Unspoken tension ahead of Charlie Work, a wound left open in Family Fight
The Production Order (the order in which the episodes are written) always seems of some value to me in Sunny, but 10 I find especially substantial. With half of the scripts of the season written by RCG, 4 are back-to-back (with their 5th one, Psycho Pete, being 2nd in order).
The run begins after The Gang Spies like U.S. Going off that into Charlie Work, as opposed to into that off Charlie Work, paints a very different narrative for the timeline.
We leave the reveal that Mac and Dennis are jerking off together into an episode that starts with high tension between Mac and Dennis. Dennis is frustrated that Mac isn't being direct, won't look him in the eyes, he's avoidant, timid. That's interesting, because Mac isn't usually any of those things, he's direct and abrupt and loud. Off 9, fully establishing Mac is gay, juxtaposing his closeted behaviour to Country Mac's openness, 10 focuses hard on the fact that Mac's confidence is continually battered as he refuses to step out of the closet. The Gang is tired of it, but Dennis is frustrated. His words maybe cut even deeper than the scratch, "Come to me like a man. Talk about being tough all the time, can't even look me in the eyes."
We leave CW and go into Family Fight, written right after, also by RCG. This episode has big focus on Dennis' obsession with public perception of himself, and the Gang. Though he can initially handle masking his demeanor, his tone of voice, what he can't mask are his words. He's smiling, he's 'joking', but there's deep truth in what he’s saying. He's frustrated, though his frustration in the moment is intended for Frank, Mac feels it directed at him. There's a fresh wound between them, because Mac fully understands what his feelings for Dennis are now, and that’s irreparably shifted their dynamic.
Misses the Boat is the last RCG-written episode of the season. From Charlie Work, where we’re kinda first faced with the fact that Mac is now overly-concerned with how Dennis perceives him, to Family Fight, where Dennis' masks slip completely and he has a public breakdown, they both veer hard to straighten themselves. Mac, very quite literally, goes straight, and Dennis resolves that he needs to cut ties to get back to being ‘cool’, he’s going to be a cool guy who has a cool car and hangs out with a babe and is cool.
But what we learn in Misses the Boat is that how they think the world views them, or should view them based on how they believe they present, isn’t who they are. They can’t actually function well in these situations. Dennis, untethered, somehow can’t control his rage as well as he can when he *is tethered* to the Gang. Mac, well, he isn’t straight, and he realises pretending to be into women is miserable.
Dennis gives him the offer: Do you want to go back? (To not addressing it, to a standstill.) And Mac quickly, excitedly takes it. Looping back to where they are in Charlie Work, back to where they settle for too long: Mac, absorbed in himself, clawing for approval from Dennis, and Dennis lashing out, tired of telling Mac what to do.
And I think this is why I love 10 more than anything, it finally addresses the issue the audience knows. With Charlie, Dee, and Frank, too. They’re going nowhere, spiraling in circles because they refuse to address the roots of their issues, and Misses the Boat makes them, themselves, fully aware of that fact. They’re miserable together, but they’re worse off alone. And they go into 11 and beyond knowing this, and all kind of resenting each other for it, until 14. Where they acknowledge it again, and decide they’re going to keep playing the game even though it’s set.
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you know it's bad when i read svsss and tgcf, stories about just two guys falling in love and getting together, and think, "god i wish i were in between them."
gay little domestic cottage core life with binghe and qingqiu? please and thank you. being sandwiched by hua cheng and xie lian, two pretty men who are hundreds of years old? i am blushing, kicking my feet and giggling
and again, it's not even that i would want only one of them. like in both of the relationships, the two love each other too much to the point it'd feel wrong if they were separated! it wouldn't feel complete, so you gotta be with both of them!
but that's the thing; i just?? i feel so incredibly guilty whenever i think about being loved by these mxtx couples??? like it's so stupid but i feel like i'm intruding in on something and it's like, everyone else seems to just want them together only, not wanna be with them. like it's fuckin taboo or whatever
i feel like with any other character from any other media it'd be fine to simp for and write/read x readers of them, but when it comes to these books, it's off limits! no way, what are you, crazy? yes, yes i'm unhinged and desperately want their love and affection simultaneously. i want to be in a happy little poly relationship with these overpowered beautiful men with long hair.
i can't be the only guy or whoever to feel this way?? to wanna be kissed by these characters? sandwiched?? i have two hands for christ sake and they all look so happy together and im just like "lord i wanna be with them so much". someone tell me i'm not alone cmon <\3
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Now that we're on the topic of Kabukimono, do you think he has the potential to become yandere? I feel like his love for you could grow into an unhealthy obsession for sure, like he'd be so attached to you, trailing you everywhere like a lost puppy. But does he have it in him to get unreasonably jealous over you giving your attention to someone else? Could he hurt someone for you and twist it in a way that he believes he's protecting you? What are your thoughts on this?
He has so much potential! Kabukimono is seeing and experiencing the world for the very first time, so he's essentially a blank slate. He's growing and learning when he wanders from place to place, sometimes immersing himself in human civilization and other times straying from populated areas to walk along the outskirts of and within Tatarasuna. Everything—including the most mundane of human tasks—becomes fascinating to him, someone who has never known the world that lies beyond the confines of Shakkei Pavilion. So naturally the way he feels when he's around you is going to be interesting because it's so different compared to how he feels around other humans.
Kabukimono is best compared to a starry-eyed duckling or a lost puppy when he trails after you. He never offers much conversation, instead preferring to admire you as he follows from behind. He never leads; he only follows, and he seems to like following you the most. Your friends have remarked that he's awfully cute when he's hurrying to keep up with your quick, clipped pace. And he's always so willing to help you in any way that he can, whether that's by carrying things, gathering things, trying to learn how to cook for your sake. Kabukimono is, in every possible way, devoted to you and it's for the purest of reasons. He cares for you; it's so clear when he frets over the tiniest scrapes and bruises that mar your perfect body. Or when he stands guard outside while you sleep, even though the area you live is peaceful enough. You can't seem to shake him, even for a moment of privacy. He wants to follow and stay and be kept around.
Kabukimono does not understand the differences between healthy and unhealthy, much like how he can't quite fathom that what he feels for you might be love (or a very obsessive version of it). He just knows that he feels good when he's around you, when he helps you and you praise him, when you teach him new things and he struggles for a while, which means you'll help him patiently and he'll get to be closer to you. Kabukimono only knows 'good' and 'bad.' That weird water you and some friends were drinking is 'bad,' apparently. You told him he shouldn't drink too much of it. Following you to places where you require privacy is 'bad.' But doing the right thing is 'good.' Right things, Kabukimono has learned, are things like following rules, listening to others, being kind and forgiving, helping those in need, and so on. Kabukimono wants to do many good things so that you'll like him and continue to let him stay near you, so he often gets very distraught when he makes a mistake, fearing that it's a bad thing.
What Kabukimono isn't taught is that manipulation is bad, but he learns fairly quickly that lots of people dote on him because he's 'innocent' and 'cute.' Kabukimono doesn't entirely understand where those words stem from—what parts of him are cute or innocent—but he's noticed that you pay more attention to him when he does things like making 'innocent mistakes,' as you've described it, or when he struggles to write and read and so you slow down your speech and take it word by word; or you'll gently grab his hand to help him trace the characters. He wanted to learn how to spell and write your name first, which everyone had found so endearing. Kabukimono wants to do more endearing things so that you'll continue to look at him.
He's good at making mistakes and acting like he just can't grasp certain subjects because, while it was like that for a while, now he can just pretend. Pretending is more fun than he thought it'd be. It's not truly a lie because he does struggle at times, but you're always there to help him, and so Kabukimono has learned that when he struggles you help. And sometimes you'll spend hours helping him. So he'll struggle and make mistakes and pretend like he requires you to teach him more just so he can monopolize your time and subtly manipulate you into only ever spending time with him.
He won't feel jealousy when you're with others because you look so happy amongst them, and your happiness is his happiness. He only feels jealous if and when he stumbles upon you being intimate with another human. Kabukimono can't understand this sharp, stabbing envy, but he feels...sad. Sad and a little frustrated. All this time, all those smiles, all those praises you directed his way, and yet you smile in the same way at another in secret. He doesn't understand human intimacy or the fact that you might not ever see him in the way he sees you, but he does understand that what you're doing with that human is his version of a bad thing. Bad things—like seeing you be this way with another and hearing how happy you sound and knowing that he isn't the reason for this happiness—hurt. And he's learned that if you get rid of a bad thing there won't be anymore pain.
Kabukimono's intentions turn rather grim the deeper he falls into a feeling he can't even describe. And it all culminates in a confrontation that ends in bloodshed. He doesn't have an explanation for his behaviors or his actions, but he apologizes when you find him because that's the right thing to do. Right things are apologizing and owning up to mistakes. And right things always make you smile.
This time, when you spy the blood that dyes his white silks in crimson, there is no smile to be found on your face. Only raw horror.
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ok listen. you're badboyhalo and having the worst week of your life. you're willing and wanting to give anything, anything, to get your kids back. forever, your crush/enemy/friend/date partner?/ president sits you down and asks you to marry him. he's on a drug that makes him manically happy and has an extreme level of brainwashing for federation purposes.
you consider for the briefest moment saying yes, because you're drowning in your grief and hard in bargaining, but it won't do anything to help bring the eggs back, forever doesn't know anything. forever wants the eggs back as much as you do, the real one at least, you know this.
you're surrounded by roses. you ask him what you can do to help him, what he needs, asking the forever that you know is in there somewhere. any other personal feelings aside, he's your friend and he clearly needs help. he asks you to marry him again. he tells you to stop making some noise that he's clearly hearing through auditory hallucination. you just want your kids back, you keep telling him this, until he snaps and starts shooting mines under both of you.
forever is still out of his mind. your kids are still missing. the roses are burning.
bad said no to the proposal, of course he did. that's not forever, the kids are gone, this is no time or place for such a thing even if forever was himself. but I don't think forever asked because he feels "opposite than what he usually feels" under the pills. he's manic and under the influence and half brainwashed - he wants every day to be the best day.
and how heartbreaking is that? that bad is only being proposed to while forever is out of his mind. that forever wants bad to say yes because that would make the day the best day ever for him. that under any other circumstances, on that bench with the roses all around them, it might have been something good?
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