#* THREAD / NED THE PIEMAKER

[hctclcalifornia]

@crushsung sent: ❛ what are you smiling at? ❜ for ned

immediately the smile falls into a more blank expression (or at least, what ned thinks is blank... it's more a mix between anxious and possibly hungry). "smiling? i'm not smiling. my face... twitched. uncontrollably." his eye twitches (his signature tell) as he turns away from alice, hand coming up to rub at the knot that had suddenly formed between his shoulder blades. closing up had always been his norm, his way of keeping himself safe— but it seemed more like his default lately, even in unnecessary situations. "it does that sometimes, i should really see a doctor."

[prosewrote]

OPEN. | @maidencfdeath​​​​​ ⸻   “kiss me.” (for ned)

He wasn’t sure he had heard her correctly at first, despite his heart already picking up pace. Did she say ‘ KISS ME ‘ ? Surely it couldn’t be possible, even though it certainly was a wish of his, a yearning. He had known Cassie for exactly 6 months, 23 days, 8 hours and 42 minutes. Besides Chuck and Emerson, Cassie was the only one to know of his special ability to bring back the dead. When she had revealed who and what she was, he was fearful and hesitant at first; never wanting to brush contact with her nor get closer to her. Over time it proved to be unnecessary; being a REAPER practically made her immune to his touch and all consequences that came with it. And wasn’t that a very special thing in and of itself ? 

Even further with time Ned and her had grown closer; her brief touches more frequent and despite his aversion to any kind of contact it was ... NICE. He soon learned after much late night research that he was actually touch starved, how ridiculous. Until it wasn’t, often he would find ANY excuse to brush his long fingers against hers, a hand at the small of her back to help steady or guide her. Standing so close when teaching her a new recipe in his kitchen that their hips nearly touched. He was growing more and more fond of her with each passing day and it was EXHILERATING. Chuck would always have a special place in his heart but now ? Now CASSIE was more than consuming the rest of it in a warmth he was growing addicted to.

Their latest investigation and reaping task nearly put both of them at risk and he wasn’t letting her out of his sight for the rest of the day and night; hence leading to them now, sitting in his cozy apartments living room side by side on the couch and he allowed himself to entwine his fingers with hers without even thinking about it. He LOVED it. So when he gulps audibly and looks at her with hopeful and excited eyes but a nervous face, he repeats her question for confirmation. Only after receiving a green light from her does he go too quick for a chaste kiss, eyes squinted shut as he waited for the worst possible outcome. But it never came; eyes turning tender as he realizes he could never hurt her this way, he leans down closer, this time more slowly and envelopes her bottom lip with his own for a more proper kiss, melting into it as a free hand lifts to gently cup her soft face, tilting it up to gain better access to those sweet lips of hers.

Oh ... He could get USED to this ! 

[hctclcalifornia]

there's a frown on his face as ned rubs at his eyes, very decidedly out of it as marley had pointed out. "out of it is harsh. i'd prefer sleepy, yet trying his best." they were eerily perceptive… or perhaps ned was especially tired. "i was up late last night..." pauses, debates on what would make him sound the least insane. "...working on a new pie recipe." technically true. he definitely thought about one while devising a plan to break into a miniatures museum for a new case. "pie-making is hard business, i'm sure you get it. well, not exactly get it or anything, but cheese and pies are definitely related— unrelated, but do you have any coffee?"

@hctclcalifornia / lyric starter. forever by alex g.

"you look so out of it."

[bewitchingbaker]

Hi Fren! 2.Where did you find inspiration for your muse? 9. If your muse could be a canon character in any fandom, which fandom would you choose? 17. What is something about your muse’s background story that you’ve always wanted to have a thread about? <3 and thank you!

Hey! Thank you for the questions!

2. Where did you find inspiration for your muse?

This is a good question! I found alot of inspiration in watching Pushing Daisies, Black films (mainly Last Black Man in San Francisco, Do the Right Thing, Medicine for Melancholy, everything from Jordan Peele) and the Hellboy comics. There's also an influence from Guilmero Del Toro films and Ghibli films. I love modern fantasy, especially when they have bright sunny settings with very dark stories. Plus, I like seeing Black characters in horror/surreal/weird stories so I took elements from various Black films and applied them to Chris's story/world. Instead of making Chris scared of the paranormal, him and his family are a part of it and paranormal events and encounters are treated like everyday occurrences.

Chris's personality is mostly inspired by Ned, Mirabel from Encanto and parts of the mun's personality.

9. If your muse could be a canon character in any fandom, which fandom would you choose?

Ooooh, I have two. I would say Pushing Daisies. Chris is pretty much Ned the Piemaker with a different form of magic. I could see him being a recurring character who asks for help from Ned and Emerson in investigating his parent's death.

The second would be the Sandman. Mainly cause of his family's somewhat grim and not-so-moral history with magic. So I could see him being a background character who's kind of fixing family mistakes while offering a listening ear to each of the members of the Endless.

17. What is something about your muse’s background story that you’ve always wanted to have a thread about?

Man, I've always wanted to explore Chris's teenage years. Mainly one centered on his encounters with the supernatural world. I somewhat mentioned that he's inadvertently met vampires and ghosts, but I always wanted to explore that with another muse. Maybe making that other muse a childhood friend.

[brezybrianne]

“At their respective parents’ funerals, dizzy with grief, curiosity, and hormones, young Ned and a girl called Chuck had their first and only kiss.” 

Pushing Daisies episode 1: Pie-Lette

September 2020

[charlottecharlcs]

Pushing Daisies S1 E2: Dummy

Spoilers!

Episode content warning for disordered eating

In this episode, Ned and Chuck are just starting to get to know each other again as they investigate the murder of an automotive specialist named Bernard, who says he was murdered by a crash test dummy. They find themselves involved in a deadly plot and, as usual, narrowly escape at the end.

This is one of the episodes I remember most from Pushing Daisies- particularly the kiss-through-body-bags moment toward the end of the episode- trust me, we'll get to that later.

Another iconic moment I will always remember is also the first musically significant scene I want to discuss right now. I love how this show just does what it wants; it's creative and isn't afraid to cross genre lines/do the fun weird thing. This episode proves it when Olive, out of nowhere, performs Hopelessly Devoted to You from Grease.

When Ned leaves the Pie Hole with his new romantic interest to investigate the murder, Olive is left on her own to close up. A backing track quietly begins as she starts the iconic scene, wiping down the counters and doing choreography with the bar stools. She is interrupted several times by hopeful customers and then the janitor intruding on her melancholy. The janitor joins her for a small bit of choreography, oblivious to Olive's song as he has headphones in. At the end of the song, they sneak in the love theme I talked about last blog, tying it to the romantic thread of the rest of the show.

(my description doesn't compare with the actual performance- you can watch it here)

I find there are several ways to interpret this moment. One: if you cast celebrated Broadway actor Kristen Chenoweth, you should take full advantage of her talents. If I was a writer/director, I would definitely shoehorn in a dramatic musical number for her as soon as I could. However, and this brings me to number two, I don't think it's at all shoehorned. I think it's very true to Pushing Daisies' method of emotional expression and the overall vibe.

Pushing Daisies is theatrical and fairytale like. And Olive herself is dramatic. This musical performance expresses her inner world and feelings for Ned the Piemaker in a way only dialogue could not. Juxtaposed with the janitor's interruptions and obliviousness, it's not only funny, but a great way to dig into Olive as a character, especially as she remains mostly supporting character for the first season.

Back to the mystery, in their investigation, the gang meet a model for the car company Bernard worked for named Jeanine.

Side note: Jeanine is portrayed as having an eating disorder, and rather insensitively. This is the first (but unfortunately not last) example of insensitive/stereotypical portrayals of mental health issues in the show. There is also a not insignificant portion of racist stereotypes against Asian cultures, in this episode but also some in the future. As much as I love this show, it's important to me to acknowledge that some of it is.... well, shitty.

Jeanine tells the team what she knows about Bernard's death, and her personal relationship with him, through a series of flashbacks. The show uses a specific musical sequence to signal these flashbacks throughout the entire series. The music is primarily strings at first, beginning in a threatening and mysterious theme. As Jeanine and Bernard's relationship grows, the music becomes more and more romantic, before returning to a more secretive staccato theme as the story progresses toward the inevitable murder.

Most flashbacks in the series are similar to this- mood music by an orchestra with flashback scenes, while the narrator tells the story. This allows the creators to show, not just tell, the audience what really happened during the central mystery.

Finally, we get to my personal favorite part of this episode- the team discovers the killer to be the owner of the car company, hiding safety issues with the new vehicle that Bernard had figured out. He captures Ned, Chuck, and Emerson, and plans to murder them in the same way he murdered Bernard: sending them through the crash test in a car. He puts the investigators in clear plastic body bags for easy clean up.

This scene is the perfect balance of funny and romantic, with constant and abrupt switches in the music. The killer begins his villain monologue/rant to frantic background music. The shot cuts to Chuck in the car, and the music goes nearly silent- they can't actually hear any of the rant through the car and body bags. The music remains reflective as Chuck wonders about her imminent (second) death. Then, she turns to Ned, and the two share a moment.

-Another quick cut to the killer, accompanied by a musical sting, and then-

Back to Ned and Chuck as slow, romantic string music swells once again. They look into each other's eyes, then lean in and share their first kiss since childhood through their plastic body bags. The image is undoubtedly funny, but knowing they can't actually touch without Chuck dying on the spot makes it genuinely emotional. They're saying goodbye the only way they can.

The scene abruptly cuts, again, to Emerson, with an adventurous and more upbeat musical background as he escapes and physically pushes Chuck and Ned apart so they can drive away.

The scene is definitely cheesy, but that's what makes it so good. Pushing Daisies does a great job of balancing realism with absurdism, the cheesy with the genuine. The music plays such an important part in that balance, indicating tone shifts quickly.

[ofmimzy]

if there’s anyone out there who might want a starter from Icarus Crane, Emery Poppins, Loki, or Ned the Piemaker please slam that like button and comment who u want the starter from and, if applicable, who you want the starter for. i miss being active ‘round here & i’d love to get some threads goin’! these are most likely gonna be lyric starters bc i find those to be really fun!!

[pomegranate-belle]

74 for Dee/Gant and/or 49 for [a ship you haven't thought of in awhile but it comes into your head while reading this and you say "hell yeah that pairing rules"]

I did both so they’re going under a read more!

74. Kisses Where One Person Is Sitting In The Other’s Lap 

Arranged Marriage AU because it seemed to make the most sense!

—

Damon is fairly sure Dee’s only sitting in his lap for the scandal of it all. His bride to be is a lot of things, but clingy isn’t one of them. She’s got her arms threaded around his neck, but her eyes are as uninterested and calculating as ever. To everyone else it must look like she’s staring at him, but from his vantage point it’s easy to tell her gaze rests on the cluster of people gathered near the far wall.

It’s her mother, he thinks. Irritating Domenica is one of the few indulgences Dee allows herself. Personally, Damon doesn’t mind. He finds it entertaining. Besides, it’s good that there’s such animosity between them if he and Dee are planning to usurp Domenica’s place at the head of the family.

She means for them to be figureheads, probably, but Damon’s not content with that and he doubts Dee is either. Not with how sharp her gaze gets when her mother’s not looking. Speaking of Domenica, she seems to be very carefully restraining herself from spitting flames. At their, ah, display, no doubt.

“Kiss me,” Dee demands, unblinking.

“What?”

He’s asking to give her a chance to reconsider — he’s got no reservations, but this is mainly a business arrangement. Dee doesn’t repeat herself but she does stare him down with an expression that borders on annoyance. Ok. Message relayed. Gant feels a grin ticking at the corner of his mouth, but pushes it down to press their lips together. Somewhere, Domenica is probably about to erupt, but Gant’s focus is entirely on the woman in his arms, trying to decide whether he’s imagining the thread of passion in the way her mouth moves against his own.

---

49. Before Bed kiss

Ned/Olive, Pushing Daisies

I hurt myself deeply with this one but it’s fine. It’s fine.

—

Olive Snook was twenty-nine years, three months, five days, fifteen hours, and six minutes old — and not a minute more — when she sat down across from the Piemaker in his empty pie shop and watched him mope with his head buried in his folded arms.

“She’ll be back, you know,” Olive said, even though the words burned her throat like acid.

“Will she?” the Piemaker muttered, more to himself than her. “What if she doesn’t come back? Or someone recognizes her, or she goes after her dad and—”

“Ned!”

He jerked upright at the very loud shout. Across the pie shop, Digby perked up his ears. Deciding that Olive Snook’s raised voice was commonplace enough not to be concerned, he dropped his eternally golden muzzle back down on his paws and closed his eyes.

“Thinking about all the worst case scenarios isn’t gonna help,” Olive pointed out with her hands on her hips. “It’s late. You should get some sleep.”

“What if Chuck comes back and I’m not waiting? She might leave again, and I’d never even know!”

“If she does that she’s an idiot,” Olive told him decisively, grabbing one of his elbows to haul him out of the booth. “And she doesn’t deserve you.”

There were more words she wanted to say. I would never leave like that. Haven’t I been there for you, Ned? Haven’t I always been there?

But she had the good sense to keep such words buttoned behind her lips. The bond between the Piemaker and the girl named Chuck had been a thorn in her side for as long as she’d been aware of it, but attacking that bond had never gotten her anywhere except a one-way ticket to Heartbreak City in the county of Guilt.

So Olive Snook did as she had always done, and herded the Piemaker towards self-care despite his protests. She hooked her elbow through his, though their height difference turned her posture laughable, and marched him up the stairs, to the apartments above the pie shop. To his door, so close to hers and yet always too far to reach.

“Get some rest, will ya?” she ordered. “It’ll be better in the morning. And if it’s not, Emerson and I’ll help track Chuck down. Staying up all night won’t help anybody.”

“Thank you, Olive,” said the Piemaker after a long and contemplative pause. “I... You’re a good friend.”

And even though every muscle on her face wanted to frown, Olive Snook forced a smile. She knew that even if she leaned up on her tiptoes she wouldn’t be able to reach the Piemaker’s cheek for a kiss unless he bent down to accept it. She also knew that he wouldn’t accept it. Instead, she grabbed his large hand and gave his knuckles a gentle squeeze before dropping a kiss on them.

“Night, Ned.”

And with that she let him go. Turned away and walked into her apartment without looking back and closed the door behind her with a quick little snap.

If she had looked back, she might have seen the Piemaker standing in his doorway with wide eyes and flushed cheeks, cradling his hand to his chest.

[lcklstr-blog1]

i’ve  updated  my  muse  list  !!

chris  chambers  (  stand  by  me /  the  body  )  -  PRIMARY

john  ‘ace’  merrill  (  stand  by  me /  the  body  )  -  REQUEST  ONLY

ahkmenrah  (  night  at  the  museum  )  -  REQUEST  ONLY

baby groot  (  gotg vol 2  )  -  REQUEST  ONLY

cassiel  (  angel oc  )  -  REQUEST  ONLY

david  (  the  lost  boys  )  -  REQUEST  ONLY

ned  the  piemaker  (  pushing  daisies  )  -  REQUEST  ONLY

donald  pierce  (  logan  /  mcbu  )  -  REQUEST  ONLY

so  feel  free  to  ask  for  a  starter  from  them  or  smth  !!  most  are  ‘request  only’  bc  idk  how  many  /  if  anyone  wants  to  thread  w  them  so  :)

[hctclcalifornia]

ned didn't think there was anyone alive who could make him more nervous than olive— clearly the thought alone had tempted the fates & given him a new challenge to work with. he didn't even want to think another negative thought about it, lest it happen again. instead he decides to be thankful for the new task as he moves to pull a cherry pie from the display rack, retreating briefly into the kitchen to grab a knife to cut a slice with. secretly, he's always a little glad when someone picks cherry— it reminds him of his mother, of summers spent watching eagerly at her elbow as she prepared another handmade work of art.

ned's hand is steady and delicate as he cuts out a slice of pie for alice. another cough of a laugh. "you say neurotic, i say focused and animated. i'd like to think that my high energy keeps me moving throughout the day, which allows me to better serve customers." with how empty the pie-hole usually was, alice maybe had a point. eyebrows furrow together as he sets the slice on a plate and sets it down in front of her, following it up with a fork and napkin after. ned nods at the papers spread on the table she was sitting at, arms crossing as he leaned against the countertop. "working on anything new? or are you just stretching your mental muscle?"

she's still watching him now, ever so intently. no, he hardly seems like the drug using type, too neurotic as it is already. but it is funny to think about, something about his sudden reaction. it earns a look of amusement, almost a smile, but not quite that. she glances down at the dog spread out lazily on the floor, tilting her head to the side, as if wondering what he might be dreaming about at the present moment. her eyes flicker up again, back to the piemaker, curious. she decides she'll move on now, despite her enjoyment of the whole conversation, for the poor man's sake.

"cherry." she's not really hungry, but she needs something to pick at while she writes, and coffee is only a half-decent companion. her notes are spread across the table in an orderly fashion - she arranges the papers into a neat stack and places them to the side. "you're very ... neurotic," she muses, observant as always. "not a good trait for a business owner, if i'm being honest."

[brezybrianne]

The Pie Hole - September 2020 

In honor of my favorite show in the entire universe, Pushing Daisies!

[prosewrote]

???. | @zephyr-iffic​ ⸻  "You're so damn gorgeous" (For Ned)

Is he BLUSHING ? His face is warm, so he must be and now that he notice’s the feeling he can track it growing to reach his ears and neck. So he promptly hand’s his customer their order before turning on the heel to hide his face. He can’t help the smile tugging at one corner of his mouth however, the feeling of butterflies tickling his stomach at the stranger’s random compliment. You’d think he’d be used to such words with Olive’s daily attack of flirtations but he always assumed that was due to their close friendship; this was different. This wasn’t from his childhood sweetheart either, it was a total unknown man paying him enough attention to speak up and call him gorgeous. The other guy wasn’t so bad looking himself, soft looking dark locks framing his glowing face. His dark skin complimented with the blue of his outfit. Ned doesn’t know what to do with himself other than mutter a shy thank you and briskly make his way to the back, where Olive was currently wiping down the kitchen island table to be ready for the next batch to bake.

“OLIVE ! Olive, help -- help me I don’t know what to do, this gentleman out there called me gorgeous for no reason and I happen to know my face is covered in flour and sweat so I don’t know if he need’s glasses or is just as bad at lying as I am but --” 

He’s shushed by Olives tiny hand covering his mouth, ( a great feat, considering his 6′5 stature versus her 5 foot ) and he’s shuffled around to where she could get a good look at who he was talking about. She does a strange whispering cheer of a sort before pushing him off out of sight. She goes to wet a cloth and returns with it hand roughly pulling him down by his shirt collar, causing him to grunt with the force. How rough ! Olive could be quite scary when she wanted to be. She’s wiping away at his face until it’s clean, even sneaking in a couple of swipes of her own cherry Chapstick to his apparently chapped lips, which he gently bats away at before she’s pushing him back out again. He’s stuttering and trying to squirm out of her hold until he’s back out behind the counter, Olive whispering a quick good luck in his ear ( shoulder more like ) and scurrying back into the kitchen. He swallows, observing the male before slowly approaching, grasping up a clean towel to wipe down the counter with as something to busy his hands. His voice waver’s only slightly when he speaks.

“Um, hi ... How’s the pie ? Or coffee ? The coffee is new to the menu here, it was usually tea before ...”

[prosewrote]

OPEN. | @deathfound​  ⸻   ❛❛ I know you don’t like hugs, but… I could really use one right now… ❜❜ (for ned)

He had witnessed earlier that day what might’ve upset her; the latest case had involved a CHILD and as much as it might’ve made him uncomfortable to have to wake a child from the dead and ask them questions on how they died, it surely cannot compare to what Cassie had to do next. He can handle one whole exact minute, but a day ? It’s what she had to deal with, until they solved the murder and she could help them continue on. It also make’s him feel bad for previous cases he and Emerson had before they met Cassie, it also make’s him wonder ‘ how many more has she seen ? ‘. 

Later on at the Pie Hole, he already had her preferred order ready and waiting for her at the counter bar, even sitting closer than usual by her, almost knee to knee on the stools. They had been nibbling their food in silence together when she spoke, catching him off guard with her request. He gently set’s his fork down, swallows; how does he do this ? It’s not that he didn’t like hugs, he simply never had them enough to really know the feeling or understand it. TOUCH STARVED is what Emerson had described him at one point so sarcastically. He couldn’t help it, a healthy fear of his ability was the cause for it most times and even so nobody seemed to really want to touch HIM. Minus Olive, her pushy persistence simply made him uncomfortable with her, unfortunately.

So he decides to just go for it, like he’s read and seen on TV so many times before. He stands from his seat and grasps her hands gently to lead her to do the same. Once both up, he falter’s for just a second before gently pulling her to him, her head barely making it to his chest level. Large hand softly caresses the back of her head after he guides her arms around his waist, arm lightly wrapping around her shoulders as he rests his chin lightly on her head. He doesn’t even realize when he begins to gently rock her side to side as a comfort sign he did himself many times before. Was that strawberries he smelled in her hair ? How nice. 

[hctclcalifornia]

he spins back around on his heel so fast he almost falls over, eyes cartoonishly wide as he sputters around a reply. "on something?!?" although he was already an incredibly anxious person alice seemed to amplify that, mostly because it felt like she could read him like a book. not exactly what you want when your side job is bringing people back to life (however briefly) to solve their murder. "i've never taken anything. stealing or drugs, although i know that in this instance you're referring to the drugs part."

the stealing part was kind of a lie, but only if you were really pedantic about truth telling. he glanced over his shoulder at digby, who was taking a lazy afternoon nap on the floor, and suddenly felt very glad that dogs could not speak. "are you here for a slice of pie, or did you just come in to accuse me of doing drugs?" hopefully they were moving on from the subject.

ned is a curious sort of person. she's sensing some anxiety on his part, maybe more than that. it might be her effect, she does have the tendency to make others feel uneasy with her stares. she thinks to herself, she could press even further, make the situation much worse than it is. tempting sometimes - there's a certain power to it - but now, that would just be cruel. he reminds her of a shelter dog, jittery the way they sometimes are. she's never been an animal person. "are you on something right now?" there she goes, with her prying.