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do u ever miss your own energy. like damn what happened to me

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Rick Sanchez & The Stages of Grooming (intro)

Hi hello. Yes, you read that title right. This is the first part of a series of posts about how Rick’s behavior towards Morty matches the well-documented stages of grooming that child predators are known to follow. A lot of this is evident even from the pilot episode but is admittedly not the whole picture of the character as we have come to know him over the course of the show.

I know Rick is the fandom’s poor little meow meow so a lot of people are going to be uncomfortable with me making these comparisons. I understand that I am speaking about a sensitive subject that many may prefer not to think about. But even so, I felt the need to write a gross dissection of the character and I’m willing to back up my slander with direct evidence from the show. The instances I point out will be scenes with general overtones of this specific form of abuse, whether that be through clear allusions in the dialogue or through the greater context of Rick and Morty’s relationship. 

I’d also like to get it out of the way first that Rick is not canonically preying on Morty for sexual reasons. I am not suggesting that. However, I have reason to believe that the show has made jokes that purposefully allude to sexual abuse for shock value and I find those instances significant enough to mention.

Now let’s start with a clear definition…

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Grooming: a form of abuse that involves manipulating someone until they’re isolated, dependent, and more vulnerable to exploitation (x)

Grooming is not just about sexual activity. It can take many forms including to commit criminal acts, carry drugs or become involved in radicalisation. It is a carefully planned process with the aim of controlling a young person, to ensure that they do exactly what the perpetrator wants. Initially, a young person may receive gifts and be showered with attention and affection, but this may later turn to blackmail, threats of violence or actual violence. (x)

We already know that Rick has plenty to gain from securing complete control over Morty. There is, of course, the cloaking brainwaves reason that he provides in Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind. Then there are the practical uses that come from Rick having access to an impressionable youth who he can convince to do things like smuggle contraband through interdimensional customs for him by way of terribly invasive methods. Morty is quite literally Rick’s partner in crime, though notably against his will at the beginning (“I mean, you know, I-I don’t wanna shoot nobody!”) until constant exposure to such “adventures” leads him to become accustomed to the role. This is part of Rick’s grooming process.

But on top of that, and perhaps most crucially, their partnership has the added benefit of filling the void of Rick’s crippling loneliness. This is where the classic icky, too-close-for-comfort side of grooming shows its face. Because at a certain point it becomes clear that Rick is conditioning Morty to fulfill his emotional needs and dedicate himself entirely to Rick’s benefit, regardless of what Morty actually wants. Suddenly it’s not just about crime and material goals. Suddenly it’s personal. Because Rick wants Morty to stay by his side forever and he will do whatever it takes to keep Morty from leaving him.

Without even getting into specifics on the individual stages of grooming, Rick’s tendency to utilize manipulation tactics coupled with his desire to monopolize his grandson’s life is the ultimate red flag.

And all of this gets a whole lot more predatory when you count the Ricks of the Citadel, who systematically bred Mortys and raised them to be subservient to Ricks and forgiving of the abuse they endure. It goes to show that not just one or two Ricks do this. The season 5 finale revealed a whole mass grooming operation carried out by Ricks (a “Morty Market” in the episode’s own words), though it’s clear they were not always successful at making Mortys into their ideal partners. The main antagonist of the Citadel arc, Evil Morty, is the most prominent example of that failure.

You may sense where I’m going with this. Considering the recurring themes of abuse in the show, I don’t think the Citadel’s narrative similarities to the real life horrors of child trafficking was an accident. A large part of the shock of that reveal is the blatant commodification of a minor by an old man, and the revulsion that such a scenario inspires in the viewer is meant to make Evil Morty’s motives for violence more understandable.

Maybe I’m the weirdo for taking an irreverent animated comedy so seriously. But if we want to analyze the overarching plot of the series, this subtext is an observable element that deserves to be acknowledged. And by god am I going to acknowledge it.

[>> Next part]

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hot artists don't gatekeep

I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard

Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.

Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.

Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.

Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.

SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.

SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.

Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.

Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of "how to draw" videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can't make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.

Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.

Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.

Height Weight Chart. You ever see an OC listed as having a certain weight but then they look Wildly different than the number suggests? Well here's a site to avoid that! It shows real people at different weights and heights to give you a better idea of what these abstract numbers all look like. Free to use.

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"Curiosity Killed My Beia" A comic I did for The Spinoff's Comic of the Month

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*reels it in* aw yea this fish must be like 12 pounds. i cant wait to catch another one *feels around in my empty worm can* hmm *looks at my buddy steve napping with his hat over his eyes and his penis hanging out in the sun* *notices his penis* *notices the shape of it* *looks at my empty can that used to have worms in it* *looks back at his penis* *looks at him sleeping* *looks at the hook on my line* *looks back at his penis*

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nightmare

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Rainbow Chase.

| #GIF | #DAILY | #C4D |

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mildly concerning computer pins [x]

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growing up by the sea really makes you understand why sailors were Like That back in the day. yeah the sea is the love of my life and i'm nothing to her but my heart belongs to her and her alone. she's a cruel, uncaring temptress and she wants to steal me away and eat me alive but to die in her cold, dark abyssal embrace would be such a wonderful way to die.

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thinking about when a very attractive young woman wearing a home depot uniform posted a completely normal selfie on her twitter and then when it blew up men were immediately asking “when’s the OF dropping??” and when she said “I would never make an OF” a bunch of OF creators were upset about it and acted like this woman not wanting to do it was a personal insult toward them

the way everyone felt so fucking comfortable trying to push and guilt this woman into joining OF is just another reminder that if even one woman has a price tag, the rest of us will just be seen as products that haven’t been put on the market yet

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Old Horror Movie Trailer Reaction Images. Batch 1.

I recently posted these screenshots from old horror movie trailers and you guys seemed to like them. I had been re blogging them with more but the post was getting pretty lengthy, so I'm just gonna make separate posts from now on with a bunch of them on each. Here you go!

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bouncing solitaire serpent mating dance