#I just KNOW what Morty was talking about himself in this scene

[lunameimei]

you got it

[antianakin]

Hello. I've talking with you in DM. I'll like to read your opinion about Qui-Gon's appearance in Mortis Vs at the end of the Kenobi series. Seems people tend to portrait the Mortis scene as a proof that Qui-Gon is the perfect Jedi who discards Obi-Wan without any hesitation and praising Anakin. While they forget when Qui-Gon reappear in the Kenobi series, he was always there for Obi-Wan, even waited for him. But fully ignored because this isn't the vision of the "Perfect Jedi" they know in CW.

It's like both Qui-Gon are different people.

So here's the thing for me with Mortis: it's fucking weird and everything that happens there is implied to be like a shared dream or Force vision of some sort and what happens in there is only QUESTIONABLY real. Time literally doesn't move in the "real world" when they come back (they're speaking to Rex before they crash on Mortis and then speak to him again at the end and he says only about a minute has passed even though they spent DAYS on Mortis). While the Father/Son/Daughter have been brought back a few times since then and have become something a little more well-known and widespread at this point, the original TCW episode sort-of implies that they may not have been entirely real themselves, but that they were just... representations of something the Force wanted these three people to understand for some reason.

So it is MASSIVELY questionable as to whether the Qui-Gon who shows up on Mortis is, in fact, REALLY Qui-Gon himself or if he's just some another image that the Force used to speak to Obi-Wan and Anakin, same as the Father/Son/Daughter. In the same exact scene as the Obi-Wan/Qui-Gon conversation, Ahsoka ALSO has a vision, but she has it of her future adult self. So if we assume Qui-Gon was really there, we must then also assume that adult Ahsoka was also really there, and that brings up a LOT of weird implications about her. Because Qui-Gon is a Force Ghost and we know that Qui-Gon is already dead at this point in the timeline. If we assume adult Ahsoka is using the same trick to show up, it implies that Ahsoka died in early adulthood and that she trained to become a Force Ghost and succeeded and that somehow her Force Ghost is actually traveling BACKWARDS in time in order to appear here. Personally, I think that's pushing things a little and it's a LOT easier to assume that adult Ahsoka is a random vision that present day Ahsoka is having and she isn't ACTUALLY speaking to her adult self time traveling backwards as a ghost. And if we assume this is true, you can make the exact same claim about Qui-Gon.

The final piece of evidence I will use for my headcanon here is that Qui-Gon actually shows up VISIBLY in this scene even though later on, when he speaks to Yoda, he can't appear to Yoda at all and all he can do is speak to him as a disembodied voice. You might argue that Mortis is SPECIAL and that's why Qui-Gon could do this when he can't do it later, but Dagobah is ALSO supposed to be a weird Force planet of sorts, so it seems odd that he can't do it there. He also never shows up visibly when Yoda is visiting the Force Priestesses (aside from in Yoda's vision of a happy Jedi Temple where Qui-Gon is still alive and Dooku never became a Sith). Qui-Gon, at the time of Mortis, IS NOT CAPABLE of showing up visibly. He never got trained in it at all and can't do it later even in other places similarly weird in the Force.

The Kenobi show chose to let Qui-Gon show up visibly anyway obviously, and I'm willing to let that go because the scene means a lot to me and so I can headcanon that Qui-Gon did some post mortem training in how to DO that and simply hadn't mastered it by the time of the Yoda Force Ghost arc in TCW season 6. I will fully admit that Qui-Gon probably SHOULDN'T have visibly shown up in the Kenobi show according to what was established in TCW, though. It makes no real logical sense, but the Force Ghosts have pretty much NEVER made sense and often just get used in whatever way the plot requires of them and however the current creator thinks will be cool/emotional.

So basically, my thoughts on Qui-Gon in the Mortis arc are that this isn't Qui-Gon at all and it's just the Force speaking to Obi-Wan through Qui-Gon's image, giving him a warning or just forcing Obi-Wan to face his fears, etc the way the Force just DOES sometimes. If it doesn't feel accurate to the way Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's relationship is represented in the films to you, then maybe it's because it's not MEANT to be accurate for a reason.

[myboyknows]

Blood Vengeance

So today in the Fanged Four Discord server, we were talking about ship/group names, and I had a realization that I've never had before in the twenty years that I've been writing Spangel fanfic.

Spike: What do you have in mind?

Angel: I think it's time the Immortal found out exactly who he's dealing with. I think it's time for blood vengeance.

Angel: Blood vengeance. Look, I'm sure we're on the list. Is there anything under blood vengeance?

I love everything about this scene, of course, but the more I thought about it this morning, the more I was like... Angel is referring to himself and Spike here, together, by the name Blood Vengeance. As if that's how they're collectively known, the two of them. As if that's what people call them (or maybe what people call them specifically when they're out for revenge). Like some kind of super group made up of just Angel and Spike: you've got the X-Men, the Avengers, the Justice League, the Power Rangers, the Suicide Squad, and Blood Vengeance.

And it's not just that he refers to them this way, but that he's literally asking if they're on Morty's invitation list this way. This is a list of real people's names! And he's checking to see if they're on it together under the single title of Blood Vengeance!

I know that none of the ship names we use in this fandom are actually mentioned in canon; we do the common smooshname thing for our ships, which is fine. But it's really interesting to me that aside from names like The Oracles, The Furies, and The Gorch Brothers - who are all siblings - Blood Vengeance is the only (???) group of two characters who canonically seem to have a name that means both of them together, that they actually use to refer to themselves in the specific context of names, as on an invitation list. Literally a ship name built right into the show. It's kind of a shame that the scene occurs right near the end of canon, after the name Spangel was already established for the ship. Because I think it would be so fun for their ship name to be a thing they actually - at least sometimes - call themselves.

But also, after Angel has them check the list for Blood Vengeance, there's the best part:

Spike: Maybe it's under Angelus.

THEY LITERALLY CHECKED FOR BLOOD VENGEANCE FIRST! BEFORE THEIR ACTUAL NAMES.

I'm constantly finding new things about AtS to love, but I think this is going to be my favorite thing for a little while. It just makes me happy.

[pondhue]

some fear no mort thoughts 💭

during the ice cream shop scene where morty's projections of rick and diane are having their 'argument', to me it implied that deep down, morty believes that rick didn't deserve diane? like deep down he wishes he would actually talk to his grandma and ask her "why him? look at who he is/what he's capable of becoming"

diane sounds so resentful, fed up, and even disgusted (like she said). she's so squicked out by him. and by those words coming out of diane, i think morty was also telling rick (he didn't know he wasn't real at the time of course) that rick didn't deserve morty, either

rick obviously has spoken about how replaceable nearly everybody in his life is except for diane. of course this was a (very destructive) coping mechanism, but even so it doesn't excuse how poorly he has treated morty (and nearly everyone else in his life) for a majority of the time they've known each other. and if you have followed the show you know that morty is absolutely right to feel that way. like yes now rick is changing, but that's only been recently. morty's still sorting through his own resentments, fears and regrets with his grandpa. he doesn't have other people in his life really, and rick is the closest thing he has to a friend/best friend/parental figure (that's 'present') but rick also been a source of his trauma and torment for so long. their codependency has done a number on morty, and after years of repressing his emotions he's slowly accepting and digesting that. once morty chooses to figure out what was going on himself by himself, rick is sidelined instead of him (in his pov of the projections) morty decides to take matters into his own hands, to regain control of the situation, with no influence from rick either. and through this he learns to accept himself for who he is, and comes out with a better understanding of not only his place in rick's (and his family's life), but his own place in morty's life, his life. his security with himself. he's accepted that he was afraid of being responsible for his grandpa's sadness, but rick's sadness is his alone, not morty's. and morty can only do so much, and that's fine.

he's not his trauma. he's not replaceable, or irreplaceable, he's just morty, and that's okay. rick and just rick and that's okay. even if rick wasn't with him during his journey, he was okay with it in the end. in accepting rick for who he is, morty accepted himself for who morty is. now morty isn't sticking around because he feels like he has to or is forced to, he's doing it by choice, and his alone.

this is just me thinking out loud/my interpretations of the messaging of the ep and how the clear shift in rick and morty's dynamic (and morty's feelings/thoughts on it) was portrayed (which i really liked). this ep was so layered and complex and i'm just glad that we're reaching morty's arc of him finding his own person and focusing on his own feelings instead of someone else's.

[hazelnut-u-out]

Just coincidentally, I was talking to @dirty-bear-rick-sanchez, and he mentioned the fact that Evil Morty had a ‘Chekov’s Gun’. As soon as I saw the words, my brain immediately made some connections based on the events of ‘Rickmurai Jack’, ‘Full Meta Jackrick’, and ‘Unmortricken.’ 

First of all, I remembered making this post about the metaverse goggles in ‘Full Meta Jackrick.’ In the post, I was talking more about the device labeled ‘Foreshadowing’, which I thought could potentially show up in the future and make the glimpse we get of it in that episode a fun easter egg. Now, my focus is on how the devices and their labels coincide with the events of ‘Unmortricken.’ 

Let’s look at the Devices pictured: 

We have Checkov’s Guns, Foreshadowing, Ticking Clock, and Action Enhancer. (There are other devices that can be seen in the scene that are difficult to read. The one in the corner is labeled ‘Gratuitous Violence’.) Thinking about the events that took place in the Prime fight, these things may have come into play. While we didn’t see the exact Foreshadowing device pictured used in the fight, it did pique my interest that the device seems to be pointed at the Chekov’s Guns display. The Ticking Clock being placed above the Foreshadowing device also made me realize just how much that parallels the use of the Omega Device as it’s shown in ‘Unmortricken’.  Think about it… The reveal of the Omega Device is already being used as a method of Foreshadowing, Slow Mobius was lowered into the Omega Device from above while using his powers to slow the moment down (hence, Ticking Clock being a device used to create suspense), and at the end– when handed over to Evil Morty– the schematics become a Chekov’s Gun with a promise to return. Their placements parallel the events of the fight scene, even down to the blatant Gratuitous Violence! (I’ll admit, I don’t have an obvious placement for Action Enhancer yet, unless you count the Kill Bot drones/giant Diane Bots… I guess Evil Morty does ride one like a motorcycle!)

You don't show an Omega Device without erasing someone important to the audience from infinity, if you know what I mean.

I was having a lot of thoughts, and some of these branched off into different connections about Evil Morty and his exit, especially with the previous assumption/symbolism in mind. He looks at Rick and says the following: 

2 things I thought of:

1.) This feels like a threat, not just an exit.  It makes a lot of sense to interpret this as a future promise of betrayal. The fact that Evil Morty has to remind Morty Prime that they’re not friends makes me think he could come back to specifically stab Morty Prime (or Mortys) in the back, especially since he tends to dislike ‘sellout��� Mortys. Saying he could ‘use’ Rick for being ‘different’ makes me wonder if ‘ending the Rick Experiment’ could be synonymous with putting himself or another Morty in the Omega Device and eliminating the toxic relationship between Ricks and Mortys for good. Does acknowledging Rick is ‘different’ and useful imply that Evil Morty could use another life for leverage using the Omega Device in the future to get C-137 to do what he wants? (Not sure he’d erase himself since he references the vengeful Summers thing, but who knows?)

The events of ‘Full Meta Jackrick’ support this sub-theory, as well. Another post I made after the airing of ‘Full Meta Jackrick’ (here) talked about how I suspected Mr. Twist’s interaction with Morty (where he acknowledges Morty is the plot twist) might have actual weight to it.

If you remember, one of the BIG moments of ‘Full Meta Jackrick’ was this one right here: 

I think Rick emphasizing the importance of Morty’s existence is major foreshadowing. Not to mention, Rick tries to ban Morty from accompanying him to the Prime fight. More acknowledgment that Morty is very important to Rick. Being able to tie all of these elements back to a single episode AND Evil Morty’s arc would work quite well in terms of storytelling. 

2.) What is the ‘Rick Experiment’? I think that the Rick Experiment might just be Morty’s existence. Especially since we know our Rick was a founding father of the Citadel/Curve, it seems plausible that Mortys would be the central ‘Rick Experiment’ (created to be the perfect sidekick; obey them; keep them company; hide their brain waves; prove they could create life across infinity when the Omega Device can destroy it; and– for C-137 and others– there’s the added benefit in the search for Prime). I’ve even wondered who Ricks are trying to hide their brainwaves from while on the CFC, and I think that who might’ve been Prime. This theory would explain why Rick is holding Morty so triumphantly in that photo in Birdperson’s house in ‘Get Schwifty’ AND how Rick knew a Morty baby in general. 

We have to keep in mind that Evil Morty not only told our Morty about the Morty Trade in the first place, but also that he's probably the most knowledgeable (outside of C-137 or what's left of the Council) about the Morty Trade/ Rick Experiment in general, whatever that turns out to be.

This was essentially me throwing theories at a wall to see what sticks, so all of this could be nothing! Just some big food for thought, lol.

[thesoftboiledegg]

This whole Dan Harmon interview is worth reading, but here's a few essential quotes:

When the show scored its second season, Harmon was eager to staff up, filling out their ragtag cable team with Harvard-educated Community writers. If they were going to make a play for network primetime audiences, he reasoned, they’d need network primetime writers. “If I had felt like I was imposing something, I would have never done it,” he says, having played the whole thing back in his head countless times over the past decade. He can see now how Roiland must have felt that that transition was about making the show more Harmon’s than his, but he insists that was not his intent.

“If anything, what I wanted was for Justin and I both to be able to be increasingly lazy and not show up for work. That was the dream,” says Harmon. “We’d be these rich idea men. He could roll around and go, like, ‘What if a genie had a butt instead of a dick?’ And I could be like, ‘Yeah, and plus, we’re going to make people cry about it, and that’s going to make them freak out. It’s a story about a genie butt dick, but then we’d win an Emmy, and it’d be more ironic than ever.’ And then I’d come to find out later that it was like, ‘Oh, Harmon brought in his Harmon writers,’ and, man, that is not how I saw it.”

[...]

The last time he and Roiland spoke was over text in 2019, a conversation that left Harmon in tears. “He said things that he’d never said before about being unhappy, and I remember saying to him the last time we spoke in person, like, ‘I am worried about you, and I don’t know what to do about that except to give you all the string and also just say I’m scared that you’re not going to come back.’ But then this conversation became unprecedentedly confrontational.” Harmon stops himself there. “I think that’s as far as I get to take the story. At that point, we’re no longer both there for it, and it starts to become not only unfair for me to continue but totally uncomfortable because, from there, a friendship goes away, and I still don’t fully understand why.”

[...]

“The easiest thing for me to say about Justin has been nothing. Easy because he isolated so well and easy because I’m nobody’s first choice as a judge of anything or anyone. This is where I’d love to change the subject to myself, to what a piece of crap I’ve been my whole public life,” he says. “I would feel so safe and comfortable making this about me, but that trick is worthless here and dangerous to others. It’s other people’s safety and comfort that got damaged while I obsessed over a cartoon’s quality. Trust has now been violated between countless people and a show designed to please them. I’m frustrated, ashamed and heartbroken that a lot of hard work, joy and passion can be leveraged to exploit and harm strangers.”

---

I suggest reading the full article because it goes pretty in-depth into Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland's relationship and how their collaboration fell apart. The article also has some intriguing details about how the show operates behind the scenes.

[dirty-bear-rick-sanchez]

Episode thoughts under the cut

I loved Morty knowing Rick so well that he just straight up lies about the coffee lmao. Also the way he says 'hey buddy' like he's a dad entering his kid's room when they're in a depressive episode is so funny to me

Rick just literally saying 'family' to address the family

I thought the ghost/unfinished business joke was funny

I also love Rick being so petty (and Summer being petty back about the portal). It's so funny that he just calls the family 'stupids' as well. Devastating insult bro

Interesting that Gearhead was the first person he went to? He definitely needed someone to give him the courage to get the rest of his friends for an intervention (especially BP)

'Told you he wasn't dead' killed me

BIRDDAUGHTER. Funny name, love her being an emo teenage edgelord who just goes round killing Gromflomites. 'This is worse than prison'? Love it

Also I really liked that we got to see this side of BP's character this episode? He's so funny and I love getting to see him be a shit. Him trying to parent his daughter and just drinking wine? We love another alcoholic girldad

I really liked getting to see Rick/BP/Squanchy actually hanging out as well? I feel like it's a good insight into how they probably were back in the Flesh Curtains days

I like the 'birthday, birthday, birthday' gag

Also Rick immediately being like 'fuck this we're getting wrecked'

The honey scene was definitely for the Rickfuckers

Can we talk about the fact that Rick was definitely trying to impress BP by bringing up the fact that he hosted the Oscars? Which is definitely why he wanted that gig in the first place

Once again I love getting to see this side of Birdperson. Definitely makes sense why he and Rick get on so well

I liked the visual gag of Rick being high

Also BP and Squanchy playing the knife game lmao

Rick sits so fucking dramatically

Look at BP's face, he definitely wants to fuck that Predator guy

Son heist

I love that Rick can immediately identify Squanchy's shit based on the smell? Like he knows it's his and no one else's

BIRDPERSON PUTTING HIS HAND OVER RICK'S MOUTH

(You know Rick is gonna be thinking about that forever)

I like the recurring Squanchy tooth thing

'Why is this my thing' lmao

Poor poopy child

WAYNE

Them all just chilling together waiting for their drunk food? love it

I love BP leaving to collect his daughter from attacking a Federation outpost with the exact same energy as a parent collecting their child from school after they got suspended. It's so funny to imagine the GF having the same sort of vibe as they do with Rick and just texting BP like 'yo we got your daughter here' (I know that's not what happened but it's a funny mental image)

Lmao Squanchy

I did like the fading pill bit

Poor Gene

Overall I liked getting to explore this aspect of the dynamic between Rick/BP/Squanchy/Gearhead (+ the others of course but they're the OGs yk?) and also the concept of intervention/alcoholism. I think it's interesting to see that Rick does want to help but his support system is so fucked that this ends up happening and it makes a lot of sense when it comes to his own issues. I really like the way they handle Rick trying to get better and do the right thing but struggling so much to break out of unhealthy behaviours/habits. He's painfully aware of how fucked up he is and how much of a bad influence he is but he doesn't know how to fix the issue/be a positive influence and he definitely views abandonment as a good thing because he's removing himself from the situation. Very interesting way to explore this aspect of his issues, especially since all his friends are also alcoholics with that level of denial/refusal to get better

I had this discussion with @hazelnut-u-out before the episode aired but I do like that they're showing Mr PB directly suffering as a result of Rick's actions in canon? Considering that he started as a joke/meta character it's very interesting to show him actually shifting to more of a serious character who appears in the actual show and experiences real issues, especially since the show becomes less and less sitcom-y as Rick becomes more aware of the reality of how fucked up all of these things are.

[ratbaby15]

🐀🐀CLONE WARS RANT INCOMING🐀🐀

Ok so im rewatching the mortis arc for the 5 millionth time and I'm at the part in alter of mortis where ahsoka is possessed by the son and talking to anakin. It got me thinking about the real meaning behind the things she's saying, and I dont know if this is a common theory (I haven't seen anyone else mention it so tell me if it is) but I don't think the things she's saying here are really her sentiments about him as a master, I think this part has more to do with anakins master and padawan relationship with obiwan more than anything, allow me to explain. What really caught my attention this time around was her saying the line-

-"always with the criticism, master."

Now say what you will about anakin as a master (in my opinion I think anakin was actually a very capable master when ahsoka was concerned) but one thing I wouldn't really call him is overly critical, he's actually generally very supportive of ahsoka, even when she makes mistakes he relates it to his time as a padawan more often than not (a good example being in the season one episode storm over ryloth). But if you recall attack of the clones, we see throughout the whole movie anakin and his frustration with obiwan and his "constant criticism". We know that anakin saw obiwan as an overly critical master because he kinda mentions it. a lot.

I think what's happening in this scene is the son is obviously trying to manipulate anakin, using his insecurities from when he was a padawan and in his relationship with obiwan to put a wedge between him and ahsoka while also reopening that old wound effectively putting that same wedge between him and obiwan so he can separate them and have anakin to himself, cause as we are shown quite a few times the only thing really keeping anakin from the darkside at this point is the presence and trust of his loved ones, whether that fact is healthy or not.

K, rant over, just had to get that out, peace.

[fandomwe1rd0]

Morty is a really tragic character

I'm rewatching the series for like the 10th time, and I'm feeling really bad for Morty, the poor boy went through so much, here's what he goes through in season 1 alone.

Episode 1 ~ Pilot

Suffers from extreme panic from Rick saying he will blow up the world, and is tired due to it also being late at night

Is manhandled by Rick for this entire episode, and Rick is very harsh toward him

Is dragged out of school by Rick

Breaks both of his legs

Stuffs Mega-seeds up his rectum and it is apparently painful due to them being pointy

Is immobilized for hours due to them dissolving in his rectum

Episode 2 ~ Lawnmower Dog

Was about to get punished for something Rick did

Rick snaps at him all because Morty suggested Rick helps him with his homework

Is terrified due to having to avoid getting shot so he doesn't die in real life

Is slapped by Rick while screaming

Is traumatized due to seeing his sister in a...suggestive way

Is terrified due to Scary Terry

Rick embarrasses him in front of girls (Those girls weren't real but still)

His kidneys shut down

His dog leaves

Rick insults him "What do you know Morty? What do you know?"

Episode 3 ~ Anatomy Park

Gets hastily told by Rick to hold his breath until a certain process is over or his lungs will collapse

Is nearly choked by Poncho for no real reason

Is nearly attacked by monsters (multiple times throughout the episode)

Sees mutiple people die (Throughout episode)

Alice taken away from him for Rick's own selfish reasons, Rick doesn't apologize and brushes it off saying he did Morty a favor

Episode 4 ~ M-Night Sha-aliens!

He isn't exactly in this episode, but in an aftercredits scene, Rick holds a knife to Morty's neck while angerily asking him "ARE YOU A SIMULATION!?"

Episode 5 ~ Meeseeks and Destroy

Got traumatized from having to kill people who looked exactly like his family

Rick is very harsh towards him for the majority of the episode

Got assaulted by Mr. Jellybean, narrowly escaped him

Panicked when he saw Mr. Jellybean again

Episode 6 ~ Rick Potion #9

Multiple people fell in love with him and charged at him

Rick is very harsh towards him throughout this episode

A bunch of praying mantis/ vole/ human hybrids talked about how they would like to have sex with him then eat him afterwards

Got traumatized from being forced to bury himself

Episode 7 ~ Raising Gazapazorp

Tried his best to raise a very aggressive, violent son named Morty Jr. then Morty Jr. made a book talking about what a terrible father he was

Episode 8 ~ Rixty Minutes

Actually, not a lot of bad stuff happens to him in this episode, but we see the impact of him burying himself

Episode 9 ~ Something Ricked this Way Comes

Jerry snapped at him 2 times in this episode for no real reason

Jerry embarrassed him in front of a lot of Plutonions

Episode 10 ~ Close Rick Counters with Rick Kind

Got dragged away from his family just because our Rick's Morty (Ik he's technically Rick Prime's Morty but eh)

Got angry at Rick when he found out he was just a human cloaking device

Saw himself in agony

Cried when Rick said "You are a perfect impenetrable suit of human amor Morty because you're as dumb as I am smart. So that's why when I say shut up, it's really good advice."

Got locked in with a bunch of other Mortys

Rick insulted him after Morty saved his life "Ok Morty, don't break an arm jerking yourself off."

Episode 11 ~ Ricksy Business

Tried to convince Rick not to have a party since he'd prefer to keep going on adventures with Rick, but Rick just brushed him off

Worked tirelessly to attempt to keep the house in good shape

Rick dumped people who were annoying him onto Morty

Saw Squancy uh...pleasuring himself in the closet

Saw Abrodolf Lincoler die

Rick got a bunch of people to boo him.

This all happened in season one. This poor dude got constantly insulted and had horrible things happen to him. It's easy to forget that he's only 14 due to all of the stuff that happened to him. A lot of this stuff could be difficult for an adult to handle, I can't image how much mental damage it must do to someone who is only 14. Poor Morty is traumatized, the poor kid deserves all the hugs and kindness in the world and a good family, man.

[illuminatedquill]

Well, that was certainly a finale.

Initial thoughts below (SPOILERS AHEAD):

Ahsoka 1x08:

THE JEDI, THE WITCH, AND THE WARLORD

I’m a bundle of many emotions but first -

Look, nothing’s over. Okay? Filoni is clearly playing a long game here with these characters. So let’s all calm down and wait for the next season.

There was simply too much to show in this final episode for it to be satisfying on every front. I think, for the most part, he succeeded in ending this first season and setting up What Comes Next.

But I do feel like some of the character stuff was resolved a little too neatly, in my opinion.

There’s such potential in these relationships and I feel like Filoni was laser focused on getting the groundwork laid down for the future. And it’s Big.

(THE MORTIS GODS ON PERIDEA. ANAKIN FORCE GHOST. I SCREAMED WHEN I SAW IT.)

I’m not 100% pleased with where Sabine ended up and the fact that she just irrevocably altered the fabric of her home galaxy due to her decision seemed to have been glossed over by Ahsoka and STILL not found out by Ezra.

I mean, there’s HUGE ramifications from what she did. And I’m worried that none of it will be played out to it’s proper devastating conclusion.

Yet, I’m willing to let it slide because it’s clear that there will be more. So, we just have to wait.

Also, the exploration of why Sabine made her choice was never addressed. At least, not in a way that was satisfactory to me. Again, I’m hoping that’s explored in the future . . . but I don’t know.

Even Thrawn was confused about her decision! He couldn’t understand it. And this is Thrawn we’re talking about.

How can you not interpret everything Sabine did in this season as being driven by something more than just friendship. Even the casual fans picked up on it.

(It’s me! I’m the casual fan. Didn’t ship it before and then I saw the first Ahsoka trailer and it suddenly clicked.)

She officially cemented her place in the Disaster Lineage when she made the choice to hand over the map to Baylan! Gambled the fate of an entire galaxy just for the chance to see Ezra again!

That’s peak romance! Literally have not seen a character’s choice forever alter the future on a galactic scale of this magnitude since the main man, Anakin Skywalker, himself!

All for love!

And, yeah, I know the Wolfwren fans are pleased with Shin also being on Peridea. I know Filoni is on the record being against an Ezra/Sabine romance (at least during Rebels, which made sense at the time to me) but I don’t see that pairing being a thing.

We’ve gotten prime examples of healthy, loving, supportive romance from him: Sabine’s parents, Kanan and Hera, Ezra’s parents.

Shin would need to mellow out her murderous nature by 100% to be friends with Sabine. If that happens, I would be cool with it.

Don’t see her doing that anytime soon with her last scene being that. She’s too power hungry.

Other thoughts:

Fantastic battle scenes - highlight being the final duel between Morgan and Ashoka. She went out like a fighter.

Thrawn was excellent, as always. Lars Mikkelsen was born to play this role. His cold, calculating menace is balanced perfectly by some flickers of emotion here and there; the regret when he asked Morgan to stay and his annoyance at Ahsoka escaping his hellfire.

Eman is Ezra. Fantastic casting.

As for Natasha as Sabine . . .

I want more from her. Just more of her as Sabine, forever and always. Still my favorite character on the show. I think there’s more emotional depths to be explored (LIKE HER FEELINGS FOR EZRA) but I’m putting that on Filoni.

(. . . This post is a mess. Sorry for rambling. I’m sure a lot of you feel the same.)

Just want to emphasize that it’ll probably be fine. Nothing’s been decided, one way or the other. And the success of this season should hopefully guarantee more of these beloved characters on our screens soon enough.

And, well, there’s nothing a good fanfic can’t fix. I expect we’ll be seeing plenty of those after this.

[callioclops]

I've been trying to structure my thoughts about this for a bit, I think I'm ready to talk about Rick and Morty season 7. Specifically I'm gonna talk about the structure of the season as a whole, why it's weird, and why I think it works anyway. Obviously spoilers ahead.

So I'm going to assume you've seen the entire season, and whether you enjoyed it or not I'd take a guess that you got sucker punched by episode 5. The season 6 finale ended with Rick saying that season 7 would be him hunting Rick Prime, maybe actively in the episodes, maybe all happening in the background. After 4 episodes of hearing nothing about it except that it's happening, it's reasonable to assume that they've elected to go with the latter, and we won't get anything until a big climax. Which granted is what we get, but in the midle of the season.

Obviously this is strange, the tension in a season of any show usually takes a dip around the middle in order to build back up for the climax in the finale. But instead we're getting that finale now. Or at least, the tension you would expect from a finale. Previous seasons of Rick and Morty have always had these big flashy displays in finales with very little on that level in-between. I have a few ideas of why this break from form happened, but I want to circle back to that later and talk about the actual finale of season 7.

Episode 10 is one of my all-time favourite Rick and Morty episodes. That may be recency bias, but I think even after that wears off this will remain in my top 5 easily. But it doesn't feel like a finale; at least not in terms of scale. It's a remarkably focused episode, barely even about Rick. It's almost entirely a character exploration of Morty and his perceived relationship with Rick. It may not have the flashiness of finales like season 2 or 5, but it is one of the most intensely character driven episodes of the entire show.

And that's just it, R&M finales typically have both of these things. A central character or aspect of that character to explore; as well as flashy, climactic action scenes. But both of these episodes only have one each. Now I'm not saying that either episode is completely devoid of the other aspect, they do have some. But in each case they aren't a focus. The character moments in episode 5 exist to show that this isn''t character development for Rick. This thing he's been chasing for so long has done nothing for him, it's what he told himself he wanted while shutting out the things he needed. This isn't a conclusion for Rick, so why should it be a conclusion to the season?

On the other side of things, the actual finale shows us incredible character development from both of our main characters. Morty's fear of Rick needing him far less than he needs Rick manifesting as Diane has so many layers to it I couldn't possibly do it justice here. Meanwhile, even though Rick doesn't get much the fact that he listens to Morty when told not to go in the hole hits remarkably well. Even with the suggestion of his dead wife being in there, he trusts Morty. Personally I don't think he would've listened in season 6, or maybe even eariler in season 7. On top of that he's proud of him, enough to make sure his picture gets put on the wall to showcase his achievement (and also caring enough to keep said picture in his wallet).

Separating the action from the character not only created two very entertaining episodes for two very different reasons, but also I think symbolises where they plan to take the show. A clear favourite was chosen: character over action. If only one were to be in a finale which would it be? Now we have our answer, and knowing that answer makes me incredibly excited for season 8.

[summersmithlatinxgyatt]

I cannot believe I never mentioned this fucking detail in my Gotron review oh my gooood!!

Look at this scene. The Morties and Jerries all bond with each other over this BBQ. Yet every Summer ignores each other! They're too busy being on their phone to even talk to each other. This episode even talks about how Summer feels alone with no one to talk to in her family. That means they all probably feel the same and can't connect with a version of themselves. And just THINK, how many times has an alternate Summer talked to themselves?

(Please bear with me I have the edit and not original scene on standby for this example)

Even in The Rickshank Rickdemption, which clearly shows different Summers exist that the Citadel of Ricks recognized, Summer is startled by her other self. She also doesn't say "Me" or anything - just "Hunger Games Summer". Rick tends to sometimes explain other versions of himself in his own context while Morty does tend to say they're himself. But Summer automatically calls HER Summer while the Prime version just says "I have that exact same top", which just shows that SHE sees C-137 as just herself

Why does this matter?

Because it shows that every other Summer sees herself while Prime recognizes them as all different. And for good reason, too

She's the only one who actually helps Rick.

I mentioned how it's illegal to radicalize Summer. Do you see why now? If you don't, you have a bored bratty teen girl who doesn't care about anything and sees the multiverse variants as just another her. C-137 hung around Rick and knew about the crises going on, to the point that she clearly sees them as different because they're oblivious. They might not have even gone through the arcs C-137 Summer did either!

So...this scene is interesting. It shows how even though they're alone, they choose not to even interact with each other. If every other Summer sees themselves as "just herself", they think it's also boring. Summer doesn't want herself, she wants friends!! Meanwhile, C-137 proudly stands by Rick. Yeah, she may not be the ONLY person he also latches onto, but you know what they say

It's lonely at the top 😎 and this shows how Summer doesn't even interact with these ones, too. She's too important and close to Rick

[ambreiiigns]

What do you mean the pickle rick episode is sad??? Every now and then you talk about rick and morty and it's baffling, goes against everything I thought I knew about it lol

YEAAAH GOD I LOVE SEEING PEOPLE FIND OUT RICK AND MORTY IS MORE THAN IT'S MADE OUT TO BE!!!!! it's like. a bit pathetic. rick and morty as the general public might know are grandpa and grandson morty's mom is rick's daughter beth. her and her husband jerry split up and the kids (morty and his older sister summer) are seemingly not taking it Great and are doing weird shit at school as a result so beth is taking them to see a therapist. rick does the whole turning into a pickle bullshit to get out of therapy bc he doesn't want anyone telling him he's wrong and how and why. so while his family goes through the very human and vulnerable experience of Getting Help he somehow gets himself in a fucked up insane sewer adventure As A Pickle. builds himself a body from rats he kills. there's some like genuinely sick fight scenes lmao all because he consistently chooses to distract himself w his illusions of grandeur and godlike smarts instead of fixing himself

but he does crawl his way to therapy to get the antidote for his pickle bullshit from his daughter who Knew in her heart he'd done this on purpose but everyone in this household except jerry at that point was allergic to admitting rick is wrong and beth is especially sensitive to rejecting him bc she's scared she'll lose him again. so he gets to be confronted by the therapist for a minute but by the time they're back in the car him and beth just. dismiss every chance of growth and decide to drop the kids at home and go out drinking while said kids are in the backseat looking completely stunned asking, hopeful but probably aware it's not gonna happen, if they'll go back to therapy soon. it's kind of. Insane. it's so dependancy on recreational drugs instead of facing reality and the generational trauma that comes with it. i'm so butthurt it became a cringe meme that misses and muffles The Point.

[ricksanchezsimpaccount]

ok thoughts on the new episode,

SPOILER WARNING obviously

although honestly I don't think I'll be saying anything that others haven't already said haaaaa

anyway finally, a chance for morty's new VA to shine, and GOD does he. I love the way Evil Morty talks, idk why but that bored "uh huh" when Rick tries shooting him several times is soooo funny to me. he killed it and so did ian cardoni (the way he screams "I'LL KILL YOU" after slow mobius' death OOOOOUUUU CHILLS)

i honestly did not expect to see Evil Morty again, and even though I'm kinda sad he didn't get the lasting peace away from Rick that he wanted, he is a DELIGHT to see in action!! i love his interactions w Rick, it's so interesting having a Morty that's on par/better than Rick. although I'll be honest....he kinda feels like a Rick himself, especially w the cybernetic augmentations he also has--at least to me. Wonder if that's going to be brought up again later down the line, something about becoming the monster you fight against i LOVE how we got to see his backstory finally, like others have said I'm really happy that he was just a "normal" Morty. his Rick wasn't anything special. he literally was just a Morty who finally got sick of Rick's shit. i loved the reveal too, bc they DID have me going for a sec there, I thought who we were seeing was OUR morty Indiana Jones Rick 💘💘💘😳😳😳😳😳💦 that's all I'm saying on that And ok, DO I think Rick Prime is dead? like ACTUALLY dead? Honestly...yes. At least I hope so. I think it'd be FAR more compelling for Rick to be like "...now what?" and for the show to actually explore and unpack that, over it being like HAHA SURPRISE RICK PRIME'S NOT ~REALLY~ DEAD you know?

Because yeah. He got his revenge, the revenge he's literally been chasing...basically his entire life, like...since his, what, 30s? And it didn't feel good. It didn't fix things, it didn't make him feel better. He feels as empty as he did before and NOW he doesn't even have a goal to strive towards anymore. There's nothing. And I feel like the ending of the episode did a REALLY good job of portraying that just numbness. He probably fantasized about this moment the WHOLE time and it absolutely didn't live up to it. It wasn't glorious or feel liberating, he just ends up covered in blood and feeling more hollow and broken than before. That's just...kinda how trauma is Morty at first hesitating to touch Rick but eventually hugging him anyway was so sweet ;_; Anyway as for the cinematography of the episode itself...absolutely stellar. Great fights, the SCOPE of everything, the backgrounds and settings, it's wild how much this show has popped off with its animation (it's honestly so funny seeing them stitch in clips from Season 1 in there bc the CONTRAST in animation quality is astounding. its like when artists on twitter do the "my art from 10 years ago vs now" comparisons LOL. LITERALLY, SEASON 1 WAS 10 YEARS AGO). The just dead silence as Rick punches Rick Prime to death (only sounds of course being rick talking and punching), the whole exchange that happened during it, how just downright BRUTAL it was, that entire scene was crafted so well, and others have pointed out the significance of Rick literally beating Prime to death with his bare fists instead of using his tech or weapons or anything, which i feel like was definitely on purpose, and i love man this post ended up longer than i anticipated I'M SORRY. THIS EPISODE DESTROYED ME EMOTIONALLY AND I LOVE WHEN THIS SHOW DOES THAT ✌✨ MY BRAIN'S BEEN BUZZING. IF YOU READ ALL THIS RAMBLING THANKS I GUESS HLFDKSJFH

[fanbun]

do you have any predictions or wishes for r&m s7 and beyond?

Oh definitely.

First and foremost: Morty needs to have a central role in season 7. And I don't mean just as Rick's sidekick while he hunts down Rick Prime. I mean we as the audience should get to know how exactly Morty is feeling about being swept up into Rick's revenge plot. If season 6 was primarily about Rick’s character then it’s only fair that season 7 should be about Morty’s and how he is reacting to the situation.

At the end of season 6, Rick tells him that it's going to take over his life and Morty looks like he wants to run away. That leads me to believe that Morty isn't going to be entirely on-board with Rick's plan and he might even be the one pushing for them to return to "classic adventures." OR maybe Morty is back to missing school again and he starts to resent that Rick is consuming his life more than ever.

In whatever form it takes, I expect to see some sort of push-and-pull between the main characters. That seems like a very Rick and Morty writer thing to do to preserve a balance between the episodic and serialized elements of the show. And thankfully it would also provide some good interpersonal conflict to keep things interesting between the leads.

Think back to this scene from 6x01. Here Rick is pushing forward with his revenge plot and Morty is pulling him back. This is the dynamic I’m talking about.

As for my own personal wishes for the series as a whole, I want the Prime kidnapping Morty plot sooo badly, dude. The drama that would result from that is just irresistible. Or if that's too much to ask for, I at least want Prime to try turning Morty against C-137 by highlighting how abusive Rick has been to him. That, to me, will speak to the heart of the series. It will cause Rick to face the realities of his own actions while also challenging Morty's devotion to Rick.

I think it would be funny if C-137 had a romantic past with Prime before his family was destroyed, since it would show just how self-absorbed Rick is, but honestly I could take it or leave it. It wouldn't really change all that much aside from how much people sympathize with Rick, and I'm much more interested in what will happen with Evil Morty in the future.

Perhaps Evil Morty will be the one capable of defeating Rick Prime in the end and C-137 will have to prove himself different from other Ricks in order to gain him as an ally. That sounds cool.

[oldbutnotyetwise]

Taking the Early Exit

     Trigger Warning - this is about Suicide

     I am someone who has through my career seen more than my share of suicides, and as I suspect that you can imagine, suicides bring up a wide range of emotions, not just with the family and friends, but often with the first responders.

     I still remember my first suicide investigation, and although I’ve seen countless others, this one stays with me.  I was only on the job for a month of two and was still with my training officer.  He took me to the scene and dropped me off rather unceremoniously with the detective investigating and left me there.  As with many parts of my career this was another one of those times where formal training didn’t exist, it was more a shut up and watch kind of education.

     The scene was down a dirt road into some bush, that was off a country road.  He probably wouldn’t have been noticed except some passing farmer had called in an abandoned car that he saw from a distance, and had seen for a few days.  It was a scene that I was to see several times in my career, black hose and duct tape purchased from Canadian Tire.  Hose went over the exhaust pipe and taped on, with the back window down about two inches the hose was draped into the car and the remaining opening was taped shut with the duct tape.  He was dead, sitting behind the steering wheel and rigour mortis had set in.  I won’t describe the unpleasant task of getting someone in full rigour from a seated position to a flat position for the body removal stretcher.

     As I often did I wondered what had been going through this young man’s mind.  I felt sad that his last meal on this earth had been takeout from McDonalds.  He hadn’t been a planner as he didn’t have any paper, so he wrote his suicide note on the McDonalds bag.  If I recall correctly he didn’t feel life was worth living because his girlfriend had let him for someone else.

      I remember the woman who had sliced her wrists in an attempt to end her life.  I spoke to the young child explaining that everything would be alright but that I had to take her Mom to the hospital.  I spent seven or eight hours that night getting to know this woman while we sat waiting to be seen at the hospital.  In the end some E.R. doctor came in for a few minutes and deemed the woman to be fine and released her back out onto the street.  When I came into work the following nightshift a colleague told me she had killed herself earlier in the day.  I had lied to her daughter, the little girl who I told everything would be okay.  People can think what they want but unless you have spent hours with someone in the depths of their despair, and listened to their hopelessness, you will never understand the emotional pain someone can feel.

     I had one suicide where the man had hung himself in his garage.  For the most part I was indifferent towards those who took their life, but I hated this man.  You see his wife had left him with his children.  He went into his daughters room and asked to talk to her but she explained that she had to leave for school and they could talk later.  He then went and hung himself.  I hated him for the horrible guilt that he laid upon his daughter by doing what he did.  I couldn’t understand any parent wanting to, or perhaps not caring if they did, hurt their child that much.

     I remember a lady who had struggled with her mental health for years, even with the supporting husband and family.  She sent them on a day trip out of town saying she had to stay home to get some work done, and she then turned the car on in the garage and sat there, falling asleep and slowly drifting from this world into the next.  The note she left was full of love for the man she called the best husband in the world, and her daughter who she loved beyond words.  She taught me something in her note, it wasn’t about her quitting on her family, it was her giving her family all this credit for making her want to stay around as long as she did.  She stayed until she couldn’t bear the pain anymore.  My heart went out to both her as well as her family.

     Later on in my career I started running into Helium Suicides, quick, effective and painless.   The person goes off to their local Walmart and buys a birthday balloon pack complete with a helium tank.  Add to that one bag for go over your head and you have everything that you need.  They lay down on a bed, hose into the bag loosely tied around your neck, turn the tank on and in moments you have died a painless death.  In a sick comical twist there is this older heavily accented woman who has put out a video on how to do it that you can find on line.  It is sort of like your grandmother describing how to make cupcakes, except she is actually telling you how to kill yourself.

     I had a suicide where someone sitting in a car with two containers of gas set them on fire and created an inferno basically cremating themselves.  His personal belongings and suicide note were left off to the side of the road in a bag.  I am hard pressed to think of a worse way to kill yourself and we basically collect his remains using a dustpan.  His wife and children were adamant that there was no way he would do that, insisting that he had shown no signs.  Eventually we shared with them the video of him buying the gas, he was by himself with no one else in the car.  It was sad to have to do this to the family but they just would not accept the possibility that he had taken his own life..

     You can rest assured that every time I shop at Canadian Tire I am looking for someone buying that black hose with duct tape, or at Walmart as they buy the birthday balloon kit I look to see if they are exhibiting any signs of depression (harder to detect than one might think).

     Suicide Notes are an entirely different science, I have seen them written on sticky pads, takeout bags, left on computer screens or in one case an over eighty page suicide note with index and dividers in a binder describing every password and how he wanted things to be looked after regarding his death.

     Sadly, in the world of Policing I have had more than my share of comrades who chose to take their lives.  I think Policing can often put you under a very dark cloud or in a very dark place, perhaps some just never are able to find their way out.  I didn’t see any of them coming, though I am haunted by one where I missed a few clues that I could see clearly when it was too late.  

     I would guess that I probably investigated hundreds of suicides over my career, both as a front line officer and then later as a detective.  Countless patient discussions with families who are unable to accept what has happened, who are positive it is a murder made to look like a suicide.  People don’t realize that when a person is serious about taking their life, and they reach that point where they have made the decision to carry out their plan that they often seem happier, relieved not stressed.  It’s not that they are better, it’s that they finally can see an end to the darkness that they couldn’t escape during their life.

     I would encourage you not to look on these people with judgement.  Just understand that they were going through something that you can’t possibly understand, or perhaps that they just weren’t as well equipped to deal with life as others were.  When you look at that stranger, or even a friend, know that you don’t really know what they are going through, what is going on behind those eyes.  And always, always be kind.  It may not save someone, but wouldn’t it be nice if the last thing one of these people experienced was the kindness of a stranger or friend?