#to make it more similar to gerard's

[bulletproofbanditsorbust]

Bulletproof.

ref pic (suggested by the lovely @arnold-layne ) under the cut

[seventh-district]

i’ve just finished season one of TMA, and being someone who’s okay with spoilers is fun because it means i can peruse the wiki and scroll through the tag and i get to become privy to all sorts of weird, wonderful, halfway-out-of-context information that i get to look forward to understanding in the future

like. what do you mean Leitner’s in the tunnels?

what do you mean Jon eats the extinguished sun??

what do you mean it’s spelled Gerard Keay???

[carrieway]

hello!!

what do you think carrie would be for halloween? (pretend she’s allowed)

HELLO and my guy i ALWAYS pretend carrie is allowed to do things </3

hmmmm this is a good question!!!! i doubt she really fully gets what halloween is (like the Hype of it), past that some kids come to school dressed up and there's always a party at so-and-so's house. i think carrie would want to be hidden, that way people wouldn't recognize and tease her, so it'd definitely be something with a mask, or even a sheet ghost depending on how much time she has to get ready!

lets say in this scenario, sue invited her to a party at tommy's house but it was kiiinda last minute (sue just really wasnt sure if it would be safe for her yknow), she would definitely do a sheet ghost since it's the quickest thing. when she arrives sue would meet up with her n end up finding sunglasses to put on over the cut out eyes to really avoid anyone recognizing her lol.

BUT in a scenario where she has more time, im thinking she might go as a cat. she can find a cat mask fairly easily and it's one of the less scary things out there, n it can give her more free reign on how the body of the costume looks :] she'd probably make a black dress to go with it, along with black tights and shoes to match, maybe even gloves :D she'd be more recognizable in it, but at the very least there's a plausible deniability to anyone that might start thinking it's her (bc why would carrie white be at a party?)

[soup-is-nice-sometimes]

potentially unpopular opinion but I genuinely prefer swarm tour/reunion tour pics of Gerard where his age kinda shows like don't get me wrong it's amazing to see pics of him where he literally looks the exact same as when he did 20 odd years ago but the ones where u can see signs of ageing just genuinely have my heart like

they're alright now ykwim???

idk I also think they one edited pic of nurse Gerard should stop circulating bc for so long I thought it was real but it was EDITED to make them a) look younger (smoothing and wrinkles etc) and b) more feminine which isn't a problem in itself but when ppl were using it to justify their "Gerard is a trans woman" thing (which is stupid btw Gerard has said that he's unlabelled FOR A REASON and while they do use any pronouns he prefers he/they argue w the wall)

the photo that's similar to this but more zoomed out and when u zoom in on his face it's obviously airbrushed y'all know the one??

also 2016-2019 Gerard I will always love you

the lovely :33

[shaunashipman]

what gets me is that date scene was a literally under a minute long which isn’t a whole loft of time exactly of dissect the inner workings of their daddy issues. the minute they had, they used it to its full potential because we had:

- buck and tommy being casually domestic together on their date night in, which while nice, wasn’t like a super fancy thing and shows that this is probably a common occurrence for them. (especially when you see episode 9 and Bobby’s mention of buck going to visit tommy after the shift)

- buck telling tommy about his day, tommy making a joke about the dedicated hospital wing but recognizes that buck is not okay so he ASKS him pointedly how HE is

- buck shares the close relationship he has with bobby and this seems to be the first time they’re delving into that and so of course tommy wants to understand better, hence why he says “your dads alive”, buck replies exactly and tommy gets an understanding buck doesn’t have a great relationship with his father (also I have to add buck sharing how he sees bobby as a father with tommy is a big deal esp considering the buck bobby scene last episode where bobby tells buck tommys good for him soooo)

- tommy then shares his OWN experience after that, bounces off of what buck says to add to the conversation and open up to his boyfriend about his own past so he can get to know him better too. it was a moment where they were both vulnerable (the Gerard mention in particular i 100% believe is to set up an arc with tommy in season 8)

Now at this point there isn’t a whole lot of time left in the scene like maybe 20-25 seconds? they can exactly like I said sit there and examine and analyze their childhoods and their fathers so the tone switches to a more light hearted vibe because it would be weird to end it on a heavy note AND simultaneously it gives us more insight into their relationship

- buck suggestively says the daddy issues line which again, how anyone interpreted that as him wanting to continue a serious discussion is beyond me when again, the scene has hardly any time remaining

- tommy picks up the vibe he’s putting down and tells him he doesn’t have them (he clearly does have daddy issues so again, we know this isn’t about the actual trauma but about sex and what they both like/dislike )

- buck once again responds suggestively with the “you think I do”

- and then tommy with his infamous “God I hope so” - leaving buck giddy and smiling because he got exactly what he wanted

tdlr; We got domestic bucktommy, tommy backstory, both of them being vulnerable with each other, Tommy recognising he was not a good person in the past under Gerard, a set up for a tommy storyline with Gerard in some way for seaosn 8, bucktommy flirting, bucktommy matching each others freak and both very much enjoying it, bucktommy showing they can read each others moods like??? all for his in a scene that was under a minute

that scene was such a masterclass of Show Don't Tell. they had 55 seconds to get across how they're doing and where they are in the relationship and they did it. we can see that they're comfortable with each other; that they're okay with opening up about vulnerable topics but haven't had in-depth conversations on some, like buck and his parents; we can even see some of how they communicate, with tommy relating to buck's admission with similar thoughts of his own father and father-figure (something we've seen tommy do before, and is a lovely subtle showing of his personality); and then we get confirmation that yes, these two have fucked already, and are clearly compatible in that department too.

plus another sprinkle of foreshadowing with gerrard.

in 55 seconds.

that is called economy of time/space/whatever the rule is i can't remember rn. the show doesn't always get it, but when they do it is golden

[itmethanh]

ROCKSTAR CLAUDIA Love Makes You Stupid + Evil of Your Evil (debut singles)

Inspiration below cut!

Where Lestat has a glam rock look going on, I wanted to lean into the Fueled by Ramen, early 2000s pop punk princess theme for both Claudia's. As for their titles, Love Makes You Stupid is inspired by what Claudia told Louis, and Evil of Your Evil is a spin on Lestat's "evil of my evil" line.

In my perspective a lot of Bailey's portrayal and mannerisms lean similar to Lestat. So I wanted her rock look to have a bold and colorful eye makeup. My friend recommended Gerard Way which I thought was perfect. (3 cheers for sweet revenge being such a perfect title for her arc in s1) I gave her a hairstyle that's eye-catching and loud in color to match.

With Delainey, her Claudia played into the theatrics more which is very Panic! At The Disco. Conveniently my friend recommended Ryan Ross for the quintessential pop punk look of the 2000s. I gave her Rico Nasty's spiked finger waves for an 1920s vibe, it created this vintage look that calls back to Louis in New Orleans. Paired with Ryan Ross' outfit, there's also a splash of European in there too.

[mrs-kmikaelson]

07| The Tribrid

Pairing: Klaus Mikaelson x daughter!reader, Marcel Gerard x mostly platonic!reader Summary: Trying to figure out a way to get Klaus to trust you, you reminisce over the past and how trust was earned in a similar situation. Warnings: none Words: 3.7K

Masterlist

a/n: does anyone know how i can fix the gifs from like not centring? it looks fine on my laptop but horrible on mobile😭

NEW ORLEANS, 1970

Strobe lights went all across the room, music blaring, but I could barely tell what song was playing, too distracted by what I was doing—or, rather, who I was about to do. I ran my fingers through his hair while his hand crept up my skirt, our kiss getting more passionate by the second.

His name didn't matter. All I cared about was the fun we were about to have. 

"Why don't we take this somewhere more private," he mumbled in between kisses. 

I nodded against him, giving him one last kiss before whispering in his ear. "Back alley." The fact that I was drunk didn't stop me from leading us across the dance floor to the back where I'd been many times before. I knew the owner—who was also a really good kisser—and so I knew where to go.

I felt the cold air hit us as soon as we got outside, despite feeling so hot. As soon as the door closed, I turned around, intending on pulling him back in for a kiss, but I almost staggered back when I saw the same man I was kissing just moments ago with veins crawling underneath his eyes, fangs protruding in his mouth.

What the fuck?

I quickly sobered up, baring my own fangs at him. The atmosphere went from hot and sexy to dark in an instant. 

His eyes widened. While his voice was surprised, there was still an undertone of hostility. "You're a vampire?"

I narrowed my eyes. "You didn't know?" God, how drunk was he? I smelt that he was a night crawler immediately. Clearly, he thought I was a human and wanted to leave so he could suck me dry.

That wasn't happening. For obvious reasons.

He cursed under his breath. For a second, I thought we'd get back to what we were doing; I mean, I just cleared this up. I was gonna be generous and continue to make out with him in spite of the fact that he just tried to kill me, but this dude just had to kill my fun, too.

He tried charging at me, but my magic worked faster than even vamp speed. Quickly, I rushed, "Motus!" and he was sent flying into the wall. My eyes widened. Fuckkkkkk, man.

I just wanted to get laid.

I wasn't supposed to do that. I was supposed to punch him, maybe snap his neck—I was supposed to do something that a vampire would do. A vampire doesn't just move things with their mind.

I thought I was soberer than that, but it seemed that the alcohol was still affecting me because I just sent a fucking vampire flying. Shock was all over the guy's face, his pretty, pretty face that I just wanted to have a good time with.

Fuck. Now I'd have to kill him.

He remained against the wall, but he didn't wait much longer before firing questions at me. "What the hell was that-"

I cut him off, "Look, man, I wasn't planning on doing a lot of talking with you tonight." Annoyance laced my voice. He didn't respond as quickly, just looking at me with an extremely analyzing gaze. I didn't doubt that he was confused. People don't just come across people like me. 

He was silent until it looked like a light bulb went off in his head. "Tribrid," he muttered under his breath, almost like I wasn't meant to hear it, but I did.

My blood went cold. "What did you just say?" I asked, but he ignored me, continuing to mutter under his breath.

"I knew a guy once—he was half wolf, half vampire." If he didn't have my attention before, he sure as hell did now. Because I only knew one person that matched that description, and that was Klaus Mikaelson.

My body went rigid while the guy took little notice, seeming to put together a bunch of puzzle pieces in his head. "Yeah-" he paused, looking up at me, "I've heard chatter. Witches saying something about a... triangle: werewolf, vampire... and witch."

Chatter? He's heard chatter? A thousand things went through my mind at once. That was impossible. Nobody knew about me. I just got to this city; there was no way witches have managed to decipher a secret I've spent centuries keeping.

Against my will, my tone was now less calm. "I don't know what you're-"

"I think you do know what I'm talking about." The guy's eyes were hard as he stared right back at me. I thought he was just some baby vamp, but it appeared that he was proving me wrong. He took a step closer to me. "You're the tribrid, aren't you?"

I almost laughed, even though I was full of nerves while, just seconds ago, I was fine. "You must have a death wish," I remarked. Maybe I could've left him alone, convinced him to forget about my display of magic and just left town. But now he not only saw that, but he also knew exactly who I was and he'd go running to tell everyone else.

He had to go. It's a shame, though, I thought, he was such a good kisser.

I stepped closer to him and he immediately got the message, eyes widening again once he realized that I had the upper hand. "No, no," he said, raising his hands in surrender. "I promise you; you do not want to kill me."

I scoffed, "And why is that?"

"Listen, I hold a lot of influence around here-"

I scoffed again. "I really don't care." Throwing power around was a politician's move, and politicians only lied to you. I wasn't gonna take my chances.

I was walking towards him, taking one step forward for every step he took back until he blurted, "My name is Marcel Gerard." At this, I stopped. Marcel Gerard... I knew that name. I stood still, racking my brain until I realized why his name sounded so familiar.

Marcel Gerard literally ruled this city. I'd been in New Orleans for not even a few days yet you could hear vampires and witches alike mentioning him often.

Damnit. Of course, I not only meet the guy who the vampires in this city worship, but I also end up locking lips with him and have him find out what I am.

I just wanted to have fun.

He saw recognition on my face, causing his own to light up. "So, you know who I am." I nodded in response, exasperatedly rolling my eyes. All of this had completely caused my buzz to dissipate into thin air. "Look..." he trailed off, making a gesture with his hands.

I rolled my again. "Y/N."

"Look, Y/N, I know what you are. I figured it out in seconds. There's already speculation of a tribrid going around with the witches-"

"Get to the fucking point, Marcel, before I just decide to kill you. Believe me, I am not in the mood to deal with this right now."

He didn't waste any more time. "I can get the witches to back off and find something else to fixate on. I can bury just the thought of a tribrid being out there, Y/N," he emphasized. 

I wonder just how dumb he thought I was. I shook my head. "So you want me not to kill you, just so you can go blab to whoever you see as soon as I leave you alone?" He shook his head right back at me.

"I won't say a thing, trust me." He paused. "We can help each other."

"Oh, c'mon-"

"No, I'm being serious," he asserted, no longer looking like he was backed into a corner but much more assured than before. "Killing me wouldn't do you any good. My people would search relentlessly for my killer, and the witches would only keep digging, possibly striking gold at some point. You keep me alive, and I can get rid of that for you." 

I only stared at him with narrow eyes. He looked confident in the bar, that's what drew me to him, but I wasn't expecting anything like this. He had a point, but that didn't mean it was enough to stop me from killing him. And if I didn't like this city, then I'd kill him without any qualms and leave. But I do like this city. I want to stay here, and I knew I couldn't stay here with him dead and with the witches suspicious.

I couldn't afford to make enemies. Right now, what I needed were��friends.

I'd already made up my mind, but Marcel didn't know that, still trying to get me to see a vision that I already understood. "We can make a good team, Y/N."

I didn't say anything for a few more seconds, thinking everything over in my mind. I could possibly be making the biggest mistake of my life right now, I thought. But I was already set. I kept my voice cold and devoid of emotion. "I'm giving you twenty-four hours to make this witch thing go away, Marcel."

A weight was lifted off his shoulders. "And I'll do just that." I wasn't gonna stick around much longer. This was already much more conversation than I was anticipating to have tonight, and we clearly weren't gonna have sex, so without another thought, I sped out of the alley.

Little did I know, that night marked the start of one of the rest of my life in New Orleans.

THE PRESENT

I was pulled out of my reverie when I saw Marcel came into my vision, sitting down on the chair opposite to me. We started out trying to kill each other, and now look: we were meeting for coffee. 

I didn't trust him when I first met him, even after he made my problems with the witches disappear. That wasn't enough. And it also wasn't enough for him to insist I work with him. Those were things he was doing for his own benefit, so, of course, that didn't inspire my trust in him.

I only started trusting Marcel after he opened up to me about his past. Doing that, getting vulnerable with someone—that showed that you trusted them. And what better way to get someone to trust you than to show that you trust them?

I wasn't just reminiscing for the sake of it. The way Marcel got me to trust him was what I'd been forgetting throughout all my interactions with Klaus. I couldn't just ask him to trust blindly, the same way Marcel couldn't ask me to, or the same way I couldn't get the witches to.

I needed a show of good faith. The trick was just figuring out what.

"Hey, Y/N/N." 

I nodded back to Cellie's greeting, pushing a tumbler over to his side of the table. While I actually liked coffee, Marcel wasn't a fan. "Got you your drink."

He grinned. "Ah, have I told you how much I love you recently?"

"Definitely not enough," I quipped back. "Now drink." His smile only got wider as he brought the tumbler up to his lips, sipping from his blood while I worked at finishing my Americano.

It's been about a week since I gave the contract to Klaus and went out with Marcel and Cami, who were now accepting the title of "dating" (after lots of resistance from Cami's side). Things have otherwise been quiet. I've been over to the Abattoir a few times to speak with Elijah, sometimes speaking to Hayley, and rarely talking to Klaus, but everything was fine if you didn't count the fact that he was still staring at me every time I came over.

You'd think that I'd be the one behaving that way after constantly seeing my father, his baby mama, and his brother, but nope. I've been calm; the whole Mikaelson thing has been getting to me less, but Klaus would look at me like he was trying to pick apart everything I said or did.

Sooner or later, it wouldn't matter how well I kept my secret. He was just gonna keep digging, so I needed to stop him before he struck gold.

"How's D been doing?" He asked, and the Mikaelsons were instantly pushed to the back of my mind. Davina had that effect.

"She's been good. Doing her school work, getting better with her magic by the day. You should come by for dinner soon, actually."

"Yeah, I-" he cut himself off when a "ping" sounded. He glanced down at his phone on the table, muttering a curse under his breath. When he looked back up at me, his expression was a mix of annoyance at the disturbance and apology. "Sorry, Y/N/N, I've gotta-"

"No, no, it's fine," I told him. "Go on and deal with it." He gave me a silent thank you before getting up, kissing my cheek in parting.

"I'll make it up to you. Dinner at mine," he said, walking away backwards. I smiled, telling him I'd see him later, and then he was out the door. Although we'd been sitting for all of one minute before he had to go, I wasn't irritated. He was getting back into the groove with the Quarter's happenings, so I'd be fully supportive.

I got up, throwing my empty coffee cup into the trash and walking out of the little café, mentally running over my schedule: housekeeping, then dinner with Marcel and Davina later. Right now, I'd go game plan my pitch to the vampires.

Or not.

Just as I was about to cross the street, a black car abruptly skirted in front of me, making me jump back. Before I could make anything of it, two men stepped out of it. Their expressions were practically lifeless, not a trace of emotion in sight.

"Get into the car," one of them ordered, causing me to furrow my brows. What the fuck?

I voiced my concerns not a moment later. "Excuse me?"

The other one stepped forward as if he was threatening me. I looked him up and down. Who the fuck was he stepping to like that? "Ma'am, you're gonna need to get into the car willingly before we force you to." 

Force me to? I only stared at him, debating on whether or not I was gonna bash his head into the car he was threatening me to get into in front of any passers-by. I was then reminded of the exact thing I was on my way to work on: the peace pacts. If I exacted any violence, that wouldn't be setting the right example.

Still, though, I was tempted.

After a few seconds of eying them both, I realized I not only knew them, but I also understood what was happening here.

These were some of Marcel's old vampires.

And they were compelled.

Damnit. I glanced to the car behind them. I was willing to bet money that, inside that very car, sat Klaus. I rolled my eyes. A week ago, I would've been more put off by this, and I was, but I was more annoyed than anything.

I'd find some way to get him to trust me later, but if I didn't get into this car right now, then he'd only become even more suspicious of me, and I didn't need that.

I shook my head in disbelief that I was even gonna do this, gesturing for them to move so I could get into the car. One of them opened the back door for me and I got in.

I turned to my left, fully expecting Klaus to be sitting next to me, but instead I was met with the sight of a blonde with big, voluminous curls and bright blue eyes. Despite fitting into the dumb blonde mold exactly, I knew she was anything but.

This was Rebekah Mikaelson.

I (hopefully) hid my shock quickly, but my eyes still narrowed. My mind raced, wondering what the hell she could possibly want from me. I first jumped to conclusions, but I shut them down immediately, knowing that there was no way anyone knew I was related to the Mikaelsons, including the Mikaelsons themselves.

While I'd been visiting the Abattoir often, Rebekah was basically nowhere to be found. I never would've guessed that this was how I'd be meeting her, being pushed into a car by vampires acting like they were secret service. But, with the Mikaelsons, so far nothing has gone as I expected it.

When she turned to me, she didn't stop and observe me first like her brother did. I'd learned from my research that Rebekah Mikaelson was impulsive, possibly even more so than Klaus. So it didn't surprise me when she cut right to the chase. 

"You must be Y/N," she said. Her voice sounded like honey and a smile was on her lips, but it didn't take rocket science to know that it was all an act. "I'm Rebekah Mikaelson, but I'm sure you're already aware of that." 

I was. And so I said that. "I am." 

She hummed at my response, indirectly reminding me so much of Klaus. She pressed a button to her side, causing the partition to roll up, never looking away from me once. Her smile then quickly dropped. "What are you doing with Marcel?"

Now, I couldn't hide the surprise on my face. "What?"

"You heard me," she asserted, unwilling to elaborate any further and just continuing to look at me, waiting for a reply.

Out of all the reasons she could've pulled me into this car, that one had never even crossed my mind. I paused for a few seconds, thinking over how I'd respond. I knew Rebekah and Marcel had history, and Rebekah had created a reputation for herself as not only being a lover, but a rather possessive one.

Saying the wrong thing here could get me into a tight situation I did not want to be in, so I had to be sure that my words wouldn't piss her off. "He's my friend," I told her, but she didn't look very convinced.

"Really?" She questioned, sarcasm noticeable in her voice. "Are you so cozy with all of your friends? Because you both looked rather close in that café." So she was watching us.

I backtracked, remembering how he kissed me on the cheek on his way out. I see how that could look bad to some people, especially his ex-girlfriend who seemed much more attached to him than he let on. From the way Marcel told the story, him and Rebekah were over, but the way she was acting didn't suggest that at all.

Suddenly, Camille was brought to the forefront of my mind. "We are close," I defended. "I've known him a long time, and we're just friends." I could've left it there—should've left it there, but with Cami on my mind I couldn't help but add, "Besides, he has a girlfriend."

Rebekah narrowed her eyes at me; although, something told me she was already conscious of that little fact. Her jaw tensed, making me more alert. While Elijah and even Klaus wouldn't immediately deal with their problems physically, I knew Rebekah was a different story.

She was smart, don't get me wrong, but if there was something to know about her it was that her emotions overpowered her mind more often than not. She was impulsive, and so this could go real bad, real quick.

I had to get out of this.

I decided to just say something instead of letting her make the first move. If I said something first, then I could take control of the situation and spin it before she could.

"Look," I started. "Marcel and I have a completely platonic relationship." Well, not completely, but I wasn't gonna tell her that. "After we met, I was just helping him keep things running smoothly in the Quarter, the same thing I'm doing with your family now."

While her expression remained blank, I could tell I was swaying her in the right direction. She just needed one last push. "We talk so often because of Davina. She's important to both of us, and we just want to make sure she gets the childhood she deserves." Her eyes immediately softened, and I knew I got her.

Davina was just a child. As ruthless as Rebekah could be, she still had humanity inside her—Marcel had told me this time and time again when he was under the influence. There was something in her that he fell for, and it was her ability to care when she really wanted to.

She finally looked away from me. "I understand," she said. If I knew anything about her, then I knew she was probably embarrassed right now. It turned out that Rebekah's emotional nature had actually helped, not harmed. "Sorry for the inconvenience," she apologized, but her eyes never met mine.

She rolled the partition back down, telling the driver to stop the car and unlock the doors. "You're free to go, Y/N." I stared at her for a few seconds, wondering if there was anything else I was supposed to say, but I came up empty. So I just got out of the car and watched as they drove away right after.

Once I could no longer see the car, I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding.

I just met Rebekah Mikaelson.

And I just barely dodged a bullet. I directed my thoughts away from freaking out because I just met yet another member of my family to how I was gonna fix the problem I had.

I couldn't keep tiptoeing on this tight-rope around the Mikaelsons. Sooner or later, I'd fall. I needed to do something to get them, all of them, to trust me. If they caught me at the right time, then everything could be exposed.

I had all of these thoughts running through my mind until a light bulb went off, and all of the puzzle pieces suddenly assembled themselves into a clear picture.

I knew what to do.

I had my show of good faith.

Taglist: @scrynexxtins @thisnameistaken1234 @honestlycasualarcade @xlittlestarling @thatgirljas13 @rosecentury

[angstics]

As our chat comes to a close, I ask one last question: What’s up with all the homoeroticism in My Chem’s live show when, most nights, mixed in with the scene kids, they’re playing to a bunch of dudebros? After cracking up, Gerard answers honestly and passionately. “That’s the idea; that it’s an audience full of dudes. And if we can make them understand us, I think it will make them more open-minded people. And I think the most fulfilling thing about this tour has been that single thing. Like we love playing for our kids, but to play for a guy with no shirt on and a backwards baseball hat who would probably beat the crap outta me…but maybe not, cause that’s generalizing and I don’t want to generalize, but if you make that person say ‘You know what? I don’t know if this dude is gay or straight, and I actually don’t care because these guys are just going for it, and I could accept this guy, and I could accept all these guys on stage’, then that’s a great thing. And that’s actually why we’ve done a lot of the homoerotic stuff that we’ve done on stage throughout the years, cause it started in the basements, it started cause of a similar type of people coming to those shows. And it’s all about changing that perception, you know, and pushing the envelope in that regard. Yeah, there’re a lot of radical ideas out there and up on that stage and I think that’s why it’s really fulfilling, you know?” As we talk a bit more about it, I mention the infamous kiss between him and guitarist Frank Iero. “You know, it’s not a real common thing, we’ve been doing that kind of thing…not much…I seriously think it’s happened 5 times, in our entire…” “But now it’s been Youtubed,” I cut in. “Yeah,” says Way sheepishly, “Now they’ve made it a big deal. It’s not the kind of thing that was done for publicity. It’s done for the same reason that you would put on a slightly sexy or homoerotic show, like you’re trying to push that type of notion. And actually the main idea behind it is that if it makes people angry who just can’t accept that kind of thing, then that’s great. That’s actually what you want to do. But sometimes, honestly, what it is, is that you get caught up in a moment, and you’re thinking to yourself ‘What is the one thing right now that’ll just really aggravate every homophobe in the audience?’ and you just get caught in this moment, you just do it. Sometimes there’s not even that much thought behind it, it’s just like ‘I’m just gonna put my hand down this guy’s shirt’ and it’s more for me, it gets me really amped.”

(2008)

[beetheyapper]

MUSIC I THINK THE POETS WOULD ENJOY

this is not time period accurate but i do not care. i at least tried to keep it pre-2000s. also i’m 100% projecting my music taste onto them. deal with it? spotify playlists, each of which has around 30 songs, are linked below each description ! i spent forever on this 😭

Charlie Dalton

i’m not sure that i could pinpoint very many artists he’d particularly like, but this is a classic rock boy right here. he’d be into ac/dc, motley crue, led zeppelin, etc. perhaps a bit of duran duran (this is where i’m projecting the most.) songs about s3x and women, and songs that make him feel like the rebel he is. (this playlist has been gale hansen approved on twitter btw)

Neil Perry

oh i just know this kid would be into some funk and pop, especially 80s and perhaps even new wave (i’m again projecting). now THIS is a duran duran fan (specifically their early stuff), which is unsurprising since the lead singer has a drama degree. he’d also probably like fleetwood mac, and would be well-versed in the band’s drama. duran duran, wham!, fleetwood mac, abba, maybe even some hall & oates. songs with complex lyrics and also songs that make him wanna dance. lots of upbeat stuff because though he has things that bother him, he’d rather do anything but dwell on them.

Todd Anderson

honestly, considering they’re roommates, i feel like neil would’ve had a bit of an impact on todd’s music taste, so there’s some band influence there—but regardless, i think todd would be into more mellow and emotional songs. jeff buckley comes to mind, along with the eagles, the beatles and maybe a splash of the smiths also pls pretend now and then didn’t come out last year. he would also be letting it linger i fear

Knox Overstreet

knox would be similar to Charlie, as they probably bond over shared music taste just as much as everything else. very heavy on the classic rock, but a lean more towards songs about needing someone and love songs as he pines for Chris. Tom Petty, Robert Palmer, The Cars, and a bunch of songs introduced to him by Charlie. He sticks more to genre/theme than to a specific artist methinks

Richard Cameron

contrary to what some may think, i think Cameron would absolutely groove to some rock n roll. HOWEVER. he is a 60s-70s rock n roll elitist. he thinks Billy Idol’s cover of Mony Mony is a disgrace. he wholeheartedly believes the Beatles are the best band to have ever graced the planet. The Beatles, The Beach Boys. The Rolling Stones, etc. Maybe even some Simon & Garfunkel. Him and Charlie argue a lot about which decades were the best years of rock music

Gerard Pitts

free my boy. he just wants to dance he ain’t do nothing wrong. his music taste has definitely been influenced by some of the other poets, in the sense that if he hears a song with a funky beat that makes him want to dance, it’s added to his mixtape IMMEDIATELY. for this reason, i’m thinking lots of funk and groove. play that funky music white boy! Bee Gees, ABBA, Talking Heads, Pet Shop Boys, etc. as long as he can dance to it he could care less who it’s by

Steven Meeks

another old rock, but more on the calm side with some hints of folk and fun. Donovan, The Beatles (paul is his fav for sure), The Beach Boys, and he definitely loves every white person anthem, including Sweet Caroline. he likes to groove with Pitts but also like soothing music to study to !!! i had to consult my friend on this one i fear i was drawing a blank

AND THAT is my opinion on each of the poets’ music taste. did i squeeze Duran Duran into almost all of them? perhaps. they’re my fav band let me live… feel free to listen to the playlists (please listen to them. pls i don’t want to have made them in vain.) and maybe even become spotify moots with me :D

[fatecolossal]

TWIN PEAKS - the Red Room x the Glass Box Room: eerie, interdimensional portals of coffee, kissing, & comfy armchairs... The Sam-and-Tracey scenes of Parts 1 & 2 are evocative of a number of other elements of the show, none more so than TP's various Red Room scenes.

Tracey's black dress is redolent of RR-Laura's black dress, and the chalky, naked, humanlike figure that materializes in the Glass Box is shot in stances and at angles distinctly similar to those used by/for the white, naked sculptures in the Red Room...

Notably, in Part 2 one of the RR sculptures transforms into a doppelgänger of the Evolution of the Arm, a sinister figure whose gaping maw and wrathful lashing-out are similar to those of the Glass Box's "Experiment"... (Apologies for the gore in the image.)

Tracey carries coffee cups with a black-on-white "Z" figure drawn on them; likewise, her dress is later shown to feature a white-on-black "Z." Whatever else they may evoke, these zigzagging figures are visually like the iconic chevron zigzags of the Red Room's floor...

The side table in the Glass Box Room ["GBR"] has a small bonsai tree which, while (as fans have noted) evocative of the bonsai Windham Earle uses in Season 2, also is evocative of the Red Room's own tree, the Evolution of the Arm...

Like the Red Room, the Glass Box Room is a type of "waiting room," one likewise filled with "secrets." A picture of its primary secret, the Experiment, is viewed by Gordon et al in Part 3, its wraithlike figure floating over an oval much like the RR's oval owl cave ring...

When the Glass Box Room is visited by Cooper in P2, we get a shot of the reflection of his floating figure looming over the empty seating in the room, a tableau curiously similar in framing to the superimposition of the Angel floating over the empty RR chairs in FWWM...

One of the most intriguing aspects of Cooper's P2 visit to the GBR is that it means we get to watch a replay of Sam/Tracey scenes first seen in P1. A similar replay occurs in P18, this time of RR scenes first seen in P2. It all seems linked to the slipperiness of time in TP:TR...

"Someone is here," Gerard says; "No one is here," Tracey says. These opposing lines get at the ways the RR & GBR scenes are also set up in certain ways to be subtly opposite of one each other...

As always, more could be said about the subjects raised by the above posts—why the show is setting up these weird parallels, what we might make of the slippery, repetitive time elements of these scenes, etc. I'll likely post more on this parallel soon...

TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN - Part 1.

[notafragilething]

Not-So-Late Night Buck & Tommy Ramblings: I'm Back!

I have survived my chaos week and, with the help of a very large Iced Latte, I'm here to share all the thoughts that have been building up this week in the world of Buck & Tommy. I'm not going in any specific order but I'm going to start with the thing I find most significant and that is what is happening in regards to interviews with Ryan this past week.

Another clip of Ryan talking about Buddie dropped today and I've seen two extremely opposite reactions to it amongst fans. In this clip he basically said he wasn't a writer, he'd be open to it if it happened but said it was important for the storyline to be seen as a heterosexual man supporting his bisexual friend and how things didn't change. Some people think this means Buddie is definitely happening in season 8 (or even a reveal of some feelings this season) while others think this means that Buddie is getting less and less likely. Those favoring it and saying it means Buddie will happen seem to be focusing on the fact that they were still allowed to ask Buddie-related questions. I bring this up because I do think it plays into the discussion of whether Tommy will be a more long term love interest moving into season 8.

What I find most important about this answer is how it is almost exactly the same as all his other responses to Buddie-related questions from that week. He hit the exact same key points and I think it's very obvious at this point this isn't an organic answer. These are points that PR and marketing very likely told him to hit. And the fact that he is answering all Buddie related questions by explicitly saying Eddie is heterosexual is really standing out to me. That is, in my opinion, very intentional.

So what do I think it means? I think it means that they are definitely not planning on buddie happening (this season or next). They are intentionally linking all questions about buddie to very explicit statements that the one member of that pairing isn't queer. One big issue earlier this season, when Buck came out, was websites taking answers from other interviews and writing clickbait articles suggesting Buddie was going to happen. This makes it harder for those types of articles to pop up. It's why we likely haven't seen as many like we did with Oliver's statements (which were very similar minus explicitly saying Eddie was heterosexual). I personally think this is how they'll handle it for the remainder of the season and they'll progressively continue to distance themselves from Buddie moving into next season. Personally, I think there is a lot happening to suggest Tommy is sticking around and they're being intentional with how parts of the fandom are reacting to that. Especially since it's been a very positive reaction so far for this new couple of BuckTommy.

In other news, which is somewhat related, we know we're getting Tommy next week because he is was in the trailer. We also know that we're getting Captain Gerard at the medal ceremony. I've seen a lot of people predicting this will somehow impact Buck and Tommy but personally, I think this is going to play into bringing Tommy more into the 118 family. I think we're more likely to see an interaction between Tommy, Hen and Chimeny over him being there.

In my last post I also had people asking me about Oliver deleting a bunch of photos from Instagram. I did a bit of research and that seems like it's the norm for him.

Be back tonight for an update on the Buck/Tommy Hospital kiss reel because it hit 1 million views.

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

06/06-07/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Rhys Darby; Taika Waititi; Samba Schutte; Guz Khan; Vico Ortiz; Gerard Butler; SaveOFMDCrew #NeverLeft; AdoptOurCrew #SpeakUpMax; Voting: Tell Tale Awards; Voting; British Podcast Awards; Articles; FYC Emmy Nominations; In Person Meeting: Midwest Retreat for Wayward Pirates; Vianton Week; Jeopardy; Fan Spotlight; LoveNotes; Daily Darby/Tonight's Taika;

== Rhys Darby ==

Rhys is out at To 29 and Beyond!

Source: Outpost 29 Palms Instagram

== Taika Waititi ==

Just a Taika, wearing a Taika (the drink company) Hat. Not gonna lie, I kinda want one now that we are all Taika.

Source: Taika (the company) Instagram

And then there was the BTS for Rita's new music video. You can see the video here:

Some screen grabs from it:

== Guz Khan ==

Guz was out doing a live podcast with Adan Buxton tonight!

Source: Guz Khan's Instagram

== Vico Ortiz ==

Vico got a hair cut and wanted to share with us the before and afters <3

Source: Vico's Instagram

== Samba Schutte ==

So Samba did some hand modeling! But was a bit surprised it was for a leprosy commercial. Very good cause though <3 Thanks Samba

Source: Samba Schutte's Instagram

And Samba sending some love to Soprano's Deli out in LA!

Source: Samba's Instagram

== Damien Gerard ==

Our Father Teach sending more baby cat pics.

Source: Damien Gerard's Instagram

== SOFMD Crew #NeverLeft Video ==

Our crewmates over at @saveofmdcrewmates put together an informational video about the #NeverLeft campaign going on! It highlights the hypocrisy of Max and corporate pride. Please give it a watch! To learn more, visit their tumblr.

Source: SaveOFMD Crew Youtube

== AdoptOurCrew - Speak Up Max ==

Our crewmates over at @adoptourcrew are sticking it to Max! Their new hashtag is #SpeakUpMax-- Please visit their Tumblr to learn more and learn facts about how Max has been reducing "the amount of diverse and inclusive media and entertainment content available it [their] customers." SpeakUpMax /SpeakUpMax Facts

Source: AdoptOurCrew's Tumblr

== Voting Reminders ==

= Tell Tale TV Awards =

Reminder! The second round of voting for the Tell-Tale TV Awards is open until June 9, 9pm EST! Please be sure to get your votes in every day! Vote here.

Source: @saveofmdcrewmates Tumblr

= British Podcast Awards =

Hey! More voting opportunities for our dear captain Rhys Darby! If you feel inclined, we'd love it if you'd vote for The Cryptid Factor on the British Podcast Awards to help out Rhys, Dan, and Buttons!

Source: @ ShellOFMD on Twitter

= More Under the Cut: Long Post is Long =

== Articles ==

The first article tonight has an amazing quote, I highly recommend reading it "Either way, it won't make up for David Zaslav not being hugged enough as a child".

== FYC Emmy Considerations ==

Wondering if your efforts are being noticed? Well so far I've seen Samba, and Con both sharing the Emmy4 graphics everyone's been sharing! Great job everyone! Our friends over at Our Flag Means Fanfiction have this handy calendar on how to keep pushing! Thank you so much crew for continuing to support our cast!

Source: Our Flag Means Death Instagram

== In Person Meet Ups ==

= Midwest Retreat for Wayward Pirates! =

Are you in the Midwest area of the US? Are you a fan of OFMD? Well good news! August 8th-11th at Camp Dewan in Burlington, WI will be hosting a Gay Pirate Summer Camp! Wanna learn more? Visit their website!

Source: @ lyndzi's Twitter / @lcwebsxoxo's Twitter

== Vianton Week ==

Hey! Did you know it was Vianton week from June 6th - June 13th? Sure it's not OFMD but as we all know it's a sister-fandom to OFMD so it's getting a highlight! Graphic and info provided by @ viantonweek on Twitter. PS: Happy belated Unholy Masquerade! (06/06)

Source: ViantonWeek Twitter

== Jeopardy ==

Hey! I bet we could answer this one! Thank you @ Stedecoded_ on twitter for the screencap! They were also kind enough to include the clip here: https://x.com/stedecoded_/status/1799249795816829319

Source: @ stedecoded_

== Fan Spotlight ==

= Cast Cards=

More cast cards from @melvisik! The first, Jono Capel-Baker was the unfortunate groom who's wedding was interrupted by "The Devil and the Kids". Tonight's cast card is Amber Templemore one of the many directors on Our Flag Means Death! <3

Source: @melvisik's Twitter

== OFMPride Colouring Pages! ==

More Colouring pages by the very kind @patchworkpiratebear being shared by @adoptourcrew!

Source: AdoptOurCrew Tumblr

== Love Notes ==

Happy Frenchie Friday Lovelies! It's finally here! The weekend is here, and if you have the time off, please use it to have some fun and get some rest-- and if you don't, I'm sending so many hugs your way to get through the weekend work week. One of the things that I love so much about this community is seeing so many of you showing yourselves bit by bit over the past many months. Some of you are brand new to the fandom, and some of you have been here for so much longer than many of us have. No matter when you started though, I've seen folks who we don't hear often start to speak up more. I see more and more people who stopped doing gifs/art/fics, or didn't do gifs/art/fics before suddenly sharing their stuff with the community. It's so wonderful to see you bloom in and out of season, did you know that? Some of you don't feel comfortable putting yourself out there that much, but I see you like or reblog on various peoples blogs, or leave a comment here or there. Some of you have started really putting yourself out there bit by bit, in tags, in comments, posting meta, gifs, or fics, or artwork, or sometimes just sending lovely letters through @ofmdlovelyletters (which btw I love yall who run that so much you're such a stellar group and you drive kindness in this fandom to new heights). Some of you are unapologetically loud and yourselves and I love that too. I love every beautiful level of the fans we have here coming in and out and participating and making this fandom such a wonderful place to be in. Every day I continue to marvel at the kindness, and supportiveness, and creativity of this crew... of all the wonderful things your minds come up with, and all the goodness you put into this world. You all have really made my life so much better, and I can't thank you enough for that. I feel richer in mind and spirit because of you all and I'm so happy to get to share this time with you. Thank you to every one of you who makes each day worth coming back for, even if we've never spoken, I hope you know you make all the difference. Love you crew, I hope you have the best of weekends and things are looking up, and if they're not, that they do soon.

== Daily Darby / Tonight's Taika ==

Tonight's gifs are themed only in that I too want to look a bit more closely at Rhys' outfit. Rhys gif by the glorious @ratchet and Taika Gif by the absolutely amazing @meluli!

Taika Gif Source: @meluli

[milligramspoison]

Let’s connect the dots, we’re gonna theorize real quick 😵‍💫

Obviously back in August, Frank posted a fortune cookie, which seemingly hinted (or confirmed, however you wanna take Frank’s story as) that something was coming at some point in the future.

Obviously, the last time Frank posted a fortune cookie, which was in February 2022, we got Foundations three months later in May 2022.

The miracle we witnessed was them dropping Foundations a few months after this was posted.

And of course, this isn’t the first time he’s done this either- he hinted at the mini MCR reunion in May 2017 with a fortune cookie, MCR’s first time spotted together since the breakup in 2013.

Now let’s go back to Frank’s August 2023 fortune cookie- what are we waiting for exactly?

Well, there’s a few things, actually- MCR5, LOTMS2 announcement, another tour announcement, Eagles as the next single, etc.

Starting Tuesday night, I and some other MCR blogs got the same exact ask at the same exact time.

We all received this ask asking us if we’re seeing MCR at WWWY in 2024. Of course, as of writing this, the 2024 WWWY lineup has yet to be announced.

We all had received more similar asks asking us pretty much the same thing but worded differently and also gave us some info- I’ll show the ones I got personally that gave us info.

No one had heard anything at this point in time as far as I’m aware! So we were all pretty convinced that we were getting trolled.

Earlier today, a mutual of mine on tiktok came across this screenshot below on twitter.

This seems to be the origins of those asks we received on Tuesday night.

Of course, we knew MCR was gonna tour again, Gerard’s expressed a shit ton of interest for it at various of shows throughout the tour.

And based on the fact Frank remained in LA from late August to early September after the Dunes tour ended and also posted the fortune cookie while he was there, we can assume that they were more than likely in the studio together.

But let’s connect this discord message to Frank’s August 2023 fortune cookie.

“Let’s finish this up now, someone is waiting for you on that.”

That’s what Frank’s fortune cookie said. And like I stated earlier, we’re waiting for MCR5, LOTMS2 announcement, another tour announcement, Eagles as the next single, etc.

The discord message is stating an announcement from MCR could come within the next 2-3 weeks.

While that would dismiss the Friday the 13th theory, as that’s 7 days away as I’m writing this, it makes the Halloween theory more possible.

Halloween is a little over 3 weeks away and is one of the theorized dates of MCR doing something, whether it’s an announcement of some sort or them dropping a single.

Frank, like he’s done in the past with fortune cookies, was telling us something. And if this announcement does happen in the next 2-3 weeks, whether it’s a tour announcement, an announcement of a surprise single like Foundations was, etc, that’s what Frank was possibly telling us through his fortune cookie.

Of course, this is a theory, so this could all be wrong. And we don’t know how true the discord message and the anonymous asks some of us received are, so of course, take this all with a grain of salt.

[centralperkspoison]

I Can See You - G. Way

PAIRING: Gerard Way x Fem!Reader

WARNINGS: sexual references, a little fluffy.

SUMMARY: You and Gerard have known each other for years. When you finally confess to him, everything works out! But how do you keep it as a secret? (Based loosely on I Can See You by Taylor Swift)

WORD COUNT: 1.3k

OTHERS: me posting? whattttt?! this was highly inspired by the song I Can See You by Taylor Swift, so I recommend listening to that while you read. Also, I haven't posted a fic in like a year this is crazy. also!!! not my usual work, not that much fluff just more back story. idk i have wrote in a while so im sorry!

---

YOU KEPT EVERYTHING PROFESSIONAL. You and him only showed your true emotions behind closed doors. You'd brush past each other in the hallways most of the time ensuring to not let anyone catch on.

Of course, you and Gerard were friends to the public eye. You and him were the two lead singers of My Chemical Romance, but what happened behind closed doors stayed there.

You'd moved next door to the Way family when you were fairly young, quickly becoming friends with the two brothers despite the slight age differences; Mikey was three years older than you and Gerard was six years older, which is why in the beginning everything had to be quiet. But of course, you had kept your feelings for the nerdy older brother hidden since you were six, so that wouldn't be too hard.

When the band began recording for Bullets you had just turned eighteen and Gerard was almost twenty-five, which is when it first started.

-

"Why don't I understand basic song structure," You groaned. "You clearly have it down."

Gerard scoffed, "I do not have it down whatsoever, I just actually ask for input unlike someone who's stubborn as hell." He laughed. 

It was only the two of you on the bus, the rest of the guys were inside a restaurant buying breakfast while before you traveled four hours to only record half the album for Bullets.

"Here, bring it over so I can look at it." He said, sitting up on the couch on the bus. You slowly walked towards him, hoping he wouldn't realize who it was about. You silently hoped he couldn't tell, then sat next to him and handed him the lyrics you had written so far. He began analyzing them and handed them back to you.

"It's good, but the bridge should have more meaning. You've described this person in such a beautiful light, then the bridge is just happily ever after? Include some of the struggle in the relationship." You nod, beginning to write. He watches you closely from over your shoulder causing you to face the other way and lay down on him so he could get a better view. This was nothing unusual for you two, it was normal for you to lay on him or anyone else in the band.

You took his words into consideration, then started writing lyrics along the lines of 'If only he knew,' and 'I could see you being my addiction, you could see me as a secret mission.' along with some more context.

"Hey, (Y/N)?" He called, you could feel his heart speed up from your spot on his chest. "Yes, Gee?" You say, looking up at him. "Who is this about?" He asked quietly, playing with your long hair. You dropped your pencil and sat up, facing him. "Is that really important right now?" "I mean not really, I'm just a bit curious." He says with a slight smirk across his face. You just shrug and walk to where you were sitting previously to the whole song structure conversation. Once you sit down, he began speaking again.

"I mean of course the description sounds a little similar, short black hair, hazel eyes, crooked smile," He says, walking behind your chair and gripping it and looking down at you from over the back of the tall chair. "I would say Frank, but his hair doesn't exactly fall under that category anymore, and when you think about it, I'm the only one with short black hair now." He smirks. He already knew, but he was just trying to play around and have a little fun before he had to make his own scary confession.

"God, okay Gerard, the song is about you." You roll your eyes trying to make it come out as if you're not afraid to say it. "Wait, you're actually admitting it?" "Yes, I have a big fat crush on you, now can you please just turn me down already so I can get over it sooner." You sigh, and he walks around your chair so you two are facing each other now. 

"(Y/N), I'm not rejecting you," He smiles. "C'mere." He says, opening his arms for a hug, and you quickly throw yourself in his arms. You two linger in the hug for a while before you take a step back and look up at him. You two were so close your noses were touching. 

"May I?" He asks, moving his hand up so he's cupping your jaw. You lean into his touch and nod.

-

After you two established your feelings, your situationship turned into a relationship that ranged from sweet moments to insanely sexual ones, not that you had a problem with that, of course. It was just difficult keeping it from your best friends.

Eventually, fans began sniffing the two of you out. How you would always sit next to each other in interviews, when you were on stage you would always seem as if you were singing to him and he was singing to you, when they watched Life On The Murder Scene every time there was a video on the bus you'd have your legs sprawled out on top of his or you'd be laying on him, and even away from the bus he'd always send you looks.

You started seeing the fans reactions on Twitter in the two of your comment sections.

(Y/N)(Y/L/N): Day off with my boys! &lt;3

mcrlover616: OMG R U AND GERARD DATING

frerard4li4e: Gerard belongs to Frank, girl. Back off.

bugmomma24356: You and Gerard are so cute ug! &lt;3

After trying to cover up everything to the best of your abilities, nothing made them believe you, even your own band mates started thinking the two of you were together, so you two had to act more distant. 

No more laying on him, no more lingering hugs, and definitely no more making out on stage just to "make the crowd go wild". 

-

The two of you had to be entirely secret for almost a year now, and it was the first night of your new tour, Rise Against the Black Parade. 

Gerard brushes his shoulder against yours in the hallway while you two walk into the dressing room, shooting you a look. "Oh sorry, (Y/N)." He says quietly and slides his arm across your back before sitting two seats away from you in the dressing room. 

Makeup took a while, but you and Gerard were the last to finish. Once your artists left the room he sprung up to lock the door, and quickly met you in the middle of the room. 

He rested his hands on your hips and you hand your arms on the back of his neck, while he pressed his lips to yours aggressively. You parted from him for a moment, "Now don't go messing up our makeup," You smirked. "We can fix it ourselves." He grunts, picking you up and placing you on the counter.

The two of you were in there for a total of five minutes before someone started knocking on the dressing room door, causing you to jump like two teenagers caught by parents. "Hello? Who's in there, we need to change!" You hear Frank say from the other side of the door. The two of you quickly check your makeup to make sure it wasn't messed up, then you walked to the door to unlock it before turning to Gerard.

"You know, if stopped hiding... it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world." You said and he began to shake his head. "The age difference, (Y/N)." "It's six years, Gee. At least it's not like twenty or thirty like some other couples." You say, causing him to shrug. "I guess it's not the worst thing in the world." 

You walk over and unlock the door allowing Frank to come in with the costume cart. Once he realized it was the two of you he gasped. "You?" He said pointing to Gerard, "And you?" He said pointing to you. You turn to Gerard and tilt your head. "Yeah yeah, big deal." He said walking over to wrap an arm around your waist.  That night was one of your best shows yet. You two started showing affection on stage once again, you put your emotion back into your lyrics, and you even got a chance to preform the song you wrote for Gerard that started the whole relationship.

[its-your-mind]

11 year old Gerry Kaey - a psychological analysis

[ID: screenshot from a spreadsheet of two columns and two rows. The first column is labeled “First Name,” with “Gerard” listed below it. The second column is labeled “Last Name,” with “Kaey” listed below it. End ID]

Like everyone else, I was of course delighted by the presence of our beloved arsonist on our list of child test-subjects at the World Line 2 Magnus Institute (not delighted that he was having unethical psychology experiments performed on him, delighted by his presence. though it’s possible that this was actually a better childhood than he had with Mary. but I digress.)

(Data set can be found here, if anyone else wants to make a copy and play with it, and this post has my fave analysis of the sheet itself)

The data for Gerard Kaey was absolutely delightful, and it indicated more than almost anything else that some people were in fact the same (or very similar) across world lines. I was going to post about it and then I remembered that not everyone was forced to take a slightly outdated Educational Psychology class recently, and thus the random names at the top would not be indicators of fuckin anything without extensive Googling.

I figured trolling the internet for details on outdated developmental psychology theories and unethical sociology experiments is not most people’s idea of a fun afternoon (tho in the magnus fandom you never know); either way I figured I’d pull out the fun and interesting data on this goth child and translate it into human terms for us all to enjoy.

(QUICK NOTE: Pretty much all of these theories are outdated on account of being No Good and quite reductive and many of the experiments are EXTREMELY fucked up (all of which makes sense, given where these fictional data came from). If you’re curious about any of the actual psychological theories and criticisms, here’s a relatively jargon free summary, with further reading at the bottom. I’m gonna follow the time-honored tradition of psychology professors and say “well it sucks and was bad that this happened BUT it did happen and we might as well use the data to come to some general conclusions and/or ask better questions, especially about the people performing those tests in the first place.” anyway ty for coming to my TED talk ONTO THE GERRY DATA)

[ID: screenshot from a spreadsheet of three columns and two rows. The first column is labeled “Kholberg,” with “Level 3” listed below it. The second column is labeled “Prosocial,” with “High” listed below it. The third column is labeled “Empathy Index,” with “95%” listed below it. End ID]

Let’s start here.

Kholberg’s Theory of Moral Development is a metric for measuring the moral development in children. It has three stages. A child who has reached the “third stage” demonstrates a consideration of the needs and feelings of others when making morality-based decisions and judgements, even above the norms and expectations of society.

Prosocial behavior is behavior that can be characterized as having no direct benefit to the person performing an action; something done entirely for the good of others.

Empathy Index is pretty self-explanatory (as far as I can tell, it’s not actually based on anything and is something the researchers created just for this experiment).

So far, we’ve got a rough picture of Gerry as a kid who has a strong moral compass, who is quick to help, even when there’s no benefit for himself. Who considers what the people around him might want or need. Who is able to throw social expectation out the window when someone else is in need.

Reminds me of that older, slightly different version of himself, sitting alone at a table in Venice, wearing a Hawaiian shirt because he’s “on vacation,” sighing in exasperation at the interruption and telling a stranger to think of her mother.

[ID: screenshot from a spreadsheet of two columns and two rows. The first column is labeled “Milgram,” with “Low” listed below it. The second column is labeled “Asch,” with “Low” listed below it. End ID]

These are my favorite rows. They’re all the way at the end of the spreadsheet, which kind of makes me imagine that the testers had this image of a highly developed child, a kid who seemed perfect for whatever they had planned. And then…

Milgram was the motherfucker who ran the experiment where people were told to press a button, and when they did, another participant was delivered an electric shock. (there wasn’t actually a shock in Milgram’s experiment, just an actor pretending to be shocked. The socks were fake, but the psychological damage was real!) The test was designed to measure how long people would continue to do what they were told by the “scientist” running the test, even as the electric shock appeared to grow stronger. A “low” score is indicative of someone who bailed out ASAP, no matter what the test-runner said.

The Asch Conformity Experiment put a large number of people in the room (most of whom were actors) and showed them a series of images of lines with different lengths, and they had to identify which was longest. The actors all gave the correct answer for the first few, and then all of them started to give the exact same wrong answer (i.e. all of them would say B, even if Line A was clearly longest). The test measured how likely a subject was to conform to the group opinion, even when they knew the people around them were objectively wrong, if they were the only one offering a different (but correct) answer over the course of several rounds of images.

I have this super clear image of little Gerry in a ratty pair of jeans and a band t-shirt, long hair absolutely unbrushed, walking into a room with a dude in a lab coat and someone else strapped to a chair and IMMEDIATELY getting suspicious, and just refusing to press the button again once he realized what it did, leaving the actors just… lost as to how to proceed. And then with the Asch test, he’s just sitting there with a look of incredulity on his face looking at the people around him and saying “do you people need fucking glasses all of a sudden? it’s not fucking B.” and just ignoring them for the rest of the test.

and all of the Magnus people who had been VERY excited about this promising young person all of a sudden realizing that they have accidentally recruited a VERY intelligent juvenile delinquent.

so there you have it! World Line 2 Gerry Kaey was kind when he didn’t have to be, he didn’t give a shit how other people felt about him, he cared deeply for other people, UNLESS of course they were people in authority, in which case he told them to go fuck themselves.

*dreamy sigh* that’ll be our Gerard

final fun notes:

Gerry has the second highest number on the Empathy Index at 95%

The only kid who beat him, with a score of 98%, was 9 year old “Samara Khalid”

10 year old “Conner Dyer” scored “Low” on the Milgram and Asch tests JUST like Gerry. I wonder if they were friends.

Other than that, Dyer is almost exactly average among the rest of the data

Khalid scored “High” on both Milgram and Asch

Wonder how that’s gonna affect things 👀👀👀 high empathy, high value on what other people think

Sam thats so autistic of you I love u

Khalid was also on “Level 3” of Kholberg and had “High” levels of Prosocial behavior, despite being only 9 (super young to have the abstract thinking necessary for that)

[velvetvexations]

I don't get people who talk about Kurt Cobain being a trans woman as just categorically factual. Like it's very easy to say "hey based on this evidence he shared a lot of traits with trans people/women specifically, and I personally relate, there's a chance he might have identified as some kind of trans given the chance/language etc etc" without decreeing your interpretation of things as fact. For example I can't imagine what this kind of person would say about Gerard way if they had died youngish for example. People nowadays enjoy misgendering him constantly already (they have only ever expressed a preference for he/they pronouns afaik and also wear dresses or skirts for performances so obviously so many fans choose to use she her and terms like girl Constantly and sometimes exclusively :/) which sucks to see as a nonbinary person, but since there was evidence of them struggling with gender in the earlier days of mcr, I'm sure similar conclusions of binary transness would be hoisted upon him as well if he hadn't had time to come out etc. The approach of "struggles with gender automatically means binary trans woman" is just. You don't know that person. You are not that person. What makes you think you can put a label on them? Is it possible Kurt Cobain was a trans woman? Yeah definitely! Given the time and space he could have identified as any number of trans identities. But we have no way of knowing anything that wasn't conveyed, so asserting he is certifiably a trans woman is just as presumptuous as saying any given past butch celebrity (as few as there are) definitely was a trans man. (If people started referring to idk, Janelle monae, a nonbinary musician, as a trans man, for example, people would be rightfully pissed)(and while most criticism of this type of (I'm just genuinely going to use the term headcanon) has been civil there have definitely been transmisogynistic criticisms as well so I get why some trans women might be defensive, but I still diagree with the amount of certainty and binarity they apply to the issue)

this rant wasn't very cohesive in it's points but in sum my main issue with this kind of discussion is how Definite people treat things and how utterly ignored nonbinary identities always are (maybe Kurt Cobain would have been an androgenous, agender they/them user who wore dresses who knows I certainly don't any more than anyone else does) why say"was" when "could have been" is more accurate

I agree with every word of this, well said anon.