#Pete also seems to be making some reference but I have no idea what it is

[notevenyou]

This angle is so devastating. The way Pete giggles and smiles the whole time. The way you can hear Patrick’s giggle and stutter after Pete calls him love.

[nolita-fairytale]

make my heart surrender (carmy berzatto x fem!reader) | chapter two: wednesday

pairing: carmen berzatto x fem!reader

warnings: lots of swearing, lots of angst in this one, use of she/her pronouns, allusions to sex, eventual smut, smoking (plz remember smoking is injurious to your health, ppl), avoidance tactics, mentions of al-anon, no use of y/n, second person pov, mentions of death/mikey's suicide

word count: 3.3k

summary: while you get to know the kitchen staff of the bear a little better, you and carmy finally acknowledge the elephant in the room.

a/n: the song 'about you' by the 1975 makes me think of these two and is where the title comes from. also, i totally made up the pete has an airbnb thing but i just feel like he'd be in real estate or something with his little patagonia vests lol. anyways, happy valentine's day babes & enjoy!

read: part one | masterlist

Wednesday 

“Okay, this is some next level shit,” Marcus concludes, in between chews as he tries the brioche donuts you let rise overnight. “It’s got everything I like about the yeast donut but the flavor is so much more pronounced.”

“Carmy said you knew how to throw down but.”

Sydney nods, taking another bite of hers, and you watch as Fak holds the donut up to his ear, letting out a wild, “Wow.”

“Oh fuck,” Sydney practically groans, the salty-sweet flavors of the caramel hitting her taste buds.

Last night, pre-dinner shift, you were introduced to the colorful cast of characters that filled up this kitchen. There was Richie, Carmy’s not-biological-cousin cousin, and Tina, who’d been working in this kitchen since before any of you were born. And Neil the handyman, who somehow actively chose to go back his last name, Fak, which puzzled you. Then there was Ebrahim, who seemed to serve as the meat prep cook and the onsite first-aid guy. And Sydney, the brilliant sous who’d worked in fine dining kitchens till she came here, eager to learn from Carmy. 

It was a far cry from the kitchens you and Carmy used to work in but this kitchen there were similarities… things every kitchen has. Everyone has their own little quirks, preferences, styles…. 

They’re just a little more, well, allowed to be themselves and while overwhelming, you find it refreshing as well.

Fak smells the donut next, followed by another ‘wow,’ and your eyes widen as Fak begins licking just the icing. 

“Wow,” Fak repeats, carrying on his more-than-peculiar behavior. 

“Is he-?” you start, sharing a look with Sydney next. 

…alright? Is this normal? Is he okay?

“Yeah, sometimes we just let him–,” Sydney tries to explain, but she’s not quite sure how to explain Neil Fak to anyone outside of their ecosystem. 

“Okay.”

“Anyways, so this is just a personal preference and perhaps a symptom of too much time spent in fine dining, but I like to fuck around with weird flavors,” you continue to explain, in reference to the salty miso caramel creme pat you’ve filled the donut with. 

“I’m not much for too sweet-of-sweets,” you announce, earning a laugh from Marcus and Sydney. “... which yes, is a very odd thing to say for a pastry chef. So I like to find combinations that cut the sweetness of anything and give the taste buds another experience at the same time.”

“Which isn’t the direction you have to take your pastries, chef.”

Marcus shakes his head, “No, this is… super cool. And I like it a lot.”

“I apologize in advance if I sound like a total loser,” Sydney starts, placing her donut down on the paper towel. “But when I was at the CIA, I actually had your lemongrass creme brulee.

“With the black sesame ice cream?”

“And the sesame crumble.”

“Oh my god!” you exclaim. What a blast from the past. “Yeah, I had to fight hard to get some of those ingredients on the menu. You know. Before everyone thought it was cool to do shit like that.”

Sydney smiles in agreement, going back for more of her donut. 

“So what’re we workin’ on next, chef?” Marcus asks. He has his notebook out and has a few renderings drawn up with ideas he had last night. 

“Well now that we’ve built a great brioche together, I’d love to keep practicing your piping technique and-,” you begin, stopping mid sentence as Carmy joins the three of you. 

“Mornin’, chef! Hey, try this,” Marcus greets, ecstatic about the results of just a day of working with you, as he hands Carmy a donut. 

He takes it, immediately taking a bite. You can practically see the gears turning in his head as he processes and dissects every single flavor note he experiences. You’re all quiet as you wait for his response. 

And honestly, you’re still pretty pissed off about him leaving you hanging the day before. After you and Marcus finished up your prep, you had made your way back to your airbnb – the one he set you up in when he asked you to come here. 

You had tried your best not to feel like a total loser as you hoped he'd reach out with an explanation. No call, no text, no nothing, wondering why he asked you to come in the first place. 

Carmy takes his time savoring his first bite. 

“I almost forgot how good you are at this,” he compliments, his tone neutral as if it’s just a fact. 

“Thank you, chef,” is all you say back to him. You clear your throat, avoiding his gaze, and continuing to go over today’s bake with Marcus. 

You don’t mean to ignore Carmy, but you’re not sure how to act around him either. One minute he’s ignoring you, and the next he’s making you breakfast. And then he’s standing you up, leaving in the hands of his brash cousin? Maybe, you think to yourself, it’s best to keep things professional between the two of you. 

*

You work with Marcus till an hour or so into the lunch shift. You both agreed to start your days early, since you’re only here for a week, so that you could cram as much knowledge in as possible.

Marcus asks if he can take point on flavor pairings for tomorrow’s donuts, and you agree, before parting ways till later this evening. You’ve got to come back later today from one more late night prep. 

You haven’t spoken much to Carmy at all since he came in. As much as you’ve tried to focus all of your attention on working with Marcus, Carmy has a commanding presence as he expedites. He’s got something most chefs don’t – true leadership – and it seems like his skills have only improved since he left New York. You gather up your things, preparing to take the subway home for a midday nap, heading out the back door. 

“Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t know you were… out here,” you gasp. You're surprised to find Carmy sitting behind the shop, sitting a few stacked crates and smoking a cigarette.

Well, that part isn’t surprising – the smoking part. You contemplate taking a seat next to him and asking him for one, but you’re really trying to cut back these days.

“It’s-, you’re good,” he says, taking another drag. He exhales smoke and the eery feeling of deja vu overtakes you.

Instead of leaving, and continuing this game of avoidance, you stand your ground.

“Are you avoiding me?” you finally muster up the courage to ask. You try your best not to sound as angry with him as you are, to no avail, as more words begin tumbling out of your mouth. “Because, if I recall correctly, Carmy, you asked me to come out here.”

Carmy waits a beat, avoiding your gaze, and it only infuriates you further. You watch as he takes another hit off of the cigarette as you continue, your rage boiling up within you.

“I don’t get it!” you exclaim, shaking your head in pure disbelief. You’re trying your best not to shout. “You ask me to come out here, and make it as easy as possible for me to be here by putting me up in this airbnb, you make me breakfast, and then… what? It’s like-, it’s like I don’t exist?” 

He doesn’t answer.

“It’s always been like this with you. One step forward and five steps back.” 

You wait before saying the next thing. 

You’re not trying to be mean, but you’re hurt, and this whole experience has all been so confusing. 

“I guess I was fucking idiot to believe that you-, that you wanted me out here or something.”

“That’s not true,” Carmy denies, finally breaking his silence. Finally looking at you, even if just for a moment. His eyes return to the concrete pavement below him as he says, “I just-.”

You don’t want to scare him away now that he’s finally talking to you, but you also want answers. And there’s an elephant in the room that maybe, if you both just acknowledged it, could go away. He puts his cigarette out on the cement beneath his feat, tossing it away onto the concrete.

You lower your voice before speaking again. 

“Are you… do you still feel weird about what happened between us?” you ask cautiously, eager to fix whatever the hell it is between the two of you. “Because I didn’t think we’d have to talk about it since, well-, I just thought we said we’d just forget it. I mean, I’m not-, I don’t-, I just don’t want things to be this weird between us, Carm." 

In some ways, you don’t blame him. You had seen him at his absolute lowest: the day Mikey died. You wonder if he felt too ashamed of how vulnerable he had been. You wondered if he still felt weird about what had happened next….

You had argued with him that day – practically demanded that he not go in for dinner service that night. You knew he had wanted a distraction, but after the phone call, after learning what Mikey had done, you knew he was wrecked – even if he wouldn’t admit it. That level of denial couldn’t be healthy, but he'd snapped at you and you didn't think there was much you could do about it. It didn’t take long for him to blow up at a line cook mid-shift, and you had quickly ushered him into the walk-in. 

“Hey! You can’t do this shit. Not here. These people look up to you!” you had chastised him. “Listen, I’m going to give you five minutes to fuckin’ lose it in here, and then you’ve gotta pull it together and finish dinner service, okay?” 

Carmy had grabbed at his chest, and you knew he was having one of his breathing episodes. 

“Carmy, are you o-?"

He’d held out his hand, as if to stop you from coming any closer, so reluctantly, you’d left him to it, closing the door behind you. The sound of empty storage containers being thrown across the walk-in filled your ears, reinforcing your exact reasons why you hadn't thought it was a good idea for him to come in that night.

That night, you had made sure he got home okay, and he’d practically begged you to stay with him. It hadn’t been the first time you’d slept in the same bed, and you knew he was at his lowest point, in need of company. It hadn’t been until he started crying – sobbing really – that he finally broke.

“Carm,” you had whispered, unsure if he wanted you to acknowledge it or not. 

“Carmy.” 

He had turned to you so tenderly, practically folding himself into your body. You had never seen him like that as he’d buried his face into your chest, his body shaking against yours. 

“I’m so sorry, Carm. I’m so sorry,” you had whispered, over and over again. You stroked his hair, wanting nothing more than to ease the pain of your best friend, but you knew there wasn’t much you could do. You’d let him cry, continuing to run your fingers along his scalp and through his delicate curls, desperate to give him any kind of comfort your could.

When he finally looked up, all he could think to do was to kiss you. You had been taken aback -- caught off guard as you'd pulled away from him.

“Carmy, stop it. You’re not-, you’re not okay right now,” you had said, pushing him away. 

At that moment, his eyes were swollen, his face red, and he looked like you had just kicked his puppy. He had leaned his head against your chest again with a sigh, letting out another sob, and you’d felt that he’d put you in an impossible position. 

You’d have been lying if you said you hadn’t wanted it – hadn’t thought about it before – but Carmy had never given you any inkling that he was even interested in dating anyone. You had been perfectly fine being ‘just friends’ with him despite the whispers between the kitchen staff when no one thought you were listening. And now? You knew he wouldn’t be in the right headspace. It wouldn't be fair to either of you.

“I’m sorry, Carm,” you’d apologized softly. “I just feel like-, well I’d feel like I'd be taking advantage. I don’t think we should.”

His silence had only made you more nervous, beginning to over explain yourself.

“It’s not that I don’t want to. I-, I do. I just… I don’t want you to regret it because… because you’re upset right now and cause you more-.”

“Please,” was all he'd said, breaking his silence and looking up at you with those sad, swollen blue eyes. He leans in to kiss you once more. 

“Please.”

In between kisses you’d managed to ask, “Are you- are you sure? Is this really what you-?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve wanted this for so long. Just-, please,” he whispered, murmuring your name into the soft kisses he had left on your skin. “Just wanna feel good.”

“Just wanna feel good.”

It was then that you’d realized what absolute fucking idiots the two of you had been for the past few years by ignoring this thing between the two of you. 

The truth was that you were fully, wholly, and stupidly in love with each other. 

“Yes,” you’d repeated, finally giving into him.

Even though it should’ve been a beginning, it felt like an end, but for one night, you’d indulged the both of you. 

“I know,” he says, his voice pulling you back into the present. His eyes are fixated on the pieces of gravel that sat between his feet. Even though you both agreed to it, he hadn’t forgotten about what happened between the two of you and he’s not sure if he should tell you that too. 

But that’s not what’s wrong. It’s not why he’s avoiding you. Or maybe it’s part of it. He hadn’t expected seeing you to be this hard. That it would bring it all back – wanting you – so much so that those incredibly big feelings had sent him running to a meeting. 

He just needed a place to be unapologetically fucked up. 

He’s not sure what he thought would happen – like you’d just fall into the same old rhythm of your friendship without a care in the world. 

He’d called Sydney yesterday and he could barely breathe. Sydney had told him to take the night off – that it wouldn’t help to come back to the kitchen that night – and that he had a whole week of you to prepare for. To figure this shit out. 

“I um,” he starts. He’s not sure why it’s so hard to get these words out; why it feels so difficult to tell you. “I’ve kinda been going to these al-anon meetings…ever since, well you know… since I got home.”

“Oh.”

Well that wasn’t what you were expecting him to say. You’re not sure what you were expecting him to say. That he hates you? That he couldn’t stand being in the same kitchen with you and yesterday brought it all back? That it was a mistake reaching out to you?

You sit down on the curb, next to Carmy, leaving plenty of space between the two of you. 

“My sister nagged me to go. Thought it was bullshit but… I don’t know why I kept going back. I still go three times a week.” 

You stare at the ground, not sure what to say next. All that comes out is:

“Well I feel like an asshole.”

He scoffs, moreso to himself, “No, you’re not. I-, I’m sorry. I should’ve-.”

You can tell he’s frustrated as he huffs, “I don’t know why this is so hard for me to tell you.”

You sigh, scooting a hair closer to your old friend. 

“I don’t know either, Carm. I-, we used to tell each other everything.”

“I know.” 

You catch his gaze, your eyes meeting with his, and it feels like you can’t breathe for a moment. 

“I should’ve called. Should’ve kept in touch. Guess I just feel like-, I don’t know,” Carmy admits, regretfully. “I know I’ve been….”

“Uh huh. You’ve been….” you trail off. 

“But I do. Want you here.”

And that’s the problem, he thinks to himself.

“I know I’ve been a dick. I shouldn't have-.”

You take a breath, processing all of it. 

“Can we… not have this conversation again?” you ask, taking a lighter tone this time. “I mean, we sorta had a very similar conversation to this yesterday… and now today… like… are you gonna stop being such a fuckin’ weirdo or what?”

He lets out a small laugh, “Yeah. Yeah I-, I’m gonna stop, well, you know.”

You chuckle in response, continuing to tease him, “Good because… you know usually when your friend comes to town you hang out a little, catch up, say hey hello how are you? I mean, maybe I’m totally out of pocket for this, but sometimes, you know… they even hug. Yeah, Carm, like, normal people.”

“Oh fuck you,” he mutters, jokingly. 

It’s quiet between the two of you, but for the first time in the last 48 hours, it's not weird. It’s a familiar quiet intimacy – something that reminds you of the before times. 

Before Mikey died.

Before you hooked up. 

“Hey, Carm?”

“Yeah?”

“I want to be here too,” you reassure in response to what he said earlier, bumping your shoulder up against his, playfully, earning the slightest smile from him. 

“How’s the place?”

“Surprisingly, very nice,” you answer, a mischievous tone in your voice like you know it’s going to start something. 

“What? You think I’d put you up in a shit place?” Carmy asks, feigning offense. 

“I’ve been in your New York apartment, Berzatto. Which is mostly why we spent most of our days off at mine,” you continue. 

He laughs dryly in response. 

“My brother-in-law manages a few airbnbs so… it’s the least I could do for… you know… you comin’ out here,” he explains. 

“Well thanks. It’s-, it’s great.” 

*

“I gotta get out of here early, and pick up the kid. Have a goodnight, sweetheart,” Richie says to you, about to head out of the restaurant. 

“Richie, what the fuck did I fuckin’ tell you about saying shit like that!” Carmen shouts back at his cousin, with an eye roll. 

“So sorry,” Richie says sarcastically, emphasizing your name after. “Gotta woke-ify everything in front of Carmen. Just a little baby.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Carmy yells across the kitchen, moving quickly through the closing shift chores. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Richie brushes off Carmy’s comment with an eye roll. 

“See you fucks tomorrow.”

“This look good, chef?” Marcus asks you, motioning for you to come over and take a look at the mixer. 

You reach down into the mixer, checking the dough for texture. 

“Yeah, looks good. Go ahead and grab a few sheet pans so we can shape these and we’ll cover ‘em so they can proof overnight,” you order, Marcus nodding in response. 

“Thank you, chef.” 

As Marcus disappears, in search of a few sheet pans, Carmy’s wiping down one of the prep stations. 

“Hey, you,” you say, a smile on your face as soon as you see him. 

After your talk this afternoon, things feel lighter. He feels lighter. 

“Hey,” he says, finishing up with his cleaning duty before making his way over to you. Carmy checks to see that Marcus hasn’t come back yet, and you notice.

“Great dinner service, huh?” you congratulate. 

“We’re gettin’ there,” he replies. “Smoothest it’s been so far. Since the reopen.”

Ah yes. The reopen. You’re still waiting to hear that story. 

“I was thinkin’, maybe we could do that catch up thing? Over a drink?” Carmy proposes, changing the subject, and you think to yourself that it’s the most confident you’ve ever seen him. 

“I-,” you start, as Marcus makes his way back towards the pastry area. “We’ve got one more late night prep tonight. Maybe tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” he smiles, spotting Marcus as well. “Tomorrow’s good.” 

“Goodnight, Carmy.”

“Goodnight.”

read: part three

[ratnix]

As a fan of both the CBS and the BBC version, I'd like to spend a moment and appreciate both of them and talk about some things that I like, enjoy and appreciate about each version and some things that I think one version does better than the other without trying to bring the other down💚

- One thing I appreciate about the BBC version is the non-romantic relationship between the ghosts. As an aroace, it always bugged me how the CBS ghosts fell in love so quickly and it just seemed...forced. Isaac and Nigel have to be the only CBS couple that actually feels like a couple while the rest are just...there. Thor and Flower, sure, maybe I can understand this one too but Trevor and Hetty and Pete and Alberta (not a couple but Pete has a crush on her) are just dumb and pointless. On the other hand, you can feel the platonical relationship between the BBC ghosts -not saying that the CBS ghosts aren't good friends, but the BBC ghosts feel like they've spent an eternity with one another. The BBC ghosts work better as a group while the CBS ghosts work better as individuals

- I really like Jay's relationship with the ghosts. Where Mike is "oh ghosts", Jay is "oh ghosts☺️". Calling them "invisible friends", asking if Hetty's okay after she left his body, proposing that Sam should help Thor with his nightmares. He's literally Pete's bff! Wanting to play D&D with him, both of them making references to things they both enjoy. I mean, Jay's first instinct when he thought he could see ghosts was to hug Pete

- I actually don't have an issue with the CBS version revealing the ghosts' death soon. I mean, it's not even soon. It made sense that Flower would be the first ghost in the first minutes to reveal her death because she's Flower. Even in the BBC version, from the first episodes we can get an idea on how Julian died because of the no pants and and how Fanny died from screaming when falling from the window. Season 3 hasn't come out and we still don't know how Hetty or Sass died -we know that Sass died the day he was going to tell his first story but we don't know how. As for Hetty, I'm thinking it might have to do with overdose given the amount of drugs she took that she didn't know we're harming her. The mystery aspect of their deaths in the UK version ties with the more "haunting" atmosphere of the show whereas the US one is "sunnier", which isn't a bad thing at all! Alberta's death was a mystery and the reveal with Hetty knowing the truth all along was gasp worthy

- It bugs me when people say that the US version is a copy of the UK one because, a)that's... that's what an adaptation is. The Office is an adaptation of the UK office but no one really cares? B) Aside from Pat/Pete's storyline, I can't see any other similar subplots other than their "main" aspect. Hetty and Fanny are the conservative ladies of the house, Sass and Thomas are the artists, Flower and Kitty have bubbly personalities, Robin and Thor are the oldest ghosts who speak broken English. Sure, Trevor and Julian both died without their pants on but both are pretty distinct from each other. Isaac and the Captain are the closeted soldiers but both of their storylines take different paths. All of the characters are different, with different personalities, interests etc. If the US version had carbon copy characters of the UK one, people would, justifiably, call it a copy but even now where the characters are very different they're still calling it one. They compliment and parallel each other without being the same

- The BBC version follows a more "creepy" tone, if that's the correct way of saying it, with a haunted atmosphere and that's cool. The CBS version follows a more sitcom-y tone with a more cheering atmosphere and that's also cool! No need saying one's superior than the other

- I think Crash was kinda pointless? They wanted to make a Humphrey but it didn't really work. He's not even a ghost that's there, unlike Humphrey who had a role and contributed to the story

Feel free to add your own opinions 💚

[an-unknown-writers-world]

Just Need The Right Partner

Summary: Reader is a terrible pool player. Jake "Hangman" Seresin teaches them they just need the right partner. (I’m terrible at these)

Warnings: Cheesy, terrible writing, (I have no idea what this turned into, it’s not what I planned to write)

Pairing: Jake “Hangman” Seresin x Reader (Only one use of Y/N)

Characters: Jake “Hangman” Seresin, Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, Javy “Coyote” Machado, Natasha “Phoenix” Trace, Robert “Bob” Floyd. Mentions of Penny Benjamin, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell,

Word Count: 3,055 (Sorry? Not sorry)

A/N: This started off as one thing and sort of took off into its own thing. Not the best thing I’ve ever written, but clearly it wanted to be written. Also know very little about pool, so if these details are wrong – I would love to know!

It was your night off, but you still found yourself hanging out at The Hard Deck. You'd worked for your aunt Penny for almost two years and frequently spent your off time at the bar. It felt like home even though you were twelve hundred miles away from your actual home.

A week ago, a new round of aviators returned to Top Gun for some special assignment. They were even more competitive than you were used to from the other pilots, and almost all seemed to know each other personally. When you asked Penny about it, she said they were all previous graduates, most of them at the top of their respective classes. At least, that's what Pete had told her. You still weren't sure what you were supposed to call that guy – he said it was okay to call him Pete, but everyone in the bar referred to him by his call sign.

Dagger squad had been in every night since they arrived at the base. You had warmed up to a few of them. Phoenix was all-around amazing, Coyote made you laugh, and Bob was the sweetest aviator you had met since you started. Rooster was well-rounded – funny, kind, and caring; he reminded you much of your older brother, except your brother could not play the piano. Then there was the gorgeous blonde green-eyed aviator that seemed to be the cockiest of all- Hangman. His southern drawl and kilowatt smile could make you weak in the knees if you let it.

Most of the squad was in The Hard Deck tonight, except for Coyote and Hangman. You'd be lying if you said that you didn't notice, but you didn't let their absence stop you from enjoying your night off with the squad. It was Bob's shot in the game of pool you were playing; it was Phoenix and Bob against you and Rooster. You weren't losing terribly, but that was only thanks to Rooster's skill set.

Penny waved at you from the bar, catching your attention. "Be right back," You excused yourself, handing the pool cue to Rooster.

"A bit preemptive," She smiled, pushing a tray of alcohol toward you. "I'm happy to see you enjoying yourself. It does my momma heart some good. You work hard." Penny was a family friend; you had always known her as 'Aunt Penny' growing up, so when your mom called her and said you needed a fresh start, she offered you a job and a place to stay. She wasn't quite old enough to be your mom but was there any time you needed her.

"Thank you," You smiled back at her, "They are pretty great." You looked back over your shoulder at them. Rooster held the pool cue up in your direction with a smile.

"Go," Penny said, "take the tray with you."

You picked it up and carefully carried it through the crowded bar before setting it on the table next to where you were playing.

"We always have to wait in line," Bob almost whined.

"Perks," You shrugged with a smile before handing him a full beer.

Rooster exchanged the pool cue in his hand for the beer you were giving him. "Thanks," He smiled down at you.

"This is my preemptive request for forgiveness when we inevitably lose this game." You laughed.

You walked past him and leaned against the table, examining your shot options; none of them looked easy. The bell above the door rang in the background, alerting the bar to new patrons. Walking around the table, you tried to get a different angle for a shot you thought you might be able to make.

The change didn't make a difference, so without any more delay, you bent over the table and took the shot. When the white cue ball made an impact, it barely budged the solid-colored ball. Your head hung in disappointment as you turned around.

"Hey, it's okay." Rooster squeezed your shoulder, trying to cheer you up. "You'll get it next time."

Rolling your eyes, you laughed, "I think I'm running out of next time."

"Well, well, what is going on here?" It was a deep smooth southern drawl coming from behind you. You bit your lips together to prevent a smile from creeping onto your face.

"Bagman," Phoenix replied bitterly. Hangman rolled his eyes at her remark. "Hey, Coyote." She sounded more pleasant when she greeted his cohort.

You had turned around, looking at him now, surprised to see he was also in civilian clothing; the whole team was tonight. His dark blue T-shirt clung tightly to his chest and biceps, accentuating his muscles.

"Hello, beautiful," He winked at you.

"Hey," You smiled back at him.

"Want our table?" Omaha asked Hangman. "We're heading out for the night."

"Coyote, wanna play?" He asked.

"I might finally win, so sure," Coyote smirked.

"We will hold it for you while you go to the bar," Fritz spoke.

With the distraction of Hangman and Coyote gone, your game resumed. Phoenix and Rooster had both lined up and shot perfectly. Pool was a game you clearly did not have the skill set for. Bob was lining up his shot when they returned to their table.

"I have got an idea," Hangman spoke, coming back to stand next to the tables.

"This outta be great," Rooster rolled his eyes.

"We'll play the losing team." He spoke again.

"Oh no," You spoke up, "After this, I am definitely done. You've already endured enough losses on my behalf." You finished looking at Rooster.

He smiled at you, opening his mouth to speak.

"Partner switch," Coyote spoke in the background, cutting off Rooster.

"I'm sure I can turn your luck around," Hangman looked at you. "You just need the right partner, and I can promise you that isn't Rooster."

He was arrogant, that's for sure. But you had seen him play pool far too many times now. He was damn good at it.

"Um," You hesitated, wanting to take him up on his offer, purely to spend time with him, but you didn't want to hurt Rooster. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"No, he's right," Rooster spoke, staring down Hangman. "let's do it."

"Well, why don't you wait and see how bad I am before you even agree to this." You spoke.

"It won't make me want you any less," Hangman smirked.

"It's your shot." Bob broke into the conversation.

"Great," You groaned.

You picked up your glass, still half full, and downed the liquor before turning to the table. You could feel everyone's eyes on you as you stared down the table, looking for a shot. There were fewer balls this time, making it easier to see the possibilities. You wanted the attention to end, so you lined up the easiest shot you could find. It was worse than your last shot. The cue ball barely tapped its intended target.

"See," You turned, looking at Hangman, "Bad doesn't begin to cover it."

He smirked, a twinkle of mischief in his emerald-green eyes, "No," He stepped closer to you, reached out, and tucked a stray strand of hair behind your ear, "I can work with that."

Your cheeks flushed, and you couldn't hide the gasp that escaped your lips. Your head was getting foggy. There should be no way one man could have that kind of effect on you. But here you were, weak in the knees and stomach in knots.

"I think I need another drink." Rooster grumbled before walking away.

"I'll be over here," Hangman stepped backward, still looking at you, "waiting for you."

You turned your back to him, trying to clear your mind, his words said one thing, but his eyes and body language made them seem like they meant something else. Phoenix wore a look of disappointment on her face. You could only assume it was due to the exchange she had just watched.

Standing there silently, you watched absentmindedly while the game finished playing out. Groaning each time your turn came. You could feel Hangman's eyes roam over you every time. It seemed like once the initial trash-talking between the group had passed, everyone settled down, and the laughter resumed. When Bob sunk the final ball to end the game, you felt a combination of relief and nervousness.

Before the other game could start, you returned to the bar to get another drink. You'd never been a big believer in liquid courage, but if there was any time to start believing in it, that would be right now. You exchanged a quick conversation with Penny before returning to the pool table. Rooster and Coyote were racking the balls while Hangman leaned against a stool watching over them.

"Alright, Hangman. I hope you are prepared to lose what I can only assume is a perfect winning streak." You said, coming to lean on the table next to his stool.

"Stop," He grinned, turning to face you, "Please, call me Jake. I've lost before, only on rare occasions involving illness or fatigue."

You rolled your eyes, smiling back at him. "Well, Jake," You emphasized his name, "I hope you'll forgive me when you lose."

"You want to break?" Coyote turned to ask you.

"Uh, that's an awful idea," You turned to look up at your partner, "Jake, please don't make me."

He laughed; it was a beautiful sound, "I'll never make you do anything you don't want to." He moved off the stool and headed towards the table.

And just like that, the game was on. True to his word, Jake never seemed to get upset with your awful skills. Occasionally he would help you with your shot by standing next to you and pointing easy ones out or changing your grip on the pool cue. Each time he came to your aide, he seemed to get closer, and his hand would linger a little longer. With his help, you did hit a few balls, they didn't go into a pocket, but they did at least move an inch or two.

The game seemed to fly by compared to the previous rounds. Before you knew it, only a few balls were left on the table, and it was your turn.

"You just need a little more oomph in your shot, that's all," Jake spoke, coming to stand next to you. "Here, let me show you," His hand slid down your back sending shivers up your spine. "Here," his voice was soft as he leaned over you, his hand laying on top of yours as you gripped the cue.

You couldn't focus on a single thing he was explaining, distracted by the heat radiating from him, engulfing every inch of you he touched. Your body reacted to his instructions, and you watched as the ball sank into the pocket. The clatter was enough to snap you back into the moment, turning to look at him like a giddy schoolgirl. When you turned to look at him, he didn't step back; you found yourself chest to chest with him, your breath hitched in your throat as you smiled up at him.

You could hear chatter between Rooster, Coyote, and the rest of the squad in the background. But it all sounded like a dull rumble as you looked into Hangman's eyes.

"See," He stated, grinning down at you. "You just needed the right partner."  

"You probably could have done that earlier in the game," You countered, trying to hide the effect he had on you.

"Yes, but then you couldn't say that you sunk the winning ball." He beamed with pride.

"We won?"

He nodded in response, taking the pool cue from your hand and laying it across the table behind you.

You didn't know a single pool rule other than hitting the ball in the hole. You always counted on someone to tell you if you were aiming for a stripe or solid color. You turned your head to look at your opponents. Rooster already had his back to you and was focused on talking to the rest of the group.

"We're playing Phoenix and Bob," Coyote said, pulling your attention back to the room. "Table's yours."

You turned back to the aviator still pressed against you. The longer you looked into his emerald green eyes, the foggier your head got. "I think I need some air." You spoke softly, unable to catch your breath.

Jake took half a step back, letting you pass him. His hand reached out to grab your own, interlacing his fingers with yours; he led you towards the back deck. You didn't object or pull away, just let him lead the way. If you were honest with yourself, you would have followed him anywhere he led. If you were more coherent, you would have noticed the gaze of his entire squad and your aunt, Penny, following your motions.

There wasn't a word exchanged between you until you passed the deck and were well into the sand, "where are we going?" You giggled.

He chuckled, "away from the noise. Here is good."

You half expected him to drop your hand; instead, you sat down on the sand. The soft breeze tousling your hair and the smell of salt in the air.

The whole night had taken a turn you weren't anticipating. Sure, Jake had been flirting with you since the night he showed up at the Hard Deck, but you assumed he was like that with all the girls. You hadn't witnessed him flirting with other girls, but surely, he was? Your head was swimming in thoughts. There was no space between you; if you were sitting any closer, you would have been sitting on his lap. You leaned your head onto his shoulder; you knew you should say something but didn't know what.

"Jake," You spoke his name softly.

"Yeah, doll?"

You smiled at the term of endearment, "I'm a babbler; if you don't say something soon, it's going to happen."

He chuckled, "I don't think I'd mind that one bit." He picked your intertwined hands up and rested them on his thigh, his thumb rubbing circles against the back of your hand. "I've never met a woman like you. All the places I've been, no one has captivated me like you."

"I'm not sure how to take that."

"It's a good thing, I promise." He paused for a moment; you weren't sure if it was for dramatic effect or if he was thinking of what to say next. "You're beautiful and intelligent, sarcastic, and witty enough to not only put up with me but do it right back."

You laughed, realizing he probably hadn't met many people, especially women, that could hold their own against him. Most were probably too captivated by his charm and good looks. Though, Phoenix did a pretty good job.

You weren't going to tell him that it didn't matter what came out of your mouth, snarky, witty, or otherwise; you were still weak in the knees every time he spoke.

"I'm sure you say that to all the girls, Hangman." You spoke, trying not to inflate his ego.

"I wish I could say that I did. But you are the most exquisite person I've ever interacted with."

You were thankful the only light around you was from the moon. It was dim enough that he most likely would not be able to see that your cheeks were burning from the blush.

"Did you just call me exquisite?"

He laughed, "yeah, I guess I did." He picked up your intertwined hands and gently kissed your knuckles. "I mean it, though."

You pulled your head back to look at him; while the lighting was dim, you could see the sincerity in his expression. The cocky charade had fallen, leaving a vulnerable Jacob Seresin in the pale moonlight. A beautiful sight that you were confident not many people had been blessed enough to see.

Before you could lose your gumption leaned up, pressing your lips to his. It was a chaste but sweet kiss and all the invitation he needed. He had a hold of your hips in one fluid motion, and you were straddling him on the beach. Jake's hands lingered on your hips under the hem of your shirt, the heat from his skin burning against your waist. Your fingers threaded through his short hair, grounding you through the fury of passionate kissing.

You were breathless when the kiss finally broke; you buried your face into the crook of his neck, trying to catch your breath.

"That's probably not what you had in mind when you said you needed air." Jake joked.

You kissed his neck, "the opposite, actually." You pulled back to look at him. "I expected to come out here alone. Clear my head, listen to the waves, maybe actually catch my breath." You chuckled.

"I mean, I can go inside." He raised an eyebrow at you, unable to hide the smirk on his face. He kissed the pulse point on your neck before kissing your jaw, "but only if that's really what you want."

"Don't you dare."

He kissed you again.

"Hangman," You heard Coyote yelling.

"Y/N" Rooster yelled. "We want a rematch."

You pulled back to look at Jake, hesitant to leave this setting. You were too happy at that moment, afraid you'd never experience it again.

"I promised I wouldn't make you do anything you didn't want to," Jake spoke softly, rubbing his hand soothingly across your back. "I'm happy to ignore them if that's what you want."

Shaking your head, "We should go." You agreed reluctantly, climbing off his lap.

"Let me help you," He stood up, reaching out his hands.

You took them graciously.

"You know they're going to be a nightmare to deal with now, right?" Jake spoke, intertwining your hands again.

"Natasha is going to hate me." You muttered.

"Not a chance; Phoenix loves you. We all do."

You looked up at him, smiling, holding on to his forearm with your other hand, stabilizing yourself as you made it to the deck. "Are you ready for this again, partner?"

He grinned, "I was born ready. You are, too, now that you have the right partner." He bent down and kissed you one last time before re-entering the bar.

  A/N: If you’ve made it this far - thank you so so so much for reading! My Masterlist can be found here. All work is also available on AO3

[starlithumanity]

So Our Flag Means Death often functions as a metaphor where piracy represents the film industry. Ed is the burnt-out superstar actor/director, Stede is the wealthy but fumbling newcomer full of creative ideas, and Izzy is the power-hungry manager who fails to find success on his own. The crew represents the various support people in filmmaking, while the colonial powers represent the capitalistic system that does so much damage in so many parts of the modern world.

The traumatic nature of fame is explored in-depth throughout the show, including commentary on how people coming into places like Hollywood have often been inspired by family-related trauma, are running from more "typical" lives that they couldn't have survived, and continue reliving their past traumas in their current situations. There's a strong indication that Ed has had to mask his true self to fit the image expected of him as a celebrity. The inclusion of queerness/neurodivergence, I think, both reflects how many "atypical" people work in the arts and indicates how Stede's methods are more welcoming.

What I find interesting is how this topic is addressed with a further layer of metaphor through the curse of the red suit in season two episode five. The suit represents fame and the trauma that surrounds it, specifically following Ed's violent breakdown. The crew has seen the repurcussions of working in this industry too long firsthand now, and they are having A Response to it.

(GIF Source: skulandcrossbones)

Stede still wants to be the celebrity. He's waltzing around in that suit with massive queer flamboyance, and he's loving it. He doesn't think the trauma is going to be a problem for him. Izzy doesn't seem to believe the trauma should put people off of working to become successful/famous in this industry, but he also recognizes that things need to change for the crew to keep functioning.

Jim was the character who seemed the most clearsighted about what was happening during Ed's breakdown, probably because they've had similar experiences with trauma and masking and its mental health impacts thanks to Nana pushing them to "succeed", and they are also the first one to hear about and react to the cursed suit. Archie and Oluwande side with Jim. Frenchie, Roach, and Wee John take longer to recognize the problem, but they do get there.

Meanwhile, Fang, Ed, Lucius, and Pete are having more direct reckonings with fame-triggered trauma. Fang and Ed discuss Fang's choice to move on from both their actions, and Lucius has already expressed that "some people are just broken," which I think may be a reference to himself now too. They cope through sitting quietly with their feelings, connecting and celebrating with loved ones, making different kinds of art, and seeking a bit of retributive justice. (Though that last one is somewhat satisfying, it doesn't fix the trauma or the relationships.)

Stede finally comes around to the idea that he needs to let go of the suit for the crew's sake, which is foreshadowing for this season! He does keep a more muted version of the outfit, though: his delightful red-and-black ruffly shirt. Ed later compliments that shirt (he thinks Stede wears his own work/fame-seeking well 🥺), leading to their romantic moment on deck. So maybe the culture Stede is building for his metaphorical filmmaking work is okay, since it differs from the trauma-steeped fame full of abuse that Ed has been through as Blackbeard.

Now, I know the show does generally present the curse of the suit as a silly concept--except. Except magical things do happen on this show, like with Buttons. Except the Spaniards who first had the suit did look like they'd been through hell. Except demonic, haunting whispers do accompany the suit on its first and last appearances. I think the writers thus indicate that the curse (Hollywood fame being traumatic in our modern culture) is real--maybe only for people who aren't Stede, or maybe for everyone. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Who can say? Stede didn't stick with the typical way of doing things long enough to find out.

[cboffshore]

hi everyone. I come bearing IICT(OSC) insider knowledge, hints, and memes.

bc spoilers: everything else is under the cut. Do not proceed before you read the fic. Unless you like having twists untwisted in advance. That's on you.

(one day I wanna try my hand at redrawing/tracing this Gayle meme to be Nya, but that's neither here nor there.)

If I ever do any super, super in-depth analysis of this work, it's not happening today, as I'm fighting a weather migraine and longform ideas are NOT my friends. However, I did want to make a few fun bonus notes. These aren't bulleted bc mobile browser formatting.

The weapon in the escape scene was only originally supposed to be a rusty pipe (loosely inspired by a piece of Fall Out Boy promo art used on "What a Time To Be Alive", and yes I KNOW Pete has a baseball bat. I said LOOSELY.) I waffled on the chain element for a LONG time. However, on Halloween, Han doodled this for Trick or Treat asks, and that was enough to make me commit to the idea. @spinjitsuburst: I have no idea if you've read this fic or not, but I never did properly tell you how helpful that was. (And none of that is a spoiler if you do go read it, just turn back now and you'll be safe.)

The Incense Gambit is a real chess strategy; however, we don't call it that. The actual move set is called the Bongcloud Attack, which I learned about when I was doing chess research for this fic. I started out by trying to learn chess online, and at some point, I decided it would be fun to have Nya win with a recognizably stupid move set. Knowing very little about chess at that point (having lost to most of the bots and people I played), I Googled a list of joke chess openers and picked the one that made me laugh the hardest. The Mighty Donut was in second place, but that requires both players to cooperate, so that wouldn't have worked. Not wanting to write "what, you've never heard of the Bongcloud Attack?" as a dialogue line, I switched the name to Incense Gambit both as a reference to smoke and for the fact that "incense" also means "to anger." I should also disclose that one of my few chess wins happened when I USED the Bongcloud, which... that's not normal.

In my first outline, the REAL Landon was originally supposed to set off the escape sequence. Stopping Nya was supposed to be pure luck/desperation on his part, followed by an encounter with Nadakhan where I would've been able to cram in a small analysis of how he treats his crew members. It didn't work out and I never wrote it, but there were secret passageways involved, and it could've been fun if I'd gotten it to work. I still think that bringing the shapeshifting back was the wiser choice, though.

I've already gotten two separate comments that, to different degrees, claim this would have worked as a plausible canon installment. Which is good! The whole point of this is to fill the gaps in her experience, so hearing that this seems believable is always lovely.

If you reread c5, take note of who resets the board each time. Without realizing it, I assigned that duty to whoever feels more strongly that they are controlling the situation at that point.

The wine vs tea thing I hinted at in a few past posts: both beverages are written as symbols of how much Nadakhan is present in a given scene. Wine only appears if he's directly visible - things like the chess sequence and in the dream, where I use wine to describe the air. Tea, however, only appears if Nya can't see him, but he's still influencing the events. These include his gloves smelling like black tea when Nya is blindfolded, the presence of tea on the meal tray, and - of course - the tea she uses as a weapon in the escape sequence.

Speaking of the escape sequence, I made this meme VERY early on and I still find it stupid funny:

[oliveroctavius]

Hi, it's me again!

Do you know if there's a playlist somewhere of what music the Coffee Gang would listen to?

I feel like maybe a few artists were mentioned in the comics from what I've read so far, but I wonder if you had an inkling/headcanon/any idea what the characters would enjoy.

... Now that I'm thinking about it, the weird temporality of comics might make this an issue...

Oh this is a super fun question which I have no ready-made answer for. (If anyone reading this does have a playlist made or opinions on the subject, share 'em in the notes!)

Going by the comics timeline, I'd start with late 60s/early 70s rock and disco hits. MJ seems the most tuned into new music by way of youth culture and dance venues. Stuff by the Beatles, Beach Boys, Monkees, the Foundations, the whole top 40s list. (ASM #45/130)

Emphasis on female solo acts, maybe: MJ pulls an Aretha Franklin album from Peter & Harry's shelf, and I bet she likes Nancy Sinatra. Wherever she goes, the first thing she does is often to turn on some tunes. For the most part, she's the group tastemaker.

As for Peter, I'm guessing this ask was prompted by ASM 136:

It's a running joke that being Spidey keeps him a decade behind [current date] pop culturally. Ella Fitzgerald's career dates back to the 30s; I like to think that most of Peter's music taste + collection is inherited from Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Though humorously cynical nerd Pete might've had time to latch onto Tom Lehrer pre spider-bite, the way some modern high schoolers have a Weird Al phase.

The Osborn-Parker record collection is probably mostly Harry's, covering similar cultural territory to MJ's tastes. Maybe there's a never-opened Wagner opera in there courtesy of Norman. The girl on the cover of Hip Hug-Her always reminds me of Gwen, but I have no idea where her music taste might go. Movie soundtracks, maybe?

ASM 151 has notes on JJJ's music collection, of all people: Guy Lombardo, good lord. (And Mantovani is an orchestra conductor.)

Flash is a bit mysterious because his background took a while to fill in. In the far future of ASM 574, he listens to Tom Waits on Peter's recommendation. I was kind of nursing the headcanon that his dad kept Johnny Cash around the house and referred it to the only music for real men left in the world but rarely played any of it, until Flash got around to listening on his own and to his surprise really emotionally connected with it and reclaimed it into his own music taste...

In any case, there's a bit of music still left once Gwen leaves the scene. Kung Fu Fighting is PeterMJ's song, for one.

One of the last big nights out of the classic era is to the disco in SSM 24! This delightfully camp villainous music group is unfortunately not available on any music platforms, but KC and the Sunshine Band, the Bee Gees, the Jacksons and the Trammps certainly are.

And finally, based on this random panel whose issue I've forgotten, I like to think MJ got everyone into new wave at some point. The B-52s, Talking Heads and the Waitresses have reminded me of her. I also think her modeling connections would introduce her to the NYC weird art scene of that era, like Klaus Nomi, Grace Jones, and Laurie Anderson. By that time it would mostly be the Watson-Parker music taste, though.

Well, that's a whole lot of links to individual songs and not a coherent playlist at all, but I wanted to cover as many different bands/eras/ideas as I could work in. I'm sure I missed some though.

[earlgreytea68]

I saw your post of the interview where Pete says 'if Flu Game was going to be the first single you were going to have to B.A. Baracus me'. And bear with me I'm going to piece some things together here. It jumped out at me because Flu Game jumps out as a pre-hiatusy song both in sound and lyrically, and kind of an odd ball on the record. AND MOST NOTABLY, is one of the few songs from SMFS that has NOT been debuted live (the other two being the title track and so good right now).

So riddle me this, is there something about this song that is too personal for Pete or a reason he seems to not like it? Between them not playing it, Pete saying he'd have to be unconscious for it to be a single, and the way it sticks out of the tracklist (at least to me) makes me think there's maybe something there that we haven't picked up on yet.

It's interesting, because you're right that it's got hiatus-y lyrics. It doesn't seem like it should be the most vulnerable song on the album -- that seems like it should be Kintsugi Kid, honestly, but Pete seems to be really fond of Kintsugi Kid, whereas, as you say, he doesn't seem to care that much for Flu Game and they've avoided it live for some reason.

Flu Game does, however, seem to be on that Patrick is particularly fond of. I think a few times he's made comments about it being the possible first single (as in the interview you reference) and also the song he wrote that made him think he could build an album around it (and then the album developed further, I think he said) and I think Pete has included Flu Game as being one of "Patrick's songs," although less so than What a Time to Be Alive. But it seems like Patrick is much fonder of Flu Game than Pete is.

It honestly makes me wonder if the lyrics legit came from hiatus era. We know Patrick seems to keep everything and has no hesitation about digging back through their history to get stuff. After all, it seems like some of the stuff on Hold Me Like a Grudge was definitely older lyrics. It would make sense to me that Pete would be a little touchier about hiatus-era lyrics he wrote than current lyrics looking back on bad times (which Kintsugi Kid arguably is).

The title is really interesting, too, because "Flu Game" is a reference to a Michael Jordan game that when he played through severe illness and nearly passed out but in the end they won the game (which was a pivotal finals game). (Pete would have been an 18-year-old Chicagoan when that game happened, I bet he remembers it vividly.) The flu game is a grind for Jordan (grind in the sunshine, grind in the rain...) but it's also a moment of triumph. Naming the song after a time that was an exhausting slog that ended in triumph seems apt for a hiatus-y song: nothing about the lyrics suggests anything hopeful, no imminent reunion on the horizon, as befits hiatus-era lyrics, but now they know it ends in triumph, so Flu Game is an apt title for a song that seems so stitched up to the hiatus.

Also, I don't know anything about music theory, really. They talk about music in ways that are just absolutely beyond me. Like, I know Patrick said at one point that he was nervous about "Saturday" because it's a "weird" song for the scene they were in because the pre-chorus has a quick sliver of hip-hop beat and he goes up into his falsetto at points and both things were unusual things to do and he was nervous about it and Pete supported it or whatever. I get the gist of the story but "Saturday" doesn't sound, like, "unique" to me, maybe because Patrick Stump wrote it and writes all their songs but I don't listen to TTTYG and think, "Whoa, this Saturday song is so super-different!" Because I don't know enough about music. In the same way, Pete said somewhere about Flu Game that "only Patrick Stump thinks that song is a pop song," and I have no idea why he would say that, it just sounds like any other song to me, but it made me think, like, Patrick really does love the song and Pete doesn't get it, for whatever reason, but he loves Patrick obviously, and obviously he made that comment very fondly, but it really does seem like Pete's just not big on Flu Game ::shrug::

[x-on-the-calendar-business]

ryan ross iceberg (tier 7)

tier 1, tier 2, tier 3, tier 4, tier 5, tier 6, tier 8

deep waters:

light up skechers fancam:

this is a fancam made by twitter user fleetwood_wac. the background song is skechers by dripreport, and i think it was a tiktok song? (i don’t have tiktok) in 2020/2021, it became famous on ryan ross stan twitter. i don’t think the original tweet is still up, but aryn has it in this reply.

side note, if you weren’t on ryan ross stan twitter in 2020, you were sorely missing out.

go figure. to late honey:

this is a quote from one of ryan’s livejournal posts from july 3, 2005. it’s SO iconic.

zrosswald:

this refers to ryan/z berg/alex greenwald. i think it’s meant to refer more to their friendship; the golden trio, if you will. however, i’m sure there are people who genuinely ship them all together, just like rydan.

they have been a tight group for a while, as z and alex both played with the young veins some. also, ryan and alex made appearances at z’s prom events.

eta: as i suspected, this is definitely a real ship.

here's a tumblr post explaining the ship dynamics a bit more. this blog has a lot of zrosswald content if you're interested!

kale:

on thanksgiving of 2011, ryan tweeted this:

in 2021, it became a meme in the ryan stan twitter community, and people tagged gordan ramsay in the tweet, asking his opinion on ryan’s cooking.

first male model for mac:

the story goes that in the fever era, the makeup company mac offered ryan a spot to be their first male model. unfortunately, he declined. according to the comments on a livejournal post i found, ryan discussed this in a 2006 spin magazine interview [i]. there were scans of the interview, but sadly, they’re not available, like most pictures on lj. it hasn’t been archived either.

the same commenter says that article doesn’t specifically mention mac, though. mac did offer ryan free products, but he doesn’t say if he accepted them [i].

so, it’s unsure if ryan was offered to be mac’s male model (unless there’s another source i’ve missed) or another brand’s. either way he turned it down. my guess is that the mac idea came from the fact that he used mac’s products back then.

beef with pete wentz:

after the split, brendon got pete in the divorce.

in a MTV interview that ryan did in 2009, it says “…he wishes Urie and Smith well and still considers them both to be his friends…The same cannot be said, however, about his former boss -- Decaydance Records honcho/ Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz -- who seems to have clearly aligned himself with the Urie/Smith camp following the split" [ii].

in the same interview, ryan specifically says:

"I haven't spoken to him in a while, since this happened. I guess I've been meaning to call him back. He called me, but I've missed a lot of phone calls this week," Ross said. "We're not sure [whether Ross' and Walker's new band will be on Wentz's Decaydance Records]. I'll have to talk to him, but obviously from what's happening online, I think he's ... he's written a lot about them. I don't know if they're working together on their stuff. I'm not really sure, but it's been awhile since we've spoken. It's strange. It's kind of weird" [ii].

the author of the article speculates that ryan and pete’s friendship is over [ii]. i can’t find the source for this, nor can i remember what the specific comments were, but i swear that pete did make some shady comments about ryan at one point.

however, it does seem that their relationship is not on negative terms currently. in 2016, pete tweeted this and this about ryan [iii] [iv]. also, this year (2023), pete mentioned ryan in a video fall out boy posted of pete reviewing his old fashion! you can watch it here:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Fall Out Boy (@falloutboy)

i’m also going to link an article i found that chronicles ryan and pete’s entire relationship, which is an interesting read (although i get the feeling they’re a little biased against ryan…).

ryan’s pet turtles:

i can’t find the post or comment, but on a lj post, ryan commented “this reminds me of when my dad ran over my pet turtles with the lawn mower. thanks.”

“i went to high school with ryan:”

i have two sources for this, and i’m not sure of which one is the original. however, this one is the one i remember seeing first (around 2014).

on tumblr, someone sent in an ask saying essentially the same thing, also in 2014.

i know that both are referring to the same thing; i’m just not sure if the first pic is based on the ask, or if the ask is based on the image. either way, the sentiment is the same.

honestly, i don’t think this story is true. still funny nonetheless

hot girls eating pizza:

this is another one i cannot find a source for anywhere (not even a tweet mentioning it), even though i was able to in the past. i apologize.

but i’m pretty sure that what this is about is a tweet/social media post in which he referred to hot girls eating pizza.

if anyone has a source or more information on this one though, please let me know!!

(i was going to dm the creator of one of the icebergs i referenced to ask her, but twitter won’t allow me to send dms to someone who doesn’t follow me unless i pay for twitter blue. i’m committed to explaining this iceberg but not enough to give elon musk my money i fear)

sent to an island:

in an alternative press interview from 2018, z said that on christmas eve, she shipped ryan off to an island to clear his head. ryan says, “true story” [v].

kate moss playboy:

in the following picture from ryan’s instagram, you can see a kate moss playboy on the table.

hentai:

in the fever era, panic did interviews for a japanese magazine. someone ran ryan’s portion through an image translation, and it brought back something about hentai.

eta: update, twitter user givememallce bought the actual magazine from japan and provided us with translations of this image and the questions the band was answering! they also included the answers from the rest of the band if you're curious about those [vi]. so the biggest shoutout to them and their service.

fake wedding with z:

in 2009, ryan and z pretended to be married. ryan tweeted a picture of z with a wedding ring, called her his wife, and also tweeted a quote of her calling him “the best husband ever” [vii].

later, he tweeted that his wife left in the middle of the night. he then had a revelation:

the best part is that all of these events took place within a single day.

here’s the masterpost with all the details:

not actually 5’11:

this is a conspiracy that ryan is lying about his height.

one piece of evidence was that brendon is 5’9, meaning ryan would be 2 inches taller than him. however, in a lot of photos they look to be relatively the same height.

the other piece is that multiple fans who have met ryan said that compared to their own heights, he can’t be 5’11. i don’t have specific sources of people saying that, but i know it was discourse on twitter at one point.

next is the final entry in the iceberg, where we get into the most obscure stuff the iceberg has to offer and finish this thing up.

tier 8

references:

[i] https://bandfandom-ref.livejournal.com/133181.html

[ii] https://www.mtv.com/news/1fedpk/exclusive-ryan-ross-talks-about-leaving-panic-at-the-disco

[iii] https://twitter.com/petewentz/status/794988164901261312

[iv] https://twitter.com/petewentz/status/795025751930114048

[v] https://www.altpress.com/ryan-ross-z-berg-the-bad-list/

[vi] https://twitter.com/GIVEMEMALlCE/status/1695649402663363028

[vii] https://pathetic-at-the-disco.tumblr.com/post/180912208431/ryan-ross-and-z-bergs-wedding-masterpost

[rocketturtle4]

Thai QL Favorites Tag game

This is my first tag game I’m rather excited,

Thanks @waitmyturtles and @lurkingshan for the tag.

My time on Tumblr has been less than 2 months, and prior to this I primarily watched TV for escapism and wasn’t particularly fussed about how closely shows adhered to reality or its values, so some of that will definitely be reflected here. (Previous genres of TV I’ve been invested in are anime and fantasy, I have seen soooo little western romance or queer cinema or high school movies or a lot of things).

Disclaimer: Emphasis on favourite over best

Also I appreciate Thai BL way more since coming to Tumblr but I have seen rather few shows in that time so there’s a ton I need to watch or rewatch with context that I haven’t yet (Moonlight Chicken, The eclipse, Bed Friend, ITSAY, He’s Coming to Me, My School President and more) so I can’t include them on this list like everyone else seems to be!

I honestly think brevity is an extremely envious skill, and I do not have such skills so here goes.

Favorite Thai QL: SOTUS S (Including the Our Skyy episode) or maybe To Sir With Love, It hasn't been long enough for me to tell yet but both those shows made me scream in different ways

Favorite Pairing: I assumed this was like character couple but some Tumblr searching suggests otherwise. I have watched 0 behind the scene’s footage except what rolls through tumblr and my youtube shorts and I am still learning actors names (Y’all have a habit of referring to actors in photos by their pairing name (e.g. offgun) without context on which one is WHICH so it’s hard to learn names that way lol.

Having said that I started watching BL because Between Us was airing and rolled through my youtube shorts and my first 3 BLs were all watched because of BounPrem (BU, UWMA & Cutie Pie) because I liked their dynamic.

Most underrated actor: see previous statement on my actor confusion. I'll sit down and make a list with pictures one day... or maybe not because that seems creepy

Favorite Character: Arthrit. Seriously I have rarely gotten so attached to a single character, I loved him so much, my demi ass had no idea what I was supposed to do with my actual fricken emotions. I finished SOTUS S with 50 screenshots of him FOR NO REASON. Also, Ae in Love by Chance killed me dead.

Favorite Side Character: I’m taking this as a pairing and choosing ForthBeam from 2 Moons 2, a very recent watch of mine. I thought MingKit was going to be my favourite part of that series and then ForthBeam showed up and knocked them straight out of the park.

Favorite scene in a QL: I sat here for a while deciding whether or not honesty was the best policy, and I decided yes it was SO:

It’s from Love In The Air and it’s a scene between Pai and Sky where Sky is sleeping (nearly recovered from being sick) and the camera switches between Sky’s sleeping, somewhat exposed self and Pai and his ever fraying control as he looks at and away from Sky's sleeping form and he leans closer, and closer, even as he tells himself not to, even as he speaks out loud 'not to loose control now' he leans closer still. Then Sky wakes up, just as Pai’s face is centimetres from his, and Sky asks ‘are you going to jump me P’Pai’ and Pai breathes rather quickly and heavily as he leans back stands up and announces that he needs to use the bathroom before walking swiftly away.

THE RESTRAINT, IT KILLS ME OKAY.

(if this wasn’t Thai only Takara-kun to Amagi-kun’s restraint scene would win)

(I did not have to look that up, this scene LIVES in my brain, at all times)

Although Tian & Lomfon’s final confession and kiss has been looping so often it might be a serious contender, It’s just too soon to say.

Favorite line in a QL: It’s not technically one line but AePete in the locker room after the makeout where Ae asks Pete to be his boyfriend (or some variation thereof) SEVEN TIMES wins for me. That boy is determined to have a clear answer.

Most Anticipated QL (& why): I don’t keep track of upcoming BL, that’s 70% of the reason I initially got Tumblr, everyone’s excited for Only Friends so that one. Or there was one with the pair from Bed Friends that looked interesting, or ZeeNew’s actually with the prince.

Healthiest relationship in a QL: I have not thought about this very hard, but WinTeam maybe? Although they need to communicate better. Also ForthBeams relationship actually seems really healthy too.

Most toxic relationship in a QL: VegasPete, although a rewatch of Kinnporsche with additional context might change my thoughts, (also I haven’t seen tharntype)

Guilty pleasure series: Don’t Say No & Love in the Air although I feel guiltier about the second and I love the first more.

Most Underrated Series: I do not know enough about how series have been rated to make a call, but I was shocked to be told La Pluie was doing badly on mdl so that one.

I tried to check who’d already been tagged and not double up so there arent a lot, but feel free to ignore either way! @shouldiusemyname, @plantsarepeopletoo, @troubled-mind @dribs-and-drabbles

[cbsghostsmetasandtrevor]

CBS Ghosts - Hello! - Ghosts Don't Like to Be Ignored Part 2

Warning - Spoilers May Appear.

Pet's always so logical and seems to know what to say to keep people calm.

I love how Thor's like "Enemy hurts feelings" when he literally just cursed them and wants them to suffer so that they leave. Like - what?

I wonder if it's because he's been hurt by the being left behind thing.

OMG Trevor's so excited to have another idea. We can tell a lot about him here. Despite the fact that he knows he's at fault for Sam's fall, and he did/does feel guilty, so he's so excited about having her around that he's like "don't ignore me - not okay."

He's definitely the type to be hurt by exclusion. He definitely dislikes being ignored. And he doesn't like rejection. It's as if he's hurt that she doesn't appear to feel the same connection (which is not fair to her), but it could be why he was sulking a bit earlier in the scene.

LMAO - Trevor name drops and makes these references that frankly looks like Alberta's offended (What is a white party? It's a Labor Day dress in all white party, right? That's what Gossip girl tells me).

Also, he's such a puppy, so excited to have another idea.

LMAO - Thor wants to learn but Trevor's like the IDEA is more important. (Plus, he is not in the mood for Baby Ghost mockery right now). I wonder if that's because of the scene in Episode One where he's like "I've explained these things before".

I love the quick succession here. Thor asks, Isaac answers (so he pays attention to Trevor's stories) and Trevor's like "That's not the point". I feel like Isaac's answering so easily here is because earlier with the movie - he was messing with Trevor, just like everyone else.

I like how Alberta and Sass are looking at him like 'what?' rather than speaking.

LMAO - Pete's face, he's just shaking his head. Like no.... no... not a good idea.

Meanwhile, Trevor's so excited that he stands up quickly - probably because he feels standing gets him listened to more - and immedaitely flashes Sass and Alberta. LMAO, too funny.

No mention of it, but it gets better in a moment.

Aw, Isaac might be a good captain if he understands giving praise. He's like 'oh, Trevor has an idea, it's a good one... praise him'. I feel like they all know that Trevor needs/likes praise.

I do like that he's willing to listen to Trevor here. Trevor's had a few ideas lately and clearly trying to get a good one in.

OHHHH TREVOR.

I don't know why he's always doing these bowing things, but it's pretty clear that he's flashing Alberta and Sass, who have moved forward on the couch to avoid it.

I can't believe he doesn't think about these things, but then again, he's pantsless for 20 years so...

Feel bad for A & S though. BUT Trevor's cute. Adorable little puppy.

LMAO, Isaac is SO HAPPY about this plan and it's crazy how excited this makes everyone else. They're just like yes!!! Let's DO THIS!

Also, notice Alberta has to move forward 'cause she's getting flashed and Sass does too, and he's like not looking at that.

Meanwhile, Trevor's glowing because they like his idea again!

I wonder if there's some issues with Trevor not being listened to so he's like "It's my idea and it's good!" With his last few ideas. Especially since Haunting didn't work.

It's interesting that Sass actually agrees with this plan. Because he states plainly that he DOES NOT agree with Trevor on principle.

He must really be bored OR he's thinking ahead and figures that Sam won't leave BUT could help their afterlives get better.

LMAO - Isaac and Thor are SO EXTRA.

Isaac's like 'yes, she must acknowledge us and make her life hell' and Thor's like 'yes, and we drive them from the land!'

It's so DIFFERENT to the rest of the crew in the room. Everyone else is like .... no, guys, let's play nice.

LMAO - Pete intervening like he does ... such a peacemaker - nice friendly chat.

And Thor and Isaac being so opposite "Punish her, kill her" - ALL SHE DID WAS MOVE INTO A HOUSE THAT IS HERS and they're acting like she murdered them. Chill, boys.

and Everyone else is like "No, no - bad - let's just get her to talk to us."

I love this ending gif.

Pete's Face.

Alberta saying "It's too much"

Sass saying "Roll it back."

And Trevor's gesture and saying "You're making it weird."

I love that they're just like "Stop it - you need to be a little less."

I wonder how everyone dealt and continued to deal with Thor's extraness over the years.

Anyway, This was fun. Mainly for the faces in the background. This cast rocks with background faces.

Feel free to chat :)

[casa-supernova]

i don't think it's exactly a secret that i really don't like the rose/meta crisis ending.

firstly, we lose donna because of it. but mostly because of the implications. i also view the meta crisis in multiple ways. he's a clone but he isn't. he's not the true doctor but he is. it's complicated.

but let's get into it.

first of all, the reason that he even stays with rose in the first place is because the tenth doctor thinks he's a liability which is kind of dramatic but probably an incredible bit of foresight (he can see the turn of the universe right) and self awareness considering he goes all 'timelord victorious' later. two doctors in the same universe, one who's considerably more volatile than the other would definitely be a problem. i don't think davros reversed so quickly upon seeing him for no reason.

so as a solution, he needs to be with rose so she can keep him in check. because the takeway from her character is that she is a balm for the doctor, which reads less sweet, more patronising to her as an individual. i'm not surprised that story had her refer to him as a pet because that's literally what she's doing now. keeping him on a leash lest he go feral. why they didn't just give us a moment between the meta crisis doctor and rose doing something together to sow the seeds if they wanted the viewers to be sold on this, i don't know. now, i am not dismissing the idea that this ending was supposed to be divisive, but some of the vehement defending of it on here makes me raise an eyebrow.

anyway, my secondary point is the parallel world itself. the tardis dies upon getting there the first time, with the doctor comparing it to diesel in a petrol engine. he also states that after the time war, the worlds were closed off, but before that, travelling was possible but stressed that the tardis drew on energy from it's own universe which is why it didn't work in the parallell. now, we also know from rose's absence in that world, that there is probably a lot of people missing from it or people who never existed in the first place.

so. now i am left with everything the doctor would be leaving behind staying in pete's world. he would never see his own universe again. now, the prospect of exploring an unknown universe would be probably exciting but considering timelords do not exist there, it would be a pretty hostile place for him. maybe inventing his own way to travel would be fun for him. the whole 'grow a tardis' deleted scene was always dumb to me though, because despite how organic the ninth and tenth doctor's tardis looked like, it's still a machine. i don't think you can grow timelord technology. so that's out of the question. he would never see his old companions again. donna? martha? sarah jane? none of them? and, the biggest to me - his tardis? there is no way you can convince me the doctor would accept never seeing his beloved tardis again.

the doctor's reason for living is exploring the universe and travelling in his ship. so for him to give it up to stay with rose in pete's world doesn't seem romantic to me, it feels tragic. while rose may have wanted to settle down eventually, she knew he wouldn't. and he shouldn't have too. they both wanted different things so to make her get this ending that was forced upon him feels really unfair.

the metacrisis was born out of the engine of the dalek ship and donna's fear. and maybe 1 hour later he's exiled from everyone. to live this human life he's been intriguied by but never wanted. we find it in s3 he has a whole machine to make himself human. he. doesn't want. it. but now he hasn't got a choice. and for rose to jump on him right in front of the original doctor was just the cherry on top of a selfish cake which was even crazier considering that even rose was protesting that she didn't want this either.

none of it feels great. i'd much have preferred for rose to have gotten over it and live better for her experience in pete's world. the very idea of her growing colder and more selfish felt realistic though. but i don't think she should have been rewarded for it though.

i'm just not a fan.

[souryogurt64]

what’s the dead boyfriend theory…..

There's this journal entry Pete wrote about sleeping on someone's grave in a cemetery and people have extrapolated this into a theory that he has a secret boyfriend that died. Parts of the draft ended up in the book, but not the part that mentions "kissing boys."

Regardless of whether or not this is true, he was 100% posting drafts from his book for years and years and there are some journal entries of his that are very strange and I think might have been cut from the book. The book has a weird thematic center around his friend's ex girlfriend having a miscarriage that seems very strange, and there's this incredibly weird and jarring alleged journal entry about a girl getting an abortion and I feel like it might have been cut for being way too graphic and controversial

Anyway parts of the cemetery entry ended up in the book, which is about a girl who dies in a car crash and the narrator visits her grave. So I'm not convinced this was a real thing Pete experienced lmao. But it's possible it is-- there are certain parts of his life he doesn't like to share about often, like soccer and politics lol. But that's his business

This is all over the place but connecting back to the princess/princes debate as well, where the lyric is masculine in the song but feminine in the book-- additionally, there's a couple entries where he seems to be writing from a girl's point of view and there's some stuff that's flipped genders in the book vs original journal entries or lyrics. @petenut was the first person to point this out I think but "consummate victim" is used to describe the girl's eyeliner in the book, but Pete describes himself that way in the original journal entry.

Additionally, I was researching and MTV (cowriter lol) did this like thing with FOB on a plane and Pete says the consummate victim phrase out loud in reference to himself and Fall Out Boy.

A lot of the book hinges around the idea that the two main characters kind of become the same person but I feel like sometimes doesn't come up for several chapters and the gender reversal stuff and POV journal entries make me wonder if writing from the girls POV was supposed to be in the book and got cut. (it is not good.)

I also think these journal entries are not well known because they were dumped in what I think is an archive he created of his own journal entries I think he posted in 2009. Several of them are written with a completely different typing style that seems to be attempting proper grammar and capitalization, which I feel strengthens the "cut from book" theory. Either that, or they're fake. Which is possible

I didn't talk about this in the dissertation because it felt like too much conjecture and speculation and the dissertation was already too long and too bizarre to bring anything else in lmfao but I wanted to

[recurring-polynya]

My brain is back on the exact same bullshit that led me to declare Soul Society should have a train, but I suddenly, desperately need to know if Shin'ou students have a winter uniform.

I am honestly split six different ways over this. First of all, is there a standard-issue over-garment of some sort that is permitted when it's cold out? The uniforms have 3/4 sleeves for Pete's sake, and what could be more picturesque than your little students sashaying around campus in sort of matching cloaks?

As far as I know, there were two forms of outerwear in the Edo era: the haori and the hanten. The haori is lighter, longer, and worn by generally fancier people (and originally only men). The hanten is padded and worn by the working class. According to Wikipedia, in the 1910s, a unisex overgarment called a shosei haori became popular among students, but this was also associated with a movement towards western clothing, so I can't really imagine this trend hitting Soul Society*. On the other hand, this is the same period of time that female students started wearing hakama, although they would do so in the high-waisted style, whereas female Shin'ou students wear male-style hakama. (Complete aside, but I also found a reference to a garment called a tombi coat, popular in the early 1900s, that was very Sherlock Holmes-esque, and anyway, I feel in my heart that Byakuya own wore one of these in his delinquent era)

*[(1)There's a picture of a young man dressed as a shosei about 1/3 of the way down this page. (1) the section of this page labeled "Mixing of Japanese and Western fashion" says shosei haori were also worn over western suits. (3) Wikipedia claims they were padded, but I didn't find reference to that elsewhere.]

Back to the topic at hand. I feel like Shin'ou would be more inclined toward haori over hanten, because they want to cultivate an air of culture and exclusivity over practicality (and also they don't want to make it seem like the classrooms aren't adequately heated, which they are not). Does everyone get the same color, or it gender-split again? It might look kind of nice to have a darker shade of blue for the boys and maroon for the girls. They could also be the same color with different color linings, although...brown? I guess? Black or white are both right out, since those are Court Guard colors. Shin'ou surely has a seal. Big seal on the back? ::nods:: Big seal on the back.

The other option, of course, is that no, there is no standardized coat. One possibility is that coats are simply not allowed. Another is that you can wear your own outer garment, at least when you're walking around outside of class. This has the nice advantage of allowing the upper class students to display their wealth and also be warm, since Soul Society very rarely lets an opportunity for class discrimination to go by.

(Does Shin'ou have clubs??? Is it possible that there are haori associated with particular clubs, you know, like a varsity jacket? That would slap. Could they at least have patches?)

As far as we know, actual shinigami don't seem to have any sort of official cold weather gear. There is the time that the leadership of Squads 5 and 10 went up on the roof to watch fireworks together-- they all seem to be be wearing something on the spectrum between scarf and shawl; Matsumoto's is furry because she has taste.

On one hand, this might lend credence to the idea of bring-your-own-coat, but maybe not? Do people in the ghost military have more or less dress-flexibility than students (keeping in mind that even the barkeepers in this town wear shihakushou). Shinigami also seem to be generally free to accessorize, which we don't see much of among students.

Maybe the students just wear scarves? Soul Society seems pretty pro-scarf, generally.

I hope you weren't expecting a conclusion to this post, because I don't have one, and my final answer is going to have more to do with whether I decide I want Renji to be wearing a coat in the fanfic that I am working on or if I want him to suffer, but if anyone else has insights or opinions on this topic, I would love to hear them.

[yourresidentthembo]

Okay

Just finished watching Nerdy Prudes Must Die about half an hour before writing this and here are my thoughts for those who want to hear.

Spoilers for all who haven't seen it yet!

I think it's an amazing (fucking transcendant) musical. I think it's a really good Starkid musical; but I don't think it was a great Hatchetfield musical. (Lots of critiques to come but lots of praise as well)

What I noticed is that it follows a similar formula to A Very Potter Musical and Holy Musical B@man, where the humor is the foremost element and the plot is less relevant. It more emulates AVPM in that the plot hooks get better toward the end, but it still didn't feel like as well developed a plot as TGWDLM or Black Friday.

Both the previous musicals seemed to exist on a grander scale - with the Lord's influence seen in large world-ending threats, where here we see a threat that really only exists for the highschoolers (I know Jägerman has the potential to be a worldwide problem but that idea seemed a little shoehorned in to add tension toward the end). PEIP being absent given this is especially apparent and while I don't want the musicals to feel formulaic I do miss my special agents and the big stories in the big medium would fit that nicely.

I was a little disapointed in the minimal Hatchetfield lore that was provided - given the amount they had to work with from Nightmare Time; however it is closer in magnitude to the lore the other musicals provide. (Taking into account that the musical appears to be written for those who haven't seen the Nightmare Times; there are more references than there are additions).

But on the whole it was a really cool musical! I liked it's goofier nature and it did feel like some of the older Starkid musicals but I feel like there were elements of passion in the other Hatchetfield content that were missing here (I know there was Steph and Pete and I love them dearly but I tend to view love stories seperately) that were highly apparent in the other stores (Name: Bill and Alice, Tom and Tim - sidenote I didn't notice their names were like that until right now - Lex and Hannah) and I feel like there were definately places where that could've been explored and wasn't.

The Lords in Black appearence did make me scream and it was so cool to see all of them on stage at once but it did miss the element the other two had of one Lord evoking a threat (giving the This Story Centers Around This Lord And Their Lore vibe) and making that in favour of one goofier song felt off to me, even if they did have Wiggly enact his malice (sidenote; is Grace Chasity technically a Warlock now, given her pact with a dark god?).

All-in-all, it's a good musical and you should definately watch it if you haven't already. I may well just be a Black Friday enjoyer (it's my favourite musical ever) who is nostalgic for the vibe it gave. I'm also probably conditioned to cool lore being a staple from nightmare time. I will be rewatching as many times as I can while I still have the ticket and there's definately room for my mind to change.

Love y'all, have fun going mad about this (it is absolutely insane that we got this in the first place)!!

[thebrownssociety]

Chip And Dale Rescue Rangers Spoilers/Thoughts

As the title suggests, this contains major spoilers for the movie. Only proceed if you’ve either seen it or don’t care about being spoiled.

1. So the voices didn’t actually bother me. It helped, I think, that they started talking in the alternate voices pretty much straight away. Which I think helped separate it from ‘filming’. 

2. CGI surgery? Must admit, that’s an interesting point. Also makes sense with evolution. I’d assume there must just be CGI toons as well, created more recently.

3. Ugly Sonic!? I thought he was cool and I liked that they made him relevant to the plot instead of a one-off gag.

4. The muppet toons were done really well. You’re never shown their legs, makes it more real.

5. The whole stinky cheese thing...wow. Answers the question of if there’s drugs or not in Toon universe. The way Chip initially tried to charm his way in...yeah, he may have lost some of his acting skills doing that insurance gig.

6. The throw away line about the Nicktoons. ‘The toons fought back’. People have pointed out this is against character for the toons, but I think it makes sense, albeit it in a dark way. The rugrats at least must be in their 30′s by now. [Aired in early 90′s] Its surely not unreasonable to assume they must have changed their personalities, and we don’t know what  happened. Maybe they only ‘fought back’ with pies. As for the Paw patrol dogs, my theory is that either it’s an exaggeration. [Which I don’t think would be unlikely if it happened last year and he was signed off work afterwards] or that it did happen and due to the fact they’re toon dogs they can’t be put down. Either that or the Police department were so mortified about the fact they messed up so completely they let all charges drop.

7. Toons on the wall that I noticed/knew, Jiminy Cricket, Flounder, Gus [Cinderella], The Tweedles, Sneezy, Garfield [There’s also a sign above Garfield that says foghorn. I’m assuming this is a reference to the Looney Tunes character?] 

8. Toon body parts on the other side of the walls that I noticed. Jimmy Neutron’s hair, Cheshire Cats smile, Pink Panther mouth, a white glove that could belong to anyone [brings to mind Mickey Mouse, but I’m fairly sure it can’t be him], a smurfs hat, Sora’s hair + Mad Hatters hat. 

9. Ellie...I’m going to be honest she seems quite a bland character. Not much is given to her. [This might be because apparently test audiences reacted negatively to her. Considering they also apparently reacted negatively to the original idea of Pluto being the villain, which led to them choosing the below instead [presumably] I’m not sure they were right.]

Also I think credit needs to be given to the actress for the fight scene she was in. She must have been working with thin air, which must be very difficult.

10.Toons I saw at the end [and recognised] Abu, Fred Flintstone, Patrick Star, Woody Woodpecker, Phineas Flynn, Dipper, Jiminy Cricket, Flounder, Cheshire Cat [Crossed with the tiger from Aladdin], Johnny Test, Kai [Jungle Book], a toon that looks like Obelix from ‘Asterix’ [Same pattern pants and same hair, but black], Gus [with a parrots beak], Gumball? [Amazing world of], Bambi, Sneezy, Woody [same clothes, green instead], Frog Tiana, One that looks like a care bear, but with a tail? [Purple], 

11. Sweet Pete...now, I do know about Bobby Driscoll, but I must admit if I didn’t know the story [which I didn’t until it started making the rounds on Tumblr] I’d just think it was very clever. It’s clear toons do grow up mentally [and they must in some sort of chronological order as well seeing as the chipmunks start in 3rd grade] and as I’ve previously mentioned in another posts I think there’s other ways they could have gone with it if they were determined to have Peter Pan as the villain. 

His voice works as well, seeing as Chip and Dale have completely different voices. I’d assume that Disney made the EPIC FAIL conclusion that no one would know/care about what happened to Bobby Driscoll. It’s the only thing that makes sense. 

The bootlegged idea is interesting as well. It’s shame there wasn’t a team up between Chip and Dale and other family members of the other toons. [Sneezy, for instance, was bootlegged, so it would have been interesting to see the other dwarfs helping out.] The very least we see is that it’s a big story in the news. 

I also like the way Peter gets his henchmen to do EVERYTHING. Even when he’s about two centimetres away from Chip and Dale himself, he still tells Jimmy to grab them when he could have just reached out himself. 

He must have started the business before having his CGI operation, though, because in the parody ‘Flying Bedroom Boy’ you can see he has the stubble round his mouth. [Another good detail]

He’s also ‘The chessmaster’ I think. Look at his expression when Putty’s telling his story. He knows he’s lying but he’s just waiting for Ellie to realise that. 

If the whole thing didn’t parallel Bobby Driscoll so much it would have been a really clever take.

12. Finally, on a lighter note...we want Darkwing, we want Darkwing! Loved it, so in-character.