MacDennis

MacDennis is the slash ship between Mac McDonald and Dennis Reynolds from the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia fandom.

Canon
Mac and Dennis first met in high school sometime in the early 1990s. Mac served as Dennis' weed dealer, and the two grew close. They would spend time under the bleachers and behind dumpsters, along with their other friend, Charlie. The boys then bought an Irish bar named Paddy's Pub in 1998. The three of them have been running it ever since, with the help of Dennis' twin sister, Dee, and legal father, Frank. Around the same time they bought the bar, Mac and Dennis moved into an apartment together. In the season 12 finale, Dennis briefly moved out of the apartment to take care of his son in North Dakota. However, he returned to Philly in the season 13 premiere and remained roommates with Mac ever since.

Throughout the show, Mac and Dennis have maintained a close friendship, though they do have their conflicts every now and then. Some of the things they do together include a movie night every Tuesday and a monthly dinner at Guigino's Italian Restaurant. There's one instance where Mac and Dennis try spending time apart from each other after Dee calls them out for being "codependent losers." However, their neediness for one another bothers the gang so much that Dee orchestrates a plan to get Mac and Dennis back together.

Their dynamic begins to take a shift after Mac comes out in the 12th season. Mac's crush on Dennis becomes more apparent, while Dennis grows more annoyed with Mac. When giving a lecture at a sexual harassment seminar, Dennis tells Mac to stop kissing and touching him, going on to say that "it's never gonna happen, not willingly." Mac continues to pin for Dennis, going as far as to poison Dennis so he can remain dependent on him.

In the season 15 premiere, Mac and Dennis are shown to be getting along again as they quarantined during the COVID pandemic and wrote country songs together. In the season 16 premiere, they sleep with each other in the same bed.

Mac gets an online boyfriend named Johnny, who he communicates with through texting and using anal beads. Dennis gets annoyed by Mac's new relationship and tries to find him another boyfriend. However, his scheme fails as Mac proclaims he's in love with Johnny. This causes Dennis to reveal that he is actually Johnny. His excuse for pretending to be Mac's online boyfriend was so he could get Mac out of their apartment.

Fanon
While It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia has been on the air since 2005, the MacDennis ship really began to take off in the mid-2010s. Around the 12th season, the Always Sunny fandom had an influx of new fans in part due to The Johnlock Conspiracy. Many Sherlock/Johnlock fans migrated to the Always Sunny fandom and theorized about MacDennis becoming canon before the end of the series.

On AO3, MacDennis is the most written ship for Mac, Dennis, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia tag. As of July 2023, Macdennis has over 1,800 works.

Fandom

 * FAN FICTION


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 * macdennis hashtag on Instagram


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Trivia

 * Charlie Day referred to Mac and Dennis as "closeted homosexuals" in the DVD commentary for "Mac and Dennis Break Up"
 * In The Always Sunny Podcast episode for "Mac and Dennis Break Up," Rob McElhenney called the episode a "romantic comedy."