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sunnykeysmash · 1 year

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the structure, the "explosion", change and authenticity: a dissection of season 15

As usual I'm prefacing this post by saying these are my personal ramblings about always sunny meta so if you don't like to see that, then please move along.

When season 15 ended, I didn't end up analyzing it because my fixation had ended as well, so that's what I wanna do here, but in order to do that I have to touch on some themes that were heavily relevant in previous seasons but especially season 14.

I also want to properly explain why I've been calling season 14 "the last classic season of sunny", and why I think of season 15 as "a transitional season".

It seems weird, but I wanna start by talking about the season 13 episode, The Gang Escapes.

I've done a quick rewatch of s14 and 15 and the more I did that, the more I started to see Escapes like the predecessor for a lot of it.

So, in it, the gang is playing a game of escape rooms. They are trapped inside of Mac and Dennis' apartment, with only Dee knowing how to get out having done it before. Despite this, she is locked out, and is unable to help them. The boys separate and wrestle for a pair of heartshaped lock and key, and in the end, when they finally settle on how to open it, they discover that inside it says "And so the game begins".

The lock contains a ton of instructions on what to do next, but the gang quickly realizes they have run out of time and are unable to do them all, only for Dee to take the fall allowing them to win albeit in an unconventional way.

This episode reads to me like a cautionary tale on the fate of sunny.

Spending so much time on deciding how to do something or whether they should at all, that when they finally do it, they don't have the time to properly explore the choices they've made. As an example, this comes back with the concept of the seeds. In general, this is always touched upon whenever "imminent death" is explored, because it doesn't allow them more time to continue. This is often paired with a need to "go crazy/explode" by the end.

As a result, feeling constrained inside something and needing to get out before it's too late.

I'll elaborate more on all of this as we walk through s14/15, all the ways in which these themes come back, but for now I want to say that to me, this is likely how RCG has felt writing sunny sometimes: feeling too constrained/boxed inside the way they have always written it, that didn't allow them to branch out and explore the stuff they really wanted to "until the end", which in a way made them feel like sunny itself was the problem and made them consider ending it (aka cutting the head because the hair is a lie) to explore the stuff that interested them, rather than just... doing it while they have time, and being more loose with writing it in general (like how Gus said, the bible is a guidepost, interpretations can change over time).

As such, Escapes is an incomplete view on the situation, a negative one, it shows us what would happen if nothing gave in. Which isn't what happened in the end, but it's still important to keep in mind to read the rest of it.

This is, to me, why they even asked for four seasons in the first place. To have the time to properly explore all the things they wanted to touch on, with their new plan.

I'm gonna try to dissect every episode singularly (the ones I think are relevant anyway) and point out the connection in themes and what I think it all means. I tried to stay brief, believe me.

All in all, some of the themes I've found are as follows: the structure, death/catastrophe, running out of time/losing something (even disappointing an audience), change, and choices. They all apply to writing sunny.

Season 14

This season brings back a lot of stuff from past sunny. It seems s16 will do the same, but back when s14 was just airing, I remember this felt odd to me. Chokes is a direct continuation of dines out (with it being charlie and frank's anniversary dinner) and also calls back to mac's mom burns her house down and dennis system (with the whole poisoning someone so they can depend on you and nursing them back to health etc), poppins comes back, jackie denardo comes back (storm of the century, which also references bryan o' bryen), thundergun comes back, dee day (which is a continuation to mac day), global warming references Spies like US (the fish factory dudes), the waiter comes back... and so on. It felt like they were honoring the past.

But the reason why I consider it the last season of classic sunny, is because it's the one before change strikes. Many episodes seem to place us in front of an inescapable choice that leads to disaster. Some don't even offer a choice, just speak of imminent death.

The Gang Gets Romantic

Breaking this episode down, it's important because it introduces the whole concept of the "structure". A guideline, if you will, that the characters can either follow or stray away from. Throughout the two seasons we will see it redefined constantly, so it's important to understand what it is.

We are given two mirroring plotlines making use of this (romcom) structure. Frank and Charlie follow it pretty closely, and in the end they are rewarded with a romcom-y ending. Mac and Dennis stray from it, because they don't realize that the tropes are applying to the two of them, and in the end, their plans fail. This is actually counter to most other examples of structure that will be written later, and it shows us something important, which is that the structure can work if applied correctly and when appropriate.

So is the structure good or bad? Should it be followed? And what is it?

To me, the structure is a guide. It can aid you find what works on average, but it shouldn't lock you in. Exactly like structure in writing.

But it doesn't matter how you call it: the structure, the algorithm, god's plan, the bible, the base, the four walls encasing you, tradition; it's about something that gives you a foundation, but that you can branch out of, if needed. If your feelings tell you you should.

Multiple episodes will come to grips with this concept. Trying to run from it entirely, or embrace it to the point of almost doing things they don't want.

This is RCG's own struggle with understanding how to write sunny, and what sunny even is, hence why the main theme of season 15 is identity. How much can you stray from your core structure and still be yourself? How much before you don't even like where you're going? What defines you?

And in fact, a crucial theme in TGGR is falling back in love with something.

Pushing it away at first because you think you can get better than that or because you're bored of it, only in its absence to realize that it was already the perfect match. This is the charlie+frank/alexi+nikki plot (we'll be back in one year... covid aside, this is about the show returning and not ending), but it reflects season 15 in general (when you love someone, you can't bear to leave them behind).

Finally, "you think they're gonna give us a bad review?", hinting at the fear of how others will react.

Thundergun 4: Maximum Cool

The gang is selected to judge the sequel of a franchise they are big fans of. However, upon discovering the many changes applied to it (they're rebooting the franchise), they are disappointed and angered. In the end, Dee comes up with the plan that forces the franchise to go back to its roots, and the gang still doesn't support it.

So, how does this fit into our themes?

We have a franchise that has changed to the point of upsetting its fans.

We also have Dee once again being the key role in the story by coming up with the successful plan.

We have talk of a powerful formula that could destroy millions of lives in the wrong hands.

We have change seen as scary and upsetting, and we have talk of "rebooting the franchise".

Most importantly:

"Sometimes, in order to save something, you have to destroy something. And I think I know what we have to do to save Thunder Gun."

"Destroy it?"

This will plateau with Big Mo with its fake ending, but it speaks to the larger theme of considering ending sunny to get to the stuff they want to explore, only to realize they can explore it better if they start now and give themselves more time and just stay looser with the structure.

This is a talk they actually had with Larry David (who will be referenced as Larry Takashi later, creator of Fun Zone laser tag).

"McElhenney continued, “He (Larry David) said, ‘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.’”"

Around the same time, another article came out where Glenn mentioned wanting to follow Curb Your Enthusiasm's model.

"So with all these other projects, like last year, I'm sure you've talked now and again about ending the show for good." G: "We talked about it. At a certain point, we might look at this and go “Yeah, we did it and it's time to move on,” and all that kind of stuff. But I think at the same time the way I see it, we're more like a band than a show now, where we all go off into our side projects, but like, this is the band, and if we feel like putting out another album, we'll put out another album. At this point, it doesn't really make sense to end the show in any official capacity. It's possible that moving forward we move to sort of like a Curb Your Enthusiasm model if we can get away with it. Larry David actually pulled Rob aside at some kind of a function and told him "One piece of advice I'll give you guys: Don't ever end the show. Just don't end it!” I think he figured that out after Seinfeld. I think he was really burned out. But with Curb he knows he might want to come back to it years down the line."

Keep in mind, when these two articles came out, season 15 had not even been written yet. Despite this, me and others started speculating that A. the seasons would return whenever instead of each year; B. each season would follow a story arc.

Seasons got shorter (and point A may still happen), and season 15 ended up following a story arc.

Finally, Dennis once again places us in front of a choice by saying "give me dong, or give me death", implying those are the only two options the franchise has.

Dee Day

There is a choice that has to be made by vote, and the gang is trying to sway the results. In the end Dee hatches a successful plan that just so happens to have the same outcome wanted by the gang in the first place.

We start with them stretching (irony not lost on me 😭) to stay loose because they're preparing for the plan.

"Can we just start?"

"No, we can't just start, okay? Preparation is the key to victory."

Reminds me of Chokes:

"Yeah, but can we just, like, play already?"

"No, we can't just play, Charlie. We can't just play."

"Are you insane?! We can't just play!"

Again getting lost on the how, on preparation, instead of starting. Arguing instead of opening the lock.

Additionally, it's said that Dee wants to do a whole retrospective of her characters. It fits with what S15 has done so far.

Still, we are shown Dee pulling the strings even when it comes to directing the characters.

"And like all great plays, this one is going to have a happy ending."

The Gang Chokes

Frank almost chokes to death during their dinner. Charlie admits he almost let him die because he was mad at him for "interrupting him". At the same time, Mac is taking all his cues to act from Dennis, even in drastic situations, instead of showing that he can make his own decisions, which is what Dennis really wants.

"I would've stepped in, but, of course, I was taking my cues from you." "Why?" "Well, you didn't tell me whether I should save him or not." "But why?" "I mean, why do I still have to tell you what to do?" "And why is it up to me to decide whether or not you're going to save a man's life?"

Being able to make your own decisions depending on what you want to do, instead of always following someone else's directions, regardless of what the outcome is...

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

Dee also starts living on the edge of life and death because it gives her a thrill, but ultimately experiences true death and realizes there is nothing on the other side.

Frank goes to live with someone else (the waiter), but in the end realizes Charlie was already perfect for him. Once again, breaking out and almost ending things only to see all he already had in the end, because Charlie apologizes to him.

And Mac learns to make his own decisions instead of depending on others. Like the structure meta.

The Gang Texts

The bananas thing with the gorilla.

"I sit there, eat a banana real slow, and he comes up to the glass, and he's banging on the glass like the dumb ape he is."

"It will bang its hands bloody trying to get the banana."

"How is that funny?"

"It's funny 'cause he can't get the banana."

Just like the seeds in s15, it's about writing, or rather questioning the way they have written things in the past. Frank insists withholding the wanted thing is hilarious, and Charlie questions it.

Like in Still in Ireland:

"Oh. I should eat it again. Then it would be funny 'cause I didn't learn my lesson."

"No, that wouldn't be funny. It'd just be kind of dumb, you know."

Deriving humor from the characters never learning their lesson, being beaten down by the narrative, never getting what they want. Which is a key component of the classic sunny structure. The meta is questioning it, probably because there's many things RCG wants to do that would go against this. Just like the Shelley arc in s15, after all.

In the end, the characters are allowed to understand each other, looking each other in the eyes as the circle of life plays.

The Gang Solves Global Warming

Talk of an imminent crisis. People are gonna revolt soon (like the audience for Thundergun), and the bar (which has often been used as meta to represent the show) doesn't have enough resources to accomodate everyone.

"We didn't have enough to accommodate the people that were here before, and now it seems like we've doubled in size and we just don't have enough."

"Where is your God now?"

"He will reveal himself at some point."

"Oh. Well, is he gonna do it before all these people revolt and destroy the place?"

"I don't know, Frank. I don't question God's will. If he wants to destroy the Earth, that's on him. I support it!"

Could refer to both RCG's burnout as well as not having enough time. Either way, it leads to disaster.

Mac talks about God's plan, something that is predetermined and thus cannot be changed.

"Guys, we don't really have to worry about global warming, because... yes, is the Earth getting unbearably hot? Of course it is. But it's all a part of God's plan. Look, if God wants to roast us like turkeys, there's got to be a good reason for it."

Mac acknowledges that the plan that is locked in is leading to a horrible unbearable outcome, but still insists there's nothing they can do to change that ending.

"See? It's all a part of his divine plan, Dennis. And that's locked in, so we're good."

"Okay, so all we have to do is nothing?"

"No. No, because... we have free will, Dennis, which means that we have to take the necessary steps to make sure that that plan comes to fruition."

"Which is predetermined."

"Yes."

"But it doesn't matter what we do if it's all predetermined. You see how your argument... doesn't make any sense?"

Just like the structure, this plan doesn't allow the characters to change anything, and it only leads to eventual doom. Or imminent death.

Paddy's Has a Jumper

There is a man who wants to end his own life on the roof of Paddy's, and the gang uses an algorithm to try to determine whether they should do something about it.

So there is a threat of imminent death, and through the algorithm (like the structure), they have to decide how to proceed, only the algorithm eventually leads them down a path they are not fully comfortable with, pushing Bryan off of the roof.

The episode starts with them watching an episode of a show on TV, and being surprised by a twist (a marriage proposal... thinking of dennis' shell that can only be broken by marriage... anyways). The algorithm decided they would like this show, but we learn at the end that they didn't (once again, the audience revolting, whether it be thundergun fans or patrons at the bar).

At the same time, it's repeated that this algorithm takes the emotions out of decisions:

"So, guys, I think I have a way that we can solve this argument without human emotion mucking it all up."

"I don't need your opinions. Okay? 'Cause 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."

"Well, it still feels a little weird, but feelings are irrelevant in the face of facts. Is that what I'm hearing? The feelings... feelings just get in the way."

I remember when this episode aired, people interpreted Cricket getting the casaba melon in the end as David Hornsby writing the finale of the season, Big Mo. The casaba representing the show, plus the talk of "helping Bryan die" and "crashing the casaba melon" with him catching it sounded a lot like "ending sunny", which plays both into Big Mo tricking us into thinking sunny was ending, and later acting like the finale to classic sunny. One last season following the old structure before RCG allows themselves to change things up in way that could be risky in fan reception.

This whole episode, with the discussion on Bryan, the egg, and the casaba, reads like RCG deciding on what to do with the show. Do we end it? Do we change it? What makes the most sense vs what do we want to do?

"And then we could be known as a suicide bar, and that's no good." "I don't want to be that." "Yeah, kind of grim." "I'd probably take my business elsewhere." "You don't have business." "What, uh, what if you lean into that, though?" "Like, you don't make it grim, but you make it playful."

This decision they keep hinting at could shift the tone of the show forever, and potentially "drive away business".

So they want to try to decide on it by sticking to what works mathematically, in this case the algorithm, however... it doesn't reflect their feelings.

"Uh, yeah, I know, but mathematically we were supposed to kill a man today."

"Maybe that's, like, part of the problem of, like, taking the humanity out of decisions."

"Perhaps the science just isn't there yet."

When it comes to exploring the canon of sunny, there is a lot that, if the normal sunny structure were to be used, would never be explored in an emotionally satisfying way, which is what RCG ultimately wants to do. I remember when Mac Finds His Pride first came out, Rob kept insisting "the characters change, but they don't evolve", and when faced with so much criticism about the episode not feeling like sunny, he answered that "he decides what feels like sunny, because he's the writer".

I quote:

"What was the reaction like to your epic dance number in the season 13 finale?

MCELHENNEY: It was both negative and positive, which is one of those things we talked about. It’s great to surprise people and have them not have any idea what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. I have people saying, “Oh my God, I love this, it’s one of the best things you’ve ever done,” and then I have other people saying, “You’ve destroyed my show, you’ve ruined it.” And I’m like, “Great!” That’s exactly what we should be doing on the show, is we should be destroying somebody’s idea of what Sunny is on a regular basis. OLSON: It was kind of weird just how many people would just blatantly comment on his body and to me, and we were like, “What would happen if they were commenting on my body to you? Like, ‘Ahh, Kaitlin’s chest…’” MCELHENNEY: A lot of people didn’t like it. Because a lot of people felt like it didn’t fit into the lexicon of what the show is. And I can’t say that they’re wrong, but the difference is that I get to dictate what the lexicon is and they don’t, and that’s a part of the experience."

This episode is also where a lot of explosion talk happens, with Mac and Dennis mentioning they crave it, and the way they want to reach it is by destroying the casaba melon (which as we've established represents sunny).

In the end, it's discovered it's where Frank hides his weed ("I don't think you have to hide it, man"), and Frank reveals it's also "full of loads".

A Woman's Right To Chop

An episode fully about choices and their perceived life altering consequences. Dennis and the rest of the boys want to control what other women decide to do with their hair, Dee defends their right to do it. There's talk of tradition and "upsetting the natural balance of things". The tradition thing will be brought up again in the finale of s15.

I wonder if Poppins could also be considered a metaphor for the show itself. Very old, but full of potential new life that, if let out, could kill them.

Either way:

(Talking of Keri Russell) "Millions of adoring fans, hit television show, you know, and then she went and did this." "Shocking, isn't it? With this one tragic decision, Keri Russell alienated all of her fans, she got her show canceled, and man, she was never heard of ever again."

Frank's talk about cutting all of his hair and losing it forever due to this drastic decision also fits. Burping from his backed up valve due to missing what he lost, the hair that never grew back ("And you're not just giving up being at the top of the leaderboard at some, you know, laser-amusement-themed park, man, you're talking about giving up everything. Everything. Everything we built. Everything we worked so hard for.").

Waiting for Big Mo

And we're finally at the finale for season 14. This episode was structured to trick the audience into thinking the series was ending with its walking out. Not only that, but it's a key episode for meta interpretation of these two seasons.

"Time to end the game" echoes Escapes' "And so the game begins". Because it references the same thing, the game being the show itself.

This is reinforced by the gang saying "it feels like they've been playing it forever", "they never win anything" and that "they get to go crazy at the end of it".

But if the game is sunny, what is the base they're trying to defend? That is the structure.

"Just guard the base, man."

"Kind of sick and tired of guarding the base. What if we go out there, run around? I want to go out there and have some fun, man."

"We gotta guard the base. That's what we always do, and that's what we figured out works a long time ago. Plus, we're waiting for Big Mo."

Dennis is desperate to hold the base and protect it because it's what they've always done, and because Big Mo is threatening to take their place on the leaderboard.

If they were to go out, run around and explore, they would go down the leaderboard, and that is exactly what happens.

"Oh, Charlie, you got to get out there with us. It's so fun. We're finding all kinds of corners of this place that we've never explored before."

"Yeah, I'd love to, I really would, but we're actually... we're losing right now."

An article from season 13 times about "Mac Finds His Pride" reads:

“Some of the uncharted waters, if you want to call them that, were genuine emotion,” Day said on a 2018 Television Critics Association panel. “Once we stumbled on the episode becoming more about Frank being more tolerant and accepting something, we thought, well, this is something we haven’t really done. Our characters rarely change or learn.”

To me, this dissatisfaction is something they felt for a while, and the first time they started really having fun with it again was when they decided to have Mac come out, in Hero or hate crime specifically. That is, because until then, the characters being incapable of change was part of the structure of the show. Something that allowed no wiggle room. But the audience making themselves heard after Goes to hell came out showed them it didn't have to be that way, necessarily.

It didn't come without struggle though, this interview from TheWrap reads:

GLENN HOWERTON: "He’s out (Mac). It’s definitely a big deal for us. I never thought we would do that. … I was against it at first, and the reason I was against it was his character has always been an opportunity to satirize a particular attitude, that still sadly exists, that there’s something wrong with being gay. And I think that it was important to me at least to maintain that level of social satire which is such a big part of the show to me: taking an attitude, taking a point of view that exists in our society, and giving it to one of our characters and sort of blowing it out of proportion. Watching the inevitable outcome of the most extreme version of that point of view. That’s always been my M.O. in terms of the writing of the characters. And to me there was always such a darkly comical and sad element to having this character continue to deny his own sexuality because of the societal pressures that he put on himself… that he had internalized. So I never wanted him to come out of the closet because I thought that to me is… showing just how deep that mentality goes. And despite all the evidence and despite all the support of his friends, the man will still continue to deny his sexual orientation. But then I got to a point where I realized, I’m holding too hard and fast to that rule. And I think we have made plenty of jokes in that arena. We’ve satirized that to death. What sort of possibilities does it open up when that character finally does come out of the closet? Which is why we decided to have him come out once and for all."

Mac coming out forced RCG to reassess to which level the characters were in fact allowed to change.

This article from 2019 has him saying:

“we wanted to make sure that even though the characters might change, they don’t evolve. We wanted to make sure that he (Mac) doesn’t become a better person or a sweeter person or more endearing person or a nicer person. We felt like we wanted to still keep the tone. So I would say, in all the right ways, things remain exactly the same.”

And the amount of change the show as a whole was allowed was something they've grappled since, and something I'm pretty sure caused Dennis Double Life (I mean, Dennis being mindnumbingly bored at how everything stays exactly the same - like his own apartment - but running away at the possibility of change, with the RPG "on the table"...).

Anyway, during the whole episode, the others keep wanting to quit the game for good, because the way Dennis is making them play is miserable, and they'll only be allowed to have fun at the end.

"I actually got an idea. Like, what if you guys don't play the game up in the air ducts this time, but you go down on the floor? Where everyone's having all the fun?"

"They look like they're having so much fun playing laser ta..."

"Will you shut up?! This isn't about having fun. Okay? This is about staying alive and winning."

Dennis (in true double life fashion from him...) places this dilemma like an impossible choice: either you stay alive, miserable, and win, OR you have fun and eventually Big Mo (imminent death) gets you, and you're forgotten. He doesn't see the answer in the middle, which Charlie is quick to point out: playing the game AND having fun with it, not caring how it affects "how well they're doing".

Eventually Dennis learns about what really happened to Larry Takashi (aka Larry David), and the whole gang, for a moment, agrees to "end the game", aka end the show. This was obviously a fake show ending, finishing with them saying "they're never going anywhere". But why is that? Because instead of guarding the base, they decided to play by their own rules.

As such, Big Mo still acts like a show finale, to what Sunny was prior to this decision.

This brings us to...

Season 15

Introduced with the trailer description as "new era, same egos",

Predictably, this season ends up "breaking the bounds" of philly, to travel all the way to Ireland. As Big Mo had announced, they "went out to explore"... but literally.

What happens next is the natural first step of exploration, aka reassessing your own identity.

Season 15 isn't the "franchise rebooted" just yet, it is experimentation. Experimenting with how far they can push things, getting comfortable with the new structure (of a season arc, and otherwise).

With an end comes a new beginning, and a question, what is sunny now?

So, the theme of identity touches every single character on its own, each with their personalized arc that ends with the character coming out changed in some way. This is why to me season 15 is transitional. The show, the characters, are finding new footing. This is especially true for Dennis, whose character has been intrinsically linked to sunny meta for a while now, but I can't fully get into that here (or I would derail the section. I get into it later a bit. also I have gotten into it before tho, though the post is slightly old so some parts may not hold up).

Some characters attempt to cling to their roots, others run from it.

All in all, this season challenges each character on one fragment that always defined their identity, and has them come out of it with a new understanding.

As a matter of fact, this is, to me, the first season where all the characters are actually allowed to develop.

Trying to keep to the point before we get into each episode, here is the arc that each character goes through:

MAC: At first, he is compartmentalizing his own identity. Depending on what he feels is the dominant one, he feels he has to act accordingly, and every single decision is dictated by this. He places great importance on his irish roots, when all of a sudden, this belief is challenged when it is "discovered" that he's "actually dutch". This sends Mac into a spiral, trying to determine what really defines him now that his roots are out of the question. He can't reconcile the fact that different aspects can coexist in a singe person, hyperfocusing on one at a time. Until it's revealed in the finale that he is in fact irish, and Dennis and Charlie tricked him. ("So you thought you'd just unravel my entire identity?" "Nothing's unraveled! We didn't unravel anything! You're still you! You've always been you!"). So what does Mac gain from this arc? Another shamrock tattoo... no, I'm kidding, he gains security in his own identity outside of outside validation. For a moment he experienced what it was like to have everything you thought you knew about yourself be shattered, and what it gave him was an awareness that you're still you even in the face of change, and a determination to stand his ground. All in all, to me, his character is the one who actually changed the least (makes it counterproductive that I'd talk about him first...), which is why season 15 throws him for a loop. RCG already had him where they wanted as far as development goes at the start, due to the fact he was allowed to develop in past seasons as well, so what they did instead was bring him back to a previous point, reawakening his insecurity in his identity. He thought he knew pretty well who he was, until he didn't. And then he's sure again. What this did was have him see that it really didn't matter in the end, he was always him. Another thing this arc did was set him free from his dad's shadow for a moment, as he got another last name. That's because, as the gelled back hair would remind you, he's always looked up to and wanted to prove himself to his father. As MFHP marks the climactic point of Mac trying desperately to have his dad understand his identity, and failing, Jumper shows us that he still thinks of his name in a positive light or at least tries to defend it still ("My dad's name is an homage."), like he's still in denial. In a way, by assigning him the Vandross last name for a while, he was allowed to cut ties with his own name and exist as someone else, only to come to the conclusion that nothing really changed about himself, and he shouldn't stress about identity so much.

DENNIS: In many ways, Dennis' arc is the foil to Mac's. Unlike Mac, Dennis doesn't want to hear a single thing about identity. He doesn't think it should play a role in the decisions you make at all, in fact he thinks no action you take can ever define your identity, and you are whatever the hell you say you are, regardless of where your heart's taking you. Now, on some level, his argument may appear reasonable, or at least more grounded than Mac's. It's true, "Identity doesn't have to factor into absolutely every decision you make.", and you do have power over how you define yourself at the end of the day. Dennis being Dennis, however, we all know the extreme to which he's taking this. He is drowning in denial. Refusing to accept reality at every turn. He doesn't have covid, he's just allergic to sheep wool, and the castle looks great, it's not decrepit. So, Dennis starts the arc with one main ambition: have an authentic experience. He's obsessed with things being true, being tampered with. This is also a season theme, in general (the burning of the shredded documents for example), which again plays into how Dennis meta is almost always show meta as well, but I digress. He forces himself to do things the european way, effectively running away from his roots entirely. The opposite of Mac. Throughout the season however, things escalate. He gets worse, and he starts doing things the old way regardless (like driving the wrong, but right for him in philly, side of the road). It reads like he's trying to negate his actual authentic nature, while being driven insane by the perception of others doing this as well. He wants things to feel authentic, he just can't figure out how, because he can't see as he's blinded by all the denial that's literally almost killing him (you could say he's been trying to pull the wool over our eyes...). It's hard to define in this arc which exact aspect of his identity is challenged, because it's all of them. As the finale states, his whole "essence" is broken, his back, you know, the structural foundation of every person, ("You've always said that your back has the symmetry of the Vitruvian man, and it's the foundation of your structural essence.") the structure of the show, the structure of Dennis. This is another way in which it is a foil to Mac, as he is already secure and open about who he is exactly, while Dennis denies all of it. They're like opposite extremes for how to tackle the structure, and the answer of course lies in the middle. (wink. see I told you it's impossible to write impartial sunny meta, because macden is intrinsic to it... anyway). By the end of his arc however! Dennis has admitted to himself that he had covid. Almost dying from sheer denial gave him enough of a scare to cut that out, if you will, and I can't tell you what the new Dennis will be like or what he has gained besides the lack (or decrease) of denial, because his change is the most fundamental. He will probably be further redefined in season 16. All his identity was impacted.

DEE: This one's easy, what is something that has always defined Dee's identity, to everyone and herself? (Clip Show: "Dee, are you a successful actress?" "Oh, I could have been." "Dee, be serious! Yes or no?" "No.") Since always, she has wanted to be an actress. Finally, she gets the once in a lifetime opportunity to be just that. Earlier in the season, it is hinted especially with her acting classes that what he really wants is to have power and control. This of course echoes what we've seen of her in season 14 (and prior), she comes up with the plans, pulls the strings, prefers to be the director. However, what does an actor do? Follow orders and directions. Previously, she fell into this role due to her search for validation. This is shown with her literally begging the director to have a role. Her arc shifts her character from looking for others' directions, permission and validation to gaining agency (which even echoes thundergun 4! "So, you... you want the female characters to have less agency?") by crushing the possibility of her becoming an actor, her last chance, all the while showing her how miserable it truly is to have to follow everyone else's lead. Anyway, now that the actor fragment of her identity is put to rest, she is free to redefine herself and take charge. Additionally, Sinks in a Bog may have also started a thread to redefine the way she sees female allyship, in fact I think it was the central theme of the episode for her. Thinking back to Making Paddy's Great Again, she was willing to get rid of a perfectly fine new gang member in favor of Dennis, just because she was a woman which made her feel threatened. In Thundergun 4, similarly, she feels threatened by the new female character, and wants other women to be below her, is always in competition with them. Bog puts her in a situation of need where only the Waitress, another woman, can help her. In the end, she lets the Waitress sink in order to get out, but the episode still forces Dee to face a situation in which women working together is the only viable way to get out of trouble. I don't think this specific arc is finished yet for her, but I wanted to mention it still.

FRANK: Another easy one. Thanks to MFHP and the discussion surrounding it by RCG, we know that the role of Frank in the gang is that of surrogate father. However, just because we the audience know, does not mean he does. Frank as a character dismisses responsibilities such as "being a dad". He may show the occasional tender affection towards Charlie, but those moments are far in-between, and when asked if he's Charlie father, he has run from it in the past. We, like him probably, always assumed in the end that he was indeed Charlie's biological dad, despite the lack of test. Season 15, of course, puts a wrench in all of this. This is the fragment of Frank's identity that gets challenged, his fatherhood. Not just to Charlie, but to Dennis as well, which he ends up treating as a "rebound son" and bonding with while he is separated from Charlie. Frank has always kept people at a distance, and almost losing Charlie reminds him to treasure what you have, otherwise you run the risk of losing it. By the end of the season he's almost flipped, in that he is willing to show Charlie that he is "useful", to make himself worthy of being in his life, instead of expecting it. What he gained, in my opinion, is feeling comfortable with the idea of being a father. Actually wanting it. Finally stepping into the role of "the gang's surrogate dad" that has been preannounced ever since MFHP. So that's how his identity was impacted. Not saying he's gonna become dad of the year, just that he's now open to seeing of himself as a dad at all.

CHARLIE: He is the protagonist of the season, the one that gets to have the big emotional beat of the finale, and as such I've left him for last here, because there's more to chew on. Charlie isn't setting out to do anything when he arrives in Ireland. He's pretty content in how things are and who he is, he's just along for the ride... or so he thinks. By finding out the existence of his actual biological dad and meeting him, he is confronted with a whole world of... everything he's ever wanted. Suddenly, what he had before doesn't cut it anymore. He wasn't looking for this, but as he stumbles on it, he realizes quickly that it's everything he's been missing out on his whole life. He wants to start fresh with his dad, wants to learn more about his roots, he is ready to abandon the life he thought he was content in, because he sees how incomplete it actually was. Only... that's not how life works. You cannot alter the past. You can only impact the future. ("The first time round is a bitter pill, but the second chance is better still") He cannot make up for all the lost time and chances, because his dad dies. ("You weren't there! And I needed you! I needed you there. You were supposed to carry me!") The finale says it best: "I'm glad you're dead. Now I don't have to spend the rest of my life waiting for you to pick me up." Charlie, like Dee, is allowed to move on from a fragment of his identity that was weighting him down. He's allowed to let go of his need to know who his real dad is, and is rewarded with the knowledge that he does have people who care for him despite everything. His identity is thus also redefined: he's no longer waiting to know who his "real" dad is, because he knows what makes family real.

In a way, this is the "Big Mo" we'd been waiting for. Despite the apparent negative outcome of the trip overall, the team underwent successful arcs that ended with them all together in the bar, deciding to go back up there on that mountain and help Charlie finish the job ("No hesitation, no surrender, no man left behind!"). Just like a sports team getting "in the zone" and starting a winning streak by working together really well.

So, lets get into the episodes.

2020: A Year in Review

Talk of wanting to set off fireworks in the bar to celebrate.

Obviously, this refers to how sunny passed the record as longest running sitcom with its fifteenth season, but let's also look at the dialogue:

"What if we let off some fireworks in here, huh?"

"Fireworks in the bar?"

"It's never been done before. Right? That could be kind of good, right?"

"You'll burn the place to the ground."

The kind of explosion Charlie wants to set off because "it's never been done before" (echoing Big Mo... exploring new things) could potentially destroy the bar... which, as always, is a metaphor for the show.

The evergreen bar = show metaphor doesn't stop here however.

The gang is expecting a "huge potential investor" and they're gonna try to ask him for a loan for Paddy's pub.

In the past year they've asked for, and gotten, plenty of them for their own little side ventures/failing businesses, and now they want one for their main thing, the bar.

He's not there to give out PPP loans though, what the guy is actually there to do is collect on the ones already given.

Here's how I interpret this. Think of every season a show is given, as a small loan of a set number of episodes that they will then use to tell their story.

Throughout the years, sunny has been given plenty of these, and rarely has it used them to explore a lot of canon, because of the structure of the show that didn't really allow for it.

This is the same sentiment as Escapes, the fear of not being allowed more time, more seasons, to actually do all the stuff they want to do, that they were saving for "the end".

Because as the man hears all the ways in which they have wasted the previous given loans, he obviously doesn't give them another one for their actual main business venture.

So, Mac and Dennis decide to get involved with the election, and as such their loan is for tactical gear, but they end up getting sidetracked entirely, running their own separate poll where people get to vote, while also getting back to their initial thing of singing together.

"Now, the labeling... in hindsight, was a bit obtuse and created a great deal of confusion."

"It kind of backed up the whole system."

"Right. Yeah, there was a whole kerfuffle... I don't know if you remember this... about, like, what votes were supposed to be counted and what votes aren't gonna be counted. And are these legitimate votes, are these not legitimate votes? What's this, what's that? I mean, we put our boxes all over the damn place. So, you know, we created a mess."

This ep also has the whole running out of materials thing that Global Warming did for when Charlie and Dee are making masks and it's hard to meet the demand.

"Um, so, hey, listen, um, listen, we really do believe that with a major cash infusion, we could turn this bar into something..."

"No, no, no."

"...even more successful than it already..."

Thankfully, as we've covered, they managed to get four seasons, I'd say that's a pretty big loan that can only be justified if you have some sort of plan... to "turn this show into something even more successful than it already is".

Or perhaps just to do something so altering that it's potentially show ending, without the fear of getting cancelled immediately.

The Gang Makes Lethal Weapon 7

As this episode has the gang directing a set, it's easy for some elements to mirror the making of sunny, as that's the intended thing in the first place. (stuff like "We could make this more of an art house film. I'm open to it.", whereas in Thundergun 4, their role was that of the audience, which is why there Mac goes "I hope they don't show us some boring art house movie.").

There's talk of a big bang, "I'm sick of getting jerked around, I'm ready to explode".

They start to redefine who the "villain" of the story actually is, something that will also come up later in Mac's discussions about God with Gus. The concept of a vengeful God set out to send a catastrophe to smite and punish them. Like Global Warming. An imminent death, in this case in the form of a tidal wave, an act of God.

I think it's interesting how throughout these seasons, this talk of a "big event", an explosion, is both talked of as a huge catastrophe, yet something that is deeply craved.

Reminds me of Chop, again:

"They're clearly bored and lonely and needing to do something extreme in order to make themselves feel special." "Take this one for example. You don't get a monkey cut like that unless you're broken inside."

A chop, an action that's so drastic it could potentially destroy everything they've built...

"Out of the smoldering ashes, however, I pieced together a cautionary tale. An exploration, not of what is gained by learning, but of what is lost by staying ignorant."

They can't change the past (the first time round is a bitter pill), but they can embrace the future (the second chance is better still), taking what feels like "smoldering ashes" and exploring the lost potential that staying ignorant left them with. In the case of season 15, Charlie couldn't stay with his father and all he was left with was the missed chances ("You weren't there! And I needed you! I needed you there. You were supposed to carry me!"), but in the midst of this, Frank learned the importance of his role as a father (and then we find new seeds to sow, to grow our love we didn't know).

The Gang Buys A Roller Rink

As always, the bar = show metaphor makes a reappearance.

This one is packed, but to summarize, this as well is about falling back in love with something. Or rather... the first half of it. The falling out.

Imagine you've been with something your whole life, you start forgetting why you kept choosing it to stay in your life (reminds me of dennis being asked by he lives with mac in clip show...), you slowly grow bored of it as you realize that it has never changed. You've kept it exactly the same.

You think that means something has to change, something has to give.

You fantasize about how different things could be... that's the roller rink. The roller rink serves the same purpose as them going to Ireland... going as far away from their base as possible, because of this need for change.

Except...

"Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone? They paved paradise and put up a parking lot"

Once again, the implication being that they stuck with it for so long for a reason. The show, that is. Or the bar.

But that's not all this episode talks about to me.

Because it shows the gang acting very uncharacteristically, especially in regards to Dee.

"You know, Dennis looks like Jerry Seinfeld."

"Thanks, man. Yeah, that's kind of what I was going for."

"I don't like how mean they are to each other on that show."

"Aw, Sweet Dee. So pure of heart. You know?"

"Hey, when you going to Hollywood, Dee?"

"Tomorrow. Yeah, this is my last night in Philly. I'm actually super nervous."

"Oh, you got nothing to be nervous about."

"No, you're gonna do great out there, sis. They're gonna love you. You just have so much natural charisma, and you're so funny."

"Such a good-hearted person. Guys, thank you so much for not making fun of the size of her feet. They're very big."

"Oh, no, dude. I would never make fun of her physical attributes."

"Look at her go, man."

"Yeah, she's really flying, huh? Imagine if she didn't have to slow down for her friends."

"She doesn't have to. No, no, no. I... When she asked me to tighten her skates, I secretly loosened them, you know, 'cause real friends don't slow each other down, right? They help them soar."

These are all very "unsunny" moments typically ("I need their aggression at a ten"), especially in the context of the episode where we're meant to read the roller rink stuff kind of as anti-sunny... but something sticks out to me, and it's the last example I brought up.

Normally, it wouldn't fit the sunny structure, and yet we know that's not true, or at least... not anymore. Not always. They did come back for Charlie in the finale.

This is also lampshaded in Goes to Ireland:

"That's exactly what we did."

"Because we wanted to be supportive."

"No, you didn't!"

"Because we are always there for each other."

"No, we're not!"

"Right, guys?"

"In good times and in bad."

It's possible that's one way in which the previous structure didn't allow RCG to do what they really wanted to. Because the gang is not supposed to be there for each other normally, we know this, and yet it's been happening more and more in recent seasons.

Anyway, by having the roller rink part feel so unlike sunny, I think it's yet again addressing this fear that changing too much could lead them to... that. To straying too far away from what they had, only to find out it was already perfect.

Not to mention, they only get into this discussion at all because they just found out the roller rink is closing down.

"I mean, you know, doesn't quite have the same pageantry as a roller rink, but, uh..."

"Well, there's a palpable sadness in here."

This concept of pageantry coming back from A year in review.

"This guy's a huge potential investor. He could give Paddy's tons of money."

"I know, we need pageantry. We need, uh..."

So in a way, its closing down reminds the gang of all the lost potential, of their initial dreams, reminds them of all the things they said they'd do with the place.

This concept of potential... is something that I feel comes up a lot too. Whether it's the potential of new life with the puppies and the seeds, or something more abstract like them looking at Paddy's ("But that said, I mean, you know, it's got potential. It doesn't have to be this, right? We could gut this place, make it totally our own, right?").

The Gang Replaces Dee With A Monkey

Sigh. This one starts really on the nose.

"No. No, no. This can't be happening. I-I-I'm too young. No, why are you doing this? I don't want to change. I don't want to change. Oh, God, it's hot. It's always so goddamn hot. Someone's got to crack a door or a window. Oh, God, no. It's all happening too fast. I had plans, and they were perfect plans. This is just all too soon!"

We start the episode with, again, change, that is leading to losing something, running out of time.

Anyway, talk about wanting to go out, to experiment, and yet again the gang talking about where to go and trying to decide looks a lot like how a decision would be made inside a writer's room. Down to the use of a whiteboard, actually.

Now, about the monkey.

"See? Great, huh?"

"No. No, not great. Ridiculous. You think a monkey can run a bar?"

"Run a bar?"

"It would be great if we could hire more monkeys to do our job for us while we're gone. Like, a team of monkeys who run the bar, you know what I mean?"

"I do have to admit, though, it-it is a little disappointing to, um, discover that a team of primates could do our jobs for us, but..."

To me it sounds like the over reliance on a predetermined system, when writing, often lead to a feeling that RCG's own input wasn't as needed to make decisions, because they already know what works. To the point that a monkey could do their job. In a way, like the algorithm.

"And, uh, everybody write down a destination on the napkin, and then we'll put that destination in this bowl right here, I'll pick one out, and that way not one of us decides ...but we let fate take over. What do you guys think about that plan?"

They are... once again, in the position of having to take a decision. Like Escapes, getting lost in the specifics because they can't agree on them.

Unlike the previous examples however, this is suggesting the complete opposite approach to using a structure.

And it continues:

"You know what, guys? I'm having a lot of fun here. Uh, but I do want to figure this out, so, new plan. All right, here's what we're gonna do. Instead of writing down places, why don't we write down key words? Or phrases, you know? Let's go with our instincts, you know? Whatever we want to feel, whatever we want to experience on the vacation, okay? And then we'll put it up on a board. We'll look at it all together and then maybe the destination will just reveal itself to us."

Like the anti-algorithm, which took emotions out of the equation, this method instead prioritizes them in decisions. And much like Dee Day, the boys took the complicated route, Dee took the simpler one, but they all ended up on the same outcome. Ireland.

Another thing that season 15 introduces...

"You're just being honest about how you feel."

The theme of feelings is now accompanied by that of honesty, of authenticity.

"You're making me realize something here. Maybe this doesn't have to be a scam. What I mean is, [...] I can control you. I can make you feel however I want you to feel, which will help you be a better actor. [...] Oh, that's real power. Way more power than just acting, and I think that's what it was probably all about for me, you know? I just... I was searching for a sense of control."

And of control. People often do something drastic to look for a sense of control.

"And if we can't stop them from making stupid and selfish choices, then we need to give them a place to go to be stupid and selfish." (Chop)

The experimentation, the exploration of feelings, that's what they really wanted.

"You weren't looking for the gay thing. But it gave you a sense of something bigger than yourself."

Something that makes writing sunny exciting... the ability to make us feel whatever they want. By embracing feelings.

But what has authenticity got to do with all this? Well, whatever it is that they're planning to do, something drastic and potentially catastrophic, I think there was genuine fear that it wouldn't be authentic to the show. That it would stray too far.

Think once again of the algorithm.

First, they had to decide if it was something feasible... Something they can actually pull off (Could he?). Then, they had to decide if it was something that would actually happen, within the show (Would he?). And finally, they had to decide if they actually wanted to go through with it (Should we?).

This method was supposed to determine if something fits the canon of sunny, and thus is allowed to be written in.

For this specific thing that seems to trip them up (rolling my eyes because I'm trying to be unbiased here but... come on. well either way, it works for many decisions, like charlie's father, for example), perhaps they kept getting stuck in each of those points of the algorithm, putting it off season after season, without realizing their feelings on the matter, regarding what they really want to do.

The fear of causing sunny's death by going too far (perhaps jumping the shark) started to turn into the desire to end sunny to get to the good stuff that lies at the end quicker... until realization hit. Why end it at all? Why not just... risk it?

So... Ireland.

The Ireland Arc

I think, for the sake of my own convenience, I will treat the Ireland episodes as one big section, because I can't address them separately.

"What did you want me to do, Dee? Did you want me to rent a big obnoxious American truck like that one over there? That's exactly what we're trying to get away from. Okay, you know, the tiny car, that's all part of the charm of-of Europe. You know, like driving on the left-hand side of the road. Dangerous for Americans like you. But, you know, it's authentic and that's what I want, that's what I'm going for. An authentic Irish..."

Dennis is looking for an authentic irish experience. This, to him, includes driving a tiny car, something that's actually clearly causing discomfort to everyone. This will repeat a lot. What he's actually doing, is straying further from his true american nature.

Learning, eventually, to fall back in love with it by the end, because "We are America, sweetheart! And we carry our country with us wherever we go. Because we love her! And when you love someone, you can't bear to leave 'em behind!". I think this phrase, in particular, shows the ultimate acceptance that the gang loves each other, and it's therefore not inauthentic to sunny that they would be there for each other sometimes. It is, in fact, part of its identity. And it always has been.

Anyway, in The Gang Goes To Ireland, eventually we arrive to a cat who has died because it got stuck inside the room of Frank Fluids' headquarters.

Frank is here however to get his hands on some documents, that he needs to shred in order to cover up a lot of evidence for past events.

At the same time, Dee arrives and Dennis reveals having experience "covering up blunt force trauma", so he helps her out by redistributing the blood on her forehead.

So, they are all examples of what can happen if you let structure control you. You can end up occulting the truth in the process. Covering up the past, "repressing" the blood... letting something that's otherwise glaring go unchecked and actively hiding it. And in fact, Dennis can't smell the dead cat.

Something has gone obviously wrong by getting stuck in the room (Escapes...), and everyone else can instantly smell it except for him, because the covid prevented him from sensing the authentic smell.

To extend this though... it prevented him from seeing reality as a whole. That's why he started hallucinating, why he complained about wool, because he couldn't accept reality. And by being unable to accept reality, he couldn't experience it around him. Couldn't sense the smell of the cat, of the hair...

Still, we see s15 change things up with the canon that they probably wouldn't have done before. Charlie being able to read gaelic, for one.

"I'm gonna kill myself, Frank." "He's not really gonna do it, dude, he's just being dramatic." "Do it, bitch!" "Yeah, do it, bitch." "I'm not really gonna do it. It's just a cry for help."

Paralleling Jumper, and thus the whole "wanting to end the show just to be able to go crazy with it". Chop too...

Another thing from Chop that returns here... when Mac thought "Poppins" was sleepy and tried to jumpstart their system with the air horn. Same concept as here with the stew.

"This stew is really doing it for me now."

"Well, yeah, 'cause you're using it as food, instead of using it as a reviving mechanism."

The problem being expressed here, is that it was never about the show not being fun to do anymore per se (comparing it, for example, to a dead body you have to carry up a mountain), but rather that there was a lot of potential stuck inside that was unaccounted for. In the case of "Poppins", all the puppies. The dog was pregnant, not sleepy. In the case of the stew, they were using it to throw it in people's faces or wake them up from having passed out, and not... as food.

Anyway, the gang meets up at Patty's, yet again showing that despite being all the way in Ireland, deep down they miss home, since they picked basically the irish copy of Paddy's to hang in.

Finally, in The Gang's Still in Ireland, we're introduced to the castle.

To me... the castle represents sunny (unsurprisingly, since I'm analyzing the meta about writing sunny).

"Dee, I haven't even begun to do half the things I want to do with this castle. Now you're asking me to leave?"

Dennis insists the castle is perfect, despite the fact it's falling apart.

"Whoa. This place has a dark past. Murder, betrayal, beheadings."

"Well, you know, it's a castle, Dee. You know, people were going crazy in castles all the time. And beheading people... that was just their way of solving problems back then, you know."

Reminds me of Mac's comments towards Paddy's at the end of roller rink, palpable sadness and all that, also Big Mo with the whole "getting to go crazy" at the end. The boldened part makes me think of the old structure. The old structure dictated all the darkness and didn't allow space for exploring something in a genuine way. The old structure demands the use of the murder hole.

Dennis follows the castle's instructions, which drive him further into denial and to act unlike himsels, almost possessed. He hides behinds the painting, which to me symbolizes subtext ("I think there's another man in this room."), but in the end falls out, which follows the meta of the seeds as well, in the sense that Frank is able to get them out of his throat.

About the seeds.

"The first time round is a bitter pill

But the second chance is better still

And then we find new seeds to sow

To grow our love we didn't know"

You could think of the new era as a second chance. But perhaps it applies to the characters as well. Perhaps this plays into God being merciful (more on this later).

The point being, there was a lot of unexplored potential, of lost chances, and by embracing that instead of getting bogged down, they'll be able to build something new. Even if they have to destroy some things for it (Thundergun 4), like the established canon, or the set rules. To fall back in love with the show, by embracing the emotional side of it.

Charlie's reaction to Frank getting the seed out could mimic the audience. Getting a seed unstuck doesn't guarantee that everyone will be onboard.

"I found you, seed. Look at it. I coughed it out."

"Yeah. Gross. Yeah."

"Oh. I thought you'd be happy for me."

Frank proposes he should swallow it back because it would be funny, because that was the old way of doing things and making jokes. The gang never learning as per the structure stopped them from delving deeper. But they don't care about audience reaction anymore ("we'll jam it down their throats till they enjoy it!" "we'll force them to like it!").

"Walking this path is a serious commitment. One that requires considerable training."

"Oh, Father, look, I've been S'ing and F'ing my way through life for far too long. I think it's time that I started sucking down the words of the Bible. And instead of looking for pieces of ass, I'd just look for peace."

"Well, your language leaves a bit to be desired, but your heart's in the right place."

Mac finds the same lesson in his time in the church.

"Many of the stories in the Bible are metaphors. Parables with lessons. Look, you're looking at this all wrong. The Bible is a guidepost. Interpretations can change over time. And so can the Church. Our God, the God we teach here, is a merciful God."

So if RCG is the God in question, then the message is one of mercy ("I'm gonna save you. Unlike you, I'm not a psychopath." "And like all great plays, this one is going to have a happy ending."), unlike the God in Global Warming and Lethal Weapon 7, a vengeful God that punishes its disciples ("to smite me for the urges that He gave me when I made the original sin of being born" ...kinda poetic, because RCG as God created them and made them act as they do, for the sole purpose of punishing them, having been created for this, and they don't really have a say in it).

Most shows also have what's called a "bible", although I remember RCG saying sunny doesn't, but it does have a canon and a structure, a set way that things work and have been done, and what's being argued here is that it should act more as a guide to follow when needed...

"You have urges that, traditionally, the Church has been very clear about. Well... I have those urges, too. [...] It's not uncommon. There's nothing wrong with it. It's who He made us. But our path, this path, is very clear. We must never act on those urges."

...And discarded when not needed. In Mac's case, him being gay, following this teaching from the bible would obviously be wrong.

Also, in general, we hear a lot of bell ringing in this season, both in the context of death (when the corpse is revealed, for example), but also whenever a scene with the church starts. Bells are usually rung only in funerals and weddings, so I thought that was another neat point to the overall themes.

Same goes for them using the song "Can't fight this feeling", that's all about... well, if you've read the lyrics you know. It's all about following your feelings...

The finale also places great importance on tradition, they have to carry the corpse that way because... that's the way things have always been done, that's tradition, that's the structure. But they don't end up carrying it, using a truck instead. Fulfilling the tradition and "sending him off with some dignity" but their own way, making things easier for themselves.

Death also keeps being a looming presence, in this case because of the curse of the banshee. It is said that when you see a banshee, "the end is near". And then death does hit, with Shelley. However, it wasn't the curse that did it, it was covid. The curse wasn't real.

But the corpse tells me something else, too.

"The poor guy's dying from a banshee curse, and now he's got to deal with COVID on top of everything else?"

The corpse is the show. This is important, because there is no death they have to fear. It is already dead. They've been trying to "jumpstart the system", with stew, with the air horn, but nothing they can do to the show can kill it more than how dead it already feels. The act of writing it the old way feeling like carrying a corpse up a mountain, an act so arduous each gang member keeps leaving, and the ones that stay ask for a break all the time.

This calls to mind the time Glenn actually left, and the part where Dennis trips and lets go seems to hint at this as well.

"Could it be maybe the banshee curse? Does it have something to do...?"

"Were you not carrying it?"

"Not carr... What are you talking about, man? Not carrying it? Yeah, I was carrying it."

"Why did it get lighter?"

"Oh, my God. It looks like he was dragging his feet back here."

"Were you hanging on it?"

"No!"

"He must have tripped and lost his grip, and that's how he fell."

"Oh, goddamn it! You were taking a ride? You weren't even holding it."

Seems to be mentioning the fact that Glenn didn't write any episode for season 13 after coming back.

When Mac stops carrying the corpse, the gang mentions that it feels like he was carrying a lot of weight, which to me refers to the most recent arcs being heavily Mac centric with his coming out, probably being the most exciting thing to write about, and thus "carrying" the corpse.

"Um, can I suggest something? What if we burn the body and carry the ashes up the hill?"

"Uh, guys, can I suggest something else? Uh, what if we, uh...? Now bear with me here. What if we chop the body up? Come on. And we carry it in pieces, right?"

"Look, this isn't working, okay? Look, you don't want to burn the guy? Fine. Personally, I don't understand it, but there are other solutions to this problem, okay? Let's just chop the body up. It's already mangled."

Dennis, despite initially insisting he "thinks it's awesome" to carry the body up the mountain, quickly starts getting fed up and trying to find alternative solutions. This probably reflects the reason why the seasons got shorter. A sentiment of burnout that they probably all felt.

The role of Dennis is crucial in this, and it cannot be overlooked. The moment his back is mentioned, especially as it's called his "structural essence", he's inevitably tied to the meta of the show as a whole because of the structure, meaning that breaking the show structure hinges on breaking Dennis' structure. This isn't the only moment this is implied, far from.

A few examples in quick succession, many of which I've already explored in my old post in more depth, some that will be new because they're from S15 (do allow me the freedom to bring into the discussion the concept of "love", that gets brought up a lot, and ties with the "embracing your feelings" I've dissected plenty already):

Dennis entering and exiting the structure in Gets Romantic ("So I'm still your leading man?"). Likewise, there's a lot of recasting talk in Lethal Weapon 7 and later with Dee in S15. Mirrors him leaving for ND as well.

Dennis being paralleled to Thundergun (he finds out he has a son, and in the end he "dies", / "So, this is the midpoint twist." "What is?" "Um, ThunderGun finding out he has a son." "He has a son?" "Yes." "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." / "I say give me dong or give me death." / "You weren't looking for the gay thing. But it gave you a sense of something bigger than yourself.")

Dennis being forced by Dee to remove his make up in Dee Day ("Buddy, makeup or not, you are the Golden God. It's all about what's in here." / "Today of all days, and now I'm being forced to listen to her feelings? I won't do it. And who cares about her feelings anyway? Nobody, that's who. What about my feelings? Now, that's interesting, okay?" / "This man is clearly a monster, and he will be punished accordingly.")

Dennis wanting Mac to make his own decisions instead of looking at him for answers ("Well, you didn't tell me whether I should save him or not." "But why? I mean, why do I still have to tell you what to do? [...] And why is it up to me to decide whether or not you're going to save a man's life?"), being upset that Mac wouldn't just jump in to save him. Dennis being worried about his own mortality.

Dennis being paralleled to the Jumper, with the algorithm centering on what they should do with him. Also being the one insisting emotions be kept out of it, yet constantly acting emotional. The casaba, arguably, since Dennis is the Jumper, and the casaba was meant to represent it... ("I don't think you have to hide it, man").

The salon in Chop being called <3 or death, Dennis trying to stop others from making choices reads like him regretting North Dakota ("They're clearly bored and lonely and needing to do something extreme in order to make themselves feel special"), plus the obsession with hair mirroring that in S15, insisting that cutting the hair doesn't follow tradition (structure). Dennis being paralleled to Poppins ("My dog came back!" "How the hell is that dog still alive?" "Yeah, Mac, why don't you just put that poor thing out of its misery?" "Put him down? What, are you crazy? This is my dog, Dee. I love him.") both for having kids he doesn't take care of, and for leaving and coming back.

Dennis being at the center of Big Mo, insisting they keep guarding the base because doing otherwise would lead to death, and then also being the one to say that it's time to end the game. The entire revelation that brings us to the new era started by S15 hinges on Dennis' turning point, deciding not to guard the base (the structure! ...his structure?) anymore.

"They leave but they all come back." is the credits backwards message to season 14. Parallels Dennis leaving for ND.

Dennis having covid parallels Frank's dialogue about Barbara and thus Dee's dialogue for the role she's trying for ("Overnight, she became completely irrational with the hot flashes and the mood swings and the paranoia. That was the worst. Always accusing me of having affairs.").

Dennis' obsession with things being authentic while he himself is so in denial it almost causes him to die. The castle as his facade/identity, telling him what to do, the banquet of humiliation being about punishing a dad for abandoning his child, like Dennis did ("You wine and dine the man while also pointing out all of his character flaws, and then you lure him over to the castle's murder hole." "I'm not gonna kill him or anything, but it's got to be hot enough to be annoying as sh¡t, right? You know what I mean? Yeah. Burn him. Uh, he's gonna get burned. But, I mean, Charlie's got to see him lose his cool, so we can expose him as the child-abandoning monster that he really is.")

The recent seasons have kept laying down implications regarding Dennis in particular. We all remember the Range Rover ("I got to tell you, guys, that Range Rover, that was... that was like a part of me. You know, I considered it part of my identity, really." from New Wheels) being blown up by Mac with the RPG. Without getting into the specifics of what it may be (draw your conclusions, I'll draw mine), something about Dennis' identity is being... concealed, like with make up. Been tampered with, like the hair. Covered up, like Frank's shred-and-spread. Basically, it stands to reason that his back is the one that breaks in the finale, because we may get to explore that, his identity. (And because he feels like he's being left behind by the gang...? Remember tends bar... and thundergun too, its whole motto is no man left behind and yet he dies, which goes completely against that!)

"All right, you know what, guy? Here's what I'm feeling. Forget this dude. He was a deadbeat, right? Can we just go home?"

Season/ritual finished, they return home to their roots, with a newfound love for it.

Not letting the corpse (show) get between them (RCG).

"And we carry our country with us wherever we go! Because we love her! And when you love someone, you can't bear to leave 'em behind!"

So what does this mean for season 16?

The main analysis is done.

It was my goal inside this post to speculate as little as possible, so that hopefully the meta discussed would hold up regardless. This small footnote is for me to go crazy at the end, if you will.

If you were to ask me... season 16 is the aftermath of change. Wanting to go back to the way things were, back to your roots... but you've all changed. It's you (the gang) who's different. No matter where they are now.

"It's the end of the Vitruvian era! It's over! Goddamn! Goddamn! My essence has... been ruined by tiny cars, castle beds and... Goddamn. I hate this godforsaken country!"

So, if you were to see the "falling back in love with something" as an arc, this to me may be the moment in the story where you start to realize what you've missed out on, and what you miss that you already had. Paddy's may be the same, but the gang isn't. Least of all, Dennis.

"Love I get so lost sometimes Days pass and this emptiness fills my heart When I want to run away I drive off in my car But whichever way I go I come back to the place you are All my instincts, they return The grand facade, so soon will burn Without a noise, without my pride I reach out from the inside"

Because when you love someone, you can't bear...

I wonder if we'll ever get to see the RPG fired, that's clearly the type of explosion they crave, isn't it? Sometimes in order to save something you have to destroy it...

"Dear Anna, our time apart only makes my heart grow fonder." (oh like inflation?)

I don't know. I think Dennis, like the show (since their meta aligns), will try to embrace taking decisions based on feelings rather than being cold and calculative. And I think the gang will find that very weird, and may think he's got his bell rung or it's a cry for help or "he's probably faking it".

I also think we will be introduced to the concept of a new structure. That may be the DENNIS system reworked (or just realizing how appalling the old one is, underlining how that structure doesn't work for them anymore), or it may be some method Dennis is using to try to improve his mental health (it would make sense in meta... trying ways to get better... and failing too, like the trip to ireland being a disaster, but still teaching them something along the way), "What's the first word that comes to your mind to describe us?", something like that. Attempting to redefine what was previously established in a new way that works better, that adapts to their current needs.

So we will have gone from... classic (s14), exploration and change (s15), redefining (s16).

Of course, I don't think the exploration and change is finished either. The scene with Frank and Charlie finding a bathroom (which btw... also reminds me of my spec script...) still recalls Big Mo ("We're finding all kinds of corners of this place that we've never explored before."). I think all seasons moving forward will bring up past stuff they never got into before, to some extent. They have a lot of seeds to wade through, after all. They're not running out of those any time soon. Maybe that's what the scene refers too, believability? Might be why there's all those lamps (I didn't discover this... someone smarter than me did). After all this is something they never had to battle before from the comfort of their structure, but now that they're changing things, how much can they do before it's not believable?

I'm not even gonna get into the gang gets cursed without a synopsis, there's too much at stake for me to get wrong... some thoughts were the curse of the banshee, the curse from gets trapped (indiana jones reference... also referenced in s15... ark of the covenant... the crate... "In the bible, there are passages that explain that if a man touches the ark or looks inside it when it is opened, he will die." ...hm! fascinating), the god hole... I won't. I can't. The post is already way too long.

So... this is the end.

Thank you for reading all the way to here, you're insane for doing that, but I deeply appreciate it. Leave some tags if you wants, this took me 5 days to write and I also lost some edits at the end which was like three hours of work... woof.

And please feel free to add your own thoughts and considerations about this meta, despite how long this post ended up being I'm sure I've only scratched the surface of it, especially because I had to disregard almost everything prior to s14 for the sake of staying brief (I KNOW RIGHT?), and I'm sure there's dialogue I didn't include or multiple interpretations that escaped me. It happens, this show is hefty with them. But I hope you enjoyed. Thanks.

#iasip #it's always sunny in philadelphia #always sunny #s16 spoilers #season 15 #season 14 #meta #analysis #macdennis #(even tho it's not really)#dennis reynolds #mac mcdonald #charlie kelly #dee reynolds #frank reynolds #again sorry for no readmore... this is like do u like the color of the sky post but for sunny. I APOLOGIZE #im so nervous to post this i hope it doesn't implode #THANK U OOMF OHHHH THE READ MORE OK OK THANKU IVE PUT IT!!!! SORRY EVERYONE #long post

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juiceinpanties · 2 years

Text

A Proper S'more, pt 2

Pairing: Eddie Munson/afab!reader

Rating(s): E

Words: ~5.5k

Tags: smut!, humping, nipple play, semi-public sexual activity, drug use (just some pot), flirting through food, friends to lovers, established friendship, oral (both), dirty talk, rough sex, LOTS of kissing, fingering, ass play, a bit of come play, unwrapped penetrative sex, subbie!Eddie, but also not-as-subbie Eddie, praise kink (him), reader likes to be called dirty names

Summary: Your best friend Eddie Munson invites you camping, and while you're reluctant at first, you realize this might be just the chance you need to finally show him how you feel.

Notes: I was rage-inspired by the TERRIBLE take on s'mores they recently featured on Great British Bake-Off. Pretty sure this is the first time the British have inspired hot, sexy smut. Thanks as always to @tonybourdain for her invaluable help as beta, idea bouncer-off-ofer, and just all around wonderful and amazing human.

Feedback is always welcome and appreciated and PLEASE reblog if you can! It's how posts spread around here; likes are appreciated, but they do nothing to boost interaction. :)

part 1 | part 2

In case you wanna read on Ao3 instead

Later that night you're all cleaning up dinner mess and stashing everything in bear-safe containers when Eddie sidles your way and smiles a little. "Hey."

"Hi," you say. "I heard Dustin tell Mike you peed your pants."

He rolls his eyes. "That little shit. He makes Dennis the Menace look angelic. Don't worry; I'll get him back in the next campaign and he knows it."

You can't help but giggle at the random shit that comes out of Eddie's mouth sometimes. "Sorry about that," you say.

"Don't worry about it. Worth it." He grins at you, his dark eyes big and bright even in the low light. "Way worth it." He clears his throat and tucks his thumbs into his back pockets before changing his mind and playing with a lock of hair instead.

"Do you want to—maybe, if you’re into it, no pressure—meet up later?" he mumbles.

"Like when later?"

He drags the bit of hair over his mouth. "Umm...maybe after everyone's gone to bed? Meet up here, then...go somewhere else?"

"Yeah, Grove. I'd like that." You lean in and lower your voice. "I wasn't done with you."

His cheeks turn pink and he fights a grin. "I wasn't done with you either, princess."

"Good," you say. "Later, then."

"Uh huh. Later." He stumbles a little as he prances away, but he rights himself and offers a wave to let you know he's okay. Jesus he's so cute. Bambi on ice like 80% of the time, at least.

You and Nancy are sharing a tent, but you know she wants to sneak off to Steve and Eddie's tent...and you want to sneak off with Eddie, so really it all works out. She gives you a knowing grin as you don't bother taking off your boots when you crawl inside.

"Meeting Eddie later?" she whispers.

You blush and fiddle with your boot laces. "Mhmm. We sort of got interrupted earlier."

"Uh huh, Steve mentioned that. Just be careful, okay? You don't want to get lost out there."

You nod. "Eddie seems like he knows these woods pretty well, and there's always Boy Scout Steve if we get too turned around."

"I think the kids are pretty much asleep if you want to go now," she says. "Don't forget the flashlight."

You grab it and crawl out. "Thanks, Nance," you whisper as she zips the flaps shut behind you.

The fire is banked for the night, but there's a nearly full moon, so you're able to make it to the picnic table without much trouble. You sit on the bench to wait, and before long Eddie appears. He smiles and presses a finger to his lips, then takes your hand to lead you into the woods.

He has a battery-powered lantern, but he keeps it off until you're far enough away it won't be noticed. He stops every now and then to tie bright orange streamers to trees. You poke his arm and point at one with a questioning gesture.

"Steve," he whispers. "Good ol' Boy Scout Steve. He gave them to me so we wouldn't get lost."

"What a thoughtful boy," you say.

"Uh huh."

You hike for a bit longer, until you reach a clearing bright from the full moon. He grins over his shoulder at you and spreads out the blanket he brought. "Wanna sit?" he says.

You drop down next to him with a smile. "So," you say. "What's on your mind tonight, Munson?"

"Hm?" He looks up from where he's fiddling with the lantern and quickly looks away again. "Oh, you know. Nothing. Just, uh. Just thought we could come hang out. You know, away from all the...everybody."

He clears his throat and settles down on the blanket, but he has his lighter in one hand and is flipping it over and over. He won't look at you.

"Grove?" you say, nudging him a little. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yep, sure, everything's—everything's great. Um." He pushes to his feet and wanders away. Being so close to you is making his brain scramble. You smell so good, wood smoke and sweetness, and you're so warm and soft. There's a fire burning low in his belly, and every time he looks at you it just gets hotter.

"A little chilly out here, huh? Shoulda brought another blanket. Shit. Don't want you to be cold. We could go back if you—oh. Hi."

You've moved to stand in front of him, and with his nervous pacing he didn't hear you. You take his hand in yours and lead him back to the blanket. "Let's just sit," you say. "We don't have to do anything. It's just us, Grover. You and me, same as always."

"Riiiight," he says, doubtfully. "Except I've had my mouth on your nipples now."

"True. Does that make things different?"

"Um." He rubs a hand over his lips and his eyes dart down to your chest, then back up to your face. "Maybe a little. But only because I wanna do it again."

You smile. "I'd like you to do it again. But it can wait. Hey, do you still have that baggie?"

"Ohhh yeah good call." He fishes the baggie out of his pocket and grabs one of the joints. "Too bad we didn't bring any marshmallows."

"I think we'll live. If I get the munchies I'll just nibble on you."

Even in the low light you can see how his cheeks flush at that. He ducks his head to light the joint and takes a slow, deep drag before passing it to you. "Have you always been this evil?" he says on the exhale.

You shrug and take a pull. "Probably. I just keep it hidden most of the time."

He settles down with one knee pulled up, his arm draped over it. You lean against his other side and tangle your free arm with his.

"I kinda like it," he says after a contemplative silence. "I like..." He cuts his eyes your way, then back out toward the trees. He shifts his ass a little. "I like...hanging out with you."

"Mmm," you say. "I like hanging out with you too." You finish off the joint and pass him the roach to store away, then rest your head on his shoulder. Your voice softens. "I like what happened earlier."

He tucks the Sucrets tin away. "I liked it too." He's quiet, fiddling with the laces on his boots before he undoes them and sets them aside. When he comes back he lets his hand wander until his arm is around you and you're pressed against his chest. His eyes are on the stars as he wrestles with what to say. He wants you to know how much you mean to him, how much he cares about you.

He clears his throat and turns his head to press a soft kiss to the top of your head and take a deep breath of your sweet scent.

"I just, um—I don't want you to think that I—that that's all I want now. Just, you know. Dirty stuff."

You tilt your chin back to look at him, then kiss his jaw. "I know you don't. I don't either. But I'll tell you a secret."

"Hmm?" he says, angling his head so he can see your face.

You grin at him. "I like the dirty stuff," you whisper.

His mouth curves in a bashful grin. "Yeah?" He runs his finger over your lips. "You mean with me, or in general?"

You catch his finger between your teeth and swirl your tongue around it. His breath catches and his eyes go wide. "With you," you murmur. "Just you, Grove."

"Fuck," he says on a rough exhale. His hand buries itself in your hair and he drags you up to kiss you. You respond with a little whimper, kissing him back desperately, and he slowly pushes you back onto the blanket.

"Want you, princess," he breathes between hot, hungry kisses. "Wanna take such good care of you. Make you feel so good."

"Mmmm it's my turn!" you say. You push at his shoulder until he rolls over, and you pounce on top of him. He lets out a surprised, breathless laugh that turns to a quiet moan when you bite the spot where the pulse pounds in his neck. You swirl your tongue against the spot and reach down to tug at his shirt.

His back arches enough to get it off, and then you're working your way down, kissing and biting and sucking. "Marks?" you ask.

He gives a quick, desperate nod. "Please! Mark me all up, baby!" He wants to be marked, wants to look in the mirror tomorrow and see you all over him. He wants to remember how hungry you were for him, how you wanted him as much as he wants you.

You smirk and do as he's begging. You bite harder. Suck longer. You kiss and lick every mark you leave, and soon you've made your way down to his soft tummy and the delicate line that leads down from his bellybutton.

"Can I take these off?" you say as you hook your finger in the waistband of his jeans.

He swallows. His heart is pounding so hard he can barely think. "Yeah, babe. Please."

You undo the button, then slowly unzip them before tugging them down to his ankles. You sit back on your knees to study him: shirt off, jeans around his ankles, cock big in his blue boxers.

"Such a slutty boy," you say with a little grin. You run your fingers along his erection. "Is this for me?"

He whimpers, hips bucking a little. "Yeah, fuck, all yours!"

"Mmmmm." You lean down to bite his tummy and pull his boxers off. His cock springs free and you lick your lips at the sight of it: thick and hard and so pink, even in the low light. "So pretty," you murmur. You wrap your hand around it and rub your thumb across the head. "Of course such a pretty boy has a pretty cock."

"You think—you think I'm pretty?"

You look up at him with his big eyes, flushed cheeks, kiss-swollen lips. "I think you're the prettiest boy I've ever seen," you say. You kiss the tip of his cock and suck it into your mouth.

He makes a rough, high-pitched noise and grips the blanket for dear life. "Fuck, babe! Please!"

"Please what, baby boy? Use your words."

He whines through clenched teeth. "Need your mouth, princess! Suck my cock, please!"

You shiver and clench your thighs together at the rush of wet heat in your cunt. "Gonna, sweet boy. You sound so pretty begging like that." You suck him into your mouth, deep, and he groans.

You wanted to tease him, make this really last, but you're so goddamn wet and your pussy is throbbing so hard you don't have the patience. Instead you suck him like your life depends on it, rough and sloppy and hungry.

He loves every second of it. "Fuck, princess, oh fuck! Fuckin A don't stop, don't stop, just like that!!"

Your head bobs as his cock fills your mouth, the flared head presses into your throat. You gag, pull out, and repeat. Drool drips down his shaft and onto his balls, and you wrap one hand around the base and the other around his sack. You squeeze, just a little, and at the noise he makes you do it again.

You pop off and smirk at him, at his flushed cheeks and messy hair and slack mouth. "Dirty boy. Look at this hard, leaky cock! I bet you want to come, don't you?"

He makes an incoherent, wrecked noise and manages to nod, then shakes his head. "Whatever you want, baby! I'm yours. Cock's yours!"

"Mmmm." You lick your swollen lips. "That's right. What a good boy." You stroke him slowly, enjoying the thick, hot feel of him in your hand. Your thumb rubs along the underside, presses against the spot where the shaft meets the head, then strokes over the pink tip. You swirl it through the pre-come gathered there, then bring your thumb to your mouth to lick it clean.

He watches you with a dazed expression, then his head falls back on a groan. "Please! Need more, fuck, please!"

"Since you asked so nicely," you say and dip your head to flick your tongue against him. He twitches, so you do it again. You're still stroking his shaft and playing with his balls, and now when you suck him into your mouth his hips stutter and jerk and you almost choke on him.

"Fuck! Fuck, baby, sorry!" he gasps.

You shake your head to tell him it's okay and keep going. As you suck you press your thumb against his perineum and stroke in firm, steady circles. That takes him to the next level.

"Gonna come, princess, fuck fuck that's so fuckin' good so—goddamn—FUCK!" He lets out a long, ragged moan and his come fills your mouth, hot and thick and salty. You swallow as much as you can in eager gulps, but a bit dribbles out onto your chin.

You keep lathing him with your tongue until he's a twitching, whimpering mess and he tries to stop you. "Too much! Gotta—fuck!"

You ignore him and don't let up. Your tongue is soft and wet against his too-sensitive cockhead and he thinks he might die. Words are beyond him; he's making the most desperate little whimpering sounds you've ever heard, and it's making you crazy.

"F—f—uuu—ck!" he chokes out. "Baaaaaby!!"

Finally you take pity and grin up at him. At the sight of you with your red, swollen lips and his come on your mouth he groans and drags you up to him. He kisses you hungrily, sucking and slurping every drop of himself off your mouth even as his tongue plunges in and out and tangles with yours.

You both moan and he rolls you over so that he's on top of you. The kisses don't stop, but somehow get hotter and deeper.

"That was so fuckin' good, angel," he rasps. "Fuck! Didn't know it could be that good! You're fuckin' incredible!"

"Taste so good, Eddie!" you say. "Coulda sucked your cock all night!"

He chokes out a laugh. "That probably woulda killed me."

You giggle and kiss him again. "Good thing I stopped then."

"Uh huh, because I gotta get my mouth on this cunt." He presses his hand between your thighs, then pulls it away with a dismayed look at his rings. "Hang on," he says.

You grab his hand with a mischievous smirk. Your eyes steady on his, you suck his finger into your mouth and wrap your lips around the ring. You slowly drag it off, then do it again for the other two.

He's staring at you with stars in his eyes. "Holy shit!" he breathes. "Jesus fucking Christ!"

You giggle and hand him the rings. "A little party trick, I guess," you say.

"Excellent trick. Remind me to attend more parties if you're gonna be there."

"You hate parties," you murmur as you tug him back down to you.

"I could learn to like 'em if you're gonna be suckin' my fingers," he says with a grin. He pulls your shirt up and over your head, then kisses his way down to your tits. Like earlier he spends ages on them: licking and sucking your nipples. Biting a little. Tugging them with his teeth. He kneads your tits with both hands and lathes his tongue back and forth over each sensitive bud until you're writhing under him.

"Eddie, please! My pussy!"

He gives a rough, hungry groan and finally moves on to kiss and bite his way down your tummy. He bites the pudge below your bellybutton. Sucks and laps his tongue over your soft skin.

He undoes your shorts and you lift your hips so he can tug them and your panties down together, and you kick the clothes away. He sits up and swallows hard. "You're so fuckin' pretty, baby girl," he says in an awestruck voice.

Your skin seems to glow in the moonlight, your nipples dark and swollen like ripe cherries. Between your thighs he can just make out the crisp whorl of hair on your mound and the way your puffy lips glisten when you squirm under his gaze.

"Is this for me?" he murmurs, his palm coming to rest against your pussy. "This sweet thing's all for me?"

"All for you, Eddie," you gasp. "Please don't tease me! God I need to come!"

"Greedy little thing," he says. "Guess it's your turn to beg, huh?" He drags a fingertip up and down your slit and you can't stop the needy little noises that fall from your lips.

"Please!" you whine. "Need your mouth, baby boy!"

He groans and ducks his head to kiss you before falling between your thighs. He kisses the inside of your knee then spreads you wide. Bites the sensitive skin of your inner thigh and sucks until you hiss.

"Can I leave a mark, princess?"

"Uh huh! Where no one'll see."

"Mmmm. Mine," he murmurs and sucks several big, dark marks. You squirm and writhe and whine, undone before he's even touched your cunt.

"And this is mine too," he says about the cunt in question. He kisses your labia. Drags his tongue up and down, then licks his lips as he savors the taste of you. "Goddamn you taste good, princess!"

"More, please!" you gasp.

He grunts and tugs your legs over his shoulders so he can really bury his face in you. He spreads you and licks every inch of you. Dips his tongue inside and swirls. Flicks up to your clit and then stops just before touching it.

"Hmmm. What's this?" he says. "A strawberry, all fat and pretty and ripe just for me?"

"Uh huh! Tastes good, too!"

He smirks and wraps his lips around it to suck. Your hips come up off the blanket with a little cry, but he holds you steady and still. "Can you be good, baby? I'll tell you when you can move."

You bite your lip. Where did that whiny, begging little boy go? Eventually you manage a nod. "I can be good," you say. "I'll be still."

"Good girl." He presses his mouth against you again and lathes his tongue back and forth across your ridiculously sensitive clit. You moan his name and grip the blanket and your thighs and belly are tense as you resist the urge to rock against his face.

His hands slide up your body to squeeze your tits, pinch your nipples. You can't help it: you writhe under him, whimpering his name, but he doesn't let up or make you stop. He's making the hungriest noises you've ever heard as he slurps and sucks at your clit. You look down at him, his big eyes and flushed cheeks, hair stuck to his sweaty forehead, fingers tight enough to leave marks on your tits.

"Eddie oh god!" you gasp. "Eddie, please, please! Need fingers, baby!"

"Not yet," he mumbles and goes back to sucking. You taste so fucking good and you're so responsive and desperate! His cock is fully hard all over again, aching and throbbing, and he ruts against the blanket in wanton desperation.

"Fuck fuck oh fuck!" you whimper. "That's so good, fuck!!"

"You can move, baby. Fuck my face."

"Eddie!!" you cry. Your hips buck; you grab a handful of his hair to hold him tight against you; your thighs grip his head and he tugs and twists your nipples.

"Please!" you breathe. "Oh god please!" You're so close you can taste it, your tummy tightening and clenching as the orgasm closes in. He knows it too, and he doesn't let up. His tongue pulses and lashes against your clit and that's it, you can't take it anymore. You grind against his face and bite down on your free hand to muffle your scream of pleasure as the wave breaks over you.

He groans and laps up the rush of wetness and before you can catch your breath he's sinking his middle two fingers into you, deep, and you let out a soft cry.

"Eddie!"

"You asked for fingers, princess," he says, his voice rough. "I live to serve."

He leans up to kiss you, letting you suck your orgasm off his swollen lips. "You want another one, greedy girl?"

"Uh huh!" you gasp with a desperate nod. "Please!"

He groans and kisses you again. "Knew you'd be so good, baby. Knew you were my goddamn dream girl."

You push your fingers through his hair, shoving it away from his sweaty face, and bite and nip at his jaw. His neck. You suck his earlobe into your mouth and he whimpers your name.

He works you with his sensitive fingers, curling and flexing them until he finds the spot that makes you whine against his ear. "There, princess?"

"Right there!"

He kisses you hard and starts to fingerfuck you rough and fast. He twists them. Scissors them open and closed. You squeeze around him and the sloppy, filthy sounds your cunt is making drive you both wild. His face is set and intense, his dark eyes steady on yours with a line between his brows and his full mouth thinned in concentration. You're all he can see, his entire universe, and neither of you wants the feeling to end.

"Oh god!" you whine. "Oh god, Eddie, that's—oh fuck please!!"

"Come for me, baby girl," he croons. He kisses you and nips at your lip. "Make a mess for me. Take what you need, princess. Whatever you need."

You grip his hair with one hand and the blanket with the other as you buck up onto his fingers. He moves with you, setting a harsh, driving rhythm that makes you want to scream. When he twists his hand and his thumb finds your clit that's it, you're gone. You yank his hair and moan his name and clench around his fingers so tight he hisses.

He watches you as the orgasm grips your body, the way your chest heaves and your tummy ripples and clenches. Your thighs are shaking and there are tears running down your cheeks. He kisses them away so gently, his lips soft and sweet on your heated cheeks.

Eddie eases his dripping hand from your cunt and grins at you. "You did make a mess, princess. You squirted for me. What a good girl!"

You shudder and nod. "That—happens—sometimes. But never with someone else," you say through deep, panting breaths.

"Oof," he says, a rough exhale like you punched him. "That's so fuckin' hot. I'm honored, baby. Thank you."

You giggle and sit up enough to wrap your hand around his cock. You squeeze. "You did it, silly. I'm the one who should be thanking you."

He hisses and carefully removes your fingers from his dick. "Stop that. Bad girl. I have plans for that."

"Oh do you? Care to share with the whole class?"

"Uh huh, I will. First..." He grabs his pack and hands you the bottle of water from inside it.

"Ooo, smart boy." You take several long, thirsty gulps before handing it back so he can do the same.

He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and grins at you, the really big one that crinkles up his whole face, and you can't help but grin back. You murmur his name and pull him close for soft, easy kisses, and he manages to get the lid back on the water bottle before he's on top of you again.

"Hang on, angel. Gotta—" He twists away just long enough to grab a condom from a pocket of his jacket, and then he's back to kiss up and down your neck.

"You brought condoms?"

He gives a sheepish shrug. "I always carry one with me. Just in case."

"Uh huh. Eddie 'The Stud' Munson."

"Ha. Yeah, that's me." He strokes his hands up and down your sides and you arch into it. "Tell me what you want, princess."

"I—fuck." You push at his shoulder so that he turns onto his back. "Like this," you say. "Got a taste for it earlier."

"Not gonna complain," he says. He squeezes your thighs and hands you the condom.

You study him a moment. "You know, I'm on the pill."

His eyes widen just a little. "Really?"

"Mhmm. I've always used a condom before."

"Me too," he says, swallowing hard. "Do you wanna—not?"

You lean down to kiss him. "I'd love to feel you come inside me," you murmur against his mouth.

He's pretty sure he's died and gone to Heaven, but somehow he manages to nod. "Yeah, princess. Whatever you want."

You smirk, toss the condom aside, and straddle him. "Ready, sweet boy?"

"God yeah! Please, baby!"

He holds himself steady for you and with long, filthy moan you sink down onto him. "Oh god!!" you whimper as he stretches you. You're absolutely dripping wet, but even after 2 orgasms you aren't used to taking something so big. You can feel the head snug inside you and it's incredible.

"Eddie!! Fuck!" you whimper. "Oh fuck you're so big!!"

"Baby girl!" he gasps. He cannot believe how good you feel, how hot and slick and just right. "Perfect little cunt, perfect little princess!" He smirks at you and squeezes your thighs again. "But not so perfect, huh? More like the perfect little slut."

Your eyes widen and your cunt clenches around him. "Say it again, baby."

He rocks up into you and you move against him. "Is that what you are, baby? My little slut? Perfect princess on the outside, hungry little whore on the inside?"

"Oh fuck!!" you cry, your head calling back. No one has ever talked to you like this before, and it's doing things to you. "Eddieeee!"

"Ride me, baby," he grunts. "Take that cock. It's all yours, sweetheart. Your cock."

You whimper and don't waste any more time. You brace your hands on his chest and grind down onto him. You wiggle until you get just the right angle, then lifts your hips and drop back down. You both hiss. He grips your hips, his fingers digging in so that the skin turns white around them, and soon you're fucking him in earnest, his big cock hitting you just right, your clit grinding between you in a way that makes you whine.

"Greedy girl," he breathes. "Fuck I love it! Love the way you take my cock, love how much you need it!"

"Gonna come, gonna—can't—oh my god!!" You can't believe you're coming again, fourth time tonight, and it's so fucking good, better each and every time. "Eddie!" you gasp. "God, Eddie!!"

He squeezes your ass, then carefully lifts you off of him. You're confused in your post-orgasmic haze, but you can see him smirking at you. "On your knees, princess. Down on your elbows."

You moan and do as you're told. "Don't hold back, Eddie," you breathe as he kneels behind you. "I can take it hard like this. I'll stop you if it's too much."

"Fuck," he says. He whispers your name and strokes a hand down your back. You feel the tip nudge your entrance, and then he's inside you, all one stroke that buries him to the hilt.

You cry out and push back against him. "Fuck me!" you whine. "Fuck me, baby, please!"

He's very glad he already came once or he'd be in trouble right now. As it is he can hold on enough to give you what you want. He pulls out and slams in again, the force of it rocking through you. You grip fistfuls of the blanket and beg for more, faster, like that, more!!

He fucks you deep and slow, no matter how much you beg for him to go faster. Your ass is so soft and round against him. He spreads it with both hands, then licks his fingertip and presses it against your hole.

"Eddie?" you whimper.

"Shhh, baby. I got you. Stop me if you don't want it." He drags his finger down to grab some of your wetness and pulls it up to your hole; over and over until you're slick all the way up.

"Don't stop!" you manage. He's deep inside you, rocking and grinding, and it's a maddening, delicious tease. "Fill me up, Eddie."

"Mmmm, you wanna be stuffed full, princess?"

"Uh huh! Please!"

He loves how wrecked and desperate and cock-drunk you sound. He sides his finger in and out of his mouth, getting it nice and slick, and slowly, carefully pushes it into your ass.

It hurts a little, a rough burn, but it's also good, so fucking good, and you rock back into him with a hungry whine. "Like that! Fuck, Eddie, like that!"

He draws more of your slick up until he can get his finger in to the second knuckle and he just holds it there as he fucks you. Harder. Faster. He grips your shoulder with his free hand for leverage and pulls you back with each thrust forward. He's grunting and gasping your name and you've never felt so full and used and delicious.

"Don't stop!" you gasp. "Oh fuck don't stop!!"

"Oh god oh fuck goddamn, princess, I can't—" He bites his lip hard, but it's no good. He's gonna come. You feel incredible, sound so good, are so desperate and needy for him still, after four orgasms, and he can't hang on. "Gonna—fuck!!"

He fills you in a hot, breathless rush, and you moan at the sensation. "Eddie!!"

He's groaning, his head thrown back, but when he hears your wrecked voice he realizes you didn't come again. He pulls out and stops the rush of your mingled come with his fingers. He draws some of it up to your ass so he can fuck you there while he fingers your cunt, and he twists his hand to press his thumb to your clit.

You whine, completely overwhelmed. "Eddie!" It's all you can manage: his name, like a mantra. Your brain is utterly gone, fucked out on the forest floor, and now he's got you stuffed full with three fingers in your aching cunt and another deep in your ass.

"One more, baby," he rasps. "I know you can do it. One more just for me."

"Can't!" you whimper. "Can't, Eddie, can't!"

"Yeah you can. Pretty little slut. Sweet little princess. Come for me. Look at you, takin' me like a goddamn pro. You love it. I know you do."

"I do!!" you say, your voice high and thready. "God fuck oh god!" After that you can't form words; it's all just sensation, pleasure and sharp, heady spikes of almost-pain, and soon you're giving him what he wants, another orgasm, and this one rings you out and leaves you boneless and spent and outside of yourself.

He whispers sweet, soothing words and carefully pulls out of you. Wipes one hand on his bandana, then gathers you against his chest. You look up at him, wide-eyed and stunned, and he kisses the tears off your cheeks again before sliding the fingers that had been in your cunt between your lips.

You moan at the mingled taste of the two of you and suck them clean.

"Good girl," he croons. "Fuck, you're such a good girl. That was insane, baby. Fucking incredible!" He replaces his fingers with his mouth and you kiss slow and easy as you ease back onto the blanket.

He wraps his arms around you and you snuggle into his chest. You still can't speak.

"Princess?" he murmurs against your hair. "You okay?"

You nod. Your fingers clench against him. "Yes. Yeah. Holy shit, Grove."

"Yeah," he says.

"That was..."

"Uh huh."

"Have you ever...?"

"Nope. Not like that. Have you?"

You shake your head. "Wow."

He grins and lifts his hand. "Yeah?"

You look up at him, face scrunched in confusion, but then comprehension dawns and you snort out a laugh. You tap your hand against his, too worn out to slap. "Yeah," you say. "You big fuckin' nerd."

"Emphasis on fuckin'," he says with a smirk.

You laugh again and roll away with a groan. "Oh god I hate you. Go away! You're fucking awful!!"

He cackles and drags you back against him. "You like it. You like me. You wanna have sex with me again. Don't lie, strawberry shortcake."

You give a drunken giggle and turn your head to bite his arm. "Yeah, doofus, I like you. And if I manage to ever walk again, I will definitely wanna have sex with you again."

"Whoop whoop! Calls for another one!" He lifts his hand again, and this time when you hit it you curl your fingers with his and lean in to kiss him.

"Dork," you murmur against his lips.

"Slut."

"Your slut."

"Uh huh. Your dork."

"Good," you breathe. "That's exactly what I want."

@briasnow-blog , @tayhar811

#eddie munson #eddie munson/reader #eddie munson smut #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fanfic #stranger things #stranger things smut #stranger things fanfiction #stfic #emfic #smores

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ellethespaceunicorn · 18 days

Note

because i’m missing my comfort people dennis and wifey 🥹 dennis leaving for work and wifey missing her boo 🥹 dennis coming home and comforting wifey with endless reassurance, kisses, and cuddles 🥹💙🫂

OMG, I love this idea, nonnie! I missed my Dennis asks!!! And this one had me bubbling! Have a very long drabble, or at least that’s what I’m calling it!

And Dennis is gonna be giving Wifey a little bit more than kisses and cuddles 🤗

Also, I'm only slightly sorry about giving your friends stripper names but I love these names too much.

You had it all planned—your first off day in weeks—and it was a Friday. You were dropping DJ off at daycare; you would meet up with Destiny for brunch and mimosas and Amber for gossip and girl talk at the nail salon before heading back to pick up your little man. You even patted your back for being so organized.

That is, until Friday morning rolls around. One by one, your previously planned activities fall off of your schedule.

Amber had been called into work, so she wouldn’t be able to accompany you.

Destiny ended up taking care of a sick child, and hearing the painful coughing on the phone cemented her plans for the day.

Even DJ didn’t want you to keep him out of daycare for the day. You thought he might want to spend the day with his lonely Mama. But he stood firm at the front door holding his jacket, knowing this was the time you usually left for school.

Helping him into his jacket, you couldn’t help but be happy that your baby boy likes going to daycare. But sometimes you just wanted him to be your little boy—let him fall asleep in your arms, hold his hand when he’s scared, or kiss him on the forehead in front of his friends.

But now he was such a big kid. Sure, he was three years old, and that’s not that big. But don’t go saying that to the parent of said child. And don’t say it to the kid either. They’ll both deny it. He’s a full adult with responsibilities and a Lightning McQueen wallet.

Your big kid wants you to let him get out of the car on his own, even though he can’t reach the ground if he were to open the door himself. He’s not big on getting walked to his classroom either.

But you get it. To him, this is the adult world. For all he knows, this is the same thing Daddy is doing right now. Putting away his lunch box and trying to figure out if he should play cars with Dante or color with Breanna.

You watch as he sits down next to a little girl with braids in her hair, and she turns to smile at him. He makes a face you’ve never seen him make before and it clicks. DJ has his first crush. And she’s adorable.

Ok, you can’t handle this right now. You decide to get a high-priced, too-sweet iced coffee and think about how it feels like your little boy is going to be moving out on his own soon, getting married, and having his own family. Sure, you’re getting ahead of yourself. But iced coffee is good for distracted thinking.

So distracted that you are surprised when your phone rings while you sit in the parking lot of the coffee shop but happy to see that it is Dennis. So happy to see Dennis’ name on your phone that you yelp in shock when you pick it up.

“Bubby! It’s so good to hear your voice,” you blurt, setting your sweet drink in a cup holder.

“It’s good to hear your voice too, sweetheart. I wanted to check in on you. Was DJ good about going into daycare?” he asks, you can hear him shuffling some papers around.

“I think he’s gonna be just fine. He’s got a girlfriend, and she’s pretty,” you lament.

“Ok, well, he gets his charm from you. We always said that,” Dennis pauses, a small chuckle escaping. “Are you sitting somewhere thinking about him as an adult? Like when he moves out and gets married and all that. Sweetheart, he is three years old. We got some time before we need to worry about that.”

“Den, you should have seen that little man. He had a whole personality. He’s a big kid now. I miss my baby boy,” you sniffle, wiping at your wet eyes.

“You know, we talked about this before, and I know I’m bringing this up at a very vulnerable time for you—”

“Dennis, just say it, baby,” you cut in.

“Why don’t we give him a little sister? And listen, hear me out—”

“How soon can you get home?” You interrupt Dennis again, and he’s not upset about it.

“Gimme twenty?” he guesses, somehow keeping himself calm through this.

“See you at home, Daddy,” you breathe, ending the call and driving yourself home.

You arrive home and see Dennis’ car already in the driveway. You park and enter the house, smiling when you see the lights are dim in the living room. Closing the door behind you, you find a sticky note that reads, “Come to the bedroom”.

You didn’t have to be told twice, shedding your clothes along the way. By the time you reach the bedroom, you are still in your underwear but not your bra. Relishing the view as you enter your room, you bite your lip in anticipation.

Dennis is lying against the pillows on your bed, unclothed except for his boxers. And if you had to put money on it, you guess he has been edging himself just thinking about you pregnant again.

“There’s my girl,” he purrs, his soothing baritone comforting your weary soul. He moves to stand up, but you put up a hand and usher him to stay in bed.

You tuck your thumbs in your underwear, pulling them down slowly so Dennis can watch. Then you move over to him, removing his boxers before fisting his cock and slowly pumping his length.

He grabs your arm, tugging you into bed with him. At first, he kisses your neck and over your collarbone. Moving to play with your breasts, he tongues at one nipple while fingering the other.

Picking his head up, he hovers over you and starts laughing.

“Ok, what happened?” you question, leaning up on your elbows.

“I was just thinking we’re so worried about our kid growing up too fast that we’re putting ourselves through it all over again. Willingly, I might add. We raced home to make a baby. Are we those people, sweetheart?” he chuckles, pressing a kiss to your sternum.

“Oh, my God. I think we are those people. I want nothing more than you to give me another baby. I just want to create another little human with you. And DJ would make such a cute big brother,” you laugh-cry, pausing to wipe at your eyes.

“Hey, sweetheart. I want to create another little human with you, too,” he sighs, wiping your eyes and bringing your mouths together in a heated kiss. “Let’s make a baby.”

“Let’s make a baby!” you gush, tangling a hand in his dishwater blonde hair.

When you finally feel his length prodding at your entrance, you welcome him in then wrap your legs around his svelte waist. Once he bottoms out, you feel at peace for the first time all day long.

Dennis takes his time with you, doing most of the work. He presses kisses all along your neck and jaw, whispers the filthiest words in your ear, and thrusts into you without abandon.

He knows this moment is so precious—the making of your next child. But he also knows that this is the hottest thing he’s ever left work early for. So, you can bet he’s going to be putting in some effort.

He’s flipped you into more positions than you can count; you’re going to be feeling it for the next week or two. You’ve never felt more overwhelmed. Sex with the person you love to make a baby? The rumors are true. It’s awesome.

When Dennis feels that you’ve had enough orgasms, he settles in to chase his release. Locking eyes with you, he stares into your pretty orbs as you watch him fight to fill you to the brim.

“You ready for me, sweetheart? I’m so close. You’re so fucking beautiful,” he rambles, so close to his peak that he could scream.

“I’m ready, bubby. Knock me up, already,” you goad, knowing full well that this man gets off on being teased.

“Oh, you know exactly what you’re doing, don’t you?” he surmised, seeing the smug satisfaction on your face. “Shit, fuck. I’m gonna knock you up, sweetheart. Here it comes,” he trails off, shoving his head in the crook of your neck.

Between the loving nonsense Dennis is speaking into your skin and the lingering twitches of his shaft inside you, you are overwhelmed with emotional and physical stimulation.

Before you can get too comfortable, Dennis is rising and pulling out. He hooks an arm under your bent legs and sways them gently from side to side.

“I read that doing this helps the chances of conception,” Dennis deadpans when you look at him like he has three heads.

“You have been wanting another baby, haven’t you?” If you were a cartoon, your eyes would be popping out of their sockets in the shapes of hearts. To find out he has been reading about conception has you turning into a puddle of tears.

“Sweetheart, I’ve wanted another kid since DJ was still a newborn. Watching you with him is one of my greatest joys. The idea of getting to see it all over again? Like winning the lottery twice,” he beams.

And just like that, you feel warmth spread throughout your entire body.

You’ll go on and on telling both your obstetrician and your husband that you know the exact moment that Dennis made you pregnant. It wasn’t until looking over your period tracking and counting the days since your last missed period that they realized you were possibly right.

When the doctor places your little girl in your arms after nine long months of morning sickness, bloated feet, and heartburn, she instantly quiets down. She has powerful lungs, but as soon as she is laid across your chest, the urge to fuss is gone.

In terms of looks, she is a blob that poops and eats and sleeps. She’s a baby. But she’s your baby. You turn your head to look at Dennis. And of course, he is crying. Marveling at how her little hand grabs onto his finger.

While the doctors are taking care of your nether bits, you busy yourself with watching your husband coo at his new daughter. You’re reminded of when you watched him with DJ, and it gets to you. Making new memories with your family doesn’t mean the other ones get erased.

Just means you get more of them to choose from.

Once DJ is brought in to meet his new baby sister, it’s all over. That is HIS baby sister, and HE’S the big brother around these parts. He becomes the overprotective big brother within minutes of her being born.

She’s sure to love that in her teen years. But we aren’t there yet.

Let’s just focus on all the tiny baby socks and matching the kids’ outfits together, and Halloween is right around the corner. You would love to see everyone in a matching set of whatever you could get your hands on.

And just like you did with your first baby, you imagine them with their kids. Seeing them with their spouses, happy and full of love.

But for right now, in this specific moment, you can be grateful. You have your full house with your husband and your children; you are happy, and you feel loved.

#ask reply #dennis baker #dennis baker x reader #dennis baker x you #my headcanons

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thegoldheartlocketandkey-blog · 7 months

Text

911 Spoilers Season 3: You’ve been warned. 😅 Buddie Rewatch

Episode 8-9

Episode 8: Malfunction

Ice Rink Disaster: Eddie calmly searching, while buck is like a baby dear, unable to stay up on ice. Eddie and Buck on finding finger duty. They find all the fingers. Buck finds 3, and Eddie found 1.

We learn about Bobby’s ice-skating past. The entire 118 finding this new information amusing. Eddie judging Bobby and stating he thought he was more into hockey. Bobby taking the comment and throwing it back. Bobby walks away as everyone is left visibly confused. Chim has my favorite facial reaction. Hen a close second.

Eddie and Buck are standing near each other with the same confused look. The height difference is prominent. Buck suggesting the google photos later, Eddie just nodding his head in agreement.

Buck almost slips on the ice again, but catches himself. Eddie rolls his eyes at Buck’s clumsiness.

Eddie is in the middle of another fight. He’s fighting against someone arguably twice his size. He’s focused, not holding back, letting out all his anger. He is getting paid for the fight, wants more of these fights. Passively mentions Lena gave him the advise that he needed an outlet. The promotor reminding him he’s not invisible, rules apply to him too.

Buck is pulling something out of his jeep when Eddie pulls in with a brand-new pick-up truck. Buck walks towards Eddie to ask if the truck is a rental. Eddie admits to impulse buying because his last truck the AC went out. Buck is the one to point out it was an impulse buy. Eddie tries to use Chris as an excuse.

Buck has a light banter about Eddie needing more shifts in the future to make payments. Eddie changing the subject to ask what Buck is carrying. They playfully run into the fire house.

Scene cuts to Bobby’s morning brief. Buck and Eddie are standing so close together. Practically shoulder to shoulder, with smirks on their faces. Buck bites his lip and Eddie moves out of the way, loudly singing to catch everyone’s attention as he pulls out a life-size cut out of young Bobby as an ice skater.

Buck being extra silly admits he’s the one that got the photo from his old partner. Eddie standing there all proud, makes fun of Bobby’s hair. Hen appears late from dropping Denny off at school, at this moment you can see how proud Eddie is with his hands on his hips and his head bopping up and down and Buck looking towards his direction and back at Hen. They really love their little prank.

Athena cooks dinner for the 118. Eddie and Buck sit next to each other as they eat. Bobby stops Buck from adding salt to Athena's salt. Eddie practically begging Athena cook more for them. Buck trying to stay neutral and says he likes both Athena's and Bobby's food equally.

Self Driving Car; Eddie and Buck are working together to move debris and move the victims.

Maddie, Chimney, and Buck are hanging out at Buck's place. They are talking about how weird Hen is being. Buck points out that he thinks Eddie is also being weird. Maddie points out how quickly information spreads in the 118. Chimney asking Buck for further clarification on why he think Eddie is being weird. Maddie turning towards them with an annoyed look.

If I wanted to be real delusional I would say Maddie turned around at the mention of Eddies name because she has been a Buddie shipper from day one. That is not what happened, but the way the clip is edited, it is so easy to pretend.

Eddie is fighting again. He's throwing elaborate punches and kicks. Really doing damage on his opponent. He kicks the guy in the face. The man has a seizure and isn't breathing. Eddie calls 911 and everyone attempts to flee the scene. Eddie leaves his opponent sat up and airways clear giving him the best chances when help arrives.

Lena's station is the one to respond to the call. She is the one to make the connection that someone helped the victim and gave him the best odds. She knew almost instantly that Eddie was involved.

She finds Eddie and confronts him about if he was the one that saved the man or the one that almost killed him. Eddie admits too being both. Eddie looks tired, upset, and annoyed at the entire situation.

She hands Eddie her firefighter jacket, Eddie confused by this, she explains its’s to give him a cover, to keep him out of jail, so that she doesn’t have to bail him out.

Lena is now interrogating Eddie outside. Asking him if how long he’s been fighting. Eddie says he’s been fighting a lot because it pays good money. Lena sees thru that bullshit and knows that the thing that was suppose to be an outlet, has become a very unsafe obsession. Eddie does not want to listen to Lena’s concerns. He’s very dismissive.

Eddie walks into the fire house, Bobby calls him up for a meeting. He sees Lena walking down the stairs and is pissed off at her because he thinks she snitched.

Lena puts him in his place and establishes they are not friends, because Eddie is too one sided.

Eddie and Bobby have a one on one, discussing how this fighting thing is about wanting control. Bobby discloses that Lena came over to defend Eddie, Eddie feels guilty for fighting with her. The conversation leads to how Shannon asked for a divorce and Eddie is still angry with her. He is trying to fight off the tears, but ends up crying in front of Bobby.

Piss Robot: Buck is the one to connect that the robot must have freaked out because the victim peed on it. Eddie judging the victim for peeing on the robot.

So, looking closely at the scene, it seems like Eddie wasn’t there for most of the filming. There is a random stand by that is obviously suppose to be Eddie in a few shots. A lot of the shots Eddie is he is completely by himself. This is the explanation as to why we do not see a lot of Buck and Eddie team work like we would normally have. I will say if it wasn’t for this rewatch I would have never noticed this discrepancy.

Hen’s Ambulance accident; This scene is so hard to watch. Hen makes me feel every emotion of despair, guilt, and sadness she is feeling.

Buck and Eddie are standing near each other restocking the engine, when they hear Chimney on the radio announce they just got into an accident.

I don't know how I didn't notice this before but Eddie is also not really in this scene either, they have another stand by and a lot of solo shots. So there really isn’t much to break down outside of the fact that everyone in the 118, is sympathetic towards what Hen is processing and going thru. Hen on the ground being held by Athena, really broke me.

Episode 9: Fall out

Meteorite: Buck and Eddie walk in the building together. Buck is the one to find the meteorite and wants to grab it, but is chastised by Bobby and Chim.

Buck knowing about the one other time a person has ever been hit with a meteorite and letting the victim know she’s special. The victim is confused as to why Buck knows this information. Eddie being the one to explain that Buck has become a little obsessed with natural disasters ever since the tsunami. Buck chuckling after Eddie’s explanation.

We meet the departments therapist Frank, who has sessions with Hen, Maddie, and Eddie.

Eddie discussing how in moments he should be happy and should be proud, he doesn’t necessarily feel those emotions. Frank telling him there is no right way to process trauma.

Eddie making it a point to say that he does not want to be in therapy, He would much rather be at home with Chris, but that he is there because he doesn’t want Chris to turn out like him. Eddie was at the verge of tears when talking about how Chris felt the need to hide his pain, to make Eddie feel good. Eddie never wants Chris to feel like he has to do that ever again.

Eddie vocalizing how he almost killed a man.

Buck is asking Bobby when they should expect to hear some news on Hen’s investigation.

Eddie mentioning running into Hen on his way to Franks. That she seemed okay, but was sad.

Buck asking Eddie how therapy with Frank is going and how he himself hasn’t seen Frank in a while.

Eddie not looking a Buck as he says the therapy is going well, but that they aren’t really clicking. Chim offering Rosemary, the therapist he saw after the stabbing. Buck chiming in to ask if that is the therapist he slept with. Bobby quick to say no, that therapist was fired.

Eddie judging Buck for sleeping with his therapist. Buck trying to be nonchalant about the situations, saying he was going thru a phase, turning the conversation back on Eddie and asking him wasn’t he just going thru a phase. Eddie becoming uncomfortable and shifting in his seat.

So in this moment, I don’t blame Eddie or Chimney for making jokes and judging Buck for sleeping with the therapist. They obviously do not know the full extent of what happened, and would likely have reacted differently if they had known. Bobby is the only one in that room to fully understand what happened and how that situation was wrong. Buck himself has not even processed that moment other than he was Buck the player and addicted to sex. He never even thinks to blame the therapist.

Really wish the writers approached this differently, but I was happy to hear she was fired.

Eddie talks about the drama in his household when his sisters were applying to college. Buck not remembering what he wrote for his college paper. Chim making fun of him and implying Maddie wrote it for him.

Maddie telling Josh, how he doesn’t want to experience Buck singing Eye of the Tiger while doing one arm pushups. I on the other hand would love to see this.

Buck telling Maddie she is a bad ass for preforming a finger thoracostomy. He tries to comfort and reassure Maddie.

Eddie and Christopher are at Buck’s place. They seem to have just finished dinner and are cleaning about while talking about what happened to Maddie. Eddie is lowkey a little dressed up with a button up shirt.

Buck takes the lesson Maddie learned about not being able to help someone who does want to be helped and applies it to what is happened with Eddie. Eddie catching on quickly to what buck is suggesting and tells him to not go there. The entire tone of this scene starts to shift.

Buck is apologizing for not being there for not being there for Chris or Eddie. How he was so selfish for focusing on the lawsuit. Eddie is quick to tell him that they’ve moved passed that. Buck telling him that he hasn’t. How he should have been there. Buck is moving closer towards Eddie. Eddie stays pressed against the counter watching Buck as he speaks.

Eddie and Buck having a light banter about how Buck could have talked some sense into Eddie and stopped him from buying a new truck and Eddie correcting Buck by telling him he would have suggested a more expensive truck.

Eddie telling Buck that he doesn’t have to beat himself up over the past. Buck in a semi flirty tone says “Why because you would rather do it.” Eddie sightly confused by his comment. Buck states that he knows Eddie is not being honest at the moment. That if therapy wasn’t for Eddie, but the ring was. That Eddie must have wanted to punch Buck.

Eddie stating, he wouldn’t punch Buck because he’s on blood thinners. Buck laughing and getting closer to Eddie and stating “Want to go for the title?” The scene cuts to Buck and Eddie playing a video game with Chris in the middle.

The writers where evil for this scene. This scene should have ended with Buck and Eddie making out. They obviously wanted to. I’m going to say that the only reason they didn’t kiss is because Chris was in the other room. There is no heterosexual explanation for this scene. It was gay!

Radioactive Truck: Eddie and buck checking on the driver. They are trying get him unpinned. The driver becoming conscious and telling the about the Cobalt 60. Bobby sending Eddie and Buck out of the tunnel.

Buck and Eddie are outside of the tunnel wondering where the nitrogen is. Buck wanting to go back in but receiving orders from Bobby to stay out. Buck being the first one with the nitrogen hose and Eddie right behind him running in to fight the flames.

Eddie approaching Buck and Chimney to say the coast is clear and the fall out will be minimal, Chim pointing out that maybe not for all of them. They all look towards Bobby as he’s being decontaminated.

Hen narrating about pain and how things don’t work out how you plan. Eddie looking at a photo of Chris and Shannon.

The 118 giving Hen a big hug for her welcome back. Eddie and Buck being the most vocal in this hug, They hug again before the alarms go off.

#buddie #911 abc #eddie diaz #evan buck buckely #buck x eddie #911 spoilers #911 show #christopher diaz #911 #911 fandom #911 rewatch

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denniisa · 11 months

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from the very first season, we are shown that dennis cares a lot about his physical appearance. a lot of fans argue that this is his vanity and narcissism, but i truly think that it is in a eating disorder. as someone with an eating disorder, i see a lot of my food habits and behaviors in dennis words/actions. at the very end of this you will find a list of multiple episodes with direct quotes from the show showing this behavior. this meta is going to go under a read more because i will be talking in detail about eating disorder behavior, also it just got really long and kind of away from me. please keep this in mind when you read this !!

dennis often worries about his appearance, asking for validation from others to tell him that he looks good or he is in shape. there are also often times when dennis critiques someone else's physical appearance, commenting about how fat they’ve gotten or how out of shape they are. i think that this is him projecting his own insecurities onto others.

the show does go into great detail about dennis eating habits, and i’m going to list a few of them here:

restricting his food intake

fasting for a day, or multiple days at a time

exercising multiple times a day

not eating gluten, sugar, or dairy

concerned about calorie contents in food

over eating during periods when he feels anxious

purging when he feels like he has eaten something toxic

drinking hard liquor instead of beer because it contains a lot of "empty calories"

becoming physically ill when he ingests something that has a higher calorie count than he is used to

dennis also worries a lot about his physical appearance. in the show he dyes his hair and puts on makeup to make sure that he is always looking his best. he is frequently worried about other peoples perception of him.

i do think that his eating disorder behavior partially comes from his need to be seen as desirable and attractive, but i do think some of it also comes from his desperate need for control over something. dennis is often controlling others and manipulating things behind the scenes, and ends up going into rage filled rants when things do not go as planned. he has specific systems for everything, and he hates when things feel out of control.

i think ultimately dennis really struggles with the idea of being good enough. i think he tries very hard to appear 'attractive' because he feels like that is what he needs to do. when he was younger, he was clearly his mothers favorite sibling. barbara has admitted that in the show and it is not just speculation. she put an insane amount of pressure on dennis from a very young age to be the very best he can be. i believe this is also part of the reason why dennis often manipulates his personality and puts on a different 'mask' depending on the situation.

i'm not sure exactly what eating disorder he has, i'm feeling like if he were every to get a diagnosis he would probably be diagnosed with something like ednos ( eating disorder not otherwise specified ). dennis shows symptoms of anorexia, bulimia, and orthorexia.

alright, now into the quotes to back up my claims about dennis' eating disorder. there are multiple instances in canon that dennis shows the symptoms of his eating disorder. i have probably missed a few of these, but under the cut you can find some quotes from various episodes that really stood out to me. i think these moments really show dennis' eating disorder and the symptoms of it.

the gang exploits a miracle, s2e7:

dennis: does my face look fat to you ?? dee: yeah dennis: no no don’t screw with me here seriously … it’s just the tv right ?? dee: no it’s been looking fat den: hey matty matthew mara (cricket): hey dennis how are you ?? dennis: i’ve been better, i’ve been better. let me ask you a question man. um … i know it’s been years since we’ve seen each other but does my face look fat to you ?? cricket: well we’ve all put on a few since high school dennis: of course, of course, but i don’t look fat right ?? cricket: uhm no. dennis, a few moments later: check it out though, why did you pause before you said no earlier? cricket: i’m sorry ?? dennis: well earlier when i asked you if my face looked fat you kind of paused cricket: i’m … not sure. dennis: hello ( gestures towards himself, sucking in his cheeks ) dee: what is wrong with you ?? dennis: ugh well i’ve been fasting for three days so i probably look good. dee: you haven’t eaten anything for three days ?? dennis: and i feel great ( said slurred, looks woozy ) frank: why the hell are you fasting dennis: well i thought i would get into the spirit of the religious aspect that we got going- dee: it’s ‘cus we said his face looks fat dennis: it is not i … p-people have been fasting for thousands of years- dee: face looks fat dennis: -for heath and religious purposes. moses- dee: fat face dee then continues to talk over dennis while saying over and over again that he looks fat, that his face is fat, ect. frank: lets find some coffee sober him up dennis stares off into the distance for a few seconds, not responding frank: did you hear me ?? dennis: hm ?? frank: dennis … i think you really gotta eat. dennis: no i just spaced out for a second … what’s up ?? dee: whoa, you are not lookin' good, huh ?? dennis: truth, truth. face fat ?? dee: no, you idiot. your face is fine. i just got mad that you called mine blotchy. dennis: oh. why-why-why ... dee: what ?? dennis: why you do that ?? dee: oh, um, because you're a bad person. a few moments later dennis ends up passing passing out due to the fact that he hasn’t eaten in several days.

the gang gets whacked pt 2, s3e13

frank: you leave everything to me. all you have to do is sit there, relax, have yourself a drink, and just keep lookin’ handsome. dennis: okay i like that arrangement get me a beer frank! frank: oh, no beer. too many calories. it’s all about keeping this body fit. i’ll get ya a nice vodka tonic. dennis: well that doesn’t have much calories so i think that’s a smart drink.

sweet dee has a heart attack, s3e10

dennis and dee are at the gym, discussing what type of physique they want to achieve by working out dennis: i don’t wanna get too bulky. i wanna stay nice and lean and tight. i want that jesus on the cross look. dee: i see what you’re saying. dennis: jesus had the right idea, no pain no gain.

the nightman cometh, s4e13

charlie: dennis, what are you doing ?? dennis, eating baby sized snickers bars: i'm eating because I'm very uncomfortable.

mac and dennis break up, s5e9

now i’m not exactly sure if this counts as disordered eating but it very well could be, either disordered talk/beliefs. i can see this being more related to dennis’ autism and desiere for structure, but i do think it is related to dennis needing some control over his food. dennis: oh do me a favor. peel this apple for me please ?? dee: no !! no, i’m not going to peel an apple for you. dennis: but mac always does it for me. dee: why does mac peel your apples for you ?? dennis: he doesn’t like for me to eat the apples with the skin on it. he says the skins are loaded with toxins they argue for a bit more, and then dennis shouts about how he is not “allowed” to eat apples with the skin on them.

the gang gets a new member, s6e8

dennis orders salads for himself, mac, schmitty, and frank for lunch. when schmitty comments that he would prefer linguini, dennis says “linguini is too heavy for lunch”.

frank’s pretty woman, s7e1

mac: this is getting ridiculous dude. we’re getting older we’re not going to look older. dennis: no i am going to look twenty forever, mac. because the older i get the more vigilant i become. alright, i don’t eat lunch anymore for instance. yeah !! and on odd days i don’t eat breakfast. mac: that sounds miserable. dennis: no dude, it’s not miserable. well, yeah it is a little bit. but it has to be man !! no pain no gain !! i am also constantly in motion. like right now ?? dude, i am doing leg lifts that are imperceptable to the human eye. call ‘em hummingbirds. and although i seem relaxed, i’m actually incredibly tense at all times. a few moments later a doctor goes over mac and dennis’ medical test results doctor: well i see severe dehydration here, multiple vitamin deficiencies, anemia, low blood pressure. dennis: mac, i don’t want you to fret okay i’m gonna get you on my exercise program, i’m gonna get you fit as a fiddle. doctor: no these … these are your results mister reynolds. a few moments later, dennis almost passes out and says he hasn’t eaten anything all day.

the high school reunion pt. 2: the gangs revenge, s7e13

dennis: yeah i’m wearing a little bit of makeup, who doesn’t- tim murphy’s wife: and a girdle dennis: yeah i wanted to seem thin for the occasion, that’s not weird.

mac day, s9e5

dennis, while eating chips: carbs wise this is gonna set me back but i don’t even give a shit.

dennis takes a mental health day, s16e8

dennis is trying to order a tea for himself but the employee at the boba tea shop informs him that he cannot order tea without boba. dennis: you know, so, I'll take the tea without the covert diabetes delivery mechanism, please.

#eating disorder //#ed //#ed behavior //#alcohol //#ask to tag.#introspection.#headcanon.#OKAY IM FINALLY DONE

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buffalojournal · 1 year

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Two Poems by Jessie Lynn McMains

Secret

is I stabbed summer watched it twitch and spurt, dark, arterial crunched the husks of late cicadas esoteric as the leaves we use to cross our sacred wounds mystic is her lemonlips the fuzz soft above them charcoal smudge of shadow over her clavicle I wanna wake up in November with a sprig of verbena planted in the pocket of my leather jacket her fingers fuzzing on the stubble of my brooding clouds crisp wind rustle in the oaktrees how sweet how soft she sing to me

At the Denny’s in Michigan City, Indiana, at 2 a.m. in Mid-October

everyone’s loonier than a junebug in a Canadian goose- feathered bed. One middle-aged fella in a Van Halen t-shirt with the sleeves torn off stuffs his mouth fulla straws and whistles “Dusty Crabapple Pie.” The old-timers in the back booth play poker for packets of non-dairy creamer and Sweet n’ Low, sling stories of glory days hunting Mud Mermaids and Wild Men. There’s a drunk lady who’s 30 or 45 or maybe 67, she doesn’t need anybody but she wants somebody to love. She stumbles from table to table, asks every man and half the women if they want to go neck in the bathroom. Her hair is the color of motor oil puddled on the floor of Moore’s Auto Repair, and if she’s especially fond of ya she’ll pull her shorts down and give you a flash of her star-freckled ass— but she’ll smack ya if you try to trace the constellations.

At the Denny’s in Michigan City, Indiana, at 2 a.m. in mid-October they have a secret menu. Sure, you can get the Grand Slam Slugger or the Moons Over My Hammy, but you should ask about the house specialities. Like Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammo, where they cut the flapjacks into crosses and arrange the bacon in the shape of a gun, and the eggs are boiled hard as bullets. Or Uncle Sam’s Thanksgiving—a deep-fried turkey leg stuck through with lit sparklers. Sometimes, if the fishing was good that day, they have fillet of Mud Mermaid. Once in a blue moon you can get The Elvis Platter.

At the Denny’s in Michigan City, Indiana, at 2 a.m. in mid-October they only play one song, which is a mashup of songs by the most famous Hoosier musicians. It’s called “Hurts So Good Runnin’ With the Devil Billie Jean in Paradise City.” It would be obnoxious if you could hear it over the din of spoons and trash talk, if you weren’t so tired you’d pass out facedown in your flapjacks if you didn’t have to get back on the road to Michigan.

At the Denny’s in Michigan City, Indiana, at 2 a.m. in mid-October the night manager—who’s also the host—is the spitting ghost- twin of latter-day Elvis. Fat and bedazzled with a queasy quaalude smile. When you arrive, he greets you with a ‘hunka-hunka-burnin’ love,’ and when you leave he says: “It’s so good to see ya, darlin’. I haven’t seen ya ‘round here in years.” When you tell him you’ve never been to that Denny’s, or to Michigan City, before in your life, he says: “Of course ya have. I knew ya when you were knee-high to a soybean. We’d go down to the Town of Pines and boogie with the Wild Men. We’d go up to the state park and have hotdog-eating contests on the sand dunes. Don’t ya remember?”

At the Denny’s in Michigan City, Indiana, at 2 a.m. in mid-October you say no, you don’t remember, that wasn’t you, he must have mistaken you for someone else. “Not possible,” Elvis says. “Not possible.” And at the Denny’s in Michigan City, Indiana, at 2 a.m. in mid-October when you’re goose-tired and fulla greased hash and headed for Kalamazoo you never know. Darlin’, you just never know.

🦬 Jessie Lynn McMains

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batmanisagatewaydrug · 2 years

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One of my friends is going to give their brothers (cis, 10 and 13, multi-gender attracted) the Talk and isn't sure where to start. Do you know any resources or guides to help them make sure they hit the highlights?

hi anon,

first off, tell your friend that a stranger on the internet is stoked that they're taking the initiative to have this conversation with their brothers! that's awesome, and I hope it will lay the groundwork for them to be a safe person for their brothers to talk to as they continue to grow up and change.

for a well-rounded first conversation (which I think we can safely assume will not be either boy's first introduction to sexuality, especially the 13 year old), I would recommend your friend consults the circles of sexuality first developed by Dennis Dailey:

we use a similar model to this in Our Whole Lives, where I teach kiddos in a similar age range to your friend's brothers. it covers a lot of territory, is easy to adjust for any age, and can be a great way to let the kids steer the conversations by bringing up the things that may feel most pertinent or troubling to them. the five outer circles basically break down as such:

sexuality identity: honestly maybe not the most precise name for this circle, since it also includes things like personal expression and sense of gender that are sometimes completely detached from sexuality; editing this one to just be "identity" can work just fine. regardless, I've found kids grasp this one pretty easily, and it can be a great starting point to the others. talk to the boys about who they like, how they like to dress, what their sense of boy-ness feels like, how those pieces interact or could be different, etc.

sexual health and reproduction: all kinds of health and safety fall here! later is could entail things like frank discussions of safer sex, but right now we can talk about things like bodily changes brought on by puberty (what have they noticed? how do they feel about it? what do they like about puberty, and what feels difficult?), everyday precautions such a protective gear if they play sports, and how to safely remove pubic hair if they choose to do so.

sexualization: this one's IMPORTANT. this is where we talk to kids about how sexuality and peer pressure can be harmful such as objectifying advertisements, people making you feel uncomfortable by talking about your body in ways that feel bad, or pestering you to send nudes or look at other images that may make you feel uncomfortable. this is also an important place to talk about consent and good ways to express interest in people without making them feel unsafe.

sensuality: what helps the kids feel nice? responses I've heard range from dancing, nice-smelling shampoos, hugging a pet, snuggling with a blanket or stuffed animal, eating good food, getting hugged by parents, and playing a favorite sport. this can also be a good spot to talk about how masturbation is normal, healthy, harmless, and a great way to safely explore one's sexuality in private!

intimacy: a good place to end, because this whole conversation about sexuality is a powerful act of intimacy! this is a great way to start a convo about trust and safety, and how sex is fine and rad but people with whom you want to be sexual deserve to be treated well and with care. also a great space to talk about how intimacy and closeness IS NOT just for romantic/sexual partners, which I think is really important for young boys to hear especially! these little dudes should know that they deserve to have close friendships with people who make them feel good and support them and let them talk about their feelings.

your friend is probably gonna miss some stuff and not get everything 100% right, and that's okay! being available as a non-judgmental resource who's willing to admit you don't know everything and learn along with the people you want to teach is more important than being infallible!!

also for your friend, might I recommend checking out Peggy Orenstein's book Boys & Sex? it's a pretty good look into the sexual cultural a lot of teens and young adults are currently swimming in, and may be very helpful for someone trying to help two young boys navigate it.

#sex edventures 2022

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friendly-jester · 4 months

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honestly considering how last episode went i feel like it could be possible that one of the two of them realize their feelings in the finale and that becomes a major storyline for next season. like all season buck has been talking nonstop about eddie and his entire sexuality arc and the buck x tommy stuff has been basically haunted by eddie. i thought i was losing it or something fr because i went back and rewatched and literally EVERY. SCENE. BUCK AND TOMMY HAVE EDDIE IS EITHER THERE OR MENTIONED. THEIR FIRST KISS SCENE I COUNTED THAT BUCK SAYS EDDIES NAME EIGHT FUCKING TIMES. tommy even said “my attention?” like he was shocked and thought it was about eddie 😭 and maddie saying “you seem confused and if you have anything you need to tell eddie you will when you’re ready” felt SO pointed too. idk if they’ll do a full blown triangle with them but i do think a potential breakup with buck and tommy will be about eddie tbh. they made such a point to put eddie in the narrative when they really didn’t have to. im trying so hard not to get my hopes up but when the dots make a clear picture you cant help but connect them

also this sounds so crazy but the shannon clone has a birthmark in her hair. the white stripe? its the most noticeable in the boat scene but once i saw it i was like 😀 hey why did they do that. one of my friends back in high school had one. and then making buck meet her……. and then EDDIE only comes clean once BUCK lightly asks him about it and says hes worried……….. i feel like im that one meme from its ways sunny in philedelphia

also im fully convinced bobby isnt retiring and he’ll be fine and have some sort of wakeup call idc im in denial

also holy fuck @ the hen and karen storyline??????? when will the writers let them keep their foster kids its been years let them be happy and have their family 😭

anyway sorry for the essay in ur inbox i have so many thoughts about this show and idk where to put them. my friends are probably so sick of me because i cannot shut up about it -ebd anon

i would actually lose my mind if it happened in the finale asdfghjkl. i'm also trying not to get my hopes up (i've been burned so many times 😭) but i could totally see buck telling tommy about the whole doppelgänger wife thing and talking about how concerned he is for eddie and tommy being the one to realize "this doesn't sound platonic" and points it out to buck. tommy's whole role has been for buck to discover things about himself and i would love if tommy helped him realize he has feelings for eddie. i honestly think buck and tommy are really cute together but they just don't have the chemistry buck and eddie have and i just think it would be neat if tommy's the first one (besides maddie lbr) to notice it and bow out gracefully. that's just the kind of guy he is 🥺

WAIT i didn't realize it was a birthmark i thought it was just a gray streak but!!!! that FEELS SO INTENTIONAL *screams*

i am also in denial we can be in denial together 🤝 if he does retire there's no way he'd be gone from the show. not just because he's athena's husband but because he's dad!!! he's got too important of a role to leave!!!

FOR REAL JUST LET MY GIRLS BE A HAPPY FAMILY!!!!! they have to get mara back. that whole scene made me want to cry. she finally got a family and they finally got a daughter and denny finally got a sibling LET THEM BE HAPPY 😭😭

feel free to drop by and ramble anytime! my only other friend who watches 911 isn't caught up so i have no one else to talk about it with besides my mom who is not in as deep as i am lmaooo

#ebd anon #911 #911 spoilers #spoilers #we just got a letter 📬

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prongsmydeer · 1 year

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Ayesha Liveblogs Heartstopper S2

Alright, I have gathered my psychological strength, onto season 2!!

Charlie and Nick's little "hi"s are very sweet to me, they just always seem so happy to see each other

"Kissing at school is a terrible idea," said Nick, both accurate, and in direct contradiction to his actions in the hallway on sports day not so long ago

I understand that Nick is not happy with his rugby friends but it does put him in a rough position to be isolating himself from his long-time companions at a time when he's dealing with a lot of change

What up with Mr. Farouk, why did he yell "QUIET" at the top of his voice like anyone had really been saying anything audibly:

"No chatting, no phones, no annoying questions." Genuinely what is the point of a study hall like this!! Talking to people can help you revise!! The internet can help you revise! Why have desk partners or a study time at all if you're going to be so incredibly restrictive about what resources they use. Mr. Farouk we've just met but you seem like your pedagogy needs some work

The way neither Nick nor Charlie have any respect for authority LMAO. Both texting in class immediately after the teacher starts talking

"I want to rejoin the rugby team." The valiant return of Rugby Romance!!! It is very funny how Charlie's motivation for rugby is 1) Nick and 2) Sport, in that order

"But maybe being weird is how he expresses his romantic feelings." LMAO true

The panic in Tao's eyes upon his romantically-charged friendship touching his hair. A visual demonstration of 🚨WEE OO WEE OO WHAT'S GOING ON 🚨

"How did you know this is my favourite chocolate bar?" HAHAHAHAHA, Heartstopper joining the likes of every Thai show I've ever watched when it comes to sponsor integration. Perfect. Product placement is allowed if it amuses me:

"If we're out by the time we're on the Paris trip, we can kiss on the Eiffel tower." Nick is sooooo romantic. Also it's windy up there

Baffling to me that all these teens are allowed to have a sleepover, not only because of it a being mixed-gender event, but also because half of them are DATING EACH OTHER

Sidenote: I love that Nick does have a support system in these friends

Side sidenote: Whichever tumblr coder took away my indented bullet list ability. Meet me in the Denny's parking lot

Elle and Tao's almost kiss in the garden 🌻💛 This friend group IS incapable of platonic activities

Tao every time Nick says anything: U shut ur mouth, Rugby Boy

"You didn't like me because you're gay." "Well, I... I'm bisexual actually." YEAHHHHHHHHH Nick also fjfhfjhfjk Imogen

It makes me happy how warm and yellow the colouring of this ep is

"Nick is banned from sleepovers from now on." Hater energy, but fair hahahahaha this is what I expected

Quite honestly I am unable to see Tori as any age but 30 LOL. smth about her reminds me of Catherine Tate's Comic Relief skits:

"I can protect him," said Charlie, like he can run faster than homophobia. (I'm with you on the concern, Tori)

Is each season going to have a colour theme? Because this ep looks quite yellow too, where a lot of the last season was blue

Charlie abandoning his schoolwork stresses me out LOL BOY

Rough for Imogen to be dating Ben, he sucks

"It's not my fault he liked me before you." "I hate you because you literally assaulted him." Good for Nick for calling it what it is

"Sorry, am I not allowed to like girls as well as boys?" Ben said, bisexuality is not only for the sound of mind

Nick softlaunching his relationship with a picture of his dog and boyfriend:

Really bold of Elle to declare the art school friends as new friends for life after one (1) day of interaction but more power to her I guess. I love that she is making more friends, and specifically trans and non-binary friends because it really does change your life to meet people with shared identities 😭❤️

Fjkfkfjhf Tao representing my diasporic experience and replying in English while being spoken to in your mother tongue

"He's done some really bad stuff." "What? What'd he do?" "I can't tell you." I feel like you COULD say he assaulted someone without saying who but I respect Nick not wanting to even come close to outing someone

"I don't actually have that many friends." Colour me crazy, Imogen, but I kinda think that's cause you're never at your own school

This GCSE scene with Nick is exactly why I need psychological strength for this show, it's a visual representation of a panic attack

HAHAHAHHAHA the juxtaposition between Tao's mum, who loves Elle and wants her to live in their house, vs. Elle's mum, who refers to Tao as "that boy of yours"

"I just... I just wanted to meet the guy that, you know, turned my little brother gay." Get fucked David, and get out

David said: I am homophobic AND biphobic. I can do both

You know, I'll give my brother this credit, when he found a little gay picture of me he just handed it back and minded his business

Me @ Charlie's mum: Strict parents raise sneaky kids

"Charlie, this is not your fault," said Nick, even though Charlie would take fault for breathing if he could

Tao also representing the diasporic experience of being handed cut up fruit when you're sad

The Elle and Tao pic being Tao's phone background gjkkgjhgjhg

"Honestly, Elle could do better. And she probably doesn't even like me back, and this is probably going to destroy our friendship, it's going to destroy our friendship group, and it's going to leave me devastated for years to come. So, this is probably a really selfish and stupid thing to do, but I'm going to tell her. Help me." Wow, I did not anticipate this level of emotional honesty from Tao. Good for him!

"We're sorry about what happened at the cinema. We should've spoken up." Awwww Rugby Boys Redemption

"I know you and Charlie are really good mates." The immediate cutaway to them kissing is the funniest thing this show has ever done

Ah, well it was only a matter of time before one of the teachers so their many, many school kisses. I hope Coach Singh is cool about it

"Lots of lesbians in women's rugby. That's how I met my wife." YEAHHHHH Coach Singh! Sometimes stereotypes DO comfort me

I loooooove that Nick has a teacher on his side now. Good for him!!

"It's fine. It's done." CHARLIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE why will you take responsibility for everything all the time except the one thing you need to take responsibility for, which is your history essay

Charlie submitting essential coursework five minutes before it's due. Honestly relatable

"You're going to be so annoyed with me after [Paris.] " "Awww, but I love you because of how annoying you are." This is my love language

Wow, Tao, this new haircut and confidence is working for you:

As a sidenote: Cutting your hair when you believe someone else likes you is a bold move. Hair can change a lot kjghgjhgkjh

The way their friends rush them after they agree to go out!!! I love this friend group

Awww, it's fun that Isaac has a newfound relationship in James, even though I am like, 90% sure he's going to be uninterested in romance as a whole

"Look after him, or you die." Tori's Pre-Party Shovel Talk

"Just think of us being out as a couple in Paris." 1) Do you think your teachers will still let you be roommates if they know you're dating and 2) Not terribly convincing when Nick looks like he's gonna be sick

Nick is truly popular against his own will LOL

"You're the one who said we'd always put our friendship first. You promised." "Well, I guess romance does ruin friendship." I do think Elle has been pretty unkind here. I know Tao is acting out-of-character, but he's doing it to impress Elle, and she's responded by inviting her friends, who Tao doesn't know, to the latter half of their date

"Nick doesn't want to talk to you, Harry, piss off." Very assertive of Charlie, good for him

Even though they're in England, it'd honestly never occurred to me that they'd be leaving for Paris on a bus

Counting Isaac and James, there's a lot of Romantic Situations on this Bus:

"What the hell was that?" said Tao, about Nick speaking French, like he doesn't know Cantonese

Skjhkjdhdjh Tao and Isaac immediately preventing Nick and Charlie from sharing a bed

SOMETHING is going to happen between Mr. Farouk and Mr. Ajayi, and while it'd be fun if it was something gay, I think it's going to be homophobic, bc this show just isn't THAT fun

HAHAHAHA Tao just slamming down the apple juice on Elle's table and running away

"I need a drink. An alcoholic drink." "We probably shouldn't drink alcohol." "I need a croissant then." WILL IT be gay? Please sirs

Isaac should also probably take the 'am I gay' internet quiz

"My dad's French." "Since when?" "Since.... his birth?" Nicolas Nelson u are so funny and cute

Does Charlie have a bit of disordered eating? We've seen him beg off having food a few times

HAHAHA the way Elle is like, "I don't want a man who takes me to movies I like, I want someone who jump scares me in museums!"

"It's like all he cares about is having a girlfriend." Probably true, Imogen

Yikes for Charlie @ having to sit next to Ben. Also. Imogen HAS to see what the hell is up here, there's been SO MANY loaded glances

Update from like 1 minute later: Seen, spilled, and SPLIT UP:

"There's no need to call her a bitch," said Harry, suggesting he's okay with homophobic slurs but draws the line at derogatory language towards women

"Everything would be so much easier if I was into girls." Is that true, Imogen?

"You care about your friends so... loudly." A very good way to describe Tao

Tao after Nick compliments him a bunch: I have to leave immediately

Nick said: In the spirit of France, I've decided to try necking

HAHAHAHHAAH the "Oh fu—" cut off on Charlie learning he has a hickey

This is one situation in which it would be better for Charlie NOT to be out because the list of people who could've given him a hickey goes: Nick, Tao, Isaac or James, so I really don't see this being the best situation for anyone

"Charlie didn't give me a chance to figure myself out, and then you came along, and you stole him from me." 1) Can't steal a person 2) You assaulted him, Ben and 3) Figuring yourself out does not equal treating people like shit! See: Nick

"Hey Nick. Is that hickey from you then?" "What if it was? Are you jealous?" YEAHHHHH NICK

"Did Harry just stick up for us?" "I think he did." All Harry required was one (1) empathy lesson from Isaac to develop a conscience

Ohhhhh Tao's comment about accidentally outing Nick from last season makes a lot more sense in the context of him being overheard about Charlie

Little Charlie and Tao are soooo cute omg

Awwwww Charlie making a Charlie and Tao love lock for the bridge ❤️ Sweet boy

"People might think you gave me this hickey if you keep this up." It would be EXTREMELY funny if people assumed that Charlie had somehow gathered a gay boys' school polycule

Is the Louvre background greenscreened kjghkjghg I can't tell

"You don't have to understand your feelings completely to know you like something." Hahahaha Nick being the subtle matchmaker of Elle and Tao this season is something I couldn't have predicted, but I adore

I am growing more and more sure all of the painting scenes are greenscreened haha. I guess renting out the Louvre was out of the budget, very fair

Tao and Elle, while their best friend Charlie is passed out on the floor of the Louvre:

"I don't do poses." "Yes, you do. Go on." I think Mr. Farouk and Mr. Ajayi should develop a little flirtationship. As a treat

"Charlie, I've noticed you, uh, don't really eat a lot. Generally." Me too, Nick

NOT CHARLIE TRYING TO APOLOGIZE FOR HAVING DISORDERED EATING. AIEEEEEEEEEEE

"Sometimes it feels like the only thing I can control in my life." God. godddd. Not to reveal too much of myself, but this is the only fucking time I've ever seen someone in a show with a similar relationship to food as me. Not out of body image issues, or out of personal neglect, but as like. A bad relationship with food and anxiety

"Do you like that fact that I speak French?" Heehee

HAHAHAHAHA Charlie and Nick pointlessly running away from their field trip even though I'm sure Nick would be ALLOWED to meet up with his own dad. Very rebellious

Well, Stéphane, Nick's Deadbeat Dad, made a brief but impactful appearance

"If you're thinking about giving me another hickey..." [High-pitched, lying] "I wasn't thinking about that."

Another stressful moment caused by Nick and Charlie's Irrepressible PDA HAHAH:

"When you don't figure out you're gay until your late 20s, you tend to miss out on those." IT WAS THAT FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND IT WAS SOMETHING GAY!!!!!!!!! YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MR. FAROUK ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

I love that every named teacher in this school is gay. 10/10. I want to give the writers a leetle kees on the lips

"You flirting with me?" "Maybe." Mr. Ajayi!!! 👀❤️

I've not really talked about the Tara and Darcy subplot of Darcy being unable to say that she loves Tara or that her parents clearly don't know she's dating her but I am curious where it's leading

Isaac's No. 1 love is books, and I do love that for him

"To be honest, I sort of had a crush on him last year." We return to Charlie representing The Only Out Kid At School Whom All Other People Figuring Out That They're Some Type of Gay May Inevitably Direct Their Feelings

This is officially THE MOST romantically charged field trip I've ever seen in my life. Even Isaac's trying his hand (and his lips):

"I know I've said some homophobic stuff in the past, but I feel like I know better now, and I'll never say anything like that again." Harry. I don't know if this is going to be enough of an apology to get you into the World's Gayest Birthday Party

LMAOOOOOOOOOOO CHARLIE SHUTTING THE DOOR IN HARRY'S FACE. GOOD FOR HIM!!!

"I know who it was. Me. We're dating." Awwwww Nick ❤️

Also, love love love how when everyone's like "U gay?" He consistently clarifies that he's bi

"I'm going to pretend I believe you have food poisoning." I take back everything I said about Mr. Farouk's pedagogy, he's a real one

Also why on EARTH would they not take Darcy to the bathroom to vom and rally first! Unrealistic, blocked. You would not tell a teacher unless she was DYING

Nick and Charlie's very forthright conversation about how they feel about sex. They're very good communicators! 💟

"I love you so much. I know it sounds like I don't mean it, because I'm drunk. But I really do mean it. I love you." Darcy said: The alcohol was communication juice, actually

Don't look at me but Tara kissing Darcy even though she was just sick is very romantic, I said what I said:

I repeat: THE MOST ROMANTICALLY-CHARGED FIELD TRIP EVER, IN THE HISTORY OF FRANCE:

I feel from the separate delayed glances the night together between Mr. Farouk and Mr. Ajayi did not go that well

Also!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

TAO'S MUM WANTING TO CELEBRATE WITH THEIR ENTIRE FAMILY THAT HE AND ELLE ARE TOGETHER!!! 💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘

The shadowy figures as u enter your house. We've all been there, Darcy

"You probably just haven't found the right person yet." Hoo boy

"Like, being in a world where romance and sex are prized above everything else when you don't feel those forms of attraction. Growing up feeling about something about you is different, but you don't have the words to describe what that is." 1) I love that Isaac is finally finding words for his experience and 2) It bugs me a leetle when people phrase this idea without including the word CISHETERONORMATIVE, because trans and queer romance and sex are CERTAINLY not prized above everything else. It's a necessary distinction

Elle's safe place being Charlie and Isaac and Tao 😭💘😭💘😭💘😭💘😭💘😭💘😭💘😭💘 My heart

"I'm glad you realize what you did was wrong, but you don't get to ambush me into forgiving you." Charlie is SO good at finding words!! He could teach a class

"It's a very attractive sport to women," said Stephane, not knowing he was literally the only person at the table who didn't know his son was dating a guy

Nick said: This is a coming out AND a Deadbeat Dadtervention, get rekt Stéphane

"You have not grown up into the man I'd hoped you'd be, David." WOW. Even Stéphane knows you're wrong, David. That's gotta hurt!

Mrs. Spring, probably: Wow, so your boyfriend comes from a broken home!

"It was nice to meet your... boyfriend. I don't really understand these things, but he seems like a very nice young man." "He is." Alright, Stéphane, you get $0.000000001 knocked off your Deadbeat Dad Debt

"Talk about my brother like that again, and I'll end you." GET HIM, TORI

This show loves a happy/sad juxtaposition, so we must pair Nick and Charlie's semi-successful family dinner with Darcy running away from home

"You should invite him tonight." Gay teachers alliance unite!!!

"And he still carries it all with him. Even though it's over. It still causes him a lot of pain. I don't know, do you think that's true?" "Yeah, I do. I think when something really bad happens, it can affect you for a really long time." Two teenage boys' first endeavour in finding words to discuss trauma

I like Elle's dad, he's fun. I really appreciate that none of the main group's parents except Darcy's appear to be mean

"We've missed you mate." "Yeah. I've missed you too." RUGBY BOYS REUNION 💗

I also haven't really talked about Sahar, bisexual prom guitarist with a frenemieship with Imogen, but I do like her a lot as well

The extra in the green dress staring intently at Tao and Elle is killing me. What a scene-stealer

"I want to go to Lambert." "I know." Shut the fuck up, Elle and Tao are sooooo cute:

"I was going to suggest dinner and drinks next time?" NATHAN ❤️ YOUSSEF FOREVER

Omg. Imogen's little musical note animations on Sahar's guitar!! Is her statement about being into girls going to come to fruition!!!

Heartstopper said: There will be NO relationships that do not involve queer or trans people. Not on my watch!!!!!!!

Nick having six of his closest friends over for a prom night chill is extremely relatable. Heartstopper really does touch upon a lot of memories LOL

Darcy's mum not even giving a shit her daughter spent the night in a public park. Boooooooooooo

"I hide who I am when I'm at home." Darcy 😭😭😭😭😭

I hope and feel that Darcy has a home in her friends ❤️I believe they all have a home in each other

"You never told me about... the bullying." Nick said: I'm going to drastically change the tone of this evening, Charlie

Ahhhhh, I knew Charlie's admission was coming based on the season's warning, but oof

Nick about to tell Charlie that he loves him, like we can't sense it with every fibre of his being

(Aside: I do think both Charlie and Nick should probably be seeing a therapist, or at the very least a (safe) school counsellor. They're carrying a lot)

Charlie about to text it as well!! I wish for nothing but a kinder world and brighter days ahead for these boys:

#ayesha liveblogs heartstopper #liveblogging #heartstopper #heartstopper spoilers #heartstopper season 2 spoilers #ayesha says things #television #assault tw #disordered eating tw

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