#if you loved the episode and the ending then i respect that and i'm happy for you

[lost-inanotherlife]

ACT SIX AND FINAL.

Let's recap before the end: "I Do" is an episode about marriage that's not actually real and that stands for something else. The episode starts with Kate faking her Monica persona while roleplaying with her future husband Kevin. Kate/Monica plays the role of a "dangerous individual" while Kevin basically plays himself. The thing is that Kevin doesn't know that, in a way, he's getting played because Kate is, in fact, if not a "dangerous individual", a fugitive who's claiming to be someone else. The first scene of the episode also establishes Kate as the one who, symbolically, points a gun at herself. Coupled with the fact that her domestic life with Kevin is paralleled to her "domestic(ated)" life with Sawyer in their respective cages and that Kate could have always escaped her own cage, we realize that the one who's actually building up cages around herself is Kate and only Kate. The cage that Kate can't seem to be able to break free from is her own self. What's more, she's aware of it but she just can't leave that symbolical place. She wants to, but she can't.

With this premise we then must wonder: what's exactly the question that prompts the "I Do"? If Kate's marriage is a smokescreen, then the "I Do" we're talking about must be the answer to something else. This final act reveals the answer to this question.

If in ACT FIVE Kate/Monica could still pretend that everything was fine, that is not the case now. ACT SIX opens with Kate/Monica in her bathroom with a negative pregnancy test, sitting on the toilet, crying. Why is she crying? Is that because she's (un)happy about the result? I don't think so. I think she's crying because, just like the passport was a symbol for the Outside World calling her bluff, the pregnancy test is a symbol for the Outside World attempt at creeping inside... herself. To put it simply, this isn't about whether Kate wants a baby or not: this is about Kate finally realizing "what.the.actual.fuck.am.i.fucking.doing.here". Kate/Monica's life with Kevin is a giant ball of lies and, on top of the lies, she's also involving the man in her own troubles with the law. On a human level, of course we emphatize with Kate because she doesn't intent any harm, she just wants to feel at home. On the other hand, what she's doing is not exactly correct towards her partner. The pregnancy test scene serves the purpose of making her realize that she needs to end things now before they get bad.

KATE: Whatcha workin' on? KEVIN: Just finishing some IRs, and that fugitive recovery in Tampa. Being a cop is just endless paperwork. [Kate hands him a glass of lemonade, and he drinks] Thank you, sweetie. KATE: What if I told you I was a fugitive? [Kevin is speechless] What if I told you I was on the run for blowing up my father, and it was only a matter of time before you found out? KEVIN: This isn't funny. KATE: [Crying] It's not a joke. I almost had a baby, Kevin. Me, a baby! I can't do this! Taco night?! I don't do taco night! KEVIN: Ok, calm down, Monica... KATE: My name's not Monica! [Pause] I love you. But I can't stay. [Starts to walk away] KEVIN: Whoah, hey...

I think this dialogue well illustrates what I've been trying to say above: it's not as if Kate doesn't want a baby or even a taco night. It's that she can't. It's not about loving Kevin, it's about the fact that she just can't stay. As I said, she probably wants to, but she can't. And she can't because she's literally living the life of a fictional woman that doesn't exist which... is something that nobody ever asked her to do, honestly. I'm definitely not implying that this is all he fault but that she did know she was entering something that she shouldn't have. She had a degree of responsibility which she decided to ignore.

Now let's go to the next scene which is about Jack preparing for surgery. This little piece of dialogue with Ben is CRUCIAL, I'll just leave it here so not to spoil the fun but please keep it in mind:

BEN: Do you get nervous? Before you do surgery? JACK: I used to. Not anymore, no. BEN: Whatever happens, everything will be very different, won't it? JACK: No doubt about it.

In the meantime Danny goes to the cages and, after a fight, holds Sawyer at gunpoint. Another guy is holding Kate as gunpoint too but it's clear that it's just for their safety, Kate's not Picket's target because he doesn't have a beef with her, but with Sawyer.

In the operating room Jack carries out his secret plan: he makes a deliberate incision in Ben's kidney sac. In a weird way, he seems to have total contral over the situation, he's not nervous about his abilities but he's nervous about whether or not his plan would come to fruition.

Back to the cages, we have the agonizing scene where Sawyer has the upper hand over Danny, but the guy who's with Danny has the upper hand over Kate so basically this means that Sawyer's fucked. Sawyer lets go of the gun he had over Danny against Kate's protest. He's about to be executed (let's all remember the whole "Kate is Sawyer" theory) while Kate begs Danny to stop screaming "Please!! I'll do anything you want!" which is just bone-chilling if you stop for a second and think about Kate's past, her abusive father and the violence against her mother (very possibly against her, too) she had to watch/see in her own house (not to mention the implicit SA aspect which would be a whole other topic).

How can this situation could be solved? It looks like we might be in need of a... Jack-ex-machina! In the tragedy that's Kate (and Sawyer's)'s situation, one of Kate's "daydream" comes true. Someone finally steps in and saves the day. Someone finally shows that there is Good in the World, that there's someone who's out there protecting her. The confirmation of her secret belief is crucial and explains some of the things I'll say below.

You know what's next: Jack asks Tom to speak with Kate, Tom calls Danny and tells him to give Kate the walkie-talkie, Kate and Jack say the following:

KATE: Jack? Jack! JACK: Kate? You have about an hour headstart before they come after you. KATE: Where are you? Where are you? JACK: You remember what I told you on the beach? The day of the crash. You remember what story I told you when you were stitching me up? [Kate is silent on other end] DO YOU REMEMBER IT?! KATE: [Crying] YES! Yes, I remember! JACK: When you get safe, you radio me, and you tell that story. KATE: Jack, please. JACK: If I don't get a call from you in the next hour, I'm going to know something went wrong, and [turning to Tom] HE DIES!

Okay, let's go step by step. Do you remember Jack's little piece of dialogue with Ben? It was there because it was preparing us for this moment. The story that Jack told Kate in the pilot was EXACTLY about how he was so nervous during his first surgery that he made a huge mistake. He panicked but decided to "feel" fear for five seconds only. Then he regained control over himself and completed the surgery successfully.

Jack told Ben that he used to get nervous but not anymore and he stands to business because, as I said, he's not nervous about his abilities and he DELIBERATELY cut Ben's kidney, whereas the "mistake" he made in the past was not deliberate.

But this whole story doesn't simply tell us that Jack is well aware of what he's doing, he's not out-of-his-mind, so to speak. This story serves to reveal that the question that begs for an "I Do" is: "You remember what I told you on the beach? The day of the crash. You remember what story I told you when you were stitching me up? DO YOU REMEMBER IT?"

Of course Kate does. This is the moment where it all began. It's one of their most intimate moments in the whole show like the faces of these two very well show that they understand it too (I love them, Sawyer and Juliet just Understand Stuff On the Spot):

Jack's asking Kate about his story because this is a covert way of saying: I'm here, I've got your back. Last time I needed you there for me and you were there and you did great. This time I need you to leave, I need you to run. I BELIEVE IN YOU. DO YOU REMEMBER IT?

This is what Kate has always been wanting for all her life: someone that comes in and saves the day, the Good Hero, the Good Soldier, the Good Father but, most importantly, someone who believes in her. It's very important for me to reiterate that she doesn't want that because she feels like a damsel in needs of saving, she wants that because it allows her to believe that she can become that, that she can be the Good Hero. It grounds her AND gives her hope for her future. Simply put: it shows her that she can, in fact, change, that she's not destined for cages and prisons but for homes and love as well. It shows her that there's someone out there in the World rooting for her.

Jack and Kate are having the most intimate and vulnerable conversaion over a fucking walkie-talkie in front of a handful of people and with an anesthetisized Ben on the table sorry but LMAO, they ARE the drama!

We then have the final dialogue and this is the stroke of genius:

KATE: I can't leave without you! JACK: Yes, you are. Go! KATE: Jack! I can't! JACK: Go, now! KATE: I can't! JACK: Kate, dammit, RUN!

Of course Kate can't leave. Of course she can't leave without that one person who makes her feel what "home" could be. She's tried so hard with Kevin and that didn't work out because it wasn't an actual home she was looking for, it wasn't domestic life... it was the feeling of being cared for, protected, supported.

Do you remember Kate's phone call to the marshal in ACT FOUR? Well, this is a more or less the same scene (there are several reversal at play, for instance Jack "calls" Kate, whereas Kate calls the marshal), obviously with the drama amped up to over nine thousand:

Rain pouring over Kate: check. Call with authoritative male figure: check. Weird/intimated/fucked-up relationship with said figure: check. Kate doesn't want to initially but eventually does what said figure tells her to do: also check. Said figure deeply understands Kate: check. The fact that said figure deeply gets Kate both pisses Kate off big time and fascinates her: check.

Jack's paralleled to the Marshal but there is a HUGE difference that allows us to understand that the comparison is not done to only check for similarities, but to check for the fundamental difference. The HUGE difference is that while the marshal is fundamentally doing his job while also being deeply obsessed with Kate in a creepy and maldjusted way, Jack cares about Kate's freedom. Jack wants Kate's freedom. As a matter of fact, he's just committed something deeply unethical in general and specifically downright against his "Do No Harm" credo and his profession... just for Kate's freedom. And if you remember the episode "Do No Harm" you know that Jack doesn't take that shit lightly at all. Like, at all. For Jack Kate's freedom is top priority. Why? Well, you little meatballs, because he loves her, of course! This is no fake ass love stroy like the one between "Monica" and Kevin. This is real. They are REAL.

To conclude, this episode is about Kate and Jack getting figuratively married. They renew their vows to each other, the same vows they implicitily made the first day they met on the island. The issue is that their symbolical marriage is based on its own impossibility: Kate can't leave without Jack because Jack is the person that will "save" her, but the only way for Kate to leave is without Jack. And the only thing that Jack truly wants is for Kate to be free which is tantamount to saying that Jack knows that he cannot be with Kate. Which, in turns, means to Kate that she can't be "saved", that she'll never be "good". And the circle repeat itself.

I hope I've convinced you that Kate is a great character with many complexities and layers and that her "love story" is not just an ensemble of trite tropes but it's way more than that: it's about Kate trying to be herself, or, better, to become what she wants to be through being loved, supported and cared for and isn't that something we can all relate to?

Please say something if you're read this far, let's become friends or something cause I can't believe I finally wrote all this and you finally read all this!

"I Do" or when Kate and Jack almost got (figuratively) married

I've previously stated that I don't find "I Do" particularly excellent when it comes to Kate's flashback story. I still stand by that. From a creative point of view Kate reiventing herself as Monica and getting married to a police officer doesn't exactly scream "genius". Conversely, the idea for her flashback in "Left Behind" is way more compelling and allows us to see sides of Kate that aren't necessarily related to her interior romantic love life (in that episode Kate and Cassidy teams up to "con" Kate's mother in order for Kate to have a moment with her without getting arrested).

Having said that, "I Do" is, overall, a fucking great episode. Everything and I mean EVERYTHING is written and shot to perfection so I thought to write a little meta about it.

Now, before we move on to the analysis, let's please consider that the previous Kate-centric episode is S2E9 "What Kate Did". I wrote an extensive meta about it and you can find it here. For the sake of this meta, though, all you need to know is this: what Kate sees in Sawyer is herself, specifically what she thinks she is in the present moment based on the things she's done in the past, i.e. a "bad" person or a person capable of doing "bad" things; what Kate sees in Jack is her potential self, what she thinks she can become in the present moment and simply be in the future because she intimately thinks she's capable of being "good" and doing "good" things.

In "What Kate Did" she chooses the black horse representing her "dark" self, therefore she chooses Sawyer. In "I Do" she symbolically chooses Sawyer again but things get a litte bit more complicated because this time Jack says his "I do" and Kate finds that she can't quite say "I do" back yet, but she can't say goodbye to her potential either: in other words she can't leave Jack/her potential behind. You'll see what I mean in this meta.

ACT ONE.

The episode opens with the song "Slowly" in the background. We hear the following lyrics:

Tell me you love me again but this time slowly 'Cause you're talkin' too fast, baby, much fast Come on and squeeze me again but this time slowly 'Cause I like your grasp but it's much fast

You said that our love will grow together 'Cause your mine all mine

Foreshadowing: this episode will be about "I love yous" and about something that's growing.

It'll also be about make-believe as we see a 50s-styled Kate opening a box containing a wedding veil. A man knocks on her door and we see the following dialogue:

MAN: Police, open the door. KATE: [Nervously] Um. Everything's alright in here. MAN: Ma'am, we have reason to believe that someone extremely dangerous is in the motel. We're conducting a room-to-room search. KATE: [Starting to smile] I'm alone, officer. MAN: The person could be holding you at gunpoint, forcing you to say that. Please open the door. KATE: I don't think I should. MAN: Then you have three seconds before I break this door down. One... two... [Kate stands by and opens the door right before he says "three", revealing the policeman, Kevin.] KEVIN: Hey. Wanna get it on? dialogue from https://lostpedia.fandom.com

We the audience (who already know about Kate's past) are already tipped off to the fact that this is all fake. Kate is clearly wearing a mask, she's being someone else, someone who perhaps she'd like to be or, at least, she's putting on a new persona-dress to see if it fits. Spoiler alert: it doesn't. However, this is also extraordinarily real because Kate's indeed a fugitive, she might as well be "the dangerous someone in the motel" herself. Ironically, in the scenario where Kate is the dangerous person in the motel, she's also the person who's holding at gunpoint... herself, forcing herself to say stuff. Interesting, right? In other words, the show is telling us to pay close attention because the episode will play with the line between fiction and reality.

In the very second scene there's a defeated Sawyer throwing rocks without purpose. Kate sees something's wrong with him, he's slowly giving up. She tells him to get a fish biscuit for her, implicitly telling him: "Provide for me, be here for me, don't give up". Sawyer's not stupid and immediately retorts with a "Psh. What, you trying to keep me feeling productive?".

In the last scene of Act 1, we're introduced to the final protagonist of this episode, Jack, and we discover what's growing as the song alluded in the very first scene: "JACK: [To Ben] The tumor on your spine is borderline inoperable. And at the rate it's growing, that borderline goes away in about one week".

By the end of Act 1 we have all the info we need to understand this episode: it'll be about love, it's gonna make us believe things that are not true and the thing that's growing on Ben's spine will be the keystone to put all the pieces of the puzzle together.

To be continued!

[morganaspendragonss]

i think for me what would have been way more impactful is if the doctor had managed to come to terms with his trauma and talk it through as himself and then been able to let go and start this new era by regenerating into a freer, fresher version of himself, sort of like the direct antithesis of ‘i don’t wanna go’. i’m ready to go. it’s safe for me to go. i can go.

[swiftlymurmurs]

I've seen a lot of people voice disappointment over this Game Changer season finale and while I personally wasn't really bothered by a lot of the criticisms (I thought the Ratfish was an interesting added game mechanic and I never really care who wins or loses so his judgements not aligning with mine made no difference to me) I do think it's very interesting and I've spent some time thinking about why it doesn't work for so many. Some thoughts: Why is this Eric guy even here?

Tim & Eric were a popular tv comedy duo in the late aughts alt comedy scene. Sam and many of the writers at Dropout are sketch comedy nerds who, in 2007, were freshly at the start of their comedy careers, and probably see them and the larger [Adult Swim] environment they were a part of as a huge influence.

Why has it maybe aged poorly?

As far as I know, their popularity came in the early stages of about a decade of quite cynical, surreal comedy that also spawned the "lolrandom" era. While huge and fresh at the time, I think my generation (gen Z, the main viewerbase of Dropout) has grown pretty tired of this style and favours sketch comedy that's more clever, witty, and emotionally open or wholesome. At least, that's a movement Dropout has very much steered into with their roster of comedians and it's what the viewers expect.

The parasocial thing

It's no secret that Dropout actively promotes itself as a tight group of friendly comedians who you are invited to get to know, expect, and love when they show up. They don't abuse parasociality in the way you see, for example, younger audience oriented youtubers shoveling merch do it, but they absolutely make use of it. Most of the moments from this episode I've seen people gush over or post positively about are those where the cast recognize each other's styles, reference their relationships, and just generally make it known how well they know one another. When a total stranger enters the picture in an episode where the cast already have a barrier to their regular banter AND is given so much power over the game, they may look like an outsider or even an enemy to the happy little family people have gotten so attached to. Especially because his role is explicitly that of an antagonist, and the cast are never given a chance to see him and maybe out their love and respect for him as a comedian. In the minds of viewers, he just stays some guy who made mean jokes about their blorbo and then left.

Conclusion

I'm always glad to see this show making big swings, and while most of them have landed, some of them are bound to miss. It's a show that prides itself on trying things the viewers may not yet know they wanted and the second it stops trying, I think it'll be all the worse for it. It's a shame to end the season on such a note, but it's been hit after hit so far, and before we know it we'll be right back into it. I love this show, I love this cast, and I'm excited to see what's next!

[bwat5-blog]

Why Didn't We See Cait Tell Vi About Jinx?

**Spoilers For Arcane***

There has been a tremendous amount of conversation regarding Jinx's fate in the end of the show. I think by now, most of us seem to agree she is alive. There is a significant amount of evidence. But one of the conversations I have enjoyed reading different takes on, is did Caitlyn tell Vi her suspicions? should she? and why didn't we see one way or the other? This will be fairly short compared to my usual work, I just wanted to delve into these questions, offer my thoughts, and hopefully get some good discussion out of it!

THE EVIDENCE: (In no particular order)

The Shimmer streak right as the explosion occurs

I have seen some argue that it's simply the purple inside the bomb. This is possible of course but it seems extremely directed.

2. Caitlyn's investigations

When it is all said and done, we have a quiet moment with Caitlyn investigating the cooling/vent system of the tower where Jinx died, as well has holding the mostly intact head of her monkey bomb. the implication here is quite clear. But of course it is not definitive. They are only telling us she reason to be thinking about Jinx being alive.

3. Full Circle

The second shot is the last one of the show.. if we didn't have the first shot to fall back to it would feel quite random but if you think back to that, it seems quite clear what they are implying. Additionally although I don't have a good way to share it here, the score in this moment is variation on "Dear friend across the river" which we hear Powder singing to open the whole show.

4. Glitched The End

That is the very last shot we are given and the animation is very in line with the glitch style of Jinx we have come to know so well.

5. Arcane Afterglow For Act 3

Skip to 1:19 if that is all you are here for

________________________________________________

There are others for sure. I saw someone in the community post some pages from the artbook showing things like "i'm still here" I believe it was. And I know there have been other interviews and such. This is just what I am personally aware of. And while of course I am just a regular fan and I don't know any better than any of you, this is all enough for me to feel confidant saying she's alive. I am of a similar opinion to many I have seen. I do not think Caitlyn had told Vi by the end of what we saw, but I think it's because she herself is not 100% sure yet.

Why isn't she sure?

Well even using the evidence I listed, only one out of those five points is something Caitlyn would be aware of. Now I do think she is probably fairly confidant, as the implication of her investigating at all was very clear. But keeping in mind that she knows how badly Vi wanted to save Jinx, and the enormity of the guilt Vi must feel given that Jinx had to save her (Vi was legitimately having a dissociative episode born of her PTSD and there was nothing she could do. Don't start with me Anti-Vi'ers), I think Caitlyn would be very careful to not give Vi false hope.

Would Caitlyn Even Tell Vi and Risk Her leaving?

I think so. And my reasoning is that she has done it before. When she paved the way for Vi to free Jinx, there was every possibility the sisters would vanish into the night and Caitlyn would never see them again. With that in mind, and their dynamic in general with Caitlyn probably feeling she has a tremendous amount of trust to keep rebuilding between them, I seriously doubt she would risk hiding something so large from Vi if she felt confidant Jinx was alive. Jinx wanted Vi to live free of their past and find her happiness. I think Caitlyn would honor giving Vi the choice and hope for the best. Especially taking into account the whole dynamic around Caitlyn showing Vi how much she loves and respects not only her, but her heart. She cherishes the heart that drives Vi to protect those she loves. I don't see Caitlyn betraying that by trying to control her.

Is it better for Vi to know?

This one is tough. On the one hand, we have to factor all the things we already discussed in. We know Vi wanted them to be together. We know she is probably torturing herself over her sister's perceived death. But, we also have to consider the other side. Because by the end the Sisters are family again. So why would Jinx leave and not tell Vi the truth?:

Jinx herself will never know peace in Piltover or Zaun (at least as things are now). I'm not doing a whole thing here, but in Zaun they all want her to be their symbol. And in Piltover, regardless of her heroism or the reason she did what she did, there will always be stares and whispers for her crimes. Not to mention the whole process of whatever resolving the issues of her crimes would mean in the first place. It would not only be trouble for her, but probably for Vi and Caitlyn as well. She gave Vi permission to move forward with her life, and we saw Vi take it which is a reason to be hopeful. But if I were Jinx, and I had decided to leave, I would be very aware of the possibility that Vi would feel honor bound to leave the love she had found, and turn her back on the peace Jinx tried to convince her she deserves. Because while Vi is full to the brim with wonderful qualities, her journey to believing her own self-worth is still very new. And I think Jinx wisely would be worried Vi could not let her go alone. Just as Vi has to start finding herself free of their past, Jinx needs the same. It's not that she doesn't love Vi. I think she has made it EXTREMELY CLEAR that she does. But in terms of her mental state and her arc, I think she has resolved the conflict between the shattered ghost of Powder, and Silco's terrorist daughter. she IS JINX. She is no longer A JINX. And I think to find out what that means, she has to step away from the shadows of her past and start completely over. Just as Vi has to start finding out who she is without the crushing guilt and pain of their childhood. Listen yall, I know I can be quite harsh on Jinx especially because Vi is my favorite. But let me bring you back to something I first realized in my deep-dive on the sisters relationship.

Vi is a courageous, loving, and loyal sister who would fist fight the devil himself with one hand tied behind her back for her loved ones. But she is still only a person. And as always, the brilliantly heart wrenching writing of this show tells us exactly how Jinx feels about her older sister in the opening of the show, and proves it again at the end:

Even when they were little girls on that bridge, Vi walked tall, trying to shield Powder from the horror around them. But when it became too much, when the horror, and the pain, and the loss overwhelmed her, Powder threw her small body over her big sister trying with everything in her to be that shield for Vi.... Just as she would the next time Violet needed her...

I am firmly and completely convinced she would not leave Vi like that unless she truly felt it was the right thing for both of them. She has come to far and been through too much. Agree or disagree, I think she is doing her best to be that sister Vi deserves once more. Even if its painful.

What I Hope:

My hope, is that Caitlyn shares her information with Violet when she feels she has enough to not devastate her beloved with false hope. And that hearing that, Vi will choose to honor her sister's decision, as well as see the truth that she herself deserves love, and peace, and safety, and be at peace. My hope is that in the end, Vi can see Jinx's decision was not one of neglect, or abandonment, or crisis. But just as Vi had always tried so hard to be Jinx needed, in that moment Jinx saw what they both needed, and made the hard call, to give them both the chance the world tried to steal from them.

Thank you all for reading. I know I have been a tad feisty lately and I wanted to get back to talking about what I love about this show! These characters and this story connect with us all on such deep levels because of their humanity. Their flaws, their strengths, the moments they succeed and the moments they fall short. Ultimately, we can't know if Violet will do the right thing if and when she finds out. But she and Caitlyn give me hope. I hope this has done the same for you.

Never stop standing for the stories that matter. See yall next time!

[softtdaisy]

you'll be fine / Spencer Reid

summary. you don't like to hear about the case. but when your boyfriend gets hurt, you realize you can't escape the reality of his work

words count. 2 283

what to expect. very angsty, reader is hotch sister, jack is here, brief mention of haley's death, did i say angst? but spencer being soft and lovely (as usual)

a/n. i'm finally back with writing for my baby Spence. and yes reader is hotch's sister for some reasons that i can't explain except that i like this man

criminal minds masterlist | F1 masterlist | general masterlist | request

The deal was simple: you didn’t want to hear about any cases except if Aaron or Spencer were in danger.

Aaron respected it easily. He needed these moments where he put the work away and thought about something else. Plus, he didn’t want to burden his little sister with the cases. To him, he did enough harm to his family. He didn’t want to put you in danger or drown you in the atrocity of the world he was living in. 

So anytime he got to see you, for a coffee, a diner, or ten minutes when you gave him Jack back after the babysitting, he made sure to never tell you about the case.

Spencer, on the contrary, had some difficulties keeping everything to himself. You knew your boyfriend so well, you could tell when he needed to speak. There was something cute in the way he tried so hard to keep his mouth shut because he knew you didn’t want to hear about the last cases. He was playing with his hands to focus his mind on something else, starting sentences but never finishing them. Maybe you liked torturing him a little.

But these moments always ended up the same way.

“Go ahead, my love,” you said, cupping his face in your hand and giving the sweetest kiss on his nose. You loved how he wrinkled his nose and how his cheeks were turning a sweet shade of red. “Tell me about the case.” 

And as soon as you said these five wonderful words, he let his mind speak for minutes. Or hours. It depended on how long he was away or how hard the case was for him.

Today was what you called a normal day. 

The team wasn’t away for a case. Aaron would come and pick up Jack at your place in a few minutes. You loved spending these Wednesday afternoons with your nephew. None of you had classes. Well, one of you had homework, and it was clearly not the blonde head laying on your couch. But your typical evening was to do them once Jack had left with his dad and while Spencer was cooking dinner. 

But you could tell something was wrong when 7 p.m. struck and you still had no news from Aaron. He would always send you a text, either to tell you he left the office or he would be late. He was a punctual man.

“Auntie, Dad’s calling!” you heard Jack scream from the living room. You were stuck in the kitchen, cleaning the baking pan you used for his chocolate cake. So you let Jack answer the call. For the few seconds it lasted, you appreciated his sweet and happy voice he always had when talking to Aaron.

But before you noticed the silence, he was by your side. “Dad wants to talk to you,” he said with a frown. Clearly not happy to not be the center of interest. 

“Put him on speaker, Jack, please,” you asked and were immediately faced with another silence. One you didn’t like. You could hear the background where Aaron was, but your brother’s voice.

“Hi, big brother,” you said with a laugh. “Want to talk to your favorite family member?” which, of course, made Jack pout. “After your wonderful son, of course.”

But then again, silence. For three, five, or ten seconds. “Could you please take the phone? I need to talk to you privately,” was all you got. No hello, no laugh, nothing. Just a cold and serious Aaron. And you hated that. 

You quickly wiped your hands, kissed Jack on the hair, and told him to watch another episode of his TV show before going to your room. “Where are you? Are you ok?” you asked the second you closed your bedroom’s door.

“I’m good,” was all he replied. You sighed with relief. You didn’t have the heart to tell Jack his father was in the hospital or worse. This kid had lived through too many tragedies already. But then it hit you. 

If Aaron was fine, it meant that he called you for another reason.

For another person.

“Spence?” you simply said in a low voice. Ironically, you spoke more quietly than when you asked for Aaron. When it would have been worse for Jack to hear about his dad. But it was like your heart couldn’t handle the idea of your boyfriend being hurt. Like, maybe, talking quietly would make the reality disappear. 

Aaron knew how to deal with words. You’ve always been impressed by how he managed to do the perfect sentences to make his speech memorable. So his silence was frightening. “Aaron, please,” you begged him.

“He’s at the hospital.” At least your bed was close enough so you didn’t fall on the floor. “Jessica is coming to take Jack with her so you can come.”

“What happened?” You heard yourself cry. But Aaron never answered your question. He gave you the hospital address. 

And you were left wondering if you still had a boyfriend anymore.

Everything you did until you got to the hospital felt unconscious. You couldn’t remember what you told Jack, if you took the time to kiss your nephew goodbye, if he saw you crying, or if you hid it. Nothing felt real.

Until you saw the team waiting in the hospital hall. Then you knew things were serious. You noticed the red eyes, the tiredness, the stress on all their faces. On your brother too, even if he did everything to stay strong and stoic.

When Aaron saw you, he stopped his conversation immediately and walked fast to hug you. You lost yourself in his arms, crying harder than you did at home and even more when he hugged you more and more tightly. Back when you were a child, Aaron was always the one comforting you. After a nightmare, a bad day at school or at home, even when he was away for college. He was your emergency contact, something that never changed. He was your emergency person.

Yet, something felt off this time.

“What happened?” you asked again, looking up at him. And you were right about something being off. You barely ever see guilt on your brother’s face. You did after Haley. It was the only time you saw him feel bad about something. And seeing it today wasn’t a reassuring thing.

“The unsub caught us off guard and tried to escape. It could have been anybody, but he shot Rei… Spencer two times in the arms, near his shoulder. No organs were touched, but he lost a lot of blood before he could be taken care of. He passed out at the crime scene. He’s still in surgery right now.”

Every word he spoke was like a stab going deeper and deeper in your heart. 

You didn’t realize you were screaming until Aaron muffled it against his chest and held you even more tightly against you. Knowing damn well that if he stopped, you would fall on the ground and not get up.

You couldn’t imagine a world in which Spencer Reid wasn’t a main part of.

He was your soulmate; you knew that from the moment you met him. 

You had just come back home after a year abroad, and Aaron had organized a dinner at his place with the team to celebrate it. He wanted you to meet his other family, the one he was sadly closer to than yours. But you didn’t mind, as long as your brother was happy and well looked after. And you were curious to meet all these people he talked about on the phone.

Honestly, you kind of fell for every single one of them.

But you fell harder for the genius in the back. The one that acted shyly around you until you showed interest in what he was saying. You quickly realized you could get used to listening to Spencer talking and falling asleep to his voice. And you did.

There were still so many things Spencer had to tell you about; he couldn’t leave you already.

The hours waiting for him were the longest you ever lived. The surgery went well; Spencer would be fine. But you needed to hear him wake up and see him to be sure they were telling the truth. 

The team left one by one, at your own request. Sure, JJ needed to see her kids. Emily and Derek were drained from the day and the stress. Only Aaron stayed with you. He called Jack two times in the evening, one to check on him and one to say goodbye. But he refused to leave his little sister alone.

It was almost midnight when your boyfriend finally opened his eyes.

Aaron let you go. He was just waiting with you, to not leave you alone. He simply asked you to give him some news and to call if you ever want to sleep at home.

But you noticed how he showed his FBI sign to the hospital staff to make sure you would be able to sleep here with Spencer.

He looked so fragile in his hospital bed. With his skin paler than ever, his tired eyes barely open and his greasy hair flattened. You even wondered if you should be there or if you should let him rest in peace. Because you knew that Spencer would do anything to reassure you, even if it was tiring him.

Then he looked up to see you.

And the relief in his eyes was the best argument to stay. 

“You’re here,” he said with a hoarse and lazy voice that almost made you cry. Because it didn’t sound like your Spencer. But your Spencer was alive. You walked slowly to him and grabbed the hand that he was offering. 

“I’m the one who should say that.” Once sat, you put your head on his stomach slowly to make sure you didn’t hurt him. Spencer didn’t show any sign of hurt or discomfort.

But in all honesty, even if he was, he would never. Spencer grew soft to your contact. He was craving it when he was away. You were the only person that could hold him without warning him. It was natural. Like his body has only been created to be held in your arms. To be touched by your hands. To be loved by you.

“Do you know the statistics of getting shot two times at the same place?” he asked, brushing your hair softly. You looked up with a confused face. And faced his amused expression. “I'm being serious.” 

He then started to give you many numbers and statistics around these facts. Which you didn’t even want to hear about. You almost lost him to this. It wasn’t a very pleasant subject.

But seeing the sparks in his eyes when he said these facts, proving he was still the very same genius that left your apartment this morning to go to work, was refreshing. He almost never came home. But he will. And you could let him say and talk for hours if it means having him by your side forever.

“So it’s pretty rare,” he finished, proudly. 

You noticed how he could barely keep his eyes open. You took the hand that was in your hair and gave it a little kiss. “Could you consider staying rare by just being the amazing person you are and not playing with death, please?”

He laughed, his giggle causing a little quake on your resting head. “Yeah, I could consider that.” 

Spencer then moved a little, enough for you to lay by his side. You couldn’t stay like that all night. But if it helped him fall asleep, you could sacrifice your comfort for a few minutes. Even hours, if he needed it.

You were a little higher on the bed so he could be the one resting on you this time, and you would be the one playing with his hair.

“How was your day with Jack, by the way?”

And you started to tell him, like it was a normal day. 

Spencer was always the one to fall asleep last. You created this routine of him telling you about his day, a case, or just something he read or saw, in bed while you were falling asleep in his arms.

This time, Spencer was the one falling asleep to your story. 

And selfishly, you hoped it would be the only time. 

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Happy Songkran!

Not sure, but a few of the Thai shows may be impacted by New Year this next week.

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

April 2025 Week 2

Ongoing Series - Thai

Perfect 10 Liners (Sun YT) ep 24 end - Can you believe we made it through 24 episodes (like this is 2014 or something)? Anygay...

The single brain cell committee trying to put together The Proposal was kind of funny. I do think that of all the couples to get married this is the one that shouldn’t. They are the least healthy, but what can we do? 

I knew from the get-go that I was going to struggle to figure out how to rate this show. Twice as long as most other BL’s and with 3 fully represented main couples, played by pairs that I have mixed feelings for. Thus I have to go straight down the middle. I would’ve given our first story a 7/10, our second one an 8/10, and our final a 9/10, which brings us in at a solid 8/10. Frankly, that feels like that’s what this show was, about 80% of a good BL.

Conclusion

This was workmanlike Thai BL in a university setting in which nothing happened to some very nice boys in fun friendship groups. The most noted thing about the show was its source, GMMTV punched down and phoned it in with this one. The kissing was good, the pairs were decent, and the directing was... well it was there. Each of the three main couples turned in solid performances to the best of their respective comedic abilities. Your enjoyment will wholly depend on which pair/story is most to your taste and how much you managed to tolerate the others (and the sides) as a result. I highly doubt this will ever be anyone's favorite BL. 8/10 is a fine rating for something this mediocre. Puts the B in BL.

Top Form (Thurs WeTV) ep 4 of 10 - Drunken shenanigans and their consequences. Especially when the boy is obsessed with you. (Meanwhile, the hair in the eyes is driving me batshit.) I'm still enjoying this. It’s sort of old-school BL in a very odd way. I like that. Especially with nothing out of Japan right now. The 21 day courting was cute. And of course I loved the linguistic negotiation. But he’s definitely gonna catch that cold.

Oh the HONEY.

I forgot this part was coming. ARGH NO too sticky!!! The carnage. The clean up. Twas sexy tho.

Sweet Tooth Good Dentist (Fri iQIYI) ep 3 of 12 - Whipping boy trope is a go. But also this dentist is so gone on this broken sunshine with self worth issues. The dorky earnest friend is good too. Enjoying.

My Golden Blood (Weds iQIYI) Ep 5 of 12 - I just can't. It's too awful. I did try. DNF.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Heesu in Class 2 (Korea Fri Viki) eps 5-6 of 10 - I love this show. Love. It. The catastrophic trip. Heesu being an utter frenetic basket case. The PINING from Seungwon and the fact that we all know he isn't ever gonna do anything (unless some one forces his hand lips). It's fantastically maddening.

Secret Relationships (Korea iQIYI) ep 7 of 8 - Ooo truly unhinged. Excellent. Honestly, I just feel sorry for Da-on with all these boys obsessed, even our puppy. And now the "kidnapping for love" trope. Very old-school. China used to adore this one. It's nto my favorite but it suits this show.

Business as Usual (Korea Thurs Viki) Ep 2 of 7 - Mostly back story not a whole lot happened. Looks like we are in for a meaty confrontation next week tho. Good.

Fight for You (Taiwan Fri Gaga) ep 4 of 12 - I don't mind a fake dating trope, even if I'm not sure how we got here. Actually, this has gotten oddly cute. I like them more as they fall in love and flirt and drink than I do as solo characters. 

Exclusive Love (Taiwan Fri Gaga) ep 10 of 12 - more death. Not enough of blondie. And none of my beloved sides? Bah. 

It's airing but......

Sashes and Hearts (Pinoy YT) 13 eps - Philippines is doing Drop Dead Gorgeous only all gay boys queening their asses off. Doesn't interest me, not sure if it's BL.

Last Meal Universe (Thai ????) 8 eps - An alien who has come to destroy earth instead falls in love with Thai food and then the Thai boy who cooks it - realistic, actually. I got a link to watch but it still wouldn't work for me, so I guess I'm waiting to see what happens.

Lost in the Woods (Weds Gaga) 7 eps - Not my thing, dropped at ep 2.

Boy Next World special - only available paid, so I didn’t bother.

Your Sky of Us - Normally, I don’t really report on the specials or the extras or even the spinoffs or season twos, but I gotta say in episode 2 Lee’s claiming sendoff was one of my favorite things to happen in BL this year. That silent "back off" was so perfectly executed. Most of the rest of this special has been just fluff, but it might be worth watching the whole thing just for that 30 seconds. (Sorry couldn't find a gif of it, but TRUST ME. Chef's kiss!)

In case you missed it

Secrets Happened on the Litchi Island (China YouTube) - This one unexpectedly dropped and there are still a few follow up snippets/adverts continuing with this couple.

Summary

This was an interesting, beautifully atmospheric but plotless BL about a boy who falls in love with his older brother‘s best friend in an idyllic countryside jungle setting. The boy is quite femme and open about his identity but his lover is... not. This dynamic ads an element of queer authenticity that's often missing from all BL, let alone something from China! I don’t know what it actually wanted to be, but it felt like a BL had a love child with one of those weird Chinese relaxation farm propaganda channels. The kisses are great, the chemistry is lovely, and the setting stunning. It’s odd but charming in a very weird, very queer, way. I have to say, I quite enjoyed it.

As a BL it gets an 8/10 from me, but as a piece of queer cinema I actually think it's worth more than that. You should all watch it. Who knows how long it will be allowed to stay up on YT.

Next Week Looks Like This:

COMING IN APRIL

4/16 Something Is Not Right (Korea Weds Viki) - trailer Blueming spin off. Ba U and Hun have been friends since they were kids – but Ba U has harbored unrequited feelings for Hun for years. Eventually, Ba U tries to cut off his entire relationship with Hun, much to Hun's confusion. In a last-ditch attempt to get over his feelings, Ba U takes his friend's advice and asks Hun to date for a single week. Hun accepts.

4/19 Secret Ghost (Thai Sat Viu) ?? eps - The trailer dropped and it looks particularly awful.

4/20 Boys in Love (Thai Sun YouTube? ) 10 eps - Our only true high school BL from GMMTV this year and it's fresh faces for the youths and old favs for the teachers. It's milk teeth Make it Right and fine with me. I like lotte milk. Also DIMPLES! Yay! I suspect they are using this one to test pairs for future shows. Like a Project 101 Thai BL. (Honestly I just invented an amazing reality TV for you GMMTV, you're welcome.) Like My School President in 2023, this could be a major sleeper hit for me.

4/20 My Stubborn (Thai Sun ????) ?? eps - trailer Mflow's next high heat office romance involving best friend's younger brother, boss meets intern, bit of a love triangle, GL crumbs, and few other tropes.

4/25 My Sweetheart Jom (Thai Fri YouTube) 12 eps - trailer Saint is back in a BL, but this is what he chose? When he gets int rouble, Yothin needs to find a safe place. Instead of sending him overseas, his father sends him to the countryside. There, he is under the watchful eye of the village headman Jomkhwan.

4/26 The BangkokBoy AKA Bangkok Boys AKA The Bangkok Boy (Thai Sat ????) ?? eps trailer - Action, crime and revenge meets gangs, mafia, and more. Oh my.

2025 Line Up

BL Announced for 2025 - PART 1

BL Announced for 2025 - PART 2

20 BLs Announced for 2025 That I'm Really Excited About

GMMTV 2025 Line Up - My Totally Biased and Wildly Flawed Feels

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENT

Well that bit from Your Sky of Us with Lee's nonverbal MINE of course.

Yes I liked it more than the honey, honey.

(last week)

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

[ghostofthepresent]

Why I think Shiguang can be canonically read as romantic

(I will only be using the donghua for reference, so no Studio Lan retweeting those fanarts (lmao) nor those especially gay manhwa panels (lmao x2) nor even the songs ("chase you to the end of the world, just to say your name once more" my beloved).

It's important to start off by saying that I'm aware Director Li said they ended up not making Lu Guang a girl because they didn't want romance to be seen as a must in Shiguang's relationship by the audience (and because he feels that "bros can have a good heart-to-heart connection with each other"). In my opinion that was a great move since it allows more freedom with how they write them than they'd have otherwise. I also think viewing Shiguang as queerplatonic is a great read too and it doesn't diminish their love for each other nor the importance of their relationship at all.

With that said, despite Director Li's words, there's been things that had me going 🤨 as someone who likes to adhere to canon relationships and read into the writer's intentions, so I wanted to share why I personally see them as romantic.

EPISODE 2

We've all seen this coming, right? Most obvious parallel ever, and in the second episode no less. We all know the similarities between both relationships, so I will just touch on those I consider the most important ones.

Lin Zhen and Yu Xia have gone to college together, and since then decided to start a business of their own - named after a mix of their names. They've been shown as being really close and having no romantic relationships. Lin Zhen also says that Yu Xia's happiness is her own, and then it's shown to us that she's gone through years of unhappiness just for Yu Xia. I believe you can replace their names with Lu Guang's and Cheng Xiaoshi's in your head without me writing all this again. And I'm not even going to get into the most obvious parallels like the special noodle recipe for each pair.

I think it's safe to say that Lin Zhen and Yu Xia are implied to be romantic. From that "one noodle" scene, to the close shot of Lin Zhen grabbing her hand, etc.

Now, I want to get into a writer's point of view and pose two questions:

1. What's the purpose of this episode, when even those which seem episodic connect to the overarching plot of season 1 (even the missing kid's case, as it leads to the involvement with the police)?

2. If we answer the previous question with the conclusion that it's meant to show us the nature/development of Cheng Xiaoshi's and Lu Guang's relationship, what does that say about it?

"Partner" in Link Click

Continuing with episode 2, what really got me thinking about the romantic intentions in their writing was the constant mention of marriage and anything in relation to it.

(may I remind everyone that the driver's comment was said when Cheng Xiaoshi was complaining about Lu Guang lmao)

They're telling us through "show don't tell" (for example, when Lin Zhen kept on eating the noodle despite knowing they'd kiss) and, also, connotations. They are presented to us as business partners, but then the entire episode goes on to tell us that there's more to them by tying their relationship to things percived as romantic. So what they want to really tell us is that beyond simple business partners, they're life-long partners.

And then, after establishing this kind of connotation to the word partner, Cheng Xiaoshi says this to Lu Guang in the next episode:

This doesn't stop at them. While it's the most obvious example, I think partnership in Link Click is intended to be seen as romantic, or at the very least dancing somewhere close to it. Let's go even further and take a look at our fully canon, heterosexual relationships and see briefly how their story is written:

1. Dong Yi and Xu Shanshan: both of them chose the comfort of each other's presence over moving on with their respective futures. Dong Yi had so much faith in their relationship and their love that he couldn't choose a life/future that didn't have Xu Shanshan - choosing to not go back to his family home nor go to that interview, and instead waiting for Xu Shanshan to define their relationship.

2. Liu Siwen and Ouyang: Siwen spent his entire life training with the purpose of getting his father-in-law's respect and marry Ouyang, going every year over and over to fight him. His perseverance and his undying love for her allowed Siwen to do the (seemingly) impossible.

3. Chen Bin and his wife: they're a tragedy. His wife understood Chen Bin the best, enduring feeling lonely because she loved him and wanted a future with him. But their relationship was cut short, so they promised each other to be together in a future life to make up for the time they wouldn't be in this one.

With this + the pictures I attached, it seems like Link Click has set this theme of "love is a life with you" for its romantic relationships, a partner that will fight to stay because they can't see a future that doesn't have their beloved. Going back to episode two, this applies even to the noodle ladies. When Yu Xia remembered what actually matters to her, she went back home - to the start, to her hometown. And, most importantly, to Lin Zhen.

So why is Shiguang romantic? Why aren't they queerplatonic, or just best friends, or bros or whatever else? Because besides what I said at the start of the previous paragraph, Shiguang's relationship mirrors a lot of the romantic ones. Each story and author writes romance and other kinds of relationships differently, portraying them in the way they perceive "this is what this kind of love is like". And beyond life-long partners, I think that the key elements of romantic relationships in Link Click are the ones I highlighted in bold above in the 3 canon relationships part - which Shiguang shares, too.

(I didn't mention this before with the het couples, but I find it a little amusing that season 2 happened because a man wanted to go to the past and get his wife back (still fuck you Qian Jin) and then we find out Lu Guang did go back to the past and got his boyfriend partner back lmao).

"Friend" vs "Partner"

So where is the boundary between platonic and romantic? What marks the difference between a (best) friend and a partner?

There is, for example, Liu Xiao and Li Tianchen's relationship. They aren't shown to have any kind of romantic undertones and there's even the very real possibility of manipulation on Liu Xiao's side. They're also never labeled as nor call each other partners, but instead Li Tianchen says he "met a new friend" and Liu Xiao says he's "going to meet an old friend" years later. So we could say for now that they have a somewhat close relationship (we see Li Tianchen go against Qian Jin to give the phone to Liu Xiao), but never cross that "friend" label.

We can even bring Qiao Ling and the boys' relationship. She's never labeled as a partner despite taking part in the side job and, more importantly, being super close to both of them. She is very important and a cherished friend to Shiguang, so why not call her partner too? I think it's intentional. Since she's been given a familial role already (calling Cheng Xiaoshi her brother when talking to Li Tianxi), she can't fill a partner role. I wonder why? because it's supposed to be a synonym for a romantic relationship. who said that.

So even best friends (Qiao Ling, arguably what Liu Xiao is to Li Tianchen) don't enter this close space that is being a partner. It's different, it's beyond platonic. Or at least that's what they've been showing us for the past two seasons.

I could go soo much more into this honestly, because I do think the little hints thrown here (the music videos) and there (tiny seemingly inconsequential details) are worth to be looked at too, but I wanted to get into the core reason that makes me go "woah so they're In Love fr". I hope I expressed myself well ^^

tldr; the series shows us a divide between having a (best) friend and a partner, giving "partners" romantic connotations.

[lc-holy]

Conférence Masterclass 808 (Translation)

I've taken the liberty of translating the conference that took place last year with the writing director of Miraculous (Sébastien Thibaudeau). It was only made public when someone posted a video of the conference a short while ago.

In this conference, Sébastien Thibaudeau will talk about the creation of Miraculous and his work on the series. He is joined by Chloé Paye, a new scriptwriter working on Miraculous season 6.

Sébastien talks a lot and repeats himself a bit, so the summary can be a bit confusing.

I strongly advise you to go and listen to the video if you understand French. There are a lot of details I'm going to leave out, and Sébastien is very funny.

Photo belongs to mlbfanfr on twitter.

Please be respectful in comments or tags. If you want to debate on things related to this conference, please make your own post. I apologize if there are any mistakes, I'm French and I'm not fluent in English.

-12 years ago, Sébastien arrived at Zagtoon, a studio that was just starting out and had yet to produce and broadcast any series. The producer (Jérémy Zag) and Sébastien hit it off and decided to start working together. Zag decides to give Sébastien total freedom over his projects. Sébastien then decides to put the spotlight on scriptwriters, because in this profession they are unfortunately poorly paid and never stay on the same projects.

So they produced a cartoon called Kobushi. A little-known series that did rather well, even if it didn't stay on the "Gulli" channel for long. The scriptwriters and producer were happy with the end result, as it was produced in a very short time.

Jeremy Zag then proposed another project, which he thought was quite good, but which he was unable to sell to broadcasters. At the time, the project was called "Ladybug". No one was interested, as the project was aimed more at an adult audience than a children's audience. Sébastien had to make sure that the project could be broadcast on Disney and TF1.

There was only a "trailer" also called "Ladybug" (but you'll find the video under the title Ladybug PV) animated by Toei animation. At the time, Sébastien had not yet been hired by Zagtoon. It was Jérémy Zag who convinced Toei animation to work with them (no mean feat, since Toei animation doesn't work with anyone).

So Sébastien started working with Thomas Astruc (the man who wrote and created the "Ladybug" project). At first, he didn't want to work on this project because he found it complicated. Thomas wanted to make a series for adults, but at the time, it was very complicated to make a cartoon for adults. What's more, they didn't have enough money to take on such a project. Sébastien finally agreed, but there were some changes to be made, which Thomas accepted.

-What Sébastien appreciated most in this project was the romantic comedy, the love square between the two main characters.

To meet the requirements of the cartoon industry, "Ladybug" had to be set in a neutral universe, in other words, in an imaginary country or the USA, but Zag, who loves Paris, declared that the cartoon had to be set in Paris.

In the end, Thomas Astruc's entire project was discarded, leaving only the love story between the two heroes and the city of Paris, where the story was to take place.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Sébastien explains how he writes Marinette's first dialogues: He says he talks a lot in real life, so he writes Marinette like him. She says out loud whatever she's thinking.

For Chat noir, he makes him tell his father's jokes. Something TF1 doesn't accept. The TV channel went so far as to refuse to validate the Bible (a collection of information on the series and episodes) until it had removed the sentence: “Chat noir makes jokes”. Sebastien has therefore removed the sentence, but will continue to make Chat noir tell jokes.

-The writing director's job is to get the producer, creator and broadcaster to agree. The series broadcast on TF1 and Disney are very different. TF1 wants series whose story can be told in a single episode, unlike Disney, which wants series whose story spans several episodes.

Sébastien and TF1 agree that Miraculous will be a series with one story per episode, a "Formula Show".

He cites the example of Dora the Explorer episodes, where every episode is the same: Dora goes on an adventure from point A to point B, she has to find 3 clues, then she meets Swiper, she sings a song to make Swiper go away, she uses the talking map to get from one place to another, then Dora manages to get to point B and the episode ends.

This episode format is used for children, to give them a reassuring framework, as they build themselves up through repetition. That's why series like Dora work so well with young children.

So Sebastien sold the Miraculous series to broadcasters as a formula show. A person gets angry, is akumatized, then marinette transforms into Ladybug then frees the person from the akumatization and… The End.

It's also for this reason that Marinette tries to confess her love for Adrien in every episode, but is unable to do so.

But he tried to go against what he had planned with TF1, by slipping little extra stories into certain episodes. Audiences were receptive to these slightly hidden stories. The TV channel even asked Sébastien if there really were hidden things in the series, but he denied everything. Thanks to the positive reception from the public, TF1 agreed to develop the characters of Marinette and Adrien and flesh out the universe a little more.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Once the bible is written, they have to write a script. But first Sébastien, as writing director, needs to know the mood of the series, and to do this he calls on Thomas Astruc, the series creator. Thomas is a great fan of classical painting. A single painting can tell a complex scene with lots of detail. He wants the episodes of miraculous to be like these paintings, there will be very few shots, but in a single shot a lot will happen.

-Sébastien explains that one of the things Thomas wanted to convey in the series was emotion. They didn't want to do what a lot of children's cartoons do, which is to beat the bad guys and win at the end of the episode. They wanted to tell kids that it's normal to have negative emotions. We can also become better people, learn from our mistakes and so on. It also reassures TV channels by setting up scenes that are repeated in every episode: people get angry, people akumatize then people deakumatize, end of episode...

Once the TV channels had been reassured, they set about writing a script.

-Sébastien asks Thomas to write the ending, as they're not sure the series will work. They also wondered what the aim of the series was, and what they wanted to say to the children. The two of them sat down in an office and wrote the ending, which turned out to be just the end of an arc. He even adds that now that they've written a lot more, it's important for them to write in advance so that everything is clear to them.

-The first season was written by 19 authors, from home. He found it interesting that the series was written by several different authors, even if some of them didn't quite understand the premise of the series. One episode that Sébastien particularly appreciated was written by two “autrices” (I think it's weird to say “two female authors”, so I'll use the French word): the refletkta episode, with the story of Juleka who couldn't get into the photos. (Note that all the episodes were proofread by Sébastien and Thomas).

After that, they kept a few people on to work together on the scripts for subsequent seasons.

Sébastien explains that he keeps a close eye on the production of the episodes, to make sure that everything that goes into the picture is as faithful as possible to what they've written in the script.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-The kwamis exist thanks to Toei, who wanted funny little animals to sell plush toys. So the scriptwriters had to find a way to integrate kwamis into the story.

-(Again, Sébastien advises people to check out the Kobushi series if they can still watch it somewhere, or ask the leaker who leaked the whole of season 5 to give them the episodes (that's a joke, of course)).

-Sébastien talks about the Ikari gozen episode, which could have been a total failure because the storyboarder didn't fully understand the scenario. Sébastien asks Zag to redo the storyboard, which will add 10 weeks to the episode's deadline. The storyboarder admits that he's always done storyboards mechanically, without worrying whether the episode is good or not, whether the jokes are funny or not. Eventually, the episode was redone by the same storyboarder, resulting in the episode we all know today.

- They still have a lot to tell with Miraculous, to the point where they're wondering if they'll have enough seasons to tell everything they want to tell. Sebastien says there will be a season 6 and 7, and probably a season 8 and 9.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- Chloé Paye met Sébastien when she was looking for an internship. She had never worked in animation, and knew nothing about Miraculous. She tells us how the scriptwriting team works. Each time, all the scriptwriters in the room have to be convinced of the script. They can sometimes spend hours on details to get everyone to agree.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- The driving force behind the series is that there must always be a secret between Marinette and Adrien. The lovesquare can never be broken, otherwise there's no series. Sébastien knows that some people are worried about this. Will they continue the lovesquare for another 4 seasons or more? How will they evolve? Sébastien says not to worry, they know where they want to go.

-It takes them 14 to 16 months to produce an episode, but it's often much longer due to unforeseen circumstances. And they don't work on one episode at a time, but on several at the same time. One episode takes a long time because of the 3D animation.

One of the things that's complicated with Miraculous 3d animation is that they can only display 3 characters at a time on screen, whereas the series requires them to display many more characters. It's also very difficult to correct animation errors, as this takes a lot of time.

-The TV networks were very surprised by the success of miraculous. They didn't think adults and children alike would watch the series. The TV channels were a little confused because they usually make series for a specific age group, but since miraculous had people of all ages watching, they weren't sure what to do.

- Sébastien says he's very happy that miraculous inspires a lot of people to create things, like writing fanfiction, however he's not interested in it because he doesn't want to be influenced by certain fans who would love to see certain things in the series.

- Writing direction also means paying attention to how the characters speak. They all have their own way of speaking. For example, Adrien will never say "j’te parle", but rather "Je te parle".

- During the writing process, the writers sometimes act out scenes to make the dialogue more natural. This is what happened with the episode "Gang of secrets". They felt that, with the success of the show and the pressure it was generating, they needed to write something to relieve their stress. So they wrote about Marinette and the enormous pressure she was under to keep all her secrets. The final scene, in which Marinette tells Alya that she's Ladybug, came naturally when they performed it together.

[sillyuin]

if your requests are in, I was wondering who in Svt would give u up for friendship and who would fight for u till the end ( if two of the members were interested in someone). I really like your style of writing and think it’s super super cute so I would love it if you could make this idea come to life: thank you and keep writing xxx🫶🏽

Hi anon! Sorry for keep you waiting but here it is. I struggled a little bc is the first time writing something likes this, but it was also fun, thank you ♥

Seventeen reactions (ot13) - Fight or Flight?

Yuin's note: barely proofread. I'm still stuck with write's block so I don't know how my attempt at comedy turned out.

Scoups: He’d be troubled. Seungcheol really, really wants to be with you and thinking about losing you is something that just can’t think of. So, he would just let it flow, no matter how hard it was, and do his best not to lose his mind. (but we all know he already did it and he’d kill to have you just for him).

Jeonghan: He'd be with a "I’ve got this” attitude and like he trust himself, but lowkey, Jeonghan is terrified about what could happen. This is not a Going Seventeen episode (and he hates to admit it) so he just can’t cheat like is a game, but probably will use all the cards he has up his sleeve.

Joshua: Maybe he has too much self-confidence or just don’t want to rush things over, but Joshua would be very chill about it. He will be your friend no matter what happens and will be there whenever you need him, so what happens it’s completely up to you. Good luck!

Jun: That would be a big surprise, not a pleasant one, and saying that he's just distressed is little for how he'd really feels about it. Jun loves you as you are, but he needs some space to collect his thoughts so he might be a distant for a time :(

Hoshi: Okay, this man would do anything for you so he won't give in so easily. Hoshi doesn’t matter anyone but you, so he will exhaust all the resources available to him, but also trying his best not to overwhelm you in the process (and we all know he’s fighting for his life lol).

Wonwoo: He'd prefer staying in his comfort zone and is okay with just a friendship, letting the path clear for the other person but also leaving the door open. (As soon as he's alone he would drown his sorrows by playing animal crossing and dissociating).

Woozi: Just like Wonwoo he'd prefer to keep it as a friendship, a little of you is better than nothing, open to possibilities but also without really looking for them. However, we all know him and would be so blue that will probably write a song about it (the next SOFT if you ask me).

Minghao: Despairing will not help and he knows that, so he'd try to push further than a friendship. Hao is patient but also dedicated, the last thing he wants is to do something that might hurt you, the best option is to walk at a slow and safe pace.

Dokyeom: Ugh, that would break his heart, he can't imagine his world without you but at the same time, Dokyeom knows that he can't tie you. So, whatever makes you happy would make him happy too... At least on the surface (We all know he'd be tossing and turning in bed trying not to think about it).

Mingyu: Sulky Mingyu just entered the chat because yes, a situation like that is very frustrating. But on the top of that is you. So, as long as you follow your heart, he would respect that decision, lowkey crossing his fingers behind his back for you to choose him.

Seungkwan: Probably too much for him to handle. Seungkwan would feel his emotions on the surface, unable to think properly. He'd prefer to step back for a time, maybe some days, at least until he can look at the others without looking like he wants to slap them.

Vernon: He wouldn't flinch we all know that for sure lol. He enjoys spending time with you and your silly jokes always makes his days a little brighter. No matter what happens, Vernon would be there to share more happy memories with you.

Dino: He'd probably freak out and scream on the inside because a love triangle wasn't on his bingo for this year. However, he's not quitting. If you end up just being friends then he will accept it, but no one can say that Chan wouldn't give his best to get you

[entamesubs]

Yu-Gi-Oh! Go Rush!! Episode 151 Sub Release (END)

Torrent

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Please make sure to read the FAQ if you have any questions.

Thank you for three years of Go Rush!! There are notes from the team under this cut alongside the translation notes.

These three years have been a blast, and I hope you enjoy the last episode as much as we did!

Go Rush!!

-------------------------------

"Wings and Courage"

Yuuhi and Yuamu's names in Japanese are written as 遊飛 and 遊歩, respectively. The first kanji in their name is the standard Yu-Gi-Oh! protagonist yuu- (meaning "game"). The second kanji is what Yuudias refers to when he calls them his wings and courage.

Yuuhi's second kanji is 飛, meaning "to fly". Meanwhile, Yuamu's second kanji is 歩, meaning "to walk". By flying with Yuuhi's wings and walking forward with Yuamu's courage, Yuudias is complete.

遊天亜守 Yuudei Asu

Yuudias' old-timey name as revealed at the end is Yuudei Asu, complete with kanji. Altogether, the kanji seem to have mainly been picked just as a way to "spell out" the sound of "Yuudias" rather than for meaning.

However, if there's anyone that can wrangle meaning out of a couple mismatched kanji, it's me.

遊 - play, game 天 - sky, heavens 亜 - next, sub- 守 - guard, protector

This can be read, liberally, as "cosmic protector of games" or, more simply, by taking out the yuu- kanji that every Yu-Gi-Oh! protagonist has, "defender of the cosmos".

-------------------------------

Messages from the entameSubs Team

"i love you go rush and yuamu you will always be famous to me" - Tessa (aka batsugeemu, proofreader and pinch translator)

"Thank you for watching Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens and Yu-Gi-Oh! Go Rush with our subtitles. I remember being six and watching Duel Monsters episodes split into three parts on Youtube--I never could have imagined actually working on any of the series myself. Even so, I'm really grateful for the past five years with entamesubs. I made irreplaceable friends, and my Japanese, which I had only learned lightly as a hobby, was able to help spread a series I love with so many people, and grow into a skill I'm proud to have. It's strange to think of a future filled with weekends without a new episode to watch or work on, but my love for Yu-Gi-Oh will never die! Until the next series, let's rush, rush, go rush!" - Yona (aka angelthinktank, proofreader and translator)

"one last pu-puku-pu" - Quas (aka quasthecat, quality checker)

"Rest easy yall knowing Yuga and the crew got their happy ending while Otes lived out his dumb old man life at the mercy of kuaidul" - Merlin (aka merlinwizaa, timer)

-------------------------------

At the end of a long five year journey, my work on Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS and Go Rush!! has now come to an end.

I don't quite know how to put my feelings into words, but first let me express my gratitude. Rush era Yu-Gi-Oh! saved my life in more ways than one, and has let me meet new friends and create wonderful memories with many people. Every episode that went by, and every week that passed as I worked on this series was a blast. My Japanese has improved considerably since I began, and I was able to flex my own writing muscles with the over-the-top summon chants that I always enjoy translating.

I remember being one of the only people that kept holding onto belief that Go Rush would get a third year - a belief that turned out to be true in December of 2023. It has been so very exciting to work on Go Rush and share my joy and passion with others.

In a similar vein to one of Arthur's tweets, aka the VA of Yuudias, I kept thinking to myself "once I type this last line, once I translate this final word, it'll all be over". At the push of a publish button, my work as part of [entameSubs] will come to a warm and bittersweet end.

Yuudias and the cast of Go Rush have truly been my sources of joy for the past three years, and I am sad to see them go. I am overwhelmed with emotion about the implications of the final episode, as Yuudias endured 500 long years to meet with the twins again.

I have cried in the middle of translating, and even while I was writing this, I delayed the final word of my translation just a little so it won't be "over" just yet.

As someone who has been watching Yu-Gi-Oh! live as it aired in Japan since 5Ds, I have to say this is the most emotional ending that has ever affected me so much in a Yu-Gi-Oh!. I am overcome with an appreciation and fondness for Go Rush, and it has become my absolute most favorite Yu-Gi-Oh!, bar none. And I have seen every single one without fail.

Once again, thank you for three years of Go Rush! Until the day I die, this series will stick with me into forever. The people I have met, the journey I have been on alongside these characters, growing up with them, and of course the entameSubs team has been a great source of happiness. I will miss all of it.

My fellow Go Rush countrymen! Let us meet again!

- Ciel (aka "entame", the main translator and head of entameSubs)

[mrinafria]

[contains spoilers]

I'm an eternal digger of good narrative techniques. A decent story becomes great in my eyes if the narrative is done right. And it's one of the hardest things to do really, since there's no one-size-fits-all rule for what technique works well with a particular story and what doesn't. One of the primary reasons I keep obsessing over Lovely Runner is its' narrative technique. In all honesty, if it had a linear, singular narrative, I would not be hyperventilating over it on a constant basis (I still would just a certain amount, because both Byeon Woo Seok and Kim Hye Yoon deserve awards for what they are doing). One reason it has managed to knock it out off the park and take the top spot in my forever-favorite list is how wonderfully well the narrative is done.

The primary perspective used in this show is Im Sol's. It's through her we're introduced to the story. Her perspective gives shape to the plot, the characters, because we learn things through her. Her perspective is absolutely critical for exposition. Without her thoughts and way of viewing things, you would never realize why saving Seon Jae means so much to her, or why she would bend the rules and bulldoze ahead when it comes to his safety (exhibit A, her leaving home on the day of the accident, despite knowing about her fate). She'd rather have him alive than have him in her life. Without her narrative, you'd think it's really all about a fan saving her idol (thanks to everyone who'd rejected the script listening to that pitch by the way, I'm grateful we have BWS and KHY as the leads because of that, I would not change it for anyone else). With Im Sol's perspective, you realize, she is not just a fan: she's an ardent admirer, a cheerleader, a well-wisher, a protector, an invisible friend trying to support her friend any way she can, someone who respects Seon Jae, sees him as an idol but also as a human, someone who wants to give back to him the same kindness, empathy and love she had once received from him over a radio call. To her, Seon Jae is first a guardian angel and then an idol, the angel who changed her view of life, made her appreciate things even amidst all that could be wrong with the world and her life. He saved her. Not just on that day at the hospital but every time she struggled and faltered since then, he was there, as invisible as it may have been. So this time, she wants to save him, no matter the price.

Then comes Seon Jae. Oof. If Im Sol's perspective gives the story its beautiful, beautiful shape, Seon Jae's perspective breathes literal life in to the body of the story. The show wouldn't be what it is today if not for his perspective. Without his view into things, Im Sol appears as a fangirl going to extreme measures to save her idol, clinging onto him like a monkey (yes I mean the poster) embarrassing the heck out of herself, making you cringe (in a good, enjoyable way) throughout. Then you reach the end of episode 2 and it knocks the breath out of you because WHAT DO YOU EVEN MEAN. It all clicks.

All this while we kept thinking Seon Jae was caught off guard and just kind enough to tolerate her antics, and maybe he'd slowly fall for her now, only to realize we were completely oblivious to a whole different side of the story. If Im Sol's narrative draws you in and keeps you hooked, making you root for her to succeed, it's Seon Jae's narrative that makes you irredeemably fall in love with them and sincerely, genuinely, desperately hope they get their happy ending together after all the storm.

And the motifs. Walking/running, for instance. I'll focus on just one scene here. I recall seeing a bts where KHY is discussing the OG 2008 accident scene, and it explains how she has to slow down, while running away, for just a moment, only to be hit by the taxi driver. Have you ever been in a situation of absolute panic, desperation and stress, then suddenly found a familiar face or a name or a thing you could connect to, and felt a wave of relief rush through you? She sees Seon Jae, a person who is calling out her name. Even if she didn't know him back then, the fact that he knew her (and that he had his uniform on), gives her a sense of safety she badly needed that moment. That momentary relief, so visible in her features, then overtakes the crippling fear she felt running in the middle of nowhere with no one in sight in the dead of the night. Her body, already exhausted beyond anything, responds to the relief she feels for those few seconds, slowing down her steps.

And that is when she is caught off-guard and hit. That also might have added to Im Sol's anger at the hospital when she is screaming at Seon Jae, her internal anguish that if only she had not paused seeing Seon Jae, and kept on running, then maybe she wouldn't be hit, wouldn't fall, wouldn't lose her ability to walk. It's one thing to have tropes and symbolic things, but it's a very different thing to know how to use them effectively so they elicit very specific types of emotions/reactions out of people. Lovely Runner excels in that. All kdramas more or less have 'things' that take on different meanings for the couples/viewers. It's the way motifs are used to narrate the story in this one that has me going back over and over again to all the episodes aired so far. These are not just their 'things', these are 'things' that drive the plot forward, tell you about their characters, their personal motivations, what they mean to each other and so much more.

This is getting longer that I intended it to be so will end with this. I feel valued when watching Lovely Runner. And I've seen people saying the same thing. It feels like they respect your critical thinking skills, and your ability to infer, so they don't spoon-feed you everything from the get-go, and you can't predict much despite it being primarily a rom-com. You'd be pulling your hair out (again, in a good way) trying to figure out what they will show next, and you will be somewhat or very far from the truth, which will compel you to think further about the story, the characters, long after an episode has aired...I can't remember the last time it happened with a drama. I love this storytelling.

[fandomwe1rd0]

Rick and Morty's dynamic for each season! I finally finished it!

THIS POST IS VERY VERYY LONG, THE WHOLE POST IS UNDER THE CUT

Heyyy, happy Easter to my followers! This is my easter gift for y’all! Don’t say I never do anything for you! Sooo, since I reached 300 followers! I love you all, by the way! Mwah! Mwah! And to celebrate, I made a poll to ask you guys what you'd like me to do, anddd you said that you'd like me to make an overanalysis of Rick and Morty's dynamic each season! This doesn't exactly surprise me; a lot of people said that they followed me because of my analysis! So this doesn't surprise me too much! And this will be the 2,000th post on my account! I honestly never expected to keep this blog going for this long, but I'm glad I did! Because if I didn't, I would've never met so many kind people! Okay, okay, enough with the sappy stuff before I turn into a tree (I stole that joke from a youtube, who did I steal it from? I'll never tell! Mwah-ha-ha- wha-? This is a Wendys? Oh uhm yeah of course, sorry) Now let's jump into it starting from the beginning!

~ Season 1 ~

Okay, let's begin with them in season 1! This was definitely their dynamic at their most exploitative, I'd say. In episode 1 alone, we see that Rick:

1. Barges into Morty's room while he's sleeping and DRAGS HIM OUT OF BED BY HIS ANKLE so they can go on an adventure

2. Drags Morty out of school so he can help him on an adventure, then pressures Morty when he's hesitant

3. Didn't care when Morty's legs broke due to Rick not telling him something, then acted like it was Morty's fault for not knowing information that Rick didn't give him, and only fixed Morty's legs when he was rightfully pissed at him

4. Encourages Morty to stick megaseeds up his uh...bottom so they can smuggle them through interdimensional customs, then didn't do anything when they dissolved, which made Morty lose his motor skills and brain functionality for 72 hours

5. Lied to Morty about the security guards being robots, so Morty shoots them, and showed no sympathy for Morty when he was horrified that he shot them

6. Used Morty's temporary super intelligence so he could get himself out of trouble, then ranted to Morty, telling him that he will keep his mouth shut about their adventures

And that was in the first episode alone, and we can clearly see that he has very little to no respect for Morty. Only using him for adventures and not caring about Morty's feelings or autonomy, outright forcing him to go on adventures when he doesn't want to. Even in Rick's worst season (season 4), he never forces Morty to go on adventures with him, even if he is mean or annoyed when Morty doesn't want to. It's pretty safe to say that for the first few episodes of season 1, he didn't even see Morty as a person but instead as a tool that is useful for adventures.

We see him again, disregarding Morty's autonomy in episode 3. Dragging Morty away from a family Christmas without making sure he's ok with it. Even insulting Morty's intelligence for literally no reason afterward. Calling his brain his "little walnut" and casually mentioning to him that he has to hold his breath before he minimizes him or his organs will collapse. He also minimizes Morty's girlfriend in this episode, keeping Morty isolated and preventing him from having a relationship with someone his age. We see him doing something similar when he drags Morty away from Jessica at the end of episode 1. While I heavily doubt that Rick is grooming Morty (For non-sexual reasons, ofc), and if he is, that's not what the writer intended; he does fit the isolating step disturbingly well. However, he is most likely doing this to keep Morty dependent on him and not to groom him. It's still fucked up either way.

Then we see him disregard Morty's autonomy yet again in episode 4, where he drags Morty out of class, speaking for Morty when Mr. Goldenfold says if Morty leaves he's giving him an F. (Granted, Rick knew that this wasn't real, but he knew that Morty didn't know that, and believed that Morty was real) 

Mr Goldenfold: If he leaves, I'm giving him an F!

Rick: He doesn't care!

Now, Rick does actually care about Morty in season one and has episodes where he shows that, but these are few and far between, and the bad in this season heavily outweighs the good, but for argument's sake, I will point them out.

1. Episode 4, he gets angry and protective when he finds out that aliens watched Morty while he was...uncovered, even attempts to lunge at them for doing so, which is sweet considering that Jerry, Morty's dad, didn't give 2 flying fucks.

2. Episode 5, comforts Morty after what happened with Mr. Jellybean, and even kills Mr. Jellybean for the sick shit he did, which is absolutely deserved.

3. Episode 9, Rick was happy to see Morty when he was alone at the Smith's house, but quickly covered it up because feelings are for losers, ig. 

4. Episode 10, Rick angrily tells the other Ricks to "leave my Morty out of this" when they take him to the council.

5. Episode 11 has cute bonding moments with Summer and Morty at the end of the episode.

Now, Rick, despite still caring about Morty, was very exploitative and saw Morty more like a tool he can use on an adventure instead of a person. A good example of this is this exchange in episode 10

Morty: Oh my god, Rick! There's a bunch of people strapped to that building!

Rick: Not people, Morty...Mortys.

Soooo yeah, that line straight up shows that at this moment, he didn't see Morty as a person, he even admitted to fiddling with the concept of torturing Mortys to hide from other Ricks (He says that he did it "On paper" but we can see when the memories are scanned that he did do this) and he took a voucher for a free replacement Morty. Again, showing that he saw Morty more as a tool that can be replaced easily, and not a real person...but that was until...

~ Season 2 ~

We're at Season 2, baby! Now, Rick and Morty's dynamic was still toxic in season 2, but Rick is finally seeing, or at the very least starting to see, Morty as a person rather than a tool. A VERY good example of this is in the very first episode, A Rickle In Time, I'm sure if you've watched the show, you know what scene I'm going to bring up, the scene where Rick, without hesitation, gives Morty his time collar. This is a huge moment. Also, in that episode, the timeline splits whenever a character is uncertain about something, and when Rick gave Morty his time collar, letting himself be stuck in a timeless oblivion so Morty will be ok. And his literal only request was that Morty be a better person than him. 

While this scene is adorable and is the only proof that you need to see how much Rick truly cares about Morty, it also shows that he still sees himself as "above" Morty in some way, due to his delusional god complex, which was still strong here. Considering that he said, "Be better than me," saying that he doesn't see Morty as above him, it could be implied that he sees Morty as equal in this scene, but considering how he treats Morty in this season, I doubt it. Now, in this season, Rick is definetily less exploitative. He still doesn't treat Morty great, but he doesn't exploit him as much as he did in season 1. 

Now, this isn't to say he treats Morty well; he still emotionally abuses him regularly, not caring when Morty is hurt by what he said. Like in A Rickle in Time, when Morty tells him, "Words hurt!" and Rick has no reaction. He also insults him a lot in Mortynight Run, even when he thinks that Morty is hurt after Fart left. Completely willing to kick Morty down, and the way he does it so gleefully doesn't exactly help. He also wasn't worried about Morty when he left in These Ricks Must Be Crazy, which will wildly contrast season 3, where they went HARD on Rick caring about Morty. Not that I'm complaining! 

Rick also leaves Morty twice in this season, adding to Morty's abandonment issues, which, uh...isn't something a good grandpa would do. He fully meant to abandon Morty in Auto Erotic Assimulation, but only came back since Unity left him. He also left Morty to turn himself in in The Wedding Squanchers, which, whether Rick notices it or not, is a common manipulation tactic for codependency. Showering someone with attention, then leaving, which will make people so desprate for more attention that they will quickly become depedent on you, which is what Rick did here, although I am pretty sure it wasn't intentional, as he did what he did out of a desire for the Smith family to have a normal life, after he heard Beth crying saying that she'll let Rick do whatever he wants because she doesn't want him to leave again. I refuse to believe that was a cold, calculated move, as I doubt that he would want to willingly relive his trauma in the season 3 premiere. But whether Rick intended it or not, he did use this manipulation tactic, which caused Morty to become very codependent on him, since I would argue that he wasn't as codependent in earlier seasons as he is in later seasons. Especially considering that Morty threatened to kill Rick in Look Who's Purging now.

This is where tension starts to build in their relationship, and we see more of Morty's seething anger towards Rick and repressed rage. Rick is aware of Morty's repressed rage, but doesn't do anything about it, making Morty believe that he doesn't have it at the end of the episode by lying to him that a candy bar he ate amplified his violent tendencies. This may seem sweet, and in a way, it is, since Rick did this to clear Morty's conscience. But Morty deserves to know about his repressed rage so he can do something about it and work on it. But Rick is inherently keeping this information from Morty, making the inherent power dynamic they have, considering it's a younger family member and an older family member, even more unhealthy. Since Rick knows something big about Morty that Morty doesn't know about himself, Rick is purposefully keeping this information away from him. Although we never see Rick attempt to exploit Morty's repressed rage, keeping something this big from him isn't ok.

Again, Rick still cares about Morty in this season, sacfricing himself to save Morty, saving Morty in Mortynight Run, although he bitched and complained, being worried about Morty when Unity blew up a town, watching a movie with Morty and Summer and happily getting ice cream with them, etc., etc.

We do get more moments of him and Morty caring about each other and bonding since Rick is seeing Morty as a person instead of a tool he uses on adventures, but their dynamic is still heavily unhealthy with a huge power imbalance, and has Rick making Morty's codependency on him worse.

So while Rick exploits Morty less and is finally seeing Morty as a person, their dynamic is still very unhealthy, with a huge power imbalance and codependency galore. Now, let's get to season 3!

~ Season 3 ~

In season 3, we not only get more tension with Rick and Morty's relationship, with Morty shooting Rick in the head and yelling "Who's stupid now bitch!?" To be fair, it was a fake gun, but Morty didn't know that. Morty also tricks Rick into taking Jerry on an adventure since he just wanted a break from the adventures. But we also see the codependency leak into other parts of Morty's life. Morty starts to have repressed rage towards Jerry, as we see him attacking people while pretending that they are Jerry in Rickmancing the Stone.

You may be wondering how this has anything to do with his relationship to Rick, while codepedency can lead to estrangened relationships with other family members (https://castimonia.org/2021/09/05/codependent-families-family-roles-whats-yours/) since family members may struggle for power, which is something we see Jerry do with Rick, another reason why Morty may have repressed rage towards Jerry is because people who are codepedent on others may adopt their opinions on the belief that it'll give them validation (https://codependencyrecovery.org/2022/11/04/worrying-what-other-people-think/) so another reason could be because Morty recogonized that Rick hates Jerry and adopted that same opinion without realizing it, causing him to seethe in anger before his repressed rage for Jerry formed. It could also be his way of getting his repressed rage out by taking it out on unrelated people, he literally said this in season 3 episode 2, "What if we...didn't do it? What if we just went back to the blood dome and kept taking our baggage out on unrelated people?"

Rick also isolates Morty more with his season 3 premiere speech.

"I just took over the family, Morty! And if you tell your mom and sister I said any of this, I'll deny it! And they'll take my side because I'm a hero, Morty! Now you'll have to go and do whatever I say, Morty! FOREVER!"

This is a common manipulation tactic. Making your victim believe that nobody will believe them, so they may as well not even bother telling anyone, also burdening your victim with a big secret, and expecting them to keep it, which allows the abuser to hold more power over their victim. He knows that Beth has abandonment issues and knows that she'll take Rick's side if Morty tries to tell her just how dangerous his adventures with Rick are. It's chilling how many manipulation tactics Rick takes with Morty, to keep control over Morty and to keep Morty codependent on him. 

Now, for Rick, this makes sense; he craves control. This codependency is something that Rick doesn't get, he's uncertain about it, and it doesn't make sense to him, so he tries to control Morty so he can regain the feeling he likes of having everything under control. He also sees that Rick KNOWS that doing these manipulation tactics is giving him control over Morty, which makes it VERY unlikely that he's doing these on accident, as he says this to Morty when he's in his toxic form in season 3 episode 6:

"You can die when I say so! I control you! I control the universe!"

We also see just how badly Rick's emotional abuse affected Morty, with toxic Morty being HEAVILY insecure, saying things including but not limited to:

"I don't want to be on camera, I'm ugly and gross, please!" "I did it, Rick! I got the tank! I'm a piece of shit, but I got the tank!" and "I think my voice is annoying"

We also see him agreeing with Toxic Rick with everything, something that emotional abuse victims tend to do to minimize abusive events, this becomes even more apparent when we find out that Mortys are breed to be as forgiving as possible, and a lot of emotional abuse victims tend to be forgiving towards their abusers (https://psychcentral.com/health/coercive-control#recap)

Morty also being heavily insecure is another sign of codependency, as when someone is codependent, their view of themselves is heavily tied to what the person they are codependent on thinks of them. Morty also saying that he dislikes confrontation in the episode could be tied to emotional abuse, or it could be that and a mix of codepedency, as people who are codepedent have self worth tied to the person they are codepedent on, and because of that will avoid conflicts with them since they want to be liked by them. (https://www.simplypsychology.org/signs-of-codependency.html)

Another thing I want to point out is Morty’s lack of boundaries with Rick. An example of this is in Rest and Ricklaxation. Rick goes to drag Morty out of school again, and at first Morty says no since he found out that Jessica was single, then Rick is dismissive of him, and continues to pressure him. Which Morty agrees to. Also in the season 3 garage rant, Rick repeatedly invades Morty’s personal space, and while Morty is clearly scared, he doesn’t do anything about it. This is a common sign of codependency (https://americanaddictioncenters.org/rehab-guide/family-members/codependent) We do see Morty begin setting boundaries with Rick in season 7, but after years of neglecting his own boundaries when it came to Rick, it will take a while to undo this. We also see this in season 1, with Morty being able to successfully share his boundaries with Jerry about coming to his room without knocking, while we see Rick do that exact thing multiple times, and Morty just lets it happen, not setting clear boundaries with Rick, letting Rick have more control over him. Now this is NOT Morty’s fault, as Rick is the one who got Morty codependent on him, but that’s just another way for Rick to control Morty, as Rick is a control freak.

This also seems to be the season where Rick's codependency on Morty gets worse, so he desperately tries to retaliate by controlling Morty more. An example of this is in episode 4, where he gets jealous of Morty seeing the vindicators as his heroes and not him. Rick probably doesn't feel this a lot, it's weird to him, he doesn't know why he cares so much about what Morty thinks, and why he's so mad at the thought of Morty seeing other people as his heros, so he does what he knows best, he goes to drink so he can numb himsef and feel like he's in control. 

Rick seems to crave control a lot; the reason for this most likely stems from his backstory, Diane and Beth dying from Rick Prime. This was a situation Rick wasn't in control of. In the few seconds he had to gain control, he was frozen in shock. In Rick's mind, their deaths were his fault because he didn't have any control over the situation, so he wants control over everything. He hates being uncertain and confused. His dynamic and codependency with Morty confuses him. He hates caring about others, scared that if he cares about people, they'll leave him, be put in danger because of him, or die. He cares about Morty. He should hate Morty, but he doesn't. It confuses him so much that he tries to control Morty as much as he can to combat this feeling, but it doesn't work. It never does. Rick also revisits the memory of Beth and Diane's death in the season 3 premiere, he is reminded of what happens when he doesn't have control at all times, people he loves die.

While season 1 was their dynamic at its most exploitative, seasons 3-4 were their dynamic as it's most controlling. Rick can feel the codependency becoming worse and tries to combat this with control, yet it still doesn't work. Let me quickly list off moments in season 3 where Rick attempts to control Morty.

1. Rickmancing the Stone attempts to push Morty into doing stuff he doesn't want to do and continues to push Morty to do the things, even when Morty doesn't want to. An example of this was him trying to push Morty to leave, even when Morty said that he wanted to stay. Or him volunteering Morty into the blood dome and not caring when Morty was mad at him for doing so.

2. Pickle Rick. He tries to manipulate Morty into lying for him. Saying this: "Morty, I assure you I would never 'find a way' to 'get out of' family therapy." 

3. Vindicators 3: Return of Worldender. Put the Vindicators into a SAW so Morty can see what horrible people they are and hopefully idealize Rick over them. He didn't actually want to kill the vindicators, but still.

4. Rest and Ricklaxation. Toxic Rick controls Toxic Morty for this whole episode, bossing him around and straight up saying, "I control you."

5. Morty's Mindblowers. Rick literally removes memories from Morty that make Rick come off as pathetic, are embarrassing for Rick, or even a moment where Morty gets the slightest bit of power over Rick. An example of this is when Morty made fun of Rick since Rick thought that "Take things for granted" was "Take things for grainte" or when Morty won a checkers game against Rick. Then acting like Morty was overreacting when Morty was rightfully pissed at Rick after he found out the truth.

But, Rick also slightly softens up in this season, letting himself be a little more relaxed with Morty, like when he always tells himself to just have a fun time with Morty at Atlantis. This was off-screen, but in the after-credits scene, it's clear that they both had a nice time and were fondly talking about their adventure together. Rick also takes Jerry on an adventure, despite not liking Jerry, because he thought Morty was genuinely worried about Jerry and wanted to make Morty happy. Even if he tries to brush this off by saying, "You know how Morty gets when he gets emotional, it impedes my work." We also see Rick and Morty geuinely enjoy Minecraft together, without Rick making any snide or backhanded remarks towards Morty, while this was their dynamic at it's most controlling, we also see them become more like friends...but then we reach season 4...ooo boy, aren't you in for a treat...

~ Season 4 ~

So in season 4, we get another attempt at Rick trying to control Morty with him trying to control Morty as usual, but he was trying to drag Morty on an adventure without caring about if Morty wanted to do it or not, but Beth actually stops him, since now she's having Rick ask Morty, giving Morty more autonomy, sadly though, it's not nearly enough considering how controlling Rick was of him in season 3, and this season. Morty did agree to the adventure, but when Rick died, Morty chose to let Rick stay dead so he could die with Jessica. Again, this shows the budding tension between them, with Morty coming to hate Rick, or at the very least not love him. This will change, though, as it tends to with codependency, as Morty will begin to trauma bond with Rick. 

Rick did 3 VERY fucked up things in season 4. I like to think of it as the fucked up triology. So, first he manipulates Morty into hating heist movies like him, so he doesn't get too busy with it to go on adventures in One Crew Coocco Over Morty. Gave Morty a BLACK EYE in Rattlestar Ricklatica, and traumatized Morty into being terrified of ever defying him again in Vat of Acid.

There are also very few moments where he cares about Morty here, 

He shields Morty in the premiere and has a cute garage rant with him.

Tells Morty that he loves him in the ending of Never Ricking Morty (We’re ignoring the lips if you want part, thank you very much! Although it is another good example of how Rick ignores Morty’s boundaries and Morty lets his boundaries be ignored)

He and Morty have a bonding moment in Promortyus.

And uhhh that’s about it! Now, let’s talk more about the fucked up shit he did because…whoo boy, is it MESSY.

Now, starting off with the heist episode, this is another attempt by Rick to get more control over Morty’s life, which sadly works. So, a quick refresher in case you forgot (I doubt it, what Rick did here is pretty infamous for good reason), Morty was writing a heist script, and because of that was flaking on adventures with Rick, which annoyed Rick to no end. Then, when he heard from Summer that Morty could get a Netflix deal, he heard 4 words that set off alarm bells in his head.

“You could lose him.”

Rick is also codependent on Morty, relying on him far more than anyone should rely on a 14-year-old. So the thought of losing Morty terrifies him, so he said that he would “Nip this in the bud” but luckily Beth butts in. Telling Rick that he won’t be doing anything bout it, and if Morty gives up, it better be his own choice, and not because of Rick. 

Now Rick hears this, and, like the emotionally stable, well-adjusted man he is, took this as he’s supposed to manipulate Morty into giving up on the dream, so he remains codependent on him and so Rick doesn’t lose him, as he is terrified of losing Morty, since he lost 2 people that were so, SO important to him, and Morty quickly became the most important person in his life after their death, so he would do anything not to lose him. Even if it means doing things that he knows would be damaging to Morty’s psyche.

This is what I mean when I say that Rick does love Morty, just not in the correct way. He loves Morty, but in a selfish way, as he doesn’t care about how his actions affect Morty, only wanting Morty to stay with him, no matter what the cost it may have on Morty’s psyche. Now, Rick does treat Morty better and cares more about how his actions affect Morty, but this realization came a little too late; his actions already damaged Morty immensely, and I don’t think Rick realizes this. As he never even considered that Morty’s greatest fear could have something to do with him in Fear No Mort, but we will get to that, TRUST ME. I don’t think Rick is being intentionally abusive, he’s just doing whatever he thinks he has to do to protect Morty, as he believes that caring for people is basically a death sentence for them. So he tries to pretend like he hates Morty, terrified of admitting and showing just how much he cares about Morty, but this didn’t make him hate Morty; it only made Morty hate himself. And Rick’s manipulation of Morty seems to be his attempt to keep Morty around him by any means necessary.

Now I am by no means defending Rick’s actions, they are ABSOLUTELY abusive, but I don’t think Rick realizes that, as very few people are intentionally abusive and manipulative. They mostly do not recognize that they are abusive (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/invisible-bruises/202210/do-abusers-understand-their-behavior-is-wrong). Although this does not excuse their actions, it is interesting to bring up. They also tend not to realize how their actions affect their victim, as the change happens slowly. Which is also something I believe is true for Rick. He definitely doesn’t realize how much he has hurt Morty, although this doesn’t make Morty’s hurt ok. Rick truly has no idea how deeply he’s scarred his grandson. 

Vat of Acid is another VERY fucked up thing. This also has to do with Rick’s fear of losing Morty. So, Morty saw firsthand that one of Rick’s plans failed, and he lashes out at him for it. He then manipulates Rick into making an invention for him by using reverse psychology, which works, of course, since Rick has the most fragile ego known to man. But it turns out Rick didn’t do what Morty wanted, instead transporting Morty to a different timeline, killing the Morty that was originally in that timeline, eventually revealing this to Morty, traumatizing him. He also had Morty merge all of the timelines together, so only one Morty did all of the things Morty did in that episode. Take a shot for every time I say Morty in this post! I’m kidding, don’t do that. You’ll definitely die of alcohol poisoning. So Rick did this, one to preserve his ego, as he wants Morty to see him as cool, despite not wanting to admit it, because basic human emotions are for losers! And two, did this to keep Morty with him. As he says in season 6, after he believes that Morty hates him:

“This is what happens when you let people in and they stop respecting you!”

Morty didn’t respect Rick here, and Rick, being terrified of what that could mean, makes a whole contrived plot to keep Morty from ever critiquing him again. Hoping that this would keep Morty respecting him.

Rick is an incredibly fucked up indivual, but he typically does have a reason for doing the reprehensible shit he does, which makes it interesting to anaylze, and shows how complex he really is. So while season 4 was Rick at his worst, it IS a pretty interesting season to use to analyze Rick’s character.

This is also the season that kicks off Rick’s redemption arc. In the finale, Rick realizes how much of a terrible father he is, which leads him to sit alone in the garage and reflect on his behavior in this season. Unable to face the family after he realized just how horrible he is. This is a MASSIVE moment of growth for Rick, as he realized how much his actions hurt Rick, and how horrible it is to look at those actions play out. 

Now let’s get to the REAL reason why any of you are here for this post! Season 5! Rick’s redemption arc is starting, babbyyy! Let’s go!

~ Season 5 ~

Ok, so at the end of season 4 with the whole clone Beth thingy, Rick realizes what a truly bad person he is, and sits in the garage thinking about how horrible he’s been in season 4. Since, imo, he was at his worst in season 4, and Rick seems to agree since he begins his redemption arc in season 5. With the very first episode, we already see how different he acts. He tells Morty to leave him and save himself when they are literally in a life-threatening situation. Another example of how, while Rick may be a horrible grandpa, in the end, he loves Morty more than he loves himself. Which isn’t saying a lot because he hates himself, but uhhhh y’know what I mean. In this season, he respects Morty’s autonomy a lot more. For example, in the first episode again, Rick tries to drag Morty off so Morty can watch him sign a peace treaty with Mr. Nimbus. This was right after Mr. Nimbus says that this has to be someone Rick would trust with his life, by the way. But when Rick tries to, Morty yanks his arm away and says, “Rick! I did everything you asked today! Now, can I just spend some time with my girlfriend?” And Rick, instead of just ignoring Morty’s protest and boundaries again and just dragging him off, as, say, season one Rick would’ve done, he doesn’t try to drag Morty away and just says, “Your girlfriend?” Which, I would normally say that this is rude, buttttt considering how this is Morty’s 1st date with Jessica and he’s already using the “girlfriend” label, thissss is pretty fair I’d hate to say it. We also have Morty saying this line: “Y’know, sometimes you have to BE an asshole! My grandpa taught me that!”

Hell, Rick even let Morty off the hook for screwing up later in this episode, even if he’s snarky about it (“I fucked it up, ok?” “It’s ok Morty, it’s what you do, now lemme Deus Ex Machina this shit and let’s go home.”) when usually season 2 Rick wouldn’t hesitate at the opportunity to repeatedly insult Morty for it, and when he’s in the middle of an argument with Nimbus, he immediately drops it when he hears Morty screaming for help, with a: “Screw this. What am I even doing?”

We do see more of Rick’s jealousy and possessiveness over Morty in this season tho (In a platonic way to any proshipppers who are reading this, GET OUT!) in “A Rickconvient Mort” Morty ditches plans he had with Rick to hang out with Planetina (FUCK PLANETINA) and Rick actually doesn’t force the plans him and Morty had on him. So obviously in this season we’re getting more of Rick actually respecting Morty’s autonomy, which is really cool! Buttttt this is where his jealously and possessiveness comes in, he drinks a lot, calls Summer his favorite grandkid right in front of Morty to get under his skin and hurt Morty like how he hurt him (DAMN that is fucked) andddd basically ignores Morty for the rest of the episode. While Rick is a smart man, no doubt about it, he acts very immature when it comes to Morty. The best way I can describe Rick’s possessiveness and jealousy when it comes to Morty is…y’know, when a toddler has to share their favorite toy? Yeah, kinda like that. They get huffy, fussy, and won’t admit what’s wrong. Yep, that’s how our emotionally closed-off boy acted in this episode in a nutshell. He’s scared of showing how much he cares about Morty, since bad things happen to people he cares about; they either die because of him, are put in danger because of him, or leave him. Take, for instance, his original Beth and Diane, Unity, Birdperson, Squancy, hell, Mr. Poopybutthole’s life was ruined because of him. He also just isn’t really the best at dealing with his emotions, considering how much he represses them.

Now, he does slap Morty here in season 5 episode 7 (“Gr-grandpa fucked up, glasses on! Act like a turkey!” “Wha- Are you scared?” *Slaps* “ACT LIKE A TURKEY!”) But this slap was a lot softer contrasting the punch from Ricklatica, as he doesn’t leave a fucking black eye on Morty’s face. But still, hot take…slapping your younger relatives…is bad…*gasp!* I know, I know that’s very surprising and a very spicy take, but…I had to say it.

There’s not a whole lot to comment on for this season, since it focused more on Rick and Morty’s dynamic with other family members, but there are a few important things. One is…despite it being from one of the worst, if not the worst episodes of the entire series, we do get some good moments of Rick caring about Morty in…eugh…Rickdependence Spray…

Ok, this episode is completely shit, and is an abomination, BUT, there IS some good parts about it…and by “parts” I mean Rick, so, he get him greeting Morty in a weirdly nice way “Oh, hey kiddo, how’s your Saturday?”, and he also is pretty protective over Morty in this episode, telling him to step away so he doesn’t get caught in the blast, shielding him and putting Morty behind him when Sperm monsters were attacking, immidately grabbing him when the ship was going down, yeah even though this episode was absolute pure unadulterated garbage, these moments still managed to get an “Awww!” out of me…what can I say? I’m weak! I love me some protective Rick, even in a shitty episode. Also, when it comes out that Morty uh…”used”...a horse machine and because of that all the sprem monsters happened…i-it makes slightly more sense in context, ok? He does shame Morty a little for it, whichhhh is honestly kinda deserved, sorry baby, but the insult is very minor “Morty, you nasty little, lying, world-ending pervert!”, “I always knew your hormones would start a world war Morty, I just didn’t think it would be like this” and “Not really accepting apologies here while I’m stuck as handjob solo here…” but again, these are very minor, and aside from these lines, he lets Morty off the hook for it.

But oh boy, then we get to the toxic cesspool of the season 5 finale…so, in season 5 episode 9, Forgetting Sarick Mortshall, Rick is terrible to Morty, which is kinda essensital for the plot to happen and so one of the best episodes of the series can happen, but it’s still a dick move no matter how you slice and dice it. He calls Morty replaceable, had a wheel of better things than Morty, and purposefully attempted to hurt Morty so Morty will come back and, ideally, have less complaints now since he’ll believe that Rick is fine with replacing him…fuck…I absolutely love Rick, he’s my favorite without question, but he can be SERIOUSLY fucked up at times. Making this analysis made it all the more blatant. One thing I do like about this episode is that it had the BALLS to tell the audience about how fucked up and toxic their dynamic is, many shows will try to brush it off, or make excuses, like “Oh yeah, but they care about each other when it counts” it actually acknowledged the intense toxicity between Rick and Morty, I just kinda wish they directly addressed it more, since this episode didn’t really have a satisfying end to it…actually the episode ends with Rick LEAVING.

Yeah, Rick fucking LEAVES, because I guess giving one of his relatives abandonment issues wasn’t enough. (Yes, ik he never abandoned his original Beth, but he still abandoned this one multiple times) He had to do it with his 14-year-old grandson…yaaaay…

Now, it does try to say that the reasons why he’s leaving are because he’s abusive towards Morty…but if that were the case, he would work to make their relationship better, instead of continually removing Morty’s autonomy. Since now, he can’t even choose to leave Rick, because Rick has already made that choice for him. Making Morty even more dependent on Rick, since he probably feels incapable of making decisions on his own, considering how much autonomy that Rick has taken away from him. Hell, at times it’s like he’s not even his own person, he’s just Rick’s tool for adventures, he does get slightly more autonomy, but this just zaps it all away. Now, I do think Rick did have good intentions with this, buttttt now we’ve got abandonment issues as well! Which makes codependency even worse! (https://codependencyrecovery.org/2024/05/05/the-fear-of-abandonment-in-codependency-how-it-shapes-your-choices-and-what-to-do-about-it) yay….I mean, he did fix Morty’s arm and was genuinely worried when he saw Morty hurt, and gave Morty his portal gun as a parting gift, so like…that’s something, ig. Who cares about abandonment issues when you get a portal gun that you get to keep for a few days out of it!?

Rick does come back in the very next episode when the crows…I don’t wanna use the weird terminology that the show uses…soooo I’ll just say stop adventuring with him. Annnndddd just about nothing has changed, with Morty being ready to go back to how things were before, even when Beth tries to get Morty to tell Rick that he wants his respect, Morty refuses…my poor baby. It’s still nice seeing Beth take a more active role in Morty’s life, though, even if a lot of what she does is the bare minimum, it’s still nice to see. Especially since it shows that her love for her son is stronger than her abandonment issues. Beth is a LOT of things, but she does love her son.

Now, Rick is actually treating Morty like…*gasp*...a human being! He agrees to a dinner with Evil Morty despite not wanting to, since Morty wanted to. Let Morty find out about his past, even picking Morty up, even though Morty chose to do it at like the most inconvenient time. And gently put Morty down. And he AGAIN tells Morty to leave him for dead when Evil Morty offers Morty to come with. And Morty, being the codependent bby he is, chooses to save Rick instead, despite Rick admitting that he only came back because he didn’t have the crow anymore. He was too guilty to admit it, but his silence was answer enough, and after Rick admitted that he didn’t have a plan to get out…damn codependency is crazy, now obviously I do believe that they genuinely love each other, but you have to admit that there is a LOT of stuff that’s done due to codependency.

And the ending that I hate to admit brings me to tears, when Rick is handing a ship, he sees a booster control that says that it will only work with a partner, he takes Morty’s hand with a fucking SMILE on his face and they work TOGETHER as equal PARTNERS instead of the usual Rick being the leader and Morty being, for lack of a better word, a sidekick. This, to me at least, is when Rick consistently starts respecting Morty as a person, instead of only respecting Morty when he acts like him.

Nowwww, let’s see the moments Rick cares about Morty in season 5!

Rick tells Morty to leave him in Mort Dinner Rick Andre, drops an argument with Nimbus to help Morty when he hears him screaming for help, and lets him off the hook for screwing something up, instead of dogpiling on him like usual.

Genuinely wanted to have a good time with Morty with no ulterior motive in Rickmancing the Stone, even if Planetina ruins it (FUCK PLANETINA)

Being very protective over Morty in Rickdepedence Spray and mostly letting him off the hook for screwing up

Fixes Morty’s arm and gives Morty the portal gun in Forgetting Sharick Mortshall

Trusts Morty with his past, carries him, tells Morty to leave him to save himself, AND works with Morty as an equal partner

Woo! Ok! That was season 5! I had a LOT more to say about that than I thought…what can I say? I love yapping about my boys! Now we’re onto the 2nd to last season…for now, I mean Rick and Morty will be getting like, 12 seasons, so we don’t gotta worry about it ending for a while, season 6! And we get more of Rick’s redemption arc here, baby! Ohhh, this will be fun!

~ Season 6 ~

We’re almost at the end! We’re at the home stretch! Keep reading this for just a little bit longer! Even though at this point, assuming you read it all in one go, you’ve read for abboooutttt…25 minutes?! You could’ve watched an episode by now…fuck…uhmmm but you’re a fast reader! I’m sure you took a shorter time…HAHAHAHA! Please don’t stop reading. You don’t know how much time I spent on this…I actually…RESEARCHED and…LEARNED SOMETHING! EUGH! Alright, moving on, sorry, Wendy’s waitress.

First, we have Solaricks! GOD, I love this episode! I love it so much! Now this whole episode is great…butttt that’s for the episode ranking…that’s coming soon, I PROMISE! For this analysis, we’re just focusing Rick and Morty here, but DAMN is it good! So, the cold open show Rick and Morty about to die, since the ship they escaped on is out of gas, and get this, when Rick and Morty were legit about to die, Morty’s FIRST instict was to go over next to Rick, curl up, and cling onto his arm…and Rick, instead of shrugging Morty off or doing an asshole move like that, he actually lets Morty hold onto his arm, and leans his head on Morty’s.

Rick is gentle and vulnerable with Morty in a way he NEVER is with anyone else. He never lets anyone else in the series touch him in such a close way. All Morty wanted was to die while holding onto Rick, and Rick actually let that happen. I honestly, honestly couldn’t see season 4 Rick doing this, but since season 6 Rick is finally letting himself be vulnerable, he’s letting Morty do this. And, more importantly, he’s letting himself do this, he’s letting himself be close with someone else without pushing them away. Because he’s FINALLY beginning to trust himself. Also, in this episode, we find out that Rick Prime was our Morty’s, Morty Prime’s, original Rick. Do you have any idea how big this is? To let a relative of a man you despise, the man who killed your family and ruin your life, to not only not hate them, but to love them, more than you love yourself, for them to be the only one you can trust with your life, to be close with them in a way you never let yourself be with any else ever since your wife and daughter died by that same person’s realitive? THAT’S one of the reasons why he considers his attachment to Morty so irrational, because this is the grandkid of your enemy, and even if you know they can’t control who they are blood-related to, realistically, you should have some resentment towards them, right? I mean, logically, rationally. And Rick, being a very logical and rational person, just can’t get why he holds no resentment towards Morty at all. Holding him in very high regard, even if he’d never admit it, since uhm…feelings are for people who want their families dead, ig. 

Man, I REALLY yapped about that for a WHILE, huh? What can I say? I love my boys, I mean…of course I do, this analysis is nearly 8000 words as I’m writing it right now. Hell, I’m writing this instead of sleeping…it’s 4 in the morning and I just have ICP in my other tab and writing about Rick and Morty in this one…what is my life?

Okay, enough with that existential crisis, you came here for an analysis about an abusive grandpa and his anxious grandson! …You weirdo. 

Now, later in the episode, we have one of my favorite scenes…I-I think in the whole series? Oh, you think I’m overexaggerating?! …Maybe. But this scene is really great, I made one too many posts on it. I’ll just show you the exchange.

“Get outta here! [When Morty was about to do something stupid and dangerous…awfully hypocritical of you, Ricky] You did this last season! You’re like a suicide bomber!”

“Takes one to know one!”

“Yeah? Well, you get it from him [Rick Prime], not me!”

“I don’t know him! You’re my grandpa, Rick! Rick and Morty, 100 years!”

This scene is soooo good, I CAN’T! I love how Rick lost his anger at hearing that, I love Morty immediately disowning Rick Prime, I love the found family, I love the callback to the pilot, GOD! I love it so much. Seriously, that callback was so good, even though Morty was literally rendered immobile because of Rick when he said that, and Rick had zero care about that, it still meant SO MUCH to Morty! Ugh, I need to stop gushing about this scene and carry on with the analysis already…ok, so this is a pretty good example of the genuine (I shouldn’t even have to specify this, but whenever I say “love” I’m talking about PLATONIC and FAMILIAL love! Ok? Ok.) love between them, there is a LOT of codependency between them, but they both do genuinely love each other a lot, Rick just isn’t in the right mental space to show it in the right way, he’s getting there, but he still has a WHILE to go, due to all of his trauma and a whole buncha self loathing! Ahh, THIS is why I relate to you, Rick! I hate myself, too! …That’s not concerning, right?

This is also what makes Rick go back and help the girls, who are in trouble. Morty is the ONLY person who’s able to talk Rick out of doing stupid and self risking stuff, since he’s aware of Rick’s self-destructive tendencies, that just shows how well they know each other, and how much they DO genuinely love and care for each other, even if it can seem hard to believe at times with all the emotional abuse, codepedency, and toxicity.

Also, a bit before this scene, when Morty was stuck in his original dimension, despite him saying “I knew you wouldn’t leave me!” to Rick when he came back, thissss isn’t exactly true. You see, he was talking with Jerry Prime, and, if he actually believed that Rick was coming back when he was talking to Jerry about it, he would say “When Rick comes back,” Butttt well…I’ll just show you what he said.

“If Rick comes back”

If, despite everything, Morty’s abandonment issues are still strong, of course they are, he’s terrified of losing the most important person in his life, the only person that gives him consistent attention, and now he knows that Rick would leave him on a whim, he knows that all of that could be ripped about like, *snap*, that. Who wouldn’t be terrified of losing the only person who actually pays attention to you after you’ve been lonely your entire life?

And it doesn’t help that when Rick came back, Morty was so overwhelmed with relief that he ran to Rick with outstretched arms to hug him, and Rick, being uncomfortable with physical touch, takes Morty’s shoulder and gently pushes him away, leaving Morty feeling more alone than ever.

That’s all I have to say about this episode, but damn, it’s even better than I thought, it reveals SO much about Rick and Morty’s dynamic in one episode…Or I could be overanalyzing this silly drunk grandpa cartoon….nahhh, that’s not it! This was all intentional, and I’m NOT crazy or obsessed, who said that!? 

We also have Rick: A Mort Well Lived, and I’m…split on the episode, I WILL give credit where credit is due, it DOES say a lot about Rick and Morty’s dynamic. It sets the stage for the best episode in the series by showing that Morty thinks Rick doesn’t care about him. This was first introduced as a throwaway line in the season 3 premiere (“Because he doesn’t care! Because nobody is special to him, Summer!”), So it’s nice seeing it expanded on in this episode.

So, basically, Morty was split into a lot of little pieces because of a Roy game…it makes just as much sense in context. I gave you the context. And this, as multiple lines showing just how badly years of Rick’s abuse affected Morty, they straight up just don’t think Rick cares about him…or…them…? I dunno, it’s confusing, the truly heartbreaking thing is, you can’t really blame him, after years of emotional abuse, of course, he would start to believe that Rick doesn’t care about him. We have to remember, we are watching them on TV. We can go back to the moments where Rick cares about Morty and gush about them all we want, but Morty can’t. For Morty, these moments are just that, moments, quick and fleeting. Then after this, he just goes on with his life like normal. So why would he think that Rick cares about him, if all he hears is negative things come out of his mouth 90% of the time? I mean, put yourself in Morty’s shoes for a moment, your grandpa constantly insults you and made it very clear that he considers you 100% precent replaceable, he does have moments where he cares about you, but these are very quick, yeah, you probably wouldn’t think he cares as well. 

Also, while Rick is getting better, we have to remember that Morty is 14, and again, he isn’t watching this on TV. He can’t go back to different episodes and analyze the differences in how Rick treats him, the change is slow and gradual, it makes it all the more realistic, but also makes it all the harder to spot. Of course, a 14-year-old isn’t going to pick up on this, how would he? The Rick he knows the majority of the time in the manipulative, sarcastic, rude Rick, not the kind, gentle, loving Rick that we can see over and over again. 

Also, the one piece of Morty that Rick admitted was a good grandson, was going to admit that he loves, AND was the only one to challenge him and demand that he shows affection towards him…or…uh…her…? If he…she…? Is going to follow what he says. And guess what? She’s the only one who gets left behind on her own request. The only part of Morty that could challenge Rick is gone forever, set to die in a video game. Morty again loses more autonomy, he straight up says: “You know best, Rick! I trust you implicitly!” I swear, he’s becoming more and more like a lifeless husk with no personality that Rick just drags around.

There is also JuRicksic Mort. This doesn’t really reveal much about their dynamic, but they have a really cutesy dynamic here. Hell, Rick even tells Morty, “Give me a hug!” and playfully ruffles Morty's hair when he finds that piece of the asteroid. He also gently elbows Morty and asks, “Get it?” after he tells a joke, and actually attempts to defend himself to Morty when Morty is bitter about Rick not laughing at a joke he made. Which is…weirdly adorable? Rick also takes Morty to Boobworld with no hesitation after he fixes portal travel. Happily saying, “Figured my guy deserves a vacation.” Also, him calling Morty “my guy” is adorable, shut up. Also them gently punching each other’s arms is so fucking cute. MY BOYSSSSS ARGHHH! Also, this has literally nothing to do with the analysis…but I can’t NOT mention Rick absolutely failing at skateboarding, I’m sorry that’s too funny not to mention.

We also get Full Meta Jackrick. And DAMN. This episode is good! It might seriously be S-Tier for me, it is SO good! This episode is a great example on how much Rick changed. He’s physically gentle with Morty, gently holding his arms and hands, helping Morty up, hell, this is also a great protective Rick episode! When Rick thinks Joe Campbell got Morty…uh…pregnant…which, considering how Morty is amad, I…don’t know how that’s possible. Rick’s first reaction? To kill the only other male who could’ve done it,  Joe. He did it by drowning as well, a surefire way to make it as painful as possible. Hell, even when Morty says, “It wasn’t him, Rick!” Rick angrily asks, “Then who?!” Clearly wanting to deal with the man who did that himself. Also, you are INSANNEEEE if you think I won’t mention him putting his lab coat on Morty when Morty was cold. That was legitimately adorable, especially since we rarely see Rick give someone else his lab coat. This was the first time he did, actually.  He did it a second time in Mort: Raganrick (I thought it was called 90s Fad Toys for the longest time bc the site I pirate Rick and Morty from got it wrong, but shhh, that’s a secret between us) was when it threw it to Bigfoot in Summer’s body butttt I thinkkkk that has more to do with the fact that Summer was naked…

Ok, next up! Anaylze Piss, Rick and Morty don’t interact a whollleee lot here, we do get a pretty empowering scene for Morty setting some boundaries with Rick, not agreeing to keep a secret of a man’s suicide for Rick and telling the rest of the family. Rick also goes to therapy! Which is something season 3 Rick turned into a pickle to try to prevent. So yeah, Rick has grown a LOT from season 3, and I’m really proud of him!

Alright, so that’s about it for season 6, Rick and Morty has a much healthier, more cutesy dynamic, sure Rick can still be emotionally abusive, and manhandles Morty when they are running away from others, but he’s a lot gentler now, and treats Morty like an actual person instead of just a tool for adventures that vast majority of the time, now onto season 7, the final one! Then we’re done with this analysis that took way…WAYYYY too long. Wait- what!? No! I don’t want to talk about the last 2 episodes! I don’t want to, I’m not gonna, you’re not gonna make me! Wait…you’ll buy me a Rick plushie if I do…? 

…

Damn you comfort characters. (I say despite making an entire analysis on how abusive Rick is, yes, he is still my comfort character. Meeseeks and Destroy. That’s it. That’s my reason.)

Ok, so, in A Rick in King Mortur’s Mort, damn these long titles, Rick straight up abandons Morty...again. He’s tryna win the Olympic gold medal for how many times he can traumatize this kid, istg. Give him DOUBLE the abandonment issues, why not!? He did make a robot designed to literally make Morty happy, which, y’know, is sweet in that special Rick way. But he still abandoned his grandson for months because he couldn’t pull himself out of his obsession with Prime.

Why is this?

Because of Morty.

Morty insulted him once, and it caused him to spiral.

Rick never really cared about Morty’s insults, but now he’s finally starting to respect Morty, so now those insults actually hurt, insults are a lot harder to brush off if you actually respect the person they are coming from.

It actually broke Morty that Rick would do this, he cries, and it’s heartbreaking. “He’s [Rick’s] busy…and I hate him, and I lost my lightsaber, and now it might destroy the earth, and it’s the worst Christmas ever!” Hell, after Rick lashed out with the most victim-blaming speech I’ve ever heard in my life, he immediately feels bad, and starts to blame the president, even now he’s incapable of holding Rick accountable, that’s how bad his codependency is.

And Rick still doesn’t see why what he did was wrong, why would Morty love him? He insulted him, that must mean that he doesn’t care, shouldn’t he be happy that Rickbot is nicer and more thoughtful than him? Why did Morty even care? Rick felt like a victim because he assumed Morty didn’t care about him, at least in Rick’s eyes. He probably thought Morty just finally realized how shitty of a person and didn’t understand how Morty could still love someone like that, forgetting what Morty said in Solaricks.

“You’re my grandpa, Rick.”

That’s why he hated Rick replacing himself with Rickbot; he loves this Rick, Rick C-137, his grandpa, and he just replaced himself with an impostor for months, not the Rick he chose over his biological grandpa, but a robot. He straight up tells Rickbot this.

“You’re not my grandpa, you’re a fucking robot.”

Morty is so terrified of being replaced, and Rick replacing himself terrified Morty that Rick got sick of him, and was going to replace him and leave him, again.

By the time Morty insulted Rick, Rick thought Morty truly didn’t care about him, so he just replaced himself with a better, nicer version of himself so he could focus entirely on finding Prime, thinking that that’s why he’s no good to anyone. That if he could get rid of Prime, everything would be fixed. 

Also…Morty was the reason why Rick stopped hunting Prime, but Morty was the reason he came back to it. Sound familiar?

“The corrosion of 2 personalities that reshape each other until they’re incompatible”

…

And with that, we move on to season 7

~ Season 7 ~

Season 7, baby! We’re in the home stretch!

After spending hours on this and continually getting sidetracked because Depression is a fucking BITCH, we did it! So, sadly, we don’t get as much of their dynamic in season 7, since Morty got sidetracked a LOT in this season, butttt, we still got a lot to talk about, because this season has Fear No Mort!

This season is when their dynamic is at its healthiest, they seem a lot more like friends, which is nice to see. Rick, of course, still insults him, because this is Rick, of course, he’s still going to be emotionally abusive, ya can’t just erase that overnight, but like before, these insults are a lot less harsh, making him seem more like a rude friend than anything. He only insults Morty, like, 7 times throughout the whole season. Which, while it isn’t uhm…great, it still is a massive improvement. Morty is also more of Rick’s level, snapping back at him more than once, which makes their dynamic seem a lot more equal, than it just being a poor kid getting emotionally abused by his grandpa, which, don’t get me wrong, that still is definitely what’s going on, but it’s more equal now than it was before, the power dynamic is still there, but it’s not as unequal as it used to be, which is a definite plus.

Also, Rick actually lets Morty hug him! Contrasting season 6, where he lightly pushes Morty away when Morty tries. In Unmortricken, Morty hugs Rick, and Rick stiffens up, but lets him. And again in Fear No Mort (Oh, we’ll get to you later) Morty hugs Rick, and Rick, despite being obviously very confused and stiffening up again, does albeit awkwardly and half-assed, does try to hug Morty back, butttt Morty does pull away, and Rick, instead of being upset, looks more worried that he did something wrong, although he quickly returns to his resting bitch face afterwards. I love this man so much.

Rick also has a pretty good handle on his anger here, mainly in Mort: Raganrick, when Morty messes up things again, and Rick, instead of showering him with insults as usual. *Cough* Mortynight Run *Cough* He seems a lot more like a frustrated parent, more mad at the situation rather than Morty. He does insult Morty, but it was pretty tame and only once. And to be fair, it was after Morty insulted him, and he does reassure Morty afterwards, despite being stern about it. (“You’d rather stay dead until you win than live as a loser, Christ, maybe you belong here with these idiots.” “Yeah, I could probably teach them how to hit a red button!” “...I said I was sorry….” “And I said keep killing them, while I finish the relay, and I will find a way to get us back home, ok?”) We also see them being equal here, when Morty complains to Rick to get them back home, Rick, instead of hand waving Morty’s concerns away, actually explains his point to Morty (“You need to find a way to get us back to life!” “Without my infinite energy, Morty? I don’t think you’re understanding this, Morty…if I get back, we won’t have another shot at this, you think next time these idiots see an old guy on the battlefield, they’re going to give him a beer?”)

We also get a lot of protective moments between both of them, not only in this episode, but in Unmortricken as well. With Rick wanting Morty to stay away from Rick Prime, since he’s very dangerous, and actually getting angry at Evil Morty when he brings Morty Prime along. (“You brought Morty?” “I’m not worried about him, I’m evil.”) And with Morty getting mad at Evil Morty when he insults Rick (“Reallyyy learned your lesson about chasing this guy…” “Hey, man, you can leave now.”), There is also, of course, the ending, with Morty’s lips trembling when he was waiting for Rick’s response after asking Rick if he was ok. And when Rick says yes (Rick, you fucking liar.) Morty hugs Rick, and Rick, instead of pushing away, lets Morty hug him, just giving him a weird look and stiffening up, I mean, hey, baby steps. Rick also pretends to be happy for Morty which is just…so fucking sad.

And in Rickfending your Mort, we get to see Rick spoiling Morty, and them having a genuinely good time together, hell, despite them arguing here, they actually get over it pretty quickly, and the insults they hurl and each other feel a lot less personal than usual. Just basic ones like bitch and stuff. And even then, Morty still didn’t like the observer talking down to Rick. We also get Morty calling Rick “Grandpa” instead of “Rick”, which is always nice to see. (“It’s some weirdo Grandpa hired to prove I’m a bad person.”) And we get Rick encouraging Morty when he comes to talk to the observer (“Yeah, get ‘em Morty!”) and not being angry when he sees that Morty steals money from his wallet. We also get an adorable ending. (“Rick and Morty! We’re back, baby! Check the glovebox!” “Woah! Another gun!”) Now, despite this episode being adorable, there issss a downside. This is another example of Rick relying too much on Morty, I mean, he literally relies on Morty to keep him mentally stable, which is something you should never put on anyone, much less a 14-year-old. 

There’s also Wet Kaut Amortican Summer. Buttttt we don’t get much of their dynamic here, but we do get confirmation that Rick now regularly spoils Morty, which is adorable, and Rick is actually able to take criticism from Morty without traumazing the poor kid. *Cough* VAT OF ACID *Cough*

Anddd now we get to the one! You know the one. FEAR NO MORT BABBBYYY!

Now, I could gush about this episode till the cows come home, talk about how it’s funny, a great character study on Morty and Rick, how the ending scene is the best ending and twist in all of Rick and Morty…buttttt that’s not what you’re here for, so! Let’s just explain what it means for our boy’s dynamic!

So, in Fear No Mort, we find out Morty’s greatest fear is Rick not caring about him, which is so fucking heartbreaking. And Morty’s realization of the fear is awful, also yes I memorized this scene (“I’m afraid that if I jumped into a hole, you wouldn’t even bother jumping in after me! You’d just stay there and watch! This entire thing has been about ME! YOU’RE NOT EVEN IN THE HOLE ARE YOU!?”) And holy hell, the voice acting is wayyy better than it had any right to be. Harry fucking KILLED it! What hurts the most about that line is that Rick actually DID jump into a hole for Morty in A Rickle in Time, but Morty can barely remember it since he had so many memories of that same moment where Rick didn’t jump in for him, and it’s absolutely heartbreaking. He forgot one of the biggest acts that shows how much Rick really did love him, where he gave his life for Morty’s. AUGH FUCK! 

What also hurts is when Morty gets out of the hole, Rick was just waiting for him. He did just sit there and watch. To Morty, at the very least, his greatest fear was confirmed. Morty jumped into a hole, and Rick didn’t bother jumping in after him. He just sat there and watched. And that breaks Morty’s heart, you can hear him begging that Rick did try to jump in with the amount of pain in his voice (“Oh no…aw jeez no…you…you didn’t go in at all…?”) and Rick said that he didn’t breaking Morty’s heart without realizing it.

But there is something Morty didn’t realize, when Morty woke up and was safe, Rick happily said “Morty!” with a smile on his face, clearly happy to see that Morty was ok, but Morty of course wouldn’t realize a small detail after the overwhelming terrifying experience that he just went through, and to the overwhelming belief that Rick truly does not care about him at all. 

Also Morty asks Rick, just to see if he was still in the hole “Rick…am I…irreplaceable?” Since irreplaceable was the very word that set Morty off, the one word that caused Morty to realize that Rick wasn’t even in the hole, and it was “You’re irreplaceable!” He truly believes that Rick would just replace him at any moment, and when Rick answers that question with: “I mean…define ‘irreplaceable’” This, this fucked up sentence, Rick being a dick, is what caused Morty to realize that he wasn’t in the hole. This made Morty so happy that he hugged Rick, he loves Rick for who he is, for being the asshole that simtaniously ruined and changed his life forever. Rick is single-handedly the reason why Morty can’t have a normal life, and Morty still loves Rick despite this. And Rick stiffens up and looks confused, but actually hugs Morty back. And this terrifies Morty, causing him to break apart and scream “NO! I won’t know if I’m out!” He’s so accustomed to receiving negative attention from Rick, that even the smallest amount of affection from him feels alien, it doesn’t feel real. Now, let’s get something straight, Rick is changing and is getting better, this doesn’t take away from the fact that Rick has deeply traumatized Morty, and Morty is still dealing with the trauma that Rick has put on him after 6 years.

We also see something else, in the hole, Morty was terrified that if Rick had to choose between him and a fake version of Diane, he would choose Diane, but guess what actually happened in the end, when Rick gets that choice?

He rejects it. 

He rejects the ability to see his dead wife again, and instead just looks at the hole, takes a deep breath, takes a picture of Morty that was carefully folded in his wallet, mind you, and puts it on the wall of people who went into the hole and successfully came out, then walks away with a smile, clearly proud and happy of Morty, content with walking away from the past to spend the rest of his evening with his grandson. Fuck, I hate how just describing this scene is making me tear up.

~ Conclusion ~

Now, season 8 hasn’t come out yet, but it will come out soon! But according to staff, Rick and Morty will have more of an equal friendship, sooo this should be the healthiest we’ve seen of Rick and Morty yet! 

So, what did we learn from this? Well, Rick and Morty, despite everything, do genuinely love and care for each other, although this mainly gets overshadowed by their codependency and the general toxicity of their dynamic. And while Rick is getting better and is treating Morty a lot better overall, this doesn’t erase all of the trauma Rick has put on Morty, Morty is still very deeply traumatized from the, at fucking BEST, 6 years of consistent emotional abuse, that even sometimes turns physical. (Rickstar Ricklatica, I’m looking at you) And despite the fact that Rick is changing for the better and does love Morty, and Morty loving him back, Morty still has no obligation to forgive Rick for all of the trauma Rick has dumped on Morty. 

Their dynamic is so insanely complex and layered. I love how it shows that abusers can love their victims, but just not in the right way. Honestly making this analysis of their analysis made me respect the writing of this show even more, as they did a legitimately awesome job at show what can happen to someone with codependency. And it is legitimately so insanely interesting to anaylze, and I absolutely love it! Ok, after multiples months, multiple hours of procrastinating and getting distracted, so SO many spotify songs, and nearly 12k words, this analysis is finally finished! I really hope that you did enjoy reading this analysis. I know it’s long, but I hope it gave you a new understanding of their dynamic! I know it did for me, and I did actually learn a lot when I was researching for this analysis, so it was legitimately an educational experience for me! I think I need to stop saying legitimately- But yeah! This was a very long post and analysis, but I did genuinely enjoy making it! And I hope you enjoyed reading it as well! Thank you!

[lost-romantique]

Which was the better I.M.P Mission this season?

You know, what's strange is the fact that I actually don't hate Unhappy Campers the same way most of the Fandom does.

What I enjoyed about that episode is the fact that, for the first time it portrayed Millie and Moxxie’s relationship, not as perfect and impenetrable as we're initially led to believe.

Moxxie gets stuck in his own head and Millie has to drag him out of his rut. Moxxie accuses Millie of having had the fame gone to her head, when it actuality, she was just genuinely happy to be appreciated in her efforts for once. And Millie is hurt, genuinely hurt, that her husband could not support her the same way she supported him and dealt with his bullshit.

The problem Unhappy Campers presents is that it heightens Moxxie’s desperation to prove himself to everyone around him, and turns it into a form of patheticism to be correct. The fact that Millie and Blitz both go out of their way to tell him that he wasted a whole week of his and everyone's time just so he could do things his way, and not consider Millie's opinion in the matter at all, means something.

Another problem is the fact that it relegated Blitzø’s emotional reunion with his sister, as a three minute side piece that they couldn't have to themselves because we needed a two minute talent show presentation of Millie versus more Blitz lore.

What I loved about Ghostfuckers is that it essentially takes the same premise of Unhappy Campers, Millie having to pull one of the boys out of their rut, but only instead of Moxxie, it's Blitz that Millie essentially has to save and get through.

And getting through to your husband who simply got too caught up into his ideals is a lot more easier to achieve, than getting through to your boss, who has spent the last fifteen years of his life suppressing every major traumatic event and emotion he has ever experienced inside his head.

The stakes are higher in Ghostfuckers, and if Millie was unable to get through to Blitz, if MIllie was unable to genuinely and sincerely help him with all her might...

Forget about I.M.P, what's going to happen to Blitz?

In every sense of the word, Apology Tour destroyed Blitz. Don't get me wrong, that episode was extremely important for Blitz to grow as a character. However, Apology Tour decided to grab a shovel and mercilessly beat its message into his skull, giving him no form of comfort and hope by the end of the episode.

Can you imagine what would have happened to Blitz if he didn't have Millie to help him? To save him? To comfort him?

What would have happened to Blitz if he was all alone, trapped in a spooky hotel, forced to relive every single traumatic moment of his life on repeat like a video player? Despite his resilience, the man would eventually break and be beyond saving.

But Millie saved him, and told him everything that Blitz needed to hear at that moment...

When the entire world is against you... I want you to know that you helped me, you saved me, you being unapologetically yourself is what inspired me to be more than what I initially thought I could be.

"He gave me so much... A career, a husband, a future. And now he's my best friend."

You gave me everything.

"Look, what I said earlier... you've just been so unbothered by everything. Almost bulletproof and, I guess I never realized how much I depended on that."

I always looked up to you as a pillar of support, an impenetrable wall that's almost unbeatable.

"I didn't know how to react to you being reduced to... Bethany."

Seeing someone I value do everything they can to negate their entire existence hurt me.

"But I should have respected you like you always do for me. I'm sorry."

I'm sorry it took me long to realize just how much you were hurting.

There's more to Ghostfuckers that make it a masterpiece, miles above Unhappy Campers, but I'll leave it at that for now.

[johanna-swann]

This got a little long and it might sound a little mean at first, but. What exactly does Eddie bring to the table that adds to the bigger picture of the show as a whole?

Disclaimer: If you are a big Eddie fan and/or disagree with me, I am happy to have a civil discussion about this. I mean that, I love debates over fandom stuff. You can comment or drop into my inbox, whatever. Please do keep it civil though and if you could actually read the post before coming at me - that would also be appreciated. I can promise you I'll be nice as long as you are and you won't provoke any sort of reaction out of me other than some polite concern for your mental well being anyway. I pick the fights worth having carefully and if you're just ignorant or aggressive, I'll end up blocking you.

As per usual I'm trying to give my rant a somewhat sensible structure, stay as objective as possible and highlight it when I introduce a new point. Alright, let's go.

Observation number one. The firefamily worked perfectly fine as a found family of 4 in season 1. They were a somewhat dysfunctional family, but that's what made them interesting and they already cared about each other so much, even called themselves a family by episode 3 or 4. The show needed Abby and Athena for their respective perspective as dispatcher/cop, but they weren't integral parts of the firefam (yet).

For Athena that obviously changed quickly when she started hanging out with the 118 more and dating Bobby, they're married now and Athena is no longer just one of Hen's closest friends, she's family to all of them.

Abby didn't leave that big a hole because she was only really connected to Buck and no-one else in the first place. Other characters had scenes with her, but she was always there as Buck's girlfriend. The show needs one main character at dispatch, but that didn't have to be Abby. She was replaceable.

In season 2 we got two new main characters that weren't established members of the found family (yet), kind of like we had Abby and Athena in season 1.

Maddie was immediately connected to Buck of course, but then she also got together with Chimney (another main character) and they became a family as well, she has a handful of lovely scenes with Athena and the Wilson-Han family bonds are stronger now than ever. She is integrated into the firefam, her role as dispatcher is important and she's being played by thee JLH which makes her existence in the show load-bearing and basically irreplaceable.

[Side note: Everybody who has been following me for a bit probably knows I'm not exactly a Maddie fan - personally I wish she was written a little more active than reactive, a little more flawed instead of "crying white woman who suffers more than Jesus Christ himself" (I'm exaggerating to bring across my point) - but objectively speaking I know that Maddie is a perfectly normal character on a show that has much bigger issues and that doesn't change just because I personally find her annyoing. I get why the show needs her and why other fans like her.]

Which makes me ask again though, what does Eddie bring to the table? It's nice to have him, sure. I like all the Diaz family dynamics. I love Christopher. The friendship between Eddie and Buck is amazing. Buck's and Chris' relationship will always be special to me. I like Eddie and his weird ass drama. Does the show need him though?

To go with the "bigger picture" metaphor - it's like the show is one big picture and Eddie is a smaller picture that hangs on the same wall. It has its own frame and exists separately, it can be taken down or to a different floor of the museum without destroying either of the pictures. Walk with me:

On a meta level we just have to be realistic. Ryan Guzman is not a name that will draw a crowd like the names "Jennifer Love Hewitt", "Angela Bassett" or "Peter Krause" do. If people know him at all from previous projects then they'll either know him as Jennifer Lopez' eye candy or as that guy who was in one of those dance movies. (I wanna add here that I actually watched Step Up Miami Heat a few times as a teenager, it's a guilty pleasure movie for me that I come back to every now and then and I didn't even realise it was the same guy until somebody else told me.) So yeah, he's an okay actor and I'm sure he's a nice person (or maybe he's not, idk and idc about the actors that much), but I don't think a lot of people started to watch 911 because they found out their favourite superstar Ryan Guzman was in it.

As for Eddie in his function as a firefighter/army medic: We already have 2 firefighters and we already have 2 paramedics at the 118. Eddie is just extra. No disrespect, but we never needed him the way we need a Maddie to man dispatch or like we need an Athena for the police's perspective. The firefighter/paramedic front was already more than well covered.

So, we don't need him for the actor's star power or the character's unique career, what about personal relationships? Eddie's not particularly close to anyone in the firefam other than Buck whereas everyone else has multiple close connections. His friendship with Bobby is there I guess, but it's only shown in one scene every other season or so. I'd put it in the same category as the Maddie&Athena friendship. Heartwarming and nice to have, not integral to the show though. Nobody watches the show just because they love this friendship in particular so much. Eddie has very casual friendships with Hen and Chimney where they exchange banter or gossip here and there when they all sit in the truck together, but I don't remember many (if any) really meaningful scenes between them. To this day I don't think Eddie ever had scenes with Maddie or Athena at all.

Then there's the fact that next to none of his story lines are connected to the 118. All the other characters have had impactful story lines concerning their job at the 118 itself or their personal drama really involved other main characters. [I got side tracked thinking about this, but I don't want to derail the main train of thought too much here, so I put this part under the cut.*]

The Texas arc, beginning with Kim entering the stage in 7x07 and up until 8x13, only proved once again how disconnected Eddie is from the other main characters.

I don't think anybody except Buck knows what happened between Eddie and Christopher or at least nobody mentioned it. Nobody mentioned the break-up between Eddie and Marisol or Kim's existence either. Not even Eddie really talks about Marisol, nor Kim or Shannon for that matter. He is very focused on his son which, you know, fair enough. But moving to Texas, confronting his parents, stepping up as an actual parental authority again (instead of being a bit of a pushover because he's scared to mess up again) is only treating the symptoms, not the cause. The reason all of this happened in the first place is the Shannon-Marisol-Kim disaster and that hasn't been adressed at all by anyone.

Anyway. None of the other main characters were involved in the love triangle (square?) doppelgänger mess and even Buck took a very passive role here where Eddie told him about what was happening, but he didn't do much. Christopher hasn't interacted with Buck at all in season 8 which feels strange considering he was still willing to talk to Buck immediately after he walked in on Eddie and Kim and Buck was there when Christopher left - all in all they were still very close only one season ago. Now Buck is worried about Eddie, but he doesn't talk about missing Christopher. Not to Eddie or Maddie or Tommy.

Then Eddie moved. He's been in Texas for a while now and Buck has expressed that he misses his best friend, but he doesn't seem to be struggling that much to be honest. Before the move he was mostly upset because it seemed like Eddie didn't care, but they cleared up that misunderstanding. After the move it took him one episode to get over it. In the meantime he's getting closer to Ravi, spends time with his sister, still has fun with his job, settles into his new house - yes, he misses Eddie, it was an adjustment, but he's doing fine without him. They still talk to each other, phones exist. But Buck is okay and nobody else really mentions Eddie.

In comparison: When Chimney left in season 5 to get Maddie back everybody was affected. Eddie suddenly worked medical calls, Hen got snappy with Eddie because they hadn't found their rhythm yet, Buck blamed himself and thought about leaving the 118, Ravi had to step up because he wasn't just the new probie anymore, Bobby had to manage that entire mess and vented to Athena.

Eddie left to get Chris back, Ravi replaced him, even Buck got over it within a single episode. More at eleven. You see the difference?

Conclusion: Eddie is replaceable, you could argue that he doesn't even need replacing since there are still four other main characters working at the 118 who are also all friends with each other. When you pay a little attention it's obvious how disconnected Eddie is from the other characters, even Buck sometimes who shares emotional conversations with Eddie, but isn't always an active participant in Eddie's story lines. I don't like this, I'm not sitting here gloating that "my favourite character is superior", I'm just observing this and it's sad. I usually enjoy Eddie's story lines even when the writing could be better (see Texas arc), I see a lot of potential in his character, I spent the better part of 2023 reading Buddie fanfiction mostly from his perspective. But this insistence that "Eddie completes the firefamily" or that it's "just not the same without him" is more than a little exaggerated. The show is exactly the same without Eddie. It's almost funny how god damn unbothered everybody is by Eddie's absence. How did the Texas arc not make that clear?

*On the career themed story lines:

Chim was feeling like Bobby favours Buck which resulted in a bigger fight, a horrific car crash and the first moment where anybody actually said out loud that the 118 is a familly. He later had his turn as Interim Captain where we saw that while he does have a lot of experience and has been at the 118 the longest, he might not want to be Captain in the long run. As we learn a few seasons later, he could very well be cut out to become an instructor at the academy though, proving leadership qualities in a different way.

Hen had her med school arc and while that didn't lead to anything, it did emphasise and confirm for her that she is exactly where she wants and needs to be. She was also instated as Interim Captain several times which showed that she is Captain material and might take over a station at some point.

Buck was kept from his job and had a whole identity crisis about it in season 3, later "Buck Begins" sort of confirmed that after a lot of searching he found the job that is exactly right for him. In season 6 he was wondering if he could make Captain one day himself and in that season finale got a chance to prove that he can not only work under extreme pressure, he can lead under those same circumstances, too. (It was sadly a very short scene and we haven't seen "potential Captain Buck" since, but the point stands and the idea is out there.)

Bobby had to learn to trust his team so they could trust him in return back in season 1, a theme they also picked up again in "Bobby Begins Again" where he started settling in and making the team into, well, a team instead of just co-workers. We've seen him fighting to stay their Captain both in season 2 and recently in 8a.

Eddie on the other hand quit the 118 during his season 5 breakdown arc, but it wasn't about the job, it was about Chrsitopher. Then he had to extend his time away from active duty because of his ptsd. He never thinks about advancing in his career (everybody else either was Interim Captain at one point or at least showed interest in it) or tries anything else unless he sees himself forced to do it for Christopher. I don't think he even is officially a paramedic. Similar to Hen's med school arc it probably wouldn't really change anything because he's usually paired with Buck and he already (occasionally) works medical calls anyway, but (similar to Hen's med school arc) it would at least give him something to do and show that he is generally invested in his career. I haven't seen "Eddie Begins" in a while, but does that episode give us a moment where Eddie truly finds his calling as a firefighter like the others did? I don't think so, we just got two lines or so about "missing the camaraderie, seemed worth the shot" in season 2.

On to the "personal" stuff. Do any of Eddie's big story lines have any impact on the firefam?

Eddie's love life is a mess. Season 2 was all about Shannon and their marriage and the others gossiped a little about it, but what difference does it make to the firefam who Eddie is dating? None of Eddie's love interests ever have any connection to the other family members whereas the other couples are a) both main characters or b) in Buck's case do often have connections to the others. Abby was a main character who wasn't close to the 118, but still shared a lot of scenes with them. Taylor showed up on calls, had her own story lines when she investigated stuff, asked Bobby about Christmas presents, had dinners with Buck that involved other characters like Albert or Eddie. Tommy of course was good friends with Eddie and Chim, but also acquainted with Bobby, Athena and Hen. Even Veronica who only had one date with Buck then turned out to be his neighbour and dated Albert for a while.

Other than Buck I don't think anybody ever really had scenes with Eddie's love interests and even Buck barely met those women as far as I remember. Eddie talks about Ana and Marisol, sure, but do they interact with Buck much?

Then Eddie of course has story lines about being a (single) father, but somehow he always ends up talking to Buck about this instead of literally any of his friends who actually have children of their own. Denny and Harry are shown to be friends, but despite being about Denny's age, Christopher doesn't have scenes with them outside of that one season 3 Christmas episode. Only Buck ever babysits Christopher for Eddie. Recently even Buck hasn't had anything to do with Chris. He coached Eddie through some parenting decisions, but he doesn't have contact to Chris at all. Neither Chris nor Buck express that they miss each other or anything.

There's Eddie's fight club era which ended after one heart to heart with Bobby, but mostly affected his and Lena's friendship who, again, is a character who was Eddie's friend but barely had scenes with the other mains. This is connected to the fight he had with Buck of course, but while Buck's absence and the lawsuit impacted the entire family who picked sides or felt the tension in the firehouse, Eddie's personal issues with Buck are between the two of them. There are raised eye brows during that supermarket fight, but that's it.

He had the shooting story line and while the other characters worried about Eddie of course, it was Buck who was with him when it happened, Buck who took care of Christopher, Buck who rushed to the hospital when Eddie woke up, Buck who picked him up from the hospital and had a heart to heart with him, etc. The other characters existed in the vicinity of this story line, but only Buck was really in it with Eddie. Compare that to when Buck was struck by lightning. Every single main character had emotional scenes with Buck in that story line.

Eddie eventually started dating again and, once more, this was casual gossip fodder in the firehouse, but it was Eddie's aunt who had an actual, serious conversation with him.

The season 7 stuff is part of the Texas story line for me, so I'm not getting into that again.

[nabi-unveiled]

There are fabulous things happening in ep 1 of Heesu in Class 2.

For the record, other than seeing a few people saying it was good on my dash, I knew nothing going into this one. I generally avoid trailers and only rarely know a show is starting before it does. I'm a "see it on my app, click it, decide if I vibe" type of person.

#1 - It took me less than 1.5 minutes to start vibing.

We start with Hee Su running to confess while wearing a fabulous shirt with a sun on it.

Then the intro came in hard with all kinds of science symbols including planets, a telescope and a full out phase diagram of the moon. My nerdy heart which is currently writing video scripts related to astronomy is in my happy place. Plus, they're using the science symbols POETICALLY. I'm going to swoon.

#2 - The "universe" dialogue isn't a one off.

Our boy Hee Su is apparently really into astronomy. Even if he says he mainly likes Chan Young, he's trying to start an astronomy club. Problem is - teach has a life outside of school.

I hate to say it Hee Su, but I agree with teach here. Expecting him to work from 10pm - midnight when he's not equally passionate about astronomy is a bit much.

But the cooler thing to me is that Hee Su KEEPS referencing the universe. We have an absolutely lovely poetic opening speech about the universe.

Hee Su uses it to discuss how the casual remarks from Chan Young impact him.

He uses it at the end when he decides to confess. Sure, there may be a universe where he didn't confess. And there may be a universe where he was rejected. But what if there's a universe where he's accepted. What if it's this one?

#3 - A lot of the dialogue spirals and builds

Throughout the episode, there are so many places where dialogue is building and spiraling. It's layering in so many themes and setting up the narrative so nicely that my brain is literally pinging with happiness.

We have a thread about the real value of "confessions" with multiple perspectives on that.

We have a thread about the right way to "approach" the person you care about and build a relationship.

We have a thread about the unintentional things people do that can hurt others.

We have MULTIPLE pieces of dialogue that are already being used multiple times by different characters in the episode. And the callbacks are so seamlessly integrated that it works to build both meaning and narrative tension. That's a skill.

#4 - Hee Su is a dating "guru" who has never dated, but he's actually good at it.

The fact that it seems like he's mainly learned from watching television and listening to his sisters' stories is perfection. I respect that so much.

I also love this sibling relationship SO much.

#5 - What makes a "true" friend is already being explored.

See this girl? I love her. This is a fledgling friendship. But the energy is already flowing both ways. Unlike the users in his life, she learned Hee Su's name BEFORE approaching him. They're bonding over Usain Bolt and unrequited love. She's giving HIM advice even if he was supposed to be mentoring her.

See this boy? I hate him. He's the "perfect" friend. The object of Hee Su's affection. I'm probably projecting and judging him prematurely. But for this episode, I'm getting coward + popular jerk + manipulator vibes. I'll need to remind myself that he's a teenager. He might grow on me.

See this boy behind Hee Su? I'm trying to decide whether I should feel bad for him. He's obviously the brunt of his friends' jokes including Hee Su's. But there is friendly affection between the three of them, and he gives it back to them too.

#6 - I'm adopting our "Mystery" suitor.

Hee Su may be the title character, but Seung Won is who I'm adopting. Bias is in play. I've seen him before in a different show, and I LOVED his acting in it. I skipped through most of that tedious show just to get to his scenes.

But beyond the fact that he pays attention to Hee Su,

Hee Su's family is the warmth and noise in his quiet, lonely world.

#7 - There's FOOD symbolism.

We have carrot juice being given by pretty much everyone to Hee Su representing all kinds of feelings. Even if I agree with our Friend on the Fringe that it wouldn't be my choice of my drink.

And we have shared family snacks & meals

with the occasional sibling shenanigans.

I loved the ramen scene so much.

Do I have time and the energy for Episode 2 tonight? I don't know, but I just might try.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Given we have finally gotten news regarding the anime what do you think about it being an adaptation of the manga?

I have some mixed opinions since we'll be seeing the same story for the 4th time at this point (game/manga/novel/anime) but there does appear to be some differences with each especially with each unique Yuu. I do think the OBs and fight choreography is best animated over a slice of life show.

I'm not expecting any major changes from the manga if any at all but I'm happy to see it animated at all. I do hope it is successful so that the other books get animated. I feel like we are in a purgatory of early TWST with how often we go back to the earlier books in different mediums.

[Referencing this news!]

Gonna be honest with you, I’m kinda numb to getting yet another adaptation of the main story (a story that, mind you, we've already heard ad nauseum). At this point, it really does feel like a never-ending purgatory or time loop where we are forced to relive Heartslabyul over and over and over 😅 Of course, I'm still looking forward to seeing the anime and watching some of the more complicated scenes play out (fights, flashback sequences, playing magift/spelldrive, etc.). However, I think I would have preferred something new...? For example, vignettes, the event stories, etc.

The anime being an adaptation of the manga is... fine? But that means the anime may also have the same issues that I have with the manga. Those would be:

We will never really be able to fully bond with or know Yuu on a deeper level since Yuu is constantly changing between books/seasons. We won't get to see how the Yuu of Heartslabyul interacts with characters in later books, we won't get to see how the Yuu of Octavinelle handled the Heartslabyul and Savanaclaw conflicts, etc. We won't see any of them grow or change as a result of interacting with the NRC cast. This sucks particularly because if you really love a particular Yuu, you know they won’t be sticking around.

Despite the Yuus being designed as foils for the OB boys of each respective arc, no special meaningful interactions come out of it. The reader/viewer is just left to draw the parallels but there is never a moment where Yuu and the OB boy reconcile about their similarities/differences, which would actually justify the frequent changing of the POV character.

Barely any alterations are made from the game's story, since the manga isn't allowed to deviate in significant ways. No matter how different the Yuu is, they cannot ever make a decision or even have dialogue that would actually change the story in interesting ways.

General time constraints (manga arcs are 20 chapters, seasons have a limited number of episodes).

Limited showing/screen time of some characters. Because the adaptation will be of the main story, some characters that make very bad first impressions (hi, book 2 Leona… hi, Sebek without the vignettes…) will maintain those bad first impressions and won’t have a chance to redeem themselves simply because the bonus content (vignettes, event stories, etc.) aren’t adapted. Other characters won’t get as much focus simply because they aren’t the OB boys. The former would mainly be a concern for anime/manga-only fans.

Most of my disappointment comes not from reliving the same story, but that we are reliving the same story with minimal changes. I would enjoy adaptations more if they actually played around with the source material and explored new avenues! It feels like a missed opportunity, you know??

As I said earlier in this post, this is NOT meant to be overly negative; this is healthy skepticism. I'd describe myself as still excited, but not as excited as I would be if the anime were about something else set in the Twst world. Hope that makes sense 🙏

I would also caution readers to take my concerns with a grain of salt; for all we know, maybe the anime will add new scenes or fix some of the issues I pointed out. We should wait until the anime is out to judge its content and quality for ourselves.

On a positive note though 🤡 M-Maybe we will see. Shirtless L*ona animated… because… y’know… Episode of Savanaclaw technically canonized it… HAHAHAh JK… unless…? 🥺 👉👈