We Need to Talk About Pete (Ep. 7) | The Unsleeping City 

I have to ask - who did the intro music for this because it is pure excellence

Murph doesn't like superheroes yet he loves doing this

that's a good app right there

​@@beaugantz4888 Jenn

Since I’ve just discovered you, I am INCREDIBLY IMPRESSED by the fun of this game, and I love the teamwork and wit of everyone at the table, but the MOST impressive part of THIS episode is the acting between Brennan (“Liz”) and Lou (“Kingston”). That repartee was so STUNNING that I saw those characters manifest! Award-Winning Talent!🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

I kept waiting for one to be like "hows the tits bro?" But they're basically the PC frat from South Park only all Johns lolol

In my experience bodybuilders are really pretty cool actually

the best firefighters

I was about to comment this exact thing, they make me so happy

Mine is straight up whatever the cat would be

That's exactly what I thought

thats one of the really good things about this series, you can completely understand both sides of this

I love how well the roles are acted. It would be unrealistic for Pete to suddenly do a 180 just because he finds out there’s magic and he’s the vox phantasm. If anything, it would be in character for him to not want to deal with the enormous responsibility which seems to come with this “gift” he didn’t ask for. The others are also relatable in expressing their feelings as their characters since for Kingston and Alejandro, they are concerned with the back to back major incidents that coincided with the arrival of this unpredictable person that they do not trust. Sofia being the heart of this campaign and speaking up to give Pete a chance is absolutely warming...

i mean at that point you're just asking for bugsters

"Do you want roaches!? Because this is how you get roaches!"

She's the random drunk woman in the rest room who compliments you on your outfit and gives you a bit of her perfume to touch up.

What would she be as a Vox, is my question

@@wyattlohr8199 Vox Clementia, the voice of compassion to whoever needs it

@@rhys7877 now that's got a nice ring to it

Kingston the Vox of the people of New York, Pete the Vox of Dreaming and magic; Sophia the bridge to both.

The Good Boy is having the best day.

This is highly inaccurate to real life but then again it's Ricky Matsui and there is magic so no complaints here.

I mean Sophia's day turned out pretty good too. Training at a monastery all day and gaining a master feels more like she's putting her life back together while everyone's falls apart. While Ricky's day just seemed like it was a normal Ricky kind of day, other than getting a new dog, which I guess still makes it the best.

Even when Ricky has a bad day, it seems like he has a great day.

@@endorolfgreenwolf5265 unless a certain mall goth is involved

"I'm not microdosing, it was a full dose."

What about "Are you my Dad?"

"I've got an open room Oh? Where do you live? Staten Island Aaanyway, what was that about the tiny one room apartment?" Is prolly my fav running joke

That's not a joke. "High" is Pete's level of coping.

@@kitten-inside But it is a joke…

That's just what New York is like

"Greatest city in the wirld*

1:02:40 if anyone is curious

Except for Ricky. The most handsome blessed man in all of New York

I just wanna give her a hug, but that would probably derail her plans

The worst part is that she technically had one week of downtime to talk to her brother! XD

"Sofia's story is the story of a woman" and you can basically leave off the rest, it's redundant.

Wait stop, take back this realisation my heart can't take it 😭

Oh my god, you’re right! Such a role reversal. What I wouldn’t give to play a campaign with this group.

Die the accidentally abandoned kid or live long enough to be the father

Wait I thought that was established two episodes ago but this is my second time watching so maybe I’m wrong

I think they're talking about from fantasy high to this one.

I was doing chores while listening to this episode and when they started yelling at each other, when Brennan threw the first "FUCK YOU", I was taken aback like "WHOA" I nearly dropped a glass 🤣

@@castlegarden2999 I love the stuff on the subtle side the most like how the whole group went like :0 when Kingston said "... and please, don't call me Mr. Brown" and Liz turns on the recorder and says "Mr. Brown, thank you for your time." The amount of improvisational prowess on display is Wild.

It says a lot that, for a moment, I forgot that they weren't the characters they were playing as

i was blown away with that performance it was so good

@@user-gk2sc4ky4i the indignant tone in Lou's delivery of "I AM faithful! I WAS faithful! I would have CONTINUED to be faithful!" And the waver in his voice as he gives his resigned apology\confession of regrets is masterful.

Totally. And I thought he was about to say "And I have _been_ faithful ever since!" or something

The preview for this episode made it seem like Kingston's loyalty to New York was being questioned with how serious he said it, at least that's what I thought was going to happen.

I feel, not nervously called out, but seen from this line.

This was a great scene of role playing. Both of these guys played it so well, had me smiling.

Like, I feel acknowledged. Like Lou described my exact feelings towards my ex.

invented?

was just about to comment this haha

​@@jedinxf7yeah I'm pretty sure he patented it a few years ago.

Zeitgeisty!

I know!!! I watched that movie and was literally like “holy shit d20 reference”

Right across from Spaghetti's

Weird fact: there is actually a Tibetan Buddhist museum at the highest point of Staten Island, which is a recreation of an actual Tibetan Buddhist temple.

@@andrewdiaz3529 Spaghetti’s the bakery, that bakes pasta.

I love the "Everyone doesn't want to go to Staten Island" is the best running gag.

@@DocFleg Came here to say, this, thank you friend.

So important. Having a cohesive group who can keep the energy up while the DM ducks out is gold.

I absolutely love when my players do that. It gives me the perfect cover to look ahead in the adventure that I picked up like an hour before the game started.

Yeah, this group absolutely rules

What’s the time stamp?

@@mr.citrus2614 42:31

To anyone looking, the line is at 47:25

“Hey, I’m fighting demons from hell lol how are you? -selfie-” “I’m fine Ricky, what the hell are you serious???”

And then there's just Ricky having a great time, and I am here for it

@@YeetSpace having a great time with his jacked firefighter bros just talking about life, and drinking their respect woman juice. i want a John for myself :[

Guinness*... unless they had old English money again :p

@@roelofvredeveld5470 I thought he was holding two small rodents

Yes

Yes

Yes

Absolutely

Yes

*click* “FUCK YOU” is also a great part

I’m dying

@@smilesfordays I'm sorry for your loss, your mother must be devastated.

Absolutely!

Kingston has always been my favorite character in this campaign, Pete one of my least favorites (still love him ) but as soon as they moved in together I decided that their relationship gives me a reason to live

They really feel like found family, it's a dynamic somewhere between father/son and brothers and they play it so well and naturally

I love that I read the INcredible in Brennan's voice lol

I kinda feel like there's a message about prostitution here, though I'm not sure...

@@antoningilbert1615…no.

​@@antoningilbert1615you have a strange understanding of sex workers

And how his son thinks he’s a deadbeat and terrible guy hurts

Yeah by far the saddest thing I've seen in such a long time

I mean the saddest part is that if he was still human he probably wouldn't be part of his family's life. He was punished for a reason and didn't get to be a better person until years after his transformation. Chances are he'd be the deadbeat guy who David was writing too

@@dragoes9 oof that's probably true but I didn't need to feel those feelings today

She's amazing.

I am also in love with Misty, and the cave bit had me dying laughing. Specially with the Merlin thingy.

I love the scene where her assistant says, “It won’t happen again,” and how fast Siobhan responds with, “No. it won’t.” It’s such a perfect exchange.

I feel like she used to be the one (just an assumption, many teens are anxious) and she will be the other one day.

That was some incredible role playing and improv. I love Pete so much, and I’m pulling for him.

I think cry booths should be more of a thing. That dude was so god damn wholesome.

@@lordfelidae4505 I used the anechoic chamber in my college as one when I was studying in the acoustics room and it was so fucking good.

Sorry, what does ACOC mean?

@@erwinl.3817 A Crown of Candy

@@erwinl.3817 It's a crown of candy and it's SUPERB

He's really amazing with the roleplay. Kingston is exhausting already, and I was so disapointed in him at that moment, and at the same time in the edge of my seat. And the whole exchange with Liz!

@@giannidescalzo2101 Wait, disappointed? I thought he was talking the most bare-bones sense. Dude has a job protect the people of the city from as much danger as he can, especially from the dream world. Everyone else was muddying the brutal truth with their wishes and hopes - which shouldn't be altogether discounted but the worst was being asked about. If Pete starts summoning every fucking nightmare into the waking world and potentially killing even *dozens* of people? You have to kill him, but I don't imagine Kingston relishing it or something.

It honestly show how much these players under Brendan as a DM are as amazing at improving as he is.

And then later Sophia stepping on the monk's Staten Island joke. They players know each other so well.

BRUH YES

Damn even geniuses miss sometimes I guess

Was it improvised? If so, amazing. I thought it was just cut to look like he wasn't reading it.

Just remembered from that, that fae tend to have a ‘thing’ about outright lies and am _very_ confused how Misty functions.

Just for the future, the name is spelled Siobhan.

@@benjamindunne8132 Oh sorry, thanks for the correction :D

@@alecLogan She's not /that/ old. She's not exactly 800. 814 isn't 800. There's no lie there.

@@chrismanuel9768 she also then makes the face and laughs again so it sort of leaves it ambiguous. of course no human in new york would believe her and just assumes she’s joking but there’s a second part to the joke where her facial expression is like “haha maybe i am that old” is it’s very ambiguous

It makes sense for his character. He lives for the city and the city lives for him. Pete has acted as a source of anarchy even before becoming the vox phantasma. Though I’m sure Kingston would be completely destroyed by having to kill Pete, he wouldn’t hesitate to do it if it meant preserving the lives of the people in his city

@@samreid6010 Pete is a people in his city, and there's hundreds more like him. Anarchy is part of the city. Killing off every person that doesn't fit your mold eventually leaves you with nobody. Just you and the mold you made for yourself. Kingston wants to protect the city? That means protecting Pete.

@@chrismanuel9768 he accepts all the misfits of the city. That’s plenty clear from how he treats Pete. What differentiates Pete from everyone else is that he is screwing around with a power that could easily wipe the city off the map. Kingston doesn’t want to even have to consider taking such drastic action, but when you are so deeply connected to something like Kingston, you have to take all threats to it seriously. I think it’s telling that from the reactions of those who have known Kingston for years that he has never before had to consider such drastic measures. That’s how much of a threat Pete represents

@@samreid6010 yeah

@@samreid6010 I feel like a lot of this could be solved if Pete actually knew what was going on with his powers. He found out that magic even exists maybe a week ago. When he accidentally let out the nightmare bugs because he had no clue any of this had consequences because _no one told him,_ he was reprimanded and had to fight for control of the magic that has already killed people. I don't understand why Kingston or Alejandro haven't just sat him down and talked to him yet. They're clearly worried about him (and what might happen with his magic).

There's a reason there isn't a song called fuck the firefighters

​@@leviqueen1504 It all depends on context...

U got to understand him, his behavior, immaturity, addiction to substance and emotional mess is a danger to himself and others, they are trying to help while knowing what to do if it gets out of control (which is a lot more than most people concerned with their own and the city's wellbeing are willing to do instead of just putting him down. Imo Winston is doing the best possible thing. Trying to train and contain Pete while developing countermeasures.

@@Teriyaki-BoyXV but they have done absolutely nothing to actively try to help him through this transition. He's a guy who's life has been upside down now turned inside out, and they haven't put him in a safe space or a position to actually learn about his power or how anything in the Unsleeping City or the 6th Borough, instead just having come down directly on his head. I'm not saying Pete doesn't need a stern talking to, however they've been straight up attacking him and OF COURSE he's gonna freak out. You can't tell me there aren't resources Alejandro could pull upon to help him control the power of the Vox Phantasma, and he has done nothing remotely helpful that isn't also self serving or purely for the protection of the city. Not to say that Pete isn't a danger, but Pete himself also needs protection, he is an integral part of the city too.

@@doktorphlog2143 I mostly agree with you, i think both our pov stand true

@@Teriyaki-BoyXV oh yeah, the nuclear option should always be considered, the worst possible outcome is a possible outcome, but nobody there had any plan to get his problems figured out was the main problem I had with the convo.

@@doktorphlog2143 What I don't get is, Alejandro TRIED to put Pete to sleep and TRIED to activate his powers to study them with apparently zero safeguards in place and then BLAMES Pete when he......goes to sleep and activates his powers? They've literally told him nothing and not a single one of these ancient supposedly smart beings have even thought to teach him lucid dreaming techniques let alone mention a single piece of advice about how to approach dreaming now that he has these powers. Honestly I kinda wish Sofia would punch Alejandro and tell Kingston that just because he's the voice of the people doesn't mean he gets to speak over everyone else.

Is this not a well-known fact? I guess experience really does shape everything in a person

I think they also can compress their ribs? And hold their breath pretty well. There’s a reason there’s problems with them coming up the pipes

Not exactly, all mammals have bones, the thing is that they have no collarbone so the skull is the widest part. Cats also have no collarbone that's why they're liquid

I mean it’s kinda nonsense - that’s not at all what cartilaginous means: rat skeletons are not that different from any mammal

he used to sit under a tbale at lunch and read animal fact cards apparently

Same, fam. I was going " Staten Island, Staten Island, Staten Island? Yessss!" under my breath 😂

Not only are these useful as hell, these titles had me wheezing-

These titles are seriously good

once again, flando's coming in clutch 😌

+

Omg "the most powerful magic is chronomancy" you are a GENIUS

what did he do? i searched him up but all it said was that he built a lot of high ways

@@shaeflatt8428 What he did was extremely calculated and exacting in a way that would make it seem in the history books that what he did was innocent enough. The reality of it was that he was a city planning commissioner for NYC who used his title and carefully-worded contracts so that he could profit directly from municipal projects that should have been allocated to the city. For example, he made a fortune from the tolls collected from the Triborough (now called R.F.K.) Bridge, which became a crucial artery in the flow of traffic between three boroughs. Because of the language he used in the contacts that were signed by the city, he was essentially in complete control of the operations of the bridge outside of his official role, and was able to funnel that money and the power that the bridge granted him to force the city to sign off on other major projects that he dreamed up. Some of these projects had some benefit to New York, but more so than anything else he designed everything in a way that benefitted the wealthy and specifically those with cars. He was a racist, and this became evident in the way he planned his projects - the Cross Bronx Expressway, for example, saw the demolition of hundreds of apartment buildings in African American and Hispanic neighborhoods, displacing tens of thousands of lower-income people who were forced out of their homes with little warning and made to try to find other places to live, and destroying their communities and neighborhoods in the process. All for a highway that has been so congested and clogged with traffic that it is one of the worst roadways in the city. Some of his other highways were built along the edges of Manhattan, effectively cutting off dozens of neighborhoods from their waterfront parks and potential community expansions. When he built highways farther out in the other boroughs that led to the 'public' parks and beaches he created, he specifically designed the bridges that spanned over them to be too low for buses to be able to go under them. Why? Because buses could bring lower-income people (people who didn't have cars) to these parks and beaches, and he saw them as a blight to his imagined 'perfect society'. Additionally, not all of the funds he used for these projects came from the wealth he generated. He reallocated millions of taxpayer dollars that were supposed to be used toward improving and maintaining New York's aging public transportation infrastructure for his whims, which have had a ripple effect that negatively affects the subway and bus system to this day. I suggest reading the book "The Power Broker" to learn more. It's a massive book, but an important read.

@@bluesprucenyc There’s also the thing he did with the public pools in Harlem; keeping the water temperature deliberately low. The destruction of the ferry dock while the ferry was out was peak cartoon villainy.

@@bluesprucenyc whoa thank you for all the information, wikipedia wasn’t as straight to the point as that.. what an awful evil guy

Not just that, his magical plan is essentially a metaphor for what the real Robert Moses did to New York City. I learned this listening to the Behind the Bastards episode on Moses.

You've heard of men writing women. Now get ready for Feminist writing dude bros!

As a women in academia, how do you like all the cards stacked in your favor?

More like master shifu to po from kung fu panda 🤣🤣

The grumpy old master + NYC = Danny DeVito. Checks out.

If Phil trained the Wu-Tang Clan yes.

Yay lol somebody get this to the top

Or the DM’s ability to project an imaginary world on to the real one.

It’s easier than it looks. I have 2 sessions a week

@@thorodinson5235 Oh, yeah right! Two sessions a week? And everyone shows up? And I can’t even get a monthly game going. If you’re being serious, please, I beg you! Tell me your secret! You’d think during a pandemic it’d be easy to sync everyone’s schedules for some Zoom gaming but somehow it just got harder!

honestly the best reference Brennan chose to make as the final antagonist (i'm still watching this series for the first time atm) and I'm all for it fuck that racist prick up!

I fully expect Brennan to have read the Power Broker 😅

Think that offhand statement was either non-canon or he got dressed after combat ended.

That's why he had the disadvantage. Who wouldn't be staring at that absolutely beautiful penis lol

Its not just that, its *NYC*, New York is the city of Immigration. Like, nowhere in the rest of the USA has as many different cultures rubbing shoulders like NYC.

Oh word? When did you go on your vision quest to find your spirit animal?

Can I recommend the book; The death & life of great American cities by Jane Jacobs. Great book, really helped shape my understanding of urban planning

This is not a metaphor at all.

@@ellawanless641 The former. This is not a metaphor for American capitalism, but a story directly about American capitalism.

@@lordbuss ahh, well then yeah- but you can see how a person who hasn’t seen the whole season and but heard that it’s about American capitalism might assume that it must be metaphorical. Or just not think that hard about the specific language of their RU-vid comment ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@@ellawanless641I haven't seen the whole season, but when Robert Moses is secretly alive and explains about the supply and demand of blood for vampires (btw, his explanation is right, see my other comment)...

@@lordbuss you know it can be obvious and still be a metaphor

their facial expressions….

I thought the exact same thing my gamer