Richie (Bottom) and Richie Rich (FR&C)
Hello! It's Richie time!
Richie Richard
Sexuality headcanon ~ I think Richie is the most explicitly queer of Rik's main characters. I see him as bisexual, although I don't know if he'd necessarily say so at the beginning of Bottom - if he knew what bisexuality was, that is. He seems to get gayer, for want of a better term, as the series and live shows go on. Whether this is him becoming more comfortable with parts of himself that he'd previously repressed or whether he's discovered new things about himself as time has passed is debatable, although I think I er towards the second explanation. Sexuality is fluid, after all.
OTP ~ Eddie, of course! They'll always be stuck together. 😂 They give off bickering married couple vibes. Plus, Richie has canonically had wet dreams about Eddie and is often referred to as Eddie's wife soooo...
BrOTP ~ Well, Richie doesn't really have any friends, does he? Rip. Richie and his left hand (his wanking hand) can be the BrOTP. 😂
NOTP ~ I can't really see anyone but Eddie putting up with Richie, to be honest. I guess Richie X Spudgun or Richie X Dave Hedgehog would seem a bit odd to me, since I'm not sure how you'd make that work... What with them being scared shitless of him and all.
First headcanon that pops into my head ~ He's Rick's embarrassing uncle, 100%. I just really like crossovers and trying to slot the various Riks and Ades together! I know there's also the headcanon where Rick and Vyvyan literally become Richie and Eddie, what with Bottom being the sort of shadow sequel to The Young Ones, but I think it's more interesting and less depressing if they're separate people. Richie being Rick's maternal or paternal uncle I'm less solid on, though I suppose with the different surnames and Richie canonically having a sister it makes more sense for him to be a maternal uncle.
Favourite line from this character ~ Tricky! In truth I could never pick a single favourite line from most characters buuut for the sake of the question I think I'll go with: "Don't you DARE call me overweight, young man!" The timing of the ferris wheel seat breaking is just priceless! 😂
One way in which I relate to this character ~ Hmm... I suppose Richie - and Eddie too - stand as sort of warnings about what it's possible to become if you just don't... Try. At anything. I'm not saying that's the point of their characters as first and foremost they exist to amuse and encapsulate the most exaggerated and perverted interpretation of low lives. But with Richie in particular there is a great sense of how shitty his circumstances are - probably because he doesn't fully accept their position at the bottom, unlike Eddie Richie still has delusions of grandeur and somehow being better than his contemporaries. Richie is so bored and lonely and, frankly, miserable. So much so that it's arguably led him to lose part of his sanity. And yet why is this? Why doesn't he ever work properly on bettering himself? Why does he seemingly never leave their flat most days? And hardly ever leave Hammersmith, even seeing this as a point of pride? Why has he ended up with Eddie, after apparently coming from a better off family? Because it's hard to fight back in life, especially with how long he's been stuck in the pattern of simply existing. Sure, life isn't simple or easy and I'm sure he would have had personal obstacles along the way... But Richie never sought to tackle them. He just let everything happen to him until he was stuck in this dirty, lonely existence. It's like he removed himself from life and society and just let himself fall, unintentionally though it must have been. And that makes him quite a tragic character, really. Laziness - and probably fear too, which is sad - have prevented him from ever trying for a slice of the good life he so clearly fantasises about, at least in any meaningful way.
So, anyway, the point of this waffle: I don't want that for myself. The monotony of lockdown during the pandemic has shown me how easy it is to fall into that, but I don't want it to be my long-term future. It's probably a slightly silly worry on my part, as I don't think I'd become exactly like Richie 😂... I can just see how scarily easy it is to slip into a life mirroring his in someway, because lots of people are in his situation. I'd just like to hope I'll have enough umph about me to make sure I don't let that happen to me if I can avoid it. Basically, I get why Richie is the way he is; there's a whole mix of possible factors I've not even mentioned, as they're not relevant. I also get how inclined I too am to living the "hermit life" when I can... So I want to push against that.
Thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character ~ Richie is so very bad at interacting with anyone who isn't Eddie. To be fair, he and Eddie hardly interact in usual ways either. It's Richie's overinflated sense of self importance that comes out around Spudgun and Dave Hedgehog or at his birthday party that really makes you wanna face palm. He really just can't help himself!
Cinnamon roll or problematic fave? ~ It's going to have to be problematic fave, isn't it? It would be for most of the bastards I love. 😂
Richie Rich
Sexuality headcanon ~ I've not really thought as much about Rich - as the Discord server has affectionately taken to calling him ❤️ - as other characters, perhaps. I think he assumes himself to be straight and has probably never questioned otherwise. After all, being a right wing has-been comedian and wannabe gameshow host, he's not exactly the most enlightened person on the planet. 😂 I'm not gonna say he isn't attracted to women... However, I do think there's something not strictly heterosexual about him.
OTP ~ That something is Edward Catflap, who I'm easily pairing Richie with since everyone else hates him and the two are a duo whichever way you look at it. I mean, the first episode opens with them sharing a bed and they spend almost all of their time in each others' company. Even though they find the other unfashionable and annoying, it still doesn't ever seen to occur to either of them that they could just... Part ways. Richie never looks for another minder and Eddie never looks for another job. Now, laziness likely has something to do with this (and the fact that no one else can stand Richie) but it is interesting, is it not? I don't know, if not anything approaching boyfriends, at least queerplatonic partners? Even if they don't have the language or depth of thought to think of it in that way.
BrOTP ~ In Richie's mind, this is Tarby and his other great showbiz mates. Back in the real world, Richie doesn't seem to have any friends. I'd argue Eddie too fills this spot, simply because they do friend-like things together sometimes (lager frenzy, anyone?) and, as I attempted to articulate in the previous answer, I don't think shipping them is entirely straightforward.
NOTP ~ Richie and Ralph, to be honest. Don't get me wrong, I love Ralph Filthy. He's hilarious and he has some of the best lines. One of the most morally bankrupt characters of the set, being topped only by the likes of Alan B'Stard, how could we not love him? However, should anyone date this man? I'd recommend against it. Especially someone like Richie, who is already involved with him in a professional sense and has been shown to be easy for Ralph to take advantage of. If someone wants to ship Richie and Ralph, that's completely fine! No one needs the permission of anyone else to ship! In fact, as I believe I mentioned some time ago in regards to CoolPoet (Mike X Rick), a dark fic with this ship could be interesting and I'd read it because, damn, there's hardly any FR&C fic as it is! I just wouldn't count myself as a shipper of Richie X Ralph, that's all.
First headcanon that pops into my head ~ Huh... Do I have any headcanons about Richie Rich? Apart from that he too is in someway related to Rick as well - perhaps as a cousin of some sort - I'm not sure. I know some people headcanon him as trans because of the letter from his mother where she reveals his "real name" is Gertrude. As for a headcanon from me... Sorry, I'm drawing a blank on this for the moment. Like I said, I probably don't think about him as much as I do some of the other characters.
Favourite line from this character ~ Changes but for the moment: "Look, I've had just about enough left wing soapbox rhetoric for one week! If you don't like the police, the next time you get beaten up try calling an alternative comedian!"
One way in which I relate to this character ~ Hmm... I've had to think about this. I guess I relate to his desire to be artistic and creative.
Thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character ~ Without a doubt, his hair. I'm sorry, it's just so awful from the back!
Cinnamon roll or problematic fave? ~ I'd say problematic fave. 😂
Thanks for the ask!
