Line #65 Fanfic/PackStreet


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/packstreetcrew_45.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Some of the Pack Street crew relaxing.[[note]]Left to right: Marty, Ozzy, Charlie, Al, Wolter, Anneke, Avo[[/note]]]]
3
4	->''"Sheep don't eat meat."''
5	-->--'''Remmy'''
6
7	''Pack Street'' is a series of ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'' fan comics and stories by Creator/TheWeaver.
8
9	You know Zootopia? A ShiningCity of interspecies cooperation in a WorldOfFunnyAnimals, where "anyone can be anything"? Well, there's a WrongSideOfTheTracks there, too, and if you didn't already know there were [[FantasticRacism predator/prey tensions]], that's where you'll find out.
10
11	Enter Remmy Cormo, our protagonist, a mostly mild-mannered sheep with an open mind but his own preconceived notions and ignorance about other species. After renting in the only affordable area he could, he has to adjust to the cast of eccentric and varied characters that call the area home, and vice versa. Maybe he can learn something along the way, assuming he doesn't put his hoof in his mouth too badly before then...
12
13	The setting is ongoing, and has attracted some attention from artists such as Adam Bryce Thomas, best known for ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics''.
14
15	[[http://imgur.com/a/0qa7h The comic Wannabite can be read here]].
16
17	The entirety of the written stories, including the chapters after "Wannabite," can be read [[http://archiveofourown.org/works/12141837/chapters/27547896 on AO3]]. A rougher draft that only goes up to the "Ruin" joke chapter can be found [[http://pastebin.com/u/packstreet on Pastebin]].
18
19	In 2023, Weaver announced ''Pack Street'' to be going on hiatus, possibly indefinitely, as a result of real life troubles relating to the people he wrote the story with.
20	----
21	!!Examples:
22
23	* AccidentalPervert: This happens to Remmy more than once, and sometimes it's not quite so innocent.
24	* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Marty proves to be a pretty good sport about Remmy's prank in "B.R.E". Remmy himself reciprocates when Marty finally gets his revenge in "What You Sow".
25	* AnimatedActors: In a very strange and presumably non-canon example, one comic shows a vixen claiming to play Charlie on the TV series ''Pack Street'' doing a celebrity endorsement, only for [[MindScrew the real Charlie to show up]] and [[HypocriticalHumor wonder how they got into her room]].
26	* AprilFoolsDay: "Ruin", posted on April 1, came immediately after the CliffHanger ending of "Wannabite", and is set up as a serious, dramatic continuation...before swiftly devolving into what would happen if the fans started RunningTheAsylum. Massive {{Flanderization}} immediately sets in, with Charlie going full ''Film/RainMan''; Avo smugly comments on the FanPreferredCouple; all of the males immediately become interested in each other, etc.
27	* ArcWords:
28	** "Sheep don't eat meat."
29	** In "What You Sow", Marty leads Remmy around town on a scavenger hunt, with each clue accompanied by the mysterious words "''We have what you need.''" [[spoiler: It turns out to be a prank; the "prize" at the end is [[YouNeedToGetLaid a sheep-shaped sex doll.]]]]
30	* BaitAndSwitch:
31	** When Velvet, a government worker is waiting for Ozzy and Remmy at the apartment building and expressing severe disappointment in them, you might think [[spoiler:she's found out about their participation in the recent crime. Nope! She's actually upset that Remmy (unintentionally) made Ozzy late for his appointment.]]
32	** In the mini-story "Transformation", the entire narrative implies that the main character is Marty. [[spoiler:It's actually Charlie]].
33	** The title card for "What You Sow" appears to show Remmy tied to a chair and being recorded for a HostageVideo. [[spoiler: It's actually a sheep-shaped sex doll being used to prank Remmy.]]
34	* BizarreTasteInFood: Remmy, a prey mammal who eats "bug burgas", a predator food. Come "Chum", he adds fish to his diet as well. Doubles as AscendedToCarnivorism.
35	* BookWorm: Marty. He works at a library, and his apartment is filled with books.
36	* TheCaper: In the chapter aptly titled, "The Heist", Charlie ropes Remmy and Wolter into helping her "liberate" a batch of medical-grade tiger pheromones.
37	* CerebusCallBack: The entire prose story can be seen as one for the 'Wannabite' comic, which was drawn first. The events depicted in the comic occur around the halfway point of the story, and with the added context we find out things were actually ''worse'' for Remmy than it seemed in the comic. His closest friend [[spoiler: went savage]], he just got laid off from his job before the first page, and the good nature he shows to his neighbors is being forced. Even his assurance to himself, 'I'm sure I'm not the only sheep who eats at Bug Burga', comes across as harsher now that we know he ''did'' see another sheep at the place once, only for them to turn out to be a racist jackass.
38	* ChekhovsGunman:
39	** Twice now Weaver has hidden a character who later turns out to be an important part of the story as a seemingly unrelated drawing among other Pack Street doodles long before they actually show up. Specifically, Pandora and [[spoiler:Kenny]].
40	** One doodle features Marty having an argument with an off-screen character named Jeanine. [[spoiler: She turns out to be the goat in Don's pack.]]
41	* DefrostingIceQueen: A two-way example with Remmy and the rest of Pack Street's residents. Over time, he gradually looks at them in a less negative light, and they in turn start treating him more like one of the group.
42	* DictionaryOpening: The very first line of the fic.
43	--> '''Wannabite:''' ''Noun. slang. (Also “wanna bite”) Pejorative for an individual belonging to a prey species who demonstrates predatory characteristics, or who desires to be a predator.\
44	Contrast predator analogs: grassbiter, grinder.''
45	* EnemyEatsYourLunch: A variant. In 'Among Wolves', during a fight with Betty, Al tears her trademark cigarette out of her mouth and smokes it in front of her.
46	* EpisodeTitleCard: As it was with ''Roommates'', each chapter begins with a title card in a simplified art style.
47	* FantasticSlur: As Pack Street is fairly rough territory by Zootopia standards, more than a few of these pop up during the course of the series.
48	** "Wannabite" -- a coarse, but not necessarily unfriendly, nickname for a prey animal who enjoys eating meat. Remmy's status as such is established in the first story, which is even named after it.
49	** "Predophile" -- a mocking nickname for a prey animal who is sexually interested in predators. The female preds of the apartment enjoy teasing Remmy that he is into them, and although he denies it, the narration makes it pretty obvious that they're on-track with the claim.
50	** "Hoofer" -- an ungulate. Cliff the tiger is deeply scandalized when he actually says this in front of Remmy, but Remmy himself doesn't consider it to be a slur; it's factual in nature (ungulates ''do'' have hooves, after all; it's their defining trait), it doesn't really sound offensive, and it rolls off the tongue more easily than "ungulate" does.
51	** "Chomper" -- a old-fashioned and very politically incorrect nickname for predators as a whole, referencing their teeth. Doubles as a MythologyGag, having been used in the "tame collar" drafts of ''Zootopia''.
52	** "Grazer" -- the predator equivalent to "Chomper", a derogatory name for prey.
53	* FromBadToWorse: [[spoiler:At the end of the "full" version of "Wannabite", the savage outbreaks may be over, but the predator populace knows it was a sheep ploy against them... and they know Remmy lives in the area. The end is essentially Remmy barricading himself in his apartment and huddling in a corner, terrified for his life in the face of what he can see coming.]] Later we find out that [[spoiler:the protest was exclusively against Mayor Bellwether, not sheep as a whole, as Neil contritely explains in "Paint Job" when Remmy outright asks him.]]
54	* FurryReminder: A lot of little tidbits about real animal traits and behaviors pop up during the stories, much like the series' inspiration.
55	** "Power Forward" reminds us that even as a short, hornless ram, Remmy is literally built for butting things with his head when he manages to ram a punching bag twice his size with such force that Avo, who's holding it on the other side, staggers away and falls to the ground gasping for breath like she just got one hell of a gut-punch.
56	** A lot of animal facts pop up in "Field Day" and "Sheepfacts", like the fact that hoofed animals like Remmy need special help gripping things due to the particular shape of their fingers, sheep have a 300 degree field of vision, aardwolves are technically felines, and hyenas can digest bones.
57	** In "Dogwhistle", Remmy assumes the whistle Al gave him is broken [[spoiler:when he desperately tries to call for help as he's attacked by Don's pack]]. Indeed, [[https://www.lsu.edu/deafness/HearingRange.html a sheep's hearing range is smaller than that of a canid or feline.]]
58	* TheGhost: Mama Black Ivory, the leader of a herbivore-majority pack on Pack Street. We see members of her pack, like Don, Jeanine and Dolph, and Al meets with her offscreen to [[spoiler: make peace between their packs after Don assaults Remmy]], but Mama herself has yet to appear. Art by Weaver depicts her as a rhinoceros.
59	* GuiltByCoincidence: In the text version of "Wannabite", things are ''much'' worse for Remmy than they seemed even in the comics, implying that he'll be a target of a sheep witch hunt ([[UnreliableNarrator at least given how he perceives it]]). Consider that:
60	** [[spoiler:All the conspirators are sheep. He's the only sheep in the area.]]
61	** [[spoiler:He was seen outside Pandora's shop the day she went savage.]]
62	** [[spoiler:He made remarks about losing his job (for unrelated reasons) just before the conspiracy was announced.]]
63	** [[spoiler:In "B.R.E.", he played a deep prank on Marty involving a fictional conspiracy of sheep, then promised him that no such thing existed, which was true as far as he knew at the time.]]
64	* HotterAndSexier: Remmy's UnwantedHarem from the rest of Pack Street lends itself to a lot of sex comedy in a fic derived from a children's movie.
65	* HowWeGotHere: The story opens (via the "Wannabite" comic) with Remmy, already moved in, watching the announcement of the Bellwether scandal on TV. The rest of the story is about the events leading up to that point, which it does in the story of the same title, and then continuing on.
66	* IconicItem: Remmy often sports a T-shirt that simply reads "MELES MELES"[[labelnote:note]]The scientific name of the European badger[[/labelnote]].
67	* InnocentlyInsensitive: Remmy tends to come across as this more often than not, often without even realizing he's being a jerk. To his credit, he always attempts to make amends.
68	* {{Irony}}: Remmy is the most individualist character in the story, misunderstanding the group mentality shared among the street and causing them to think he's arrogant. [[AnimalStereotypes He is a sheep]].
69	* JustWhistle: Remmy Cormo is given a dog whistle as a present from the members of Pack Street after joining said pack, along with specific instructions on how to use it. When he eventually needs it [[spoiler: while being attacked by Don]], he assumes it doesn't work until seeing the effect it has on the canines among his attackers. Shortly after, Anneke comes running from how many times he blew it.
70	* LiveMinkCoat: [[https://w.secret.graphics/media/search/91D-PyuNv-XLLrT88X96Cw Charlie]] offers herself up (Or at least, is offered by Al and doesn't seem to mind) to be a scarf for Velvet in one gag comic, giving her a compliment as she does so.
71	* LovableJock: Cliff and Neil, a tiger and lion duo that Remmy befriends at the gym.
72	* LovableSexManiac: While most of the crew has their moments, Anneke and Wolter qualify the most. Their only standard seems to be that they won't sleep with the underage.
73	* MindlessSheep: Becomes a point of embarrassment for Remmy. At a meeting he gathered with residents of Pack Street to educate them on facts about sheep, he admits he mostly pulled facts off the same website without really checking them over. This leads him at one point to read a fact that claims sheep are natural followers, good at doing what they're told without asking questions. He quickly tries to move on from this, but several other facts reinforce similar negative stereotypes about his species.
74	* MoodWhiplash:
75	** In the story version of "Wannabite", [[spoiler:Remmy goes from elation that the savage outbreak is over to anger at Bellweather for causing this whole mess for her own sick political games to sincere terror for his life when it's confirmed as a seemingly sheep-exclusive conspiracy.]]
76	** In "Jam", [[spoiler: Ozzy tells a funny story about the former Packmate Kenny, who Marty tricked into trying to skip stones on the sea. They have a good laugh at the part where Kenny threw Marty into the sea in revenge... but then Ozzy solemnly mentions the injuries Marty sustained, and it becomes clear that Kenny was actually a real jerk.]]
77	* MoralMyopia: Zigzagged. None of the predators ever really openly acknowledge their own faults in making Remmy feel an outcast, other than a few token comments in a backhanded way. However, once Remmy does apologize for the legitimately wrong things he said to Al, they do open up to him a lot more.
78	* MythologyGag:
79	** When he first meets Wolt, Remmy recalls that he knew a Woolter back in high school, who was a "real piece of work." In [[WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}} the source material]], Woolter is one of the BigBad's henchmen.
80	** Amongst the mementos Remmy finds in "Forget About Him" is a video game titled ''Nightmare Raid'', which is also the name of a chapter in Weaver's other work, ''Fanfic/RoommatesMemoirsOfTheHairlessApe''.
81	* NakedFirstImpression: Remmy walks in on Charlie stepping out of the shower. She doesn't mind; he does.
82	* NeighbourhoodFriendlyGangsters: With the exception of Charlie, none of them are actually criminals, but the Pack itself (realistically) blurs the line between this and a social organization when we finally find out how it actually works. It's eventually laid bare: they're an oppressed minority group in a city of immigrants, and they've got an informal code to protect each other. If one of the members has some kind of need -- be it necessities, small amounts of money, help -- everyone else is expected to pitch in to help, and [[TheDon the Alpha]] will do whatever he can to get it if need be. In return, people pay tribute to him not as a demand, but as a gesture of respect, and if you're going to get anywhere, you have to be willing to be humble before him. [[TheMafia Sound familiar?]][[note]]Especially interesting considering that Zootopia already ''has'' an actual Mafia.[[/note]]
83	* NotHelpingYourCase:
84	** Neither Remmy nor the Pack make very good impressions on each other. Remmy is a real standoffish jerk to the Pack in the early stories, though is a little justified in that he's not only shaken up over whatever made him leave his old flock, he's scared to death in these unfamiliar surroundings. The Pack, however... on top of the casual intimidation and insults, you have things like Charlie breaking into Remmy's apartment, forcing her way into his bed, and getting Betty to shear Remmy against his will so she can take the wool without his permission for her own bedding when he kicks her out of his bed in "Cloudy Day", Charlie and Wolter tricking Remmy into helping them steal Tiger Oil in "The Heist", and then, the cherry on top, Ozzy attempting to blame an innocent Remmy for his delay in seeing Velvet in "Fall Back". Really, it's no wonder Remmy explodes.
85	** The Pack Street locals' response to the savage outbreak [[spoiler:being proven to be a plot by Bellwether and company]] is to ''savagely maul [[spoiler:her]]'' in effigy. The anger is understandable, but it's no wonder it has Remmy alarmed when he sees it and misinterprets the meaning.
86	* OhCrap: Remmy has this reaction in the original comic when [[spoiler:watching the news of Bellwether's arrest]].
87	--> '''Remmy''': [--oh boy--]
88	* PoorCommunicationKills:
89	** A huge part of the problem between Remmy and his neighbors is that neither side is really open to communicating with each other. In particular, the predators make a lot of assumptions about Remmy understanding their pack culture and deliberately refusing to play along. This comes to a boil in "Fall Back", where Remmy finally gets sick of his neighbors just assuming he understands everything they say or do and letting them having for this attitude. Unfortunately for everyone, he gets a little ''too'' heated in his complaints. This really comes to the surface when we get an outside view in the form of Avo's narration in a spinoff: she thinks he's treating the Pack like a gang and bristling under accepting Al's ToughLove leadership style, whereas he completely misses the unspoken "you help me, I help you" vibe and just wants to be left alone.
90	** In a specific example, in "Fall Back", Velvet is aghast that nobody's actually told Remmy about Ozzy's problems or her role in treating them, and starts to call Al out on letting Remmy go ignorant.
91	* PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure: After the savage hoax is exposed, Anneke starts to act cold and angry towards Remmy. He thinks it's misplaced anger over Bellwether's crimes and tries to talk to her about it. Unfortunately, she really ''is'' angry at him, and has been for a long time. After [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech loudly calling him out]] for his selfishness and specism, she tells him she never wants to see him again. [[spoiler:They only finally get back on speaking terms after the events of "Dogwhistle", when she runs to Remmy's rescue with a tazer in hand.]]
92	* RecursiveFanfiction: This series is popular enough that it's spawned fan fictions of itself, mostly on Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn.
93	%%(ZCE)* SecretTestOfCharacter: Avo namedrops this trope specifically about the "needs" system to herself at one point.
94	* ShoutOut: The story "B.R.E" revolves around Marty's knowledge of the old chant [[Film/{{Babe}} "Baa, Ram, Ewe..."]]
95	* SwitchingPOV: In two spinoff stories, one of which is not in the above list (because it's NSFW), we switch from Remmy's POV, first to Avo, then to [[spoiler:Charlie]].
96	* {{Tuckerization}}: [[http://tgweaver.tumblr.com/post/148182873357/ Byron's Manifesto]], a shout-out to ''Zootopia'' director/writer Byron Howard.
97	* UnreliableNarrator: Remmy is both very defensive and highly oblivious to the way other people think, so his narration always presents himself as being in the right, even when context makes it clear he's not. He does get better over the course of the series, but the few times we get narration from someone else in supplemental material, it's clear how very wrong his first-person narrative often is.
98	* UnwantedHarem: Yes, Remmy somehow manages to get the affections in some way of every female in Pack Street except Pandora[[labelnote:+]]she's not his type, although they do flirt[[/labelnote]] and Velvet[[labelnote:+]]who's already engaged to Al[[/labelnote]].
99	* VitriolicBestBuds: The pack of the Crowns tease and give each other grief constantly, but when push comes to shove, they've got each other's backs.
100	* WhamEpisode:
101	** "Savages": [[spoiler:Pandora goes savage, Charlie thinks that [[SurvivorGuilt it should have been her]], Anekke is too shaken to enjoy a night on the town, and a graffiti mural that Remmy admired gets vandalized.]]
102	** "Wannabite": [[spoiler:The savage outbreak is done with and the truth is revealed. Remmy is relieved, until the newscast he's watching speaks of how the conspiracy was run by sheep, and he looks out the window only to see a furious anti-sheep demonstration, and the predators taking part see him up at the window. Remmy firmly believes he's in deep trouble.]]
103	** "Paint Job": [[spoiler:Al reveals more details on the TAME collars debate and tells Remmy about what Pack Street used to be: Happytown, a failed planned community for predators during the worst times of discrimination that featured heavily in the original ''Zootopia'' script.]]
104	** "I Did Good Today": [[spoiler:An argument between Marty and Betty about the former's bad attitude towards Remmy leads to them asking the ram's age. Suddenly we find out one more reason to explain Remmy's self-centered way of thinking, awkwardness and other such immature traits: he's only nineteen years old.]]
105	** "Forget About Him": [[spoiler: First, Anneke blows up at Remmy about his internalized specism and tells him she never wants to see him again. Then Remmy finds the "stash" left behind by Kenny, the previous occupant of his apartment, and discovers that he's not the first prey species to join the Pack.]]
106	** "Dogwhistle": [[spoiler: Remmy gets jumped by Don and his pack.]]

Context Fanfic / PackStreet