#mcr fans really make loving this band so much better

[bugswarm]

So when I was a kid, in like, 2006-2007, there was a game series called SingStar. It was a singing version of guitar hero basically. Anyways, my friend loved singing games and had gotten 2 of them. SingStar Rocks and SingStar Pop. I also really enjoyed them, so we played them all the time. But on the one game, SingStar Pop, there was an My Chemical Romance song, Helena. I was absolutely fascinated by the music video and loved the song and everything about it. (I was a really depressed kid and anything dark, morbid, etc was a fascination for me) So I of course, would beg to play that song all the time with her. But she didn’t like it. She thought it was weird and explicitly said “Boys aren’t supposed to wear makeup”. (Which, she also loved doing Fall Out Boy’s Dance, Dance and thats got Pete Wentz in eye liner, plus like, all the other reasons thats a fucked up statement but we were 10-11 so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) and made a rule that if we did that song, then we had to do one of the songs she liked that I hated. And I hated those more than my love of the weird funeral rock song that she would complain about every time we played it even if we were playing it in exchange for one I hated. So we almost never played Helena unless we did a random shuffle and it happened to pick it (which I celebrated every time but also regretted being happy about because I did it so infrequently that I couldn’t do well on the actual singing part of the game >.<).

For years, that was all I knew about mcr. They were “those boys who wore makeup that [childhood friend] said Im not supposed to like”. Then I got into high school and met this girl and we kissed after a party once, and I desperately needed her in my life more. And she said she was writing a fanfiction about a band and if I helped beta read it, then we would have something to talk about/more time to hang out. But I didn’t know the band at all. Turns out it was mcr. She wrote me a quick primer on each band member and the general traits I should know about them. I do not at all remember what she said beyond like, “Mikey plays Bass and is the brother of Gerard, who sings. Frank plays Guitar, Ray plays Guitar, and Bob used to play drums but doesn’t anymore” (this was post Bob leaving the band but before we all knew the extent of how bad he is). But anyways, I helped edit the fic and it took months and during the writing and editing process we ended up dating. Then 4 years later, we broke up, about 1 year after mcr broke up.

My ex is and isn’t important to this story because on the one hand, this is a story about how MCR has influenced my life over the years. But on the other hand, if it weren’t for My Chemical Romance, my ex and I would have never gotten together, or stayed together as long as we did. Our official first date was at an MCR concert. And those 4 years with them have some of the biggest impacts on my life to this day out of any other era of my life. A lot of who I am today can be directly attributed to things I experienced and learned through dating them. Hell I joined tumblr because of them, know about AO3 because of them, and learned…. So much about just. How actual real adult life works because of them.

But beyond my ex and I breaking up, MCR was still gone. They had broken up too. And I fell out of the fandom. Sure I still listened to the music and occasionally would talk about the band with other fans who I met, but it was bittersweet and painful.

Then in October 2019, I was at a halloween party hosted by my college. I was going through a bad relationship. And then news dropped that MCR had reunited. I could not pay attention to anything else. That was the most exciting thing that had happened in years. A month later, I was single. I had remembered that there were things more important in life and that I didn’t have to put up with the guy I was dating if I didn’t want to. So I didn’t. And my life got instantly better.

Then the pandemic hit. And shows were rescheduled. And the world put on hold. And then the blm protests happened. And my world got dark again. I dated another person who wasn’t good for me. (Nor I them). I restructured my life around what I thought I could settle for. And went on like that for over a year.

MCR did their European leg of their tour but I didn’t pay much attention. I never paid attention to tours I couldn’t attend since any other time in my life, the best we got was after the show we might get some nice photos or a grainy far away video, and it was rarely worth it. Plus with covid still happening, I kept expecting shows to be cancelled or rescheduled.

And then MCR got to the US leg of the tour. And at first, I planned to ignore it just the same as the European leg. And then a few days later, my news app showed me an article about one of their shows. Which I thought was odd because what could they have done that was so impressive that the news would write about it, and despite not having MCR news in my usual like, algorithmically decided interests, have it show up in my news feed. So I clicked it.

It was Nashville and suddenly a picture of Gerard Way wearing a cheerleader dress was directly in front of me. So I checked tumblr for the first time in a few months. Blogs that I had followed for fandoms over the years that had never been MCR blogs were posting about it. Old MCR blogs that had long been abandoned years ago but I never bothered to unfollow, suddenly were running and posting again. And I checked the tags to see what the general masses on tumblr were saying too. And every single post I saw, was an absolute outpouring of positivity and kindness and happiness. I didn’t see a single negative post. I didn’t even see any borderline inappropriate horny-on-main posts like I expected. I followed a few blogs and figured that was it. That I might check tumblr a bit more often and reblog some cool new-era-of-MCR posts. I figured nothing more shocking or emotionally investing could happen after the cheerleader dress. That was already crazy getting to see even that much.

But then they were playing Portland and a lot of the blogs I had followed were really hyped up and talking about livestreaming the show. And I wasn’t busy that night so I figured Id turn it on as background noise. And ended up watching every minute of it. The next day, I had a full break down. I couldn’t fathom settling with my life when something so incredibly amazing was out there.

That weekend, the local pop punk night DJ for the bar I go to occasionally was putting on an MCR themed/specific pop punk night, to commemorate the anniversary of the first time they played my city. I decided to make the cheerleader dress and wear it there and double it as a halloween costume. I made it in 3 days in time for the bar night.

Getting to the bar, I was nervous. The dress was short. And I’m afab but nonbinary, and I know most people look at me and say “that’s a girl” without thinking about it further. In a dress, that’s even more likely. In a short dress, I couldn’t imagine anything else happening. When I got to the bar, I was so nervous I was shaking. I immediately ordered 2 shots and a drink, hoping that being drunk would take away the anxiety. As I was waiting on my drinks, someone approached me to compliment the dress and ask me questions about how I sewed it. He wanted to buy a sewing machine for his girlfriend for Christmas and needed to know what kind to buy her. It was a nice chat.

Then, after, I went into the crowd proper. I had so many people compliment my dress, it was crazy. I had expected only a few people to even recognize it. It was a random outfit they wore once on stage, less than 2 weeks prior. Most of these people weren’t even hardcore MCR fans, just pop punk in general. But every single hardcore MCR fan I saw complimented the dress. And also? absolutely none of them assumed I was a girl. Not one. Most asked for pronouns. None were weirded out when I answered they/them. None looked at me like I was crazy or said anything negative. Some said they were too. It was the most shocking experience I have ever had in terms of my gender identity.

Out of the 4 people Ive dated in my life, 3 had been or later came out as (binary) trans people. All three of the ones who are trans, had made me feel like my gender wasn’t valid. (The cis ex I never ended up coming out to.) and those had been people who claimed to love me. People I saw every day. And yet here were a bunch of drunk MCR fans seeing someone who was very obviously female, and femme, and wearing a very short dress. And not one assumed or made me feel wrong or bad about my gender or presentation.

More time passed after that night and more shows came and went. LA nights 1-4 came and were insane every time.

And then last night. LA night 5. Of course I had to livestream it. I sobbed for most of the show. And being in a discord that was also livestreaming this show, and on tumblr seeing what people were posting, meant I got to see this extreme outpouring of love from all of the fans. And also see the outpouring of love from MCR themselves to their fans and to each other.

And for the first time since… Well pretty much ever really for me, the world doesn’t seem dark. There is so much hope and love in this world and I just. I don’t have the words to describe how incredibly much it means to me. Ive been on the verge of happy tears all day.

When I was first in the fandom back during the danger days era, there was always the cliche of saying “MCR saved my life”. And I understand it now. Do I think they saved my life? No. I did that. I went through hell to make it where I am now and no one can take that away from me. The same way the members of the band had to tear down the band and go through their own brands of hell to get to where they all are and get to play these shows for us at all. We had to do that on our own. The band didn’t do that for us.

But at the same time? Seeing that show last night? My Chemical Romance absolutely made my life worth saving. And I really really hope it makes theirs too.

[thesunhatesme]

The ghouls music taste - HC

I think Ozzy Osbourne, Kiss, Lana Del Rey and David Bowie is pack favorites, like that’s what they’re gonna play on full volume in the car

Rain

Rain is definitely an alternative rock girlie, he loves Muse and you can’t change my mind on that. His favorite Muse song is definitely micro cuts or spiral static. He just loves all their guitar sounding vocals, those old emo vibes songs and basically everything about them. His favorite album is probably Origin of symmetry and Showbiz. And he likes MCR and Suizid, cus like, he’s emo

Dew

He’s a Mike’s dead fan by heart, he knows every single word of every single song, like hell blast Bite down on full volume and scream the lyrics, it just makes him feel better. And he’s Aether’s Rob zombie friend (every Alice cooper fan needs a rob zombie fan and the other way around) And he’s a sabaton fan cus he’s a little nerdy about history.

Swiss

Swiss’s motto is: “the older, the better” and: “anything after 1999 sucks” He likes the old country rock like, Eagles. He also likes Santana, like c’mon, Santana is a guitar genius. There’s always some chill music coming from his room. Oh, and he listens to Paleface Swiss unironically (even though they are a new band)

Mountain

He’s a bit like Swiss but he’s not against new music (most of the time) but the song James Dean by Eagles always hits hard. He listens to the strokes and thin lizzy in the green house, but if he’s not with his plants he likes to listen to techno metal, or any type if metal, really, his favorite song is Undead by Hypnosaur.

Aether

Dad music. Alice Cooper, Iron Maiden, and his alltime favorite Meatloaf. He vibes with almost everything tho, hell vibe with Rains high pitched emo screaming, Dews angsty rap/rock but especially Rob zombie, Swiss’s old country rock, Mountains techno metal and chill oldies, and on like so. He doesn’t listen to music that much but if the others are playing music he won’t ask them to turn it down, he’ll vibe with them

Phantom

Phantom’s favorite song will always be Bat out of hell by Meatloaf. He also likes Muse, but not like Rain, he likes their new stuff better like Simulation theory and the 2:nd law, he’s emo but not that emo. He definitely likes Nickleback, Yungblud, Bring me the horizon and Bad religion. His favorite songs are Anesthesia by Bad religion and Fire escape by Call me karizma. He has a kinda love/hate relationship with Map of the problematique by Muse because he listened to it religiously when he was summoned and now he can’t help but cry when he hears it.

Cumulus

Elton John, Dire states and Greta van fleet. She loves crocodile rock by Elton John and it always makes her laugh when she watches him perform it on The muppet show. But like Aether she’ll vibe with pretty much anything

Cirrus

Cirrus likes the vibe of kinda dark doom metal/rock. She loves bands like The ocean and Soen and their song Hollowed. She’s a sabaton fan because they are super cool too and she’ll occasionally enjoy some good old Rammstein or The cure

Aurora

She likes a lot of different music, and if you put her playlist on shuffle, someone will end up with a whiplash injury. She’s a Louis Tomlinson fan, her favorite song is Angels fly and she loves five finger death punch. She’s Phantom’s Machine Gun Kelly friend (every Yungblud fan needs to have a MGK friend) chances are high that you’ll find her with Phantom jaming out to bodybag or acting like that by MGK and Yungblud

Copia

He is definitely a måneskin fan and his rats are named after them. I think he likes old bands like whitesnake and Lynyrd Skynyrd but his altime favorite song will forever be Brother Louie by Modern talking

[hibischush]

What kind of music, or song that instantly comes in your mind each FoM bachelors and bachelorettes would listen to?

God this is going to reveal so much about me y'all better not judge my odd musical escapades 😤🌺

Seriously though, I love character playlists so if any of y'all make one please share!

Bachelors;

Balor

Okay...I dunno why but

Fall Out Boy

Balor just seems like the type of guy to like the content sung in their songs and I think he definitely enjoys pop-punk

Like I immediately thought of "Sugar, We're Goin Down" from Fall Out Boy

Literally any other emo-rock/punk band too

Think MCR

March

Anything from The Offspring tbh

I was listening to "Want You Bad" and I was like. Yep that's him

Same goes for "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid"

For music that he listens to, I also think he would be a rock enjoyer

NOT BECAUSE HE'S A BLACKSMITH. OK?

But more specifically older rock (think Bon Jovi, Journey, The Rolling Stones)

Hayden

Yes I know he looks like he listens to country

But its more folk-country than the pop-country that's super popular these days

I thought of "Southern Nights" by Glen Campbell

Also pretty much anything from Johnny Cash

Specifically "Ring of Fire"

Ryis

I think he would like some country artists similar to Hayden, but I thought of Jimi Hendrix honestly

Like Hendrix's "Purple Haze"

Soft rock basically

"Drive," "Just What I Needed," and "You Might Think" all by The Cars

Eiland

This man definitely listens to classical/orchestral music I mean look at him

I can't really point out any artists for that

But like... if video games/movies existed in Mistria

He'd listen to video game OSTs too

Like you'd be catching him listening to Indiana Jones' OST while digging up artifacts 😭

Bachelorettes;

Celine

I think Celine would listen to pop or pop-punk for sure

Like she's listening to Billie Eilish idc

Esp Billie's HIT ME HARD AND SOFT album

I think she'd listen to Kali Uchi too (her "Moonlight" song came to mind)

But I think she'd also like R&B too (Specifically Ravyn Lenae)

Juniper

She'd get down with rap and R&B man

"Paint the Town Red" and "Agora Hills" by Doja Cat

"Dang!" by Mac Miller ft. Anderson .Paak

She likes the soft beat packed with words or hype music I suppose

makes her feel powerful

Reina

Reina is another R&B enjoyer-- but specifically a huge SZA fan

I thought of "Snooze" by SZA

But Reina seems like the type to enjoy any type of music honestly

Her family really encourages music as a past time with her mom singer and her father playing stringed instruments

Valen

Only piano music

Literally she's the type to dislike music that hypes her up/makes her feel strong emotions like anger

She likes music that calms her and piano music does just that

Adeline

Adeline is similar to her brother in that she enjoys classical music

She enjoys ball room dancing, and often "classic" or orchestral or waltz music plays

But I also see her enjoying Brazilian Bossa Nova music as well

"Brazil" (Aka Aquarela do Brasil) by Antonio Carlos Jor

"So Danco Samba" by Stan Getz & Luiz Bonfa

I think she likes bossa nova because the rhythm is so different from more western music

It challenges to adapt to the beat while dancing and she likes it

Bonus; Caldarus

For Caldarus, it has been a long time since they have heard music

When they hear it from your nearby farmhouse, they find it very pleasing

If they ever get outta statue form then I think they are very eager to seek out all types of music

Whelp hopefully none of these are musical hot takes.🥲 Whenever I mention certain artists just know that I primarily mean the vibes/style of the artists, cause you wouldn't find Doja Cat in Mistria lmao

[raytorosaurus]

maybe this is a 'hot take' for which i apologize but. i feel like fanart is a big aspect of this too- how different even is it to make 'rpf' of gerards stage characters as opposed to fanart of it. it's essentially only a different medium. keeping it separate from gerard (Person In Reality Who Has A Life) outside of (character he made up to have fun with) can also easily be an invitation for fans to have fun with it too. which is why a healthy relationship with it can and does bring good things. in theory i mean. ive never seen an mcr fanfic i really liked but :p

yeah i see what you mean, it's one of the reasons that the step from tumblr (or twitter) fandom to the ao3 tag feels like. quite an arbitrary place to draw the line? as if the same thoughts and behaviours are fine right up into they're intentionally put to prose - but images or even comics are okay, textposts discussing their emotions and states of mind as extrapolated from live shows or song lyrics, putting research into constructing timelines of their lives or compiling facts about them as people - even writing (sometimes quite detailed) sexually explicit posts/tags about them is common around here. i do a lot of these things too - i'm not saying they're inherently wrong or bad - but i genuinely don't see how they're any less prone to being disrespectful or invasive or comically removed from reality than a writer putting them in a situation lol. they all involve some level of assumption, scrutiny, and interpretation.

there are definitely valid arguments to make against engaging with rpf in a fandom sense! i totally respect that, and it's something i felt kind of ashamed/guilty about when i first got into mcr, so i understand the reservations. it's just that...the way i see it, i truly think those arguments just as reasonably apply to so much of what happens in any fandom involving real people. behaviours that are extremely common and far from unique to the online fan spaces of today, to the point where avoiding them is a more conscious decision than engaging in them. i respect if people do make that choice, but...that isn't any of us who are running mcr fanblogs yk? haha.

anyway yeah. i agree with you anon, i reckon most people's definition of what does and doesn't entail rpf is just a lot narrower than the reality. there's a lot of extremely beautiful, highly-skilled emotive fanart out there, for which i'm so appreciative! i 100% don't mean it as an insult when i say those often a different kind of rpf. so are the emotive posts about how much this tour means to all the guys, how happy they are, how much they love each other and how they're all friends. i'm not saying these things are untrue, i'm just saying they absolutely don't paint an unbiased holistic picture of real human beings and their genuine emotional states hahaha. neither does fanfiction. and i just think it's impossible to not realise that if you're engaging with fanfic in any kind of thoughtful way, as opposed to reblogging textposts about them on tumblr that also project a lot onto them, yk?

and okay. i also think "the bible/succession/velvet goldmine etc etc is rpf too! shakespeare wrote rpf!" is equally as reductive as "rpf is when fangirls write about band members boning each other." as always, there's just so much more nuance there. what does and doesn't make rpf is a lot more about intent, and if you're parasocially attached to these people as deeply as we all are, most of us just share that same intent. and from what i've seen (though in fairness this is the first real person fandom i've been in, and i only really talk to other adults) it tends to be the people actively engaging with fanfic who are a better at accepting how much of fandom is pure projection and assumption based on very limited information. and that acceptance is a huge part of having a healthier relationship with celebrities/bands/bandom (along with the conscious acknowledgement that these people don't owe us anything at all besides the shows we bought tickets for - least of all insight into their personal lives or private thoughts.)

like genuinely? free your minds. we're all making shit up based on the little parts we see, i think it's healthier and more fun to openly accept that. who cares what's real when we can talk about things in terms of narratives and arcs and metaphors - none of which truly exist in real life, which is infinitely complex and individual and messy. or, more precisely, who cares what's real as long as you know what isn't! and keep that stuff far far away from the real human people involved in the band.

[ricky-mortis]

Heeeya Ricky!

How's it going? as per my policy, I'm asking you your ask (I have a policy, I implemented a policy, I send people their asks back. you dont gotta respond)

So what kind of music do you listen to? (other than the classic 2022 pop hit Virginity Rocks, of course). Genres, artists, etc. any song in particular rotting your brain today?

k, have a great day bestie :]

Howdy Jesse!!!

It’s going pretty decently. This week has been rough, but finding out the Tinlightenment Kickstarter met its goal has definitely made it better, and so has this ask :)). That’s a groovy policy btw, have fun with that. 

Now, I don’t think you understand the opportunity you’ve given me with this ask because I adore talking about the music I listen to. (Also you joke about Virginity Rocks, but I have had that song, along with Axe Man, on repeat for the past week). 

Answer below the cut bc this is a long one vvv

Alright, get ready for a whole breakdown on what I listen to because I make the rules and I say I get to talk about music as much as I want. Ok, so I really go through phases with what I’m listening to. Overall genres though are like- Heavy metal, rock, indie rock, indie, folk, folk punk, and pop punk. I’d say a big portion of it goes to indie rock and folk though (at least- right now). 

My favorite bands and artists though- that’ll have to be like The Backseat Lovers, Ricky Montgomery, Slaughter Beach, Dog (<- Those two are one band name), and Noah Kahan. But then I am also a big Crane Wives, Hozier, and Peach Pit fan. That’s all the more chill side of the music I listen to though. 

On the opposite end of this spectrum, we’ve got bands like Ice Nine Kills and Nothing More. (Ice Nine Kills is such a cool band btw, they do horror metal where they have albums where each song is based on a different horror movie, and it’s so good. If you like metal at all I would totally check them out). And then also there’s Waterparks, and Set it Off, and I Don’t Know How But They Found Me, and MCR, and The Wrecks, and Glass Animals. (Haha that was a polysyndeton, thanks AP Lang!) Oh! And Friday Pilots Club! 

Specific songs at the moment though? Black Fins by Right Montgomery for sure, that song's so sad but by god is it a banger. Current favorites are also Monster by Slaughter Beach, Dog, and Snowbank Blues by The Backseat Lovers. Just great songs all around. 

But yeah like I said- I could on for hours about music. Please listen to any of these bands if you feel so inclined, and let me know if you like 'em! I love finding people who have similar music tastes as me! Plus also- I’m hella curious about the overlap of specific music genres within the Starcanwrecked fandoms. But that’s a separate post, I believe.

[chemnections]

"yeah, i have no idea, your guess is as good as mine. it was very very fun and i love touring, i love playing all types of music. i love playing those songs, i love playing dunes songs. i’ll be on the road. i’ll tell you that much. but as far as my chem i have no idea. it would be fun but we’ll see."

i see so many accounts pointing out the obvious answering but not answering the question, but i can't say it makes me optimistic for mcr5. i think the 'i don't know' really is the seed of truth here even if he can't say his thoughts and feelings about it. no matter the outcome, it isn't just his to announce. (although he better be part of that announcement).

i absolutely don't see the point of any secrecy for the band's future. i think they use ambiguity to hide uncertainty with group decisions and conflict. then when it works out claim publicly that it was all part of the plan. and when not fans are just reading too far into it. the broken clock hint was a much more obvious indicator that could have easily been written off if things didn't work out. i don't see anything of that caliber here.

and even then i think it would be strange to make every single thing the band does a surprise announcement even if that is the way they have operated for the past few years. look how much lsdunes contrasts mcr with being open about recording, new songs, tours, etc. i think frank is at a stage where thats how he would prefer to proceed - with stability and certainty. it can't be taken back once it is publicly announced.

also notice that frank is distancing himself from the outcome of the band continuing.

even thought he is still stating that he would continue on with mcr. it is just out of his hands. and good, he isn't singlehandedly responsible for keeping the band together. his emotional labour for getting the band back together really wasn't acknowledged either.

and seeing the comforting thoughts - that no matter what happens with my chem he will still have a music career and will still be touring. my chem ending won't take that away from him. it's a good sign if they really do call it quits that he will be more resilient to handle it than the first time around. because he didn't know that the first time around.

but he is bracing himself for the possibly of mcr ending.

[lsdunesarchive]

How (Don’t Call ‘Em a Supergroup) L.S. Dunes Saved Its Own Members’ Lives

Words by Cassie Whitt Photo by Mark Beemer November 4, 2022

For anti-supergroup L.S. Dunes, the magnetism of friendship and love of their craft made coming together a no-brainer, especially during a particularly turbulent moment for the industry and within their personal lives.

In this excerpt from a conversation with drummer Tucker Rule (Thursday) and vocalist Anthony Green (Circa Survive) we learn just how much swapping sound files during a global pandemic helped heal their hearts and minds.

The band's lineup is a scene dream, also comprised of guitarist Frank Iero (My Chemical Romance), guitarist Travis Stever (Coheed & Cambria) and bassist Tim Payne (Thursday), and while fans may be quick to brand them a supergroup, that's not the sentiment these members harbor. It isn't about assembling an all-star band as the scene equivalent of the Justice League superheroes and more about bonding with like-minded musicians and, more importantly, dear friends.

Being cutoff from our regular social circles and points of contact helped frame a new perspective for us all amid the pandemic, and losing out on this essential element of the human experience led Green in particular down dark paths. Prioritizing mental health, and with the support of his L.S. Dunes bandmates, he confronted these issues and is grateful to have bettered his relationships as a result.

Get your copy of L.S. Dunes' 'Past Lives' album (out Nov. 11) here and follow the band on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Spotify.

They're not a supergroup, they're SUPER BUDS!

TUCKER RULE: All of us in our bands are the ones that are heads-down, want to write music and enjoy playing music. That's why we all have multiple bands.

When we get together, we joke about the "L.S." standing for "low stress" because we just want it to be fun. People love to throw around the term "supergroup," and we don't like that. We're a group of super buds, and this is just our circle of friendship. It's not like, "Oh, we've got to get the guy from Coheed and the guy from Circa and the guy from MCR..." These are my dudes and I know we get along musically.

Another thing with "supergroup" is that [people think], "Oh, they're just going do one show here and one show there." Why start a band if you're not going to go bring it out live? That's our goal — to play as much as we can. This is another full time job.

ANTHONY GREEN: I don't really get to have many friends that are outside of this business. It kind of sucks because you end up feeling kind of lonely when you're not working or when you're home.

Once we started connecting more, it was like, “Man, I'm talking to Tucker every other day.” I didn't realize how much I was lacking in my life. It's hard to even find two people that connect on a creative and personal way level so that they can make stuff, so when people have bands that are so good together, it's like, “These guys just bring out the best in each other!”

It’s hard to find people that creatively mesh well, and this is five people who fit together creatively just perfectly.

L.S. Dunes, "Permanent Rebellion" Music Video

It's not business, it's personal

AG: If at any moment Travis called us and was like, "Hey, I'm going through this and I need X, Y, and Z," that's the most important thing from the get-go. No matter what comes our way, we're able to deal with it because we're not looking at this like it's a business, we're looking at it like this big art project.

We all know from our other bands that when you have a business that's run cutthroat where it's about the bottom line or getting as many streams, or making as much money, it can become convoluted. Whereas, if you have a situation where everybody's just looking out for one another because of the fact that this is an emotionally driven band where we're processing a lot of really heavy shit together, you end up feeling so safe and secure and strong because you know that everybody has your back.

The most important thing is that everybody's mental health and personal relationships. Everybody's life is more important than just a song or a stream. That makes a project strong and fun... and no one's judging [personally or creatively].

Creativity is life-sustaining

TR: I would wake up or go to bed hoping somebody would write a riff so I could wake up in the morning and get to work on it [laughs]. And vice versa — I would write a drum beat and send it out and I'd be like, "Please, somebody work on this" and then I'd get something back. It [felt] like it was Christmas and it was during COVID, too, so there was very little to look forward to.

I think it saved all of our lives, to be honest with you.

It was a time where none of us knew what was going to happen with our industry. I know everybody had it rough and all industries suffered, but I can only speak for myself and the music industry was in shambles. We knew that it might not come back for a really long time and we had no idea how we were all going to make money. When you've done this for 20 years, you kind of get really good at it and not good at other things. For me, getting another job was not an option.

All of us are dads and at that time I had an infant. I was trying to figure out how to make money and was writing these songs with these dudes that I love, not thinking that we would make money from it.

So, why did it save our lives? It was like this was out of necessity to feel like we were a part of something, again.

L.S. Dunes, "2022" Music Video

Even so, life was still very challenging through all this

AG: We got laid off [amid the pandemic]. People were talking about when shows come back or when things reopened, but it was so scary [having the mindset of], "Okay, well let's save up until everything comes back," and then I was just like, "Hey, this is never going come back. It's never going to be like it was and we're going have to get used to playing through our computers." It was almost like a comforting thing for me to close the book on that chapter in my life.

I was so depressed. I had been going to AA and NA meetings where you make a pretty hardcore connection with other addicts and people who are struggling and that was gone. My therapist was not seeing people face to face. Yeah. [This band] was almost like an excuse to miss therapy a bunch.

I was also diagnosed as bipolar shortly after my my overdose. I was struggling with it, and I didn't want to admit that I was bipolar. I was really scared of even saying it. It's crazy to think about it now, but I just didn't want anybody to know. I wasn't medicating at all, and I was trying to figure out how to go through life without getting fucked up to deal with my problems, but also not doing any of the recommended things that you do to manage bipolar.

I was in this manic low, hallucinating, and this project coming to me at that moment... I hate saying this because your kids are the reason why you want to live... I thought my kids would be better off without me. I was convinced that I was just going to be a bad dad, and that I was going hurt them at some point.

That's what friends are for

If I didn't change my shit, I would've [wound up hurting them in some way], but the faith that Tucker, Tim, Frank and Travis had in me really did so much for my confidence and did so much for me in that moment and in those few months. It was like a fucking life preserver. I wasn't looking at my family, my life and my career as something worth fighting for. I was just so lost and there was so much joy anchored in the fact that I had this band that wanted to make songs with me, that believed in me, that wanted me to be in their group.

It really helped me see that my kids would be better if I got my shit together and went to therapy and figured out how to maintain. My family and my friendships would all be better—nobody'd be better off if I was dead.

When you don't see that yourself sometimes, it takes somebody else reminding you. And these guys did that and the songs did that. This band and these songs were like a little box of sanity. It became like a drug, almost. When I was feeling crazy, I would think about the fact that we had this thing that we were building and it would bring me back to earth every time.

Thanks to Tucker Rule and Anthony Green for the interview. Get your copy of 'Past Lives' album (out Nov. 11) here.

[maylorscardigan]

that set list today was… depressing. No Robbers and it was just… he’s so sad 😭

what is your take on the performance today?

Setlist included:

Give Yourself a Try

Looking for Somebody to Love

I'm in Love with You

I Like America & America Likes Me

About You

Ballad of Me & My Brain

It's Not Living (if its Not With You)

I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)

Somebody Else

Love it if We Made It

Sex

People

My first impression... anyone who is familiar with My Chemical Romance knows their first album "I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love" and their last "Danger Days"... I get that vibe from this setlist with a mixture of "The Used" for good measure. So long and short of it - this is as emo as the 1975 can get without being Drive Like I Do.

And I am here for it.

Just look at the songs themselves.

The song is one that talks about humanity. How the media makes you believe in happiness and growing up liking who you are, only it doesn't happen. It touches on identity & aging as well.

Political in nature. It's about school shootings and the toxic masculinity of society today.

A love song. Matty wanted a love song that was sincere and earnest.

Talks about Matty's relationship with fame and how he pleas with society for a safer world without the fear of gun violence.

Do I really need to cover this one? It's THE song.

This song covers mental issues and how their looking for their lost brain (sanity). It covers dodging fans and what its like trying to cope with fame. This song has always made me think that it would be the result if Taylor's Wonderland & I Know Places had a baby.

Another regular. It's about his heroin addiction.

Matty says that death has essentially become a big meme and that death is now, essentially a mood. It sums up life in the online age.

Another regular. Jealousy, ownership over the body of a former lover (emotional ownership. not actual) and dealing with seeing a former lover with someone else. Anyone who knows MAYLORE knows this songs history.

Like About You... i never see this leaving the set list. This song is better live by far then the recording could ever dream of. It's a social anthem much like Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" before you know... FOB did a cover of it.

Teenager angst over sex.

The new closing song? Unhinged Matty and when I truly feel like I am watching Gerard Way - and if anyone takes that as an insult come fight me because its not. Another social anthem.

As I said - this setlist comes off as very much the context and themes you'd see at an emo / pop-punk show. Very much reminds me of The Used and MCR.

Does this set list make me think he's sad? No. Not at all. Angry? Hell yes. The themes of dealing with fame and how fans are assholes and society sucking as a whole... its an interesting statement and I am completely here for it.

Honestly - unpopular opinion but Danger Days is one of my all time favourite albums and this screams that to me. Especially People. Matty has said that the band is an influence and a dream collaboration so...

Gerard... I am looking at you. Please PLEASE do this.

I also think this is the truest side of who Matty is and what he has always stood for and against. They said that SATVB was how Matty is NOW and I honestly believe the set list reflects that.

As for no Robbers... maybe he just wanted to give fans a breather from being afraid he will kiss someone or to just flat out get rid of the speculation on whether or not he will.

I havent seen the whole show yet but snippets I did see... he was very happy and high energy. Very pre-May happy Matty.

I'll find more videos and see if that changes but as of right now.. yeah.

[miatring]

Some thoughts

Okay so I literally never write text-posts on here (or anywhere really) I just post fanart, re-blog other people's shit and barely interact with anyone. Mostly because there's just not many things I feel like I need to give my opinion on when others have done so much better and more eloquently than I have.... that being said

And shouting out the amazing (@girlgerard) here because he's made some excellent fucking points (feel free to ignore this if you see it Mira because holy shit you deserve a fucking break)

Us white MCR fans really need to start pulling our fucking weight when it comes to calling out racism in the fandom. And that doesn't mean waiting until you see a post from a POC fan and writing something in the tags. It means actively listening and taking on board what they're saying and looking at your own behaviour and how you can do better. I can only speak for myself when I say that I have been a mcr fan since 2006/2007 but I've never been really active in the fandom so I saw a LOT of shit from back then, that I'll be honest, I just straight up didn't understand. I'm Australian and we have a slightly different, arguably more subtle breed of racism here and a lot of it mirrors the shit that was (and still is) targeted at ray. 

Most of it is not explicit "oh ew a brown person" (unless you're talking to a good majority of the 50/60+ population here- in which case HOOO BOYY STRAP IN FOR SOME FUCKED SHIT) but a lot of it is more backhanded and "jokey". This comes into play when we talk about the "princess fro-fro" shit from back in the day. Which again I'll admit, I didn't see as "all that bad" but I also didn't find it that hilarious either- I was kind of just indifferent to it (I was also like 12 years old so I just didn't GET a lot of stuff). But hey I grew up, and I realised that that shit isn't funny, it was never funny. There is no excuse to exclude ray when talking about/drawing/filming/photographing the band. When you say you "don't find him as interesting/attractive" you need to think about why that is. Because ray toro is an equal and integral part of this band that we love. He's a fucking genius and a total sweetheart and deserves just as much (if not more) hype than the others.

While I'm at it I just want to take a moment to say how fucking excited I was to see so many POC fans making content and being visible in this fandom. While I know for sure that they've always been around- being from Australia, not having any friends who were really into mcr at the time and not actively engaging with fandom (plus the fact that so many of us early 2000s internet users posted rarely photos of ourselves in fandom spaces- whereas now we have tik tok ect.) I just don't recall seeing many black and brown faces in the fandom. So I just think it's so fucking cool that these kids are here and I think that we- especially us older, white fans- should be supporting them as much as we can.

At the end of the day I'm just one person with essentially 0 following so this might not make much of a difference but I just couldn't NOT say anything... because at the end of the day it should be on us to make the fandom feel as welcoming and supportive as possible because at the end of the day MCR is home to so many of us and it should be a safe place for everyone to come to where they feel like they can be fully authentic to who they are (and shock horror! That includes valuing and respecting the voices of POC).

Anyways I don't want to take up any more space than I already have, apologies to Mira for tagging him in this coz I know he's (rightfully) sick of dealing with it but I wanted to give credit where credits due 😅

If there's any black and brown fans that happen to see this just know that I see you, I love you, and I'm sorry for not being here sooner. My inbox is always open if you need a buddy or just someone to vent to 🖤

[theswarmanthology]

Sean, 20, Italy

Fast Facts: How long have you been a fan?: 5-8 years Did you get to see MCR live before this tour?: No, this tour was my first time seeing MCR How many shows on this tour did you attend in total?: 1 Favorite album: I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love Show experience out of 10: 10 Did you cry at your show?: Yes

Which date of the tour did you attend? 06/04/22, Bologna Sonic Park 2022

When did you get your tickets for your show? Was it a struggle, or were they easy to grab? I got them in January of 2020 the day and the moment they went on sale. It was actually pretty easy to get them I was just scared I wouldn't be able to because of past experiences

Did you attend with anyone else? I went with three friends, one of which wasn't actually an mcr fan but got into them because I asked her if she wanted to come.

What did you wear? Fangs t shirt, beige cargo shorts, and trekking shoes

Where were your seats? In the pit very very close to barricade center stage

What was your favorite song(s) from the setlist they played at your show? Boy Division and Famous Last Words

What song were you most hoping to hear? Did you get to hear it? i would have loved to hear headfirst for halos or anything from bullets but they didnt play anything from that album

What was your favorite moment from the show? Singing famous last words with my friends and everyone there and realising that after all those years I'm still here and I'm fine and I've grown up and crying in my friend's arms. When I first got into mcr I was in a very dark place and didn't think i would make it to 18 and being able to see mcr live and singing what was then my favourite song made me finally realise that I've come very far from where I was years ago

What was the most unexpected moment from the show? Getting to sing happy birthday to mikey's daughter, it was very fun and cute. Also gerard saying that he knows swear words in Italian I would have expected frank to know them for some reason but not him

Did you snag any merch? What pieces? Yes, I got the swarm, tramp stamp and Europe tour dates t-shirts

Many fans describe seeing MCR live as feeling like coming home. Did you experience anything like that at your show? Yes absolutely. When I talk about it I usually say it has been like a religious experience but coming home works a lot better

If you could change one thing about your show experience, what would it be? The security staff at sonic park. They were terrible when we were in line (they took all the water 5 hours before gate opened, didn't get medical attention to all the people that were fainting and having panic attacks didn't give everyone that was first in line the pit pass as they said) and also treated everyone like animals while we were in the pit. The pit was also pretty bad at least four or five people around me, one of my friends included, had a panic attack or fainted before the concert even started, even Gerard had us step back at some point and had to stop during the intro to destroya to get security to get someone out of the pit. They made the whole concert experience so much worse and terrifying, i was really scared something really bad would happen. If we are talking just about the show itself I wouldn't change a thing, maybe I'd just add one song from bullets because im still mad about it

Has your perspective or opinion about the band changed since seeing them on this tour? If so, in what way? It didn't change, maybe I'm even more in love with them than I was before

What advice would you give to people seeing My Chemical Romance in the future? If you have the money get tickets for more than one show I will be worth it and one show won't be enough and also talk with people around you if you are in line you will make a lot of friends

Thanks, Sean! He can be found on Tumblr at @here-sean-once-was.

[emometalhead]

Aftershock Day 4 Recap!!

Here's the bands I saw: The Warning, Underoath, The Pretty Reckless, Bring Me The Horizon, Shinedown, and Muse

We were all pretty dead yesterday morning. We intended to see an earlier band, but weren't able to leave the house on time. Plus, an artist dropped out, so the entire schedule got moved up. Due to this, we only caught the end half of The Warning's set. They were amazing! I had high hopes, because I really love their music! I heard them on the radio a while back, and fell in love. Great music, plus I always love seeing+supporting all female bands. It makes me happy to see women having success in the rock and metal scenes. My dad and brother hadn't listened to them prior, but were really impressed with what they heard. Great start to the final day of the festival.

It was already hot out, and as I said before we were really tired. We ended up sitting down at the center barrier fairly close to the stage. We waited in the shade to rest up before the next band. The next band was Underoath! I knew a couple of their songs from the radio, and listened to a bit more prior to the festival. They didn't play anything I was familiar with, but they rocked hard! We were on the side barrier the entire time, so it was a great view. I also saw Caity Babs (from Sirius XM) walking by during the set. I took a picture of her! My dad and I were hoping to meet her this year, but we weren't able to work her meet and greets into our schedule.

Yesterday was definitely the calmest day in terms of how much stuff we did. We had a bit of time in between Underoath and the next set, so we got lunch. Lunch was nice. We were able to get a bench, and chilled for a minute before refilling our waters and going into another crowd. We happened to walk by the guys I was with for MCR! I said hi to the guy I met in the Mikey line, and we talked for a minute. They were at the same sets as me for the rest of the evening, but we didn't see each other again. It was cool to see the dudes for a minute though. The guys were all really excited to see me and say hi. That felt awesome. So happy to have made some friends. I'll definitely be meeting up with them again next year or if they're ever in town again.

The next set was The Pretty Reckless! I've been a fan for many years. Taylor Momsen is an icon!! I love her style and her vocals. She's a force!! The band was supposed to be at the festival last year, but canceled their tour. It was amazing to actually be able to see them. Taylor looked so hot, sounded better than on her records (which is crazy because her voice is phenomenal on her albums), and put on a great show! The band was so talented, and the crowd was a ton of fun to be in. There were a lot of crowdsurfers, and I got kicked in the head 🤦‍♀️. It was fine though lol. I ended up helping push a crowdsurfer, because her butt would've ended up on my face otherwise lol. There was this one really tall, muscular dude that was the MVP though. He was fully just carrying crowdsurfers across. It was crazy cool!

This was my second time seeing Bring Me The Horizon. They always put on an interactive show. They had so much happening on their screens, and it created an atmosphere unlike any other band I saw over the 4 days. We stayed pretty far back for them, because I wanted an easy exit to get close for Shinedown. Being further back gave me the advantage of having lots of space to move around. I gave myself a major headache from headbanging. I spent the entire set screaming and jumping around. It was so FUN!! I had a really great time. My dad got really into them after we saw them the first time, so it was cool to see how much fun he was having as well. My friend was with us, and it's a bit difficult to tell how much she is enjoying things sometimes. She is a bit reserved with her excitement. I could see her dancing around too though, and that made me happy. Oli Sykes said he was having vocal issues, but he still sounded awesome! (His exact words were, "I woke up, and my voice said 'nope'".) An artist canceled due to losing his voice, so I'm glad Oli stuck it out to perform for us!

If you know me well, you know Shinedown is one of my absolute favorite bands. I saw them live last time they were at Aftershock, and they made me cry during the last song. This time, I sobbed throughout 75% of the set. It was intense 😭. I knew I was going to cry during Daylight, but I hadn't anticipated that the tears wouldn't stop. I was sobbing while jumping and screaming the lyrics. The audience was packed, a pit formed next to us, and there were a ton of crowdsurfers. It was hot, sweaty, and so much fun. The energy was high! They had lots of pyro and even fireworks on stage! It was quite the spectacle! I would happily see them an infinite amount of times. Also, I forgot to take an outfit selfie before leaving the house. I had my dad take a photo of me while we were inbetween the first two sets, and I posted it on Instagram. The official Shinedown Instagram account reposted it to their story!! If you go to Shinedown's Instagram right now, you can see me on the story!!!! Very very cool!

Muse was the headliner. I'm going to be honest. I wasn't excited about Muse. I only know two songs: Uprising, because it is on the radio, and Supermassive Black Hole, because it was in Twilight. We stayed for about 30 minutes of the set before opting to leave early. We were all tired and ready to get off our feet. None of us felt incentivized to stay for the final hour, because we aren't very into the band. I enjoyed what I heard! The singer has an interesting voice, and they were heavier live than what I had previously heard. If I wasn't so tired, I probably would've enjoyed their entire set. (BTW if anyone saw my other post, me knowing Supermassive Black Hole from Twilight is the context of a dude saying "Twilight. That makes sense." to me. 😂)

Overall a really great day. A solid ending to the best weekend. See you next year, Aftershock. It's been a pleasure. Now for pictures from the day!

1. The photo my dad took of me that you can currently view on Shinedown's Instagram. 2. Taylor Momsen! 3. Brent Smith during Shinedown's set. 4. A graphic on the screens during Shinedown's set reading "don't let Sanjay down". Sanjay is a cameraman. Brent said he was going to tell the crowd to jump, and asked him to record us jumping. He told us we had to go all out as to not disappoint Sanjay. 5. The Aftershock sign. 6. The sign at the gates while leaving the venue.

[darkerthanblack-666]

"something has been off with them for a while" I honestly have been thinking the same thing lately, They just feel so different to last year. I really don't know what it is exactly either

My friend says the fame got into their heads 😅. I don't know if it's true or not, maybe she's right, idk. I don't want to make such statements when I don't know the reason for their behavior, but I can try to point out some things that I dislike in what they're doing now. I just really don't want to start a drama... it's not any kind of hate, if I really dislike something I just ignore it and move on. That's how I always operate.

There are some fans who will always pay for everything and will always praise everything, but not everyone has a fat wallet and if they want to sell out stadiums in the future, they can't just cater to a small group of people. The whole introduction of VIPs was basically like "don't like it, don't buy it, some people want to buy, which means there's no problem" and then the whole focus was on people, who paid for that thing (which was what, 30 people per concert? and some of them were huge, like a few thousand crowd of people).

Their VIP offer was also really poor, it was basically paying for the opportunity to give them gifts (I had no VIP and I came early, so I had first row anyway, just not in the center, they also didn't have a photographer and took photos with people's phones, so they were complaints they met people after concerts in some countries for free... if they offered something extra in the VIP package it wouldn't be an issue). My friend showed me a different band's VIP offer with a price that's similar (I don't remember how much in eur it was for BC, but in PLN it was a similar price to the one in dollars here):

Come on, pizza party? BC you really need to try harder... and set up a box for gifts at your merch stand for people, who didn't buy a VIP ticket. Unless you don't want more gifts, then just say you have too much stuff.

Other than that, I felt like they mainly paid attention to the first row at the center during the concert, which was VIP people (maybe it's just my impression, if someone else who was in Poland disagrees, just say so). There are more fans than just 30 people in the crowd, seriously. Joel's explanations of this thing on social media totally didn't make sense and I hate the idea of paying to just meet them. I don't think anyone is important enough to pay for breathing the same air as them, just at a smaller distance than during the concert. If they want to earn this much money, they really need to come up with a better offer (and before someone says it's not much money... I'm Polish, to us it was more expensive than to people in other countries, because they set the same price everywhere... they really should consider that the market in Central [minus Germany] and Eastern Europe is different). Just because someone is willing to pay this much money, it doesn't make it a good deal and those people might also go away if they don't get something better next time.

Following this tour on social media also wasn't as much fun as before, exactly because I saw only the VIP thing everywhere. Either the band, or people were sharing it all the time. They even had to include it in their documentary. So I tried my best to avoid going into the tag, it made me upset... Maybe it was fun for those, who bought VIPs, but I've been saying it from the beginning I wasn't going to get one and I didn't, because I always mean what I say.

Another thing is their concerts. Everyone loved their craziness, but now they play so many concerts that most of them are the same, because they're unable come up with anything unique that often. I was really lucky to see Balboa with Samy on stage and sex doll with fruits before the LS concert, usually when I watched people's live videos it was all the same stuff... I understand why they're doing it, but maybe quantity is not the way to go 😅. Look at MCR, how everyone talks about them because of Gerard's new outfits all the time. I don't even listen to them and it got me interested. We also had so much fun spotting Aleksi wear something different all the time in the summer! But they do so many concerts that there's no more space for such small, exciting surprises. They toned down their craziness, too... It was fun to see them live (they put effort in it, so I got what I paid for, no complaints here), but checking updates from their other concerts just doesn't excite me as much as it used to 🤷‍♀️. I think other people feel the same, because even my live videos didn't get much attention (and come on, I even had Aleksi wiping his sweaty hand on his ass, one year ago it would make the fandom nuts 😂)

tl;dr: they need a better VIP deal, need to stop focusing so much on the VIP thing in general, and need crazy shit like Sharks back

[allnightlongzine]

My Chemical Romance's 'Kids From Yesterday': Death Of Danger

Fan-made video for 'The Kids From Yesterday' looks back at the band's rise to fame.

James Montgomery (@positivnegativ) | Jan 17 2012 | mtv.com

Really, My Chemical Romance's Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys deserved better. A big, bold re-invention of their sound and swagger, it was, by the band's own admission, a "missile" aimed at destroying the staid state of rock and roll, and perhaps because of that fact, it failed to catch on here in the states.

You could practically track its decline based on the videos MCR released off the album, starting with the big-budget "Na Na Na" and the equally flashy follow-up, "Sing," in which they offed the titular Killjoys (who seemingly will never be heard of again). Their next single, "Planetary (Go!)" came coupled with a live video, and, to the best of my knowledge, a clip for "Bulletproof Heart" never materialized at all.

My Chem actually seemed to address the matter in an interview with MTV News last year, in which frontman Gerard Way lamented that the band had "gone through so many things" over the course of the Danger Days cycle, and hinted that, if there were to be any more videos off the album, they'd have to be financed by MCR themselves.

So it's somewhat fitting that, on Monday, they unveiled the final clip from Danger Days: a fan-made video for "The Kids From Yesterday" that documents the band's decade-long climb from Neo-Goth New Jersey rockers to interplanetary conceptual quartet. Like the song itself, the clip is a bittersweet thing, recounting MCR's many triumphs (a pastiche of memorable live moments, it culminates with their headlining slots at Reading and Leeds this past summer), while leaving those who love to read between the lines to wonder if perhaps the band's latest era also represents the end ... not necessarily of My Chem themselves, but of a moment in rock that now seems to have all but disappeared. Truly, MCR were the last bastions of the heady heyday of mid-aughts MySpace punk, and now, well, who knows what's next?

Of course, much of the message behind Danger Days seems to be one of self-empowerment, of inspiring fans to take matters into their own hands and shaking up the status quo. That's yet another reason why "Kids" is such a fitting sendoff; it was made in collaboration with a fan named Emily Eisemann, who had culled through live footage and initially created a clip of her own. There's a reason why the video ends with the phrase "Art is the Weapon," after all: it's been the band's clarion call this entire time.

It's also something Way touched on during Danger Days' release, when he told MTV News that the album was not a conceptual piece, but rather "a complete allegory" for smashing the system and placing the power directly in the hands of their fans. And "Kids" is proof that MCR's message was heard loud and clear, perhaps not by a majority of the record-buying public, but definitely — and most appropriately — by their fans. Sometimes, sales aren't the only measure of a band's success, and Danger Days is a testament to that fact. "Kids" may bring one chapter of their career to a close, but wherever My Chemical Romance go next, you know they'll do so boldly; that's what makes great bands truly great after all: the willingness to push the boundaries, to purvey inspiration, to shake things up ... sometimes even at their own expense.

[serialghoul]

idk how to put this into words but it’s like….. it feels like almost a positive i think that i missed mcr live this time around? not just because i know i made a difficult and responsible decision to put my health first but bc i think if i’d gone i would have gone, had a great time, and then continued on with my life. i’ve been a fan in a kind of low-key way for so much longer than i was ever super invested, like a few solid years vs more than an entire decade of them being a band i still love but don’t listen to all that often.

it was only after having to miss that show that i started seeking stuff out online and found all this fucking content, the costumes, the analysis, the many many many clips where he sings this differently or they play that differently, stuff that i wouldn’t (couldn’t) have noticed if i was there in person for one night. deciding to jump in at the last minute and watch the final livestream of the tour… it’s like it resurrected something in me. i felt something that i haven’t felt since i was 15 in my room trying to struggle through complex riffs with my fingers torn to shreds and my guitar unplugged cause it was after midnight. i’ve been listening to their music again, really listening, pausing and rewinding and adjusting the fucking EQ so i can hear different parts better, and i’m still finding new things to love that i somehow never noticed in the last 17 years of being a fan.

two days after that stream i picked up my old broken electric guitar again for basically the first time in a decade. i started writing a new song, and then another, and then another, and i’m reworking an old one that i never got quite right. i bought a new guitar, a bought some pedals. last night i finally finished the lyrics for the song i started writing before all this, one about addiction and recovery that i was afraid i’d never get right - one i first wrote clumsily fingerpicking on my ukulele and locked away in my bedroom in iso in early 2022, out of my mind with the same covid infection that ended up making me so fucking sick for so fucking long that over a year later i was still too unwell to see them. i’ve already started (tentatively) speaking with a producer friend about recording. i have another friend coming over to jam later today. i can’t know if any of this would have happened if i didn’t miss them, but i really don’t think it would have.

i don’t believe that everything happens for a reason but i also can’t help but see purpose in this. it’s as if everything coalesced so they’d come back into my life just as i needed them, maybe before i even realised how much i did. maybe i never really stopped?

ik it’s a cliche at this point but they weren’t wrong when they first said this band has a habit of saving lives. and they weren’t wrong years later when gerard clarified that really, it’s not about them - it’s about us finding ways through them to save ourselves.

[raytorosaurus]

funny how everyone says boy division is their fave when spotify play counts for light behind your eyes and world is ugly are higher. also boy division is overrated (i love it but i'll die on the hill that everyone is just blinded by it being an upbeat opening track) (tomorrow's money is far superior to boy division) (and number five is the best of the collection)

lol i can see why those two from number three have a lot of streams from more casual fans because they have like...'sing-alongable' lyrics and are that classic kind of palatable angst yk, but boy division is very solidly the fan favourite in more dedicated bandom circles. and yeah i kinda agree sjdkgl - tho i hesitate to call things overrated bc often ppl take it to mean "i don't like it just because it's popular" when in this case i really mean i do love boy division and think it's a great song but just genuinely don't understand why it's this much more popular than the rest of cw, you know? (poll here)

i do get that it's really fun and that they played it a lot this tour and we were all excited about that together so that makes it more fun - what i don't get is why they played it so much this tour (i.e. why it was so loudly a fan favourite above all the others before then). it just really surprises me that it was The most played song besides the every-show staples, with the single exception of mama. look in your heart is it truly anywhere near as good as mama </3 (stats from this awesome awesome spreadsheet by @onedaythisday)

i know that sometimes things are fun to love because they're loved - like it's much more fun to be really hyped up about them playing a "deep cut" fan favourite when everyone can lose their minds in excitement together, i totally get that. a similar thing happens with heaven help us imo. boy division and heaven help us - both really great songs that i love, but which have a reputation of being the stand-out "best" from their respective collections that i don't understand. tomorrow's money is by far my favourite on conventional weapons - of course personal taste accounts for a lot but i do genuinely believe that if any song on cw could be called underrated and truly hold up against their best stuff, it's tomorrow's money. it's lyrically and musically much more interesting than a lot of cw, the production is really fun, the breakdown and distorted screams scratch my brain soooooo good, and it really plays on mcr's strengths as a dual guitar band with a ray toro up their sleeve lol. i also think kiss the ring is a lot more interesting than boy division and sooo fun but they didn't play that one at ALL :( again, just my taste - i defs get boy division being people's fave, just struggle to understand why it's considered such a singular standout.

my actual unpopular cw opinion is that i think surrender the night is a bottom tier mcr song JSDKFLSDF sorry anon. bottom tier mcr already puts them at better than most other songs out there at least. i definitely appreciate it wayyyy much more now after seeing the live version where it actually feels like the guitars are doing something interesting (it might actually have been promoted to second-bottom-tier actually) but the studio version feels kinda flat to me. also imo gerard shot himself in the foot by saying it sounded something geoff rickly would write because if it was a thursday song it would sound better SDKLGJSDKLGJLDS. but that's just me tho i understand why people like it. number one (tomorrow's money and boy division) is probably my fave overall, tho number four (kiss the ring and make room) comes close. then five because burn bright slaps hard.

[dorayakimanjiro]

My Covenless Romance TOH Hunter x Reader HC

Golden Guard/Hunter x Guitarist! Reader

Reader is the guitarist of My Covenless Romance.

("My Covenless Romance" is basically the Boiling Isles' version of "My Chemical Romance")

A/N: This took longer than excepted lol

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• He was on a patrol at the night market.

•Hearing commotion, he rushed to the scene to find.. a crowd of teenagers cheering and..crying? to a band playing on a stage.

• 'What's so "great" about them? Sheesh, just go to the Bard Coven if you wanna watch someone performing or whatever' he prob thought.

•"Authorities and rules are so much better" little jerk most likely thought that too.

• “My Covenless Romance” written in a poster above the stage.

•Intrigued by everyone's hype, he stayed to see what was all about, obviously ONLY and STRICTLY for " investigation purposes". (Nah bestie you aint fooling anyone)

•It'll just be 5 minutes....

•He stayed the whole concert 💀

•rip his duties.

• After the incident, he started going regularly to the night market to "patrol" since he caught sight of insights of "suspiscious witches"

• The next day, he reported catching insights of a suspicious group of witches and for that reason he would patrol the market more frequently.

• LIEESSSSS. LIL EDGY MAN WANTED TO WATCH HIS EMO GROUP PERFORM JSLSIAHAKSHWNAK

• A FANBOY, has MCR shirts, albums and a few posters.

•Kikimora is TIRED of him.

•Belos is too focus on himself to even notice his nephew's new found interest/ maybe hobby??

• Plays their music on his crystal ball and sings his heart out on his room. (obviously with a nullifying sound spell around the room)

•Tried learning a few songs with his guitar. (I have a HC Hunter knows how to play guitar ok?)

• The more he listened to their music, the more he wanted to learn about the band's members.

• Researched on fansites for information about the members such as their name, their positions or roles in the band and the most important one, at least to him, which coven were they part of; and if it wasn't obvious, everyone was from the bard coven. (BARD COVEN SUPREMACY)

• As he passed through all the information, there was only one member left to check.

• Surveying through your information, you were the guitarist, "(Y/N) (L/N) is the youngest of the group with the age of 16, despite their young age, they managed to enter the bard coven without complications, which makes them a really talented witch", if he wasn't interested enough before, OH BOY, NOW HE WAS.

•He likes electric guitars, you play one pretty good, yeah new simp for you.

• Aside from being the guitarist, you were also the lead singer, so sometimes you helped the main vocalist on the chorus, or you had solo parts.

•He loves your singing and watching you perform live makes his days better.

• If by any chance you changed some notes and did a musical arrangement that wasn't part of the original song, or did a random freestyle, he would get goosebumps by how great it sounded. *chef kiss*

• You really captived this boy's heart :,,,) ❤️

•When MCR annouced they were doing a fan-sign, believe me when I say he RUSHED, as if Belos asked him to do it, to bought a ticket for the event.

(If you don't know what a fan-sign, then SEARCH IT UP, YOU LAZY! JK, a fan-sign its an autograph signing album event, used in K-pop; you interact with your fav idols personally, like asking them question, talking or holding hands with them, etc)

•Baby boy was really nervous to meet you, was excited and jumping out of happiness but also felt ill and restless. Just the thought of you knowing his existence was enough to send him to cloud nine.

•Blondie was slaying the “My Covenless Romance” shirt.

•Thank titan he put on his gloves today because his hands were SWEATY.

• On missions and at the coven, he was a professional at dealing with anxiousness and emotions in general; but! this is YOU who we're talking about, the (Y/N) (L/N).

• An internal mess. 🙃

• None of the training, he worked his entire life with, prepared him for such moment.

*At the day of the fan-sign*

• 30 minutes had passed and Hunter was waiting anxiously on the line. (Dude arrived very early. Told kiki to do his shift hshshshs)

• 10 minutes later, it was finally his turn!

• Approching the table, he kneeled to be eye-leveled with the first band member and talk comfortly with them.

• He had a great time chatting with each member; they answered his questions, signed his photo album, some even complimented his stunning mangenta eyes!

• Got flustered by the compliments.

• Other members were playful with him, making him play silly things like rock, papers and scissors or just patted his fluffy hair (with Hunter's permission, of course).

• You were sitted at the last end of the table, making you the last member to interact with (the best for last bestie 💅).

• The nearer he approached, the greater his nerves.

• 'Just one more member left and its my turn with (Y/N), please, don't mess things up Hunter' he thought.

•Would steal glances your way when talking to the member infront of him, he didn't meant to be rude, but you were so gorgeous up close.

(BE PREPARED FOR YOUR COLLEAGUE TO TEASE THE HELL OUT OF YOU FOR THE BOY'S ADORABLE BEHAVIOR, HECK YEAH THEY NOTICED.)

• (Y/N) waved farewell to the fan before them and patiently waited for their turn with the blonde boy that was chattering with their colleague.

• Soon enough, they sliced Hunter's album to (Y/N)'s way, meaning it was finally their turn.

• THE MOST ANTICIPATED MOMENT, HE WAS SCREAMING INTERNALLY.

• 'OH TITAN OH TITAN OH TITAN *screams in grimwalker*'

• His cheeks and ears turning pink, pulse increasing.

• “Hey buddy! What's your name?” you smiled.

• Goldy almost passed out because of that smile.

• “H-Hunter” he stuttered 'FUCK' he mentally cursed.

• "Hunter, nice name!" you said.

•His name rolling out of your mouth has to be the best thing that has ever happened in his life.

•"Thank you" he said, feeling butterflies in his stomach.

•“So tell me Hunter, did the other members teased you out much?” You asked while signing his album. Him staring wide-eyed.

• "Uh, I saw how much they teased you and got flustered by their comments, *sigh* Ah these guys, I'm gonna punish them after this" you said in a friendly way, an adorable pout adorning your lips as you finished your statement.

• YOU WERE WATCHING HIM THIS WHOLE TIME AND WAS WILLING TO DEFEND HIM FROM THE OLDER MEMBERS??!?!!?? ...yep, this gotta be a dream, no way its real, too good to be true.

• "No, no, no! Its okay, seriously, it wasn't THAT type of teasing, but thanks for your concern" he shifted his fingers under the table.

• "Hmmmm still gonna punish them though" both chuckled.

• You looked way more softer than what you looked on stage being all badass and hot af with your guitar with a face that shouted you could dominate the world if you pleased, but what he had in front of him was just a charming, lovable young witch. UwU moment

•"Say, I gotta admit your scar its pretty cool" you said pointing your finger to your left cheek, to mimic the side where the boy's scar rested.

• Reaching out his hand to touch it, his face reddened. A tiny "thank you" leaving his mouth, showing a small smile.

•Not wanting to trigger a possible bad memory (which was lol) to the ash-blonde-haired boy, the young guitarist didn't push more into the topic, despite being curious on how he got that.

• "I was wondering, if you weren't in the bard coven, what other coven do you think you would've joined instead?" Hunter asked.

• "I'm glad you ask, no one had really made me that question, interesting, yet I do have an answer, quite an odd one to be honest" you said.

•"I probably don't look like the type, however, I would've liked joining the Emperor's Coven, seeing witches like the Golden Guard fighting and being all mighty makes me kinda jealous sometimes; I've never talked to him but he seem quite an appealing guy " (Y/n) sheepishly answered.

• Hunter.exe has stopped working.

• "Wow.. that's really shocking" forgive him for replying lamely, his poor brain was melting y your answer.

•" Hahaha, I know right?! Are you interested in a particular coven or are you already in one?" you asked.

• "ME? Of course not! I'm still checking out and making up my mind" he replied. No way he was gonna tell you he was the Golden Guard, not yet...

•" Well, if by any chance you choose Bard, we'll be waiting for ya" you winked.

• Thank titan he was already on his knees because his legs gave up.

•"Then, what got you into MCR, Hunter?" you asked

•"Definitely by the band's music, your albums and singles are amazing! OH! And your guitar's solos? ARE mind-blowing and you look so breath-taking while playing. I gotta admit, after a while I just listened to MCR albums only because of you-" he blurted out.

•'Oh shit....' both hands flew to his mouth.

• (Y/n)'s cheeks turned red.

• "I-I'm sorry, I didn't realize unt-" he said agitatedly.

•”Hey- Hey! It's okay! I really appreciate your support, I..I like it" you shyly confess.

•The manager behind you made a signal meaning time had run out.

•”Aww dang it! Time ran out, it was nice meeting you Hunter” you offered him both your hands.

•“Likewise (Y/n)” he said taking both of your hands.

• Interwining your fingers with his, earning a gasp from the magenta-eyed boy, his face and ears becoming as red as a tomato.

•'So adorable! just as I expected' you thought.

•“Let's see each other at the next fan-sign!” you said while wiggling your hands with his.

•"Yeah! Sure!" he exclaimed, letting go his hands, you gave him his album and bid farewell to each other.

• He couldn’t sleep that night, he still felt your hands grabbing his.

• A blushing mess.

• He couldn’t wait for the next concert and fan-meeting. 🥰

Bonus:

• After the fan-sign, the band's members were all over (Y/n) asking them questions about the charming blond boy. (Yep, they watched the whole thing)

• Teasing (Y/n) to no end saying the blondie would be their future partner. (Y/n) secretly didn’t mind. 😳

• Everyone received a well deserved punishment from (Y/n) .☺️

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