#over analyzing

Don't even get me started on the "consensual" i***** shit. Absolutely disgusting.

Pawbert was clearly severely abused in every way possible by Milton. I genuinely believe that Pawbert originally wanted to help Gary, and that's why there were no clear signs of betrayal. Why would he even bother with any of this? His family clearly had an upper hand on Gary.

If Pawbert really wanted to appease his father from the start, he would've turned Gary in or fucked him up as soon as he smuggled him in. Or, just gave his father the letter Gary sent.

All the effort Pawbert puts into this plan makes no sense otherwise. Pawbert lives a double life away from his father in the desert, and that feels like the REAL him. He likes Burning Man, kitty cat Toys and colorful culture. The opposite of what his father wants: cold, dark, and uppity.

Pawbert wouldn't have bothered saving Judy. Or give her praise. And he wouldn't have given Gary the files on his family to research the conspiracy of the Lynxley. He wouldn't have snuggled up to Gary multiple times, introduced the cast to his personal tent, or put in any effort to help Gary.

The last minute turn was just that: last minute.

It's clear to me that Pawbert did this because of the absolute control his father has over him and his autonomy. The second there was a risk of Pawbert getting caught, he lost it. Yet the whole time it's clear that Pawbert DOES NOT want to do this. "He doesn't want to change," because he CAN'T. His father has control over his very mind.

The abuse on screen is likely just the tip of the iceberg to what Milton has done to Pawbert. If this is what he does when he wants to quickly make a point, imagine what happens behind closed doors to the "unfavourite."

The implications are clear. His siblings stand like statues and appease their father because they are scared of him. The second Milton hits their brother they looked horrified. Their father gives them subtle praise when they bully Pawbert. Milton has absolute power over all of them.

Nibbles even makes a reference to "three-some and four-some" when she sees the family, and she is VERY observant.

Pawbert very clearly has seperate and distinct personalities who are driven crazy, are made to obey his father without question and overall are not well. One even grovels at his feet and calls him "daddy", talking and acting very child like. He can even LOOK like a child when he talks to Milton.

The trauma bond Pawbert has with Milton is explicit. IMO, the parts of Pawbert's personality that did those violent, disturbed and cold acts towards the main cast were programmed by his father to do his bidding.

There's even a reference to "The Shining", which indicates to me that there is a higher power (Milton) that took control over Pawbert's mind. It even shows the statue his grandfather, AKA the legacy his cannot escape.

Why else would Milton let Pawbert take care of Judy, Nick, and Gary for him? Because Milton knows Pawbert's soul and mind are his puppet.

It's clear that Pawbert is at his father's beck and call in a VERY fucked up way. Pawbert goes between being attached to Gary to betraying him as soon as Milton is nearby. And he looks GUILTY during and after before his betrayal.

The only reason why Pawbert sucks up to his father again in jail is for his own sanity and safety in being stuck in the same cell. He has no choice. What else is he supposed to do?

Pawbert likely didn't even think the main cast would stick around. Judy and Nick barely knew him. Nibbles didn't at all. He probably assumed Gary would leave as soon as he had his family back.

After all, Pawbert's family were the ones who ruined Gary's life. Pawbert likely wasn't used to anyone liking him due to the ostraciztion he had at home. His family was all he had. His father.

Pawbert was doomed from the start, because even if he hadn't betrayed Milton, he would've still lost his fortune, family, home and even his life. His father wouldn't have had mercy. The second Milton caught Pawbert helping the other side, he would've been fucked.

This time I have some thoughts about this scene and what Shane specifically is thinking.

Starts out innocently enough. Ilya finds a nice segway to his question; do you like girls? (In his roundabout way since he couldn't ask a direct question to save his life) And you can literally see how tense Shane is immediately. Like as soon as Ilya says it. He does NOT want to be thinking about women. He JUST got dicked down for gods sake. He's already weirded out by how this day is going (they've never hung out before. Never just sat in the same room not doing something either hockey related or sexual). But now he also has to contend with the whole not-being-into-girls thing and his feelings around that AND his feelings about Ilya. So he shuts down.

AND THEN. Even worse! Ilya brings up a specific girl. Possibly his girl. He "likes her very much."

And everyone sees Shane's face as jealous here. And that isn't wrong. But I don't think it's all of it. He had finally kind of settled. Was starting to have a regular conversation, only to be YANKED back into reality. That this is strange and unusual for them. He is so out of his element.

And then MORE EVEN WORSE. Mystery girl Svetlana is interested in him! And Shane could not be less interested. He is NOT into this conversation. The jealousy of having to think about Ilya with someone else, the weirdness or the day, and now the ever-familiar pressure to be interested in girls when he just isn't . He doesn't look just upset. To me he looks tired. There is a lot going on for him in this moment.

Now Ilya, on the other hand, is pleased. His question hasn't been answered but he at least knows that Shane is not interested in Svetlana. And he enjoys riling him up, of course. Maybe he enjoys knowing Shane gets jealous about him if he really clocked that it was jealousy. Ilya's still fairly in the dark about Shane's feelings as well. And maybe it's a minor confirmation that Shane doesn't just fuck anyone who lets him. Less other people to worry about.

NOW THIS PART I'VE BEEN DYING TO TALK ABOUT. Look at how he doesn't look at Ilya when he asks this. I've seen people say how jealous he looks (not wrong) BUT I've never seen this particular take: He's asking if she's his girlfriend. The underlying issue here is NOT just "is there another person in your life you fuck like you fuck me?" (Because he can ignore the nameless hookups he only hears rumors about) But is she your GIRLFRIEND? ARE YOU CHEATING ON HER WITH ME? Shane does NOT want to be the side piece (he wants to be the main piece). Does not want to think about Ilya being serious with someone else. Does not want to be put in a position where someone could find out about them and possibly be vindictive with that information.

And Ilya says no.

Heyyy! I've seen people say that Evil Morty is horribly mischaracterized in his latest episode and...

You're exactly right! I agree with you!

Butttt if you overanalyze it justttt enough, it doesn't seem out of character at all! Let's do it together, shall we?

THAT'S RIGHT! My overanalysises are BACK! I am so FUCKING back!

First off! His smugness. I don't really have any images of season 8 so please forgive me for that. I'm making this post like a few hours after the episode (Queues are lovely, aren't they?) BUT during the episode one thing that struck me as odd when I first watched it was Evil Morty's smugness. YES, we know that he IS smug, but here it's VERY obvious. Evil Morty is more dry and cold when he's sarcastic. Think of Rick. He won't be puffing his chest and talking about how much better he is than Rick, but he'll make some snide comments that obviously shows how much better he thinks he is than everyone else.

But in THIS episode, he's smirking a LOT, making fun of Morty for being jealous, exerting his power over Rick, FORCING him to go on an adventure by weaponizing his trauma (Family getting deleted over infinity) against him. Like he is VICIOUS here. And that is weird to see that he's even going on adventures with Rick again. Especially this specific Rick when the last thing he told them in Unmortricken is "Seriously though, fuck you. Don't come after me, it won't go well."

BUT! We're forgetting a small thing, aren't we? Remember Evil Rick? How could you not? He was SO memorable. So smug too! Let's see some pictures of him now to prove my point, hm?

Wait a second...this Rick was being controlled BY Evil Morty the entire time...yet he's so smug. But not in the cold way Evil Morty usually is, but a very "puff up your chest" kind of way...maybe he's simply playing the part. Except he was using his position as a Morty, as a helpless victim, to get out of trouble. So why would people assume a helpless victim could do this to their abuser? Why even pretend? There's an infinite amount of Ricks anyway, so why put on a persona? He can act any way he wants.

Maybe, just MAYBE. There's another reason, one that could explain away the main problem with Evil Morty's mischaracterization. So, let's explain, shall we?

Many victims of abuse, usually sexual, but this can be true for mental and physical abuse, which Evil Morty seems to have gone through. Emotional is obvious, but physical seems more implied by the way he immediately got to the ground and shielded himself when his Rick yelled at him. His cold indifference to the rest of the family could also be because they knew of the abuse, but never stopped it, so he hates them as much almost as much as he hates Rick since they were complicit in his abuse by not doing anything. And in all abuse situations, the victim is robbed of their power, in one way or another. Their power in what happens to their body, of their confidence in themselves and assertiveness, their power of feeling like they have a right to say what they choose, their power to even more without it hurting in some cases.

But Evil Morty was able to reclaim his power in this episode. He was able to take it BACK by controlling his abuser, making said abuser his puppet.

Now...what's another episode where he had control over his abuser a was very smug?

OH WAIT!

Exactly! In this episode, he has complete control over Rick, a version of his abuser, but to him, all Ricks are the same, they all have his abuser's face. ESPECIALLY C-137 who can easily be mistaken for Evil Rick at first glance

And here he can make Rick do WHATEVER he wants by simply threatening his family, using his care of his family against him. Even Rick himself says Evil Morty has him on a leash. He clearly hates Evil Morty but is powerless against him.

Just like how Evil Morty was for so long.

Now! That could explain his smugness here! Seems like having control over his abusers, like how I feel like most people would if they had control over them, is VERY smug. Smirking a LOT, just like how Evil Rick did. He's not acting too differently from how he did when he was Evil Rick. Just in his usual calm, calculated, and cold form.

This could also be why he bothers going on adventures with this Rick. Non-sexual power play. Being able to relive traumatic memories, but in a way that HE'S in control. A lot of abusers do this. Try to rethink traumatic memories but in a way that THEY'RE in control. Why do you think people have revenge fantasies against their abusers? It's their own way of taking control of a situation that they had no control in. That's EXACTLY what Evil Morty is doing here.

And he'd never admit it, but deep down, he did just want his Rick's love. He snapped when he realized how little his Rick, his abuser, truly cared for him. It broke him mentality. All of his fire was gone. He got Rick drunk, then was able to take control. Make Rick do whatever he wants, but he knew it wasn't real.

Then he found out another Rick. In Unmortricken we see how well they got along, Rick respected him and his opinions, when their portal guns failed, the first thing he did was ask Evil Morty how he felt. They seemlessly worked together. And his reaction after their adventure here. He was forced yes, but he seemed impressed and liked the adventure, giving Evil Morty a genuine smile. This really is just the barest minimum for anyone else...but Evil Morty? Someone lonely as hell and never really knew how genuine care felt? This is like heaven. His abuser, a verison of him, but as we said before, it makes no difference to Evil Morty, cared about him. But he doesn't want to admit to needing anyone. So he threatens Rick. If Rick agrees, he can feel genuine care from his abuser, no matter how small. If he denies? He can kill his neglectful family who allowed his abuser to happen. Win-win!

But ok, that leaves two big problems. Why even bother making Morty Prime jealous? Why would he care if this is purely power play and some kind of weird wish fulfillment from a traumatized abused kid?

Wellll! We get kinda assumey here, hope that's ok. BUT! A LOT of abuse victims either believe with their whole heart that their abusers can change. OR they go the complete other way and believe they CAN'T change. Because the reality that they CAN change would be too hard to accept. Because if they COULD change, then why didn't they change for them? Their child? Their sibling? Their partner? Giving random examples, but you get the gist of why some victims believe this. It's safe to say Evil Morty is the latter, fully believing all Ricks are the same, that NO Ricks care about their Mortys. Because if they DO, then how come he was never cared for? What did he do wrong? Why wasn't he WORTH improving for? You see where I'm going with this.

Then he sees OUR Rick. How differently he treated a Morty he already saw that he cried for. He genuinely CARED. He was protective. Worried about his safety. A Rick who CHANGED. Who genuinely cared about his Morty. A Rick who not only changed, but did so for his Morty. Why??? Why did THIS Rick change?? How come he never got THIS Rick? A Rick where, if push came to shove, would ENCOURAGE his Morty to his life over himself?

A usual reaction abuse victims have when seeing how better their abusers treat new people if they HAVE changed is jealousy. What's so different about this person? Imagine if you were LITERALLY the same person as the one your abuser changed from. What did you do wrong??? Why didn't YOU get this version of your abuser??

Because of the jealousy Morty unintentionally made HIM feel, he's doing the same. Payback. He ALREADY hates Mortys, seeing them as lesser than him, as helpless victims with no agency of their own, worshipping their Ricks, poor, pathetic beings, bred for forgiveness. But THIS Morty, a worse version of HIMSELF, gets the care he always CARVED? Of course he'd be jealous! Of course he'd want to pay back the favor!

Nowww the very LAST problem. His EXPLOSIVE anger. He literally TOLD Rick he'd forced him to watch him kill his Morty.

Well, let's look at this context. He had all he wanted. A Rick that he felt as if he cared about him, a Rick who occasionally enjoyed their time together, a Rick who respected him. He even had plans to get back at a Morty who, deep down, he was jealous of. But then that Rick, the one he genuinely cared for in his own power play, wish-fulfillment way, NEVER cared. Just like his own Rick did. As soon as he had his chance, he betrayed him. He NEVER cared. And now he had no way to get the wish fulfillment he yearned for. The way he was able to get payback. The way he was able to feel respect from his abuser. The way he was able to reclaim his power. It's gone. And all because of that Morty. As soon as he joined you on the adventures, as soon as you let him, he changed. He betrayed you. Again.

Of course, he snapped. Of course, he'd want to kill the better version of him, according to Rick. The pathetic, willingly helpless version of himself that he hated. The one he could FINALLY get some payback on. The one who he could FINALLY give a taste on his own medicine. He snapped.

Again.

So he was going to do what he did. He tried. But Rick stopped him. Rendered him powerless, then eventually got him into prison. It was all gone.

This may be a stretch; hell, it probably was. I doubt the writers thought this deeply, they probably thought it'd be funny to see Evil Morty act like this (And they were right, it WAS), but hey, MAYBE they did. Or maybe I'm gaslighting myself. YOU decide, and thank you!

I warneth thee who dareth read this entire autistic character design ranteth (bad metaphors and like overanalyzing the character design are coming)

Like subtle differences but yeah the changes mentioned in this image below are changed!

The first iterations of Gwen, her pupils aren’t always dilated, too many eyelashes on one eye (I counted) and there’s the wrinkle! And don’t even get me started on the edges! So Sharp! I color coded an image of the differences

Red: the shape in the hair stand bottom goes from triangle to oval

Orange: the triangle in the top of her bangs are more curved and wider then the original

Yellow: Eyelash number the same on both sides, also they become curved instead of straight

Green: Nose became smaller and less sharp (word of the day, sharp)

Light Blue: less sharp and more “feminine lips”

Dark Blue: The eyes in the og look like triangles guys I don’t know what to say I might be going crazy

Purple: hair spike becomes a little more rounded. Also hair in buns (I know wild) for easier silhouette (more of that talk about character design coming after this) but also curves to contrast the og straight hair that spikes

Pink: pupil size

I couldn’t point it out on OG Gwen very well but her body isn’t curvy either! That is only changed after! I will go over that more in the eventual post I have about the sexualization and the idea of specific beauty standards in girls that are reinforced and forced in children’s media and how this includes it as a criticism but this isn’t the time y’all!

I want to talk about the character design of Gwen then I will discuss the meaning of the shapes and shit so get excited

One major change between normal Gwen and OG Gwen silhouette. The silhouette character design is to make your character recognizable. Most major characters have a recognizable one. Look at these two Gwens, it’s very clear which one is more recognizable (sorry I know my drawing of the silhouettes is bad but pretend they are good) even just the head is better silhouette

Also rule of threes. The normal Gwen uses this perfectly with the three circles, which is also why Mickey Mouse is so recognizable!

Now the fun part, SHAPE PSYCHOLOGY!!!! This is going to help with personality of Gwen

I’m going to start with the sharp Gwen on this! Triangles in positivity can be representive of power but often can be warnings and hazard signs! When we get a lot of them, facing many different ways, it can make a feeling of danger in the piece and character!

In the new Gwen, circles are the motif. Circles are often connected with good feelings, a main one of gentleness and balance. Obvs this is what the creators of the Gwen in the company wanted but it can also mean stuck in an enternity, which is what Gwen truly is in.

The only thing that’s the same between OG Gwen and normal Gwen is symmetry. Which resembles some stability and order. Which Broken Gwen breaks

Now broken Gwen is so similar to OG Gwen with the sharp edges again. Everything is wrong but this character design is more interesting to me. The lack of symmetry first shows how unstable she feels like drawing wise. On the left side of her body literally has nothing (right now but I do think the tentacle arms are going to be a thing) which adds to the feeling of unease. And this represents her inside instability and the freedom she has now with the lack of order.

To the young Konoha Satou writing her, Magnolia was seemingly this perfect ideal that she imagined herself as and strived to be more like. She wants to be like her but it's not who she really is.

Despite sharing her first name, the character took on an identity separate from her and, full theory cap on here, I think that's why Satou didn't reincarnate as her but instead as Iana: someone who, within the narrative her younger self wrote, could never measure up to the perfect character she saw Magnolia as.