hat."

Ava hesitated.

"It was her."

"Shit," Clinton whispered under his breath.

They wanted her gone, they hadn't wanted her dead.

"I'm telling you guys because I think it's best if we don't tell any others."

"Why?"

"We don't need an uprising." Joan hushed, lifting a single hand.

It was true.

Maintaining order in a lawless society was not easy.

They needed to keep members of New Richmond at ease.

They needed to be trusted to maintain power.

Lingard wiped a hand over his face, expression pale and lifeless.

"I can't believe it," he muttered under his breath.

"There was nothing we could've done," Clint remarked,

Passive and defensively.

"She didn't wanna play by the rules, she didn't get to stay. She made the choices that left her dead."

David said nothing.

Joan nodded in agreement.

"We offered her a home and she refused it. We did all we could."

Ava raised a brow but dropped it before Joan could notice.

That isn't exactly the way Ava would put it.

Then again, it was classic Joan.

David's arms fell to his sides,

Horrified at the revelation.

"We kicked her out."

"And we had to," Joan furthered.

She needed him to not wallow in self-pity.

There would be many more people killed indirectly by him.

He needed to get used to it.

"God dammit," Clinton turned around,

Running his hands through his hair,

Stressed as hell.

He was putting on an act about how they did all they could do,

That he wasn't to blame for Clementine's death,

But David could see right through him.

It was tearing him up inside knowing he sentenced a teen girl to her death.

"We need to keep going," Joan said,

Placing her hands on her hips matter-of-factly.

"We need to keep working and keep ensuring Richmond's security."

"Understood," Ava said,

Offering a small nod of understanding.

"Good. Then get back to it."

With that, Joan turned and vanished,

Off to do another task.

Lingard turned to David.

"Holding up?" That was all he said.

David finally met someone's gaze, and he frowned.

"This world is fucked up."

"I hear you," he said quietly.

He placed a hand on his shoulder,

Offering silent support,

Then went on his way back to his office.

David stood idle, arms crossed,

Ava passed him a look of pity before leaving to take time for herself.

How could David ever forgive himself for this? Truthfully, he would never be able to.

He would live with this tarnished memory forever.

Until his time comes too.

━━━━━━

𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜!! ₊˚⊹ 𝐭𝐢𝐩 𝐣𝐚𝐫   ♡    𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐬 𝐢 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫

[fruitsnbrains]

never trust a bitch with a bob

[davidsdogtags]

My fav thing about the new frontier leaders is that they're all cowards <3

[ericsonclan]

My Town

Summary: Duck works with Oakley to protect their neighborhood from some baddies who want to steal Duck's toy car.

Word Count: 2102

Read on AO3: 

Duck swayed on his feet causing the walkie-talkie on his PJ pants to nearly fall off with his movement.

“Shit, I don’t know why they gave me a meeting out of state right before Christmas. Sometimes I think I work for a bunch of numbskulls,” Kenny grumbled as he worked to iron his pants. He usually wouldn’t bother with that kind of stuff but after all the grief that Katjaa gave him about it and pointing out how it would look unprofessional, Kenny had folded. Now here he was, a taxi coming in fifteen minutes to pick him up and he was still floundering around.

“Are you gonna be back in time for Christmas?

Duck’s question made his dad glance up from his task.

“Yeah, even if work isn’t done it's too bad. I’m spending the holiday with my family. If those fuckers have any problems with it then-” Kenny huffed and shook his head. “Anyways, stay out of trouble while I’m gone. Don’t go calling the police now over silly stuff,”

“I won’t,”

Duck noticed the smile appear on his dad’s lips at that reassurance.

Kenny ruffled his son’s hair fondly. “Good. Alright, son, I’m heading out.” He turned and grabbed his bag before moving towards the stairs.

“Got everything?”

“Yep.” Kenny sighed good-naturedly, ready to go over his son’s usual checklist. He knew how much it meant to Duck to help him out before work.

“Passport?”

“In my bag.”

“Wallet?”

“In my pockets,”

“And where are your pockets?”

“On my pants-” Kenny paused as he patted his backside where the back pocket of his pants would be but it wasn’t there. In fact, his pants weren’t on at all. He looked over to see Duck holding up his ironed pants with a goofy grin.

“Thanks. Okay, I’m heading out.”

“Okay, bye Dad!” Duck gave an energetic wave to his dad then walked down the stairs. He looked around the house for a minute. Everything had been set up. If those jerks decided to come to his house then he was ready. They wouldn’t get his toy car even though for the life of him he couldn’t figure out why that scary man wanted it. Duck was lost in his thoughts like he usually was until he heard something clatter in the kitchen. Poking his head in, he saw his mom struggling to get the plates back in place.

“Everything okay, Mom?”

“Duckie, what are you doing out of bed?” Katjaa immediately closed the gap between them and pressed the back of her hand to her son’s head. “Your fever seems to have broken but still. You need to rest or else those chickenpox will never leave your system.”

“Mom, they aren’t even visible anymore. I’ve become immune!” Duck declared loudly before a sharp cough overtook his gut.

“Duck!” Katjaa rushed over to get him a cup of water. Duck accepted it and drank heartily.

“Maybe I should tell my boss I can’t make it to work today.”

“No!” Duck blurted out. The last thing he needed was for those evil jerks to try and hurt his mom or for one of his traps to be set off by her instead. Katjaa looked shocked by his loud outburst.

“I’m fine, Mom. In fact, why don’t I fix up your coffee travel mug so you have something tasty and warm coffee on your drive over to work?”

“Zoon,” Katjaa whispered the Dutch word softly then took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m gonna grab my coat. I made you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It just needs a plate.”

“Got it!” Duck gave a huge thumbs up then got to work on the coffee. Everything was going great until he remembered the trap he had set in the closet.

“Wait! Let me get your coat!” Duck rushed past his mom and in front of the closet door.

Katjaa gave a confused smile. “Duckie, I’m already here, I can get my coat.”

“No, I wanna help you out! Come on!”

His insistence wasn’t unusual to Katjaa.

“Alright,” She wandered off to finish getting her travel mug ready. Duck stealthily looked to make sure the coast was clear and his mom couldn’t see the closet. Once he was sure the coast was clear he carefully turned the doorknob. Every second ticked by at a snail’s pace until the door opened and a red boxing glove attached to a metal rod shot out. Duck dodged it just in time and carefully extracted his mom’s favorite coat. Propping the mop handle against the rod he closed the door and went to the kitchen.

"Here’s your coat!”

Katjaa spun around and returned her son’s bright smile. “Thank you, Duckie,” She accepted his help with getting her coat on then pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Okay, I have my phone on me at all times. If you need anything, anything at all, I’m one call away.”

“I know,” Duck nodded with his usual optimism and moved to open the front door. He could see his mom’s hesitation to leave him alone for the day. “I’ll be fine, Mom, promise.” Katjaa took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay,” After giving one final goodbye hug she left and got in her car. Duck watched as she pulled out of the driveway, waving energetically as always until she was out of view. Once he was sure she was gone he took out his walkie-talkie and pressed the button on the side.

“Knox, you there?”

The other side of the line was quiet for a few seconds.

“Knox?”

“I’m here,” Oakley’s voice crackled to life over the walkie-talkie.

“Operation Save Christmas is a go. We’re gonna make sure these jerks leave our neighborhood for good!” Duck declared loudly and waited for his friend’s response but there was none.

“Hello?”

“Hi,”

Oakley’s voice made Duck spin around to see that Oakley had already come over. They pushed some of their long bangs away from their face with a frown.

“Knox!” Duck went over and hugged his friend then pulled back with a determined smile. “Alright, let’s get the last few traps in place.”

Oakley gave a short nod, a flicker of determination shimmering in their eyes.

“Okay, you know how this goes down. We split up and work to get inside that house. We find the car and get the chip then hightail it out of here. Mission complete, understood?” David looked back at his team who gave a short nod.

“How hard can it be to get a toy car from one little brat?” Abel asked as he opened the minivan door.

“You should know better than anyone. You couldn’t even catch the toy car when it was right in front of you,” Lilly noticed Abel’s expression grow bitter at that.

“Whatever,” He cussed her out under his breath and left alongside Joan.

David watched them for a minute then got his gloves on. “I’ll take the front of the house. You walk with that mutt and go around the back.”

Lilly nodded then pulled David in by his jacket collar for a kiss before pushing him away. Without another word she got the husky out of the car and started to walk her casually.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly as she walked down the street until the high-pitched sound of a whistle perked up the husky’s ears. Oakley stayed hidden in the bushes and carefully snuck to another spot to blow on the whistle again. The sound guided the husky over while Lilly was having yet another argument with Abel.

“Listen you idiot, why can’t you do one single thing ri-” Lilly’s sentence was cut short as Oakley used the dog whistle once more, causing the husky to book it towards the sound. Lilly immediately slipped on the ice and was dragged across the ground.

“No! No! Bad dog!” Lilly yelled, unable to stop the husky at all. After a minute or two of being dragged along the icy mud on the sidewalk Lilly was forced to let go of the leash and lay flat in defeat. The husky rushed around the corner where Oakley stayed crouched.

“Shhh, shhh, Arwen, stay still,” Oakley cautiously worked to undo the heavy-duty leash around the husky who was simply happy to see a familiar face. After a couple seconds the leash was off and Oakley threw it over some bushes.

“Okay, go back home. Nurgul is worried about you,”

The husky gave a bark and licked Oakley across the face. The young kid’s happy smile soon faded as the sensation of saliva on their face had sent them into a panicked state. They focused on staying silent and timing their breaths as their heart raced. They couldn’t afford to make a sound and risk getting caught right now. Even though it took a few minutes to finally calm back down, Oakley was glad that they got to help out their friend’s dog. They smiled as the husky rushed back to her home, disappearing round the bend.

“Hello? Lilly? Heh, bitch,” Abel sighed then used the earpiece to talk to Joan. “Joan, how are you doing?”

“I’m approaching the back porch. There doesn’t seem to be any signs of the kid,” She walked forward, unknowingly getting a dangling hook attached to the shoulder of her shirt. Joan continued on until she felt a small tug on her shoulder. Immediately she stopped in her tracks and spun around wildly. She kept looking around this way and that, trying to figure out if something had happened to her or if it was her imagination. As she continued searching the invisible wire that was attached to the hook slowly turned the valve of the backyard hose that the other end of the wire was connected to. Joan continued to spin this way and that until she spotted the clear string. The wheels of curiosity turned in her mind and without thinking twice she grabbed hold of the string and tugged. Suddenly Joan was hit with a cold rush of water from the hose. Her frantic yelps could be heard over the comms as she struggled to block out the hose only for a second one to burst to life shooting  cold water up her backside.  

“Joan? Joan? Damn it!” Abel grumbled then walked forward. What the hell was with the uselessness of the women on this team? He continued to stew angrily until he saw a set of red wires with a sign reading: Don’t touch!! Will shock you! A little stick figure being electrocuted stood by the warning.

“Heh, cute,” Abel said with annoyed disdain and was about to try to jump the obstacle when a hand appeared on his shoulder.

“Don’t. Look, the wires aren’t connected to anything.” David pointed out and Abel stared in silent shock as his boss tore out the wires and poles holding them up. “He’s just a kid. He thinks if he puts up some fake traps then it will scare us away.”

“Yeah, I knew that,” Abel nodded and followed David until they reached the front door. Abel was about to try the doorknob until David held him back. He motioned with his eyes to a thin clear wire running upwards from the doorknob.

“We’ll cut this and wait to see if anything happens.” David took out his army knife and sliced through the line. Both men took a step back and waited for a minute but nothing happened.

“See? Just a stupid scared brat,”

“Yeah, yeah you’re right. Don’t know why I was giving him any credit,” Abel stepped forward with David until suddenly they heard something crash through the attic window. A trunk full of books was falling from the sky and catapulting straight towards them. Both men let out high-pitched screams before they were brutally knocked over by the box.

Duck peeked out for a second then pumped his fist when he saw the trap had been successful.

“Arwen is free,”

Duck looked back to see Oakley who’d made their way over to join him.

“It’s working so far! They won’t be in our neighborhood for much longer!” Duck held up his hand and Oakley stared at it for a second before it registered with them what Duck wanted. Slowly Oakley tapped their hand against his, high fiving it. Duck grinned and curled his fingers with Oakley’s, holding onto their hand. The sudden gesture left Oakley shocked for a few seconds but soon they returned Duck’s smile with a softer, more subtle one.

Duck was right. They were gonna win against the bad guys today.

[terrak0]

TWDG fanfic recommendations

Just a little list of some of my favorite fics in the walking dead fandom. Feel free to add on any other fics! Most of these are by mutuals and are on Ao3

What-Ifs of Telltale’s The Walking Dead by @thecrusadercomrade as well as The Long Road Home

@bourbonificould’s What-If series

Dawn of The Walking Dead by @juno-box

Waking the Dead and its sequel Sunflower by coffeelyd. It’s an AU in a modern setting where Lee adopts Clementine and the motions of life they go through together. The first fic is based off S1, while the sequel is based off S4

Silence, a fic where Lilly misses during her attempt to shoot Ben outside the RV, but not without leaving lasting damage

Light of Day, a S2 rewrite by lottiematthewsgirl and woodlandkestrel. Hasn’t been updated in a few years but I think it’s pretty well written

You can’t eat a walnut (unless you crack a few shells) by anonymous. AU where Joan decides to use Javi as an example and hang him in the square instead of David

Going Down by dogstarlite. In which Kenny is the one who takes a fall in the alleyway.

Down a Different Path by JazzGirl123. Clementine runs into Javi and his family in the woods instead of the cabin group

Be still, my indelible friend by frillshark. Douglee content my beloved

The Journalist by SidekickKep, S1 from Carley’s POV

All that remains series by ahsoka. Featuring Lee and Christa being super competent in S2

Crystal Eyes Universe by EWBANH. This was THEE twdg fic series for me back in the day

Learning to Sleep by unnbrella. Clementine and Sarah fic where they have a sleepover together

[juno-box]

junert hi Do you have any headcanoned funny or strange interactions between twdg characters that you wish were real? -bals

When the heads of the Motor Inn group went to Warner Robins to find the military, they found Mark hiding out in a storage closet with a broom as a weapon and a bucket as a shield.

Ben had mandatory hang-outs/play-dates with Duck and Clementine.

Larry trying to teach people how to use a rifle but he's so out of touch with it he damn near cracked his collarbone. Lilly took over lol.

Luke tried to teach Clementine poker and lost to her.

Kenny down the stairs at the ski lodge once lol

Carver didn't give Luke a toothbrush like everybody else and proceeded to punctuate every order of him with "pretty boy".

Javi was banned from using the van radio because NOBODY wanted to listen to Backstreet Boys during those long drives. OR Boyz II Men.

A peach three fell on David back at the Shenandoah river.

Joan and Clint made a funny "cooking show" type of thing once just for fun but ended up with Joan beating his ass over a can of creamed corn.

Tenn accidentally shot Marlon in the ass with an arrow once.

Mitch got into a fight with Violet one time, so Sophie left passive aggressive art on his door that was just artistic ways of him getting hit by lightning.

Lilly pushed Abel off that boat approximately 3 times.

One time the kids threw a basketball tournament in the gym before it burned down. Violet won and Aasim had a concussion (as revenge he burned it down lmfao)

Louis tried to race Marlon from his office to the music room and then proceeded to fall down the stairs at Mach 20.

[spacedlexi]

Wait, people think Carver is the best TWDG villain?? I always thought he was basic as hell, and the fact that he was beefing with an 11-years old girl... Now Stranger on the other hand was great, he was super intimidating and off-putting and I was genuinely so scared he would hurt Clementine. I also liked Minnie for the same reasons (she was so creepy/off-putting), but I still think Stranger is the best villain bc he had a great setup while Minnie was kind of a secondary villain. But going back to Lilly/Carver, I also definitely prefer Lilly over Carver even though neither are my favorite... And now I'm kind of curious how you would rank the rest of the TWDG villains? 🤔

carver being the best villain is a sentiment ive heard for years 😭 im sure its coming from the "S2 is the best season" crowd tho which i also dont agree with 💀

the stranger is an effective villain. hes not exactly the typical villain type people expect. but hes very unsettling and him stalking clementine for who even knows how long through the walkie talkie is 🤢 he really makes me feel sick. she was using that talkie to deal with the loss of her parents, and this fucking creep took advantage of that so hard he was able to convince her to trust him. ugh he makes me feel so gross. and think of all the guilt clem must have about that situation. trusting this freak to help her find her parents, when if she had just stayed then lee wouldnt have gotten bit looking for her, and her parents were already dead the entire time anyway. oof. theres no way that isnt one of the biggest regrets of her life

carver is fine. i definitely think his character wouldve made more sense if they put kenny in that role instead. that way theres less "i am a grown man beefing with an 11 year old" and more "this is a child i helped look out for once, and im gonna make sure shes raised Right". but i agree that carver as he is is just over the top. overly villainous to the point of it being a little comical. like when villains are all tough like that my reaction is usually "god i WISH youd fucking kill me already so i dont have to hear your bullshit anymore do you know how GOOFY you sound??". if it was kenny in that role i definitely think they wouldve been able to tone it back a bit, and him "having a good side" wouldve been way more believable. as he is carver is kind of one note

joan.... definitely the weakest of the bunch. i dont really have much to say about her. david isnt even technically a villain but i definitely saw him as the better antagonist for the season. i mean hes definitely a villain in clems eyes. and is a constant semi-antagonist towards javi throughout the whole season. joans just kinda.. there.. doing things behind the scenes to cause conflict until the final confrontation. and then she can just disappear... okay

i like the way the antagonists work in S4. theres more of a discussion around what actually makes someone a villain and the difference between a person who fucked up and made (very horrible) mistakes, and a person who is straight up a threat. and i like that it connects back to the idea of lee and his murder of that senator. did he do something horrible? yes. did he destroy his relationship to his family? yes. does he regret what he did? i think so. and he definitely has guilt about his fucked up relationship with his wife. in S1 they mention how non-guilty people got sent to prison all the time. while lee is Definitely a murderer, we get to see over the season that hes a good guy who just wanted a family and in a moment of rage and betrayal did something he can never take back. this is why i never hated marlon. did he fuck up and do horrible things? of course. but he was a scared fucked up teen leading a group of other scared fucked up teens. he knows he fucked up, and continued fucking up to cover for his previous fuck ups lol. but he can be talked down. its a shame it ends the way it does, but i really like being able to teach aj the difference between people like marlon and people like lilly

lilly takes that kenny/carver idea and applies it to a clementine that has grown up and has been looking out for herself (and baby aj) for years now, instead of the 11 year old trying to figure shit out she was in S2. shes too old for lilly to be able to sway her in a way she couldve been more susceptible to in S2, and when lilly finally realizes this she just turns her attention to aj instead, seeing the potential in him (a potential clem does NOT want aj to live up to, wanting him to get to be a kid and not just a survivor, let alone a killer). lilly is fun because you can see in her that she WANTS clementine on her side, and throughout the season progressively realizes that its just never going to happen. both lilly AND clem come to the realization that this person they once considered family is beyond reason, their views too different, and so the fighting begins. their fight at the end of EP3 really feels like a "so its finally come to this" moment for both of them, their final fight. i always shoot her.

whats interesting about minnie is seeing her evolve from secondary antagonist in EP3 to straight up primary villain in EP4. the things shes done, the way shes been broken. she becomes her own downfall, seeing herself as someone beyond redemption. that this is just who she is now, its how things have to be. because if they didnt have to be this way? well then theres a lot more guilt she'd have to deal with. yelling at her in EP4 to just STOP FOR THE LOVE OF GOD YOU DONT HAVE TO DO THIS ANYMORE but she has been changed (in her eyes) so irreparably that she cant see any other option. and she progressively sees clem as the one who fucked everything up for her, instead of accepting that it could all finally be OVER. after killing sophie, the delta was all she had left. it cant have all been for nothing. and so she blames clem for taking it all away from her, even tho clem is just trying to protect her family. the family that used to be minnies. and so in her rage she gets bit. something else that she couldve avoided. but shes just too lost to her own downward spiral, unable to be reasoned with. by that point she just wants it all to be Over. and she wants to take tenn with her so she can finally pretend things can all go back to the way they used to be. her, sophie, tenn, and their parents all together again, where no more bad things have to happen to them. shes super tragic and i love her for that. and i love how she holds this dark mirror up to clem. clem struggles to let go of her past too, and the guilt she has over the things shes done and people shes hurt. and that if she cant learn to let go and move on she could get lost to it the same way minnie did. theres a reason clem is so quick to accept her fate, but shes finally able to leave that guilt holding her to her past behind in that barn. and she returns to ericson a much happier and lighter person, so much weight finally lifted from her shoulders. its finally over for her too

so yeah. my fave villains are definitely the S4 ones due to their nuance and layers. then the stranger, then carver, then joan. if i had to put david on this list he'd probably be above carver. but thats mainly because he has more nuance than carver ever did

[bourbonificould]

Twdg tweets pt. 30 (FINALLY THIRTY WOO HOOO

using canon years now i guess? lol. to celebrate, louis is now verified woo hoo

[adoredmarigold]

Questions!! Yay!!!!!! I've got a lot to ask about, I'm sorry

1. What are your favorite ships other than david and lingard (tbh in some way that ship reminds me of kirk x bones, not sure if youre into star trek tho xd)

2. Ava or Tripp?

3. Favorite S2 characters? Do you have any S2 ships?

4. What do you think are the best possible and your favorite endings of S2, S3 and S4??

5. And of course, I wanted to ask, whats your opinion on Bonnie.

I feel like I've been asking you some questions before but I dont remember excstly what it waasszzzzzzddsdszs if I already asked some of these questions IM SO SORRY but I cant say no to asking twdg questions

hello :) 1. VIOLENTINE!!!! It's such a lovely ship I will defend it with my life, istg Violentine haters have yet to bring up a valid point as to why they don't like it. I have some crack ships like Eleanor x Kate or Eleanor x Ava, I don't have much to say about them I'm just gay and wanna ship my girls together lmao. hmmm, I've been seeing some Mark x Lee stuff to and that looks pretty cute. Ermmm this is making me realize I actually don't ship much in twdg lmao, I guess I also ship Clouis and Gabentine Clouis is sweet and has good moments but I just don't find them as compelling as Violentine (sorry Clouis shippers). As for Gabentine I guess I would say I ship it, but more so in a "first crush/puppy love" kinda of way, The relationship never becomes anything serious they're just kids with a crush on each other and honestly I don't need them to become anything more than that. aaaannnd I know nothing about Star Trek but you're gonna make me look into Kirk x Bones now, thanks. 2. Well if we're just talking about the characters in general then Ava, she's so underrated imo. BUT, if we're talking about whether I choose to "save" Tripp or Ava during the execution, I always choose to let Tripp live. I'd rather have Ava die here than get that stupid fucking death she gets in ep 5, Tripps death in ep 5 is a lot better cinematically and writing-wise. 3. Sarah :) She's been my fav season 2 character since the season first came out and I will never forgive the writers/fandom at the time for how they treated her, SHE DID NOTHING WRONG. As for ships I guess I don't really have any for season 2, I mean Alvin x Rebecca I suppose though I'm not particularly invested in either character. Never been a Nick x Luke fan, I get the appeal but it ain't for me. 4. I can't really say which ending for each season is the best cause it's all pretty subjective, but I will give you my favs :) I guess I don't really have a fav ending for season 2? I choose the alone ending each time just cause I can't deal with Jane and Kenny's bs, don't hate either character but Clem doesn't deserve to put up with their bullshit anymore, she's the main character it's fine let's just ignore the logistics of an 11-year-old going off alone with a newborn. I also like the Wellington ending alot though! Not only because it's the best location for Clem and AJ to end up at but it also gives a satisfying conclusion to Kenny's character imo. Kenny spent all of season 2 trying to keep Clem and in the end AJ by his side for ultimately selfish reasons and he became extremely violent and unhinged in the process. So to see Kenny finally be selfless and be willing to give them both up to ensure their health and safety really redeems him for me. Kenny loves Clem and AJ but I really don't think he's fit to take care of them, this is the best possible Kenny ending for me. 5. Bonnies cool. It's been awhile since I've played season 2 and 400 days so I am in a desperate refresh of her character, but from what I remember she was interesting. I def think the fandom goes WAY too hard on hating her, from what I remember she's not really any worse or better than any of the other adults in season 2, she's extremely flawed but hell who isn't in The Walking Dead. I get being frustrated with her but the lengths people go to shit all over her character is kinda insane to me. So overall I guess I don't have much of a strong opinion on Bonnie, she's an interesting character with alot of flaws but I don't think she's evil or cruel. I hope her and Mike where able to get away and join a community or something. Also, I distinctly remember her being my fav 400 Days character and having a crush on her when I was a kid lmao. wowie okay that's all I gotta say, and don't worry you're all good! If you (or anybody really) send me a question and I don't reply it's probably just cause I forgot to or I'm stumped on what to say. CRIES

[thecrusadercomrade]

The Long Road Home Chapter 53: A Matter of Branding

Got this out surprisingly quickly considering I only started it yesterday! Very happy with this one, and I hope you all will be too. Enjoy!

Read on AO3!

Read from the beginning!

[the-delta-42]

The Walking Dead Game What Ifs: What if Clem found out AJ was at McCarroll Ranch before she met Javi?

[First] [Previous] [Next]

Child

What if Clem found out AJ was at McCarroll Ranch before she met Javi? Prompt Submitted by Worker72 on AO3

Clementine quietly walked along the dust covered road. Her mind was on AJ, she should’ve fought harder to keep him. Ava had given her some supplies, as well as the drawing he’d done. Sighing, Clementine looked around, before walking over to a small clearing. Deciding it was safe enough for her to get some sleep, she dropped herself down on the ground, silently taking AJ’s drawing out of the bag Ava had given her.

The drawing was a mess of squiggles, Clementine couldn’t discern what they were supposed to be, but she stared at it intently, before she idly flipped the piece of paper over, revealing a note.

He’s going to McCarroll Ranch – D.

Clementine blinked. One. Twice. McCarroll Ranch wasn’t far, hell, it was just a couple hours walk from where she was currently. Clementine jumped to her feet and continued down the road, before breaking into a run.

C

Clementine found getting into McCarroll Ranch was easy. She found some car keys and located the car they belonged to. She’d managed to get some guns and supplies into the car without being noticed. Quietly ducking her head into rooms, she found a lot of sleeping children, but none of them were AJ. Frowning, Clementine wondered if David’s note was lying, before she ducked behind a cabinet as a couple of people walked past.

“That kid is terrifying,” Said a man in a beanie, “why did the guys ask us to look after him.”

“He’s been sick.” Shrugged another, “I’m just glad that Helen has him in time out, away from the other kids.”

Clementine frowned, slinking out of her hiding place and looked at the doors. Each door had a small sign saying what it was for. Clementine finally found the door that said Time out room, and quietly pushed the door open. She could hear the sound of a toddler throwing a tantrum, she didn’t need to listen long to know it was AJ. Looking around the room, Clementine spotted a woman asleep in the corner. Quickly and quietly, Clementine snuck across the room and crouched down in front of the toddler. She smiled as he started to calm down, before his crying started up again. Frowning, Clementine picked AJ up, only for something to drop off him producing the foulest stench she’d ever smelt.

Looking down, Clementine located the source of the smell. AJ’s pants and diaper had come off, scowling she held AJ out and looked him over. They’d left him to sit in his own filth and they were saying he was trouble? Looking around the room, Clementine spotted some diapers and some clean clothes roughly AJ’s size. Quickly walking over, Clementine cleaned him up, dressed him and started calming him down. Quickly making sure the woman was still asleep; Clementine grabbed a bag and stuffed the baby stuff into it.

Without anyone noticing, Clementine hurried back to the car, carefully put AJ in and drove away. Leaving the people to find AJ’s dirty clothes and some weapons, supplies and a car missing.

C

Clementine finally managed to find Prescott, AJ was asleep, and she’d managed to get them entry. A woman, Eleanor, was checking them both over. AJ, somehow, managed to sleep through being manhandled, although Eleanor frowned at the rash he had.

“So,” the leader of the community, Tripp, “you got separated from your boy, found him again and came here.”

Clementine nodded, “I know it doesn’t sound very believable.”

“The dead getting up and walking doesn’t sound very believable,” Scoffed Tripp, “a kid knowing how to drive doesn’t sound very believable. Trust me, your story about your journey probably the most believable thing I’ve heard in a while.”

“What condition did you find him in?” Asked Eleanor, as AJ let out a small snore.

“He was in timeout because he was ‘misbehaving’,” Clementine gave air quotes, “they’d left him to sit in his own shit so long that his diaper fell off when I picked him up.”

Eleanor frowned, before handing AJ over to Clementine, “He’s got a rash, but that should go down in time. Any other issued can be fixed by some food and sleep.”

Clementine tried to give Eleanor a smile, “Thank you.”

Eleanor blinked at her, “You… er, you might want to get used to smiling, because you look like you’ve stood in a bear trap.”

C

Clementine scowled, she’d gone with a couple other people to an old junk yard with the plan on finding a vehicle in decent enough condition and using it to help guard Prescott. Instead, they found a girl hiding in a car and Clementine got flattened by one of the guys from Prescott landing on her after they were shot at. Clementine, the surviving guy from Prescott, and the girl, who gave her name as Mariana quickly got behind a car, with Clementine and the guy, Gus, returned fire. Clementine recognised them as New Frontier, taking the opportunity to nail Badger in the face. She continued firing at the other grunts, before her gun clicked twice. She pulled the trigger a third time and the gun fired.

“Fucking Eli.” Cursed Gus, as a bullet hit him in the neck.

Grabbing his gun, Clementine killed the last couple of New Frontier grunts. Sighing, Clementine looked at Mariana, “We’ve got to go.”

“Wait, I, I need to get Gabe and Kate.” Said Mariana, running off.

Clementine groaned, before snagging the keys and following after her. Clementine took out some Walkers, allowing a woman and a boy roughly her age to hop out.

“Mari!” Gasped the boy, hugging Mariana, “Thank god you’re okay.”

“Where’s Javi?” Asked the woman, as Clementine walked up to them, “Who’s this?”

“I’m the one that dealt with those Walkers,” Said Clementine, “you’re welcome, by the way.”

“Is Javi with you?” Asked the woman, looking around for someone.

Clementine looked around, “Nope, who’s Javi? Please don’t tell me he’s your dog.”

“Javi’s our uncle.” Said Mariana, “Those guys took him.”

“Oh,” Clementine frowned, “No, he might be at the community I’m from, Prescott’s not far from here.”

The woman looked conflicted, “We… we need gas to get the van to run.”

“What van?” Asked Clementine, frowning.

“They torched the van, Kate.” Said Mariana, looking at Kate, “But, Clementine’s got a truck.”

Kate looked Clementine up and down, before gesturing for the girl to lead them to the truck. Now, Clementine watched as Eleanor checked Kate, Mariana and Gabe over.

“You’re certain that it was the New Frontier?” Asked Tripp, getting a nod from Clementine.

“When I was with them, they didn’t have the numbers to hold onto multiple places.” Said Clementine, “I would’ve thought that the junk yard would’ve come under Richmond’s control. Then again, I spent most of my time in one of their other camps, Richmond itself could be New Frontier for all I know.”

Tripp nodded, looking at their new guests, “Thanks, for not confronting Eli before talking to me. I know you can get carried away when you’re angry.”

Clementine rolled her eyes and walked off, ducking into Conrad’s bar and finding AJ, who had a jar of, what Clementine hoped was, red paint. Looking him over, Clementine looked at Conrad, “What happened?”

“It’s tomato sauce.” Said Conrad, “I was hoping to use it, but he took off with it.”

AJ messily stuffed a fist into his mouth, freezing and looking up as Clementine loomed over him.

“Okay, Goofball,” Clementine picked him up, “you’re getting a bath.”

AJ suddenly started wriggle, whining and starting the throes of a tantrum, before he hit Clementine in the face. Clementine stopped walking, as AJ stared up at her, sighing, Clementine looked down at AJ, tomato sauce smeared on her face. AJ continued to stare up at her, before he started whining again, letting out hiccups, and AJ started to full on bawl. Frowning, Clementine adjusted him and checked him over. Sighing, Clementine grabbed the baby bag and continued to a bathing area near Tripp’s office.

Kate watched the girl walking off with a crying toddler, as Eleanor tutted, “What?”

“Clementine needs to get him on a tighter leash.” Said Eleanor, “He acts like he’s spoilt.”

Kate frowned, as Tripp snorted, “You know that’s bullshit. We all saw her control him with a look.”

“How old is she?” Asked Kate, looking at them.

“Thirteen or fourteen.” Shrugged Tripp, “Don’t know how she got a hold of the kid, but she cares for him.”

“I think he’s playing it up,” Said Eleanor, as AJ screamed, “he wants attention, doesn’t want to something, he’s caught doing something he shouldn’t—”

“OW!” Clementine’s voice echoed over to them, followed by a smack and AJ throwing a tantrum.

“She needs to spank that brat some more.” Muttered a guy walking past them.

Kate looked around, before frowning, “Where’s Gabe?”

Over in the bathing area, Clementine sighed. Thankfully, AJ always calmed down when he was in the water. Glancing as her hand, Clementine winced, before grabbing a rag, “Do you wanna tell me what happened, Goofball?”

AJ stared up at her, obviously feigning stupidity.

“AJ, you know that’s not going to work on me.” Deadpanned Clementine, looking at him, “I know you can talk.”

AJ huffed and splashed the water around.

Sighing, Clementine ran the wet rag over AJ’s face.

“Clem.” Whined AJ, giving her a reproachful look.

Clementine raised her eyebrows at him, “You’ve got food in your hair. Do you want to deal with maggots?”

AJ shook his head.

“Then let me clean you.” Said Clementine, simply, as she pulled a piece of tomato out of AJ’s hair.

After she finished cleaning the toddler, Clementine turned around to grab a towel. Which was enough time for AJ to run off, giggling as Clementine gave chase. He rounded a corner and ran into someone’s legs, giving Clementine a chance to cover him with the towel. AJ started wriggling, ready to start throwing a tantrum, only to stop at the look Clementine gave him.

“I’m sorry about him.” Apologised Clementine, looking at the guy AJ ran into, “Gabe, right?”

Gabe nodded, “Er, no problem. How old is he?”

Clementine glanced at AJ, “Almost three.”

AJ glared up at Gabe, getting a sigh from Clementine, “AJ.”

AJ huffed, before there was a loud bang on Prescott’s gate. Sighing, Clementine walked back to the bathing area and dressing AJ, “Look, I know you don’t like new people, but if you keep acting out, I’ll stop going on supply runs.”

AJ grinned, getting a glare from Clementine, “No, AJ. That’s not a good thing, it means I’ll be watching you like a hawk. You won’t be able to explore, you won’t be able to play for more than an hour, you won’t be able eat what you want. You’ll be staying within my eyesight at all times, until I’m satisfied that you can behave yourself while I have someone else watching you. Do you understand?”

AJ gave Clementine a hesitant nod, his smile falling, “Okay.”

Clementine sighed, “AJ, you have to behave yourself, I don’t want to take those things from you, but I’ll take them if you keep misbehaving. Okay?”

AJ nodded, as Clementine stood up.

C

Javi stared at David’s back as the man talked to the guy in charge of Prescott. He had an unexpected reunion with his brother, which was made tense when David found out that Javi had been stealing from the junkyard David’s group owned.

He spotted Mariana and Kate, before Gabe appeared with a girl in a dirty hat carrying a baby. The girl’s face soured, before walking over to them. David looked at the girl and the baby, “Clementine.”

“What’re you doing here?” Asked Clementine, frowning, “I thought the New Frontier didn’t go this far out.”

“Javi said my wife and kids were in a junkyard near here.” Said David, getting a sigh from Clementine.

“Yeah, they had Badger shooting at them, he killed the two guys I was with.” Said Clementine, “We were looking for anything that could help keep the Walkers out.”

David frowned, before nodding, “Okay.” He looked around and his eyes settled on Gabe, “Gabe.” David rushed over to the boy, with Clementine giving Tripp a funny look.

C

David had left with his family, taking them to Richmond. David and Ava had turned up a week later with about a dozen people, saying they were redirecting a massive herd of Walkers. Clementine frowned as she looked through her binoculars.

“Have you given Joan’s offer any thought?” Asked Ava, making Clementine look up at her.

“Not really.” Said Clementine, going back to looking at the herd, “Kinda surprised it was even made.”

“You’ve matured Clem,” Said Ava, “the council—what the hell?!”

Clementine watched in horror as the herd changed direction and hit Prescott. She heard Tripp, Conrad, Javi and David join them.

“No.” Gasped Conrad, before he started rushing towards Prescott.

Clementine scrambled to her feet and ran after him, before they knew it, they reached Prescott. The Walkers had cleared out and many of their friends were lying dead and devoured on the ground. Feeling her throat get tight, Clementine ran around, looking for survivors. They found Francine and Eleanor, while Clementine ran to where she left AJ. Skidding to a halt, Clementine looked into the room, taking out a couple of Walkers, looking for any sign of AJ.

Then she heard it. A sniffle and a small sob, spotting a cupboard, Clementine ran over and wrenched the doors open. AJ sat curled into a ball, sniffling a rocking back and forth. Sighing, Clementine gently touched his arm, getting a flinch from him.

“AJ,” Said Clementine, softly, “it’s me.”

“I-I-I-I’m-m s-s-sor-r-ry.” Bawled AJ, “I-I-I-I d-did-d-dn’t m-mean t-t-to!”

Clementine frowned, before looking around, aside from the mess made by the Walkers, nothing seemed out of place. Clementine heard Eleanor and David enter the room.

“Is he alright?” Asked David, as Clementine continued to look around the room.

“He seems to be,” Answered Clementine, “but he keeps apologising for something.”

“We…” Eleanor looked around, “we were trying to toilet train him when the Walkers hit.”

Clementine frowned, before gently removing AJ from the cupboard, sighing when she saw the stains on his clothes. AJ continued to bawl his eyes out, his voice turning into babbling nonsense, making Clementine adjust him, “AJ. Goofball, look at me.”

AJ hesitantly looked at Clementine, the girl sighing at the mixture of fear, embarrassment and shame on his face.

“You have nothing to apologise for,” Said Clementine, firmly, “you were scared and there were Walkers. It’s not your fault.”

AJ hiccupped, as Clementine hugged him.

“You might want to clean yourself up.” Said Javi, from the doorway.

“I’ve walked around covered head to toe in Walker guts.” Said Clementine, throwing a glare at him as she picked AJ up, “Besides, it’ll wash off. Okay?”

AJ gave her a small nod, as they left the room.

C

Clementine quietly cleaned AJ up in the quarantine area in Richmond, David had managed to get a small bath and some new clothes down so Clementine would clean AJ. AJ quietly sniffled as Clementine washed him, she thought she heard someone come up behind her.

“How’s he doing?” Asked Conrad, making Clementine look around at him.

“I think the Walkers really scared him.” Said Clementine, turning and grabbing a towel. She started to get up, only to realise that AJ hadn’t moved. Sighing, Clementine dried him off, dressed him and picked him up, the toddler gripping tight to Clementine as she walked around the room, burying his face in her chest.

“Clementine.” David’s voice came from the doorway, “You’ve been okayed.”

Clementine nodded at him, carefully adjusting AJ as she walked past. Wincing as the light hit her, Clementine wandered around, absently bouncing AJ as she walked. She thought she heard Max arguing about something with someone, she thought she heard something about raiders or raiding. David had mentioned finding people who survived the attack on Wellington, and that there were people who mentioned three other cities that survived the outbreak, so maybe it had something to do with that.

Deciding that it wasn’t her problem, Clementine walked into the hospital, wincing slightly when she felt a stab of pain in her abdomen. Exhaling, Clementine continued on her way until she reached Lingard’s office. Pushing the door open, she saw Lingard going over some things with Eleanor.

“Clementine.” Lingard noticed her presence, “Do you need something?”

“Yeah,” Clementine awkwardly shifted, “AJ’s gotten… clingy, since Prescott. I was wondering if you had anything that could help him.”

Lingard frowned, before walking over to Clementine and AJ. After some coaxing, and gentle reassurances from Clementine, AJ was sitting on one of the beds.

“Eleanor said he was being toilet trained when the herd hit,” Said Lingard, “and that he was embarrassed about having an accident.”

Clementine nodded, “He’s had them before, but he’s never reacted like this.”

“But none of them were when a herd overran us.” Said Eleanor, as AJ started whining, “I know I’d behave differently if I was halfway through something, and Walkers attacked.”

Clementine frowned, as AJ started hiccupping. AJ’s hiccups turned into small sobs, before turning into loud wails. Stepping forwards, Clementine quickly scooped AJ up, checking the diaper and finding it was dry. Slowly, AJ started to calm down, as Lingard frowned at them.

“In some high stress situations,” Said Lingard, “people will regress to a younger mental as a form of defence. Especially if they were in a vulnerable position. It should pass in time, just try to continue the routine you’d started and, hopefully, he’ll get back to normal soon.”

Clementine nodded, as AJ started chewing her shirt’s collar.

C

Clementine didn’t know what was going on outside the apartment block she’d be placed in, since someone had started yelling about something, but she was trying to coax AJ into walking towards her. AJ had started crawling around and babbling in baby talk, which wasn’t ideal. Especially when he hurt himself and Clementine had to awkwardly check him over, while he bawled and wailed.

“Maybe he needs some motivation.” Said Gabe, getting a flat look from Clementine.

“With what?” Clementine looked at Gabe expectantly, “There isn’t anything here he’d want.”

AJ squealed and rolled onto his back. Sighing, Clementine gave up trying to get AJ to walk. Picking the toddler up, Clementine set him on the couch and walked towards the kitchen. AJ stared after her, before he started to whine, feigning hiccups, getting a flat look from Clementine, “That’s not going to work AJ.”

The toddler stopped and huffed, giving her a scowl and crossing his arms.

“Y’know,” Gabe leaned against the counter, as Mariana, Kata and Javi arrived, “maybe we could find something he likes and use that.”

“Like what?” Asked Clementine, grabbing a bottle of water, “We’ve got flip booming all.”

Everyone stared at Clementine.

“I’m not swearing in front of him.” Stated Clementine, before going through a draw, “At least, I’m not until he’s grown up a bit.”

“I’m hungry.”

Clementine paused, before looking at AJ, “What?”

“I’m hungry.” Repeated AJ, just as his stomach released a loud gurgle.

Sighing, Clementine started checking the cupboards for some food.

C

A few days later, Clementine was looking through a draw when Joan walked in.

“Clementine.” Said Joan, making Clementine look up, “What are you doing here?”

“Lingard’s asleep.” Said Clementine, “Or high, or both and I’ve started bleeding.”

“Where?” Questioned Joan, as Clementine shifted uncomfortably.

“Er,” Clementine coughed, “down… there…”

Joan frowned, before pointing at a draw, “In there.”

Clementine nodded, “Thanks.” Opening the draw and taking some of the pads.

“How’s your boy?” Asked Joan, making Clementine look up, “I heard he had a bad experience with the Walkers.”

“He’s moving past it.” Answered Clementine, “He’s back to normal, for the most part. He’s still getting nightmares about Prescott.” Clementine paused, “He… he said some of the Walkers spoke.”

“Maybe he imagined it.” Said Joan, crossing her arms.

Clementine was quiet, “In my time wandering around, I heard, and saw, Walkers that could climb and use tools. Almost like they evolved or something.”

“Well,” Said Joan, after a moment, “everyone’s safe in Richmond.”

Clementine gave Joan a nod, before leaving. Joan watched after her, she hadn’t ordered Max’s men to lead that herd into Prescott, they’d managed to salvage the supplies and weapons from the community, but they had to take the surviving members in, as not make people suspicious. Some, like Eleanor and Clementine, were assets. Eleanor with her medical experience and Clementine with her experience with Walkers.

She’d initially wanted to fit one of them up for killing Badger, but the man had started to become a liability. Given how he’d gone about killing everyone he came across, he’d almost brought the Saviors down on them, fortunately, Max had managed to stop him. Shaking her head, Joan glanced at Paul and left the room.

C

Clementine frowned from the roof of the apartment block, someone had blown a hole in the wall, letting a massive herd of Walkers into the city. David and Ava had managed to stem the casualties by getting the place locked down.

“Any thoughts, Clem?” Asked Ava, as Clementine looked amongst the dead.

“This is going to screw up all the progress AJ’s made.” Remarked Clementine, “Is Javi’s friend still herding the Walkers?”

“Yeah,” Ava nodded, “Eleanor’s managed to contact Lingard in the hospital.”

“He’s sober?” Snarked Clementine, wincing at the glare Ava gave her, “Sorry.”

“Clint’s safe too,” Continued Ava, “Joan’s missing, though.”

Clementine hummed, “I take it there’s been no word from David.”

“He left with Tripp and Javi, they’re bringing the truck and some stuff to block the hole.” Said Ava, “You did good down there, covering people so they could get inside.”

“I’m just glad I got to pick off some of the Whisperers.” Said Clementine, “You know, for how they all preach about keeping quiet and becoming ‘one with the herd’, they screamed really loudly.”

Ava let out a snort, as a truck and a bulldozer carrying a large vehicle drove towards the hole in the wall. Ava and Clementine started picking off the Walkers in the bulldozer’s way, with Javi and David doing the same from where they were standing on the bulldozer. From their position, they couldn’t see a Walker grab David’s leg, but they did see him fall off the bulldozer.

After plugging up the hole and helping Jesus herd the Walkers out of Richmond, the church’s bell tolled twice, signalling that the threat had passed. Clementine and some others spent the next few hours cleaning up the dead, they found Joan with her throat ripped out, as well as some others. Clementine had to put down a little girl that had been bitten, she recognised her as Rufus and Fern’s daughter, she wasn’t looking forward to breaking the news to the girl’s parents but knew she had to. Ava found David, barely alive with his guts scattered around him. It occurred to Clementine that she never thanked him for telling her where AJ was.

In the following days, Clementine found herself working closely with the council, with Ava filling David’s role and Francine and Conrad filling Joan’s. Clementine, Javi and Tripp were given some leading roles, Javi was in charge of recreational tasks, particularly sports, Tripp was in charge of expansion and repair efforts, while Clementine was tasked with teaching the younger, and some of the older, members of the community how to deal with Walkers. Clementine managed to find some thick clothing, so the supply runners would have some more protection against Walkers while outside Richmond.

In the next couple of years, they’d managed to set up supply/trade routes with Wellington, Portland, Omaha and Philadelphia, as well as set up some satellite communities, reestablishing Prescott in the process. They’d gotten into a ‘war’ with a group called Delta, with Clementine taking a group to West Virginia and stumbling across a group of survivors holed up in their boarding school, losing a leg in the process. They’d managed to end the war, with Clementine discovering that Richmond had fired the first shot. She went back to Richmond, taking a couple of the boarding school survivors with her, and relayed that news to the council. They’d investigated it, leading to Max and some of his guys, revealing that Joan had ordered raids on other communities for their supplies.

After coming to an uneasy peace, with the Coalition of The Kingdom, Alexandria, Hilltop and Oceanside acting as a neutral third party, Delta settled itself in West Virginia and adopted the boarding school as a satellite community. They’d set up supply lines and, were working on setting up phone lines.

Sighing, Clementine glanced over ay AJ, the toddler scribbling on a piece of paper with a crayon. He hadn’t had any of the turns he did when he was younger, which Clementine was happy about, although he’d taken what he’d learnt in the Walker lessons and applied it to people.

“Penny?” Asked Javi, dropping into a seat at the table Clementine was working on.

“Just going over the past few years.” Said Clementine, after a moment before looking at Javi, “Has something happened?”

“No,” Javi shook his head, “just thought I’d drop in.”

Clementine let out an amused huff, “Well, Dan suggested I make a lesson plan for the next few Walker classes, said I shouldn’t be ‘winging it’ to them.”

“He said the same thing to me, too.” Said Javi, glancing at AJ, “Gabe’s going to be out of the hospital in a couple of days.”

“That’s good,” Said Clementine, looking through the notes she’d written, “I get the feeling AJ’s bored without him.”

“Am not!” Protested the toddler, looking up from his scribbles.

“Oh, really?” Clementine raised an eyebrow at AJ.

AJ paused, “Well, maybe a little bit.”

Clementine let out a short laugh, before getting up and limping over to AJ. Javi looked at Clementine’s prosthetic, before sighing. Getting up, bid goodbye to Clementine and AJ and left the apartment, he had his own lessons to plan.

Next Story: What if Howes fell before Carver returned from the ski lodge?

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

I did a TWDG character tier list because it’s been a while

Back in July 2019, I posted a tier list ranking TWDG characters from all four seasons with explanations for why I placed each character where I did. It’s now 2023, and I’ve mostly stepped away from TWDG and the fandom. I pop in occasionally to answer asks or give updates about the Clementine comics. Sometimes I get the itch to do an analysis post. Or something like this.

Distancing myself and then revisiting the series has changed a lot of my opinions of these characters and my ranking is quite different, so I thought it’d be interesting to discuss.

Just a note about how I’m ranking this: This ranking is solely based on my feelings about the characters. Last time I ranked some characters higher than I wanted to because I acknowledged their good writing and popularity. I’m not doing that this time. Well-written/popular or not, if I don’t like them, they’re ranking low. If I like them, then that’s the only reason I need to rank them high. That’s probably going to cause disagreements and that’s fine. Agree to disagree, y’know?

Each character is limited to a 3-4 sentence explanation. I can’t write a heavy analysis for every character, otherwise we’ll be here forever.

Also, I didn’t include characters from the Michonne mini-series since they weren’t included in my original and the mini-series is separate from the main series. All you really need to know is Michonne and Pete would’ve made A-tier.  

Starting from F-tier and working our way up to S-tier:

F-tier

Troy Surprise, Troy’s my least favorite character in the entire series. He’s an asshole and I find nothing compelling about him other than his death scene. He’s insignificant, I hate him, and he can suck an egg.

Vernon Vernon has some sympathetic qualities to his character but as far as characters in S1 go, I can’t say he’s all that great. Sure, he patched Omid up but that doesn’t mean he gets to fuck us over in the end. Screw him, y’know?

The Stranger I feel like I like the idea around The Stranger more than the Stranger himself. I get it, he’s supposed to be just some dude and it’s a neat reveal that he’s the guy we stole food from, but I liked him better when he was just a voice over a walkie. He’s just kinda here to guilt you over your choices no matter what you did and use it as an excuse for kidnapping Clementine, but I need a little bit more from my antagonists.

Joan Joan has one of the coolest villain moments in TWDG when she asks you who you want to save, then orders who you picked to be executed, and honestly? I respect that. It just sucks that Joan as a character is boring as sin. I can’t forgive boring antagonists, she sucks.

Larry Not going to lie—Larry is the biggest asshole and I kinda live for it. I still absolutely hate him, but I can respect him as a character for being such a piece of shit. He has some depth to him when you bother to try out different choices, and his death is so ingrained in my brain, but he’s in F-tier for a reason. I hate him, but he’s a damn good antagonist within the group.

Abel I think Abel is a great antagonist and he’s well-written, but I also think he’s garbage and I hate him. They really captured how crusty, creepy, and cruel he can be while also giving him a moment of vulnerability when he realizes he’s dying.

D-tier

Kenny Yes, I’m ranking Kenny this low. He’s one of my least favorite characters in all of TWDG, but at least he’s an interesting character study despite just being such a piece of shit. I’m sorry, I know he’s a fan favorite and he’s a broken man with a sad backstory, I understand that he’s a complex and well-written character. But I can’t stand him; he’s manipulative, violent, possessive, you can’t disagree with him without him throwing a tantrum, and I just don’t like him.

Andy, Danny, Brenda I’m clumping these three together because I might as well, my opinion of them individually doesn’t differ much. These guys are cannibals who lead people to their farm to butcher, eat, and trade the meat with bandits. They fed Mark’s leg meat to the group like…. It’s so fucked. They’re great antagonists, the best in S1 for sure, but fuck these guys.

Walter I’m kinda meh on Walter. He’s where he is on this tier list not because I hate him or anything, he’s mostly just here to guilt Nick and then be executed by Carver, and eh.

Arvo I don’t like Arvo. I don’t think that’s an unpopular opinion. I feel bad about everything he went through and Kenny was absolutely in the wrong for abusing him the way he did, but I can’t say Arvo himself is compelling. I think that’s a common theme with me—boring is usually worse than bad, and Arvo isn’t all that interesting. Then he shoots Clementine and we never hear from him again sooo…. Cool.

Omar Oh no, poor Omar ranking so low. But again, for me boring is worse than bad, and Omar is boring. I’m sorry, I know that’s wild coming from me given my past with TFS but it’s true. Omar is a character who exists, he cooks, he gets shot, he survives, and that’s about it.

Mark The only cool thing about Mark is how he died. But as an actual character? Meh.

Sarita Sarita is barely her own character. She exists to serve Kenny’s character development, and I hate that for her. She’s nice, and unfortunately that’s it.

Willy Willy is okay. He definitely has the most depth in this tier, save Kenny. But he’s still a minor character who I can’t justify putting any higher when I don’t love him.

Mari Oh, poor Mari. She’s sweet, but her death is more impactful than her actual character.

C-tier

Carver Carver’s a pretty good antagonist. I like him well enough. He’s a piece of shit, he’s intimidating, and he’s dangerous. Not the best, not the worst antagonist.

Carlos Carlos is hilarious, which I don’t think was the intention behind his character but if not, then they shouldn’t have made him so funny. I’m not saying funny as in “haha,” I’m saying it in a “you are an incompetent man, why are you doing this” way.

Duck I feel kinda bad for putting Duck so low, but he has the same problems as Sarita and Mari, though he does have a bit more personality going for him. His character serves Kenny’s character development, and his death is more impactful than he actually is.

Bonnie Bonnie’s fine. I liked her more in 400 Days. In S2, she’s just kinda meh.

Rebecca I like Rebecca well enough. Her going from being a complete asshole to wanting to be friends with Clementine between episodes kind of gives me whiplash but I can’t help but sympathize with her. She’s a pregnant woman in the zombie apocalypse who lost her husband because Carver’s a piece of shit and then she dies shortly after giving birth... it’s sad.  

Shel and Becca I like Shel and Becca a lot more than I did before. Their situation in 400 Days is rough, and I feel a lot for Shel wanting to give Becca a good life despite the state of the world. Becca’s also just a kid who tries to act tough and like she has a thick skin but c’mon, she’s still just a kid. 

Mike Mike was super chill until he betrayed us at the end. I would’ve ranked him higher but frankly, I’m still a bit bitter about him wanting to run off with Bonnie and Arvo, completely fine with taking all the food and resources so that Clementine and baby AJ starve. We were bros, Mike, then you had to go a do that. 

Brody Once again: Her death is more memorable than her character. But, in this case, I will say Brody stands out given the fact that she’s lying to everyone about the twins and dealing with the guilt gnawing at her in ep1. I find her interesting within the context of “who is telling the truth? what really happened?” because unfortunately, both she and Marlon end up dead so we’ll never know the full story from either perspective. 

Mitch Oh, my boy, there was a time where you ranked waaaay higher, but I can’t do it. Mitch is a good character and serves his purpose, and his death is still pretty bullshit. I still like him, just not nearly as much as I used to. 

Eleanor I’m still pissy about Eleanor snitching on us to Joan which results in either Ava or Tripp being executed, and then having the balls to yell at us about it. But prior to that, Eleanor’s a character with great medical knowledge and skills who wanted to help people. She just ends up being a victim to ANF’s less than stellar writing. 

Kate I still have a lot of issues with Kate, like I still hate the romance between her and Javi and how bitter she becomes after being rejected, but I don’t hate her. She’s a flawed character but I understand her perspective on things when it comes to David and Richmond. She’s also resourceful and charming at times, I like her well enough. 

Violet Yeeeeeah, remember how I said this is 100% my biased opinion on all of these characters? Violet is a mid C-tier character for me, she’s just okay. I don’t hate Violet, I don’t love her. She has some really endearing moments just as she has infuriating ones. I talked a bunch about her in my revisiting TFS post, if you want a full explanation on my feelings about her, then you can read that. 

Chuck I like Chuck, he’s chill. I appreciate the reality check he gave Lee about Clementine and their plan, and I’m sad that he died. Not much else to say. 

Vince I really like Vince. I talked a lot more about his character in my 400 Days post, so to summarize, he’s another interesting protagonist in that dlc and I liked his story a lot. 

Molly Might be an unpopular opinion to put Molly this low, but even though I like her, I can’t justify putting her higher. Molly’s story is heartbreaking though, and incredibly traumatic when you sit with it... like, she traded sex for medicine so her sister wouldn’t be thrown out, and given that we don’t meet her sister and dipshit doctor said he couldn’t keep helping her out... yeah. Molly brings a lot of charm and humor while she’s around but she’s also just so sad, y’know?

Jesus Jesus is cool. I don’t really have much else to say about him other than that. 

Christa I feel like a lot of these C-tier characters can be summed up with, “I like them, they’re cool... yeah.” because that’s how I feel about Christa. She shines more as a character when paired with Omid, and like with Rebecca, I really feel for her as a pregnant woman in the apocalypse who then lost both Omid and their baby and had to remain strong to care for Clementine... even though her resentment and bitterness are clearly present. 

Conrad My boy Conrad... I still really like him, though my love has definitely toned down. I enjoy his story and still stand by keeping him alive to the end, even though he makes it difficult sometimes. He’s hurting and that makes him stupid, and if you keep him alive long enough, he genuinely apologizes then tries to be better and I respect that. 

Ben Ben didn’t quite make it to B-tier, but know that he was close. Ben is such a screw up and he does so much damage, but I can’t bring myself to hate him. Most of us don’t wanna admit that if the apocalypse actually happened, we wouldn’t be a Lee or a Clementine, we’d be a Ben. 

B-tier

Aasim Aasim is definitely one of my favorite side characters in TFS and I’m always going to be bitter that he wasn’t used to his full potential. He’s the perfect middle ground between Louis and Violet, I love that he keeps a journal to record everything that happens, and that he’s the only one willing to push back at Marlon. Aasim’s great. 

Ruby I adore Ruby, she’s great. She’s small and fiery yet she’s the group nurse and takes pride in patching people up. Again, one of my favorite side characters in TFS. 

Alvin I have a lot of feelings about Alvin. Most are sad. This man loves his wife and their baby. I love the exchange between him and Clementine where she tells him he’s nice, she can tell, and Alvin’s just like, “I ain’t nice!” and Clementine goes, “...Yes, you are.” with a smile, it’s great. He didn’t deserve his fate, I’m still hurt by it. 

Nick Speaking of not deserving their fate: Nick. I like Nick a lot and will never be over his off screen death and how no one really cared. 

Eddie and Wyatt Lumping these two together since I couldn’t decide who I liked more. The two are amazing, their story in 400 Days is so damn enjoyable, and the chemistry between them is off the charts. Both interesting characters with great personalities. 

Katjaa I’ll never not be sad about Katjaa. Woman deserved the world and yet that’s what she got. She’s so interesting given her career as a vet which made her the group doctor, the fact that she married Kenny, and how she straight up tells you that she has her limits and she would’ve left Lilly behind if it was her choice. 

Doug Doug’s pretty great, but there just wasn’t enough time devoted to him in S1, especially if you don’t save him in ep1. When you do save him, though, he’s one of the more enjoyable characters to be around and I appreciate the efforts he makes to help the group despite his talents lying else where. 

Luke Luke is great for two episodes, then his character slowly went down the shitter. He had the makings to be great, to be an A-tier character, no questions asked... but honestly, putting him in B due to my personal feelings is being generous. When you’re only great for 2/5 episodes, then maybe you’re not an overall great character, hmm? But I’m biased and I like him. 

Minerva Okay look, I love Minerva as a tragic antagonist. I take back every mean thing I’ve ever said about her. 

Tripp Man, I love Tripp. He’s my bro, y’know?  

Gabe Gabe is a brat and I love him. I understand the criticism, but I also understand a lot of that criticism is rooted in “any child character who isn’t exactly like Clementine is deemed annoying.” He's one of the better parts of ANF in my opinion. 

Tenn I’ve done a lot of thinking about Tenn since I wrote my retrospective on TFS and like... Tenn is a great character. He’s interesting to have within the story of TFS, and I know, it’s so easy to just hate him because he keeps making the same mistakes. It’s when you look at the full picture that you understand why he keeps doing it and it’s just... sad. He always dies in my playthroughs, it’s heartbreaking. 

Sarah Sarah should get a shirt that says “I was wasted potential in S2 and all I got was this lousy shirt.” Because yeah, the set up for Sarah is executed so damn well, then the game fumbled, and then she was killed off. My girl deserved better than that. 

Carley I adore Carley. That’s my girl, I love her. Just.... I love her. Not much else to say. 

Ava Ava is so fucking cool, why is it that ANF killed her off in the most comical way possible when she survives execution? How could you do that to one of the most badass characters in TWDG? She fucking knocked TRIPP on his ass. I love her so much. 

Marlon Marlon is the perfect antagonist for ep1 of TFS. I have an entire character analysis about him, and again, I covered his character again in my retrospective of the game. 

Lilly Yeah, yeah, laugh it up-- I love Lilly, she’s an asshole and she’s great in both S1 and TFS. She’s a woman under so much damn pressure in S1 due to looking after her abusive father as he’s all the family she has left, she’s leading the group which Kenny continually gives her hell for, and she just wants to survive. Then she comes back in TFS as a great antagonist and we see just how far she’s fallen due to everything that’s happened to her. I talked more in-depth about her in my TFS retrospective post so if you want more details, you can go there. 

David Okay listen, this is my tier list and I say David is on the verge of being A tier for being such an interesting bitch. David is such a bitch, a real bastard, I could punch him in his damn nose, but damn it, he’s fascinating and I won’t apologize for being invested in the Garcia brother dynamic. I hate him but also I think he’s great. 

A-tier

Pete I feel like Pete being this high is just purely my bias showing. He has no business being this high and above so many other characters, but I don’t care. I love this man. He’s only in two episodes [assuming you ran to him instead of Nick] and he’s still one of my favorite characters in S2. 

Russell Russell is my favorite protagonist in 400 Days and I will be forever salty that he wasn’t more important in S2. 

James I could talk and talk about James until I’m blue in the face. I adore James, he’s such a compelling and often misunderstood character. 

Omid I mean, c’mon.... who here doesn’t think Omid is an A-tier character? He’s just so charismatic and charming, it’s hard to dislike him even a little. All these years later, and I’m still hurt that he died the way he did. 

Jane Yeah that’s right, Jane ranks this high. Jane is a fucking great character and I’m tired of pretending she’s not. I want to give you an in-depth analysis that elaborates on that, but unfortunately, I’ve limited myself on this post. That’s what asks are for, I suppose. 

Javier Javier Garcia is the best thing about ANF. Listen, ANF is the worst installment in the series, I feel like I can confidently say that, but Javi makes it all worth it. That, and his dynamics with Gabe and David, and Clementine, too. I love this man. 

AJ I debated on if I should put AJ here or S-tier, but ultimately, S-tier is for my absolutely favorites. While I love AJ and his development over TFS, he just barely misses the mark. But I think his spot here is well-deserved, love that little goofball. 

S-tier

Rosie Rosie is best girl. That’s it. She’s best girl. 

Lee It’s been how many years and I’m still not over Lee. He deserved the world. I love him so much. 

Clementine What’s there to even say about Clementine throughout all four seasons? She’s S-tier. She’s incredibly well written throughout the series, her growth is amazing, and her ending in TFS is definitely deserved. I love her so much. 

Louis Coming as a shock to literally no one, Louis is my favorite character in all of TWDG and he deserves the top spot in the top tier. What can I possibly say? I have written countless posts about how much I love him. He’s my favorite and I fucking love him. 

And for a fun comparison, my 2019 tier list: