#rick sanchez analysis

[obb-z-scene]

RIProducer's "Pyrite Girl" reminds me of Rick!!

TW mental health and suicide discussion

NOT PROOFREAD IF SOMETHING DOESNT MAKE SENSE IM SORRY

Analysis below. I'm working from the end to the beginning because I said so.

This is the end..chorus? Christ I'm in choir I should know this. Anyways, something about this just screams his mental state. Not all of it, but a lot of it. It showcases how he's both a huge ass egoist and extremely self loathing. Him just knowing he's destroying himself and that he's going bonkers, but also fully deluding himself into thinking that he IS God and is untouchable when in reality he will break any moment now. It also ties into the irony of the title Pyrite girl, which is also known as "fools gold" due to being mistaken as gold for its colour. His "shield of gold" is really a fake protector.

Him putting up protective emotional walls so he does not get attatched again. Probably after Diane's death, and possibly also from being betrayed by Prime in their partnership/relationship? I'm unsure where their relation to eachother will actually lead canonically but I've read some interesting theory posts and it's got me convinced a lil bit so I'm adding this.

He oh so badly wants to be understood and comforted but he doesn't have anyone anymore because they all either left or betrayed him. (Let's push Squanchy and BP aside for the sake of convenience I'm tired) and this will soon turn into a need to hide the vulnerable parts of himself away.

Ricks response to Prime's betrayl, "you left me covered in gold" implying that Rick is the reason he is the way he is today. His anger is new but so is his grief, and it hits so very hard. ("don't you try me! Don't take it lightly!" And "I'm broken, yet somehow, still alive.")

"I've been pulverized for the past five thousand five hundred days." References his endless hunt for Prime. It's exhausting and killing him so badly, example "you shattered my mind one thousand times.", but he's counting every single day to torture himself because he can't keep failing his family. This can also be backed by how the AI in his old house taunts him so horribly, and he even fucked with the time in that dimension just so he could suffer and continue to look with a constant agonizing reminder.

This mainly just reminds me of all the enemies and allies he's made but there's also an actual point here. The people in his life that love him want to try and fix him in their own way. People like Birdperson and Morty. Probably even short term partners, not-seen-in-canon-friends, and probably Unity too when it broke things off. It realized it could not fix someone that wants to stay broken. And Rick does need support, he needs his big support system because he's been so lonely for so long. But without him putting the work in himself, not much can be done. I actually read a fanfiction where Unity had used some sort of mind control to make Rick pass out before he killed himself, and I think that was really smart but also sad. It knows it can't jeopardize it's own health to be around him, he is toxic and infectious like the plague. He seeps into every person around him to survive, but it sees the humanity in him.

In conclusion, the song can be seen as Ricks fall into...himself. or a fake self, someone he shouldn't have been. You can also just think all of this is bullshit and that's okay too. This song is really good and it's story is both a thinker and easy to place at the same time! I hope I made sense and that my tired almost-4-AM brain didn't make you want to retake kindergarten. Feel free to pm me or comment whether you just wanna tell me how your day was or you want to discuss this more. :)

-Ozzy

[rustychainsnorter]

One thing I wanted to see more than anything was a moment between Morty and Rick Prime. I didn't care how it went, I just wanted them to cross paths, communicate or fight in some way. I just wanted to see how they would react to each other.

In season 7, episode 5, we got presented with what we thought was finally a Morty and Rick Prime moment, but it turned out to be Evil Morty instead. So it seemed like there was literally no moments between Rick Prime and Morty, right?

WRONG.

It might have been indirect, but both Morty and Rick Prime did react to each other. And you know what? I think Morty's reaction was more lethal.

Remember this?

At the start of Unmortricken, Evil Morty helps them to catch what they all believe is the real Rick Prime. While Rick hesitates and argues with Evil Morty, Rick Prime clears his throat and offers his "two cents" in the background.

I don't know if anyone realized it, but Morty instantly yelled "no" and pushed the button that immediately shot Rick Prime in the head.

Morty did not hesitate to take the opportunity to kill his biological grandpa. In the moment, he was desperate to get rid of him. He almost even seemed angry when he reacted to Rick Prime, and he was more than determined to kill him. There was no hesitation. He didn't care. What Morty thought was the real Rick Prime opened his mouth, and he decided to silence it.

And then we have Rick Prime's reaction to Morty

Unlike Morty, Rick Prime does not immediately go in for the kill. Instead, he awkwardly addresses the situation in an almost polite manner before pulling his gun out and asking (he asked) Morty "Should I just get this over with, or...?"

OR WHAT?!

And then Evil Morty revealed himself and shot him. I also thought it was crazy how Rick Prime cried "grandson" while being electrocuted.

To me, I think Rick Prime would have been open for conversation with Morty had Morty actually tried to communicate with him. His overconfidence probably made him feel safe enough to hold out a conversation with Morty. Hell, I bet he might have even tried to get Morty to turn on C-137. It's kind of hard to know with him. I do believe he would have had no trouble killing Morty, but the point is that he didn't do it right away when he had the chance.

Side note. Did anyone else notice that Morty was the only one to not get wounded during that battle? He was also the only one not to get targeted or shot at- aside from a drone that shot in his direction a couple times but that was it. Crazy!

Ok. This post is getting long. My point is that, despite how indirect it all was, I can now find myself a tiny bit satisfied with the small knowledge I have. If Morty met face to face with Rick Prime, I think he would try to kill him immediately and without hesitation. If Rick Prime met Morty, I think he'd act the way he did in the episode up until he felt annoyed or threatened.

It's a small analysis, but I hope you enjoyed.

[hazelnut-u-out]

Rick and Morty does an awesome job at highlighting generational trauma cycles. The fact that Beth adopted Rick’s parenting style and approach to marriage (and even IDOLIZED him/the abuse) without realizing that her biggest character flaws come directly from him is super interesting.

I honestly think splitting her into two different versions of herself— one who chooses to be more like her mother and one more like her father; one who stays and one who leaves— was a good choice. As someone who relates a lot to sentiments like ‘my parent idolizes their parents/I’m angry with my parents for what their parents did to them/when I’m angry with my mother, but then I remember she’s just a girl’, the Beths are a powerful representation of not only what I see in myself, but also an experience of motherhood I have little insight into on my own.

With all of their parallels, I like to think Beth has moments where she— like her father— says to herself, ‘Holy shit… I’m a terrible mother.’

I’ve never thought about it before, but Beth truly resents feeling ‘trapped’ in motherhood. She views it as something Jerry did to her instead of something she also partook in. I’m not saying that Jerry didn’t do that intentionally, but I am saying that Beth made choices there, too, and it’s unfair of her to hold contempt for her children (mainly Morty) because of that.

It makes me wonder what her relationship with Diane was like. Diane might have felt like Rick trapped her into motherhood and then took a backseat, too. Did Diane resent Beth for taking away what her life could’ve been? Did Diane blame Beth for her decision to be a mother?

On the other side of the coin, we have Morty. He’s like his dad in a lot of innocent ways, but that concept terrifies him because he’s seen the malice behind that harmless facade.

Part of him hates his mom for never wanting him— for never caring for him or protecting him— but that’s a part of himself he buries. He knows, at the end of the day, his mom is just a girl who desperately wanted her dad to love her.

‘I love Daddy!’

People talk about how much Morty is like Jerry all the time, but I’ve NEVER seen a post about how similar he is to Beth. (Please tag me if you have, so I can hype it up!) He spends all day everyday cripplingly aware of just how little his parents want him. He feels their rejection and neglect. He buries those feelings to protect them; or maybe because he’s so aware of their disdain for him that he believes they just might discard him if he’s too much work.

…Sound familiar?

Sometimes I wonder how much of Morty’s efforts to protect Beth from Rick’s actions and people pleasing to make Beth and Rick’s relationship just a bit easier comes from a certain relatedness he feels to his mother’s experience of rejection/abandonment.

‘Rick, I can handle it if you go, but you’ll break Mom’s heart, and I won’t forgive you for that.’

He loves who some may consider unlovable.

But, holy shit, is that kid angry.

Angry at people he can’t justify holding accountable because… Fuck, they’ve been through a lot, too, haven’t they? How could he possibly justify hating someone he could so easily become?

I can only hope we get some more of Rick’s relationship with his parents. I’m dying to know about it.

[the-awful-falafel]

I really hope Rick and Morty as a series will finally move on from portraying Rick's love for Morty / his family as this special, redemptive trait that Morty just needs to open his eyes to. Or portraying it as something Rick just needs to be emotionally honest about, finally admit in a grand gesture, and then everything will be healthy and resolved.

Two things can be equally true: Rick can sincerely care about Morty, deeply enough to be tender with him, showing gestures of affection, being protective of him, being truly proud of him... and can also constantly let Morty down, put him in mortal danger, make Morty feel responsible for his emotional health, treat him awfully and in manipulative controlling ways, and not be there for him when it matters most. His love is real, but is also a fickle thing that Morty cannot always rely on. That uneven dolling out of affection is exactly what entrenches the abuse and damages Morty further. Even now that Rick is slowly improving as a person, his simultaneous love and unreliability persists in milder ways, and the long pattern of abuse leaves deep scars on his grandson.

In my opinion, it makes perfect sense for Morty to see Rick's care for him as this unreliable, dangerous, and potentially non-existent thing, but also to paradoxically crave it nonetheless. Every time he lets his guard down and starts to trust Rick too much, he's been kicked in the nuts for it to varying extents-- even recently. I don't think he actually believes Rick cares nothing for him, but he's been trapped in this cycle of good and bad for so long that his self-worth is eroded and wholly defined by his grandpa's conditional affection, and he's scared of and dependent on it simultaneously. Even if Rick became truly healthy and openly caring from now on, that won't change how he's screwed up Morty with his behavior.

The series isn't going to make any meaningful progress if the writers keeps cycling around the superficial "does Rick care? does Morty know how deeply Rick cares?" question that they've asked since Season 1, instead of progressing to more meaningful, realistic questions about what Rick's love even means after all the past seasons of codependent abuse, and how much it should be worth to Morty in the end. (Ideally, much, much less than it's worth now.)

Yes, Rick cares. Yes, he loves his family deeply. But as with many forms of abuse, that's part of the problem.

[emorick137]

summer and rick’s relationship is genuinely everything to me. he hides it behind misogyny as an excuse because it’s easier to justify that way, but the only reason he doesn’t take her on adventures all the time is because he’s scared to lose her. because canonically she reminds him of diane. she’s so much like rick too in so many ways.

evil morty says he doesn’t want vengeful summers coming after him if he kills rick. he knows she could track him down and cause him a lot of trouble (if not kill him successfully) because he understands her potential.

she’s super smart—canonically in episode two she says she “chooses” to get C’s in school. as in, she evens out her grades on purpose. she loves drugs and partying much like someone else we know. she understands rick arguably better than anyone else in the family; in s3 ep 1 she was right about the arrangement of flies opening a secret compartment, when they go on their party spree she does a “very rick thing” by averting an apocalypse just to prove a point.

i genuinely believe she’s the most like rick and has the most potential to be. and that’s part of why rick especially at first tries to not do to much with her; he doesn’t want her turning into him.

[darkforze]

This was meant to be a response to an anon ask, but unfortunately I lost the original draft and the ask along with it. The anon was asking how I thought Morty and Prime would interact if Prime had showed up before c137 even had the chance, and how that would change the show. Warning that this ended up being kinda long, it's a concept I love thinking about.

I think when it comes to imagining what Prime and Mortys dynamic would be like, a big part of it comes down to how you view Prime as a character. Is he a sadistic egomaniac with no regard for others? Or a man who's ego runs so deep he considers himself a God, isolating himself from those he deems inferior to the point you could consider his existence lonely? I personally view him more like the latter.

Honestly, I can't really picture Prime taking Morty on adventures all the time like c137 does. Prime works alone, and I think he'd find Mortys more upstanding morals irritating, especially if Morty tried to get in the way of some of his more questionable research. Some dialogue in Unmortricken seems to suggest Prime views Mortys as what they really are. Kids.

I think he'd find the idea of dragging a teenage boy along with you to constantly belittle and force to do your bidding pretty pathetic. A true genius Rick like himself would have no need for a human brainwave cloaking device.

The way I picture Prime first meeting Morty is him returning to his dimension shortly after Morty is born to make sure there's no way someone (potentially a vengeful Rick looking for him) could use the kids dna to trace back to him. After making sure that wouldn't be a possibility he'd be about to portal away when the sound of the Smiths arguing in another room would cause the infant to start crying. Prime decides to at least get the kid some food to get him to shut up. It is his grandson, after all. He tells himself after he leaves it's just a one-time thing.

Except he keeps going back. He doesn't trust his estranged daughter and her sad excuse of a husband to give the little thing the care he needs. Prime doesn't exactly want the kid to starve. Morty is his grandson, a descendant of his greatness.

As Morty grows he gets used to Primes visits, looking forward to them. I imagine Prime would be more like a cool uncle to Morty than a grandfather, showing up at random times to give him things he found on different planets and telling him facts about places he's been to.

Morty would probably be a lot more confident if Prime had been the one around him instead of c137. Maybe a little too much. Prime would encourage Morty to stand up for himself, giving him shooting lessons and showing off different inventions he could use to get rid of people bothering him permanently.

I don't think Prime could care about somebody without there being some sort of possessiveness at the core of it. The only reason he gained interest in Morty in the first place is because Morty is his blood and he wanted to see what potential the kid might have. He doesn't want Morty to be some timid little thing doing whatever is asked of him like he sees other Ricks force their grandsons to be. No grandson of his is gonna be a meek, pathetic lapdog. That would be an insult to Prime's genius dna flowing through the kids blood.

Eventuallly after Morty asks enough times about going with Prime to a different planet, Prime gives in and starts taking him along for simple adventures (at least, simple at first). It would play out similar to the actual show, with Morty being absolutely dumbfounded and terrified at the sort of things he sees whilst Prime treats it like a regular tuesday. The most noticeable difference would probably be that Prime wouldn't belittle Morty as much as c137 (except if the kid tried to get in his way), and Morty would be more confident from the start and probably start to like the mayhem a little more. Mortys morals would eventually start to deteriorate like we see in canon, possibly even faster due to Prime's influence. He'd definitely start to grow more distant towards his other family members and people in general.

But still, I don't think Prime would take Morty with him all the time. He works better alone and having to cater to Mortys needs can be a nuisance when he's trying to work on something. I can picture him requesting Morty to help him in other ways instead, like fixing up his weapons and repairing some killbots.

I'm a fan of the idea that c137 pretty much let the earth in Primes dimension go to ruin on purpose. But if c137 never gets to meet Morty in the first place in this hypothetical au, that would never happen. Prime especially would have no reason to destroy Mortys home. He wants Morty to respect him, there's no point traumatising him like that if it will make Morty fear him and not want to be like him. Because then Morty would end up just as mediocre as other versions of himself.

You could have a lot of juicy drama with Morty finding out that Prime killed every single version of his grandmother throughout time and space. He'd probably start to question Prime a lot more and wonder if he's becoming like him for the worse. It'd be especially fun to throw c137 into the mix. He'd definitely be a lot worse off without Morty in his life. Hell, you could make him into an antagonist always searching for Prime, posing a threat to the duo.

I hope this makes at least a bit of sense. I'm sad we'll probably never see the two of them interact, but in a way imagining it yourself is the fun part. If the anon that sent the ask is reading this, I hope it didn't disappoint.

[summersmithlatinxgyatt]

I genuinely genuinely GENUINELY believe that if Summer doesn't change at all, she'll take Rick's position. I know people think it will be Morty or just a vacant spot, but I don't believe that

We already saw Summer fucking lose her mind when Rick is gone, she broke before Morty did

She also has way more similar thought patterns, which reminds me of The ABC's of Beth showing how Beth and Rick also have similar thought patterns when it comes to dealing with all this sci-fi shit

If Rick left, she'd be broken and probably try to mimic him. The Prime universe at least shows that Summer now provides for her family, and it's pretty sad to see Jerry recognize her importance after she dies. As for C-137, she'd probably take his technology and try to hunt him down

And...we already saw this is also a pattern. If Summer lost Rick, do you know what we'd end up seeing?

An exact replica of this fucking sequence.

When I say she'd take the mantle of Rick, i don't mean she'll be using portal guns and having fun adventures. I mean she'll go down the exact same path when he leaves her life, not that it'll be handed down as a legacy.

Summer would become Rick in his absence at her absolute worst. And I believe this is the worst thing that could happen to her, too.

[fandomwe1rd0]

I really like how Rick and Morty shows that even if someone has friend and family that love them, even if they are extremely smart and can do basically anything, except those things you can't do because of those pesky morals, but despite that, you can still be depressed.

The majority of depressed people in the media have no friends, neglectful or abusive family, and just an all round shitty life, again not saying that this never happens, but that's not all depressed people.

Rick and Morty shows that you can still be depressed even if you have what most people would want, because depression goes so much deeper than what you have, it can be internal, which is what's going on with Rick. He suffers from intense trauma, self-blame, and self-loathing, which is so SO gripping, and it is seriously not protrayed enough! I love how realistically Rick and Morty shows these things.

Rick Sanchez is SUCH an important character and has really fancistinating psychology, his situation kinda reminds me of the Bojack Horseman quote, I'll edit it slightly to show my point (it was originally directed at Bojack):

Rick, You're a genius scienetist who can make anything, do anything, you have access to infinite dimesions, planets, and universe, with a spaceship, and you have friends, family, and grandkids who loves you. What more do you want? What else could the universe possible owe you?

I... want... to feel good about myself. The way you do. And I don't know how. I don't know if I can.

[dontfuckingestablishcanonicalbac]

early characterisation of rick is so funny with how incompetent and scrappy he is like obviously it's just that the writers kept ramping up the stakes to the point where we are now with rick being unbeatable, hyper-competent and near-omnipotent in any situation but honestly his s1 characterisation doesn't even feel out of place in the context of his crybaby backstory like if u just imagine the extreme emotional crisis he must be going through after pitching up to the home of his alternate-universe grown-up not-dead daughter to keep on the good side of the alternate versions of himself whom he's been slaughtering for decades in an effort to kill his nemesis and he uses this too as a last-ditch effort find said nemesis (which he FAILS, AGAIN) and has to witness firsthand how profoundly unfulfilled, unhappy and unwilling to change those two things his daughter would have been had she survived to adulthood. and also imagine the sheer number of drugs he must be on to cope with all of that. his s1 incompetence is 100% in-character.

[starrbitez]

One more thing. In the fear hole episode, the lights flicker when morty or rick is experiencing their fear, right?

At the end of the episode, when Rick runs back to the hole after hearing Diane was in there, he turns to the cork board and looks for the photo of Morty in his wallet. the moment he turns away from the hole, the bathroom lights flicker. They flicker because Rick is experiencing his fear: letting go of Diane. Letting go of his past. But, the lights only flicker a bit, and he hangs the photo up, leaving. He chooses Morty over his past; over Diane.

In a weird way, Morty wasn’t the only one who overcame a fear. So did rick. He actively chose morty over Diane, conquering his fear of letting her go.

This episode drives me crazy can you tell I’ve watched it 34 times

[arolock]

Is Prime's arc really over?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[sadiecoocoo]

Constantly thinking abt the fact that Rick has hugged Summer back (in the Gotron episode that i totally didn’t forget the name of) but whenever Morty has hugged him he just stands there and tries to process it. And whenever he’s hugged back he wasn’t even real. And the one time he tried to hug back and was real was the only time that Morty could not mentally take being hugged back by Rick because he just went through something that Rick will likely never get to understand like we do. But this also shows the difference between Rick’s dynamic summer and his dynamic with Morty. He’s okay with showing affection towards Summer because he knows that she doesn’t actually matter as much (he has left Summer Prime, along with the rest of the prime family, save for Morty, to die. And almost left summer in the post apocalyptic world [sometime during season 3? I think], while still taking Morty with him back), but for Morty he’s afraid to show affection towards. Because then he couldn’t deny the fact that he would likely die, or go on another revenge quest, for Morty. So he doesn’t allow himself the chance to act like a real grandfather to Morty because then he’d be all the more terrified of losing Morty somehow. I hope the show explores this more and shows Rick’s guilt when he realizes that him not letting himself show that he got attached to Morty is doing more harm than good to both of them

[rustychainsnorter]

Compilation of moments where Rick was a good grandpa. (Platonic only. No shipping).

I thought it'd be fun to come up with a simple list of times when Rick was a decent grandpa. If you can think of any other moments that I didn't list, please share and I'll add it to the compilation. Hope you enjoy!

Seriously, I really do hope this compilation grows :)

Rick gives Morty his lab coat. Episode: Full Metal Jackrick.

We don't get to see a lot of Rick being gentle or soft, but this was definitely a heart felt moment. Trapped in a blizzard, Rick gives Morty his coat and tries to reassure him. It's a simple gesture, but it does show Rick's gentle, more protective side.

Rick indulging Morty. Episode: Rickfending Your Mort.

So I think this is more character development on Rick's part than anything else. Season 7 definitely delivered a more open minded Rick than what we're used to. In previous seasons, Rick usually degraded and belittled Morty's ideas and adventures, some times even going so far as to purposely hurt him. But in season 7, we see moments where Rick actually indulges Morty's silly ideas without complaint or judgement. He doesn't get as angry when Morty makes mistakes either which is a huge character growth.

Rick holding Morty close while dying. Episode: Solaricks.

Another small gesture but super heart warming. Trapped in space and close to death, Rick and Morty huddle together to accept their fates and die in each other's presence. Considering the fact that they're both about to die, it's sweet to think that Rick would be perfectly content dying while holding his grandson in his arms.

Turning himself in to the government. Episode: The Wedding Squanchers.

Being one of the primary reasons why his family can't return to earth and have a real life, Rick turns himself in to the government so that they can go home and be safe. This was a bold move by Rick, and it shows just how much he secretly cares about his family. He even risked them resenting him, but their safety was more important.

Toxic Rick sacrificing himself to save Morty: Episode: Rest and Ricklaxation.

It's incredible. Even Rick's toxicity cares enough about Morty to sacrifice himself to save him. In this episode, toxic Rick is faced with a difficult choice and that is either to merge with healthy Rick or let Morty disintegrate. Being as narcissistic and mean as he is, it was quite surprising to see toxic Rick willingly merge with his healthy self. (Let's not even mention the part where Rick cried to Jessica about not being able to find healthy Morty).

Rick comforting Morty. Episode: Meeseeks and Destroy.

An absolute rarity in the old days of R&M. After getting attacked by Mr. Jellybean, Morty gives up and decides that he wants to go home. However, instead of belittling or degrading him about his adventure any further, Rick realizes what's happened and comforts Morty. He even goes so far as to complete Morty's adventure with a positive smile soon before assassinating Mr. Jellybean.

Pride and respect. Episode: Fear no Mort.

After his experience in the fear hole, Morty warns Rick not to go into the hole. And, for once, Rick followed Morty's advice and listened to him. Not only that, but he also acknowledged his grandson's accomplishment by putting his photo on the wall and walking away with a proud smile. This is good. This is character development. Rick respected Morty and he listened to him without argument or complaint. I hope we get more moments like this.

Rick sacrificing his life for Mortys. Episode: A Rickle in Time.

How could we forget the time Rick actually did jump into a hole for Morty? This episode was such a punch to the heart. In order to fix time, Rick and Morty have to be absolutely certain. But, one of the split Morty's fell through a hole, and Rick wasted no time jumping in after him. When he catches Morty, he became certain that giving him his own collar was what he wanted to do, and he did. He gladly gave his life to save his grandson.

[sorrelpaws]

what are your personal favorite hcs for morty? (coming from another guy who is prime morty irl) and this could be any morty ^___^ or even hcs for how c137 and pmorty interact and just stuff about them/their dynamic since i really really enjoy how you depict them i feel like you’re one of the few that really Get the way they act around each other yknow. if that makes sense. you are just very epic like that /gen

ANOONNN this is such a cute ask SRYY its taken me a gazillion years to answer this its cuz a lot of my hcs/ the way i interpret rick and mortys dynamic is like. its hard to explain i sort of just get visions of dialogue and scenarios in my mind. BUTTT!!! ive managed to clean up the sludge a little . a huge hc i have for pmorty is that he has a lot of tiny miscellaneous scars because as he gets older he sort of wants to feign independence a little and act like he doesnt want/need rick's help. could also be a form of reclamation, "here's me exhibiting bodily autonomy" and all that. i love drawing him with a little eyebrow scar, its one of the more prominent ones i think um. For Reasons I Will Not Disclose but that i imagine are incredibly apparent either way. But an "canon" explanation for it is that he gets it sometime during the entire rickshank rickdemption fiasco, specifically pre-showdown. since this episode reallyyyyy tests mortys loyalty to rick, i think it'd be kind of fun to have his faith in him be punished with something so tiny but so permanent.

i've mentioned this before but i really think the best parallel to draw for rick and mortys day to day dynamic is high school guys who say they're best friends but dont even know each others favorite colors. like they just spend a lot of time hanging out and doing things together, but emotionally there's very little conscious substance, if that makes sense ???!! in the sense that they dont turn to each other if they need actual comfort, they just sort of bottle it up and cry about it behind the corner.

their whole dynamic is jumpstarted by rick needing someone by his side. he's just an old man who's desperate for company, and so he intentionally isolates morty from his peer, which in turn makes morty very reliant on rick, but rick really doesn't want to or know how to meet the emotional quota he deprives morty of. IF THAT MAKES SENSE. rick wants a loyal dog but doesn't want to put in the effort to earn its trust and respect. this kiindd of changes in newer seasons, with rick being less reliant on morty and instead opting for therapy and Friends in the same mental and physical age group as him, but it seemingly pretends rick's actions in earlier seasons have no consequences, and that morty is in no way affected by being robbed of a social life, which is ugh. whatever. i guess.

they're forever super clingy though. they're each others favorite person, even if they maybe kind of hate each other. rick is very emotionally stunted due to years of unprocessed trauma, and morty is hopelessly devoted to someone who gives him a semblance of positive attention.

[lon3rlife]

The difference between Rick Sanchez and Bojack Horseman

On the surface they are both pretty similar characters-miserable nihilistic alcoholic old men in an animated adult cartoon. They both have similar coping mechanisms, deep loneliness and self loathing, and put of emotional barriers behind their emotions because they don’t allow themselves to get attached. At the end of the day the root cause for all that is them.

They both see themselves in a different light, though they both have deep self loathing Rick still sees himself as pretty much a God. I mean he can do anything he wants, he’s a genius, but because of that he sees everyone as intellectually inferior to him, and yes in a way that is true, but with all of that and his own ego and feelings of superiority he still can’t like himself. He does shitty things, he hurts people he cares about; he’s self aware. Bojack and Rick are fully aware that they’re assholes. Bojack on the other hand is consumed by his self loathing. He doesn’t see anything good about himself and ruminates over his past mistakes over and over again. When he does shitty things he feels bad about it, it might not be right away but he eventually feels bad and knows he messed up, but when he realizes he messed up he wallows in self loathing, pity, and shame.

Rick is a self proclaimed nihilist, that’s his whole gimmick. “Pessimistic old man who knows nothing matters and does whatever he wants.” That’s another problem for him, he’s aware that nothing matters, and because of that is free to do whatever, and every shitty thing he does doesn’t really matter in the long run because “nothing matters.” And even though he knows nothing matters, he’s still human and as much as he hates it, he still has feelings. For instance, Morty he views as an “irrational attachment.” Because that’s how he views it; it’s irrational to feel attached to someone if nothing matters, so why does he care so much. He loves his family but can’t comprehend why he can’t just “not care” about them like he does with everything else. Now Bojack searches for meaning. He wants his life to have meaning, and he wants to feel happy, he searches for meaning through relationships, his career, friends, but there’s still a void of emptiness that he wants to fill. Unlike Rick he doesn’t want to settle with knowing that there’s no meaning and just live with that, he knows there has to be something more.

The a similarity between the two though is how they try to change. I feel like Rick’s wake up call was the note Unity left- “I’m attracted to you for the reason I can’t be with you: you can’t change.” That’s what I believe was the main reason for his attempt, not the break up necessarily, I mean they were already apart and I don’t think Rick would’ve of had such a huge reaction to that if it wasn’t for that line. Rick was definitely the most sociopathic and downright insane in season 1, now in the later seasons he’s trying to get better, and that’s something I like about both of the shows is that they show how becoming better isn’t something that will happen overnight, you need to care in order to get better, and other people can’t make you get better, you have to decide for yourself if you want to change. Throughout the seasons of Bojack Horseman he doesn’t really mellow out completely, he does horrible things and keeps doing them until he finally becomes self aware enough to know that something needs to change, and like Rick, once you realize you need to change you need to put in the work. And Bojack did try get better, and he did for a while. When he relapsed he would think that all of his progress is gone, he asked Todd “what if I relapse again?” And Todd replies saying “Then you’ll get sober again.” After the show Bojack wouldn’t have completely became perfect. He’s still going to struggle and face consequences of his actions, and he may have relapses, but as long as he’s truly trying to change and get better he wouldn’t let those things get in the way like how he would have before he got help.

Both Bojack and Rick put up emotional barriers around people if they feel like they’re getting too close, which is the root issue of their loneliness. They both have people that really care about them but they warp their viewpoints to make themselves believe that they are better on their own, and anyone they get close to will end up leaving them in the end.

[emorick137]

you know i really think it’s a masterful choice to place us in rick’s late life rather than showing us his whole journey. we see him the way he exists, as a fractured whole that skipped decades because of a revenge quest. we see him younger, and then smash cut to him at 70. we only get glimpses of his life between. he did things, yeah, but he doesn’t even seem to care about them himself. it’s telling of the way his mind works and sees his own life; it ended when diane died (see: “the three lines of math that separate my life as a man from my life as an unfeeling ghost”) and he only really starts to process that he’s alive when he begins the slow, slow, slow process of healing.