I'm in love with Ian Cardoni's voice acting in this clip, especially the way Rick says "Ohhh, sweet bliss!" and "That overconfident little bitch! PREDICTABLE BITCH!"
(Snagged the video from this tweet.)
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@fanbun
I'm in love with Ian Cardoni's voice acting in this clip, especially the way Rick says "Ohhh, sweet bliss!" and "That overconfident little bitch! PREDICTABLE BITCH!"
(Snagged the video from this tweet.)
speak your truth summer
THOUGHTS ON THE NEW EP????
INSANE INSANE INSANE.LIKE . ARE YOU KIDDING ME. rick cheating on his grandsonboyfriend with a SECOND grandsonboyfriend because ONE WASN'T ENOUGH ? and caring enough to HIDE IT ? framing the entire thing like an affair and titling the episode after a romcom? morty finally getting to be the bitch he didn't get to be in Unmortricken ? "he has a big ol crush on you," "sorry he made it weird," what the hell, ???? what the hell was that????? the subtext has become text.... morty foaming at the mouth with jealousy and rick showing his hand at every fucking turn.... it feels like s3 again in the best way....
at face value it does bother me they continue to make morty look so dumb/weak in comparison to EM, but i know there's a reason for this... truly i think morty has the same brains and fighting capacity as EM, and their base personalities are almost identical - they're both petty, manipulative, selfish, stubborn - but our morty is held back by rick's abuse; he's needy and insecure and fawning, and he becomes even less competent around EM because he FEELS less competent. morty made that comment about EM being smarter and about not being able to do his chemistry homework, but the truth is that when morty truly cares about something and feels sure of himself, he can do so much. he can disarm neutrino bombs ! he can manipulate rick fucking sanchez ! he was cleaning up rick's messes without rick and he has an incredible amount of fighting experience - he fights almost all of the same battles rick does. the only reason he isn't as skilled or snarky as EM is because 1) he doesn't need to be and 2) rick won't let him be. rick takes care of all the engineering all the most dangerous fights; rick keeps morty's confidence low and his reliance on him high; like any abuser, rick feels like he needs to keep morty down or morty will eventually leave him. he needs all that control because he's paranoid.
and he's paranoid because he's obsessed with morty, with being his Everything, with being the person morty loves most in the world. but paradoxically he can't ever be 100% confident in that love and can't ever have 100% of morty because he's abusing him !!! and he's too afraid to ever pull back completely on that abuse. he can't risk losing morty - even if he thinks morty will probably stay with him, the possibility that he'll assume his own agency and separate from the rickandmorty codependency is too agonizing. at the same time, he can't dig his heels in too hard or he will lose everything that makes morty morty, all the things he loves that he is in denial about loving.
but then here comes evil morty, who is proof that there's a morty out there who will be his even without the abuse. EM blackmailing rick is a veil for them both: rick gets to pour attention into a morty without looking weak, he gets to be submissive to a morty under the guise of coercion, and conversely EM gets a rick's attention from a position of power instead of from a place of oppression. EM has all the traits of morty's that rick enjoys but can't encourage because it would make morty more likely to leave him. the reason rick needs to juggle them both and hide it from morty - the reason he needs to have an affair instead of just openly hanging out with EM - is because he still doesn't want to lose morty. he literally wants to have his cake and eat it too; he wants wifey at home and side piece outside of the central finite curve; for once in his life rick can get everything he wants - he just needs two mortys to do it. it's soooo fucking fascinating it's SOOOO GOOD
So far the first two episodes of season 9 of Rick and Morty have been surprisingly good for the show’s standards. Speaking as someone who was going to stop watching the series after being generally disappointed in seasons 7 and 8, it’s a noticeable improvement.
I recall that season 9 started being written before Justin Roiland was fired from the show and writing concluded when season 7 was almost done airing. (This is just based on my memory and checking back on old interviews/articles.) I also remember reading that the writers didn’t know how long the show would last in that tumultuous period of time when they were looking for replacement actors. So because of that they put all their energy towards writing their best material.
I really wish I could find the exact article right now that mentioned that. I’m a bit disappointed in myself for not archiving everything from that era, but I was paying super close attention to all news that came out around then.
Regardless, remembering that the season was written under those conditions makes it a lot more interesting for me to watch. It is the first season we’re seeing where the uncertainty about the show’s fate could have actually affected the writing quality or writing decisions.
something about him in that blue shirt just hits
Do we fw Rick c-137 confessing the bottled up feelings for Morty while drunk as hell and Morty having to keep him quiet so the family doesn't hear but the next day getting mind blown cuz Rick is ashamed?
Cuz ive been writing something.
We absolutely do
I honestly think it’s kinda weird to walk away from There’s Something About Morty as it being solely shipbait or implying “the kid who was abused actually wanted it!” — sure, a lot of people who are into the ship are going to see whatever they will in that, but I genuinely think there’s merit to the episode and Evil Morty’s characterization within it as it pertains to him being an abuse survivor.
If you think about it, the flaws in him have always shown with him torturing and killing other Mortys to his own advantage. He’s an abused kid with conflicting feelings between resentment and attachment for his abuser, and it would make sense why he would want to be close to Rick C-137 if it seems to him that he genuinely cares about Morty Prime, and want his value to be recognized as he never had that for himself…it’s very real for trauma survivors to deal with conflicting feelings that may either be against what they really want, or to desire connection while handling that in a maladaptive way that hurts themselves or others; I think it also opens a very interesting discussion to how Evil Morty inadvertently perpetuates the cycle of abuse through his actions.
…Wouldn’t it kinda make it weirder if it all was only Morty Prime’s self insert fanfic, as you said? Running with the one-dimensional view you have of it as “the abused kid actually wanted it” it would just turn the episode into Morty’s wet dream essentially — y’know, the character whose also an abused kid. I really don’t think your fake episode idea makes it any less “weird” to your own standards than what it actually is as a real, canon episode.
Also I think his nickname as Evil Morty is…fine. Traumatized teenagers are commonly known to be edgy and want to reclaim that sort of vilified aesthetic / identity for themselves to feel power over what they went through so that’s why I’m calling him that in your inbox. With everything I’ve said here, I don’t think any of this makes him “evil” or irredeemable. I just don’t think trauma survivors should have to be portrayed as perfect in order to have value to what they represent.
I'll start by saying you made some very good points!! And that you are right in a lot of these! Uh, longwinded reply incoming.
" He’s an abused kid with conflicting feelings between resentment and attachment for his abuser […] you go on to make some excellent points […]"
That's the thing though; Eyepatch Morty's conflicting feelings are almost exclusively shown in S09E01. I'm sure that logically speaking he MUST have some, but after seeing a character dedicating what probably is YEARS of his life to getting out, commit mass murder to get out, have given up entirely on associating with his toxic grandpa… Now he does 180 degree U-turn and wants to try again? I'm sorry, but while C-137 is "a little" different, he is not THAT different (he's not Doofus Rick). He is still the person who built the Citadel. He still abuses his Morty horribly. He is Not Worth It.
Now, I'm not saying I would find it completely out of character for EM to want to… minimally hang out with C-137 (after all, he DID decide to talk to them instead of killing them in Unmortricken) but routinely texting and then claiming "I'm gonna steal your grandpa" goes FAR BEYOND THAT. If he was lonely outside the Curve and wanted company (completely understandable) he could have made friends with an alien who lives out there! Someone completely unrelated! Why on earth is Rick the only choice? And portal travel is wide-spread outside the Curve, so it's not like he can't find ANOTHER person who knows how portal travel can mess up your life; it's not like he can't someone he can relate to.
I have read several fanfics where EM feels lonely and sorta comes back, and they were very different to S09E01. They were slow, he was careful and hesitant, and he would hang out with Morty Prime and mainly tolerate C-137. THEY felt in-character. S09E01 didn't, at least to me. (S09E01 didn't build up to it, it was out of the blue, is what I'm trying to say.)
This felt a lot less like a victim being hoovered back to the abuser after the abuser's false promises to do better. This felt a lot more a beat-up victim who dedicated the better years of their life into escaping, suddenly and abruptly returning to the same abuser. Like, no. This just seem horrible to me.
“the kid who was abused actually wanted it!”
Clarification: when I wrote about that, I was referring to the damn lines they made EM utter in the milkshake scene because I see EM as a CSA survivor. I would have stomached this episode much better without this one scene. I can see no redeeming qualities for that scene if it was real. It was not funny. This scene alone is enough to make me leave the show.
"…Wouldn’t it kinda make it weirder if it all was only Morty Prime’s self insert fanfic, as you said?"
YES, that would ALSO be weird!!!! Soon after I wrote that theory, I realized it was also messed up (my CURRENT fav theory is the 4th one here) Generally speaking, you'll see me contradict myself a lot across several posts as I take more time to think over things, sorry :(
I DO, however, think that the exact same plotline sends very different messages according to whose fantasy it is:
1) The narrative itself (e.g. that it's not a fantasy at all, it's canon) is the worst one, in my opinion, because it is presented as Fact. It's "Fact" that EM wants his grandpa back (EW!! NO!! No one can convince me that Rick is So Cool that no Morty can ever effectively escape, because EVEN if they do, they'll come back)
2) This being Morty Prime's fantasy is ALSO bad, for all the reasons you mentioned. I rate it as a little better in my head because I doubt he understands the magnitude of abuse Eyepatch Morty went through (WE were shown the scene of him falling to the ground in fear of Evil Rick, Morty Prime doesn't know this). It COULD be that he sees Eyepatch Morty as this weird, evil creature that does things purely out of spite. So I doubt it's like, an informed narrative he might have in his head. It would be more of a reflection of Rick twisting his worldview. It would not be presented as the Truth by the show.
3) EM fabricating this and broadcasting it to them so they think he is "dealt with" is a little better. He EXPECTS their opinion of him to be low, and so he shows them this. He EXPECTS the abuser wanting to believe he wanted it, so he showed them that. It's still very sad, but it is still not something presented as the Truth by the show. (Edit: although why on earth eould he encourage that narrative? Ew! No! No no no!)
4) Rick believing "the kid wanted it"? Well, now, THAT is an abuser's wet dream. He can believe whatever he wants; that doesn't make it reality. It's still sad because it would means Rick C-137 hasn't grown, though.
5) A THIRD PARTY's fanfic? Now, THIS I can stomach easily. I have no qualms about this. Especially if it's torn down the next episode.
Also note that another big part of my qualms against this episode were how the REST of the family reacted to EM's actions. Shouldn't Rick, of all people, understand where EM was coming from? Shouldn't he understand all those things you just said? Should he try to be more accomodating? Shouldn't he try to give the kid some space? Shouldn't he try to encourage his two grandsons to be friends? Why would he destroy the Omega Device, the one thing that gave his ultra-abused grandson some sense of security? Especially when it was clear he just wants to hang out?
And shouldn't the rest of the family question Rick's part in all this? In the decoy episode, Beth was quick to blame her father for letting things go this far. But no one questions Rick's accountability in all this?
All the very human emotions you described In EM were not really treated as canon by the episode, is what I'm trying to say.
"Also I think his nickname as Evil Morty is…fine. Traumatized teenagers are commonly known to be edgy and want to reclaim that sort of vilified aesthetic / identity for themselves to feel power over what they went through so that’s why I’m calling him that in your inbox"
Hey, you can call him whatever you want :-) I personally don't like the name but I get it, it kinda gives him an extra sense of power somehow!
Sorry for the long post. A lot of people have expressed the same sentiments you have, and I do believe you are more-or-less right in reading that this is how a survivor might feel at points, and that this could all be a humane and accurate approach of a survivor's psyche.
…It's just that if it is indeed canon, it was not done well-enough, as far as I can tell. It goes too far against almost everything else we've seen in Eyepatch Moryt. And I really don't want to watch a show where abuse and survival are presented sloppily. It's all also a matter of trust towards the writers; if they present such a serious topic sloppily, can their intentions really be trusted?
But who knows! I might change my view once again in the future, if we are shown the things you mentioned more-in-depth in the show. I am known to change my mind after all lol.
Thanks for the ask <3
Edit: if we were shown 20 Mortys who escaped, and 5 of them came back, I wouldn't have any qualms. But we were shown exactly ONE Morty ecsape, and HE comes back?? NOPE. What kind of message does this send???
I really do see where you're coming from here. I have been so bothered by the depiction of C-137 as being one of the "good" Ricks when he's really done very little to deserve that title. And for Evil Morty to contribute to framing him that way when he called him a softie? Yeah, that's exactly what I didn't want the show to do.
Unfortunately the writers have found themselves in a real predicament where they'll have to drop the therapy arc and revert Rick back to being an abusive alcoholic to prevent the show from becoming stale. That's just the nature of a cartoon written to last as long as possible. The characters have to keep being recognizable to casual fans, and they can't just stop having flaws. So if it turns out Evil Morty actually does like C-137 for being different, this won't last.
In my opinion, the show's genre and formula already lends to its portrayal of abuse being extremely messy. It's also due to the writers always wanting to have their cake and eat it too. Rick is a fan favorite. He's also the abuser. But because he's the fan favorite he has to have a tragic past with a dead wife and a revenge plot. The audience has to feel bad for him and be willing to forgive him, even when he relapses and abuses Morty again, because his life is just so hard.
At the same time, the Evil Morty plotline exists to highlight the abusive elements. It runs contrary to what sympathies are given to C-137 Rick. Because when Evil Morty destroyed the citadel he was destroying a representation of the ORIGINAL Rick and Morty dynamic, showcased in part by C-137, that the show now not-so-secretly longs to return to.
This sympathy shown towards Ricks, including the Rick who was in charge of cloning Mortys on the citadel, is why I doubt the emotional incest aspects of the Rick and Morty dynamic will be addressed properly and treated seriously beyond single-line jokes or fanservice. They may simply return to the subject of general abuse and leave it at that.
On that note, we see hints of CSA in the show, but the truth is that it will likely never be canon that Evil Morty experienced sexual abuse by his Rick or any Rick. I think it's obvious by how Rick Prime was portrayed as just a more murderous, uncaring version of a regular Rick that they weren't interested in going anywhere beyond that. (And C-137 set up sadistic murder traps for the Vindicators in season 3, to be fair)
If I'm wrong and it's someday revealed that Evil Morty was raped by a Rick I will be well and truly shocked. That would invite even more disgust and criticism towards the show's handling of such topics if it was one they acknowledged to be canon. I'd respect the attempt to tackle sensitive subjects, but it would undoubtedly be controversial.
My god, Jax has been crashing out a lot in these latest episodes, makes me worried what might actually happen by the end.
First Ragatha drawing! 🏖
RICK AND MORTY 5.02 - Mortyplicity
RICK AND MORTY 5.02 - Mortyplicity
i have never drawn jax before (or any tadc character for that matter) and i haven't drawn popee in 10 years (real years)
its actually very important to me tadc was inspired by ptp guys how do i get the collab merch please
Oki I don’t hate it