Responses
Oh and as of now, I would say Charlie and Raymond are exes after the fight in the elevator. Though I could be wrong if they want to actually have a scene where it’s confirmed with words.
I agree with everything you said. It was my mistake on misinfo about the drugs part, I didn’t care to read properly cause I have 100+ tabs open
So I just reread the story to remember and understand some parts, and honestly after rereading I don’t think the friend and bf are completely in the right. Everyone has blame to a certain extent, despite what all the readers/commentators taking sides are saying.
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So in Chapter 8: Charlie (uncle rabbit) is drinking by himself and is already under the influence of alcohol. As he’s walking, he gets pulled away by some random dude that mistakes him for someone else. Before this, Zachary (white bear) sees some guys talking about drugs. Charlie ends up in the same room as the guys with the drugs, and they end up drugging his drink and making him drink it. In chapter 9, Charlie gets sexually assaulted by the group of guys, and Zachary stops it. He sees the drugs and realizes it’s an aphrodisiac. In chapter 10, Charlie, is now fully under the influence of the drug- reaches out for Zachary to help him. Zachary relieves Charlie by helping him finish. Although, that’s not exactly how he should’ve helped, so he’s at fault for that. In Chapter 11, Zachary takes him to his place and nothing further happens. Charlie then gets picked up by Simon (rabbit nephew). After this, any other scene involving Zachary and Charlie are just imagination. Charlie thought it was just a dream but realizes it was real when Simon told him about Zachary.
In Chapter 13, Raymond (the bf/tiger) is consulting with Sammy (the fox brother of Lancey), which seems to be something that he does often to the point that Lancey actually finds it weird. (Confirmed in Chapter 18) Raymond says about Charlie, “Ugh, I can’t believe he’s avoiding me! He should be dealing with his own issues! Why is he blaming me? If only he could be as understanding as you are.” He says this to Sammy. Which tbh that last sentence is an odd thing to say when comparing a FRIEND and a boyfriend.
In Chapter 14, Simon brings home Zachary, I guess to talk about what happened with his uncle. Meanwhile, Charlie is reflecting on his feelings and his relationship with Raymond. He’s been thinking about the mystery man (Zachary), which he knows is wrong. On the other hand, he thinks about his relationship with Raymond not being that deep. Saying they’re more companions than lovers, “We both view each other as companions suitable for living together.” Zachary opens the door to Channing (uncle’s friend) knocking, and Channing instantly is hostile. Then Raymond shows up and sees them both and also immediately gets hostile as well.
In Chapter 15, as soon as Channing and Raymond see Charlie, they instantly turn on him- assuming and accusing him of things. Raymond questioning who the other two guys are and if they’re his potential boyfriends. Channing scolding and assuming that Charlie is looking for someone new, just for having a guest over at his house. Raymond then confirms Charlie’s earlier thought about their companion relationship saying, “I chose to be with you because I thought you were someone who would lead a peaceful life with me, but you’ve let me down.” Simon then gets upset and talks about how Zachary is his senior and that he’s here to meet him, not his uncle. Zachary then butts in (which he honestly shouldn’t have done as an outsider, but he did make a few good points), saying that both Channing and Raymond assumed things without Charlie even being able to get a word in. Only saying what they wanted and getting angry without actually knowing anything. Which is true and honestly, you can tell they were both like this because they were anxious about their relationship with Charlie. So instead of finding any fault with themselves or thinking about why Charlie is avoiding them- they jumped to a conclusion to shift any possible blame off themselves.
Simon then confronts Channing, saying how Channing KNEW Charlie was missing last night, but as soon as he saw him, he thought nothing was serious about Charlie and started pointing fingers at him.
Chapter 17, Zachary and Charlie go to a cafe to talk about what happened that night. Simon talks to Zachary on the phone saying he changed his uncle’s clothes that day and knew what happened between them. Zachary denies it and says: “What?! I didn’t..” Confirming they actually didn’t do anything further than what happened at the club. So those marks are from the dudes who sexually assaulted Charlie. When Charlie gets home, Raymond yet again gets angry and assumes things just from seeing Charlie speaking/walking with Zachary.
In Chapter 18, Previously Raymond has been consulting with Sammy again. Which Lancey finds odd since it seems like Raymond speaks to Sammy about everything happening with his bf. It seems Raymond is pretty dependent on Sammy- which Sammy even finds annoying as Raymond is asking for Sammy’s help in Chapter 26
In Chapter 19, It shows Raymond gets so angry that he makes Charlie have a stress reaction (I assume it’s when bigger animals pressure those weaker than them), as Charlie cowers in the elevator. Zachary helps and scares off Raymond the same way Raymond did to Charlie, and Zachary says he’ll deal with him in court for what he did today.
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My conclusions: in a way, I do think Charlie is a victim as he was sexually assaulted and doesn’t even remember it. But it’s also the truth that Charlie has been thinking about Zachary, despite not physically getting with him. Raymond and Channing do have a right for being mad since they were ghosted/blocked- however they went overboard with the assumptions and anger. They didn’t even think of the possibility that Zachary was Simon’s friend. They forgot that Simon also lives in that house too. It’s just odd that they both instantly got hostile for some dude hanging out at Charlie’s house. I guess the reasoning is because they both were already on edge over their relationship with Charlie and didn’t want any blame so they shoved it all onto Charlie as soon as the opportunity happened. They would have a right if they actually LISTENED and let Charlie say anything and being mad for the right reasons. Up to that point, Charlie didn’t physically cheat, and was SA. So there’s no reasons for them to be upset over that. At most they can only be upset for being ghosted.
Zachary got way too involved as an outsider. Simon only cares about his uncle’s well-being, and doesn’t care as much as to who his uncle is seeing as long as they treat him well. Sammy is odd, he seems to be the playful type that likes getting involved/having a say in ppl’s relationships (including his own brother’s). And also has a crush on his parent?? That hickey and licking???