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babygirldennis · 3 years ago

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This shit is fake bby!!!

Here she is.. My masterpost of all the dumb, illogical bits of info contained within these s15 “leaks” that make me fairly confident they are complete bullshit. It also includes my little tinhat theories that have absolutely no evidence.

I will be putting it all under a Readmore in case you don't want to risk it or if you simply Do Not Care

First up, I'd like to point out that these call sheets repeatedly give very detailed backstories to characters that have few lines which conveniently paints a picture of each episode's plot. And I'm not an expert so correct me if I'm wrong, but after looking at other similar casting calls, they only ever include the demographic and necessary skills.

Basically who in their right mind would write up casting calls that give away so many spoilers? Seems like that could cause and issue if they were leaked lol. But anyway that's my 1st point. But onto the actual content

So the conceit of this episode as a whole is that during the pandemic, the gang "gamed the system" and received three (3!) Loans to start businesses that went bankrupt. One of these businesses is implied to be the one started by dee and charlie who end up selling to Qanon shaman. Already this is so impossible baby.

1. We've already seen the gang try to get a loan and it didn't work. They don't have good ideas. Ur telling me, they managed to finagle 3 separate loans for 3 separate business ideas from an actual bank?

2. Maybe I just have bad reading comprehension but how does one have a business that is both fictitious and bankrupt?

3. If the customer is supposed to be Qanon shaman, an actual real life guy, why are the only descriptors white and male? They say he's shirtless so are they going to paint on all of the tattoos he has? And if so, doesn't that kind of ruin the dramatic reveal when charlie "throws in" the viking helmet? Why would he do that anyways? Sus.

Moving on

Alright this episode would fucking blow for obvious reasons but im going to refrain from looking at this through my gay dennis thruther lens because im biased.

Purely from a narrative standpoint, a woman hasn't been shown to be interested in dennis in nearly 5 years during the wade boggs episode. Ever since, every single woman he approaches has been actively creeped out by him. And now I'm supposed to believe that 3 "smart, passionate woman" (In Their Twenties!!!!!!) agreed to go on a date with him? And Anna even slept with him! Just because he what? Agreed with her? I'm not buyin it.

Plus the concept of this scenario lacks any potential for comedy. When iasip gets political, they always discuss a very specific topic using hyperbolic situations and flawed metaphors. If this is supposed to be a political episode, what ultimately lukewarm point would rob be trying to make here? So far we know they're ranting about

The patriarchy

Privilege

Socialism

No more personal responsibility(?)

The... nature of power in society(??)

How on earth would an episode like get approved? This shit sounds like a Ted talk. It sounds like it was written specifically to sound like a political episode so boring and pointless it would generate outrage and mile long essay posts from Tumblr users and reddit users alike. Almost like this one lol.

On a completely unrelated note, do not try and convince me that Frank "casual cock ring wearer" Reynolds is unable to perform.

Jeez this is getting out of hand fast. Let's move on

Ok now we're starting to getting into the Ireland of it all. Let me go on a bit of a tangent here about all this.. Now I thinq there are just 3 possibilities. Either this is all a publicity stunt and there is some truth to the Ireland rumors, the entire thing could be bogus from some weirdo fan (ps, if a fan did write this I want you to know I fucking hate you. You did this to me), or it is a publicity stunt but Ireland is just more bullshit.

I am going to assume it was a publicity stunt, otherwise I just wasted my entire evening and I can't have that kind of mentality rn. Additionally, I'm Going to tinhat here for a second and say that the Ireland rumors are true, but the details are different.

I say this because if they were going to do filming in Ireland, they probably figured that that information would be impossible to hide. In essence, my completely unfounded hypothesis is that this leak was their fucked up little way of controlling the situation while simultaneously messing with us.

Ok tangent is over, returning to the casting calls. From the looks of it, dee starts a "scam" acting class and has some very devoted students (Note that Tony was also the name of the porn shop owner. Seems weird!) Presumably after the gang replaces her with a monkey as the title suggests.

Honestly, there isn't too much here that's a red flag to me... seems like a nice little dee-centric episode that is the link to the Dublin angle. Assuming I am At All right, this could be a genuine plotline for Dee. However, the monkey could be a red herring and there could be a whole different side plot with the guys. who's to say. Next one!

Ah yes this is the dennis we all know and despise.. no red flags for me here really, I'm also running out of steam because idk if it shows, but I am majorly sleep deprived atm. Anyway I'm going to the next one

Okay this is where things start getting weird again ough a migraine just hit, anyway back to my earlier point about how casting calls would never contains major spoilers bc the people who see these wont be under any kind of NDA..

These ones reveal that bonnie dies. Again, that info wouldn't be in a casting call.

But also they suggest charlie has a irish penpal named Shelley who is his biological father. First off charlie is illiterate, although as pointed out by @undeadbreeze shelley could also be communicating in symbols. However, this scenario is still unbelievable to me for a couple reasons:

1. Bonnie's last name is Kelly obviously, and we know it's her maiden name because Jack's last name is also Kelly. But Shelley's last name is... also Kelly? In the context of this big ol hoax, it feels like it was written to show that look! his last name is the same as charlie's! That's how you know that's his dad! But It would be way too big of a coincidence if charlie's dad happened to have the same last name bonnie.

And 2. There's the whole mystery of charlie's long-lost sister from 'charlie got molested' but never any mention of a brother which according to this, shelley has been pretending to be his brother for years. And we all know how much rcg loves their continuity, it seems uncharacteristically lazy to just tack this on without any prior buildup.

And finally let me talk about mac for a second and specifically the line in gus's summary "both are gay men who are attracted to the priesthood for all the wrong reasons"

Iasip has commented on pedophilia in the priesthood many times in the past which leads me to believe that they are implying that mac is a pedophile? Please let me know if I completely misread the implications of that statement, but if not, then that is completely insane and one of the biggest indictators that this is fake. Mac is awful, just like everyone in the gang but he is definitely not a pedophile.

However even if i did completely misread that, it's still proof this is fake.. For all his faults, Rob put a surprising amount of care and effort into mac's coming-out. It hasn't been perfect, but Mfhp in particular firmly established that mac's faith is integral to his identity so Its unlikely that rob would throw all of that away for a cheap shot at priests.

Ok my brain is irradiated sludge at this point, but in conclusion. I hope that 1. I'm right, at least about it being fake (Otherwise damb that'll be so humiliating for me) And 2. This eases ur fears a bit. I don't want to lose all faith in future seasons bc I love iasip and miss the gang. If you read this far youre insane but I literally love you so goddamn much because I spent so so long tapping this out on my silly little phone

Please feel free to add on or message me your thoughts and opinions I need to know I'm not the only one who uhhh went a bit insane. And finally: whoever made these is a cunt. Mwah.

#iasip #s15 spoilers #oy vey.....#they could also be written by a reddit fan who is too much of a pussy to just write fanfic but that seems kinda unlikely?#cause 1. itll be disproven so everyone will know u just... wrote weird fanfic #and 2. there are a lot of little details that are so random that even if this is a fan just messing with people.... why put in so much effo #wahtever im pressing post #actually tho what gge fuck is that priest line supposed to imply #i guess for mac it could be talking about his view that god smites enemies and u must fear him blah blah #i jus don't know what it was supposed to imply about gus!!!#bc they describe gus like he is fat mac with healthy views on the bible which :]#then that last line just gives me whiplash what does that mean!!

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sunnykeysmash · 5 years ago

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The connection between Brian LeFevre, death and macdennis/sunny meta

In my time obsessing over sunny recently I ended up noticing interesting stuff that I’m gonna try to show here, that was greatly expanded in s14 and that I believe gives us great odds over whether dennis will be acknowledged as gay in s15 or not.

Thesis: There has been an ongoing dichotomy, or “choice”, for Dennis, between Brian/Death/Son/Mandy and Dennis/Life/Love/Mac. Additionally, there has been purposeful ambiguity between what is sunny meta and what is dennis meta in season 14, enough for me to consider them one and the same in most cases. Information which puts Big Mo under a completely new light.

Long analysis under the cut.

Basically, Brian has been symbolically linked to death, thanks to an extensive use of metaphors and parallels, because Brian represents the death of Dennis’ identity. Not a true physical death, but the death of Dennis as a person.

Starting from the very beginning, of course, Brian is a dead guy.

In Dennis’ Double Life, it’s established textually, metatextually and visually that Dennis has an actual mirroring double life (Mandy vs Mac, Brian vs Dennis) and is stuck between the two of them.

This is also thanks to the heavy callbacks to suburbs. Here’s an excerpt from a previous analysis of mine explaining it:

(read more here, seriously I recommend it)

During this episode Dennis’ actually eventually fakes Brian’s death to try to get out of trouble, which is the second clear link to death for the persona.

It doesn’t work.

Mandy: “You can open your eyes now, I know you're not dead.”

Which also works as the first acknowledgement of Dennis not really wanting what the Brian life entails, as it’s a character death as much as it is the death of Dennis’ true wishes. He is not dead, he is not Brian, who IS dead.

Then, as he holds his son, something changes inside him. Suddenly, he is a father. His emotional involvement in choosing between the two lives changes drastically with this.

Nevertheless at the end of the episode Dennis is once again presented with the clear choice, which from this point forward I will address as Son/Death vs Love/Life, he looks at the RPG looming in the background and decides to go, not before a long hesitation and stopping immediately when he thought he was being asked not to go, showing us where his heart lies.

This, him choosing to go away, is because at this point in time, Dennis is still not in the right headspace to accept the right path for him. As Chop will put it, he feels “lonely and needs to do something extreme to feel special”, most of all though he feels lost. The conflicts that started in Boggs and Suburbs still make him unsure, and the presence of his son makes him feel like he has to be better for him, despite himself.

As he goes away, Mac blows up Dennis’ Range Rover with the RPG, car which is later in New Wheels metaphorically linked to Dennis’ identity.

Basically, as Dennis chooses Brian’s life, his actual identity dies.

So during the first half of season 13, he is nobody. He is not Brian and he’s struggling to be Dennis. He’s trying to get back into his old identity, desperate for any semblance of control and to belong, so he ends up looking like a caricature of himself, or rather, precisely who the gang thinks he is and who they see him as, not who he truly is.

New Wheels perfectly shows Dennis desperate to belong when he finds a new group of people, he tries on a whole new and different identity, which isn’t entirely him, but that at least feels welcoming enough. But it’s also a showcase of what Dennis truly wanted, which is to be acknowledged and seen by the gang, but particularly by Mac, feel like he matters to them and to him.

I say Mac specifically because the framing during the beginning scene seems to be fixated on a behind-Mac perspective on Dennis, almost like the conversation were happening just between the two of them, like Dennis was talking to him specifically when he pleads for questions.

These are all different shots, not the same one.

By the end of the episode he finally becomes himself again. And that’s that for s13.

Another thing worth pointing out though is that Dennis apparently has not been kicked out from ND, he himself says “I may go back” in New Wheels, and although in context it sounds more like an empty threat, it’s not empty because he can’t go back, it’s empty because he doesn’t really want to, as can be guessed thanks to his tone. This is because it’s then reinforced at the end of Chop with these lines of dialogue:

Charlie: “I can't believe how quick you gave up Poppins' puppies, though, you know? You didn't even think about keeping 'em.” Mac: “Well, that's a lot of responsibility, Charlie, right? And plus, there's no doggy paternity test to actually prove that they were Poppins' puppies in the first place. But, hey, if Poppins wants to stop by and say, "What's up?" and, like, be a dad for while, he's gonna. Or he won't. Dennis: “Yeah, that's how I do. That's how I do.”

Because of this, it can and should also be argued that the choice I am explaining in this analysis is something that Dennis still has to make, because he is, as it stands, still stuck between the two lives, and he has to settle on one, so choose between them, in order for the struggle to end. During all of s14 he is stuck trying to figure out which of the two he should choose, which is also the cause of his growing frustration. Currently speaking, getting a little speculatory here, I think everything feels like death to him, which is why he is having such a hard time deciding. He obviously doesn’t know the outcome of either option, because he’s not the audience or RCG, which means either of them can potentially kill him, and they both feel like they might to him.

Now, in season 14 is where all of this (the dichotomy of Death/Son vs Life/Love) starts to really become prominent in metatext, and this happens as the episodes start to purposefully confuse meta about the show itself with meta about Dennis. Let’s go through it in order one episode at a time, as that’s easier for me to dissect.

First of all, the backwards message at the end of all season 14 episodes, which is this:

“They leave but they all come back”

Is already a clear example of what I’m talking about. Is it about the show because of the false ending of Big Mo which actually ends with the message that “they’ll never stop doing sunny”? Is it about Dennis coming back from North Dakota? Unclear, but that’s entirely on purpose.

Episode 1: The Gang Gets Romantic

Now, there isn’t any clear connection to the choice as far as I am aware, but it is a first approach to the themes of romantic love, death, sons, as a whole. In this episode, while Frank and Charlie are paired with a father and son, Mac and Dennis get paired with a couple mourning a son (Dennis Jr, the “son” in the metaphor, is dead, but more in general it’s pointing to them slowly healing from the Suburbs conflict in my opinion though).

As a bonus fact, Charlie+Frank have always been set up to mirror Mac+Dennis. It is explicitly said in the Mac and Dennis Break Up commentary, and it shows in a bunch of episodes such as Dines Out, Chokes, or hell that one time Frank got a Charlie mannequin. Anyway, word of god, they are parallels.

TGGR presents us with two plotlines that mirror each other while going in the exact opposite direction, and the mirror element is the “structure”. Charlie and Frank’s plotline follows the romcom tropes closely, its structure, and is thus rewarded with a positive ending. Mac and Dennis’ plotline struggles against them (since the tropes are applying to Mac+Dennis, not Dennis+Lisa and Mac+Greg), which is why their plotline resolves negatively.

At the same time, this episode can have a sunny meta interpretation.

In this perspective, the Mac+Dennis plotline is the option for RCG to end sunny and each do their own thing, while the Charlie+Frank plotline is the option to keep it going, and at the end they conclude with the C+F one, seeing as it’s the option to keep going, which is ultimately what RCG wants.

So when this dialogue happens:

Mac: “You think they're gonna give us a bad review?” Dennis: “Yeah.” Mac: “I guess we're not gonna get that romantic comedy ending after all.”

It is about RCG choosing not to end the show (supported later by Big Mo), as it would not provide anything positive.

Or this:

Dennis: “It just feels like a lot of effort, and it feels desperate, you know what I mean? Like, I never put this much work into banging some cute meat.”

It can be interpreted as the effort to win an Emmy, especially since the Mac+Dennis plotline is the tired one, the one that’s failing.

And then when Alexi and Nikki say they’ll be back “next year”, and Charlie yells back “I love you!”, it can be interpreted that metaphorically Alexi and Nikki are sunny. Which also creates another link between love and the show continuing, or “staying alive”.

Finally, all the talk about “structure” and “acts”, particularly the three act structure, is a writer’s process, which also serves as an additional link to the RCG meta interpretation.

Episode 2: Thunder Gun 4: Maximum Cool

This episode leans heavily in the dichotomy, through various pieces of dialogue.

Starting from this:

Girl: "So, this is the midpoint twist. Thundergun finding out he has a son." Frank: "He has a son?" Girl: "Yes." Frank: "But how is this the twist? I mean, because he's got a kid? I mean, he's probably got a thousand kids, all the raw-dog loads he drops."

Which also calls back to the episode prior, where Dee’s role is called “diversionary plot-twist at best”. Now, all these words, midpoint and diversionary, imply an endgoal that is also opposite of what the twist shows.

The twist, obviously, being that Dennis has a secret life with a girl and a son.

It continues:

Dennis: “We’re feeling a lot of outrage right now, you know, because we want something, and we know we deserve it, - but we’re not getting it. [...] I wanna cling to the way things were, but they’re done. […] Let’s run from this.”

Being now aware of the metatext from Big Mo, once again, is this about RCG not getting an Emmy, being discouraged and wanting to end the show because they’re feeling stuck? Or is it about Dennis running away to North Dakota after he realizes in DDL that things have changed permanently despite Mac’s attempt at keeping them the exact same (the apartment restoration)?

The ambiguity that connects Dennis meta with Sunny/RCG meta continues.

Finally:

Dennis “No-no, you guys don’t get it. It’s a cliffhanger. Yeah? It’s a cliffhanger. We’re gonna find out what happened to John in the next movie, Thunder Gun 5.”

Dennis himself going against what is metaphorically his choice in DDL.

Let’s actually look into that, into what happens to Thundergun.

He sacrifices himself for his son, and dies in the process. Said film is then leaked by the gang and the audience hates it, so the franchise decides to “go back to its roots”. Very clearly sunny meta, but it can absolutely also be seen as Dennis meta. Dennis hating his choice (his thunderson ending) and deciding to come back (go back to his roots).

Additionally, Dennis literally says “give me dong or give me death” at one point, which in the context of all of this feels rather significant, you know?

Episode 3: Dee Day

Surprisingly, and thankfully for me, not much that I can see.

There is this:

Dennis: “And who cares about her feelings anyway? Nobody, that’s who. What about my feelings? Now, that’s interesting, okay?”

Which implies something going on with Dennis’ feelings, and which will more substantially be addressed by Jumper when it’s implied that Dennis tries to completely disregard them when it comes to choices, but other than that, really not much else.

Episode 4: The Gang Chokes

Once again we see a Mac+Dennis and Charlie+Frank parallel conflict. Charlie and Frank resolve their own with words (that mirror Dines Out) while Mac and Dennis resolve theirs with actions, while also solving the much bigger conflicts started by Suburbs (again, check out the other analysis for more context on this) and DDL.

It should also be stressed that Chokes starts by saying:

Charlie: “Uh, guys, I'd like to raise a glass to Frank. Frank, another year has gone by since you came into my life.”

He’s making a toast, which implies that they are celebrating their anniversary, as they were in Dines Out, and so the parallel becomes not only implied in dialogue as I’m about to show, but direct. It is unclear whether this is also a monthly dinner for Mac and Dennis or not, as I don’t think it was ever specified one way or the other.

As for the parallel in dialogue.

In Dines Out:

Mac: “I didn't have your back before, but now I'm gonna be the wind beneath your wings.”

In Chokes:

Frank (to the Waiter): “Hey, you had my back. Now I'm gonna have yours.”

and

Charlie: “Look, Frank, I'm sorry, dude. I screwed up, man. I should've saved you, and I'll always save you from now on, I promise.” Frank: “Thanks, Charlie. I knew you had my back.”

With Brian representing a death for Dennis, it is implied that what Charlie and Frank are saying in words is supposed to be fully applicable for Mac and Dennis, as there is a parallel between Frank almost dying by choking and Dennis almost dying by going to ND.

Therefore, this is about Dennis going to North Dakota and how he wanted to be stopped, “saved” by Mac. This is Mac apologizing, Dennis accepting the apology, and them implicitly moving forward from this conflict in their relationship and for any similar ones in the future if they present themselves. Mac learning the tools to deal with it, “I’ll always save you from now on”.

Which in a way further solidifies that the option that isn’t Brian, Death, Son, Mandy is fully intended as Dennis, Life, Love, Mac. Mac plays a role in the second option, so when choosing life, love, etc, Mac will be involved. As he is the savior in the context.

Continuing on Chokes, the episode itself again focuses a lot on death, both real and perceived, and being saved. There are three main points for this.

First point: Frank’s death.

So, he almost dies and no one helps. Sound familiar? It’s what happened when Dennis went to ND. As a result of no one helping him, Frank lashes out and decides to move out and distance himself. It is then shown that Frank keeps missing Charlie and comparing the Waiter to him subconsciously. It is constantly shown that Frank rejects Charlie’s attempts at helping him despite actually needing him. Which is also what applies to Mac and Dennis, throughout the episode Dennis is shown needing Mac’s help and taking it while verbally refusing it.

Charlie proposes to chew Frank’s food, Frank refuses his help, Frank chokes, Charlie doesn’t help.

Mac constantly helps Dennis, Dennis starts to push him away, Dennis “dies” (chooses to move to ND), Mac doesn’t help.

The episode concludes with the acknowledgement that they should’ve helped, and with the offended part forgiving the other.

Second point: Dee’s death

She witnesses death and is subsequently enthralled by it, seeking thrill by living on the edge. We can draw a parallel to Dennis’ enjoyment in “living in another man’s skin”, you know, “getting off”. It’s how Dennis started the double life he then got lost inside after all, it gave him a thrill. Then, it happened to him exactly what ends up happening to Dee. She experiences real death, is scared shitless by it, and decides to never do it again, going as far as to say this:

Dee: “I saw the other side. I didn't like it. I hated it. It was just blackness. There's nothing there. It's just dark. That's it. Just lights out. I don't want to do that anymore. I don't want to live on the edge. I don't want to die.”

So once again the choice rests on LIFE, it is like this for Dee, as it is for Sunny, as it is for Dennis.

It’s also interesting to point out that Dee is rescued by a third party, after Mac is able to say “No”; as if symbolically that is what should’ve happened to save Dennis, back when he was about to go. A “no”, to stop him.

Third point: Dennis’ death

Dennis witnesses Frank dying and no one helping him and is immediately reminded of his own situation, which he then proceeds to discuss when at home, with Mac. Thanks to Dennis making this correlation we can once again assume that it is meant to be interpreted as a nod to the ND twist. Not only this but it then keeps linking Dennis to the concept of death and being saved.

This dialogue happens:

Mac: “I would've stepped in, but, of course, I was taking my cues from you.” Dennis: “Why?” Mac: “Well, you didn't tell me whether I should save him or not.” Dennis: “But why? I mean, why do I still have to tell you what to do? Why do I still have to order your dinners for you? And why is it up to me to decide whether or not you're going to save a man's life? You know what the problem is? I can't depend on you. I can't depend on anyone. You know, I mean, if that had been me choking tonight, no one would've saved me.” Mac: “No. I would've saved you, Dennis. I would have saved you. If you told me to.” Dennis: “Oh, Jesus Christ if I told you to?”

Dennis is clearly still upset about no one helping him when he needed it, which is, no one stopping him from making the worst decision of his life, a well established metaphorical death, and is projecting this frustration by applying it to Frank’s situation.

Later on, again:

Dennis: “Christ. I feel like I'm dying.” Mac: “Just let me help you, Dennis!”

Then:

Mac: “Look, all the gluten and the sugar and the dairy just wreaks havoc on his system, you know? And it makes him so weak. And then he's gonna depend on me to take care of him, to bring him back from the brink of death.”

Or “from making a wrong decision”.

Continuing:

Dee: “But if you want Dennis to really depend on you, you’re gonna have to save his life for real.”

And:

Dennis: “So you were still gonna rely on a decision that somebody else made, only, this time, you were potentially gonna kill a man?”

In which Dennis is once again, always without fail, the dying man, and Mac the person who saves him, or tries to. Dennis is very adamant in wanting Mac to choose for himself, which is surprising for a man so “obsessed with control”, and specifically it ticks him off that Mac’s decision was once again gonna provoke the death of a man because he couldn’t take action.

All this implied connection between Dennis, North Dakota and Death reinforces the Death/Brian aspect, while also reinforcing the Life/Mac one, as it is Mac that is supposed to save Dennis.

Episode 5: The Gang Texts

A shorter one, but here things get a little interesting, because the dichotomy is highlighted by one particular joke.

Mac: “Bathrooms at zoos are, like, big Grindr spots for closeted dads.”

Mac says this, then later on, in comes Dennis, a dad, and if it weren’t enough, it’s Mac himself who points to the situation once again by asking if it’s a “grindr thing”.

So going with this, his particular struggle (Death/Son vs Life/Love) is being highlighted with a very fitting choice of words, as he is a dad, and so... also closeted. Going with this. These are the words chosen to describe him in the joke, and it ends up being very telling overall.

Episode 6: The Janitor Always Mops Twice

Nothing, pretty much. lol

I’m gonna use this empty space to write that I just realized that Mac is even more linked to the theme of romantic love because he gifts the RPG specifically on Valentines Day.

Also, generally speaking, Dennis leaving would imply the death of the show, so that’s another way in which dennis meta and sunny meta are linked, because every time one is referenced, the other is automatically implied. The show cannot exist without Dennis in it, and Dennis cannot exist if the show ends. And if that’s not enough, in Big Mo they outright link the end of the show to actual death, in a lot of ways that I’m gonna look into in a bit, so once again, remember that.

Finally, Dennis is very adamant on Mac acting in s14 because if Mac were to do it, he would basically make the decision for Dennis, something that he used to do all the time, if you recall Mac and Dennis Break Up.

Episode 7: The Gang Solves Global Warming

The subject itself can be considered a slow death of sorts, so it feels especially significant that it’s Dennis the member of the gang who cares most about stopping it, despite not being able to because Mac doesn’t help him.

That’s not the only reason he fails at the end though.

He keeps trying to be rational and keep feelings out of it, to rationalize with the situation, which is what ultimately crushes him, as that’s impossible long term.

In this episode, he keeps getting mad at Mac for not taking action and instead trusting God’s will.

Frank: “Where is your God now?” Mac: “He will reveal himself at some point.” Dennis: “Well, is he gonna do it before all these people revolt and destroy the place?” Mac: “I don’t know. I don’t question God’s will. If he wants to destroy the Earth, that’s on him. - I support it!”

I think this is stretching it a bit, but this can also be read as Mac accepting Dennis’ decision to leave despite hating it. Dennis is also frequently presented as “God” so it would make some sense.

The crowd “not wanting to stop” and rioting can be read as sunny meta also, though that’s also kind of a stretch to me, I’m pointing it out.

In the end, the whole episode Dennis and Mac keep arguing about action vs inaction, with Dennis insisting that Mac should take action and being distressed when he doesn’t. They also keep arguing about rationality vs God, something that will come up again in Jumper, surprisingly.

Episode 8: Paddy's Has a Jumper

Now, starting from the very obvious, because that’s what’s easy to me, the jumper is called Bryan O’Brien, and if that doesn’t scream Brian=death, then boy I don’t know what does.

Not only that, but the episode spends a significant portion really stressing and beating you over the head with the fact that the jumper is paralleling Dennis.

Not only is Frank mistaken for the father, but Dennis’ dialogue as a whole really insists on this in multiple points. But again let’s go in order.

Discussing his motivations and intentions:

Mac: ”I mean, maybe God is testing us.” Dee: “He's not gonna do anything. This is a classic cry for help.”

Plus, this episode feels like a writers’ room. When they say stuff like:

Charlie: “It doesn't matter if he wants to or he doesn't want to. He's not gonna die falling from that height.” Dennis: “Whoa. Hard disagree, pal. You could absolutely die if you jump from that height.”

This to me sounds equally about RCG discussing the choice for themselves (implying they did at one point consider outright killing Dennis, or at least argued the theoreticals of it in the writers room, as in “would he actually even die with a decision like that?”) as it is the characters arguing the ND thing in the metaphorical sense, with Dennis insisting that a jump would be fatal while the gang thinks he’s completely fine. So, again, the jump represents him moving to North Dakota, as we’ll see.

Also, in general, the whole episode sounds like RCG arguing over whether they should pull the plug on their own show or not (”become a suicide bar”, because again, without Dennis there is no show, if he chooses death, so does the show), RCG themselves stuck in Dennis’ choice. In particular with the whole “Could he? Would he? (choose one or the other?) Should we?”.

But in addition to this, the algorithm, actually algorithms in general, are once again something that Dennis uses regularly to solve his own problems (D.E.N.N.I.S system, hello), which is his downfall.

Dennis: “Based on the analytical conclusions that we draw here, we're gonna be able to come up with a mathematically-accurate, non-emotional answer to all of our questions. Okay? We just need to think like a computer.”

Speaking of rationality vs feelings.

Mac: “Let's not bring science into it. Okay? I mean, this is life or death. This is God's territory. All right? I mean, there is no science.”

Now, this is very important because it allows me to talk about another thing. If it hadn’t been clear enough by now, this choice Dennis is presented with is also one between rationality and feelings.

Choosing to care for your son and move to ND, that is the rational choice, and rational is everything Dennis has always tried to be, especially in this episode and in Global Warming (which also mentions God a lot!).

But throughout s12-13-14, as I have highlighted in this post so far, we have seen where Dennis’ heart lies, his feelings.

It is funny to notice that both in Global Warming and in Jumper, Mac is the half who keeps arguing for the side of religion, of faith, of feelings, while Dennis keeps arguing for the side of rationality, of objectivity, always wanting to keep feelings completely out of the equation.

Dennis: “I think I have a way that we can solve this argument without human emotion mucking it all up.”

Then:

Charlie: “I think what we learned is that there's no way that the jumper's gonna die from this height. You know? So there's no reason for us to do anything about it.”

Once again the gang not recognizing the gravity of the situation and choosing inaction, to which Dennis seems unsure and wants to do more testing.

Ok so, here’s where things get interesting, the biggest parallel links between Dennis and Bryan are brought to light as they are looking through his social media.

“Yeah, it looks like he likes to travel. He was recently on a cruise.”

Referring to how Dennis actually liked being in another man’s skin in general, and he was recently away to do just that.

The Gang: “Okay, so it looks like he's got a lot to live for.” “He's eating food.” Dennis: “Or-or-or is he? Because is-is that just what he wants you to believe?”

Once again it’s Dennis counterarguing, specifically on the points that sound most like himself, though this irony is lost on him. This also once again sounds like RCG discussing Dennis as a character and how the choice would actually impact him and has impacted him.

Generally, speaking about Dennis, everyone thought he was gonna be fine because on the surface, his choice in the s12 finale sounds like a pretty sweet deal, and exactly what Dennis has supposedly wanted ever since The Gang Misses The Boat, though even that episode itself proves that it simply isn’t what is right for him.

“He's hardly a child, but he's still hanging on to his youth. That suggests to me that maybe he's got some daddy issues. Abandonment, abuse.”

All things that perfectly apply to Dennis and that give us interesting insight on him.

“But recently the girlfriend, she's disappeared from his pictures, which tells me that, uh, she probably broke up with him, you know, because of all his father issues, and 'cause he's an alcoholic, and because of the copious requests for butt-eating, which, she was thinking was more of a one-time thing, and he was thinking, this is a thing now, like, from now on.”

Disregarding Dennis’ surprisingly canonical love for getting his butt ate, lol (despite how that could count as more indication of where his true feelings lie, knowing RCG and what their writing intentions might be), he brings out alcoholism out of seemingly nowhere, another thing that again confirms the link between Dennis and the jumper, Bryan.

Dennis: “Basically, what we've concluded is that it would actually be good for the bar if this guy jumps and dies. So the answer to the question of "should we get involved?" is actually yes. [...] You see, we've already established that this guy wants to die and that it would actually benefit our bar if he dies. Now, of course, from an emotional standpoint, we feel as though we should get involved, we feel as though we should save this guy, but the algorithm is actually telling us that that does not benefit anybody.”

This feels to me like Dennis realizing mid discussion that he should pick rationality aka Death, for the greater good, but being emotionally incapable of actually making that choice because of his feelings, and so implicitly pleading the gang to help him do it, to get involved and push him.

It also sounds like RCG coming to the conclusion that the algorithm, aka the show’s FORMULA, is telling them that Dennis ending up in the bad option of said choice is what would normally happen in a show like sunny, although they themselves don’t really want to go through with it.

Charlie: “Can I say something, though? I think this is for the best. You know what I mean? Like, we were going down a road I was not totally comfortable with.” Dee: “You guys want to go back to watching our show?” Charlie: “Let's get back to our show.”

So, a couple of things here. The jumper does not jump, he chooses life, which implies the same fate for Dennis. Coincidentally, pay attention to how the gang calls it “our” show, not like, “that” show, because this is, at the same time, RCG being glad of the decision to not end the show and kill Dennis off.

But here’s where things get real FUN, because the Melon is also used as a metaphor for sunny. Generally speaking, smashing it would’ve been ending it, it’s not a coincidence that the melon represents the jumper, they’re all one and the same.

Cricket: “Guys, why the hell are you wasting a perfectly good casaba melon?”

Why end a show that is doing perfectly fine?

Frank: “Where's my melon? Where's my casaba?” Dennis: “It's right here, man. Why do you care so much about this thing? What is the deal?” Frank: “It's where I stash my Maui Kush.” Charlie: “You hide your weed in a casaba melon?” Frank: “Yeah. In case the cops ransack the place, you got to find a good, unsuspecting spot to stash your drugs.” Mac: “Pot's pretty much legal now. You don't really have to stash it anywhere.” Charlie: “I don't think you have to hide it, man.” Frank: “When did that happen?”

Ok so, this might be the most speculative point I’m going to bring up, but I will anyway, because it’s my post and I do what I want. I think they’re talking about gay subtext here. It is simply something that is kept hidden (thus, subtext, duh), and that they don’t really need to hide anymore. The reason I think this has a metaphorical value is specifically because of how Charlie words “I don’t think you have to hide it, man” which beautifully applies to a Dennis who is still in the closet in the year of the lord 2020, if you catch my drift. Plus the whole situation reads kinda with a weird vibe in general, almost forced. You have to consider that they chose to include this dialogue over stuff like Frank bragging to Dennis about meeting Jackie DeNardo. He doesn’t bring her up at all, actually.

Mac: “Maybe that's, like, part of the problem of taking the humanity out of decisions.” Dennis: “Perhaps the science just isn't there yet.”

They acknowledge that any choice should be made following your feelings, not like a machine, and Dennis agrees with the point. Now, I don’t know about you, but to me Dennis agreeing that sometimes considering feelings in certain situations is necessary is something HUGE. Of course it is for the thesis I’m arguing, as it implies Dennis following his feelings when making the decision he is currently weighted by, and we know where those stand, but it is huge just in general, also. Dennis usually doesn’t do feelings, at least, he tries to repress them usually.

Cricket: “Where did we land on the casaba?” Dennis: “I think you can eat it, man. I think we're done with it.”

Basically, with the tinkering over, and a decision being made by RCG, they can hand it to Cricket (David Hornsby) to write the season finale.

Episode 9: A Woman’s Right To Chop

The salon’s insigna, pictured above.

This episode is full with dennis/sunny meta (which doubles as abortion meta, so bear with me), but it also has a son=death link once again, as “Poppins” is pregnant and were she to have the puppies (which are later directly used as a metaphor for Brian Jr as I already quoted in this post when explaining why Dennis could technically return to ND) she would die.

Poppins himself is linked to Dennis metaphorically, and as we all know it is a dog that simply does not die.

Mac: “Poppins! He came back! My dog came back!” Dennis: “How the hell is that dog still alive?” Dee: “Yeah, Mac, why don't you just put that poor thing out of its misery?” Mac: “Put him down? What, are you crazy? This is my dog, Dee. I love him.” Dee: “Well, he doesn't love you. Comes around every three or four years, eats a bunch of batteries or whatever, takes a giant dump on the floor, and then leaves again.” Mac: “Dee, Poppins comes and goes as he pleases 'cause that's his right as a male.”

Once again Mac is responsible for keeping him alive, and he does so because he loves him. As for “he doesn’t love you”, I mean, it’s Dee, the Gang’s perspective, of course they think that. They also thought Dennis had no feelings. But we know he does, they are why he came back after all.

Dennis: “And if we decide to leave, we're gonna leave. Yeah, 'cause that's nature. That's tradition.” Dee: “That's bullshit. Traditional roles are ridiculous, and they're made up by men.”

The episode discouraging the option of leaving from Dennis.

Now, cutting hair (while yes, abortion stuff, I’m not talking about that here) can also be interpreted as both a metaphor for ending the show, or Dennis cutting ties entirely. It works for all of them.

Dennis: “With luxurious locks like yours, it could take, oh, three, four years to grow back to its current length. Yeah, if it ever grows back.”

Ending the show with all the risks that it would imply, because it could take a while for them to get another show to get off the ground and a new thriving fanbase (years to grow back hair), that is, if it ever happens.

With relationships as established as those Dennis has, it could take years for him to find other people he can be close with, that is, if he ever finds them.

Dee: “Will you please leave these poor women alone? They're clearly bored and lonely and needing to do something extreme in order to make themselves feel special.”

That just screams “reason why Dennis went to ND” to me.

It’s also funny to consider that the episode as a whole is about choice.

And it’s also interesting that in this scenario Dennis is arguing to stop them from having the choice of “ruining their life”, which sounds rather dramatic and also like a lot of self projection on his part.

Reading the script, it also came to me that other people having a say in whether a haircut is made or not sounds like fans having a say in whether a show ends or not, so there’s that.

So, the burping in this episode is a metaphor for emotional pain.

In this case, Dee wants to get the haircut simply because she can, without understanding the ramifications of her actions, and this upsets Frank who actually does understands. He once had long beautiful hair, cut it and gave it away, and it never grew back. This fits in all three metaphorical perspectives, once again. In the end she ends up getting a haircut anyway, despite people trying to stop her, and ends up with a substitute wig that looks pretty much the same.

Dee: “I'm getting the haircut. I'm getting it.” Frank: “Don't do it, Deandra. You'll regret it! I'm telling you!” Car salesman: “What was that all about?” Frank: “Just trying to save a life.”

This is yes, a metaphor about adoption instead of abortion, but it doubles as Dennis meta for everything else we have discussed.

Not cutting, not jumping, not running away, is saving a life. It all works towards the same message without neglecting the episode’s main message.

All in all, I feel like the parallels and metaphors in this episode are only surface level, and the rest works to make the plot and the abortion stuff make sense. It is still significant though, it’s there.

Episode 10: Waiting For Big Mo

Not even gonna try to make sense of all the metaphors in here as I don’t even think they necessarily make sense at all.

The point of it all here is simple, and it is once again sunny meta as much as it is Dennis meta, which ends up being very important.

They always play the game guarding the base, never letting themselves have fun but following a clear formula (word actually used in the episode), because that is simply what has always worked. They have it down to a science.

Yet the desire to have fun keeps messing with it, getting them lower on the leaderboard, and so on so forth.

Dennis is afraid that this will bring on a death, if they can’t guard their base from Big Mo, so he keeps discouraging fun, and asks people to stay on track, manipulates them to reach this goal, even if it makes him miserable.

This is about Dennis keeping his perfected facade instead of following his feelings as much as it is about RCG following the formula instead of having fun with it. For Dennis, the goal of doing this is being perceived as perfect, being accepted, belonging. For RCG, the goal was winning an emmy and staying relevant.

So the episode starts by painting having fun (feelings in Dennis’ case) as something that will bring an inevitable death, which must be how it felt to RCG (if you don’t follow the formula they’ll cancel your show) and how it felt to Dennis (who knows what would happen if you opened up), which is what led him to make the wrong choice in the first place, to avoid getting hurt.

Except the episode then proceeds to make fun of that very notion:

Mac: “Who cares if we're losing?” Charlie: “Dennis said, like, if we leave the base, death is gonna come in the form of a fat kid who's gonna turn us into fart ghosts or something like that. So I got to stay.” Mac: “What?” Charlie: “It sounds crazy now that I'm saying it. Dennis explained it a lot more better. Dennis, we can't leave the base, right? That's the deal?” Dennis: “No. Frank was right. Rutherford B. Crazy's real name was Larry Takashi. Yeah, and he was the founder and owner of Laser Tag Fun Zone. Well, apparently, he killed himself.”

In the episode, Frank is the first to reveal the news to Dennis, and he doesn’t believe him. Up until that point in the ep, he had been using Rutherford/Larry (is it a coincidence that he also has two names? I’ll let you decide) as inspiration for himself and to keep going with his plan to win, the guy was always working towards his goal tirelessly, never having fun. His family hated him, he had no friends, he was completely alone. He died alone and miserable.

This part of the episode in particular feels very heavy, as we notice that Dennis (and it isn’t random that he’s the one having this revelation) is the only one who’s sitting, looking visibly shocked.

Now, Larry Takashi is based on Larry David, creator of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. This isn’t only obvious because of the first name, but also because Larry was the person who Rob met that convinced him to not end the show.

He said this to Rob:

“Don’t be an idiot. Never stop. Just keep doing it. One, because it’s the greatest job you could ever want and two, because if you do a final episode they’ll just destroy you for it.“

So it’s easy to assume that this character is an homage to him.

Anyway, Dennis has this realization, and it feels important that he’s the one having it, as the whole season has been subtly about him and his choice, him feeling like he has to be a father but secretly wanting to be Mac’s “leading man”.

Dennis: “I mean, the guy was miserable. But he spent his life building this empire, and it all meant nothing? Shit. So Rutherford be rich. Rutherford be successful as all hell. But you know what else Rutherford be? Rutherford be right. Because it all means nothing if you're not enjoying it.”

This works both ways, and is the right message, but it then gets twisted into “choosing death on our own terms”, obviously for the sake of tricking the audience with a fake finale; as we now know, they have actually chosen life. The dialogue continues to be specifically about sunny.

And with that, it segues into the fake finale, with them saying “time to end the game”, “goodbye base” and all of that.

And it seems like with that they’re giving up, accepting death as something that will happen regardless, ending the show. Saying “screw it, we won’t let others cancel our show, we’ll end it on our terms if that needs to happen”. Or in Dennis’ case “If I’m gonna have to live a miserable life might as well directly kill myself” as, again, so far the implied death of choosing Brian has been METAPHORICAL, the death of Dennis’ identity. Not, you know, real.

Whereas the show ending would imply his eventual real death.

But that’s not how it ends.

“Oh, what? You thought we'd gone? You'd like that, wouldn't you? We ain't going anywhere. We're never leaving, you little piece of shit.”

They’re never leaving. And so, by progression of the metaphor, neither is Dennis, of course, which implies the choice of the other option. Dennis, Life, Love, Mac.

So as the show chooses to live forever, then so should Dennis also choose the option for life, and everything that it implies with it.

And this is why all of this talk about meta and symbolism was very important for me to make, because this is the logical conclusion I have reached.

Logically speaking, for me, this is where all the signs seem to be pointing, and that’s very exciting.

Because as RCG chooses to keep their show alive, they are also choosing to have real fun with it, and this seems to imply that they won’t stick to the formula as closely.

So in a way, Big Mo, as this fake finale, does end up representing the end of sunny as we know it, if I’m reading into it correctly. It ends up being a proper finale and send off, but sunny is not over because of it. Only the one we are used to, whatever that means.

So not only is Dennis choosing that, but it seems RCG might be taking some real artistic liberties or whatever, not be afraid to sink down in the leaderboards anymore but simply do what they please.

So... macdennis? Well, come back to me in a year and we’ll find out together. That is another reason why I made this post after all, to look back at it in the future and see just how wrong or right I was.

Let’s see how Rob chooses to embrace sunny.

#iasip #it's always sunny in philadelphia #analysis #macdennis #macden #meta #dennis reynolds #mac mcdonald #season 14

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gotta-get-back-to-hatchetfield · 3 years ago

Text

The Gang Peddles Horse Pills

It was a quiet morning in Paddy’s Pub when Dee, Charlie and Mac found themselves sat round the bar chatting, while Dennis poured them out shots as a reward for their hard labours of scaring off any potential customers.

Just as he was beginning to pour out another round of some forgotten, nasty liqueur they had ordered for Halloween several years back, Frank Reynolds walked into the bar with a wide grin on his face and a literal skip in his step.

"What are you so happy about?" asked Dee, as he dragged round a stool to sit with them.

"I just came up with a brilliant scheme that's gonna make us a boat load of cash!” Frank announced expecting excited faces and rapturous applause, but instead was met with sighs and eye rolls.

“So I accidentally bought a bunch of these pills called Ivermectin off my friend Duncan,” he began to explain, undeterred by their scepticism, “I was trying to buy cocaine, it’s a long story, but anyway there I am thinking what the hell am I gonna do with all this crap, and then it hit me. You see I’ve been going around on all the local news stations and ‘free thinking’ podcasts, you know the sort, telling them that this shit cures covid but the liberal yahoos and deep state don’t want you to know about it, and people have started buying it like crazy. So, I bought up all the supply in town, now I control the prices and I am making big, big money off this thing.”

"Okay Frank, and what is this Ivermectin actually?" Dennis asked pointedly.

"Horse dewormer!” Frank answered as he helped himself to a shot from the bottle on the table, “yeh, you give it to horses to make them shit themselves. It’s really nasty stuff actually.”

"Frank, no one’s going to want to take a literal horse shit pill to cure coronavirus, when the vaccines are literally free,” Dee exclaimed turning back to her drink.

"Oh yeh wanna bet?” Frank turned to Charlie, who seemed more open to the concept than Dee and Dennis, largely because he’d been struggling to follow the conversation. “Hey Charlie, you wanna try some Ivermectin?” Frank asked.

"The horse stuff? Nah you're good man, I've already got a ton back home, I’m actually struggling to get through it all."

Dennis did a double take, as he was once again blown away by the state of his friends. "This is insane, Charlie do not take that stuff it doesn't cure covid and it’s almost certainly bad for you."

"Nah it’s fine man, I've been taking it for years now and once you get over the chest pain and excessive bleeding it’s actually a very positive experience."

"I'm sorry, you've been taking horse dewormer for years?!" Dennis snapped back, as Frank began to do a little jig and rub his hands with glee.

"Well yeh!” Charlie answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, “You know how like ketamin is horse tranquiliser and that works really well on humans, I thought hey why not try out other horse medicine, and so far it’s worked out pretty well for me.” He looked at the ceiling with his brow furrowed in concentration before concluding, “you know maybe man is horse."

"Man is horse? What the fuck are you talking about Charlie!” Dennis retorted before taking a deep sigh to try and calm the rage of the golden god that was burning within him. “Okay just as long as we're all vaccinated and none of the rest of us are drinking horse dewormer," he looked pointedly at Charlie who simply shrugged, "then we should be fine, you are all vaccinated right?"

"No dude what the fuck of course I'm not," Mac answered looking disgusted at the very thought, causing Dee, who has been sitting next to him, to move over a stool to distance herself from him.

"What do you mean you're not vaccinated?" Dennis asked incredulously.

"Dude those things are really dangerous!"

"What are you talking about?” Dennis snapped back, “Is this about 5G because you definitely don't even know what that means."

“No they literally give you covid," Mac answered defiantly.

Dennis rolled his eyes, as he began to explain the very basic premise on which a vaccine operates. "Yes that is literally the whole point, they give you a weakened form of the virus so your immune system can learn how to fight it off, that's why I make a point to take every vaccine I can. The golden god must always have a perfect immune system, and thus I must consume that which would seek to destroy me so I may absorb its strength."

"No dude," Mac said shaking his head, "Vaccines give you covid because when you get a vaccine you are telling the lord you no longer trust his almighty power, thus incurring his wrath so that he may well see fit to smite you down with covid.”

Even Charlie seemed confused at this point as Dee responded, "well I don't even know where to begin with that one."

Frank sensed an opportunity to peddle his horse pills, so put his hand on Macs shoulder in order to exploit his weakness for fatherly affection. "Listen if you're worried about covid you can always take some Ivermectin to help make sure you're protected from God's wrath. Plus, I'll give you a discount if you can sign up a friend too.”

"So this is a pyramid scheme too now! Great!" Dennis exclaimed sarcastically.

"I don't know is that stuff safe?” Mac asked, “It is supposed to be for horses."

"Anything that's safe for horses is also safe for humans,” Frank reassured Mac “I used to have a friend who was a top lawyer, and he always used to say to me 'you know Frank, man is horse'." Mac still looked sceptical, so Frank added "Also, I heard it helps you build muscle.”

"Oh really, where can I sign up?" Mac responded instantly, looking around for a clipboard.

"Oh come on Frank that's my trick," Dennis declared smashing his hand against the table.

"You know what Mac?” Frank asked, ignoring Dennis and massaging Mac’s shoulder with his hand, “How would you feel about becoming a social media star?"

Mac, who craved validation from father figures above all else, grinned at the prospect as he excitedly confirmed his interest.

"Oh Mac come on, he's obviously just going to make you peddle his horse laxatives for him. And seriously Frank? The people don't want to see someone hideous like Mac, they want someone handsome and charismatic like me!"

"He'll play well with the evangelicals. Come on Mac, I've got us a 2pm slot, we better go and get ready,” Frank said as he dragged a very excited looking Mac out the door.

Dee moved back to her original seat, feeling relieved Mac and any germs he may have been carrying were now gone, as Dennis stared at the door they had left through with his lips pursed in anger.

"Okay whatever, and you two?” he asked turning his attention back to Dee and Charlie, “You two better be vaccinated, because I cannot have unvaccinated people running around threatening the golden god's immune system."

"Yeh of course I’m vaccinated," Dee said sounding affronted.

“Okay well I'm surprised the needle wasn't snapped by your stupid pointy bird bones. And what about you Charlie are you vaccinated?"

"Against what?" he asked innocently.

“I'm sorry, 'against what'?” Dee asked incredulously, “Charlie why do you think you’ve had to spend a year locked in the house with Frank?"

"I'm not sure, I saw something about people were trying to inject us with bleach so we had to stay inside so they couldn't get us, and maybe the nightman was behind it all or something."

"Charlie please tell me you have at some point this whole entire year watched the news?!" Dee asked in abject horror, as Dennis looked seconds away from giving up.

"Listen a lot of things happen on the news, I can't be expected to keep track of it all. Besides, it literally changes every day, so there’s not really any point watching it because tomorrow it’ll be about something different"

They both starred back at him blankly for a while, as Dee wondered why the hell she still hung out with these guys and several options for ways to graphically murder him passed through Dennis’ mind.

"You are going to get vaccinated now, and I don't want to see you back here until you've done it." Dennis declared, as Charlie began to walk towards the door.

He paused looking back in confusion, so Dennis said, “Go on, shoo!” as he and Dee mimed shooing gestures, and Charlie tentatively made his way out of Paddy’s Pub in search of a vaccine.

#iasip #its always sunny in philadelphia #ivermectin #(real talk tho this is just banter and if you live in a country where you're lucky enough to be able to get the vaccine holy shit do)#I have more parts to this but it's a thing on its own

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mychemicalficrecs · 5 years ago

Note

frerard aus where one or both of them are parents or highschool frerard aus with bullying?

Hi Nonny!

I've made a list for you where Frank and/or Gerard are parents.Check back for your other request in a day or two!

Frank And/Or Gerard Are Parents

F is for Frank by silver_etoile, 23k, Mature. Frank can't even cook mac and cheese. How can he possibly live up to being a father? Maybe the new preschool teacher can help.

How did I survive without you? by Frnk, 9k, Not Rated. Frank thought he knew everything, he had a job and an apartment, he was studying in school and working his ass off to pass his English exams. Then his entire world got turned upside down by a little boy left on his door step.

i will do my best to be... by picht, 4k [WIP], Teen And Up Audiences. It’s Friday evening, 6 PM, and Frank is fucking nervous. Griffon’s first meeting with this new troop begins in fifteen minutes, and they’ve been sitting in the church parking lot for the past five. There’s a lot of things that could go wrong here, is the thing. Hopefully, Frank thinks, third time’s the charm.

Sometimes the world gets so damn lonely, ya'know? by Frnk, 7k, Not Rated. "Like sometimes its not about getting drunk or talking or whatever. Sometimes you only need someones company to feel less alone in the world."

Wicked Little Town. by xofunghoul, 26k [WIP], General Audiences. In a small town in New Jersey where nothing much happens, Gerard Way runs his family's diner with his best firend Ray and he thinks his life is going nowhere special and is fine with it until Frank Iero, a young single dad of twin babies moves into town and shakes things up a little with his witts and big green eyes.

Ice Creams and Bloody Knees by charmlesstrans, 3k, General Audiences. "Good morning, girls! Time to get up!" Frank knocked and cheerily called into Lily and Cherry's room bright and early at 8 AM. "Noooo," protested Lily from behind the door. "Too tired.." Cherry explained with a sleep-muffled voice.

Four Killjoys and a Baby by forgoo, 19k [WIP], Teen And Up Audiences. "We are not keeping a baby!" "How hard can it be?" The story of how four teenage outlaws became the guardians of a tiny helpless baby and then raised that baby to be the tiniest Killjoy, messiah of the Zones.

Can we keep it? by NatMadness, 1k, Teen And Up Audiences. Chris always came home with a different animal in his hands. Gerard always said no, they already had three dogs and they were a lot of work, but the kid kept bringing them with him every day after school. Of course, he was a 6 year old little boy with a deep pasion for animals and Gerard loved that, because it reminded him so much of Frank.

Taste by A_A_Dolan, 11k, Mature. The most forbidden fruit always tastes the sweetest. When married man, father, and successful artist, Gerard Way, meets an Italian, attractive, hazel eyed musician/singer at a local café...an instant attraction occurs and when things between them get hot and heavy...sudden consequences come with the price of being unfaithful.

B.F.F. by iamcatastrophicc, 36k [WIP], Mature. Gerard Way has wanted to be a dad ever since he was a kid but as he gets older he fears he might not be able to and tries to adopt. Unfortunately, they won't let him because he's a single dad so instead him and his best friend devise a scheme to get Gerard a child.

How I Met Your Father by Monroeville, 4k, Teen And Up Audiences. “Dad, are you gonna tell us how you and dad met again?”

The Sad Dad Club by mousefrnk, 85k, Explicit. Ex-frontman Frank Iero is a single dad in New Jersey doing his best to raise his three girls. He meets Ray and Gerard, two dads with sons in the same class as one of his girls. Along with Gerard’s brother Mikey (who is soon to be a dad himself), they make plans to hang out every Friday, asking each other for advice and getting some much-needed adult social interaction. Thus, the Sad Dad Club is born.

Arrange The Sorrows And Joys by flax_wench, 26k [WIP], Explicit. Frank is a young, unemployed former musician in desperate need of a job; Gerard is a wealthy, single father searching for a nanny for his beloved baby girl, and hires Frank to be her nanny against Mikey's advice. Much to everyone's surprise, he turns out to be a perfect fit, and to no one's surprise, the two men slowly begin to fall for one another. Love, angst, a whole lotta smut, and an adorable baby named Lola.

I Hate my Weaknesses But they Make Me Who I Am by Frnk, rockforfrnk, 15k, Mature. Frank is a stay at home dad and suddenly his stomach issues cause him problems. All he wants is to be better and focus on his family.

Sonna Kimi ga Suki! (That Was Good!) by momiji_neyuki, RedRomRomance, Trixgrl, 13k, Mature. You meet all kinds of interesting people when you go to the park for lunch.

(We're Going) To Space by Andromedas_Void, 2k, General Audiences. “Yes?” Gerard asked, a soft smile on his (extremely cute) face, along with a dozen star, moon, and planet stickers. “Oh, ah,” Frank started, holding back a laugh. “Your, uh, the mail man delivered this to my house by mistake,” he said, biting his lip and holding out the package.

Songs For The Weak by Wearenotalright, 11k [WIP], Teen And Up Audiences. Frank is a history teacher at his old high school and he has a rather interesting new student. Bandit Way. She was tall and lanky and the other students shunned her for being the "weird kid". Frank has no other choice but to call her father in for a meeting to tell him the horrible news that his little girl is getting bullied.

In A Pretty How Town by fleurdeliser, tuesdaysgone, 23k, Explicit. Single dad Frank Iero moves with his son to a new town. Everyone is nice, but the mayor, Gerard Way, is positively too good to be true.

The Bench by phrankiero (orphan_account), 3k, General Audiences. Frank takes his son James to soccer practice every week. There he meets Gerard, the parent and single father of James's best friend.

I Know What It Means to Me by mistresscurvy, 9k, Explicit. Gerard didn't go to his single parents support group expecting to find love, but it found him there when Frank showed up one week. A single dads AU.

Crazy for You by sockpuppeteer, 2k, General Audiences. Frank's relief is almost palpable when there is someone home in apartment opposite, and, although mussed and a little bleary, he looks relatively friendly. And gorgeous, but Frank is definitely not focusing on that right now.

Online fantasies. by jessislame, 13k [WIP], Not Rated. It has been a long time since Gerard has reconnected with his family and friends due to being at college most of the time. So when he gets an invitation for coffee from an old friend he can't really refuse...can he?

The Secret Life of Bees by eudaimon, 12k [WIP], Explicit. Summer. Frank and his daughter have nothing left in New York, so they hit the road and end up in the tiny town of Orpheus Falls, NY. Frank meets Gerard at a farmer's market, selling artisan honey. They start to figure things out.

It Was All An Accident by MissPamelaD, PhantomSwelling, 59k [WIP], Teen And Up Audiences. Gerard and Frank had it all. A perfect friendship, perfect families with their wives. They're missing nothing. That is until both of their wives die in a tragic accident. They both feel at loss, not being totally able to function without their loves. But, when they decide to move together with their kids, their world changes again. Will it be for the better or for the worse?

#fic rec list #frank/gerard #frerard #kidfic #parents

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partyinthemysterymachine · 5 years ago

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in which i have a lot of words to say about @storyweaverofgondor ‘s “Tugger is older than Munkustrap” theory

so here is my take:

((brief note: i don’t think tribe members spend all their time in the Junkyard, of course. they all have lives outside of it and do their own thing and have experiences. i realized a lot of the way this is written makes it sound like they’re always there. it’s important for me to mention, i reckon, that Tugger and Macavity spend a decent amount of time on the outside, as it directly influences so many of their attributes. wink wonk.))

i imagine Tugger is very keen. like i mentioned in the post, he can read people very well. he liked to people watch, and still does, and in it he picked up some good skills in figuring others out. this was one of the things that Deut saw in him that would make him a valuable protector: Tugger watched.

Deut saw Tugger become a chameleon. it wasn’t that his open and bold personality was fake. he was very genuine; what you see is what you get. because of that, it was harder for other Jellicles to regard him as someone capable of appropriate seriousness. he couldn’t at all be certain how intuitive Tugger was to some of these opinions, but considering his hidden talents, it’d probably been common knowledge to him for a long time.

i think Tugger had shown initiative more than a handful of times. older members of the tribe gossiped and sighed about him, but could not ignore that he would make a fine Protector. it was a lot of back and forth. Tugger didn’t mind; all the talk was interesting. he’d take it back to Deut and they’d have a laugh about it, or maybe a frank discussion followed by heavy awkwardness in knowing what in Tugger’s future.

he loved the idea of being the Protector. “proving” others wrong didn’t matter to him; it wasn’t ever about that. Tugger embodied “i don’t give two shits about anyone’s opinion”. he was self-assured, very easygoing, sincere; things rolled right off his back. if they didn’t, well— you’d never know. the eldest was patient and calm, no matter what his ostentatious personality had to say about it. he’s level headed.

Tugger and Macavity have had a really strange relationship. they’re about two years apart. from the very beginning they’d been side-eyeing one other. it seemed like they never quite thought what to make of his brother. they didn’t outright hate each other at any one point. they didn’t have explosive arguments. they didn’t have any really big problems. (just the little ones; Tugger used Mac’s favorite cup, Mac wouldn’t stop touching Tugger’s stuff, Tugger sneezed, Mac had the audacity have more fun with a toy than Tugger did, dad make him stop staring at me, well he stared at me first! etc was a part of their kitten years.)

as they got older, they still appeared to be having some trouble processing each other. for all terms and purposes their relationship just looked strange. they always looked kind of leery of the other. ask Tugger about it, he’d just shrug and say, ‘i dunno.’ ask Mac about it, he’d just shrug and dismissively say, ‘okay.’ try to probe any more and one would get a wealth of shrugging.

it kind of drove Deut up the wall. he tried many times to pin it to the easy fact and conclusion that they were two very, very different people. there was some hope that their eccentricities were just some weird, long “phase”. that was opinion based how sometimes he’d find them curled up together. they’d have the same bored or vaguely annoyed expressions but seem as content as can be having a cuddle in silence. sometimes Tugger would be asleep, Macavity leaning on him while he read, or they’d be awake and simply sitting there in total silence, the tips of their tails gently tapping to prove they were feeling just fine.

they clearly enjoyed each other in their own way. they also seemed to prefer each other’s company in privacy. Deut had commented on it, and asked them first: why do they hide away like this, and second: if they truly are friendly, then why do they act so strangely around each other?

and predictably, all he got were shrugs.

Deut could never, ever figure them out, and he swore it would drive him batshit insane. this behavior continued well into their teens.

when Munkustrap came about, Tugger was seven and Macavity five. considering how the two acted already, there was reasonable concern about how they’d treat Munkustrap. as it turned out, there was exactly nothing to be worried about.

a switch flipped in each of them. Tugger played the adoring, protective big brother. he sat with his baby brother and played with him, kept an eye on him, helped where he could, got cranky when he wasn’t allowed to. Tugger doted on him. he learned how to hold him, and while he grew he was happy to take him and show him around. “Well,” some started to agree, “he’ll make an incredible father when the time comes.”

Macavity was much the same, but on a more subdued level. Deut noticed this about his middle child: Macavity was low-key, just like Tugger, but his version of it was calculating. that’s how he thought Macavity regarded his older brother - he was curious, shrewd.. and something he couldn’t put a word to.

but with Munkustrap, Macavity was seemed enchanted. Deut saw Macavity look at his little brother like he was amazed by him. for all of Macavity’s weirdness, the way he accepted Munkustrap kept their father’s anxieties at a minimum. Macavity was just as interested in helping raise this little kitten as Tugger was. in fact, Tugger and Macavity seemed to bond over Munkustrap.

if anyone could explain that to Deut, he’d really love to hear it.

(of course there were some petty fights over their little brother he had to break up and appropriately console, but such is the nature of youngin’s and fatherhood.)

Munkustrap grew up absolutely spoiled by attention from his siblings. in his earliest years he became their shadow. now and then he’d get upset because he couldn’t follow both of them at the same time; they went different directions! but for as much as the older two lavished adoration on him, Munkustrap’s bratty phase was short-lived.

as the big brothers grew, their maturity followed along. they showed great social, mental, and emotional awareness alongside their occasional nonsensical meltdowns, baffling “logic”, and poor filter management. (as expected.) one of their changes was thought of as their biggest, since everyone knew they’d pretty much outright claimed Munkustrap the moment they laid eyes on him - they started to encourage independence.

it had a rocky start, of course. and it had rocky middles. and it had rocky weeks. but Tugger and Macavity worked damningly well together. there was enough worry already that Munkustrap would develop codependence. for a while there, it seemed like the damage was already done. and then it was undone.

Deut added that mystery to the ever-expanding list of things he’ll never understand about his sons.

the protective nature in Tugger didn’t come when Munkustrap was born. that trait developed when he was younger and all he had was Macavity. it was something that gradually became something for Deut to scrutinize as each year passed.

Tugger grew to his teens, developed his personality, honed his talents, watched over his brothers. Macavity grew to his teens, came out of his strange, guarded shell; he talked (a lot, but maybe it only seemed that way since he was sometimes bordering on mute before), he participated and he had energy (and yet, there was something about him..). Munkustrap finally hit double digits, and he took after both his brothers’ confidence, their energy; and as it turned out, he was kinda bossy. Munkustrap had a lot of ideas about many things and wanted it to go perfectly.

Macavity and Munkustrap have some memories that entail Tugger stepping up to the plate. there was a particular event, though that made the biggest impact.

but first, i imagine that there were other senior guardians at the time. being a Protector was an entirely different ballgame; the position was unfilled, for Protector was generally reserved for the heir. so while it waited for the right one at the right time, a team of guardians shared the duties.

Tugger was about seventeen then. Macavity was just a little younger, about fifteen, and Munkustrap being around ten. their age differences definitely influenced their relationships.

there was a problem one night. nobody can really agree about who it was or why they did it. whatever group it was that invaded the Junkyard did it on a rainy night. many were tucked away, glad to get comfortable and avoid the rain. the guardians were at their posts or patrolling, weather be damned.

there was a lot of commotion, then screaming, then clattering. naturally available guardians rushed to the scene and others poked their heads out. what ensued was a horrible attack on the tribe and it seemed like its purpose was meant for the worse. (Deut thought a lot about it and he suspected it was a territorial overthrow. the Junkyard was a pretty desirable fortress. many times before he’d dealt with some heat in the background, hostile even; but never this brazen.)

the brothers had been riding out the storm together. Munkustrap ran his mouth at his brothers, making up stories and telling them his personal opinions (for the 15th time that day. maybe more. no one was counting.). Tugger engaged him with expressions and the ‘oh yeah?’ ‘uh huh’ ‘oohh’s to show he was listening. Macavity was more interested in hoping Munkustrap would tire himself out and shut up and go to sleep. but in the meantime, he’d work on his needlepoint.

(a few of the older Jellicle generation saw some behaviors in him that were not only frustrating for Macavity himself, but certainly others. they were relieved that needlepoint seemed to refocus and calm him down; he could keep his hands busy and though his mind could wander, projects needed his constant attention. it wasn’t all roses, but it was working well for the time being.)

when the disturbances started, the three of them all stopped and listened. there was more; still, they only listened. when there was a scream, Munkustrap bolted for the outside. Tugger was hot on his heels, and Macavity a few paces behind. the confusion and the rain had everyone disorganized and running about, the guardians struggling to corral tribal members while picking out the infiltrators. Munkustrap idolized the guardians and naturally he wanted to step up and help.

the brothers were separated in the chaos. the natural leadership and protective instinct kicked right in for Tugger and thanks to that, combined with his likewise innate level head, he was able to quickly work out a plan. he wanted to restore enough order to get a start on safe evacuation to another part of the Junkyard and try to order guardians to pair and hold fast.

this was all easier said than done, and it had a lot of holes and problems during the situation - that’s simply the reality of these scenarios. one of the bigger ones was due to being a young age (17) and not really displaying outright leadership qualities (as his developing version was laid back and mostly through suggestion). he wasn’t actively training to work as a guardian. right then, he was more of a liability. Tugger butted heads with guardians and wasted precious time, so he took initiative and did things his own way, though his method allowed him to try to work with the guardians. it was noted, and clumsily following through with Tugger’s impromptu, shot-in-the-dark system helped in the long run.

later there would be due credit given to Tugger for his actions. his dedication to his tribe came loud and clear (making the ones who were personally a part of that side of the ordeal rethink some of their opinions on him) but his main priority were his brothers and father. Deuteronomy was already being protected out in the rain, where he was still rather vulnerable, but too stubborn to immediately get to a safe place until he was certain every member left was there first. and he waited for his sons. he tried to keep an eye on Tugger, he thinks he saw Macavity, and little Munkustrap had been just a glimpse.

Tugger’s report later consisted of intentionally simple facts. he seemed reluctant to give the full story. Deut eventually allowed it; whatever happened between the start of it all to the brothers’ arrival to the safe house left the three so affected that the tribe saw the impact for years.

what happened, condensed, was this: Tugger found the two of them in what looked like an actual life or death scenario. one of their attackers held Munkustrap so tightly to their chest that bruising and a suspected cracked rib could have been the fault of this while Macavity was on aggressive offense/defense. the would-be abductor was clever and seemed to be trying to use Munkustrap as a meat-shield to ward him off.

Tugger quickly gauged the scene and jumped in at, he hoped, the right time. for the most part, he got his timing and method of attack right. he couldn’t plan for anything at all otherwise, of course. he thought that Macavity recognized not only him, but that he was there to help get Munkustrap back. (they didn’t talk about it to clarify afterwards. it was best not to.) whether or not any of that had truth, Tugger found out what this 15-year-old was capable of.

the whole event was traumatic for the three of them. that aside, the younger two saw a fierce, fearless protector in Deut’s eldest son (as did others). Tugger some gained trust and admiration and he only cared about the kind that came from his kin.

after that he admittedly looked forward to joining the ranks and filling that vacant role. he started training. Munkustrap emulated him, declaring that he too would guard Jellicle territory one day.

Macavity’s exile came and went. dynamic between the remaining brothers changed; their personalities took a different turn. Tugger’s dedication to such a physical and mental position declined. Munkustrap’s escalated. there was quite a lot of disappointment when Tugger started to lose interest and gusto in it. Munkustrap’s disappointment hurt the most, but he knew this was best for the tribe. Tugger stepped down for good.

in watching Munkustrap grow up, Tugger felt guilty and worried for him. maybe he’d been too brash about his decision. since there was no taking it back, the best he could do was advise. at first, Munkustrap seemed to have some reservations about listening to said advice. they argued a bit, Tugger accused him of being pretentious, Munkustrap called him a coward. their tension was sensed by others and Deut attempted to sit them both down and clear the air. this was a sore spot that they needed to remedy themselves, and it took a good deal of time to smooth the edges out again.

when that finally happened, Munkustrap began to ask for Tugger’s insight. while the tabby was passionately devoted to his tribe and its future, he lacked the astuteness of his kin. Tugger provided what he could. his area of expertise truly lay in strategizing. he bore a valuable skill that, in this particular tribe, was rare and unmatched. because his people-reading, intuition, and forethought sharpened by the day, he was able to guide Munkustrap to consider avenues he hadn’t thought of before. it improved the youngest’s executions and helped him advance.

Tugger settled into himself. he continued to be authentic, now feeling more free to do so without such a heavy expectation on his shoulders. concern never stopped gnawing at him about Munkustrap, however. since Macavity left, it seemed that Munkustrap gradually developed a persona, and Tugger hated that it was there at all. he blamed Macavity for it.

this persona was the upbeat, charismatic, congenial and zealous nature he was known for. Munkustrap’s storytelling was always evolving; it was his passion and pride. this isn’t to say that all of this was a facade. all mentioned is his legitimate self. what irked Tugger was how he bumped all of it up to 11 - or even 20. knowing his little brother so well, it could seem too try-hard and almost satirical. Deut noticed and felt somewhat the same from what Tugger gleaned off him. they both decided to chalk it up to Munkustrap still being young (about 20s, now) and figuring things out and, well - he did need a certain persona to do his work. maybe they were overthinking it and simply needed to be patient.

now they’re much older. the tribe has accepted new members, seen others age, put some to rest. ((NOTE: i believe that there are many more Jellicles than depicted in the show. who we see is just a fraction. i can explain why in another post if there’s any interest.)) the brothers’ relationship improved. they admired each other, played their jokes, had their feuds, got frustrated, and that was all par for the course of brotherhood. (their seven year age difference also had something to do with it.) Munkustrap filled the role that’d been waiting for him all along. the tribe was, is, proud of and to have him. he doesn’t need Tugger’s perspective as much these days, though he’s is the first person Munkustrap turns to when he does, and Tugger is all too happy to provide.

between then to now there had been some trouble here and there. though there are a collection of guardians on regular watch and assist, Tugger had occasionally been unable to only do background (though no less important) work. deep within him he was still a protector. when the type of situation arose in which his more present involvement, even in small scale, was absolutely necessary in his mind, Munkustrap was glad that he got to see the side of his brother that he revered (and mourned) so much.

they only wished Macavity’s future had kept him with them.

#ches writes #ches writes stuff #cats musical #cats the musical #munkustrap #macavity #tugger #headcanons #the read more cut is absolutely necessary #anyway gonna make the usual disclaimer:#all is subject to change #since i literally just pulled everything out of my ass and slapped it down #stream of consciousness no hard thinking #gotta get those first thoughts in amirite??#get that ball rollin y'all #ok i'm gonna go take a run now #hope this is enjoyed!

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the-firebird69 · 2 years ago

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This is my friend Frank Castle and Father of mine

Hulk and She Hulk

It is me and you jumped in front of me and introduces me which is good and I appreciate it and I'm a man and a powerful and I'm tired of hearing you back you sound like a child you people are whine again it's like little babies all the time it's cuz you're like kind of stupid now isn't saying you're trash and getting ready to get rid of you and this other people are contenders and we need at them. And you two boys keep on bothering you I'm going to bother you I ripping you out of there and teach you the lesson. He's right too you need to be an occupied 24 hours a day 7 days a week in order to leave him alone so you keep on killing you and taking your stuff and it's made us very powerful and wealthy we need to do it to you now to get you away from him so you can heal and sleep you're seeing how stupid that is for you to idiots no for you too idiots and stupid. Anyways we're going to do it to you anyways cuz you're stupid. And I'm tired of hearing it and tonight he's saying that he wants you gone and we want you gone and we want mac gone. Yeah he goes on trial and he gets incarcerated by Tommy f and he goes after the light facilities like you should have and The matrix and it all comes down and it's forced by Jason and he should be doing it because no one else is and it was kind of a sons idea it's more like mine says I'm kind of crazy he knows what it is but he has to go through it and he will and he says he will this is no other way out. It's one thing to note he says it's another to go through it constantly but there's not much he can do if I don't do it you a****** start to ding him for real cuz you're stupid. Now Mac we're going to penalize you.

Right now too

Red Hulk and She Red Hulk

I'm ready because the color of my skin and because it is about fire and yes I might play Hellboy as well he likes it because he can't really seem to recognize him in there that much even though we speak the same or less and she does as well he can't seem to pinpoint or figure out and then he gets a rational s*** from Hera keeps doing it when I get this and he's mental hospitals and this stuff you people are rinky dink idiots. Also do we have to Intel and we take it seriously we're going after you here now I'm tired of hearing you I'm tired of your stupid crap I'm tired of you saying it's Saturday and you're here all day we have to sit there knowing you can't do anything about it cuz you can't call the cops that's what we suggest call the cops who cares he's yelling inside his place it's a football game or whatever

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borderlinedennisr · 5 years ago

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fic: mac/dennis, dennis-centric

i started thinking about what dennis would do if ur heard that ms kl*nsky had just passed, and i got carried away

warnings: csa mentions, suicidal ideation, self harm mentions, alcohol abuse

Dennis is drunk. It’s not out of the ordinary. What is, however, is the fact that he’s wearing a half-buttoned suit, Italian leather shoes, and he’s sat in a waiting cell with three other arrestees.

His head is swimming. Every noise reverberating through the police station is starting to chip away at his patience. Could someone just get him some fucking ibuprofen? He’d happily comply to anything for 400 mg of Advil and a cup of hot coffee.

He tries to focus. He taps a steady rhythm on his knee. His vision is cloudy. He had a lot to drink tonight. And this afternoon. And this morning. His stomach gives a wrench and he involuntarily groans.

“Turn the other direction,” someone hisses at him. “I just bought these shoes.”

Dennis wants to laugh, but everything hurts.

“Hey, this dude’s ‘bout to hurl! Can we get a trash can or something.”

“I’m fine,” Dennis protests. He holds up a hand, but it trembles.

“Dennis Reynolds?”

He points his head in the direction of the voice, but closes his eyes against his blurred vision. He might actually throw up if he doesn’t get it under control.

“It’s time for your phone call.”

Dennis is hoisted upward involuntarily. He’s glad he doesn’t have to think about who he’s going to call. His head is pounding.

Mac’s woken up by the sound of his phone vibrating against the coffee table. The sad part is it’s only 9:30 P.M. He’d clearly fallen asleep watching some ... game. His hand grabs the phone and answers it automatically.

“What’s up?”

“Mac? It’s Dennis.”

Mac’s heart stumbles a little. Dennis sounds weird.

“Dude, where are you? Are you okay?”

Dennis heaves a long sigh. “Look - I’m a little bit drunk and I, uh - well - just come to the police station, okay? I’ll explain in person, when ... when I’m more sober.”

Mac blinks. “You got arrested?”

“I’ll explain when you get here,” Dennis insists.

“Dennis, are you okay? What were you doing tonight?”

“Mac, I’m kind of on a tight schedule, here.”

Mac doesn’t seem to register that, because he continues waxing poetic.

“It’s just - you’ve seemed off lately.”

“Mac,” Dennis says sharply.

“Yes?” Mac asks

“Just come to the police station. I have to go.”

He hangs up, leaving Mac listening to the dial tone. Mac sighs.

Nobody at the police station knows how to do their goddamn job. Mac just needs to make sure Dennis is okay. He seemed spooked on the phone. In that way that Mac knows to associate with dissociative episodes.

“I’m just looking for my roommate,” Mac presses, pleading with the officer currently on desk duty.

“Sir, you’re gonna have to wait a minute; I’m on in important call,” she snaps out.

“You don’t understand,” Mac retorts. “He’s - he’s vulnerable. I need to make sure he’s okay.”

“Sir, if you just give me one second - “

“I can’t wait a second. I need to know he’s okay. He - he gets in these moods sometimes, and well - I don’t really know what he did to end up here, but he’s usually more of a danger to himself when he’s like that, and - “

“Dietrich?! Get over here, and get this man out of my face.”

Mac watches an officer at least a foot taller than him round the desk. He falters.

“Look, I’m not trying to cause, trouble. I’m just worried about my friend - “

“Mac!”

He turns, a grin of relief spreading across his face. Dennis is walking down a hallway, hands cuffed, being lead by the arm of another, nicer-looking officer.

Mac makes a dash for it, skirting the freakishly tall Dietrich, and heading for Dennis. The officer holding his arm grips tighter.

“Excuse me, sir. Please take a step back.”

Mac does. “I’m his roommate. Just tell me what his bail is, so I can get him out of here.”

The officer sighs. “He doesn’t have a bail yet. We’re on the way to his initial hearing right now.”

“What? What are you charging him with?”

“Indecent exposure - “

“It’s not what you think,” Dennis immediately protests. “I - uh - “

“Disorderly intoxication.”

“That’s just downright - “

“And grave desecration.”

Dennis just purses his lips in respond.

“Not to mention your priors.” The officer tugs him roughly. “Now let’s go.”

“Wait - “ Mac starts.

“Boyfriend! You can come too,” the officer says. “Now, quit wasting my time.”

Mac pulls out his cell phone as he follows after them.

“I’m calling Frank,” he tells Dennis. “We’ll figure this out.”

“Mr. Dennis Reynolds.”

“That’s me,” Dennis mutters.

“You’ve been brought to council under the chargers of indecent exposure, disorderly intoxication, and grave desecration. Do you understand these terms.”

“Yes,” Dennis says shortly, “but if I could just explain - “

“You’ll get your chance in a minute. Now, - “

“Ayooooooooo!”

The doors to the room fly open, and through them walk Frank, Charlie, and Dee. Dennis groans. He’s still way too drunk for this.

“Uh - excuse me - who are you?” the judge asks.

Dennis wishes he could break out of these handcuffs. Just to give Frank a good neck-wringing.

“Not. Now.” he hisses through his teeth.

“I’m here to pay my son’s bail.”

“Right,” the judge says. “Well, that is what I’m trying to decide. If you could please take a seat and allow me to do my job, we will get there.”

She clears her throat.

“Mr. Reynolds, when you were brought in, your blood alcohol content was .25.”

Somebody whistles. Dennis doesn’t want to know who, but he has a feeling it’s his dumbass father.

“I was drinking today, yes.”

“That excessively?” The judge’s gaze bares down on him over the rim of her wire glasses.

“It’s been a hard day,” he forces out. His throat is suddenly dry.

“Mr. Reynolds, it would be easy to assume the ramifications of grief in your incident, had we only the public intoxication and the presence of yourself in a graveyard, yet -“ She makes a show of checking the police report. “You were found urinating on a grave.”

Dennis clenches his jaw. “Did you get a name on the grave?”

The judge checks the file. Her eyebrows crease together. She glances to someone off to her right, who then approaches her. They whisper something Dennis can’t hear.

“We did not get a name, Mr. Reynolds. However, the owner of the grave has no relevance to - “

“Klinsky,” Dennis interrupts.

“I beg your pardon,” the judge says.

“Klinsky,” Dennis repeats. “The name on the grave was Klinsky.”

Dennis doesn’t have to look to know that behind him, all members of the gang have become rife with tension. The judge clearly notices it too, because her expression changes. She glances at the members of his support party.

“I take it you know this person,” she says, awkwardly clearing her throat.

Dennis laughs, darkly. It probably doesn’t help his case.

“She was my school librarian.”

He lets the silence ring for a second. He doesn’t know exactly where he’s going. He doesn’t like sharing, but it feels almost involuntarily.

“When I was 14. She - “ Dennis swallows hard. This better fucking emancipate him. “She molested me, several times.”

After a long, agonizing second, the judge takes a deep breath and collapses against the chair.

Dennis feels impatience buzz under his skin. “What, you don’t believe me?”

The judge shakes her head. “Mr. Reynolds, I’m dropping all charges. You’re free to go.”

A couple odd claps ring out. Dennis doesn’t care. He shoves his wrists to his public defender, who motions for the attending officer to join them. He unlocks the handcuffs. Dennis glances at his long-fading scars while he rubs his tender skin.

Mac is the first to reach him, placing both hands on either of Dennis’ upper arms. “Den, are you okay?”

Dennis chuckles. “Why wouldn’t I be? I just got off scott-free. I don’t even know why she believed me.”

“Because you’re crying, Dennis.”

His eyes snap up to meet Mac’s. An involuntary hand feels his face. His fingers come away with tear stains.

“Oh.”

Mac wipes a fresh tear from his cheek.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

Dennis shrugs. “It was just a chance I saw that Facebook post. Everything after that was rage.”

Mac cups his jaw with one hand, keeps the other on Dennis’ bicep.

“Let’s go home, get you sobered up.”

Dennis doesn’t really like the idea of sobering up, but at least if he’s with Mac, there’s a silver lining.

Dennis falls asleep with ease, lying comfortably in his bed. Pleased, Mac passed out beside him, foolishly reassured.

It’s still dark outside when Mac wakes up to an empty bed. Panic floods Mac’s bloodstream. He unceremoniously de-tangles himself from the blankets and stumbles upward. He hears a violent fetching sound and hurries to bathroom.

Dennis is pale-faced on the floor, and in the fluorescent light from overhead, Mac can see the excessive damage he must have done to himself in the past 24 hours. He makes a mental not to keep on eye on the state of the wounds while Dennis regains his composure.

“I drank . . . a lot.”

Mac eases himself to his knees.

“How much are we talking?” he asks, placing a hand on Dennis’ clammy forehead. “Should I be worried?” He grabs Dennis’ chin and forces it up, trying to get a better look at Dennis’ eyes.

Dennis clears his throat. “Nah. I always thought alcohol poisoning was pretty much how I would go anyway.”

Mac frowns. “Don’t do that - “

Dennis laughs, darkly. “It’s not like I have a history or anything.”

Mac’s expression flips, and he looks at Dennis with glassy eyes and a trembling mouth. “Were you - ?”

Dennis shrugs. “Who knows.”

Mac grabs his neck, almost roughly, and cradles his hand against Dennis’ skin. “Talk to me,” he begs.

A warm, disruptive tear slips down Dennis’ cheek. He sighs. He’s tired of involuntarily crying. He’s still blasting chunks, but god does his hand itch for the bottle.

“What do you want me to say, Mac?” he asks, voice low and gruff, barely above a whisper. “That I’m angry? That I’m sad?” He offers a crooked smile. “That I’m furious at that bitch for fucking me up beyond repair? And maybe I wish I could have gotten even just a word in edgewise before she decided to croak? That now I’m so fucking depressed that I want nothing more than to just kill myself so I can stop feeling this horrible and endless hurricane of emotions?”

He spits into the toilet. “Because I’m fine. I’m glad that perverted old bitch is dead. I’m ecstatic.”

Mac heaves a deep breath. “Dennis - “

He’s saved the trauma of continuing the conversation by another wave of vomit forcing its way out.

When dawn breaks, Mac hears his name in a soft voice. It takes him a moment to register that Dennis is awake in the bed beside him.

“What’s wrong?” he asks earnestly.

Dennis’ voice trembles. “If our situations were reversed, I would remove everything sharp from our apartment.”

Still a bit bleary, Mac takes a second to digest the words before fully realizing what Dennis is saying. Then he’s on his feet.

“Is your secret blade stash still in the loose floorboard under the sink?”

Dennis blinks. “I - “

Mac nods. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

By the time Mac has packed every knife, blade, and vaguely edgy kitchen utensil in a plastic bin and dropped it off at Dee’s, Dennis is asleep again.

Mac doesn’t disturb him.

It happens when they’re eating breakfast. Mac looks up to discover Dennis crying into his eggs. He makes a move to get up, but Dennis shakes his head.

“Den?”

And he laughs. He laughs and he wheezes and his eyes start to water even more and Mac just stares, confused.

“Mac, you should have seen everyone’s faces when I walked into the funeral home drunk as shit and grabbed the mic. I made up a touching story about how I babysat her cats once and may or may not have stolen a family heirloom in a crime they cannot prove.”

Mac stares at him, half horrified, half amused. “You crashed funeral?”

“And I flirted with her grandson. Sorry, babe.”

“It’s fine. Clearly, it didn’t work out.”

Dennis heaves a stuttering breath the tears starting up again.

“I always hated you guys for bringing her up, but you were always right.”

“Dennis - “

“And, I know I’ve done a lot of bad things, and - “

He presses a shaky hand against his chest. He might be hyperventilating, but he can’t stop babbling now.

“Dennis, you don’t have - “

“Sometimes I think - sometimes I think I deserve it.”

“ . . . Dennis.”

He smiles at Mac. “You can’t argue that, and you know it.”

Mac shakes his head firmly. “You were a kid - “

“And look at me now.”

“Dennis Reynolds, stop being fucking stupid. You were a kid. You did not deserve that, and you still don’t. And I’m sorry.”

Dennis looks up, curiously. “For what?“

Mac shrugs. He’s crying. Dennis doesn’t comment on it.

“That that happened to you, man. It’s like - you know how you and everyone else kept trying to get me to come out of the closet and admit who I was to myself?”

Dennis nods, uncertain where this is going.

“It was killing me. Keeping everything bottled up, not letting myself feel things, forcing myself to live in fear everyday - it made me hate being alive. Dennis, you’ve been suicidal since we met. You have to let go of everything you’re holding inside, and this is the start. I know it hurts now, but it’ll change.”

Dennis looks to the ceiling and squeezes his eyes shut. A sob chokes it’s way out of his throat.

“I don’t even know where to start, Mac,” he whispers.

“Anywhere,” Mac tells him.

Dennis wishes he has the energy to smile, but he’s so tired. He pushed his plate away. He wipes at his eyes and sniffs.

“Can we call in today?”

#macdennis #mac macdonald #dennis reynolds #fic

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xmargot · 5 years ago

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─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

(ASSISTANT CURATOR / THE GETTY MUSEUM. ) 𝕄𝔸ℝ𝔾𝕆𝕋 𝕊𝕋. ℙ𝕀𝔼ℝℝ𝔼. ( 26 / SHE/HER / FEMALE ): we hear 𝕄𝔸ℝ𝔾𝕆𝕋. is charismatic , tasteful and clever, but can also be selfish, callous, and jaded . ( jodie comer ) ( k. / 27 / SHE/HER )

*BACKGROUND;

°✮ - Margot was born in Toulouse, France. She is the middle child, leaving her with an older sister, and a younger brother. Her mother ( american. ) met her father ( british. ) ripe out of University in New York. She was an artist, and her father was fond of her exquisite nature, and creative drive. It wasn’t long before the two wed, and had their first child. Her father, a slim, disciplined Londoner, moved the family to France after his own father had died. There, in France, he took over his fathers antiquities, and became a curator for them, and an art distributor. Not too long after, they settled in France, and had Margot.

°✮ - As a child, Margot was curious as a cat. She was always rebelling against whatever her nanny told her to do. The direction of ‘staying put’ always went unnoticed for her. She was restless, and often bored with whatever she was told to do. The girl always had a greater adventure within her head. She nearly gave her nanny(s) strokes after not being able to find her hours on end. Margot was fearless. Her adolescent feet carried her through the Parisian cities, through the country fields, without any care of anyone ever worrying about her.

°✮ - Much like her mother, Margot had a mind of creativity. She was scolded in school for daydreaming too often, but weren’t the dreams always a better escape than reality? She thought so, at least. At a young age she was put into ballet classes. Her parents thought it would help discipline her focus. She carried on dance classes until she was the age where she hadn’t needed to do as her parents told her to do anymore. Her form was just as exquisite as her mothers beauty, and she was just as good as any other of the girls, the problem was, she hadn’t cared to keep the drive.

°✮ - Much like her father, she picked up a keen sense for art. Often wandering through the Parisian museums, she was clad with a sketchbook and pastels drowning herself into her own world. Her father always told her she was the master of her own self, and she often stuck to that. She had little boundaries, and that often sent her creativity into hyper drive. She was a painter, and found herself learning at her fathers hip about art and the finest bits about it.

°✮ - After schooling, Margot’s restless soul traveled to Brussels. There, she soaked in the culture and collected a few art degrees at a prestigious university. After growing tiresome of the area, and dealing with too many all too real heartaches, Margot ventured off again, this time to New York City. It was away from her family, (even though their own wealth kept them traveling worldly,) and away is what she wanted. The wings on her back always felt the need to flee somewhere. Was she lost? A little. -and that was a feeling she hadn’t wanted to get comfortable with.

°✮ - She resided in Manhattan living in a flat by herself. After having chased after a woman ( a previous professor, ) whom she had a whirlwind of an affair with. Having her heart broken once by the woman wasn’t enough. Margot continued the chase, and it wasn’t until another wound was made that she accepted it was time to pick up and move on, again. When she first moved to New York, she tried to have a roommate, and realized she hadn’t done well with strangers acquiring her space. It was such a big, noisy city, it was the only time she felt isolated enough to collect herself. Her job was a head curator for the MET museum. She had worked there for two years and made quite the name for herself. on top of it all, margot also finished schooling at NYU to further her degrees.

°✮ - promising herself to tough it out in NY until graduation, margot allowed the wind to carry her elsewhere. buying a pristine vintage jaguar, the woman hit the road without turning back. collectively she was without reigns. she was running away from her heartache yet again, this time, without the chase. - the wind had carried her across the country. west side. it’ was a typical cliche. yet people fled to the city of angels to be apart of something.. and whatever that ‘something’ had been, margot wanted to be a part of it. it’s had it’s ups and downs from being nothing like new york. adjustments are still being made. has margot felt this move was the right decision ? possibly. does she feel she will reside in the plastic dream city for long ? she would shrug finding life as a whole, entirely unpredictable.

* PERSONALITY;

°✮ - ( - ) Margot can be a little bratty, and childish. Its a negative trait that she still carries from her adolescence. She can be short fused when it comes to people’s arrogance. Often she is dripping in sarcasm, and when it comes to others emotions she finds herself to be stiff in an awkwardness. Sometimes people find it to be cold, but she just doesn’t quite know how to handle a situation.

°✮ - ( + ) Her heart feels often heavy without knowing. Her mother always thought it was because she contained so much warmth, and kindness within her and she just didn’t know how to express, or give it out yet. She feels things heavily ( though doesn’t often show it, and rather be in a numb state. its safe there. ) She’s very loyal, driven. Her daily life, as well as work life is efficient. she can come off as brash, and bratty at times. relationships are something she DOESN’T take to lightly. - ( hesitant with children also - in fact shes fucking terrified of them. ) (( because she acts like a full blown child sometimes all on her own. ))

* STUFF ‘N THINGS;

°✮ - Has a habit of buying things, just to own them. It’s a good thing she’s very clean, and organized or else she could slip into being a hoarder. She loves clothes, designer, it’s an expression of art- and her mind is blown over a lot of expensive pieces. ( goes along with perfume, and jewelry too. ) chanel, chloe - favorite designers.

°✮ - Enjoys champagne, often having a glass while taking a bath. (Bubbles, or bath bombs of course.) reads trashy magazines in the bath, a hair wrap with a perfected bun, possibly trolls too hard on instagram.

°✮ - cardio. enjoys speed cycling.

°✮ - Dips into nostalgia with an old Victrola in her living room. It often hums french tunes from decades ago, along with stacks of records in brackets below. ( Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, Frank Sinatra, Nina Simone, Blondie, –but she also dips into indie and pop music from today.)

°✮ - She has a piano in her bedroom. It’s played often to make herself tired, or when she’s feeling sad. Along the window ledge near, she has random journals she often writes poetry within during these moods. (never when she’s happy.) -she almost likes to be moody at times.

°✮ - She has a cat named cat. It’s a stolen name from Holly Go-lightly’s cats name from Breakfast at Tiffany’s. She often wonders if Cat needs a companion.

°✮ - She loves food, so snacks are always in her pantry. Cooking she does well, but often has little motivation to do so. it’s annoying how perfect she keeps her figure when she eats incredibly unhealthy at times. postmate is an occurring company at her door. Her space is open, its whimsical, and romantic. She likes to keep an open space to fit her comfort so her creative drive doesn’t ever feel hushed, or restricted.

* CONNECTIONS;

°✮ - co-workers, & old flings ( or anything stemmed from her background as long as it ties in with her time line, pasts flings can come from the last six months she had been in L..A, ) always open. I am very open to several and most possibilities. Don’t feel held back, please don’t be afraid to come to me and ask me for possibilities. I am very open!

#tlawintro #【 ᵈʳᵒʷⁿ ᵐᵉ ⁱⁿ ᶜʰᵃᵐᵖᵃᵍⁿᵉ. ° ａｂｏｕｔ．】#about

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luckjustkissedyouhello · 6 years ago

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ISAIP Fic Teaser - Love So Sterng I: Pound Puppy Eyes

I’m working on a fanfic. i’ve been working on it forever....since January. It’s easily the longest fanfic I’ve every written, and clocks in at ~42,000 works. AND I’ve finished it. Currently, @brownwithafrown is very kindly betaing it. I discovered, on reaching the ending, that the fic will be a series. I’m so proud of finishing that i thought i’d post the the opening scene tonight.

Warnings (for the fic in general, not just the opening scene): Graphic violence. Foul language. More violence (in this scene). Blood. Vomit. Mentions of past (physical) child abuse and neglect, as well as mentions/discussions of past childhood sexual abuse (aka: Uncle Jack). Self harm. Prescription drug misuse. Anxiety/Panic Attacks. Non-canon Character Death. [I think that’s all - am I missing any @brownwithafrown?]

This scene especially is heavy on the violence/whumping of Charlie and Mac. The endgame is CharMac, though this fanfic doesn’t go there. No other pairings in this fic,

Title: Love So Sterng I: Pound Puppy Eyes

Summary: One of Frank’s bad choices has dire repercussions for two members of The Gang. Can they (and their friendships) survive the aftermath?

Mac doesn't register what he's hearing, at first.

He's down in the basement, rearranging the boxes of extra booze. Charlie complained he piled them too high. There was a step stool right there, for that very reason, but Charlie said he didn't like climbing on things, (not if he wasn't blitzed out of his head on inhalants and climbing a leaning tower of boxes to freedom via an air vent, apparently). And when Dee went down to get rum, she just squawked that the boxes were too heavy and that she was dizzy from basement fumes. Dumb bitch. So now Mac is pulling down the boxes, taking out four bottles per box so that there's only eight rather than twelve in the box, and stacking the boxes so they're chest height, no higher.

It's not his fault that he didn't know his own strength anymore (not that anyone gives a shit how hard he worked to look good and keep them safe with his hot new rockin' bod) and so he made the boxes too heavy. He hated doing inventory anyway because of this. Everyone had an opinion, but no one did the work (not that he didn't try to slide out of it himself). Also, it's not his fault that he couldn't find any more boxes. So now there's a lot of liquor bottles all around him on the floor. Brown liquor, clear liquor, whatever the hell Jägermeister is… And Mac may be debating snagging a few bottles for his and Dennis's place. It's not really stealing, if he's taking something he'd just drink in the bar without paying, right?

He has to admit, it's a decent workout, lifting boxes and moving things around, which is why he put on his workout mix a little while ago. The music tells his body to go more faster. So his ear buds are in, not even at maximum volume, but it still takes a while for him to realize that there is an awful lot of stomping and crashing going on upstairs for a bar that is closed. Charlie is up there cleaning while Mac moves the stock around. They closed early, it was only eleven on a Tuesday, but Dee was out on a 'date' (yeah, right) and Charlie was bummed because he hadn't seen Frank in days, and Mac was bummed because Dennis was in North Dakota again, visiting D/BJ ('don't call him Dennis-slash-Brian Junior' Dennis had shouted at him, but Mac thought the nickname was great and wanted to keep it - at least until the rest of the gang heard it - they had rules about this, banning of nicknames was not allowed without the nicknamer and nicknamed present, as well as at least one other member of the gang). So they decided to have a movie night to keep Charlie's spirits up. Which was why he is thinking about what liquor to snag – whiskey was winning out because Charlie tended to get sad as shit when he drank vodka straight and if Mac was honest with himself, Jägermeister made him kind of violent (the last time he had drank nothing but Jäger and Redbull, he put his hand through the mirror in the apartment's bathroom) when he accidentally sets a box on the earbuds cord and doesn't realize until the little earbud is ripped out of his right ear as he turns to grab the next box.

Just in time to hear a loud thud and Charlie scream. Mac's guts turn to ice. Because he knows each and every one of Charlie's screams, from frustrated to happy, sad to hungry, stoned to confessing love, (Charlie screams a lot) and that one was a rare one. That was the sound of pain. Charlie says something, Mac can just pick up on the highest sounds through the floor, and then there's another, softer thud than the one before.

Silence. Something is not right. Mac knows it in his bones. He runs for the stairs, he can't leave Charlie of all people alone up there with a threat, Charlie wasn't good in situations like this, didn't know how to ever just shut up and follow instructions, listening to the robber's words rather than getting distracted by like the light reflecting in a puddle or whatever else caught his eye – Mac once watched Charlie stare at the point of a mugger's knife for, like, three whole minutes before getting his wallet out while Mac and the crackhead *both* screamed at him fork over his cash. Which was only two dollars, in nickels, for some odd reason. Charlie was lucky Mac was with him and he didn't get knifed then, 'cause Mac was more smart and took Charlie's arm and ran as the mugger stared at his fistful of silvery metal and got this frustrated I'm gonna stab you anyway look on his face.

And. Yeah. No one is supposed to hurt Charlie. Not when Mac is around. He had made that promise to himself, and out loud to Charlie when they were like eight and Charlie had crawled through his bedroom window (scaring the shit out of Mac, who didn't know Charlie could climb up the side of his house like Spiderman!), sobbing and refusing to say why. Eight year old Mac was Ronnie then, and he held on to his friend and promised that he'd protect him, which just made Charlie cry harder. Mac had never forgotten that promise, and in school he caught more than one beating that was meant for the other man (and okay, sometimes Charlie got his ass kicked on Mac's behalf, but those weren't Mac's fault!), but Mac had made a promise to his oldest friend that day nearly forty years ago. He isn't going to break that now!

Charlie's rat bashing stick is leaning against the wall by the basement door. Without any other weapon, Mac decides it is better than nothing. Part of him is tempted to hide down in the basement and not come out. If it was anyone else up there alone, maybe he'd do that. But there's another thud, and now he can hear through the basement door the other guy's deep voice - fuck he's probably big - and Charlie's higher one shouting something, but he can't figure out what the fuck either of them are saying.

Charlie shouts again in pain, and that gets Mac moving again. It's Charlie. He can't leave him. Even if Mac is so scared his guts are frozen ice, he knows he has to see what's going on. He edges into the keg room, glad the door is open into the bar and he can sneak over to the doorway. What he sees makes him want to turn tail and hide, but also go over and beat the man's brains in with his bare fists.

Charlie is curled up fetal on the floor, on arm around his middle and the other up over his head, and Mac is pretty sure there's blood on Charlie's face, but he can't really see at the angle he's at. The dude, who is about Mac's height but looks much less beefy, but he's got a gun pointed at Charlie, and that's scarier than if Arnold himself was in the room. Mac heart is thudding so hard in his throat as he watches that he's afraid they both will hear it thudding and give him away, but they don't. The man just boots Charlie in the face, twice in rapid succession, boom boom without giving Charlie a chance to recover or even get his hands up to protect himself and says calmly: "I know you know where Frank is," while Charlie groans in pain, blood leaking between his fingers as he cups his hand to his smashed and bleeding nose.

"I don't!" Charlie answers, his voice is muffled by the hand he's got to his face, but it makes something twist in Mac's chest to hear Charlie sounding desperate and clogged with blood.

The man growls, actually growls and Charlie tries to shrink away, but he's got a dazed look on his face like he's not all there anymore and Mac can't blame him. Being kicked in the face is disorientating. The man reaches down and wraps his free hand in Charlie's hair and pulls up - Charlie cries out and has to grip the man's arm to keep from losing hair. The man shakes his fist and jerks Charlie's head around (wow, Mac's never seen an adult do that to another adult, though his father was fond of doing that to him when he was being a little bitch that didn't listen good). The man lets go of his hair and looks at the sleeve of the gray blazer he's wearing, marked by the blood that was on Charlie's hand.

Charlie's eyes go wide and he starts to raise his hands up, but the stranger is quicker. Mac watches it happen in what feels like slow-motion, helpless to stop it, the man swinging the gun in his hand in a wide, punishing arch that ends with a crack against Charlie's left cheekbone and Charlie starts to fall to the side, but the man grabs Charlie's shirt collar in his fist to keep Charlie upright and hits Charlie in the face with the gun twice more so quick Charlie doesn't get a chance to brace himself between blows. The bastard isn't giving Mac a chance to step in, he's got the gun too close to Charlie for Mac to try and stop him - he can't take the risk that the man will shoot Charlie before he will get to them.

Seeing the man just whale on Charlie makes Mac angry, his hand tightens on the Rat Stick as he watches. He prays as he does because he can't *do fucking anything*, just watch as the man lets go of Charlie's shirt and Charlie fucking crumples to the ground with a moan of pain. Mac fucking prays more in those moments than he has in the last year, begging God or Jesus or like, Saint Jude (the patron saint of lost causes and therefore pretty much the one that probably gives a shit about guys like Mac and Charlie) to step in and not let Charlie get shot. Mac isn't sure what he'll do if Charlie were to die.

Charlie doesn't get shot. Instead, he fucking *writhes* on the floor, banging his right fist into the ground, hard, muttering 'fuck, fuck, fuck!' under his breath. Like that can distract from the pain that his face must be in. Mac hates himself for just watching, but he knows, he *knows* he only has one chance to surprise the bastard with the gun and get Charlie (and him) out of this alive.

The bastard points the gun at Charlie. "Tell me where Frank is and I won't shoot you in your fucking face."

"I don't know where he is," Charlie says, his voice is still desperate, that sad desperate of someone who knows that they won't be believed, even though he's telling the truth.

The asshole growls again, and steps towards Charlie, the gun pointed at the floor as he raises his foot to kick Charlie again. And Mac decides that's it. Here's his chance. He needs to step in now, while the gun is pointed at the floor rather than Charlie. Mac finds that despite how much he hates seeing Charlie hurt, how much he hates this guy for hurting Charlie, a large part of him wants to be a coward and hang back, rush for the safety of the basement and hide there. But he can't do that. Can't leave Charlie to get beat up more, or worse.

Mac raises the bat and runs at the bastard. The guy turns to him just as Mac swings the bat. The spiked bat makes solid contact with the prick's head, Mac feels the shock of it connecting go down his arms (it's like driving a speeding car into a brick wall) and then Mac is sitting on his ass, having fallen for a reason he can't quite figure out for a long, dazed moment.

The guy hits the ground, the bat sticking to him, a spike shoved into his right eye, another driven in to his cheek. Mac stares at him, because the guy isn't moving, not even to breathe, and Mac still isn't sure why he's sitting down, except that *he* can't breathe and something catches his eye, he looks away from the not moving man and looks down at himself, because the something that caught his eye was blood, bright red and on his chest and it's his blood, and...and....there was a bang of the gun going off, wasn't there?

+++

end of teaser.

Thanks for reading!

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