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sponfawn · 5 years

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MTH - Buttercup & Mitch, Floyd, Lloyd, and Harry

This one goes out to a certain anon~ So this is surprisingly one topic that I haven't thought about extensively regarding MTH, but it’s a really interesting dynamic to think about. I wasn’t sure if by pre-breakup interactions between BC and the guys, anon meant like pre-relationship as a whole, or post-relationship but pre-breakup. So I thought about both. Disclaimer: because we don’t really have much to go on in terms of pre-relationship interactions, this is gonna be a bunch of conjecture based on how the characters currently behave and interact. I also gotta be honest, Harry and the twins tend to kinda clump together in my mind. I know what they looked like at 5yo, but in terms of current characterization they’re similar enough that they exist as a group in my head. Tho Harry does end up as the butt of a lot of jokes, more so than the twins. I guess that’s to be expected when your name is Harry Pitt.

This may have been stated in MTH in one of the early chapters, in which case, nevermind. But I feel like Buttercup probly started hanging out with the guys more starting at around when the Girls were 7 or 8? Blossom began her dance lessons at around 6 or 7, and I think 7 is around the age where kids in school start solidifying more who they consistently hang out with, and start subtly drifting a bit from siblings of about the same age. And as they got older (like maybe around 11/12) is really when Buttercup more clearly diverged from her sisters’ friends. In middle school, Blossom and Bubbles were both in choir apparently, and Buttercup rejected that completely. I’m guessing around that age or a year or so older is when they started wanting to form a band together, and then freshman year they actually started to play together as No Neck Joe. I think the guys started liking her pretty early in their collective friendship. I can imagine them all kinda realizing that they all had a crush on her. It’s possible it caused some mild conflicts between them, but I can’t imagine it lasted long at all. Then they came to a mutual agreement to prioritize their respective friendships with her. Honestly when Mitch and she started dating, I feel like Harry and the twins saw it coming and resigned to it without fuss. I just can’t see those 3 getting all pissy over it. Awkward? Yeah. Disappointed? Yeah. But not angry.

From what we see in their interactions after Butch becomes their buffer, I think they used to interact as a group much like how they did in chapter 9 at the Boys’ apartment, and in the video clip. Lots of ball busting, ribbing, general goofing off, and comfortable banter. Tho obviously with one difference being the current distance between Mitch and Buttercup. At this point in the story, while Buttercup and Mitch are starting to relax slightly around each other, they still kinda skirt the edges of the group and avoid much direct interaction. In group settings, Mitch was probably in a similar position that Butch currently inhabits, at least in terms of his closeness to Buttercup. That’s not to say that Butch is just a Mitch replacement tho. More that Harry, Floyd, and Lloyd are both relatively close to, and distant from, Buttercup. They’re in her closest friend group, but were never the closest to her within said group. Mitch and BC were BEST FRIENDS before ever going out, and that is the most obvious shift in the group as a whole. In my mind, Mitch likely interacted with her in less rough ways compared to Butch, both in term of rough housing (knowing that even if he could dish it out he wouldn't be able to take it), and dirty jokes aimed at/about her. I mean the guys have probly liked her for many years, and since they all were trying to hide their crushes i doubt any of them made many jokes suggesting any kind of attraction towards her. After Mitch and Buttercup started going out, that inclination would have probably increased (at least for Floyd, Lloyd, and Harry). Tbh, from the video Mitch was so earnest and sincere that I doubt he ever made dirty jokes about them as a couple, anyway. I feel like he’d be shy/awkward about that, especially knowing that she’d be flustered about it.

Based on the scene in the mall where the guys ask Buttercup to hang out with them for anti-prom, it’s pretty clear that not only is she just as shitty at communicating with her friends as she is with everyone else, but Mitch is as well. (To refresh memories, they're like “We don’t know what we did to piss you off, but whatever it is we’re so sorry and please be our friend again”, and she’s internally like “oh shit, that’s right they didn’t actually do anything and it’s not their fault, it was Mitch who told me”). I can understand why Mitch wouldn’t wanna talk about their breakup and the fact that he spilled the beans on all of them. But I bet it’s been lonely for them. Aside from the jealousy they probly had over Mitch being the one she chose to go out with, it was probly like being 3rd, 4th, and 5th wheels around them at times, cuz they were best friends even before dating. And in this situation, it wasn’t just feeling like an awkward entourage, it was like they fully lost one friend and the other one refused to clue them in as to why. I think if given the opportunity to be emotionally supportive in some way, theyd be fucking dorks about it but they’d try their best. But they were never given that opportunity by Mitch or BC, despite being friends since kindergarten. I feel like that probly hurt them, to be treated like it had nothing to do with them, even tho they were all friends. They haven't really addressed it, partly out of not wanting to accidentally push Buttercup away again, and partly cuz they’re just so relieved that they’re all friends again. I doubt they’ll ever decide to bring it up. Tho i could see Harry having a sudden outburst about it if she ever tries to ghost on them again. Idk why exactly but I feel like he’s the one most likely to have the guts to be vulnerable like that (both in expressing discontent/anger about something like that, and in terms of possibly invoking BC’s wrath). He seems slightly more assertive in some ways than the twins, and I feel like the twins look to each other a lot to decide what to say and when to speak up about something, which makes both of them hesitant to be the first to bring something up. Whenever I imagine who first brought up the idea of them forming a band, it’s always either Mitch or Buttercup, and Harry and the twins jump on the bandwagon. I think all 3 of them are less inclined to take the lead, but when necessary, Harry nervously steps up to the plate. After all, he is “the most determined drowning man of them all”, who spoke up first and ended up actually inviting her to their mini anti-prom.

I’ve been in BC’s position before, unwittingly pulled into the crush zone by friends, and I know the heartbreak over finding out someone just hung out with you cuz they wanted to get in your pants. But I don’t think that's fully the case for Harry and the twins. I’m sure they fantasize about it, but I think they genuinely care about her and value her friendship. At one point, she’s thinking about how she thought the guys “saw her” as a person, but after finding out they all liked her she feels like they didn’t actually see or like her as a full person at all, just as a “girl”. And again, I fully understand that feeling. But I think it also speaks volumes about how she perceives crushes and guys who have them. She knows that guys objectify girls, and I think she’s really internalized how attractive women are portrayed in various media, as well as how her sisters are perceived by virtual strangers - girls/women are not attractive due to their athletic feats, their sense of humor, their thoughts, their personalities, or their strength. They are attractive due to physical looks and femininity, and she equates being seen as “attractive/desirable” with being seen in a 1 dimensional and objectified way. She’s surprisingly like Blossom in that way (I’m thinking specifically about the scene in the diner and how she reacts after the photoshoot where she was asked to pose on the cover of a men’s magazine - “I don’t have a problem with people thinking I’m pretty... But... I do all this other stuff”), altho the way it manifests in their behavior is different. With Mitch she was ok with him liking her, and I think that’s partly cuz she liked him back but also cuz of how close they were. As best friends, she felt he saw her more completely than anyone else - until she realized that he thought she was interested in the other guys as “backups” and didn't see how much she loved him. (Which is interesting to me, cuz while she didn’t voice her feelings much to him, even Butch “emotionally constipated” Jojo could see how much she loved him through the videos and pics. It’s normal to feel insecure or unsure about someone’s feelings if they don’t communicate them, but I wonder if Mitch ever looks at those pics and realizes in retrospect how much she loved him.)

It makes me happy that she’s at least marginally getting better about communicating, even if it’s just with Butch (I hope that ability grows to other ppl for her as well). But for me it just highlighted how Buttercup doesn’t really have a support system. With the guys, she never talked about the tough stuff. I mean they didn’t seem at all surprised that she wasn't telling them why she was upset with them. She is very adverse to showing any sign of what she perceives as weakness, and since even Mitch had a hard time understanding her feelings, I’m sure it hasn’t been easier for the other guys by any means. They have fun together and share common interests, which is great, but she really keeps them at arm’s length. This is another aspect that's similar with Blossom, even tho Buttercup goes out with friends more often. They’re both quite emotionally isolated, tho Buttercup is now sharing more with Butch and Blossom is quite close with Bubbles. Of course, this isn’t due to a shortage of ppl around them who want to be close to them, but their own issues with showing vulnerability. I hope we get to see them open up a bit to more people. Now I’m honestly really interested in seeing how Harry, Floyd, and/or Lloyd would respond if Buttercup had like a serious conversation with one or all of them.

#sbj more than human #sbj more than human amv #meta #i guess?#for anon

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