Sibling Showdown Round 2 Bracket C1

I didn’t want to share this with the link but my one & only criticism of that video I shared is super specific & it’s that the video essayist doesn’t like Dennis trying to kill Dee in the castle. In my opinion that was a beautifully hilarious scene / culmination of a hysterically entertaining subplot & I strongly disagree with her that it fell into the same category as other cases of the show becoming too mean spirited & neglecting to show that these characters care about each other in the latest seasons. I do agree that this is a huge issue & literally everything else in the almost 3 hour video I fully agreed with though so please still know I loved the critique. I just really liked the castle episodes & this is an excuse to talk about it lol -

I actually found the sibling dynamic weirdly sweet in the Covid episodes. The joke was funny because it wasn’t that Dennis literally wants to kill Dee, it was that he was delirious with Covid & thought he was communicating with a ghostly castle which is so funny cmon. And before that they were renting a castle together & she was teasing him while also taking care of him & in a giant castle they still chose to share a room like they’re so cute. It’s my favorite plot we’ve had in so many seasons & I must defend it with my life.

To me it was mean in classic sunny fashion which is VERY very notably different to the way new sunny is mean. It called back to such iconic scenes as “Dee? I swear you would be of more use to me if I skinned you and turned your skin into a lampshade. Or fashioned you into a piece of high-end luggage. I can even add you to my collection” followed by a hilariously horrified expression from Kaitlin Olson.

Dennis rushing at Dee in a deranged attempt to behead her only to pass out & she has to take him to the hospital is great. It’s the above mentioned scene with talk of skin luggage - or Dennis & Dee’s talk of murder & Dee’s confusion and about what the “actual plan” is in “Mac is a serial killer” amped up to 100 to me. It’s “Dennis is a serial killer” jokes done right much like “making Dennis Reynolds: a murderer” & NOT like “The Gang Gets Cursed.” That last one takes the joke way too far by leaving the implication that Dennis might actually be a killer which completely ruins the joke both by explaining it & botching the punchline which should always be that Dennis is a pathetic bitch who WISHES he was a serial killer (side note - other than that, I mostly enjoy “The Gang Gets Cursed” btw).

This became an essay but I wanted to share that extremely good & insightful video without my huge block of text commentary on something extremely specific. However I did want to rant about how much i LOVE the siblings in the castle episode imo that is pure classic sunny dynamics shining through the fog of late seasons overall crappiness lmao I’d actually categorize that specific sub plot as one of my favorites in the whole show which is insane given that it’s from season 15. I just really really love the Reynolds siblings being fucked up but in a funny way that has almost sweet aspects hehe

I also think this is an opportunity for me to discuss WHAT the notable difference is between the “mean” aspect of sunny here & why it works SO much better than the other mostly uncomfortable humor of later seasons. The joke’s punchline is on Dennis - something that’s desperately been needed in the sibling dynamic & the way it’s narratively framed for a LONG fucking time. As discussed in that amazing & super insightful video, new sunny punches down & it’s frankly cringe more often than not. Old Sunny knew who it’s jokes were on & it was always the person just asking for comeuppance by being awful. I’m not saying Dee isn’t awful because that would defeat the purpose of her character but she does suffer from what I call “the Meg Griffin effect.” It also hurts such characters as Britta Perry from Community, Jerry Gergich from Parks & Rec, & Toby Flenderson from The Office. It becomes more uncomfortable & off putting than funny as an audience member after a while to see everyone being consistently awful to one specific character who is not inherently worse than the others but is always the butt of the joke. It’s a trope I will simply never enjoy, personally.

But the castle plot works because it’s certainly deranged & mean (it’s literally not even always sunny if it’s not deranged & dark & mean you might as well give up & watch a different show if you don’t like your dynamics fucked up) but the joke is not -

A. Dennis is a serial killer ooooh edgy! - tired, contrived, Reddit core, unfunny, defeats the point of sunny which is that these guys are all incompetent losers

B. Haha dee is gonna die! She sucks lol! - that is one way to interpret the joke I guess but it’s so clearly actually that Dennis is in a fucking fever infused hallucination about ghosts & dee ultimately has to take his passed out ass the ER because this stupid bitch didn’t get vaccinated

Like it redeems so much or the awful dynamic they’ve built (which they unfortunately double down on anyway later. *cough* the gang goes bowling *cough*) where it’s like…. Isn’t it hilarious that Dennis constantly abuses his sister guys? Haha what if dee literally killed herself lol? Isn’t this so funny aren’t you having fun?

Classic sunny is mean. I’m not trying to say I dislike mean punchlines. But……. Dennis passing out & almost dying Covid IS mean? Dee having to deal with her brother almost beheading her & listening to his deranged conversations with “the castle” IS mean? It’s just that it’s mean in a FUNNY way. Like Charlie getting rejected by the waitress in the musical episode. Like Dee realizing how disgusting her schemes are in “PTSDee” & feeling sickened by herself. Like Frank getting told to fuck himself in his fat fucking ass in the Christmas episode. Or Mac shitting his pants in “Mac Day.” These are all examples of times I’ve found the meanness of sunny funny because it’s about showing what happens when you’re a horrible person who never learns.

Anyway in conclusion I love the Reynolds siblings & the castle plot is the only good part of new sunny goodbye

this scene where dennis casually refers to dee as his friend stuck with me because i initially thought it was hilarious that he friendzoned his actual twin sister but then i became obsessed because. they’re literally friends 😭😭😭😭 they WILL leave each other’s asses the moment trouble strikes and they’re each other’s #1 target of bullying BUT THEY WILL ALWAYS COME BACK TO EACH OTHER. their bond is thicker than circumstance. they devoured their triplet in the womb. their team-ups are ruthless and destructive to those around them. and on top of it all they’re friends!! they're dance partners. they scheme to exploit welfare & get addicted to crack together. they instinctively reach for each other when they’re scared. “deandra's gonna side with dennis—that's a given.” the chardee macdennis game teams naturally pair dennis & dee. in dennis's ideal universe dee doesn't have the forehead injury she got from falling on the ground. dennis shields her when a food fight erupts during thanksgiving dinner. dee gives dennis a soft smile underwater even though she'd just said "whatever" in response to his "i love you, sis" right before they think they're going to die drowning. do you See. do you Understand. twins by chance, friends by CHOICE 💪🔥 their toxic codependent sibling slay...

thinking about how even though dennis and dee are obviously so awful and cruel to each other most of the time, they always try to protect each other during life’s most scariest moments. like they rlly only had each other growing up due to frank and barbara being shitty parents and they still depend on each other at the end of the day:((

Match 1, Round 7

Dennis and Dee Reynolds (It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia) vs The Folgers Coffee Siblings (commercial)

Propaganda under break

Dennis and Dee Reynolds

They’re just bad people. They are awful to other and worse to everyone else.

The Folgers Coffee Siblings

WHY is there so much weird tension that is ur sibling. You are fa.m.i.ly. DISGUSTING. Straight to jail.

Yvonne: Hewwo! I will be youw suwgeon today! Intewnal bweeding you say? Let’s make ouw fiwst wittle incision.

Reynold: Dowcto, wewre loswing him!

Yvonne: Quick! Hand me the defibwiwatow!

Derrick: Please, turn off my fucking life support.

Besides the art with mini Callisto and Penelope, we go another drawing, but it’s about the Eckhart siblings!

It’s a continuation for this one, that was posted some time ago:

(These are also original artworks posted by Suol-nim on twitter!)

trash twins. oh how I love you trash twins

VADD incorrect quotes

Derrick: can I be frank with you guys?

Reynold: sure but I don't see how changing your name is going to help

Ivonne: can I still be Ivonne?

Reynold: shh let frank speak.

Sibling Showdown Round 3 Bracket C1

The Foxes kids moodboards

Tobias Reynolds

Ashleigh Reynolds

okay its time for me to REALLY get into what is so special about charden to me….

we have seen in the show like numerous times that dennis has a very manipulative grasp on each member of the group EXCEPT for charlie… like in the gang makes paddys great again everyone is hearing insults and insecurities from the doll but charlie just hears him making funny jokes . sure he “sleeps” with the waitress but charlie doesnt even seem to Like being in a relationship with the waitress (which is a whole can of worms that i dont want to get into cuz it makes me mad). all the others in the gang are faced with dennis feeding (and sometimes creating) their insecurities, but for charlie he just has to face that he thinks dennis is hotter than him. i dont know if this is making much sense, its 3 am but this swishes around in my mind a lot. i really feel like charlie is just Too fucking Autistic for Dennis’ usual manipulation to work. on top of that, dennis doesnt really put on as much of a performance in front of charlie because he doesnt feel like he needs to impress him like he does with everyone else. charlie already thinks dennis is cool and he also thinks dennis is annoying and stupid, and having been friends since highschool dennis has learned theres just nothing he can use to try and change that. im sure there was a time where this idea really fucked with dennis and made him mad, but as we see it in the show i think a way that dennis tries to grasp on his need for “control” in his relationship with charlie is just trying to take care of him. obviously he would never call it that, hed never even think of it as that. but dennis has charlies back and understands him a lot more than other people do considering he spent so long analyzing him and building a profile on him to try and find his insecurities. i think dennis just pretends charlie is like a dog he has and thats why he finds himself being nice.

because of that dynamic between them it just makes the idea of a relationship really interesting. i also think it would lead to the most Hijinks which is incredibly important to factor in … imagine a sitcom love triangle where charlie loves the waitress, the waitress loves dennis, and dennis loves charlie. there are so many funny scenarios that could come from that just Open your Mind to Imagination and maybe fanfiction

does the charden nation understand what im trying to say

thinking about tween dee and dennis. middle school, ~9-12 years old; right at that age where you start to realize maybe your parents aren’t right about everything. maybe the reason you keep trying and failing isn’t because you’re actually failing, maybe it’s because the way they treat you makes you feel like a failure.

the twins have always been a little at odds with each other. but when they reach this realization, they make a pact to always have each other’s backs in a real emergency. they’ll still fight and one-up and screw each other over, but if one of them is ever in serious shit, especially with their parents, they can count on the other as backup, as an alibi, whatever they need.

edit: dee / dennis shippers stop reblogging my post. this post is about complicated sibling relationships and is partially inspired by my own relationship with my brother. get off my fucking post.

forever losing my mind to his reaction here in making dennis reynolds a murderer

Judge: How do you plead?

Reynold: *looks at his lawyer aka Derrick*

Derrick: *mouths “not guilty”*

Reynold: Hot milky.

Derrick: *bangs head against the desk* For fuck’s sake, just lock him up.