#i've written it as a grand conspiracy before but honestly

[blackkatmagic]

Open Seasons Vol. 2 by Haden Blackman

[shark-myths]

1/2 Hi hello I have a...Headcanon? Fic prompt? Grand unifying Mania to smfs tryst theory theory? Anyway it's this: There was some sort of 'fuck it lets just try again' decision around mania era and it was good! It was working out! And then there was covid and lockdowns and everyone had to make some really tough choices re: who we say irl and when and how often and that led to some real 'well maybe were fooling ourselves when we thought we could have it all this can't really work we did miss our-

2/2 -shot' ergo the smfs lyrical lean of 'I love you so much but this maybe really isn't our time'/ mixed in with all the other very project-written-during-covid ~vibes~ (which I love). But anyway there's a lot of time that can and did (if they started in 2021?) pass between writing lyrics and releasing music and working on the album after all that isolating introspection led right back to 'fuck it lets just be together life is short' hence The Way They're Acting now. *shrugs* idk

*

Love this, love you, thanks for the conspiracy ask!

we know from this kerrang interview and a few other casual mentions, like in patrick's album commentary from the release parties (still haven't listened to that myself but @leyley09 is an excellent on-the-scene reporter) that some of the writing for SMFS actually started before the pandemic, with Patrick dreaming up the music for What a Time to Be Alive right after the release of MANIA and Pete writing the lyrics that paired with it before the pandemic. so if the writing process went dormant in lockdown, we know many of the threads were connected before covid hit the US. (i'm also remembering the cute zoom sing-a-long pete & patrick did at the beginning of the pandemic where they were clearly in the same room but on separate video feeds so that we, viewing, could feel like we were all alone together)

I stand by my thought that MANIA's ask symbolizes open doors that are open-ended--the queer poly happily ever after is floated, and maybe it's answered and maybe it's not but i don't think any of those doors were closed, even by lockdown. i take the backwards-looking in SMFS as a way of acknowledging what's gone past and is no longer possible: having their whole lives being entwined together, maybe even raising a family together instead of with the lovely women they've chosen and built something beautiful with, not letting the fear of being found out determine the unhealthy shape their relationship took for the first 15-odd years of its course. i find this deeply relatable as a mid-30s bisexual, honestly, whose life could have looked really different in some really joyful ways if the culture had been more hospitable and open to queerness when i was growing up, but who also doesn't regret or want to change what i have now.

SMFS doesn't feel like a frantic too-lateness to me, it doesn't feel young; it feels plain and true, like, well, it is too late for some things, but that might not have worked out anyway, and as it stands we're everything to each other--patrick can't write songs without pete and pete feels like he's a painter who can't paint without fall out boy (the kerrang interview is giving me life, truly)--and it isn't so bad, having a soulmate, whether that manifestation is currently romantic or not. it's too late to change what's gone past but it's not too late for the entire future.

i've just never seen them so comfortable together and so matter-of-fact! like their closeness hasn't looked this easy since pete was making patrick squirm on vh1 by describing them as husbands nearly 20 years ago. i love the way no one's rushing to disguise or define or defend anything, they're just sitting there plainly like, this dude is everything to me, and it frankly is so beautiful and refreshing after the no-homo panic that characterized the early aughts.

i love your headcanon and it gave me all these lovely chewy thoughts! god i can't wait to see the fic that comes out of this. thank you darling!

[buckttommy]

YES RYAN GUZMAN QUEER THEORY

okay so eddie and ryan have very similar backstories right? both from texas, seem to have been raised with a very clear (slightly toxic) idea of what “masculinity” is. (if this doesn’t make sense i can expand but i don’t think you want that whole rant) they were raised in a fair intolerable environment (meaning the time they were born/grew up and where they were) as far as men exploring their sexuality went (again- this is definitely making generalizations, but stick with me, and i’m technically not wrong given the timeline of societal progression). so ryan has always seemed to value his masculinity and leans into it more than eddie, because eddie has been written in such a way that he can acknowledge and identify the toxicity of the masculinity that he was raised by, and he doesn’t want chris to have that (something something eddie’s handling of generational trauma makes me wanna cry). so eddie, in a way, is like a slightly more enlightened ryan and i wonder if that’s affected ryan. now- the queer part. eddie, i believe, had his gay realization/acceptance largely because he met buck, and it’s been such a magical (albeit not canonically acknowledged) part of his development as he’s grown to let himself love buck in a deeper, realer, more apparent way. (note: ryan totally had a boy crush on oliver and i do not blame him) so portraying this sort of queer journey has to have at least some impact on ryan, in my opinion. if he is queer, i wonder if playing eddie is helping him accept it or just making him want to repress harder.

i hope that makes sense im sleep deprived and have like a grand total of two functioning braincells

OK I see this and several points have been made, specifically about the Buck/Oliver of it all and the emotional/psychological impact playing a character in the midst of such an emotional queer awakening must have. BUT at the same time, I raise you that I don't actually think Ryan is all that stereotypically toxically masculine !! Based on the... *handwaving* FEW times I've gone through every single post on his instagram, 2015-2017 is very much Ryan in his Random Guy Suddenly Becomes Famous, Wow How Cool Is This phase, but 2017 is when he really starts to like mellow out and become more of an Adult about it. He's introspective and really starts to actually, like, consider what kind of human being he wants to be. Also, he's a mama's boy who paints and writes poetry which does not scream aggressive toxic masculinity to me !!!

Anyway, he only went full gym bro after The Incident (which, if we want to delve into full crack conspiracy theory I believe , was kind of a way to create distance between self vs image but i DIGRESS). In fact, I think it's more likely that Ryan influences Eddie's trajectory rather than the other way around, like, not in the sense that he has an abundant sense of creative control because he doesn't, but in the sense that Ryan digs inside currently existing parts of himself in order to play certain nuances to Eddie Diaz because he's already previously walked those paths before rather than the other way around.

I honestly don't know if this makes sense but this is where we're at on ryanguzmaan dot tumblr dot com tonight !

EDIT: wait ok ii retcon most of this after watchign this interview queer theory anon i think you are Onto Something