dulcedays

Hayden straight up telling Brett he KNOWS he was bullshitting about wolves and sheep is a POWER MOVE. Hayden is saying that he saw through how Brett was trying to manipulate him. This is him asserting power ie. “I was NOT manipulated by you, I KNEW and yet I CHOSE to take your hand.” He's establishing his agency and how he's not just going to be another person that Brett plays around with.

Right now you can tell Hayden is clearly still suspicious of Brett. Meanwhile, we still don't really know what Brett is thinking because he seems so unpredictable and so flighty, things are kind of a game to him. He's not necessarily a bad person btw!!! He's just clear about what he wants, and he'll give equal benefit to the other person so it's "fair"

This chapter lays out how Hayden and Brett are different really well:

Hayden believes that humans can, and should, rise above their “animal” instinct; he finds concepts like nobility, sacrifice and love very attractive. Brett is a “realist” and find those concepts ridiculous, and thinks there is nothing wrong w/ just accepting your nature.

Brett is also a huge thrill seeker and adrenaline junkie. He likes taking risks and unpredictability. He doesn't like plays bc he doesn’t like the fact that an ending is already decided by someone else. He likes football because he likes how the ending could go differently every time.

this is how Brett keeps dominance; ie. he likes unpredictability bc he doesn't want anyone deciding his "story"/"fate".

But what’s interesting is that Hayden writes scripts; so he’s the one who “decides” on the ending when he writes. So fundamentally Hayden and Brett have incompatible personalities and expectations. In some ways this is kind of a fight for “power” between two alphas with their notions of how the world should operate. Which is why this is SOOOO GOOOD.