ok so i’m only on s2 of its always sunny and literally already knees deep in very deep analyses of all the characters even tho the show is meant to be very surface level stupid BUT

currently watching when the gang tries to profit off the virgin mary water stain (also the first appearance of david hornsby hello my beloved) and mac’s religious trauma is popping tf OFF dude annnnd i just think it’s so very important to his character development to consider how terrified of god he is (like any child raised strictly catholic) and how that factors into him being gay

now most of these thoughts are stemming from a macdennis fic i read last night that i could literally write a ten pages paper on analyzing how mac’s religious trauma and dennis’s narcissism play into their relationship but even when considering the canon plots of the show, mac’s relationship w catholicism and god is so so important to consider when thinking about his journey through internalized homophobia and being closeted and then finally being able to admit to his friends and himself that yes, he’s gay and yes, it’s ok to say it and no, god will not strike him down for loving other men because love is not a sin.

and i know they say mac being gay wasn’t planned out from s1 but when looking at the very early seasons through the lens of him later coming out, it makes so much sense because mac is so homophobic and so aggressive and so over the top macho man because obviously he has so many pent up feelings of shame and disgust and anger with himself for feeling the way he feels and no matter what girls he gets with he can’t help but think of men and feel so guilty and ashamed when he does. i mean even considering the shame he felt for hanging out with carmen the transgender woman in s1, he just hides from and/or violently rejects anything and anyone remotely queer even if he likes them because, like the virgin mary water again episode shows, he’s absolutely terrified of god and what god will do to him if he sins.

and i could go on and on and on but i don’t want to make this post super fuckin long, i just can’t stop imagining mac giving in to his needs and then praying over the men he’s laying in bed with afterwards and going to confessional every sunday to desperately try to cleanse himself and praying every night for god to let him feel some other way, wondering why he feels so wrong and why he can’t just be normal and why he was taught to hate every aspect of how he loves

sorry i’m just an ex catholic who cries every time i imagine mac thinking about how he will go to hell simply for the way he loves. anyway i hope he heals (again im only on s2 i barely know anything so lmk if i’m horrendously wrong rn) and i hope he can find a relationship with god that is accepting of how he feels and loves and i hope he continues to grow in his queer journey because even though he’s a horrible person i love him so much