#Pete is playing Vegas.

[auseyre]

Prompt 8-Favorite Scene part 2

Bits that make me scream

Vegas putting his gun in his non-dominant hand because Pete shot him to keep him from using his gun hand. He expects to die right here but Korn of course won't even let him have that.

Kinn and Pete paralleling, asking Porsche and Vegas not to pull a gun on Korn in exactly the same way.

Pete wanting to run after Vegas immediately but realizing that he has to do this properly to appease Korn and for his own sense of duty to some extent.

Pete thanking Korn for his mercy in not killing Vegas - yeah this one breaks me. Legitimately if any character in the entire series should be the next head of the mob, it's Pete.

I consider this one long, perfect scene.

[tinycowboybro]

KP ANNIVERSARY WEEK 4

favorite couple: VegasPete 🔪

heeeeyyyyy guys don’t mind me just dropping this off rq 🙂

sorry it’s incredibly domestic lmao i wasn’t sure if i wanted to post it but i need soft things in my life and i think they are allowed to be sweet as a treat every now and then (i’ll spare them the horrors for now)

vegas definitely gets that overwhelming feeling of like “holy fuck i love you ???” after looking over at pete and seeing like the curve of his cheek or the bow of his lip or the way his hair fans out on the pillow. just tiny details that only he gets to see up close and the flood of emotions that come from that realization

and of course he has no idea wtf to do with that so he’s probably kinda weird about it but like

same

so

enjoy my cringe dialogue and doodle of them 🤝

[snickerdoodlles]

Very Important Question about Vegas's Youtube era: how colorful is his cookware? Did Macau and Chay get him pink and green pineapple patterned mini-muffin trays?

Vegas's kitchen is so colorful. his kitchen looks like a cute kitchen pinterest board threw up all over it. nobody can tell if his aesthetic is retro or industrial or countryside or what, because it's this eclectic mishmash of individually cute instagram worthy things thrown together in a way that almost works but doesn't, because a proper pinterest board is always a hot fucking mess when taken in its entirety.

it first begins with items of whimsy. Macau shows Vegas a picture of a dinosaur ladle, Vegas says "what the fuck is that? father would never allow for those" and that alone manifests 12 of them in his shopping cart. feels very weird about it when they arrive and banishes the box of them to the forgotten corner of a cupboard. then Macau buys Pete his first pineapple jar. and like. it's a pineapple. that's all it is. Pete sticks it in Vegas's kitchen and Vegas is stuck staring at a ceramic pineapple that just looks like a pineapple, unable to figure out why it feels weird. Macau gets Pete a second pineapple jar, except this time it's also an owl face, and Vegas can't figure out why he wishes he was looking at that one instead of the regular pineapple one. he wants to hurl both of them at a wall so hard they leave a dent as they shatter. he wants to put them in a window where they'll be framed as the sun rises on them. he buys a spatula with a bee pattern on a whim all by himself and is so on edge about it for the next two weeks he whips welts onto (a very happy) Pete's back.

over the course of time, all of Vegas's kitchen supplies become items you'd expect to find on pinterest. bird salt and pepper shakers. cutely bland patterned jars labeled COFFEE and TEA. an industrial chic spice rack that sits under his cottagecore herb wall. highly specialized mini pans that make foods in special shapes. so many pastel pots and pans. at first Vegas is always saying stuff like "someone got that for me" or "my father would hate it." but it's not about that. later he's defiantly indifferent and daring about owning them at all. but it's not really about any of that either. it's really just...Vegas letting himself have cute things. things that would be called ~girly~ or ~ruin~ his image. there's actually several items he's just neutral about (like the soft pastel colors--not really his thing tbh! but a good pot is a good pot) or even sometimes dislikes (mini muffin trays = yay!, mini pans that only cook one(1) thing = frustration)-- but like. Vegas is allowed to have them. he's even fine to like them if he wants to. it doesn't matter that he has them. the image they paint of him doesn't matter. and that feeling of just owning cutesy, whimsical, or downright weird kitchen shit as he pleases without it being anything else is its own high for Vegas and his traumas ❤

[canyourscienceexplainthis]

Re-watching kinnporsche and bruh Vegas and Kim are playing chess while everyone else is playing strip poker like these guys are strategizing and scheming and everyone else is just getting naked

[tumsa]

But one day you would show me you And that's all I knew

(vegaspete + angel by river styx)

[crescentlyautumn]

The first chapter is up, of my unhinged VegasPete fic Break My Skin And Drain Me. Please enjoy this wild first chapter.

🩸🫦

[blookmallow]

does anyone actually like butcher pete or is it just fallout's version of rickrolling

[nikkotinamide]

last artwork of the year is what my mind's eye pictured reading the VP howl's moving castle AU by @xxhappy-chickenxx I didn't know I needed (macau-cifer is the cutest ever)

edit: close-ups

[yujeong]

I'm returning home from a Maneskin concert and of course I have to turn this experience into a Pete experience somehow, so

Dumb Pete-simp bitch thought of the day:

Macau and Pete go to a concert together - Vegas Enjoying Music? Disabled!Vegas being able to go to a concert? Not in my post-canon - and Pete is mostly there with Macau because he wouldn't stfu about it (it's some rock or metal band Pete isn't aware of) and he wanted company and Pete is there mostly in bodyguard mode and he lets the noise and the screams go past him and he maybe zones out for a few moments and he curses himself that he does because Macau could end up in danger when he's not paying attention! Pay attention you fucking idiot!

...that's where I was going to end this thought, but then I remembered how I saw a few people cry when THE LONELIEST played (very nice song, hadn't heard it before, but I'm fixing that), so I'm adding another one:

Pete suddenly getting emotional, too emotional to be able to hide it, by a random ass song the band is playing and it doesn't even have to be a ballad or sth, just the sound of it, the words being said, the face of the performer saying them, Pete doesn't know why but he's suddenly trembling, and he can't take his eyes off the stage, and he's shedding tears he can't control and Macau looks at him with a smile on his face, because holy shit, P'Pete is actually a human being, and Pete is embarrassed but can't stop it, and maybe he hugs Macau to hide his face from him.

(Of course Macau got a picture and of course he's showing Vegas and of course Vegas gets emotional because Pete got emotional and Macau kind of regrets showing Vegas it happened at all, but he still smiles at his brothers trying to help each other)

[peachym00]

Pete looked at his phone to find it was half past three in the morning. Knowing he would lie awake until the sun came up unless he could adequately distract himself, he rolled out of bed, careful not to disturb Vegas.

Tiptoeing to the kitchen, he made some tea and sat at the counter until he finished it when the sudden creak of the door made Pete violently jump. The cup he was still holding fell to the floor and smashed against the unforgiving tiles.

Pete turns to look at the intruder, and they stare at each other in stunned silence.

“Shit,” Macau whispers loudly, which would have made Pete laugh if he was in a better mood, “Don’t move; I’ll sweep that up before you cut yourself.”

“Be careful,” he frowns as Macau sweeps up the mess even though he’s also barefooted.

“P’Pete, please don’t mother me whilst I’m saving you from the impending doom of tiny pieces of ceramic stuck in the bottom of your feet; my heroic work can’t afford distraction.”

This makes him smile, and he pretends to zip his mouth shut. When he’s finished, Pete thanks him, and he watches Macau hunt through the fridge.

“Is that what brought you down here in the middle of the night, your stomach?” He teasingly questions, watching him grab some leftover food and settle beside Pete on the counter. The heathen doesn’t even wait for the food to cool down after re-heating it; he just shoves it straight into his mouth.

“Yeah, my stomach is no joke when it comes to food,” he flaps his hand in front of his mouth in an apparent attempt at cooling down his mouthful, “when it’s hungry, I listen. Or I turn into a hangry beast.”

“You definitely get that from Vegas,” he snickers, ignoring the look he gets.

“What brings you to the kitchen in the middle of the night?”

“Oh, just couldn’t sleep, the usual.”

Macau nods knowingly, continuing to eat. “Nightmares?”

He pauses, almost denying it but deciding to be honest.

“How did you guess?”

“I know you’re jumpy, but that was a bit much, even for you.”

“I guess that was a pretty solid giveaway,” he smiles, embarrassed, but Macau just smiles back, kindly, in a way that Pete knows is completely sincere.

The door creaks for a second time, yet again making Pete jump, though not quite as violently this time.

“We need to oil that door,” he exclaims, making Macau snigger, placing a hand over his chest to feel his heart racing.

“What are you two doing?” Vegas asks, squinting his eyes in the dim light of the kitchen. His hair was messy like he’d been running his hands through it. Pete thought he looked cute.

“Nothing, just hanging out,” Macau chirps, swinging his legs under the table for good measure.

“You should be asleep.”

“You’re right, it’s late,” Pete says before Macau can reply; he doesn’t look Vegas in the eyes as he gets up to leave. “I should get back to bed.”

He can feel Vegas looking at him as he walks past, the weight of his stare bearing down on him. “Well, goodnight then,” Pete calls, faux cheerfully and awkwardly leaves the room.

He stops outside the door, cursing himself for acting so uncouthly. As he moves to properly leave, he catches their conversation.

“What was that about?” he hears Vegas ask sullenly.

“P’Pete smashed a cup because I scared him when I came in.”

“I know; it woke me up; he left the bedroom door open.”

“He had a nightmare,” Macau says pointedly.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.” More silence. “That’s all you have to say? Aren’t you going to see if he’s okay?”

“He probably doesn’t want to talk to me right now.”

“I wouldn’t even want to look at you if I were him, but this is P’Pete we’re talking about; I don’t think there’s anything you could do to stop him from talking to you.”

Vegas doesn’t reply.

[auseyre]

Prompt 8-Favorite Scene -part 1

There are 6 people whose goddamn lives are falling apart in this scene(well, more than they already had) and then there's Korn, playing puppet master.

I'm firmly in the "Nampheung is faking it completely" school. I think everything about her body language screams that she's holding herself back because Korn is such a threat to the people she loves. She does not move behind him, pretending to be in the state he claims until Porsche calls her Ma and she realizes that's her boy.

Also, something neat, though I don't know if was an intentional acting choice or not. When Nampheung is trying to figure out the best way to handle this, her eyes move constantly from side to side, something that Porsche also does when he's trying to assess a situation and figure out the best way to handle it.

ETA-When Nampheung goes over to Korn she grabs his gun arm...lightly but she keeps her hand on it until his focus is off Porsche and back onto Gun. I don't think that was an accident because when he's arguing with Gun she is clutching her dress like she wants to grab his arm again and has to physically restrain herself. She can only protect one of them and she chose Porsche (rewatching this scene over and over puts me also firmly in the - she did love Gun school of thought)

Bits that get me screaming

Kinn's constant little disappointed, despondent, disbelieving head shakes. Sorry, brah but no matter how many times you do it, it's not gonna make your father any less of a monster or any of this not true.

Porsche grabbing his head because Korn and Gun arguing is making him flashback to that day again.

(see part 2)

[raelle-writing]

A Day in the Park

A series of dates where Vegas and Pete heal their inner children together. Date one: in the park.

Short VegasPete fic, posted as a twitfic and edited a little for Tumblr. Fluff, rated T.

Vegas spent a truly frustrating morning stuck in the shop, haggling over the price of new tires for his Ducati, and when he got home all he wanted to do was cuddle up to Pete for a while and decompress. It was the weekend, so Macau would be around, which meant sex was unlikely. But Vegas didn't care. He just wanted to be with Pete for a while and fucking 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘹 for once.

So he was a bit annoyed when he got back to the condo and discovered that Pete wasn't there. And neither was Macau, for that matter.

It wasn't like they were obligated to wait for him at home, of course. Still, it irritated him. He just wanted some downtime with Pete! And he had a headache. And where were they, anyway?

He pulled out his phone and shot a quick text to Pete to check.

Still a bit annoyed, Vegas put his phone away and left. He knew what park they'd be at - the one close by, with a big open grassy patch, walking paths, and a playground. It only took about eight minutes for him to walk there. And, already, Vegas felt slightly less irritable.

It really was a nice day. Not too hot, with a nice breeze, sunny, gorgeous. He couldn't help unwinding a bit as he made it to the park and then spotted two familiar figures sitting on a blanket on the grass nearby. They both glanced up and waved as he drew close. Macau made a face at him. "Should've known you'd crash our date."

That made Pete laugh and shake his head, beckoning Vegas over. Vegas shot Macau a small glare before kicking off his shoes and climbing onto the blanket, settling with his head in Pete's lap.

Pete shaded a hand over Vegas' eyes to protect him from the bright sunlight. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," replied Vegas softly, smiling up at Pete.

"You're both disgusting. Let's eat before I lose my appetite," interrupted Macau, and Vegas shot him another glare.

But he didn't protest. Nor did he sit up. Instead he just made puppy-dog eyes at Pete until Pete rolled his eyes and started feeding him bites from their street food. Macau let out a very long-suffering sigh, but didn't protest, and before long their food was gone.

Vegas was undeniably in a better mood and closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of the sun on his skin and his head in Pete's lap. Pete's fingers toyed with his hair and it was so nice and relaxing. He loved these little moments with Pete. Moments he never thought he'd get to have.

A noise disturbed him and he opened his eyes, Pete shading his gaze again, to see Macau standing up. "I'm going home," he announced, making a face at them. "I don't want to feel horribly single for hours because of you two. Bye!"

Vegas wondered if he should feel guilty as he watched Macau walk away. But he didn't. Macau would find someone someday, and besides, he'd gone through enough. He deserved time with Pete. After everything.

They spent quite a while just lounging in the sun together, chatting, and then silent, drowsing. Though Vegas wasn't entirely able to sleep because of the sounds coming from the nearby playground. He wasn't annoyed, necessarily, by the chatter from the children. In fact, he found it kind of cute the way they called and laughed and played... although it made him sad.

He'd never been allowed to play on playgrounds as a child. It wasn't safe, and Gun disapproved of "play" because he believed Vegas should be focused on training to become his heir. And Vegas had never cared - never wanted friends. He didn't think he was missing anything.

But now, as an adult... he did. He felt the loss, not having carefree memories of his childhood. He realized, at some point, that he was looking off to the side and watching children play on the swings. Pete's fingers stroked his hair softly.

"Hey." Vegas glanced up and found Pete looking down at him, a sparkle of something playful in his eyes.

"What?"

"Do you want to play on the swings?" Vegas blinked, and stared up at him in surprise. "But... we're adults. Isn't that weird?"

"I don't really care. I think it sounds fun." Pete smiled playfully. "Come on, push me!"

Vegas didn't entirely know what was happening, but the next thing he knew, Pete had gotten him up and they were approaching the swings, holding hands. The swings were momentarily empty the children off playing elsewhere. Which made him feel slightly less awkward as Pete sat down on a swing and shot him a smile. "Push me!"

"Okay, baby. Okay." Vegas couldn't help feeling amused as he walked around to give Pete a push. Pete swung his feet out.

Vegas pushed him again as he swung back, harder this time, and Pete laughed, throwing his head back to look at Vegas. "This is fun. Push me higher!"

Vegas couldn't help laughing incredulously as well but wouldn't deny Pete that, so he stepped back to give more room. The next time, he pushed Pete 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥, and Pete swung higher, giggling.

They continued like that for a while, until suddenly, Pete dragged his feet on the ground and brought himself to a stop. "Your turn!"

Vegas blinked, but when Pete looked at him like that, all flushed with excitement and happiness, hair windswept, Vegas couldn't say no. So he rounded the swing and sat in it, feeling vaguely uncomfortable.

Pete's hands were firm on his back, pushing him up, then harder, and Vegas swung his legs to help with momentum.

In moments, he was laughing like a child, wind whipping through his hair as he crested the arc and felt weightless, then swung back, only for Pete to push him again, higher and higher. Pete was laughing, too, and Vegas couldn't remember the last time he'd felt like this. So free.

When he finally dragged his feet on the ground to bring himself to a stop, he was flushed and giggly. And the park was empty - it was getting kind of hot, so the parents had taken the kids home. Vegas couldn't help grinning at Pete playfully, feeling light inside.

"Race you to the top of that slide!" He ran off as soon as he finished speaking and he heard Pete laugh behind him. But it didn't matter, because a moment later he reached the slide and wriggled into it. It was a bit snug, but he managed to work his way up.

But he heard a thump outside, and a shadow passed over him. "Slow poke!" called Pete's muffled voice from outside.

"That's cheating!" Vegas wriggled the rest of the way up the slide but found Pete already perched at the very top when he stuck his head out, grinning down at him.

"Too slow."

Vegas stuck out his tongue, then clambered out of the slide, wrapping his arms around Pete to pick him up bodily off the top of the slide.

"Hey!" Pete giggled struggling playfully in Vegas' grip. "Let go!"

"No."

A moment later, he lost his balance and the two of them ended up sprawled out on the plastic of the playground. It was warm under Vegas' back, and uncomfortable, but he didn't care because Pete's face was right above his, looking flushed and happy and perfect.

Pete smiled down at him, then leaned down to press a light kiss into Vegas' lips, before pulling back to murmur, "I never really got to play on playgrounds when I was young. My dad wanted me to spend time training instead."

Vegas stared at him, feeling a surge of love.

They really were so similar, he realized. Sometimes it struck him over and over. They were so perfect for each other. "Me either."

"I thought so." Pete smiled at him before leaning down to kiss him again, softly. Vegas ran his fingers through Pete's hair, tugging him closer.

After a moment, they broke the kiss and Pete pinched him playfully, making Vegas jump. "Hey!"

"We should do this more often."

"Do what?" Vegas grinned up at him, then pivoted and flipped Pete onto his back. Pete yelped, then laughed.

"This. Go out and have fun. Do things we couldn't when we were kids." Pete tugged Vegas closer. "I'd like to do fun things with you." Vegas let out a soft laugh.

"Okay. I'd like that too."

Pete grinned, then promptly slid out from under Vegas, hopping down off the playground. He smiled up at Vegas. "Then lets see who can swing higher!"

Vegas couldn't help laughing, shaking his hair out of his face. "Race you there!"

Pete laughed and bolted back toward the swings, and Vegas ran after him, starstruck by the way he looked so flushed and happy.

Yeah, he definitely wanted to do this again, he thought as they started to swing again, wind whipping through his hair, feeling that same light, free feeling as before. Pete laughed and swung higher, and Vegas focused on this moment, this feeling that Pete brought out in him.

As long as he was with Pete, anything was fun. But, yes, he wanted to do more of this. It felt like being a child. And being a child with Pete was everything Vegas wanted, in this moment.

So he just focused on the present, laughing, giggling, playing, and loving Pete.

[snickerdoodlles]

any headcanons about the kp boys' favourite games? doesn't matter if it's board games, video games, card games, or mind games -- everything is fair game :')

Khun - internet quiz games like "which character are you" or "what cliche trope would you kiss" or whatever/etc etc. specifically, he likes taking them and then ranting about all the ways they're stupid and/or wrong.

Kim - claims its poker because he spent several years teaching himself how to count cards after he and Khun watched that one heist movie that involved counting cards. he liked Clue as a kid but then got extremely disappointed in it as he grew up. his university friends spend about four months trying to get him to download the among us game, then refuse to play with him after four days of him absolutely kicking ass at it. (new freshman hazing initiation ritual! Try To Beat Wik At Among Us! best played in a large group with a heckling peanut gallery.)

Chay - before Yok's bar, first person shooting games. or any type of shooting game really. less so afterwards.

Macau - ultimate videogame connoisseur. solid collection of board games for him and Vegas too (no scrabble though, he hates scrabble). his game room is a thing of legend. someone remind me to talk about the Macau&Chay you got mail AU that includes Chay calling Macau his sugar daddy after Macau gives him a bunch of turnips in Animal Crossing.

Vegas - he says mind games. his actual favorite game is pub trivia night. specifically in Pete's hometown where he and Pete's grandma team up against a bunch of other old people. have I mentioned I love a good relationship between Vegas & Pete's grandma.

Pete - he thought board games, because Khun's game rules are ridiculous but great at keeping things lively. he's extremely disappointed when Vegas and Macau don't like that at all. he is king of poker.

Porsche - card games! doesn't really have a specific favorite game and never plays for stakes, but one deck having multiple game options is a godsend when trying to entertain a kid on a budget. also damn good at card tricks, though he was careful not to show off those outside of home.

Kinn - Sudoku. he has an app folder of similar number games and spider solitaire on his phone. he is my favorite old man <3

Chay bonus - before BOC kinnporsche aired, one of my favorite Chay headcanons ever was pickpocket!Chay. so let's return to that and Chay breaks Kim's mind with card tricks. this is his new favorite game.

[fleet-off]

 #i too am feeling insane over 'after their prescribed roles lose their sway' #never over narrative-doomed vegas and his death scene and its inevitability #and how distracting and upsetting it was for the show to go on w/o him - but i couldn't claim it wasn't narratively true #what was most unfair is that pete gave up everything and then lost him anyway #post-credits: haha nah there was nothing inevitable about that #the curtain has closed #this is pete's story now #he's not going to lose his hard-won happy ending #vegas is just a man #there's no such thing as being narratively doomed when you're just a man #a young man. a despicably mutually in love young man. at that :)

via @vegaseatsass because these tags are (as always) perfect. <3

I will never be normal about this scene taking place after the end credits.

Because here we are, literally after the end of the story. And here is the comedic sidekick occasional-mentor, having survived his self-sacrifice for the hero at the end of Act II, having been torn open and loved in the dark, having emerged to realize that he can no longer be a blank moldable surface in his own life.

And here is the villain, having lost too early, having been cradled and seen and afforded grace, having emerged to realize that he cannot be the heartless evil he was made to be, having fought and failed and lived rather than died at the victors' hands.

After the story has been told, Pete is not a background character in service to someone else’s story. He is, in this place, the most important person.

After the curtain falls, Vegas is not a villain—and he is not lost, is not abandoned as comeuppance for his terrible flaws. He is a young man thoroughly, despicably, mutually in love.

Because after the finale has played out, after all the chess pieces have been tidied away until the next game, after the credits roll—the narrative roles Vegas and Pete were prescribed lose their sway. And they hold each other in the aftermath.

[badnewswhatsleft]

rock sound #312 (nov 2024)

transcript below cut:

ROCK SOUND 25 ICON

FALL OUT BOY

A BAND THAT CAPTURED THE HEARTS, MINDS AND HEADPHONES OF A GENERATION OF KIDS WORLDWIDE, FALL OUT BOY UNDOUBTEDLY CHANGED THE LANDSCAPE OF THE ALTERNATIVE SCENE FOREVER, NEVER AFRAID TO EXPERIMENT, TAKE CHANCES AND MAKE BOLD CHOICES AS THEY PUSHED FORWARD. FOLLOWING A SUMMER SPENT EXPLORING THE 'DAYS OF FALL OUT PAST', PATRICK STUMP AND PETE  WENTZ REFLECT ON THEIR PATH FROM POP PUNK, HARDCORE MISFITS TO ALL-CONQUERING, STADIUM-FILLING SONGWRITERS AS THEY ACCEPT THEIR ROCK SOUND 25 ICON AWARD.

WORDS JAMES WILSON-TAYLOR

PHOTOS ELLIOTT INGHAM

Let's begin with your most recent performance which was at When We Were Young festival in Las Vegas. It was such a special weekend, how are you reflecting on that moment?

PATRICK: It's wild, because the band, I think, is going on 23 years now, which really came as a surprise to me. I know it's this thing that old people always say, 'Man, it really goes by so fast', but then it happens to you and you're just taken aback. There were so many times throughout the weekend, every 10 minutes, where I'd turn around and see somebody and be like, 'Holy shit, I haven't seen you in 18 years', or something crazy like that. It was hard not to have a good time. When I was going up to perform with Motion City Soundtrack, which was an exciting thing in itself, I turn around and Bayside is there. And I haven't seen Bayside since we toured with them. God, I don't remember when that was, you know? So there was so much of that. You couldn't help but have a good time.

PETE: I mean, that's an insane festival, right? When they announce it, it looks fake every time. The lineup looks like some kid drew it on their folder at school. For our band, the thing that's a little weird, I think, is that by deciding to change between every album, and then we had the three year break which caused another big time jump, I think that it would be hard for us to focus on one album for that show. We're a band where our fans will debate the best record. So it was amazing that we were able to look backwards and try to build this show that would go through all the eras - nod to Taylor obviously on that one. But it's also an insane idea to take a show that should really be put on for one weekend in a theatre and then try to take it around the world at festivals. The whole time on stage for this particular show production, I'm just like 'Is this thing going to go on time?' Because if the whole thing is working totally flawlessly, it just barely works, you know what I mean? So I give a lot of credit to our crew for doing that, because it's not really a rock show. I know we play rock music and it's a rock festival, but the show itself is not really a rock production, and our crew does a very good job of bending that to fit within the medium.

That show allows you to nod to the past but without falling fully into nostalgia. You are still pushing the band into newer places within it.

PATRICK: That's always been a central thing. We're a weird band, because a lot of bands I know went through a period of rejecting their past, and frankly, I encounter this thing a lot, where people have expected that we stopped interacting with older material. But we always maintained a connection with a lot of the older music. We still close with 'Saturday'. So for us, it was never about letting go of the past. It was about bringing that along with you wherever you go. I'm still the same weird little guy that likes too much music to really pin down. It's just that I've carried that with me through all the different things that I've done and that the band has done. So for us, in terms of going forward and playing new stuff, that's always the thing that's important to me; that there should be new stuff to propel it. I never wanted to be an artist that just gave up on new music and went out and played the hits and collected the check and moved on. It's all got to be creative. That's why I do it. I want to make new music. That's always why I do it. So something like When We Were Young is kind of odd really. It's an odd fit for that, because it's nostalgic, which is not really my vibe all that much. But I found a lot of nostalgia in it. I found a lot of value in looking back and going 'Wow, this was really cool. It was amazing that we did this, that we all did this'. That scene of bands, we're all old now, but it has taken off into such a moment culturally that people can point to.

Let's jump all the way back to the first ever Fall Out Boy show. There is very little evidence of it available online but what are your memories of that performance?

PATRICK: So the very first Fall Out Boy show was at DePaul University in a fancy looking dining hall. I actually applied to DePaul, but I never went there because the band went on tour. I think there were only two or three other bands. One was a band called Stillwell, who were kind of a math rock emo band, and then this heavier, more metallic band. And then we were there, and we had a guitar player, John Flamandan, who I have not seen since that show. He was only in the band for a week or two, and we were still figuring ourselves out. We had three songs and I had never sung before in front of people. I did a talent show at school one time when I was a kid and theatre kind of stuff where you would sing, but it was more in that context. And I was also a kid too. This was the first time ever that I'm the singer for a band and I was fucking terrified. We had a drummer named Ben Rose, really great guy. I haven't seen Ben in a million years, either, but we were still figuring ourselves out. The other thing is that all of us, with me being the exception, were in other bands, and all of our other bands were better than Fall Out Boy was. We were very sloppy and didn't know what we were doing, and so I don't think any of us really took it seriously. But there was a thing that was really funny about it, where even though we kind of thought we sucked, and even though we weren't really focusing on it, we had a lot of fun with each other. We enjoyed trying this other thing, because we were hardcore kids, and we were not the pop punk kids and the pop punk bands in town, that was like 'the thing', and we were not really welcome in that. There was a fun in trying to figure out how to make melodic and pop music when we really didn't have any history with that. It was very obvious that we didn't know what we were doing at the beginning.

So when did it begin to feel like things were finally clicking? When did you find your roles and what you wanted the band to be? 

PETE: In regards to the music, I liked Fall Out boy, way before I probably should have. I remember playing the early demos and it giving me a feeling that I hadn't felt with any of the other bands that I had been in. Now, looking back on it, I might have been a tad early on that. Then as far as the roles, I think that they've been carving themselves out over time. We've always allowed ourselves to gravitate to our strengths. Between me and Patrick, we'd probably make one great, atypical rock artist if we were one person. Because our strengths are things that the other doesn't love as much. But I think that what has happened more is it's less of a fight now and there's more trust. We have a trust with each other. There's things that Patrick will play for me or explain to me, and I don't even really need him to explain it, because I trust him. I may not totally understand it, but I trust him as an artist. On the other side of that, it's also very nice to have someone who can veto your idea, you know what I mean? It's nice to have those kind of checks and balances.

PATRICK: I had been in this band called Patterson, and all three of the other guys sang in kind of a gravelly, Hot Water Music vibe. I was not intending to be a singer, but I would try and sing backups and, it wasn't a criticism, but there was this vibe that, while I could do the gravelly thing, my voice was coming through and it didn't fit. It was too pretty and that became a thing I was kind of embarrassed of. So when Fall Out Boy started, I was actively trying to disguise that and mute it and hide behind affectation. Pete would really push me to stretch my vowels because that was in vogue in pop punk at the time. There were all these different ways that we were trying to suppress me, musically, because we were just trying to figure out how to do the things that the bands we liked did. But that wasn't really us, you know? It's really funny, because 'Take This To Your Grave' was recorded in three sections, about six months apart. Over the course of that time, I can hear us figuring it out. I think a really defining moment for me was 'Saturday', because I am not brave, I am not a bold person, and I do not put myself out there. When I was showing the band 'Saturday', we were jamming on the bit after the second chorus, and I was mumbling around, just mucking my way through it, and I did the falsetto thing. I didn't think anyone could hear me over us bashing around in Joe's parents house in this tiny little room. But Pete stopped, and he goes, 'Do that again'. I was so terrified of doing that in front of these guys, because you gotta remember, I was incredibly shy, but also a drummer. I'd never sung in front of anyone before, and now I'm singing in a band and I'm certainly not going to take chances. So I thought the falsetto thing was really not going to happen, but when I did it, there was this really funny thing. Somehow that song clicked, and it opened up this door for us where we do something different than everybody else. We were aiming to be a pop punk or hardcore band, but we found this thing that felt more natural to me.

As you embarked on Warped Tour, simultaneously you were finding this huge level of pop and mainstream success. How was it navigating and finding your way through those two very different spaces?

PATRICK: I used to work at a used record store and what shows up is all the records after their success. So I got really acquainted and really comfortable with and prepared for the idea of musical failure. I just wanted to do it because I enjoyed doing it. But in terms of planning one's life, I was certain that I would, at most, get to put out a record and then have to go to school when it didn't work out. My parents were very cautious. I said to them after 'Take This To Your Grave' came out that I'm gonna see where this goes, because I didn't expect to be on a label and get to tour. I'm gonna give it a semester, and then it will almost certainly fail, and then after it fails, I'll go to school. And then it didn't fail. Warped Tour was very crazy too, I was talking about this at When We Were Young with My Chem. Both of us were these little shit bands that no one cared about when we booked the tour. Then we got to the tour, and all these people were showing up for us, way more than we expected, way more than Warped Tour expected. So Warped Tour was putting both of us on these little side stages, and the stages would collapse because people were so excited. It was this moment that came out of nowhere all of a sudden. Then we go to Island Records, and I had another conversation with my parents, because every band that I had known up to that point, even the biggest bands in town, they would have their big indie record and then they would go to the major label and drop off the face of the planet forever. So I was certain that was going to happen. I told them again, I'm going to put out this record, and then I'll go to school when this fails. 

PETE: I think that if you really wanted someone to feel like an alien, you would put them on TRL while they were on Warped Tour. You know what I mean? Because it is just bananas. On our bus, the air conditioning didn't work, so we were basically blowing out heat in the summer, but we were just so happy to be on a bus and so happy to be playing shows. You go from that to, two days later, stepping off the bus to brush your teeth and there's a line of people wanting to watch you brush your teeth. In some ways, it was super cool that it was happening with My Chemical Romance too because it didn't feel as random, right? It feels more meant to be. It feels like something is happening. To be on Warped Tour at that time - and if you weren't there, it would be probably hard to imagine, because it's like if Cirque Du Soleil had none of the acrobatics and ran on Monster energy drink. It was a traveling circus, but for it to reach critical mass while we were there, in some ways, was great, because you're not just sitting at home. In between touring, I would come home and I'd be sitting in my bedroom at my parents house. I would think about mortality and the edge of the whole thing and all these existential thoughts you feel when you're by yourself. But on Warped Tour, you go to the signing, you play laser tag, you go to the radio station. So in some ways, it's like you're in this little boot camp, and you don't really even think about anything too much. I guess it was a little bit of a blur.

Pete, when you introduced 'Bang The Doldrums' at When We Were Young, you encouraged the crowd to 'keep making weird shit'. That could almost be a mantra for the band as a whole. Your weirder moments are the ones that made you. Even a song like 'Dance Dance' has a rhythm section you never would have expected to hear on a rock track at that time.

PETE: You know, I just watched 'Joker 2' and I loved it. I do understand why people wouldn't because it subverts the whole thing. It subverts everything about the first one. That's something I've always really loved, when I watch artists who could keep making the same thing, and instead they make something that's challenging to them or challenging to their audience. Sometimes you miss, sometimes you do a big thing and you miss, and we've definitely done that. But I gotta say, all the things that I've really loved about art and music, and that has enriched my life, is when people take chances. You don't get the invention of anything new without that. To not make weird stuff would feel odd, and I personally would much rather lose and miss doing our own thing. To play it safe and cut yourself off around the edges and sand it down and then miss also, those are the worst misses, because you didn't even go big as yourself. This is where we connect with each other, we connect by our flaws and the little weird neuroses that we have. I rarely look at something and go 'Wow, that safe little idea really moved me'. I guess it happens, but I think about this with something like 'Joker 2' where this director was given the keys and you can just do anything. I think a lot of times somebody would just make an expected follow up but some people turn right when they're supposed to turn left. That's always been interesting on an artistic level, but at the same time, I think you're more likely to miss big when you do that.

PATRICK: Going into 'From Under The Cork Tree', I had this sense that this is my only shot. It has already outperformed what I expected. I don't want to be locked into doing the same thing forever, because I know me. I know I'm not Mr. Pop Punk, that's just one of many things I like. So I would be so bummed if for the rest of my life, I had to impersonate myself from when I was 17 and have to live in that forever. So I consciously wanted to put a lot of weird stuff on that record because I thought it was probably my only moment. 'Sugar, We're Goin Down' was a fairly straight ahead pop punk song but even that was weird for us, because it was slow. I remember being really scared about how slow it was, because it's almost mosh tempo for the whole song, which was not anything we had done up to that point. But in every direction, in every song, I was actively trying to push the boundaries as much as I could. 'Dance, Dance' was one of those ones where I was seeing what I can get away with, because I might never get this chance again. We were on tour with a friend's band, and I remember playing the record for them. I remember specifically playing 'Our Lawyer…' that opens the record, which has that 6/8 time feel, and they kind of look at me, like 'What?'. Then I played 'Dance, Dance', and they're like, 'Hey man, you know, whatever works for you. It's been nice knowing you'. But I just knew that, on the off chance that I ended up still being a musician in my 40s, I wanted to still love the music that we made. I didn't want to ever resent it. It's ironic because people say that bands sell out when they don't make the same thing over and over again. But wait a second. Say that again. Think about that.

That attitude seemed to carry directly into 'Infinity On High'. If you may never end up doing this again then let's make sure we bring in the orchestra while we still can... 

PATRICK: That was literally something that I did say to myself this might be the last time, the likelihood is we're going to fail because that's what happens, so this might be the last time that I ever get a chance to have somebody pay for an orchestra and a choir. I always think of The Who when they did 'A Quick One, While He's Away' and there's a part where they go 'cello, cello', because they couldn't afford real cellos, they couldn't afford players. That's what I thought would happen for me in life. So I went in and thought, let's do it all. Let's throw everything at the wall, because there's no chance that it's going to happen again. So many things came together on that record, but I didn't expect it. 'Arms Race' was a very weird song, and I was shocked when management went along with it and had kind of decided that would be the single. I was in disbelief. It did not feel like a single but it worked for us. It was a pretty big song and then 'Thnks Fr Th Mmrs' was easily the big hit off that record. So then we have two hit songs off of an album that I didn't even know would come out at that point. But again, it was very much just about taking the risks and seeing what the hell happened.

As you went on hiatus for a few years, you worked on a number of other creative projects. How did those end up influencing your approach to the band when you returned?

PETE: On the areas of the band where I led, I wanted to be a better leader. When you're younger and you're fighting for your ideas, I don't think that I was the greatest listener. I just wanted to be a better cog in the machine. When you're in a band originally, no one gives you the little band handbook and says 'these are the things you should do', you know? I just wanted to be a better version of who I was in the band. 

PATRICK: There's a combination of things. 'Soul Punk' is a weird record. I love that record but I kind of resent that record for so many things. It's my solo record, but it's also not very me in a lot of ways. I had started with a very odd little art rock record, and then I had some personal tragedies happen. My EP that I put out far out sold expectations so then all of a sudden, Island Records goes, 'Oh, we think this could actually be something we want singles for'. I think we had all expected that I would be putting out a smaller indie record but then all of a sudden they were like 'oh, you could be a pop star'. So then I have to retrofit this art rock record into pop star hit music, and also channel personal tragedy through it. I hadn't ever really been a front man - I'd been a singer, but I hadn't really been a front man, and I hadn't really written lyrics, certainly not introspective, personal lyrics. So that whole record is so strange and muted to me. So I went from that album, which also failed so fucking hard - I should have gone to school after that one. But Pete had reached out to me just as a friend, and said 'I know you're in your own thing right now, and I know that you're not the kind of person that is going to be in my fantasy football league, so I'm not going to see you unless we make music. But you're my buddy, and that kind of bums me out that I don't see you at all, so I guess we have to make music'. I thought that was a fairly convincing pitch. It's true, that was what we do when we hang out - we make music. So we reconvene, and going into it, I had all these lessons that really made me understand Pete better, because Pete is the natural front end person. So many of our arguments and frustrations and the things that we didn't see eye to eye on, I grew to understand having now been in the position of the point man that had to make all the decisions for my solo thing. It really flipped my understanding of why he said the things he would say, or why he did things he would do. I remember early on thinking he was so pushy, but then, in retrospect, you realise he was doing it for a reason. There's so many little things that really changed for me doing 'Soul Punk' that were not musical but were more about how you run a band and how you run a business, that made me understand and respect him a lot more.

What are memories of that initial return and, specifically, that tiny first show back at the Metro venue in Chicago?

PETE: Those first shows were definitely magical because I really wasn't sure that we would be on a stage again together. I don't have as many memories of some of our other first things. We were just talking about Warped Tour, I don't have many memories of those because it is almost wasted on you when it's a blur and there's so many things happening. But with this, I really wanted to not take it for granted and wanted to take in all the moments and have snapshots in our own heads of that show. I did a lot of other art during the time when we were off, everybody did, but there's a magic between the four of us and it was nice to know that it was real. When we got on that stage again at the Metro for the first time, there was something that's just a little different. I can't really put my finger on it, but it makes that art that we were making separately different than all the other stuff.

Musically, as you moved forward, everything sounded much bigger, almost ready for arenas and stadiums. Was that a conscious decision on your part?

PETE: Patrick felt like he was bursting with these ideas. It felt like these had been lying in wait, and they were big, and they were out there, and whether he'd saved them for those records, I don't really know. That's what it felt like to me. With 'Save Rock And Roll', we knew we had basically one shot. There were really three options; you'll have this other period in your career, no one will care or this will be the torch that burns the whole thing down. So we wanted to have it be at least on our terms. Then I think with 'American Beauty...' it was slightly different, because we made that record as fast as we could. We were in a pop sphere. Is there a way for a band to be competitive with DJs and rappers in terms of response time? Are we able to be on the scene and have it happen as quickly? I think it kind of made us insane a little bit. With 'American Beauty…', we really realised that we were not going to walk that same path in pop culture and that we would need to 'Trojan horse' our way into the conversation in some way. So we thought these songs could be played in stadiums, that these songs could be end titles. What are other avenues? Because radio didn't want this right now, so what are other avenues to make it to that conversation? Maybe this is just in my head but I thought 'Uma Thurman' could be a sister song to 'Dance, Dance' or maybe even 'Arms Race' where it is weird but it has pop elements to it.

PATRICK: I had a feeling on 'Save Rock And Roll' that it was kind of disjointed. It was a lot of good songs, but they were all over the place. So when we went into 'American Beauty…', I really wanted to make something cohesive. I do think that record is very coherent and very succinct - you either like it or you don't, and that's pretty much it all the way through. By the time we got to 'MANIA', I had done all this production and I'd started to get into scoring. The band had done so many things and taken so many weird chances that I just felt free to do whatever. At that point, no one's going to disown me if I try something really strange so let's see what happens. 'Young And Menace' was a big part of that experiment. People hate that song, and that's okay. It was meant to be challenging, it's obviously not supposed to be a pop song. It's an abrasive song, it should not have been a single. However, I do think that record should have been more like that. Towards the end of the production, there was this scramble of like, 'Oh, fuck, we have no pop music on this and we need to have singles' and things like that. That took over that record and became the last minute push. I think the last half of that record was recorded in the span of two weeks towards the end of the recording to try and pad it with more pop related songs. I look at that record and think it should have all been 'Young And Menace'. That should have been our 'Kid A' or something. It should have really challenged people.

But we have spoken before about how 'Folie à Deux' found its audience much later. It does feel like something similar is already beginning to happen with 'MANIA'...

PETE: I agree with you, and I think that's a great question, because I always thought like that. There's things that you're not there for, but you wish you were there. I always thought about it when we put out 'MANIA', because I don't know if it's for everyone, but this is your moment where you could change the course of history, you know, this could be your next 'Folie à Deux', which is bizarre because they're completely different records. But it also seems, and I think I have this with films and bands and stuff as well, that while one thing ascends, you see people grab onto the thing that other people wouldn't know, right? It's like me talking about 'Joker 2' - why not talk about the first one? That's the one that everybody likes. Maybe it's contrarian, I don't really know. I just purely like it. I'm sure that's what people say about 'Folie à Deux' and 'MANIA' as well. But there's something in the ascent where people begin to diverge, you are able to separate them and go 'Well, maybe this one's just for me and people like me. I like these other ones that other people talk about, but this one speaks to me'. I think over time, as they separate, the more people are able to say that. And then I can say this, because Patrick does music, I think that sometimes he's early on ideas, and time catches up with it a little bit as well. The ideas, and the guest on the record, they all make a little bit more sense as time goes on.

'MANIA' is almost the first of your albums designed for the streaming era. Everything is so different so people could almost pick and choose their own playlist.

PETE: Of course, you can curate it yourself. That's a great point. I think that the other point that you just made me think of is this was the first time where we realised, well, there's not really gatekeepers. The song will raise its hand, just like exactly what you're saying. So we should have probably just had 'The Last Of The Real Ones' be an early single, because that song was the one that people reacted to. But I think that there was still the old way of thinking in terms of picking the song that we think has the best chance, or whatever. But since then, we've just allowed the songs to dictate what path they take. I think that that's brilliant. If I'd had a chance to do that, curate my own record and pick the Metallica songs or whatever,that would be fantastic. So it was truly a learning experience in the way you release art to me.

PATRICK: After 'MANIA', I realised Fall Out Boy can't be the place for me to try everything. It's just not. We've been around for too long. We've been doing things for too long. It can't be my place to throw everything at the wall. There's too much that I've learned from scoring and from production now to put it all into it. So the scoring thing really became even more necessary. I needed it, emotionally. I needed a place to do everything, to have tubas and learn how to write jazz and how to write for the first trumpet. So then going into 'So Much (For) Stardust', it had the effect of making me more excited about rock music again, because I didn't feel the weight of all of this musical experimentation so I could just enjoy writing a rock song. It's funny, because I think it really grew into that towards the end of writing the record. I'd bet you, if we waited another month, it would probably be all more rock, because I had a rediscovered interest in it.

It's interesting you talk about the enjoyment of rock music again because that joy comes through on 'So Much (For) Stardust' in a major way, particularly on something like the title track. When the four of you all hit those closing harmonies together, especially live, that's a moment where everything feels fully cohesive and together and you can really enjoy yourselves. There's still experimental moments on the album but you guys are in a very confident and comfortable space right now and it definitely shows in the music. 

PATRICK: Yeah, I think that's a great point. When you talk about experimentation too and comfort, that's really the thing isn't it? This is always a thing that bugged me, because I never liked to jam when I was a kid. I really wanted to learn the part, memorise it and play it. Miles Davis was a side man for 20 years before he started doing his thing. You need to learn the shit out of your music theory and your instrument - you need to learn all the rules before you break them. I always had that mindset. But at this point, we as a band have worked with each other so much that now we can fuck around musically in ways that we didn't used to be able to and it's really exciting. There's just so much I notice now. There are ways that we all play that are really hard to describe. I think if you were to pull any one of the four of us out of it, I would really miss it. I would really miss that. It is this kind of alchemy of the way everyone works together. It's confidence, it's also comfort. It's like there's a home to it that I feel works so well. It's how I'm able to sing the way I sing, or it's how Andy's able to play the way he plays. There's something to it. We unlock stuff for each other.

Before we close, we must mention the other big live moment you had this year. You had played at Download Festival before but taking the headline slot, especially given the history of Donington, must have felt extra special. 

PETE: It felt insane. We always have a little bit of nerves about Download, wondering are we heavy enough? To the credit of the fans and the other bands playing, we have always felt so welcomed when we're there. There's very few times where you can look back on a time when... so, if I was a professional baseball player, and I'm throwing a ball against the wall in my parents garage as a kid, I could draw a direct link from the feeling of wanting to do that. I remember watching Metallica videos at Donington and thinking 'I want to be in Metallica at Donington'. That's not exactly how it turned out, but in some ways there is that direct link. On just a personal level, my family came over and got to see the festival. They were wearing the boots and we were in the mud. All this stuff that I would describe to them sounds insane when you tell your family in America - 'It's raining, but people love it'. For them to get to experience that was super special for me as well. We played the biggest production we've ever had and to get to do that there, the whole thing really made my summer.

PATRICK: There's not really words for it. It feels so improbable and so unlikely. Something hit me this last year, this last tour, where I would get out on stage and I'd be like, 'Wait, fucking seriously? People still want to see us and want to hear us?' It feels so strange and surreal. I go home and I'm just some schlubby Dad and I have to take out the compost and I have to remember to run the dishwasher. I live this not very exciting life, and then I get out there at Download and it's all these people. Because I'm naturally kind of shy, for years, I would look down when I played because I was so stressed about what was happening. Confidence and all these have given me a different posture so when I go out there, I can really see it, and it really hits you. Download, like you said, we've done before, but there's something very different about where I am now as a person. So I can really be there. And when you walk out on that stage, it is astounding. It forces you to play better and work harder, because these people waited for us. The show is the audience and your interaction with it. In the same way that the band has this alchemy to it, we can't play a show like that without that audience.