It is so fun watching Orym awkwardly go through the song and dance of formal military presentation - the speeches in front of cheering crowds, the rewarding of titles and honors far too overwrought for the bloody work they represent (Orym could kill someone in half the time it would take him to say, I am Orym, Savior Blade of the Tempest) - because it's possible there's nothing this guy gives less of a shit about than his own accolades or legacy. Orym just wants to be good, even as he becomes less and less certain what that means, even as he thinks that it would be so much easier to give up on that. He wants to feel like he's done something right, for maybe the first time since Will and Derrig died.
And so he fumbles through the rituals, and holds up his shield for the people of Zephrah to bear witness to, and extracts what really matters from Keyleth (who understands the frivolity of this all better than anybody) referring to him as a Savior Blade of the Tempest; not a fancy name for people to call him, but affirmation that he can save people, someone, anyone, at least this time. At least with the Hells at his side.
I'm gonna continue with the requests later, but I also felt the need to doodle my two PVs with a little bit of gender on the side
They're both still very much genderless, but because not every non-binary/agender person will have the same perception/feelings regarding their gender and won't have the same gender presentation, I decided to mess around with it a little
Hallow is genderfluidv(though after some consideration I realised agenderflux describes them more accurately, but oh well, these labels don't even exist in their story so who cares), they're non-binary but their alignment fluctuates between fem-leaning, masc-leaning, something in-between and neither. They're fine with any terms and pronouns but mostly go by they/them.
Luna is genderfae/transfem, their gender fluctuates between agender and fem-aligned non-binary. They mostly go by they/them and gender-neutral and feminine terms, they're fine with she/her and some neopronouns, but any masculine terms and pronouns are a big no-no for them. Currently, I'm considering making them an enby lesbian, but that might change in the future.
You guys don't understand I cannot watch s4 of lmk because if I have to sit through the story acting like Macaque is all fine and dandy and redeemed while it and the fandom actively demonizes wukong i will fucking lose it.
i don't think we're at the end of these characters stories even slightly, but how possibly could this end that won't be bigger than this solstice. like we have high level characters from both of the other main campaigns, it's the 8 year anniversary, there's a ton of cryptic shit happening to the twitter,
my crack theory is that they will lose and they will get split up and spat out in different places, dividing them into three seperate parties to run three seperate campaigns at the same time to give matt a little break and get a chance to show off other people's talent [maybe matt is even not one of the dms at all and that's how he had time for the d20 show 👀] because no single party can fix this alone
i refuse to believe they aren't planning anything with the opal/lolth/children of malice burrowing under the divine gate thing. we have to at least be getting an exu right
Well this was one shitty creek of a situation he was knee deep in. Not that Jason tended to expect any better from the dumpster of his second life.
“Boss, what do we do?” Petey asked, his voice higher and squeakier than normal with fear. “We got Bats coverin’ us from all sides.”
“Just keep cool, I know how to take care of Bats,” Jason growled out trying to keep his skittish gang in line. Though it really wasn’t much of a gang at this point, since Jay had offed most of the major players and their associates. Right now the Red Hood Gang was just a bunch of snot nosed kids with issues, anger and whole lot to prove. That included their boss.
“We got a bunch of ammo here, none of it armor piercing but it should provide enough cover for you and the youngins to scram,” Tristan said. He was actually the oldest of them all at 26. Jay didn’t want to admit how hard it was to resist the urge to fall in step behind him. He’d mentioned once he had 3 younger siblings, sometimes talking to him made Jason think of better times with Dick...
“I told you we were doing too much, too fast,” Marco spat as he hastily loaded up empty pistol magazines. “Now we got the whole goddamn Bat Circus waiting to pounce on us.”
“Nah, it ain’t the body count they’re pissed about,” Jason mumbled to himself as he did his own double checks and loosened himself up for brawl.
Alf had helped him with his 8th Grade production of Macbeth, he’d played Banquo, and had told him to find the happy middle ground of drama, between dull and maudlin. In his grand revenge scheme of leveraging his memory to hurt Bruce, he’d definitely overshot the mark and gotten everyone’s blood up. Hence this very aggressive show of force of trapping them in their current safe house. Only something about this whole thing wasn’t right.
“What I want to know,” Jason, Hood, said as the hairs on the back of his neck tingled. “Is why we’ve had Bats on our ass for 8 whole minutes and not one of them has made an appearance.”
“Maybe they’re already in here, hiding y’know like they do,” Mikey piped up.
“No, I’d know,” Hood responded purposefully enigmatically as he tried to pinpoint what was throwing him off. Something was different. Something was wrong and he couldn’t say what... There was a polite but insistent knock on the entrance of the warehouse.
“They’re knocking?” Big Mike, completely separate from Mikey, gaped incredulously. Everyone else drew their weapons onto the entrance while Jason concentrated on the sounds of warehouse, waiting for the other shoe to drop. He heard the near silent creaks of footsteps on the roof but no one was using the distraction to break in. Had Bruce changed up his MO that much while Jay had been gone?
“Let me in, dipshit, it’s cold out here,” a voice came from the other side of the door. “You got a choice between me and a whole lot of angry Bats. Trust me, I’m prettier.”
“Fuck,” Jason swore, lowering his weapon as he thought about how to get out of this situation. He wasn’t ready for this, wasn’t sure if he’d ever be ready for this. “Back up gents, weapons up but if you fire the next shot is in your skull, capisce?” Behind his hood, he pursed his lips and glared at the closed door. “Doors open,” he called. “No Bats, just you.”
The door was opened casually, like their guest was walking into a party instead of a den of murders and thieves. He stepped with no trace of discomfort, opening and closing the door with his foot while his thumbs were looped through the beltloop of his jeans. Blue eyes scanned the area, his face was neutral but calculating as he took in Jay and his men. God his face...
“Hood,” the man nodded at him then the guys, “Gentlemen. How’s it going?”
“He’s just a brat, lets ice him,” Booker growled, aggressively posturing with his pistol. The man eyed Booker with an amused half smirk, not moving from his comfortable slouch. He didn’t need to, all he had to do was open his mouth.
“Fucking cool it, that brat can take down Superman,” Jason hissed. His weapon was still deliberately pointed down at the floor. He was having trouble keeping eye contact with his former best friend, no way was he gonna aim a gun at him. “So the Bat realized he and his child soldiers couldn’t take me alone so he called in the big guns, huh?”
“Nice to see you too, Hood,” Billy Batson, grinned with too many teeth to mean it as anything but a threat. “And no, your Dad got a location on you and ditched the weekly early. Didn’t realize I followed till he about to break in. I convinced him to stay outside for a minute while we talked, like old times.”
“Batman’s your dad?” Petey squawked, lowering his weapon to gape over at Jason. The others guys mumbled amongst themselves while Jay just growled at Bill’s small, shit eating grin. Damn bastard knew he had all the cards which was why he was here in his human body and not as the big guy. Hell of a lot easier to shoot at an invulnerable god then his best friend in a beaten leather jacket.
“I’m adopted, not that it made much difference in the end,” Bill’s smile slipped a bit. “What do you want, B?”
“I want you,” Bill stated. “If your guys put down their weapons, I can keep the Bats off them long enough to let them escape but only if you come with me.”
“And why the fuck would I go with you?” Jay asked through gritted teeth. As if he didn’t drive to Fawcett after every major fight with Bruce. As if hadn’t felt completely safe flying high in the sky in Marvel’s arms. As if Bill wasn’t the last person he talked to before he left Gotham for the last time, a lifetime ago...
Bill’s eyes, a faded sky blue with little streaks of gold and brown in them, glared back at hood. Once upon a time, they’d had similar blue eyes but now Jason’s eyes were more green than blue. Just another thing separating them.
“Because I had to skip dinner hunting down your ass so you owe me.” Looking like an overconfident ass, and just a tiny bit cool, Bill walked past them and opened the back door. “Boys, weapons down and you’re free to go. Hood, grab your coat, it’s cold out and I’m way too pissed at you to be your cuddle buddy.”
XxX
Bill tried not to stare at Jason sitting across the table but it was hard. He’d missed his friend so much, wasted so much grief wanting him back even for a moment. And yet what was supposed to be a joyous moment was spoiled by the boiling anger he was barely keeping a lid on. Instead, he stared intently into his coffee as he stirred in more cream while Jason looked intently at the menu.
“It’s funny you’re studying that so hard when we both know you’re ordering a chili dog,” Bill said impatiently when he grew tired of the tense silence. Even Atlas’ stamina wore out at some point. Jay flipped the menu down and sneered at him and god for a moment it felt like old times. Except Jason was older, he had new scars Bill didn’t recognize and old ones that were simply gone. His hair had gone partially grey and his eyes were different but the freckles on his nose wrinkled the same way they always did when he was annoyed.
“Yeah, well maybe you don’t know me as well as you thought, short stack,” Jay sniped back. He had one arm stretched over the back of their booth and his legs sprawled out but there was a tenseness that said he was ready to run at a moment’s notice. Like he no longer trusted Bill anymore.
“Sorry I don’t look like a linebacker on venom,” Bill countered. Jay had always been a bit taller than him but not by much. But whatever had happened to him (the Pit Bruce had, he didn’t want to think about how much that had hurt) it took away all evidence of Jay’s rough childhood living. Bill, on the other hand, was still scrawny, his height small and his immune system shit.
“You boys ready to order?” Their waitress, Marcy, asked with a gentle smile.
“Yes Ma’am, I’ll have some of your 24 hr breakfast with a ham and cheese omelet extra cheese and home fries. Jay?”
“2 Chili dogs,” he grumbled, handing over the menu even as Bill hid his smile in his coffee cup. “How’d you get B off my ass?”
“I work alongside him on the team. He knows when to push me and when not to, he knows that he owes me,” Bill replied with a shrug before setting his coffee down. “Jason,” he sighed, “what the hell are you doing?”
“Oh shove off with your holier than thou shit,” Jay growled, turning to face out the window. They both knew that Bruce and most likely the others were casing the place but, for now, they were out of sight. “You don’t know what I’ve been through, what that man did to-”
“Then maybe you should tell me,” Bill frowned, gripping his cup. “Maybe instead of announcing your return with a duffle bag of heads you could’ve come to us and we’d have helped you get your shit together.”
“B-”
“Almost broke when you died,” Bill cut him off. “Jay I don’t know what you think happened but we almost lost him. If it weren’t for Tim,” Jason’s eyes turned menacingly dark so Bill diverted. “Jesus Jay, I took a leave of absence for almost a month. I never had many friends, losing you, it was like the world dropped out underneath me.”
“Yeah, well you recovered real well,” Jason huffed, leaning over the table to clench and unclench his fists. “Everyone moved on.”
“Did you think the whole world would stop for you?” Bill accused with a scoff. “Grow up, it may have felt like my world died but there were still villains to be foiled, civilians who needed saving. We moved on because the only other option was to dig a grave right next to yours. God knows Bruce did his damndest to do just that.”
“Here ya go, loves, give me a shout if you need anything else,” Marcy said, depositing their meals. Despite having had food security and his own money in his pocket for years, the sight of a full plate before him still gave his heart a little skip. He wondered if Jay remembered the feeling or if he’d forgotten that too.
“Whatever, you don’t get it so I don’t want to talk about it,” Jay grumbled, hunching over and biting into his hotdog. “The fuck you been up to, outside of capes?”
“Got my GED because the League of Babysitters were breathing down my neck. I do odd jobs here and there, whatever I can get with flexible hours. I’m thinking of doing online classes at Fawcett CC to get my degree in social work.” Jason paused for a moment before continuing to devour his dog. Bill, who learned better manners on the streets, ate like a normal human being.
“You’d be good at that,” Jay said as he polished off the first hotdog. “I thought I might do that, back in the day.”
“I know, we talked about it,” Bill nodded, “can’t say I wasn’t thinking about that when I started filling out applications. There’s a memorial case for Robin in the Cave, a Library in Gotham named after Bruce Wayne’s son but I wanted the memory of Jay, my idiot friend, to carry on too.”
“Bill,” Jay heaved out a heavy sigh. “Why am I here?”
“In this diner? on this side of the veil?” Bill questioned, “can’t really answer the second one but as for the former, maybe I just wanted to watch my best friend make a slobbery mess out of chili dogs again.”
“I ain’t your best friend,” Jason said grabbing his second hotdog.
“Fuck you, yes you are. You never stopped being my best friend which why I’m so mad I could scream at you for the shit you pulled. I can see being mad at the world, I can even see why you’re mad at Bruce but me, Jay?” he asked, not disguising his hurt. “I had to hear about you coming back from a League debrief as Marvel. Had to go a whole shift being calm and composed before I could change back and completely fall apart.”
“The hell was I supposed to say?” Jay asked a bit too loudly. Marcy glanced over at them from across the diner. “I’m not, fuck, I’m not that snot nosed kid anymore who thought being a hero gave him magic. He died and I’m the one who crawled into his carcass and came back. Those times we had were good but they’re gone.”
“Well that’s up for me to decide, isn’t it?” Bill said with a bite of his potatoes. “So as your former and current best friend, it is my duty to tell you that you need to get your head out of your ass. Stop doing stupid shit to piss people off and do things that will actually help you because you know what? I’m not the same person you left either. You’re not special, you’re just as mortal as the rest of us.”
“Says you,” Jason snorted. He reached over and grabbed Bill’s coffee and took a swig. “You still take your crap coffee the same, drowned in cream with not a drop of sugar.”
“And you still can’t buy your own coffee and order it how you want,” Bill said with a smile, stealing it back. The atmosphere was good, calm and silent as they finished their dinners
“I’m not going back with B,” Jason said quietly.
“I figured,” Bill nodded as he signaled Marcy for the check.
“And I’m not stopping what I’m doing in Gotham, cleaning out the filth the way Batman never could,” Jay growled resolutely.
“I don’t agree with your methods, never will. I won’t be complicit to your demons but I will be your friend. Just think about what it is you want, Jay, that’s all I ask. Oh and keep in contact this time, asshole,” he scribbled his address and phone number on one of the napkins. “Come by anytime but leave the hood at home or you’ll have to deal with the other guy.”
“Shit you’re tougher than him any day,” Jason said, shoving the napkin roughly in his jacket before standing up. “It’s been - Good to see you again, Bill. I missed you.” He stuck out a fist which Bill bumped in return.
“Not as much as I missed you. Take care of yourself, Jason and try to imagine my disappointed face next time you think about killing someone.”
“Won’t need to imagine, I’ll see it myself when I come to check out your digs. Now I gotta avoid a whole host of flying rodents, see ya,” he said with a lazy, backward wave as he left via the back entrance. Feeling full and content, Bill waited patiently for the check.
“Oh baby, you’re all settled up,” Marcy said as she swung by the table. “Your friend gave me a 50 while I was seating you.” She chuckled and refilled his coffee. “Stay as long as you like and if I were you, I’d keep that friend. He’s a good one.”
“Don’t I know it,” Bill cheered, raising his mug in appreciation as he sipped the hot coffee. It was starting to rain outside but Bill was in no hurry to leave. So he sat at his booth and enjoyed his second cup while basking in the glow of a right wronged. No matter how far astray he went, Jay was still Jay. Bill didn’t need the Wisdom of Solomon to tell him that he just had to wait for Jason to come around.
Perhaps the funniest League of Legends character interaction that's also highly plausible in-universe, thematically appropriate and emotionally charged is Rell and Veigar teaming up.
They’re both extremely magically strong and skilled. Rell controls metal, a product of the earth from which she can directly rip ore. Veigar draws his celestial magic from the stars.
They both have dark, tragic backstories: because of their magical talent, they were taken into custody by powerful, corrupt Noxian authorities, isolated, abused and forced to use their magic harmfully for a long time, at least relative to their respective lives. This traumatized and broke them so much that they now see inflicting pain as the only thing they’re good at, even capable of. They have no friends. They've never known or have forgotten what it feels like to be loved, joyful or carefree. All they were left with once free was so much guilt and grief and so much power. From that, they have forged new identities - roles to play - built around singular, combative ambitions that they cannot imagine lives or futures beyond. Rell identifies as a gritty, edgy antihero, having noble intentions but using brutal, destructive and downright gruesome methods. Veigar identifies as a villain, but is good at heart despite not comprehending this himself.
They’re both currently roaming around the Noxian countryside in order to find and defeat as many powerful, corrupt Noxian authorities who mistreat people as they can. Rell does this to make the guilty pay for their crimes and liberate and protect the oppressed. Veigar does it to replace the authority and prove that his evil is greater and cooler than theirs, but in practice doesn’t really bother hurting anyone innocent and just ends up making the guilty pay for their crimes and liberating and protecting the oppressed.
They’re both connected to Mordekaiser, and would be primary enemies of him holding personal grudges if his plot about trying to dominate Runeterra is ever developed. Rell was such an important project for the Black Rose because they hoped that she would be able to defeat Mordekaiser. He embodies everything she stands against. Mordekaiser was Veigar’s captor and abuser, responsible for who he is today. Rell can manipulate metal; Veigar wields incredible cosmic magic; and Mordekaiser is a magical suit of armour, so if anyone can finish him off, it’s these two working together.
Rell is practical, pragmatic, cynical and consumed by bloodthirsty, vengeful rage. Veigar clings to and imitates an immature ideal of Villainy, fashioning his outfit after Mordekaiser’s stereotypical fantasy evil overlord aesthetic, his behaviour after all the most theatrical tropes that archetype can be associated with and having very dramatic and flashy magic, but inwardly lacks the cruelty (not to mention dignity) to back that presentation up.
They both want the Noxian people to respect them as a threat. Rell has wanted posters and become widely feared by the elite army less than a year since her escape. Veigar has been ‘conquering’ for centuries and is still not taken seriously.
Their respective magic colours are yellow and purple, and the rest of both of their colour palettes is grey, silver and black.
Everything about Rell is played completely straight. Almost everything about Veigar is played for comedy.
Rell could come across a village that Veigar has seized and accidentally benefitted, like Boleham in his story on the website, and try to challenge him. Or they could both arrive to kill the same tyrannical warlord at the same time. She realizes that he is a) really bad at being bad, b) just a silly little guy and c) an extremely useful asset to her quest.
So she directs him at the Black Rose and they go and utterly fuck Noxis up while helping the downtrodden. There's so much comedy to get out of their contrasting personalities and perspectives. Rell always acts like the protagonist of a grim, action-packed young adult dystopian series and Veigar is standing right next to her emanating campy children's cartoon villain energy; they both think the story is a different genre and the acting and tone should reflect that. This premise is hysterical with the proper execution.
But it isn't just funny! They can genuinely bond and learn, or in Veigar's case remember, what loving and being loved is, and begin to process their trauma and help each other cope with their C-PTSD and be kinder to themselves and have fun and become fulfilled. And then kill Mordekaiser, whose return is one of the subplots. And then live happy, safe, peaceful lives together, because they were never meant for all this violence.
Other subplots besides Mordekaiser include LeBlanc, Rell's mother and the Black Rose's operations; the wider Noxian politics they tie into; Samirah hunting Rell; Annie also wandering around Noxis causing trouble and eventually getting adopted by Rell as a little sister (they deserve it); maybe the story of a Yordle who knew Veigar before and thus can supply some of his backstory that he's forgotten, a 'normal Yordle' foil to him; and generally lots of Noxian and Yordle worldbuilding and lore.
While I'm talking about Veigar, here are my ideas for a redesign of him, because his design is... not that great:
As yordles are generally animalistic or at least furry, he strongly resembles a black cat, with gold eyes with slit pupils and a dark purple nose. Black cats are associated with the supernatural, magical arts and misfortune, they're bad omens to some, but they're also fluffy little babies. He is covered in fur. You want to scratch his checks. You want to kiss his little forehead. He's so adorable and he hates it. His large pointy ears, visible under the brim of his hat, move to signal his emotions for more expressive animation. They both have notches, which help him look pitiable and allude to his past as a prisoner and victim of abuse. He has big 'weathered street cat hissing and growling at you when you try to pet it because it's reflexively afraid of people and shows that through aggression' energy.
@ohnoitstbskyen's idea in his "What's the deal with Veigar?" video that Veigar's face (his cute kitty face!) is never fully in the shadow of his hat despite him trying to look mysterious and ominous is brilliant. He’s very lively, since he acts like a classic cartoon villain who’s so excited and gleeful about being evil, so he has a habit of jostling his hat or lifting his head to reveal his whole face and then hastily pulling the hat back down.
His robe no longer has the spiked metal hem and is of a soft, loose, flowing fabric. It’s dark indigo with silver sparkles all over it like he’s wearing the night sky, in homage to the stars he draws his power from. Except the beautiful pattern is interrupted and partly obscured by a leather belt - not spiked and black, a bolder and more ‘evil’ colour than brown and a Noxian colour - with a tasteless spiky silver buckle that clashes with the stars. I love what TB Skyen said about the armour and spikes working best as a parody of Mordekaiser’s aesthetic, so I want those aspects to look tacked on and out of place. To feel wrong. Inadvertently on Veigar’s part, but deliberately in a meta sense. Between the robe, his big purple wizard hat matching his nose that also makes his body look smaller and cuter and the black cat associations, you’ve got a perfectly good yordle celestial mage design; but the influence of Mordekaiser is intruding on it, corrupting it, even. That is the clear conflict of this design. While the robe is comfortable, the armour doesn’t appear to be. This impression is helped by it all being at least a little oversized, because Noxian armour doesn’t come in yordle size and therefore Veigar has cobbled his together out of scraps he scavenged (I mean, he STOLE, how wicked) and he isn’t really a great blacksmith. His boots aren’t clown shoes or anything, but they’re big enough that his attempt at an imposing villainous stride is awkwardly clunky. They could have black leather straps on them to hold them tighter than their metal fasteners will allow. His spiked pauldrons were cut out of human ones and still jut out too much, one of them having an irregular shape that gives him a dash of Noxian asymmetry and marks him further as a flawed imitation of a fantasy supervillain. The message that he’s incompetent at something and did it anyway out of passion, perhaps not even realizing his mistakes or at least too proud to acknowledge them, makes him come across as comedic and yet an endearingly earnest, hardworking underdog, and adds to the surprise of his genuine incredible cosmic power - he couldn’t learn to smith properly before forging his own armour, but he can command the energy of the stars to smite you? Yeah. That’s Veigar. There’s one silver ring around the base of his hat that has five spikes on it, thick, long and evenly positioned so that from above, they form a star shape. Specifically, an inverted star with one spike pointing directly forward. Symbolism! His belt buckle could also be an inverted star to establish that as a motif of his; it’s spiky, but more personal and iconic than just spikes themselves.
Moving onto Rell... she has her sigils. I don't know why she doesn't in her model or artwork, they're such a crucial part of her character design! Her biography and short story both bring them up. There are even bare sections of her arms, which would only make sense if her sigils were visible in them because it's impractical and she's so averse to vulnerability, but the sigils are missing? What? Why, Riot? So yeah, in my redesign she has sigils right down both her arms. A few more recent ones are on her back (symbolic of her betrayal by her family, the Black Rose and the government). They're always hidden, even in her lighter armour on horseback, as she's deeply uncomfortable around the concept of being exposed and seeing them herself. We and Veigar only see them in dramatic character exploration scenes when a) she feels safe enough to take her armour off, b) she needs to due to injury or to hide her identity or c) someone else damages or removes her armour. Taking TB Skyen's advice again, her outer armour and therefore horse are spikier and less polished and regular, products of her undiluted heartbroken rage in the moment she destroyed the academy. They're highly distinctive, almost organic-feeling and definitely don't look like the work of a smith.
Honestly? Did I want more from DTAMHD? Yes, I did. I wanted something signifying actual progression for Dennis' character (even just a crumb of genuine growth) , and I sincerely don't think we got that. However... we did get a fascinating insight into the process of his mind. Dennis' level of self-denial is so ironic and profound. He can't acknowledge the inevitability that he's middle-aged.
(I swear this episode honestly has given me an alt hc, that the show is based in his mind; because logistically, a man of his lifestyle and malnourishment could not commit the feats he is constantly sailing through. TGGB & DTAMHD... back-to-back? What happened to his hand? Did he even sprain it? Or is he just the most dramatic brat in the gang - clearly the latter.)
It is important to note that he didn’t fix the actual problem. He momentarily masked the symptoms, but ignore long-term help with blood pressure medicine is not going to fix the issue, nor is it going to protect him from fucking keeling over in a stressful situation (when he's not in a contained and quiet Doctor's exam room) and his blood pressure spikes.
I'm honestly a little jaded at this point (16 Fucking Seasons of crumbs, y'all), but if one were to continue 'trusting the structure' this episode conveyed a lot.
The B Plot: The pressure cooker. The metaphor parallels the building pressure Dennis quick-tempered bouts of rage. So, to toss out a little 'cat-in-the-wall' conjecture here: The pressure cooker is Dennis, but we all saw him eat that bloody diamond in the end and we all heard Mac's speech about coal turning into diamonds under massive pressure. Dennis' experience is a theory of pressure, he daydreams it all in the span of a minute or so. He's roleplaying with hypothetical obstacles. There's no risk. Maybe Dennis, isn't the pressure cooker, but the coal.
If I were to try and take anything hopeful out of this episode, it would be the way the narrative is showing us that this episode acknowledged that Dennis isn't ready yet. It's not his turn to break. It's going to take real, substantial pressure to get that diamond.
It was a hell of a misdirect (and honestly a little bit of a slap in the face), but if these characters live in the real world, where people are bound by the laws of mortality, then Dennis should have his time.
Genuinely, who fucking knows?
I'm not hating on the episode. We all know this is the trashy dick joke sitcom. I just thought that if Mac & Charlie could have moments of genuine heartbreak, culminating in deep catharsis, that maybe Dennis could have that too.... but no.
Can't wait to see the sunny dudebros miss the point & proclaim Dennis Reynolds - SA victim, traumatized individual with an emotionally tumultuous personality disorder - the new Andrew Tate.
I'm sorry, but yeah. I'm a little miffed. It was all a dream, and everything goes Dennis' way. Y'all I'm fucking tired. This was a great episode for Glenn, but a fucking frustrating episode for Dennis. I may have wanted a little macden, but all I cared about was seeing Dennis face the limitations of his mortality, to see that he's failing his body and his brain. He didn't have to actually take the medicine (I wouldn't expect him to), but Goddammit, everything seems to work out in his delusional favor. So, of course he's going to continue being delusional, and probably only change for the worse.
I'll say it: I wanted a broken Dennis, and we did not get that. He didn't even crack, the unbearble and apparently now canonical Golden God. That episode's title was intended to tease sunnyblr.
Excuse the plethora of tags. I just kept getting more irritated.
SCULPTURES OF ANYTHING GOES AS OPENER FOR THEIR THIRD GLASTO HEADLINER
1. Sculptures
2. Brianstorm
3. Snap
4. Chair
5. Crying lightning
6. Teddy picker (when I get bent over?!! Alex!!!) https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ct4DUGpgtMn/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== (it’s rather ‘ya’ but we can pretend)
7. Cornerstone (I knew she’d understand instead of thought/she didn’t say that whooo, I just added that for you you’re welcome)
Interlude something about water by Alex on the piano (get this man his water he’s thirsty)
8. Why’d you only call me when you’re high (having mad instead of bad ideas/ plus epic pose)
Shout out by Alex for Space pictures
9. Arabella
10. Four out of five (loving butt slap for Cookie by Alex/ why don’t you come and stay with ME/ effective very effective what a night what a night, yeah man)
Smiling Alex
Angelic Alex
11. Pretty visitors (now’s me chance x3= rushing off to bowl and it’s a strike= happy little Alex jumping back on stage and then his mic was shut off for a sec there 🤣)
12. Fluorescent Adolescent (some kisses and a thank you from Alex)
Oh god he looks so baby in that picture
13. Perfect sense (another thank you 🥹)
Pouty mouth (he does look tired)
14. Do I wanna know (afterwards “astonishing”/ how are you feeling everybody *cheers* well I’m delighted about that)
15. Mardy Bum (thank you/ alright let’s leave the past behind)
16. There’d better be a mirrorball (conductor Alex at the beginning/ hey HEY at the end)
17. 505 (without Miles 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭his first note sounded so unsure/ the in ears only now getting removed gotta be a new record/ thank you for having us everybody it’s the Arctic monkeys/ so predictable I know what you’re thinking whoo)
18. Body Paint
Encore
19. I wanna be yours (Matt and backup sang and played I wanna be yours (second verse)while Alex sang STAR TREATMENT (first verse)/ thank you thank you very much) (for a second we had “Miles” there)(the Glastonbury special surprise; also genius move to reclaim IWBY from TikTok by hijacking it with TBHC)
A video of that beautiful medley
“Who are you gonna call the Martini police the who?”
20. I bet you look good on the dance floor (Matt having mic problems and some vocal ones aswell(sounded like a scratchy throat))
“We are gonna leave you now we can’t stay with you anymore but fank you for having us something tells me…something tells me that you’re gonna be okay good night”
21. R U MINE?
I mean I know it’s basically literally their normal concert playlist apart from that I wanna be yours/ star treatment medley (which was out of this world 🌚;)) but I still loved it apart from that heartbreak with 505 cause honestly don’t care what they play I’m still loving it and having a blast, great tunes great vocals an amazing night spent in front of the laptop screaming along (what if they had planned a different set list (in 2013 Alex said “that’s what we’re gonna do tonight everyone. we are gonna play some new shit. We’re gonna play some old shit. We are gonna play some things that are just Glastonbury specials, do you know what I’m saying”) but due to Alex falling sick they didn’t have time to practice so they settled for their usual setlist?) (genuinely feel sorry for Elton John and his humongous set cause i doubt that anybody can scream along on Sunday still)
And I love how all the real fans can easily agree that it was a fantastic gig while the TikTok fans and dark fruit lovers are whining in their mum’s basement how they didn’t just play do I wanna know and snap out of it in 10 different versions and how dare Alex that his voice and taste in music evolved and that they didn’t try and emulate the phenomenal, seminal career changing Glasto 2013 🤣🤣
WARNING !! do not look at the comments 🤢 you don’t wanna see that shitshow that some ‘fans’ pull but I guess some people just can’t be satisfied cause their own lives are so shit that they have to lash out at whoever is available