♦ Rick References ♦ 2022 Remastered ♦

Alright SO

I'm leaving for the mountains tomorrow (I'm so happy I could scream. Y'all I wanna move to our little cabin in the woods forever, I cannot wait haha), so I've been catching up with job things to get at least a week of JUST Rick work while I'm roaming the forests of Croatia haha

I have only managed to get a bunch of writing down this week, so it isn't THAT much, but it's something. I'll definitely be animating a bunch while I'm in the mountains and I'm planning to finish a few drawings I've started way back, maybe start some new ones, but I'll make sure to update you all about that as it happens :D

My DM replies may get a bit slower than usual though :,) I'll get back to everyone, but internet is pretty shitty where I'm going, so it maay take me a bit longer

For today, I'm giving you a CHARACTER SHEET (Shocker I know, I so rarely do these bro ahah)

It's not a new character sheet, I've done this one way back in 2022, but I've picked it up and remastered it since the designs pretty much still work okay-ish. I also have a bunch of even older ones for all the characters but they are beyond salvageable at this point I fear haha

Anywho, I love Rick way too much so you'll get his one for now <3

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ABUSE DISCUSSION TRIGGER WARNING

This is a rare opportunity to see his back since he usually quite literally never takes off his shirts/undershirts because of the scars. Heartbreakingly enough, most of those randomly scattered scars he has have been given to him by his dad, and he's had them since he was a very little kid. He's very self conscious about his back because that was usually "the invisible spot" where Rostya could hurt him without anyone noticing :(

He never minded his scars, a lot of them he really couldn't help and they were just a part of him he had gotten used to, but his right eye scar and his back were really the only ones he genuinely couldn't stand seeing. They made him sick to his stomach and even with Loretta and FJ, he barely ever let them see it.

He also hid his hands a lot. He didn't mind seeing them and wouldn't wear gloves at home, but he most likely wouldn't go outside without those black gloves of his. Part of the reason was just the nature of his life - he never knew if he'd be attacked at random or not, so it was better to stay safe than leave his fingerprints everywhere, and partially because he had fighting scars from way back in the Underground on his knuckles, ones he feared would get him either recognized or just distrusted.

There were a few years between his car accident and the loss of his leg which I kinda rarely mention as well, but the amputation was the result of him trying to quit drinking cold-turkey (and a consequential nervous breakdown he suffered because of the whole fall of the Underground situation a couple years prior. His leg was, in all fairness, not in best of shapes after the accident anyway, and he barely had much use from it in the first place, so the prothesis semi-helped his walk, if even a little bit.

The back scars are from the shooting that got him his cane before anything else, and also what got him kicked out of the Grimport police, and his neck scar was actually from Jake's mom after Rick destroyed her and her boyfriend Soren's drug business when they tried to get rid of Jake.

I think I've mentioned this before, but poor fella started going gray in his late 20s/early 30s right after Loretta's death which is why you'll rarely see his properly black hair </3 He also uses his right hand to carry his cane because the accident also hurt his left shoulder, so it gets tired more easily, and also out of habit since he's had the cane for many years.

He goes through a lot ik, it happens when the core of the story is an ex boss trying to assassinate you across the globe unsuccessful :,( His physical state across the Kostrov Traces specifically really serves partially as a visual representation of his failing mental health, and just how badly his crime life and need for control were destroying him.

BUT DEPRESSION ASIDE, one of the design choices I think is super cute is the fact that his hair kinda follows his emotional state haha. Idk how visible that is within animations, but his hair goes slightly down when he's sad and gets all spiky when he's angry or just focused haha. Ofc this doesn't happen in the books, but it's a really cute little part of the visual storytelling for me <3

He also never took off his wedding he got with Loretta, just placed it on a different finger so people would stop reminding him of her death back when she passed.

His keychain also has a little eagle talon, a matching one Maggie wears around her neck. It was originally a gift he got from his uncle Viktor, and Viktor had the one Rick ended up owning later, while baby Rick had Maggie's. They were taken from an eagle who passed in a crossfire in a battlefield during WW1, and Viktor took the talons to keep the part of it alive, as well as a symbol of the innocence lost in the horrors of warfare he so greatly despised. It became a symbol of Maggie's and Rick's bond later on.

Rick also got slightly chonky with age, partially because, well, age and disability took a toll on him, but also because FJ's cooking was really good LMAO. You can pretty much tell before and after FJ timelines just by Rick's chonkiness haha

He also has a slight underbite, just how his jaw was ever since birth, which is why his canines look the way they do hahha. The beard kinda hides it but his bottom jaw was always going above his upper jaw, so biting apples has always been annoying. It gave him little werewolf teeth though so you gain some you lose some

Rick is just a big cat, that's the entire logic behind his design

Moral of the story - Seek therapy, don't drink (especially with mental health issues), don't make your crime boss angry, don't do crime in the first place and if someone tries to kill you several times, maybe get the FBI involved or something instead of trying to crush them on your own y'know T.T Like slay pookie, very badass and all, but fuck me, sometimes it doesn't hurt to trust people and ask for help