I think the audience's reaction to Mac and Dennis's relationship in Prime Time (thinking they're lovers, calling Mac Dennis's boyfriend, etc) is RCG/the writers' acknowledgement that there is something going on there, that their relationship is clearly not a normal platonic one and it's valid to read them as couple-coded.
AND!
When you include Dennis's reactions to their assumptions ("He's not my boyfriend!"/"We are not lovers."), it's a commentary on the fact that people like to simplify their relationship into something it just isn't. Mac and Dennis are not "boyfriends," their relationship isn't platonic but it cannot be clearly defined as romantic either. They don't fit into the nice box of "couple," and they're never going to.
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The fathers of Sunny make me so infinitely angry
They're all abusive in such similar ways
Starting with Frank, the stand-in father for every member of the gang
- A fake father to Dee and Dennis who, for a very long time, felt the need to live up to his expectations while also pretending not to care. They are always affected by Frank's neglect when they were kids and his overbearing presence as adults. The fact that he would have any semblance to pimp either of his children out, the fact that he would start living with their best friend and treat him like a son instead, the fact that he would bet that they would jerk off a dog for pure entertainment, all while making them take part in his schemes and blaming them for their problems. I know he's supposed to be a terrible person, but it's so disgusting to dive into it.
He affects Charlie, leading him on in their weird pseudo father/son relationship. Continues to disrespect him in all the same ways, and to a greater extent than most of the rest of the gang because he knows Charlie is reliant on him financially and emotionally. He doesn't reciprocate the love that Charlie gives him and doesn't have the decency to apologize or even explain his actions when he abandons Charlie for a tapeworm or Samantha.
WHEN I CATCH YOU FRANK REYNOLDS
Next up is Luther
- He really only affected Mac long term, but affecting any member of the gang affects all of them. Mac is constantly attention seeking because his parents, but specifically his father, never gave him the attention he needed. Even when Luther writes him letters and acknowledges that his son really is his son, he can't own up to his role as a father when his son is begging for it. Luther is only able to love him through the letters that his son never reads, Luther is only able to love the idea of Mac, not who he actually is. This is best seen in Mac Finds His Pride where he shows his dad the most vulnerable part of himself, not looking for anything but for him to see Mac as who he truly is instead of some twisted version of the show he puts on for Luther, and he cant even stand to sit through it. Makes me SICK.
Every single head canon about Mac being beaten or verbally abused by Luther seems so correct because it's so hard to think of a childhood for Mac where he was only absent, otherwise Mac wouldn't crave his father's approval nearly as much as he does.
LUTHER MCDONALD WHEN I CATCH YOU
We know the least about Shelly Kelly, but what we do know is how fucked up of a father he was to Charlie
- He didn't bother to reach out to his son as he got older, only doing it to keep a connection with Bonnie, not really caring about his son when he came from across the ocean and found him. When Charlie finds this man that shares his language and his lineage, his face, his name, Shelly didn't care to learn much about his son or do things that would further their relationship as people, only further their relationship in the idea or essence of family. Family that expects and asks for much more than it deserves. Shelly did not deserve to have Charlie carry him up that goddamned mountain after only knowing him for three days. He was supposed to carry Charlie. Not to mention that Frank couldn't bother to carry Charlie either.
at this point i dont even really know what the general perception of narcissistic personality disorder is - the reason why i talk about npd + dennis is bc. like
the thought that dennis is a socio/psychopath always annoyed me - he's clearly not. NPD is not anything like that. it's a disorder related to great emotional depth, if anything; it's just that that depth is often denied in favour of creating an Image (which is why dennis might come across as sociopathic at times!)
someone with npd, more often than not, has the deep, fundamental belief that they are so inferior and unloved that they have to spend their lives desperately trying to prove themselves and control their image to acquire love and respect. it develops from deep relational trauma. ignore the DSM; i'm going off other research here, the DSM is pretty much useless for this lol.
NPD involves black and white switching/idealisation-devaluation patterns like BPD does, but the flavour is very different. dennis doesn't even seem to understand his own relationships most of the time, tbh, but most of what he does is try to keep them in place so that he knows where he stands in them. speaking as someone with bpd, with a lot of bpd friends... we're pretty useless at that lol.
honestly, it rankles me a little that bpd was even brought up in relation to dennis, bc people conceive of it as just... 'the asshole disorder', basically (exact words i've heard used irl). i don't blame RCG though, esp since glenn spoke about it in an interview once, saying that they don't really abide by that diagnosis bc it was a very quick one in-universe, based on very little.
anyway i have more to say but i have too many thoughts and not enough spoons to organise them lol. the point is, i think it's interesting for me to think of dennis through this lense bc it gives him a lot more depth than just saying he's psycho or whatever. people with NPD are not bad people, and imo it's pretty nasty that they gave the diagnosis that name to begin with! i feel like i need a disclaimer when talking abt it in relation to fandom bc i dont want to encourage the kneejerk reaction of what that word means to the general public
can you talk a little bit more about gets whacked? i love ur insight and that is one of my fav episodes (2 parters or not) :3
hi anon (sorry it has taken me 5 billion years to respond). I've been thinking about why it has, why I keep putting it off, and tbh it's because the episodes (while some of my favorites) are also deeply disturbing to me on a personal level. and fuck, there's a lot going on. like I mean it's called "the gang gets whacked" for a reason:
charlie and dee get whacked out on drugs, the gang try to avoid getting killed (whacked), and dennis quite literally gets repeatedly smacked (whacked) in the face. right, walk with me now:
they leave me sick to my stomach. and it's not because the episodes are bad. it's because they exist in my mind as a very truthful look into the nature of frank and dennis' relationship (and more importantly just. dennis' character and who he is at his core. especially in regards to bodily autonomy and sexualization—both how dennis sees himself, and how others see him).
it's easy to look at the plot of those episodes and laugh. after all, there are some really funny moments and the chardee plotline is one of my favorites in the whole show.
and yet, I find myself cringing at the screen. now I could launch into a full on exploration of those episodes detailing just how much fucking work they do in terms of character development. but I don't have the capacity, really.
what I will say is that I think a lot of people overlook those episodes when weighing the importance of them in the overall context of the show. and those same people often fall into this category that sexualizes dennis' every movement and display of physical contact, making excuses for the way mac (for example) has consistently ignored his very clear discomfort and deep-seated fear and lasting trauma and instead writing it off as "oh he actually does want it, he actually wants to be touched, he just doesn't know how to say it." and even I myself have found myself slipping into a mindset of "well, dennis touches mac all the time so he must actually like it" when in reality, his touches are a way for him to maintain control and also connect in a way that is on his own terms.
now I'm not saying I don't love macdennis (I mean look at my fucking handle for fucks sake). but I don't love it at the cost of the characters and who they are on their own. individual characterization is part of what makes shipping so interesting and meaningful. or at least it is to me.
I've been part of fandoms that kind of throw canon out the window (and I've enjoyed them in their own right) but it's been really cool to be a part of the iasip fandom because it's clear that the canon is not just a jumping off point, but rather something we hold close to our chests and take along with us as we also engage in shipping and writing and art. and I'm not saying you can't write a fic that's just macden suckin' and fuckin' in the back office, cuz like that's your prerogative. and also I love that shit too I really do. but the amount of analysis and meta and writing and art in this fandom that embraces canon and shapes it into something new and wonderful, is something beautiful to behold.
and I said I wasn't gonna write a whole long ass thing. but here we are. tldr; the gang gets whacked (parts 1&2) are good and important and sickening and illuminating and funny and serious all at once. and that's the flavor of sunny I most enjoy.
Dennis Reynolds is not a serial killer. in fact, he has never killed a single person. all of his fantasies of kiling are his way of mentally reclaiming power from someone who he feels has taken it from him, and he says incriminating things to make people think that he is unfeeling and dangerous and convince them not to cross him. (edit: or help him.)
as he says, Maureen is the only woman who can break his "shell", his protection. he feels like he was weak around her, so he needs to make everyone think he killed her as a way to reestablish his power over her in their minds, and to override their memory of him when he was in a relationship with her.
ha fantasizes about killing the news reporter because she is the only woman who makes him nervous (powerless), and once her boobs are ruined (the part that had value to him) he realizes what she's 'done' to him and needs to take his power back.
he wants people to think that he's capable of murder, just to scare them into submission. he acts like he wanted to actually kill the waitress in Mac is a serial killer because he needs Dee to keep following his orders. he says he likes being considered a serial killer when he asks charlie if he's "methodical" because he's trying to get charlie to follow his obviously flawed 'say yes' advice. he tells Dee to 'think of the smell' because he is in an argument with her where he needs to feel superior. love is a head in a freezer because then they can't leave, they cant hurt him, he is in control.
but in the end, he doesn't have the strength to kill pop pop.
I know that it sounds like I'm overlooking hard evidence of things that the character himself has said, but Dennis is a liar. he hates himself, so he starves himself and hurts people to prove that he's a golden god. all he wants is a loving relationship, which he has, so he acts like he doesn't need Mac (or anyone else for that matter). he tells mac that he has no feelings, only to reveal seasons later that he has big feelings, but he can't be seen as loving, caring, (weak). so he presents the anthrax, when it was always just sugar.
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the way mac & dennis use third parties (or some external situation) to "referee" for them so that they don't feel like spending time together is gay ...
1x05 gun fever: the entire episode lmao. theyre in love. also the cold open sounds like some sort of event where they had sex with girls together
1x06 the gang finds a dead guy: mac & dennis try to make advances on a recent widow together
2x01 charlie gets crippled: mac & dennis get trashed at a strip club together (and dont bring any strippers home unlike earlier. they left their heterosexuality behind)
4x01 manhunters: mac puts his pubes on dennis' face while he's sleeping, dennis puts his balls in mac's mouth "as a prank" (also while he's sleeping), then in cricket's together!!!
4x04 mac's banging the waitress: mac being very adamant abt watching dennis' sex tapes even tho they're that bad angle u see in porns where it's balls and male ass just *clip* *clap* *clop* *clep* *clup*
5x01 the gang solves the mortgage crisis: mac & dennis using the mortgage crisis to become partners in real estate, then merging this with dee's surrogate baby idea to become partners in real estate & partners in life
6x02 dennis gets divorced: mac & dennis canonically spend 15 hrs at the strip club b4 crashing back into their place SLOSHED. they don't even refute maureen when she calls mac dennis' boy toy
6x03 the gang buys a boat: (shoutout to @ocularpatdowns key macdennis chronology!!!) mac & dennis doing the whole boat sex thing to have sex together (makes it feel less gay if there's women involved)
7x06 storm of the century & 7x11 thunder gun express: mac watching dennis bang girls
8x08 charlie rules the world: the guys all watch dennis' sex tapes together
8x10 cereal defense: mac & dennis send the idiots off on smth they think is a race, while they get to spend alone time together in the range rover...mac's flirting & puppy-eye look at dennis right b4 the gang crash into them & revert to status quo makes me die inside
9x04 mac and dennis buy a timeshare: it's in the title innit?
9x09 the gang make lethal weapon 6: mac & dennis film the gayest scene ever for like, a D-movie action flick
10x02 the gang group dates: dennis says "the sex tapes are only for me. ...and mac. ...and charlie! :)"
10x05 the gang spies like US: they literally masturbate to creampie porn together!!!!
the anthrax being sugar all along is the key to dennis' whole character.
dudebros on r/iasip just see the anthrax (aka the façade) and accuse us of just seeing the sugar (aka the truth), but the thing of it is, when you see the sugar, you can also see the implication of anthrax, and that explains everything about the way the world works in dennis' mind.
to be worshipped is one thing. to be worshipped is a given. who wouldn't worship him? he leaves and the gang changes because who are they without him? he comes back and the gang chooses him because why wouldn't they? and the d.e.n.n.i.s system and being a golden god and demonstrate value, so they only see what you present and not what you are. sex is what you are. you are a god. see past the golden god and there's nothing there. engage physically. that's it, that's you. engage physically and they won't ask too many questions. nurture dependence, they want you. they worship you. they need you. neglect emotionally, once they start to get too close and worship and obsession tips into what you think is love. inspire hope, so they'll leave and come back again, because you decide what goes and what doesn't. and nothing goes. you are golden and perfect. they will never leave.
then. separate entirely. you leave first. they will cling onto you and kneel at your altar and miss the perfect version of you, and you will only be known as the golden god and you will only be remembered for sex because that is what you are.
and that's all you need. you need worship, you need obsession. you don't need to be loved, or known, because what does that bring you? to be known is to see past the facade. to be known means presenting every bit of yourself, every flaw and imperfection that you try to scrub and dye and push away before it becomes too obvious. and what do you do, when someone knows you, and they don't like what they see?
