I just said most of this to
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coricomile,
supercasio and
doctor_denmark one way or another, so I figure I may as well say it here, too...
I think the thing to remember is that this is Pete. Pete has been doing shit like this for years and after every album, people have been sure they were on the verge of breaking up.
People are bugging them within a few months of clocking off for what they perceived as a lengthy holiday, it's hardly surprising that he can't imagine coming back yet. When you go home for the holidays are you thinking about going back to school or work? Hell, no! You're thinking how much time you get to spend with your family, your bed and doing all the stuff you can't do the rest of the time.
They have been being Fall Out Boy for the better part of the last decade. Even when they last had a break, it was continually interrupted by shows and publicity. Pete'll get bored soon enough and will probably be bugging them to work on the next album, in a couple of weeks. Frankly, he's probably just feeling emo and neglected right now because Andy and Joe are in a band that is
being taken seriously (something it's worth noting that FOB haven't entirely achieved, of late), and Patrick is always busy hanging out with his new best friend, Home Studio.
Part of me thinks that maybe, after years of the band saying, "We'd be nothing without Pete, we can't do this without Pete," their forrays into actually, y'know:
doing things without Pete has spooked him and wounded him a little bit. Even Patrick - the shy, introverted, self-conscious little kid they made to sing - is doing an album by himself and starting out in the industry on his own merit. That must be hugely jarring (and awesome, from a friend's perspective, but scary and jarring none the less). Is it any wonder he feels like they've grown apart and that he's unsure of his place in the band, now?
All the fans harrassing them for times and answers is just going to result in ill-thought-out comments (like this one) and snap decisions that people will regret.
Leave them to it and if coming back is right for them, that's what they'll do. If it's not, then give them the chance to come to that realisation through their personal growth and consideration, and on their own terms.
As much as the fans like to think differently, we don't own them, they're not our toys (even if we borrow the concept of them for fic, at times). When they're ready, they'll make their choice - but nothing that has been said in the last twenty-four hours is an announcement of any great finality. Keep Calm & Carry On.
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