#Puppetmaster Rick

[glitteringcrab]

Mental restraints of the puppeteered

[or: Frying his backups (part 2)]

Okay so this theory has been sitting in my head for a long while and I had the feeling it might be accurate but I could not find a way to tie it up with the rest of the plot my headcanons...

Until now, when something changed (namely, the possibility that Rick Prime has been puppeteering other Ricks).

So.

1. Let's observe this scene:

I think we can all agree that Evil Rick was having lunch alone (there are a lot of bittersweet fanarts where Eyepatch Morty seeks comfort from post-surgery Evil Rick in some way or another, but if this one scene is typical of their post-surgery interactions, it appears this hypothetical comfort-seeking was not a thing. They did not even eat together). He broke the plate, either accidentally or on purpose. He picked one of the shards up. The rest is history.

So what I'm seeing is that he was not puppeteered 24/24.

In the incredible, gut-wrenching fanfiction "Ghost in the machine" which you should all totally read (in fact, drop this rambling post and go read it now!! Go go go go!!!!! Like, shooo!!! Come back after you've read it, if you still feel like it. Because there will be SPOILERS in the following 2 paragraphs!!!!) Evil Rick was constantly following orders, 24/24. Even when Eyepatch Morty did not puppeteer him directly, he still had orders to follow, like "bring me this object" or "stand there and wait", and the wiggle room for Evil Rick to resist was minimal. Said resisting mostly took the form of twitching (ergo momentarily disrupting whatever he was ordered to do) at crucial moments, maybe kinda like a computer lagging at the worst possible time. Like I said, absolutely incredible fic, go read iiiiiiiiiiit!!!

But now that Unmorticken has aired and we saw more of their interactions, if we think about the above scene, I think we can reach the conclusion that that's not how it worked. Evil Rick may have received an order to eat, as well as orders to keep the place neat and tidy (and therefore he began picking up the shards) but actually jamming the shard at his eye is not a matter of twitching nor just barely managing to change the trajectory of a movement at the last possible second. It's a fully deliberate action, from start to finish. He had the agency to do it.

So I think we can reach the conclusion that Evil Rick was technically free to... be himself when not puppeteered.

With some restrictions in place, of course:

I am just spitballing here, but I'm thinking of what kind of other actions Eyepatch Morty may have forbidden Evil Rick to do, such as:

Cannot damage any equipment (duh, otherwise he'd be throwing a massive tantrum, destroying everything Evil Morty is working on)

Cannot attack Eyepatch Morty (duh, otherwise the kid would never get a moment's rest lol)

Cannot escape

Cannot call for help

...and probably a bunch more, such as "cannot speak" because of Evil Rick's lack of words when Evil Morty came to him during his failed suicide attempt... Plus the fact that he has a scar on his mouth, which a couple of amazing fanart and fanfiction made me wonder if Evil Rick said something during his surgery that Evil Morty very much could not stand hearing so he shut him up with a scalpel or whatever he was holding... before shutting him up for good.

What a nightmare, huh?

And that's when he was allowed to be himself. The rest of the time he'd be forced to watch himself kill Ricks, and kidnap and torture a thousand versions of his grandson.

2. Now, if the theory that Evil Morty was once himself puppetered it true...

...wouldn't he also have a similar list of prohibitions restraining his actions? Such as:

Cannot harm Puppetmaster Rick

Cannot escape

Cannot operate a portal gun (we've never seen Evil Morty operate a portal gun made by a Rick, he made his own. Is that a coincidence? Of course, both are "portal guns" so maybe that's a stretch, unless he calls his own portal weapon something else, like the dinosaurs called their own "portal pistol" lol. Or maybe using a portal gun to escape counts as "escaping" and therefore a separate order is not needed)

Cannot reveal to anyone what Puppetmaster Rick has been doing to him (maybe. Is that one even necessary? Would anyone even help him if he did reveal it?)

3. Like I said, I'm just spitballing here, but I think the above stand to reason. I mean they just seem like reasonable precautions. If this assessment is accurate, we can reach the following conclusions:

a) If Evil Rick's puppeteering experience was a nightmare, Evil Morty's was a living hell considering what Puppetmaster Rick was doing to him, especially if he was not allowed to leave the house and ask for help.

b) The fact that Evil Morty managed to free himself while operating under such massive handicups is another testament to his incredible intelligence and resilience.

c) It may be another reason he showed no empathy to other Mortys in his attempt to escape. They've had it easy, they had their chances to leave the Citadel or kill their Ricks, they had a million other ways and opportunities to escape and either never bothered or blew them. Now it's his turn.

4. Okay, now... what do you think happens to all these mental restraints once Evil Morty severed his connection to Puppetmaster Rick by tearing his receiver off???

One scenario is that they all became void. They were cancelled. Evil Morty was free to be himself, however he wanted. This could very much be true, and in that case my rambling ends here, I have nothing more to say.

Another scenario is all the old restrictions were still in place and effective, and he would just receive no new orders nor be directly puppeteered anymore. (I suppose this would make it into a good metaphor about abused people being conditioned to act in certain ways and it being very hard to rebel against them. E.g. imagine Evil Morty being unable to confess to other people about what happened to him because he'd expect pain and failure and no support, similar to actual abuse victims learning to expect accusations and failure and no support) Assuming the second scenario is true, then let's head off to the next points:

5. Depending on the exact extent of Evil Morty's mental restraints, it may be that using Evil Rick as a puppet was not only a clever way to get the upper hand, but that he had literally no other choice. E.g. imagine if he actually was physically incapable of operating a portal gun. He would literally need to hold it via Evil Rick's puppeteered hand. The whole thing would be Eyepatch Morty taking all his mental restraints and turning each and every one of them to his advantage in a convoluted, ingenious way.

6. Judging by Evil Rick's halted suicide attempt, it seems that while he knew that removing the receiver would kill him (I mean... you don't normally die by poking your eye out, so it has to be tearing your receiver off that will kill you, and he knew that) the puppeteered have no knowledge of the restrictions placed on them until they stumble upon them. (That, or Evil Rick knew he was not allowed to commit suicide but was desperate enough to try nonetheless.)

Therefore it's theoretically possible there are still some restrictions employed that Evil Morty is unaware of, which are waiting to spring up on him if the right (wrong) conditions are met.

Personally I think that's unlikely because I'm sure he has studied his own implant extensively since he became president and had access to adequate equipment, but:

7. Even if he studied it, this doesn't mean he was able to alter it nor undo it. From what we've seen it appears that unauthorized removal of part of the puppeteering implant equates with a death sentence. And while Puppetmaster Rick thought it unlikely his scrawny, stupid Morty would ever be able to put together a plan to break free or have the guts to mutilate himself, if the puppeteering equipment was originally, I dunno, a prototype designed by Rick Prime and was intended to be used against Ricks, then it's entirely possible that it is designed to kill the victim both for trying to remove the implant itself and for altering the accompanying code. It's the absolute prison, and despite whatever fast-acting healing equipment Evil Morty successfully used to remove his receiver in the past, it might be that it barely worked and he might not be too keen on trying his luck again.

8. So let's continue this thought experiment and assume that, if not all, at least the core mental restraints of the mind control implant are still very much effective inside Evil Morty's brain.

...Including the "cannot harm Puppetmaster Rick" one.

Now, I don't want to reduce the very important plot point of Evil Morty's mental restraints into semantics of "attack vs hurt vs harm vs kill", but... I'm going to go ahead and assume there are limits, definitions, to these mental restraints, otherwise Evil Morty would never been able to even look at Puppetmaster Rick wrong if there was the tiniest chance of it eventually leading to Puppetmaster Rick getting harmed. So I'm going to assume that the restraint is about something blatant.

Like... shooting Puppetmaster Rick, running him over with a car, poisoning his food, strangling him are all no-go, but aggressively poking him with your finger or not warning him about his impending doom might be okay.

My guess is that restraining Puppetmaster Rick is also okay, because as long as that the "no harm" order is still in action, Puppetmaster Rick would just immediately puppeteer Evil Morty into stopping or freeing him. The puppeteered cannot really get very far with this, especially when they're a child with no equipment of their own... Or that is what Puppetmaster Rick would think.

9. Anyway, before season 7 we don't see Evil Morty directly kill (or try to kill) another Rick. (It's not his fault the Ricks walked into various deathtraps, occasionally when he even specifically told them not to lol) This observation tipped me off to the possibility that some restrictions might still be in place... Of course, I cannot think on why there'd be a restriction against Evil Morty killing random Ricks, so it might simply be that in his attempts to bypass the restrictions against Puppetmaster Rick Evil Morty has learnt to think outside the box and later fully employed this skill to minimize the risk to himself.

And in season 7, he has no difficulty in killing Nice Rick, nor to shoot and attack Rick Prime during the Prime Fight.

10. BUT THEN WHAT'S THIS ABOUT:

I couldn't stop thinking about this phrase!!! It just doesn't make any sense!! WHY DID RICK PRIME ACT LIKE EYEPATCH MORTY WAS INCAPABLE OF KILLING HIM?!

So I kept thinking on what sort of mental restraints might still be active inside Evil Morty's brain.

Like, what? Is it something like him "not being allowed to kill a Rick who isn't currently posing a threat", so he could shoot Rick Prime in the beginning but not now that he's restrained? (But he shot Nice Rick again with no problem inside the box, when he was down and weaponless and dying...) This didn't really make any sense, like... why??? So I dropped this theory and forgot about it...

... until the theory that Rick Prime has been mind controlling other Ricks came up. By more than one fan!!!! (and we followed different lines of thought to reach it!!!)

SO LET'S PUT EVERYTHING TOGETHER:

(1) Evil Morty absolutely does still have some mental restraints in his brain and has been carefully operating around them this whole time, trying not to trigger them.

(2) One of those mental restraints effectively prevents him from killing Puppetmaster Rick. This would provide an additional explanation about why Eyepatch Morty didn't kill Puppetmaster Rick the moment he realized said Rick was freed by Rick C-137 resetting all portal travelers. Like, I can think of other explanations:

Puppetmaster Rick being terrified of the Citadel and having no idea that it no longer exists and worrying that they'll come get him to throw him in the Machine of Unspeakable Doom again, therefore laying as low as possible, either hiding himself so effectively that even Evil Morty can't find him, or protecting his home base to withstand an attack from the Citadel itself, making it extremely difficult for Evil Morty to defeat him.

Evil Morty being either extremely scared or extremely repulsed by him, simply never wanting to deal with him ever again, and thinking it highly unlikely Puppetmaster Rick would ever be able to successfully track him down as long as Morty took certain precautions...

...But it's also very likely that Evil Morty is physically unable to do it. Like, I doubt Evil Morty is morally above neutrino-bombing an entire planet just to get this one Rick, but maybe he can't do it. Maybe he is not allowed to fire such a weapon.

(3) In fact, the only things Evil Morty can do is hide himself in the fringe between worlds, employ a number of sophisticated shields, and surgically add the mind-cotrol-implant-overriding fingerguns on himself. An attack with these might at worst cause pain for Puppetmaster Rick, but as we've seen the fingerguns don't actually physically harm nor kill their target, they just... override the target's nervous system. So he can use those against Puppetmaster Rick.

(4) Fast forward to the Prime Fight, where Evil Morty uses a gun to try to kill Rick Prime--and why not? Of course he can do it. He also attacks Rick Prime with his bare hands and hijacks one of Prime's Dianebots to pummel him into a pancake. All good.

(5) Eventually, Eyepatch Morty's temporary allies go down, all the weapons and physical attacks he has tried got him no results, there are no more Dianebots for him to hijack and he's about to get shot:

Desperate, he tries one last thing: the finger-gun, which would only work if Rick Prime also has a mind-control-implant in his forehead.

(6) Bingo!!! It works.

(7) ...But this means that Rick Prime is also defined by a "Puppetmaster Rick status". Whatever mental restraint Evil Morty struggled to operate around is updated to extend to Rick Prime.

While the remains of the mind-control implant inside Evil Morty's head did not receive any new orders (as he no longer has a receiver), the old orders are still in place, and the updated knowledge concerning Rick Prime's status as a "Rick who puppeteers others" (or "admin" if you like) firmly slots him inside the "cannot harm" box.

(8) Whatever. Evil Morty is annoyed, but he knows how to work around this. He's unconcerned.

We have no confirmation of this, but it's likely Puppetmaster Rick had a special room and special equipment and used it update or oversee Evil Morty's implant (I mean... we've come up with similar imagery for Evil Morty and Evil Rick). Evil Morty therefore knows Rick Prime should also have something similar, and knows just what to do. He immediately drags him to the control room, where indeed the relevant equipment is waiting for him.

What I find funny is that Evil Morty probably didn't stick himself inside the wall panels to get all those cables out, but puppeteered Rick Prime to do it in his stead.

And this explains why part of the room was wrecked: Evil Morty was unfamiliar with Prime's strength and implants, and as we've seen, when controlling an unfamiliar body with implants, accidents might happen:

Evil Morty then puppeteered Rick Prime into sitting on his chair (aaaaand I assume deactivated his time-healing ability) before holding him still.

(9) Rick Prime woke up, saw/felt the fingergun and cables on his forehead, noticed he was unable to move, saw Evil Morty, remembered Evil Morty shooting him with something... and probably also immediately began employing his own implants and defense systems to get feedback on Evil Morty's fingergun and on how it could be overridden.

Doesn't this line make a lot more sense now???

He really is getting the picture. And in fact he may be getting a much bigger picture than Evil Morty might like; he may be stealthily scanning Evil Morty's brain through some other implant of his; see it full of cables, recognize the similarities to his own handiwork. He might understand that Evil Morty has puppeteered others, might understand that Evil Morty was once puppeteered himself. He might get a feedback on Evil Morty's list of mental restraints.

And he immediately begins stealthily mounting attacks against the fingerguns, which retaliate each and every time, turning red and hurting him. He keeps trying nonetheless, while simultaneously trying to distract Evil Morty by sweet talking to him (which is nothing but a testament about how clever he is and his ability to multitask) but his fate is sealed; maybe he'd be able to override the fingerguns given enough time... But he doesn't have enough time, and Evil Morty has prepared himself for this exact moment moment. His fingerguns are not easy to be overridden.

(10) So Evil Morty successfully fries each and every one of Prime's puppeteered victims (which do not have "Puppetmaster Rick status") and Prime says this:

DOESN'T THIS LINE MAKE A LOT MORE SENSE NOW?

He got feedback on Evil Morty's brain control implant. He knows that from the moment the fingerguns worked Eyepatch Morty could literally not harm him anymore.

(11) Not that this matters, because Eyepatch Morty knows just what to do...

...bring someone who can finish the job:

DOESN'T THE ABOVE LINE ALSO MAKE SENSE NOW?

Evil Morty is not the one harming him!!! I mean if you wanna look at semantics he didn't even tell Rick C-137 to kill him, he said a joke, a pun.

And he has the added bonus of coming out of this looking like a team player (I mean... as much as he ever could) and gaining an enslaved, morally obligated Rick to himself lol (turning his mental restraints to his advantage)

(12) AND TALK ABOUT POETIC JUSTICE. RICK PRIME IS BEING PUPPETEERED TO SIT STILL IN HIS OWN CHAIR AND GET PUMMELED TO DEATH when he's the one who had been tricking and enslaving countless Ricks to be puppeteered by him forever.

He's literally forced to sit still there and live through it, unable to even lift a finger to protect himself. Poetic. Justice.

(13) Evil Morty had been very careful up to now to hide the fact that he has puppeteered others, but there is no way Rick C-137 didn't understand that Evil Morty is familiar with the puppeteering technology after this encounter (I mean... Rick C-137 knew not to remove the fingerguns, he knew to remove the cables, he knew what this whole thing was).

Which on one hand, doesn't mean he gets to reach any plot-relevant conclusions (at least, not yet) because he knows Evil Morty scans Ricks' brains and steals their technology. On the other hand... we don't know how much more he needs to put 2 and 2 together and reach the same conclusions that Rick Prime did.

(14) And now for my last point.

If all the above is true...

...and depending on the semantics of the mental restraints...

...I would not be surprised if it turns out that Evil Morty using the Omega Device against Ricks is nothing but a GIGANTIC BLUFF.

Like this is literally the worst he can do: improve its design, build it, threaten to use it. (Depending on whether he intends to do a demonstration on e.g. Churry he may not even ever bother to build it.)

Because he literally cannot fire such a weapon against Ricks as long as Puppetmaster Rick is alive. (edit: I'm gonna correct myself and change this to: he cannot use such a weapon against Ricks directly but he still can trick or force someone else to fire it in his stead)

Of course, he would still be able to fire it against Ricks' family, which is probably more effective as a deterrent considering Ricks' suicidal tendencies, but you get the idea.

(...On a different matter, Rick Prime wins plenty of extra cruelty points for vengefully trying to turn Rick C-137 against Evil Morty by warning him about a weapon he knows the kid literally cannot use (edit: cannot use in a moment's notice, in case a furious Rick C-137 pops up in his doorstep))

Again, this may not be true. We don't know if firing such a weapon by throwing another Rick in the Omega Device (and therefore killing eeeevery Rick) counts as Eyepatch Morty directly killing Puppetmaster Rick or not, but I fail to see how it's different from dropping a neutrino bomb on Puppetmaster Rick's head.

(15) Or maybe I'm wrong and I'm only trying to connect dots that don't exist. I honestly cannot think of another explanation for Rick Prime's lines to Evil Morty in Unmortiricken but this doesn't mean there isn't one.

And I do think Evil Morty being deathly scared of Puppetmaster Rick is adequate explanation for not wanting to even try to kill him, and plot-wise and character-wise I think it's a lot more interesting than semantics.

But then again, it's possible for both of these things to be true... Because even with Rick C-137 suddenly becoming his slave, Evil Morty very much did not jump at the opportunity to kill Puppetmaster Rick. He chose to remain hidden. He doesn't want to deal with him.

[glitteringcrab]

WHOOOOOOOOA....!!

I feel like the fact that we have reached more or less the same conclusion following different lines of thought gives a LOT of credence to this theory.

More indications that could be interpreted as pointing towards this theory:

1. SOME of Prime's backups seem to have... something on their forehead:

(Incidentally, on the exact same spot Eyepatch Morty shot his fingergun)

...which I had noticed some time ago but did not know how to interpret.

Is it a coincidence? Or did Eyepatch Morty already know exactly where to shoot if one was to aim for a mind-control/override implant? (and you know what, I was wondering what the mind-controlling implant would look like on Puppetmaster Rick, because he sure as hell won't be wearing an eyepatch...)

In addition, I would like to add that although we saw the sides of Prime's head getting pummeled to a bloody mess, we never saw what the centre of his forehead looked like at the end.

2. At the end of Air Force Wong, when Unity is mad at Rick, Rick C-137 invites Unity to visit him some time. Aaaand we have this line:

I remember being surprised at that moment. As far as I could tell, the nature of Unity as a hivemind meant that they were stronger than Rick C-137 (as in, if they actually managed to assimilate him then he'd be controlled and therefore unable to do anything about it) but just... chose to hang out with him instead because he was cool and unique.

However, regardless of whether @rickteacakes's theory about Unity's involvement is correct, the above line (and the whole episode, in fact) introduces us viewers to the concept that assimilation to a collective can go awry for the unsuspecting. Someone who you might not expect may in fact take over, for whatever reason.

Maybe those other Ricks who accepted Prime's technology (whatever that was), willing to become "infinite Rick" thought they would retain their individuality, maybe like participating in a chatroom or something, exchange ideas... Rick C-137, and probably every other Rick who Rick Prime visited back then, was young and not filled with self hatred; just confidence/arrogance. That prospect might sound pretty enticing and stroking their own egos (and suddenly, Rick C-137's line about Evil Morty "throwing a tantrum to announce everyone he is quitting twitter" comes to mind... as well as Rick C-137's line to Unity about "missing being part of a collective".) Or, maybe Prime promised them they could live forever. Stay young forever. It might explain why he got so many freaking followers!

...But in any case, they were deceived instead, their bodies becoming mindless drones that were assimilated by Rick Prime's mind. (I do think it's unlikely that the assimilation benefited Rick Prime and the other Ricks involved equally...)

3. Rick C-137 already knowing what the purpose of the thin black cables connecting to Prime's forehead was:

I remember panicking during that moment in the episode. I was thinking "dude what are you doing??? Evil Morty put those there for a reason!!! How do you know it's safe to remove them??? Maybe they keep Prime immobile or halt his regeneration or or or or!!"

...But Rick C-137 knew what he was doing. He knew it was safe. He knew what their purpose was.

And he knew not to remove Eyepatch Morty's fingerguns, although he never saw them getting fired.

This would be in line with your theory of Rick C-137 also being offered to get assimilated, declining, and then later figuring out that Rick Prime is simultaneously in countless places at once because he has taken over the other Ricks who accepted. It's likely Rick C-137 studied the relevant technology. It's likely he knew what these cables were for.

4. "Both Mortys seem to buy everything Evil Morty extracted from C-137's memories (Evil Morty is confident in his tech and Prime Morty is just like that lol), but can we really trust that those memories are intact?"

CORRECT. It's entirely possible Rick C-137 has been mind blowing himself and keeping unbearably painful crucial plot points hidden.

There is also some precedent of this (almost) happening to Beths, with Rick C-137 outright telling them forgetting won't be reliable:

Even if you don't revisit your old memories (and therefore remember), you might find out that you forgot.

5. It would explain why Eyepatch Morty looks extra annoyed during the frying-Prime's-clones sequence. Compare with how chill he looks when downloading the Omega Device data and destroying the core:

vs

He does. Not. Like. Dealing. WITH THIS MIND-TAKING-OVER-THING-AGAIN. DAMMIT.

6. "what if Rick Prime wasn't just giving out portal tech, but was actively doing almost the same thing Evil Morty have done - absorbing every possible knowledge of every Rick he encountered"

This would explain Rick Prime's following line:

He woke up, he saw the cables, he remembered Eyepatch Morty shooting him with something in the forehead, he saw Eyepatch Morty now standing in front of him and obviously knowing what he's doing, and immediately Prime was all like "oooh! I see. You do similar stuff, huh?"

7. And it would be one more reason he'd be very mad at Eyepatch Morty: he's beating him not just in general, but in his very own game...!

8. One last thing:

I've read fan theories about how Prime might be "haunting" Rick C-137 or something after this, or maybe implanting himself like a virus, or maybe taking over or whatever...

...I didn't think there would be any truth to them (I do feel like the creators bringing back Prime in this fashion would be cheap) and we have no indication from the show until now that there were any consequences from this moment, but, uh... I am now slightly worried.

Is Prime's arc really over?

I mean, he's dead alright, no doubt in that, and tbh I sort of hope that he will not be brought back to life. But. BUT.

This is a long ass rant. If you open it, it's on you.

Even in the last confrontation between Prime and C-137 we didn't really get any solid confirmations of Prime and C-137 origin story. We know they've met, we know Prime showed C-137 "infinity" (in his own words) and killed C-137's family, which resulted into C-137 trying to hunt him down, but except those facts confirmed and explained in s6ep1, s7ep3, s7ep5, nothing else was. Not the real meaning of their conversation in the garage, not even the fact of this garage meet-up being the first time they've met, and also not the meaning of Prime's words that he misses it when there were only two of them.

Both Mortys seem to buy everything Evil Morty extracted from C-137's memories (Evil Morty is confident in his tech and Prime Morty is just like that lol), but can we really trust that those memories are intact? What if, just like with Federation, Rick kept main points of events, but changed the details or timeline, that can potentially flip the meaning or change the tone of said events?

The most confusing part in relation to the timeline for me is Prime's slips during his rants: "I do miss when it was just us. The only two Rick's who actually invented portal travel", especially combined with "I showed you infinity".

It makes sense in two possible situations: if Prime showed C-137 the portal tech ("showed you infinity"), offered it, was rejected, left, killed his family and then was actively fucking with C-137 during the first hunt (which can explain the "miss when it was just us" line) OR if Prime showed him the portal tech, C-137, being inspired, also invented the portal travel, and then he and Prime were on friendly terms for some time after that, travelling together or each on their own with random meet-ups, until Prime offered him something else, which C-137 declined. Then everything else followed.

And honestly? IMO, first option doesn't line up. We never saw clones or decoys of Prime during C-137's first hunt in the crybaby backstory, no mocking images of Diane, nothing that could possibly indicate that Prime was actively playing with him. We also see other Ricks owning portal technology during young C-137's run, so there already weren't "just two of us", only in the very beginning maybe. Prime obviously watched C-137 to keep track on him and his whereabouts and shenanigans, but we don't see him making any moves himself, interacting with C-137 in any way. So what's there to miss at all?

Let's look at the second option. What's really interesting about it is how Prime's words "I showed you infinity" can be interpreted in two ways that are not mutually exclusive - as in showing interdimensional travel or showing something entirely else, possibly even bigger. Like something that was supposed to create "Infinite Rick, a GOD", which was mentioned in the 'falce' memory in 03x01 together with another interesting line: "Once we give you this technology, you become the smartest man in the universe". Since we know that Rick uses his own memories to fool people, it's entirely possible that these lines are real, they sound real, like something Prime could say. But.

But how simply owning a technology makes you the smartest man in the universe? The answer is - it doesn't. You just own it. You don't become smarter because you get your hands on a sci-fi tech, unless it alters your own mind/brain to make you smarter, and portal travel doesn't work like that.

This is just a theory based on the altered memory of Rick C-137, but what if Rick Prime wasn't just giving out portal tech, but was actively doing almost the same thing Evil Morty have done - absorbing every possible knowledge of every Rick he encountered, maybe connecting them in some kind of a web instead of killing them, so he could cover his presence not using a Morty, but creating virtual clones of himself everywhere in all those Ricks? Maybe that's what he was tempting C-137 with - infinite knowledge of infinite Rick. Unite every single one of them, make them bigger than the universe, make them THE GOD in every sense possible.

Only that it can cost you everything. Cost you your humanity. Change you ultimately, make you so much above any other being, that it will eventually sound lonely. So Rick C-137 declined.

It's just a random ass theory. But how does it sound?

[fandomwe1rd0]

I really like how Evil Morty took advantage of being seen as a helpless sidekick who only does what his Rick tells him to do, he controls Evil Rick's mind and because of that, they assumed Evil Rick was the puppetmaster (When literally the opposite was true) and that Evil Morty was some poor helpless victim only listening to his Rick, so when they did eventually get caught, Evil Rick took all of the blame, so he was down a puppet, but other than that, Evil Morty got to be a freeman, and all he had to do was wait for the right time, and make a plan.

[nihilistic-rick]

dude, you and the priest Rick are so silly, I want to explode with how cute y’all are

OOC: My job here is done ! I have made everyone including myself explode with the cuteness! Puppetmaster out ! J/k

Thank you sweet anon. They definitely bring out a side of Nihilistic that he can't even explain. I do enjoy rping with them and of course their art as well. Check their artwork out, simply amazing.

@priest-richard-sanchez

[dzamie]

Dumb question, but from your antisemitic dog whistles post: Is is inherently antisemitic to make an anthro lizard character? Is there a way to do that without being assumed to be an antisemitic dog whistle?

So, the short answer is "I sure hope there is, or else the furry community has a lot to answer for."

The long answer is, first off, that you can't really accidentally dogwhistle. The closest there is is just not thinking critically about the choices you're making in a character/setting... like how people sometimes completely unthinkingly make their elves a race of blond-haired, blue-eyed, supernaturally-attractive, physically- and morally-superior Aryan Übermenschen just by designing on autopilot.

And secondly, yeah you pretty much just don't make your lizard a Jewish stereotype, and especially don't have them be part of a shadowy cabal of lizards who secretly control the world.

Let's look at two examples: Woke Lizard Teacher from Sinfest, and Rick from Savestate. First up, Woke Lizard Teacher:

This one is actually shockingly on-the-nose antisemitic. Note how the lizard: 1) could be anywhere, hidden as a normal human, 2) is expressly malevolent, 3) targets children, 4) self-identifies as specifically "reptilian" (the term David Icke uses for his not-Jews lizards) and 5) is an "overlord" - once again, there's that shadowy cabal of inhuman puppetmasters.

Anyway, that was horrid, and I honestly can't think of a way to have that be innocent without two prequel novels starring the Woke Lizard Teacher and her steady, deserved rise to power. On to brighter pastures. Up next is Rick, my favorite character in all of Savestate:

Rick is literally just some guy. A friendly iguana, whose reptile-ness occasionally plays a role by mentioning his affinity for warmth. He isn't part of some secret cabal, he doesn't want to eat children, he's just... a lizard. He's gaming. Lizard gaming.

[lettherebemonsters]

Rick shook his head.

“ Nah. The tech that went into making them goes back to World War 2. A man named Andre Toulon somehow managed to bring puppets to sentient life and somehow fused souls into their little bodies.

They had to fight a demon named Sutekh so I think it was some kind of supernatural thing. But Toulon told me that I was going to be their guardian now.....and well....here we are.

It’s kind of like adopting a preschool class of kids. They’re all different...”

@songbirdsandsugar

Rick was relieved that the puppets hadn’t been up to too much mischief. Even though Decapitron had left the role of Puppetmaster to him, the puppets all had their own personalities and moods.

Torch was very child-like and moody, and a definite pyromaniac. So he was definitely worried about him setting the small building on fire.

Rick smiled. He was easy going and good natured, traits that made the puppets trust and like him from the start.

“ I’m glad Torch didn’t get too spicy. He likes burning things from time to time. I’m Rick Myers. I’m the caretaker here, though I’m also an AI programmer. These guys are, well….Puppets. There’s Torch, Jester, Pinhead, Tunneler, Leech Woman, Six-shooter…..there’s a few. Oh and Blade too!”

@songbirdsandsugar

[anexplanationofunfortunateevents]

we’re gonna need a bigger boat

It looks like we’re heading into a third week where there’s a lot of news that’s really important, and a lot of news that’s really bonkers. That can get so overwhelming that it’s hard to tell what is even happening, let alone to figure out what’s actually important. It’s not just you.

Like. Yes, Trump really is saying that his call with the Ukrainian president was “perfect” and also blaming it on someone else.

Specifically, this guy.

Don’t get me wrong, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry is definitely implicated in all this. He’s just not the puppetmaster who hypnotized Trump into making the “perfect” phone call which was supervised by a dozen other officials and then hidden away in the quadruple-secret lockbox because it was so radioactively exonerating.

OR IS HE?

No word yet on whether Rick Perry, wizard and mastermind, is also going to be the fall guy for Trump’s similarly inappropriate conversations with Australia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. THOSE ARE THE ONES WE KNOW ABOUT.

(See what I mean? It’s important, but also, it’s bananas! I’ve been rewatching Scandal to calm down before bed!)

The attorney general really is flying around the world trying to manipulate foreign intelligence agencies into undermining years of work by American intelligence agencies.

The vice president and secretary of state really are flailing to hide how preposterously guilty they are.

And yes, Trump really was on Twitter crowing like the Great and Powerful Oz about abruptly abandoning U.S. allies in the Middle East to a likely ethnic cleansing campaign, handing a huge victory to ISIS  and, of course, Russia.

This regime’s careening authoritarianism is not some abstract bourgeois distraction from its atrocious domestic policies or its human rights abuses at the border. It is how those things can happen. It is why those things are happening. We will not have humane policies that are good for real people until we slam the brakes on this.

For whatever reasons, the Ukraine shakedown and the subsequent revelations have interrupted this streak of rampant anti-accountability. That’s a big deal for reasons we know already, and for reasons we don’t yet understand. It is worth knowing that more whistleblowers have taken the plunge, that members of the administration are starting to cooperate with investigators, that New York courts are explicitly pushing back on Individual-1’s presumed legal impunity, and, especially, that Democrats in the House are pushing back harder every day.

So you know what to do. Call your member of Congress and thank them if they’re doing the right thing, or pressure them to get on board. Yes, even if they’re a Republican who will never do it. Make them feel the heat. If you come across a story or podcast or whatever that helps you understand what’s going on, share it on whatever platform you have. I promise you’re not the only one who can benefit from the help. 

A few useful sources:

For explainer articles, Talking Points Memo and Vox.

The Rachel Maddow Show really has been on this story like no one else for years now. If watching cable news stresses you out (understandable) you can still get it by podcast.

If you like long-form listening but prefer comedy, try Mueller, She Wrote.

Shareblue is helpful if you want to, you know, share.

[mrsegbert]

Hey fancy do you have any puppetmaster hcs?

DO I?????

While the puppet's have the souls of deceased humans, the puppets' individual personalities aren't particularly connected to said people or share their memories. Like with Erich - while Torch has a peice of Erich's soul within him, he himself is not Erich and is a completely different person.

Andre and Elsa had a difficult time having children, and that's why they only had Erich and had him so late in life. Before they were able to concieve Erich, they treated their puppets as children (and did so even after Erich was born.)

Andre, Elsa, and Erich were all Jewish, but had fake documents stating otherwise so they could travel within nazi-occupied areas inconspicuously.

Before her death, Elsa already had a fascinstion for leeches and that's why Andre took the bottle of leeches for her doll form.

Afzel, the man who told Elsa and Andre how to make the life-giving serum, is a relative of Avdol from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure.

Despite being so well educated in chemistry and medical sciences that he could teach the subjects in universities, Andre took up puppeteering instead because that's what truly made him happy.

Just to be angsty - Torch knows of what Erich did and hates him for it, and hates himself for having a piece of Erich's soul within him. Despite being a completely different person from Erich, Torch still worries deep down that he might become just like him.

All of the puppets (except for Leech Woman) consider each other brothers. Leech Woman/Elsa and Andre consider the puppets their children.

Torch and Blade are very close, probably the closest out of the puppets. Blade keeps Torch's fiery temper at bay and keeps him level-headed. They can be seen as co-leaders out of the group of puppets. They rarely get into serious conflicts with one another.

Jester is considered the baby or youngest sibling out of the group, and everyone treats him as such.

Contrastly, Torch is regarded as the oldest brother.

Tunneler, Pinhead, and Jester are all very close and can often be seen together. Pinhead is always there to protect his little brothers, and Pinhead and Jester have similar personalities - though, Tunneler is much more mischevious.

Blade is very friendly and a good friend! He'd probably have a lot of friends, if he weren't held back by being a puppet with a blade and hook for hands and the inability to speak.

All the puppets see Andre and Elsa/Leech Woman as their parents. And it was very scarring and traumatizing for Torch and Blade to see Leech Woman burn to death in the second movie.

Sixshooter is definitely a class-clown figure, often trying to make situations lighter by trying to goof around. The others usually appreciate it, but Torch isn't so receptive.

When Toulon came back of Decapitron, he apologized tp the puppets deeply for his actions in the second movie. The serum had changed him after he had been resurrected, and Leech Woman's death made hom delusional with grief. The puppets all forgave him and they shared a hug.

Rick and Susie became sort of "step parents" and caretakers of the puppets after the fifth movie. They're one big happy family!

[kd-holloman]

“What the hell were you thinking?” Louis demanded.

Slater felt beer-tasting bile rise up in the back of his throat. He pinched his eyes shut and prayed that the world would stop spinning around him. “I didn’t think I needed your permission to go out for a drink.”

“You almost got your block knocked off!”

Slater glared at Louis and then sat on the hood of the beater. He rested his feet on the bumper and his elbows on his knees. “I would have handled it if you would have let me.”

Louis lit a cigarette and shook his head. “So, why didn’t you?”

“Because, Louie, sometimes I like to fight, okay? It makes me feel more in control.”

“Getting your ass kicked makes you feel like you’re in control?” He snorted. “Then, you did a great job.”

Slater frowned and stared straight ahead, across the parking lot, and into the overgrown weeds. “If I get my teeth knocked down the back of my throat after I intentionally pissed someone off, it means everything went according to plan. It means I had control over the situation.”

Louis took a drag of his cigarette without saying anything. He opened his mouth to say something and must have changed his mind, because his lips wrapped back around the filter for another. “Y’ know,” he said, making the cigarette jump, “you can’t be in control all of the time.”

Slater frowned. He knew that being in control all of the time wasn't realistic, but once upon a time he’d convinced himself that he had been. It had been a while ago. Before the Quench poisoning, before Louis, and not long before Nicolas.

It had been sometime between running away from Lexie’s and Nicolas’s death. Slater had recently started to wear The Reaper like a pair of well-fitting jeans. He’d been powerful, he’d had more money than he’d known what to do with, and he’d proven himself time and time again.

For once, he’d thought he’d been calling the shots. He’d never once felt like the ground beneath him had been unstable. Then, it had shifted beneath him and he’d learned that Rick had been the puppetmaster the entire time.

So, Louis was right. Nobody could be in control all of the time, even if they believed it were possible. But Slater could damned well try to be as in control as possible. “No,” he agreed, “you’re right. Nobody can be in control all of the time.” He slid off the hood.

“Why do you take it personally when something goes wrong?”

“Because,” Slater said, “it seems like no matter what I do, nothing goes according to plan.” He was trying to gain back what little control he had in life and it wasn’t working. He could feel his already flimsy mental fortitude growing weaker by the minute.

“It hasn’t,” he agreed, “but it hasn’t gone completely pear-shaped.”

Slater arched a brow at him. “How?”

Louis considered it for a moment. “I don’t know, that thing in New York went well.”

It had. But only because Slater had learned about and gotten his hands on Burst.

“And Korzhakov didn’t try to put a bullet in our skulls the moment he saw us. That’s got to count for something, right?”

Slater supposed it did, even if it didn’t feel like it. “That fact that we have to work with him in the first place, isn’t ideal.” He gave Louis a curious look. “Funny, I never took you for the silver-lining type.”

Something strange passed through Louis’s expression for a moment. It was like riding in a car and peering into a shop window as you passed. You caught a glimpse inside, just long enough to see what color the walls were and that there was a sign hanging over the cash register, but not long enough to pick out any more details than that. Only instead of a blue paint and a sign above the cash register, it was mourning and sadness in Louis’s expression.

Slater wondered who it was for.

Louis flicked his cigarette to the pavement and tipped his head back to look at the stars. He looked like an otherworldly deity with his strong jaw and long throat exposed above the collar of his partially unbuttoned shirt. When he exhaled, the smoke passed through his lips and into the night in a white tobacco-scented cloud. “It’s a beautiful night.”

Slater followed his gaze up to the stars. They burned bright in the chilly, clear, Illinois sky.

As beautiful as they were, the stars scared him. Space scared him. The prospect that they were floating on a microscopic grain of sand in the endless expanse of the universe made him feel like he was a kid again, preparing to face the monster under his bed. Being conscious of his own mortality made him feel even smaller.

He felt Louis watching him. He left thought of infinite stars and galaxies with the sky and turned his attention to Louis.

He was looking at him like he could read his mind. Or at least, like he was trying to. “You can’t plan every moment in your life.”

Slater snorted. “What? You don’t think that would be a dream come true?”

“No. It’d be boring.”

“You think so? Do you really think that knowing the outcome of everything that was going to happen would be boring?”

Louis’s smile was quiet and amused. He moved closer, close enough that Slater could smell the cigarette smoke that still clung to his clothes. “Yeah, I do.”

Slater leaned against the passenger door of the beater, hands in his pockets. “You can’t possibly enjoy the element of surprise that much.”

“I can’t say I’m a big fan,” Louis said with a shrug. “But relying too heavily on a plan is a good way to end up getting bit in the ass if it doesn’t work. There needs to be room for flexibility, I s’pose.”

Slater grinned. “So you’re into flexibility?”

Louis gave a shake of his head. Was it just a trick of the light or was there a tinge of fondness on his face. His eyes went to Slater’s lips and then back to his eyes. He leaned in, close enough that Slater could feel the warmth of his body heat in the frosty October night. Slater thought Louis Mahoney was going to be ballsy enough to kiss him until he said, “The next time you pick a fight where you’re outnumbered, you better invite me along. I’m not about to play nurse just because you went and got the shit kicked out of you.”

“Oh, come on, Louie,” Slater couldn’t resist a grin. “I don’t know about you, but your legs would look great in one of those nurse costumes. Halloween is right around the corner, after all. You could show off your legs and assets.”

Louis scoffed and took a step back. “Only in your dreams, O’Brien.”

And just like that, the moment between them was over, the heat absorbed by the frigid night. Slater didn’t know if he wanted to be relieved that Louis wasn’t mad at him for sneaking out and starting a fight, or disappointed that Louis hadn’t kissed him.

“Speaking of dreams,” Louis said, “you should probably try to get some sleep. How long has it been anyway?”

Slater pushed himself off the car and followed Louis toward the hotel room. “Too long, but damn, Louie, I might sleep forever if I get to dream of you in a dirty-nurse costume.”

Louis shoved his shoulder, a grin on his face. “Shut up.”

Share an excerpt that takes place at night.

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[zsweber-studios]

So, I’ve been thinking of the most recent TAZ Amnesty arc, and I think what Griffin is trying to accomplish through the newest Abomination. Assuming that Mama’s right, and the Abominations being sent to Kepler are geared and designed to directly combat the Pineguard’s ranks, then this Abomination is geared specifically to take out Duck.

I mean, think about it. So far, Duck has been attacked by an Ultrabear and a Water Weird. The Ultrabear tried to maul him, gored him on its antler, and slashed him with its tail. The Water Weird tried to whip him, drown him, and flung him across a waterpark, knocking him head-first into the concrete wall of a reservoir, and he still managed to get back up again.

Now, if I were trying to take out a group of hunters, I think after all of that I would focus my attention on Duck, on the tank that can’t go down. And in that case, I wouldn’t try to directly kill him--as we’ve seen already, Duck is a pretty tough guy. So how do you get rid of the tank that can’t go down? You hit him where it really hurts--you go after the people he cares about.

Think about it. The first target of this newest arc was Rick Dannon, Duck’s former mentor and partner on the ranger squad. The next was his neighbor and friend Leo Terkisian, and the most recent was his current partner and friend Juno Devine. All of these are people that, if Duck knows they’re in trouble, he’ll rush head-long in to save.

If he dies in the incident, great! But if not, and he fails? That will eat away at him, much like how Aubrey not being able to control her powers has been eating away at her. On top of this is the fact that this Abomination seems to be working through humanoids puppetmaster-style, dialing in on Duck’s code of honor and reservations about killing other people.

And if we get to the end of this arc, and it turns out that he was the real target of all these instances, then it might be enough to make Duck walk away from it. He doesn’t want to endanger anyone, and if he can be convinced that him fighting the Abominations is putting people in danger, he will walk away.

[glitteringcrab]

I've seen this technology before (part 2)

think of the implications think of the implications THINK OF THE FREAKING IMPLICATIONS (trigger warning for sexual abuse)

Sigh... Here we go.

First of all, let's get the easy parts out of the way.

Despite people who are being puppeteered sometimes appear to be in a fugue state (that thousand yard stare lol)--

--or, you know, puppeteered. VIOLENTLY sometimes--

--it's clear that they are also both alive and aware:

Would you say this is pretty much the definition of a mind rape?

I mean, we've seen Unity do pretty much the same thing, but the subjects never seem to be aware that they got possessed, are not traumatized nor upset (and hilariously the quality of their lives was greatly improved when Unity had taken over). I don't know if they forget because Unity is actually kind of nice and makes them forget on purpose to avoid trauma, or if it's just how assimilation by hiveminds works. In any case, it is apparent that this is simply how hiveminds live. Ugly, of course, but in the sense of "a predator has to eat" fashion. Not exactly a choice on the hivemind's part. So... technically also a mind rape, but... also not as evil as what Evil Morty has been doing.

Secondly.

Do we all agree that it seems that the receiver is above Evil Rick's eye? We can see its light going on and off, which would likely not be visible if the receiver was at the height of the bottom eyelid (I'm referring to where Evil Morty's cables are sticking out).

Indeed, the Citadel Rick does not have to stick his whole hand inside Evil Rick's face, just the fingers.

In fact, would you say the receiver is... right... about... here:

(and yes, I combined the two frames to achieve the ultimate creepy frame)

So... in the hypothetical scenario that "the reason Evil Morty has cables sticking out of his eye is that he was once puppeteered himself and some remains of the implant are still in his head"...

...would you say that the place where his own receiver must have been would be... somewhere around here:

Which, accounting for the curvature of the giant cartoon eyes (lol) might be the correct distance from the bottom eyelid if one combines the length of the cables Evil Morty already has sticking out of his eyes and the the length of the cables in the eyepatch.

At the same time, it'd be kinda weird for someone to remove the receiver but not the rest of the implant cables and stuff. I mean, if Rick C-137 was trying to remove such an implant from Morty Prime, wouldn't he be thorough about it? Wouldn't he make sure Morty Prime was completely clean?

Unless, of course, you're hastily trying to gouge your own eye out in desperation:

Oops. You too, eh?

Also, it is interesting to note that it appears Evil Rick was trying to stick the shard in his eye (the left eye, btw, where his receiver was) which is... not how one would typically try to commit suicide when you also have a throat available.

So either the mind control kept Evil Rick's hand far away from his throat on purpose, or there are built-in contingencies that ensure unauthorized removal of the receiver is akin to a death sentence...

...which (in the hypothetical case that Evil Morty was at some point in the past also frantically gouging his own eye out) may be negated if you somehow also managed to gain access to some kind of healing equipment (of which we know Ricks have plenty) and set it to turn on automatically (because you're a very smart, careful boy). I'm not gonna add the screenshots because they're too many, but I'm going to list a few:

the one Rick used to jumpstart Pissmaster's brain

the thing Rick injected Morty with after Morty bully-gunned himself

the one Rick used to restore Morty's arm

Rick's freaking garage

(It's possible by the way that the original receiver Evil Morty had did not have a "contain suicide attempt" function. It's possible that the threat of death was deterrent enough that Evil Morty wouldn't try to remove the receiver on his own. It's possible Evil Morty added the "contain suicide attempt" function to Evil Rick's receiver because he knew from experience that this is a price he might be willing to pay. Which would, you know... also explain why he didn't bother downloading the schematics of Rick Prime's auto-healing ability for himself)

IN ANY CASE, you mutilated yourself successfully, pulled the receiver out of your eye's remains, died, your brain healed (physically), the eye reformed, but happened to reform while the cables were sticking out from when you were pulling the receiver. Uh-oh. It's okay, tuck them back in, no one has to know. Better not inform the Citadel nor update your Morty Agency record on your newest implant, either. You wouldn't want other Ricks to know they only need to attach a receiver in your head to exert complete control over you, huh? (like grabbing a... joystick?) Maybe kill your Rick, if you haven't done it already. Run away.

Sigh. Let's go to the hard parts now.

Fans smarter than me have already pointed out that the Rick-Morty dynamic is deliberately built around the idea of grooming, predation of minors and sexual abuse. A lot of the things in the show are either outright instances of grooming, are meant to refer to sexual abuse or are meant to be allegories to sexual abuse, even though canonically Rick is not grooming Morty for sexual reasons. (I strongly suggest you check out all the above links, by the way. I was disturbed.)

Take also into account that Citadel with its Morty Market also has disturbing similarities to a messed up, horrible foster care system, as well as child trafficking.

Although I can't find all the links (message me if you have them), I had also found posts from fans comparing Evil Morty's actions to sexual abuse, against Ricks and Mortys this time.

The "literal" mind rape he has committed is the most blatant example, in my opinion, but far from the only one. The violence of Evil Rick's puppeteering when he was forced to kill Guard Rick was disturbing. Another fan alluded that Evil Morty making Evil Rick drunk before assaulting him was akin to drugging someone before taking sexual advantage of them. Extra disturbing by Evil Rick's exclamation "Get off me!"

Personally, Evil Morty closing the garage door before attacking reminded me of... other scenes in movies etc, where the assaulter turns up the volume on the radio before commencing his attack. I mean... we've seen all sorts of insane stuff happening in that garage (people exploding, redheads flying in, a flying saucer parking) and none of the neighbors even care. Gene actually had the courage to STEAL a rake from this house of madness. It is all treated as comically absurd. Only when Evil Morty attacks are the happenings treated as an actual violent crime that the perpetrator would want to stay hidden.

And sure, Evil Morty needed a large crowd of alive Mortys to hide amongst, and he needed an excuse to keep them alive so he strapped them on the Morty Dome and tortured them, but did they really have to be naked?

Now, I'm in no way an expert of any sort in any of the above, but I've read that when children (and Morty is 14) do physically violent or sexually aggressive acts against others, it's typically because they've been assaulted themselves in a similar fashion. I guess they're either trying to process what happened, are mimicking it, are venting their frustration on someone weaker, or are simply desensitized to it. SOMEONE PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I'M HORRIBLY WRONG.

I'm sure that canonically, no actual rape has taken place, but given the show's general... vibe... I doubt the above mentioned similarities are a coincidence. I'd say that a 14-year-old boy literally losing all body autonomy by becoming an old man's literal puppet for an unspecified amount of time is as close to the concept as possible without actually being the concept. (Edit: sadly, I no longer think this was only metaphorical. There's no way to explain his utter indifference at torturing Mortys, in the particular fashion that he did, unless he concluded that they'd be having a MUCH EASIER time than HE had.)

Of course, this is just a theory. We don't know if anything like this has happened. However, the truth is that while we've seen plenty of miserable Mortys in the Citadel, none of them seem to be as angry, traumatized, nor desperate as Evil Morty. They all managed to smile, or find companionship among each other, or even among Ricks (Cop Rick, I'm looking at you). Evil Morty is the only one who did completely messed up things to an extreme scale without batting an eyelid, just so he could get as far away as possible. He didn't exactly seem to enjoy his journey to freedom, either.

His face here as he finishes the transmitter reads to me as a particularly sad and defeated "...I'm really doing this, then" thought.

And (like actual sexual abuse victims) it's not likely he could have safely unburdened himself by sharing the secret of what happened to him with someone in the Citadel. Another Rick might have taken advantage of him in the same way, once he realized the opportunity was available.

Not to mention that by telling someone he would risk hearing some variation of "you asked for it by being cocky and not doing what you were told" or "being completely controlled by a Rick was the best thing that ever happened to you, you finally stopped doing dumb mistakes". The Rick who puppeteered him could have also framed it as "I'm doing this for your sake, because you keep getting yourself injured in adventures".

And he mustn't let himself react overly emotionally or go into hysterics about it, because then he'll get mind-blown and forget everything that happened (roofied, much?) and be vulnerable to it again. Or, even worse, he may be discarded as "defective" and end up in that Morty slaughterhouse... So he must really tone down his emoting.

He could have theoretically confessed to another Morty, but we've already seen Mortys throwing each other under the bus in their bid to survive. I wouldn't like my chances, personally.

So it seems to me that he be stuck in the Citadel, simming in his own fear, grief and anger with no one to confide to (although gaining a level-up in confidence (cockyness, if you want) given that he successfully orchestrated his own escape attempt). Either living in the lousy conditions of Morty Town, surrounded by clueless Mortys who, if ever discovered that he could get mind-controlled might tip off a Rick in exchange of a better quality of life. Or partnering with a Rick, living every day in fear that his secret might get revealed accidentally and that he'd end up dissected and studied, or simply controlled once again. (It would be even more dangerous if his Rick was wanted by the Citadel, and Evil Morty was in danger of getting executed for assisting him.) And, of course, we know that Citadel Ricks do not form lasting bonds with their Mortys. Even if his secret was never discovered, Evil Morty would find neither peace, nor family in the company of the Rick of the Day who adopted him.

I also think there is a lot of internalized victim blaming among the Mortys in the citadel. At some point he might have been convinced that he really did ask for it by not behaving. And this puts the eyepatch in a... different perspective. It made sense that he used the eyepatch initially, that's pretty much the only place where he could put his transmitter. But after he gained access to aaaaall the Citadel's tech as president, he built a lot of cool things. Couldn't he have built a better interface, one that doesn't require an eyepatch?

I mean... he definitely improved the eyepatch itself. In the beginning he had to connect it with his implanted cables manually:

But after he became president, it appears that it connects automatically. No longer necessary to stick your fingers in your own eye socket (yayyy).

It's unclear if the cables themselves are still there (they might be!) but some part of the original implant definitely remains. However, why still use an eyepatch at all? However he may have started off originally, we can't really say that he incapable of performing surgery to himself by the time season 7 rolls in because we saw him have a plethora of body augmentations, and yet he still wears an eyepatch. Couldn't he have also altered the implant in his brain so that he keeps any potential perks but no longer needs an external eyepatch?

Sure, maybe he enjoys triggering Rick's fear of pirates (even though he wears it when he is alone outside the CFC). Or maybe he thinks he looks cool wearing it. Or maybe he's just an angsty teenager.

Or... Well... if the whole experience is a source of shame and self-blame for him, he may be metaphorically hiding the place of intrusion... or, conversely, a physical reminder that he managed to literally cut himself free might make him feel better. I tend to think it's the latter.

This is all just a theory. Maybe he simply is evil.

Or maybe he's heartbroken by being constantly discarded in the "adoption" program of the Morty Market to the point where he felt he would explode. Ricks scouring the universe for Mortys meant that blowing the CFC was the only way he could be left alone in peace.

...But I'm leaning towards him having one more reason to run away as far as he can without looking back.

(and as of now, I get the feeling that he hasn't run away far enough)

[paramountpicturesgermany]

Visionär und wegweisend: Fünf Bücher mit den krassesten Zukunftsszenarien

Die Zukunft ist jetzt! Der digitale Wandel ist unaufhaltsam und prägt uns so wie nie zuvor. Neue Technologien beeinflussen sämtliche Lebensbereiche, längst ist der technische Fortschritt bei uns im Alltag angekommen. Innovationen in Industrie, Medizin und Co legen ganz neue Möglichkeiten offen, an die wir vor einigen Jahren noch nicht gedacht haben …oder etwa doch? Zahlreiche Autoren haben sich in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten mit der Revolution 2.0 auseinandergesetzt  – und fiktive Geschichten geschrieben, die uns die Haare zu Berge stehen lassen. Und die unsere Welt heute in Ansätzen wiederspiegelt.

Menschliche Roboter, die die Weltherrschaft übernehmen, soziale Netzwerke, die mehr Einfluss als Regierungen haben und Cyber-Kriege, die die Welt in Schutt und Asche legen – das sind nur einige Szenarien in den visionären Werken, die vor allem die negativen Aspekte des technischen Fortschrittes beleuchten.

Im Kino sind Filme über düstere Zukunftsszenarien, die bildgewaltig inszeniert werden, längst angekommen. Wie im visionären 3D-Blockbuster GHOST IN THE SHELL, der auf dem Manga von Masame Shirow aus dem Jahr 1989 basiert. Hollywoodstar Scarlett Johansson spielt die Spezialagentin Major, einen einzigartigen Cyborg, der die Elite-Sondereinheit Sektion 9 anführt. Nachdem sich Sektion 9 der Verfolgung der gefährlichsten Kriminellen und Extremisten gewidmet hat, wird das Team mit einem neuen Feind konfrontiert. 

Wir stellen euch fünf Werke vor, die die krassesten Zukunftsszenarien aller Zeiten aufzeichnen:  

DER KORRIGIERTE MENSCH (Orig.: „Cyborg“; MARTIN CAIDIN, 1972)

In dem Roman, der die Fernsehserie Six-Million-Dollar Man inspiriert hat, erleidet der Astronaut Steve Austin einen katastrophalen Flugunfall, der ihn komplett verstümmelt und mit nur einer Gliedmaße und einem Auge hinterlässt. Daraufhin werden ihm von Dr. Rudy Wells zwei neue Beine und ein bionischer Arm, bei dem ein Finger durch eine Giftpfeilpistole ersetzt wurde, “an-operiert”. Das verlorene Auge wird durch eine Miniaturkamera ersetzt und ein Rundfunksender wird in eine Rippe eingebaut. Der Preis für das neue Leben: Austin muss als Geheimagent im Mittleren Osten für die amerikanische Regierung spionieren und kämpfen. Zusätzlich hat Austin persönlich damit zu kämpfen, seine Augmentationen zu akzeptieren und seine Selbstzweifel abzulegen. Ein absoluter Klassiker, der auch heute noch gelesen werden sollte.

DER LETZTE SEINER ART (ANDREAS ESCHBACH, 2003)

Der Ex-Supersoldat Duane Fitzgerald führt sein pensioniertes Leben vereinsamt an der Westküste Irlands. Er ist ein Terminator im Ruhestand. Doch als alternder Cyborg hat er zunehmend mit den Schattenseiten seiner Transformation zu leben. Nicht nur die Implantate haben ein Verfallsdatum, auch die Nuklearbatterie in seinem Unterbauch beginnt ihm Sorgen zu bereiten. Er weiß, dass er nie wieder normales Essen zu sich nehmen und nie mehr eine Frau lieben wird. Statt an einen vor Selbstvertrauen strotzenden und strahlenden Helden erinnert dieser Cyborg eher an einen desillusionierten und gebrochenen Menschen. Nachdem mehrere Bürger des irischen Dorfes umkommen, wird Fitzgerald zum Gejagten. Auf der Suche nach seinen alten Kollegen wird ihm klar, dass er der letzte seiner Art ist. Ein fesselnder Spannungsroman, der auch einen philosophischen Anspruch stellt.

TRÄUMEN ANDROIDEN VON ELEKTRISCHEN SCHAFEN? (PHILIP K. DICK, 1968)

Der Science-Fiction-Roman Träumen Androiden Von Elektrischen Schafen? diente als Vorlage für den 1982 erschienenen Film Blade Runner und behandelt die Frage, was den Mensch eigentlich zum Menschen macht. Infolge eines Atomkriegs sind die meisten Menschen auf den Mars ausgewandert, wo sie Androiden zur Urbanisierung des neuen Territoriums nutzen. Diese sind dem Menschen intellektuell deutlich überlegen, was einige dazu veranlasst, auf die Erde zurückzukehren. Im postapokalyptischen San Francisco ist es die Aufgabe von Prämienjäger Rick Deckard, diese zu eliminieren. Bei seinem Kampf gegen die Androiden kommen Deckard immer mehr Zweifel, ob seine Überzeugung, dass die Empathie den Menschen von der Maschine unterscheidet, der Wahrheit entspricht. Es stellen sich Fragen wie: Wo liegen die Grenzen der Menschlichkeit? Wie leben wir unsere Sterblichkeit? Ein sehr philosophisches Werk, das definitiv zum Nachdenken anregt.

DER CIRCLE (DAVE EGGERS, 2013)

Im Fokus des Bestsellerromans von Dave Eggers steht die mächtige Internetfirma The Circle, die als eine Art Fusion aller sozialen Netzwerke die größte Datensammelmaschine der Welt ist. Sie bietet perfekte Kommunikationsmöglichkeiten und vollkommene Vernetzung, um den sozialen Austausch zu erleichtern. Die 24-jährige Mae Holland ergattert einen Job bei dem futuristischen Unternehmen mit Sitz in Kalifornien. Von lichtdurchfluteten, modernen Büros über kostenlose Mahlzeiten; vom hauseigenen Sternekoch bis zu coolen Partys fast jeden Abend: für die junge Frau ein absoluter Traumjob. Holland arbeitet für vollkommene Transparenz und ist der Überzeugung, dass Geheimnisse Lügen sind und Privatsphäre Diebstahl ist. Der spannende Silicon-Valley-Krimi zeigt eine sehr realistische und der Wirklichkeit nur wenig vorauseilende Überwachungsgesellschaft. Gänsehaut garantiert!

GHOST IN THE SHELL (MASAMUNE SHIROW, 1989)

Dieser Manga diente schon als Vorlage für zahlreiche Kinofilme und Fernsehserien. Cyborgs sind im Jahr 2029 etwas ganz normales, ob Implantat oder Cyberbrain, der Mensch wird soweit zur Maschine gemacht wie möglich. Der Geist (Ghost) sind menschliche Gehirnzellen, verpackt in einer Biokapsel (Shell), die die Identität und Persönlichkeit der Cyborgs prägen. Als sich ein unbekannter Hacker, bekannt als Puppetmaster, Zugriff auf die Shells der Cyborgs verschafft, sie ihrer Identität beraubt und diese fremdsteuert, wird die Spezialeinheit Sektion 9 mit der Suche nach dem Puppetmaster beauftragt. Major Motoko Kusanagi, die Anführerin der Einheit, ist selbst ein Cyborg, der sich sogar unsichtbar machen kann. Sie steht in einem stetigen inneren Konflikt, ob sie überhaupt noch ein Mensch ist. Ghost In The Shell ist ein Kult-Manga, das nicht nur durch seine exzellente Zeichenweise überzeugt.  

Genau dieses Szenario wird in der Neu-Verfilmung von GHOST IN THE SHELL gezeigt. Der bildgewaltigste 3D-Blockbuster des Jahres mit der preisgekrönten Scarlett Johansson in der Hauptrolle. Ab 30. März in Deutschlands Kinos!  

[itsjumpbetch]

When Rick and Morty is a lifestyle 😂🙌🏻😭 #rickandmorty #rickandmortymoments #getschwifty #pmpuppetmasters #puppetmasters

[ao3feed-snape]

ALTERNATE UNIVERSITY

read it on AO3 at http://ift.tt/2j5mLol

by ElegantButler

A temporal storm has brought many people together from different universes into a simple world. But living in a world that's not your own, is never truly easy, no matter how simple it may seem to the locals.

Words: 976, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Max Headroom - Fandom, Fifth Element (1997), The Runestone, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - Fandom, Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler, Saint Beast, PuppetMaster IV

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen

Characters: Edison Carter, Bryce Lynch, Kenny Travis, Jacob Frannag, Detective Gregory Fanducci, Dirk Gently, Severus Snape, Harry Potter, Corbin Dallas, Rick Myers, Ciel Phantomhive, Sebastian Michaelis, Grell Sutcliffe, William T. Spears, Seiryuu no Goh

Additional Tags: Crossover, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2j5mLol

[nihilistic-rick]

Please read before interacting.

Puppermaster is an adult (30s) so please MDNI at all

Asks are open so feel free to pop in and ask anything.

DMs are open as well

18+ over things will be tagged as nsfw

Asks/DMs will get reblogged once in a while

Please no 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 stuff. The world is fucked as it is. No 𝙣𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙.

𝘙I𝘊𝘒𝘖𝘙𝘛𝘐𝘌𝘚 𝘋𝘕𝘐

No underage rpers, no incest of any kind.

With that said, have fun with this blog. Also don't take anything personally on this blog here, Puppetmaster is super sweet and kind and understanding but will not take shit. I've been doing RP since 2010-2016 and on and off up until now. I have seen the best and worst sides of Rp and all it's fandoms. One thing is you will not stress me out on my blog, nor push me for replies. The minute that happens you will be blocked and removed. Puppetmaster is in their 30s, I will not and can't stress this enough but absolutely no minors at all. It makes me feel weird and uncomfortable rping with a minor. Fuck outta here with that. All fetuses will be thrown out. If your age has teen in it, get the fuck away from this blog.

This ask/rp blog is made for fun, and I intend to keep it that way. So have fun with it !

Last but not least, my Rick is an independent Rick. They are open to rping any verse, universe, dimension etc. They can and are also happy to rp outside of the Rick and Morty verse as well.This Rick is a NSFW. Things will get angsty, things will get violent and aggressive. This Rick goes by Nihilistic, and their age is between late 20s, early 30s.This blog is also selective as well, and last but not least, mun and muse are two separate beings, what the mun is feeling will not have the muse feeling it.

[cutron]

Journal.docx Abridged: May 2018

May 1: Hope is a flame. Hope is a lack of hiatuses. Hope is a cobra.

May 2: CURSE YOU THANOS!

May 3: The flight speed of an unladen raven, parents on a forum for runners, algebra, 4.4444, and a DC cartoon. These are all factors in a bonus cutscene.

May 4: You got the dud! A convenience store speedrun. Adrenaline and the heebie-jeebies. Those are also all factors in said cutscene.

May 5: I need a physicist, a geographer, a storyboarder, a biologist, an anthropologist, a cartographer, and a candyman.

May 6: Why isn't there a baseball glove emoji?

May 7: The one force more powerful than a Puppetmaster Liboss. Hate. Not love, hate.

May 8: Why are robots programmed to feel pain? The same reason as organics. Self-preservation.

May 9: What's something soft and/or bouncy one can find on the sidewalk of a busy road? I'm asking for a friend.

May 10: Convert to feet, add 700, convert to meters, divide by 10 + X., and multiply by 3.6. And now Becky has some stats for the Junior Division of Death Battle.

May 11: Wait, I thought North-By-Northwest was a direction on a 16-direction compass, not exclusively for 32-directions and beyond.

May 12: Based on the results of these SBURB simulations, Ursula would totally romance herself. Every time. Selfcest is canon!

May 13: I have discovered the perfect Edgelord username! Why hasn't anybody taken it?

May 14: USB Cactus

May 15: Parameters for a hint.

May 16: Huh, I thought there'd be a Tumblr post for that. Time to do some research on the history of black people in voice acting. Specifically, finding out who is the first big success for black women in voice acting.

May 17: Extrude the fingers!

May 18: The colour tally indicates a lack of humanity.

May 19: Boris and Diana are taking out the trash! Specifically, a trashy book I had to read for school that would make for better kindling than reading material.

May 20: Crushed past the halfway point!

May 21: How Marguerite's grandparents met.

May 22: The Homestuck house, Steven's gem, Derpy's coat, Dipper's tree, Rick's hair, the human's SOUL, the universal edgelord black, and some Wonder Woman and Deadpool to round it out. Wait, I forgot Wander's fur!

May 23: The unrequited crushes of a fake angel.

May 24: SANDCASTLEVANIA!

May 25: Sehciwdnas

May 26: A new twist on another fandom's theory.

May 27: Consenting burglary vacations!

May 28: All I need is a spin attack. A spin attack is all I need.

May 29: "NO MICROTRANSACTIONS"! Now that's a phrase that generates infinitely more hype than "Free to start"

May 30: Patricia Valdez stars in... The Soccer version of Space Jam!

May 31: Basketball power vacuum. Wait, I forgot, I'm Canadian, it's a Hockey power vacuum!