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"Are you okay?" NO, THESE ARE MY TOP 3 ARTISTS EVERY WEEK 😭

From the end of lltbp… I loved that tour so much. Hopefully I get to go again next year!

I’m getting new contacts for her soon! I’m so excited highkey!

GERARD LIVES

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i suppose once you've been into creepypasta it just never actually leaves your head and once in a while you're cursed to return to it

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ARE YOU TODAY’S DATE?

BECAUSE YOURE 10/10

i’ve waited one year to reblog this

for as much as people are always all "gerard way always writes quirky comics women that they self-project onto!!" there is just as sharp, clear, and consistent a trend in gerard way's work to portray the heart of violence, militarism, authoritarianism, and fascism as a woman.

the so-often fetishized "secretary" (fandom-named) of draag. bl/ind's director. the mother figure in the umbrella academy. the arc of the milk wars crossover. here, women are not just capable of deep fascistic and violence, but are key stakeholders in it (leaders in it, even!!)

for a certain kind of feminist thinker, this could be critiqued for a kind of representational misogyny, and for a certain kind of prescriptivist thinker, this could be gleaned as evidence of gerard way's inner psyche and identity-formation. to me, at least, neither of those readings are as compelling as what this thread does in our current moment (as we watch the tides of authoritarianism rising above our heads as the long-unfolding foregone conclusion of capitalism) and what it forces us to confront -- particularly and especially as we yearn for certain forms and images of easy "representation"

fascism does not just take on the face of a great dictator. fascism might look beautiful, might look maternal, might make us feel safe, might make us feel cared for. might even make us feel excited. might even take on the appearance of someone familiar. might even make us feel represented.

this is an authorial statement just as much as “in the face of extermination, say fuck you”

as the “LONG LIVE” tour advances, we’re beginning to see that his grand immortal dictator isn’t solely in control of the band, and seemingly instead, total power (to love, to discipline, to harm) is wielded by the invisible yet total authority of “mother.” what might it mean to understand the mother figure not as aspirational, but as authoritarian? what might it mean if the parade leader doesn’t wish to be a mother (or does wish to be a mother), given that mother seemingly holds life and death in her hands, and wields that power coldly and callously?

what lineages does this play upon? or problematize? how is gerard building a series of narratives that force us to critically reexamine how we imagine fascistic violence to look? how does it resonate at this particular time as our real-world landscape looks the way that it does?

in the unfolding of this tour, there’s emerged this desire to read gerard (as parade leader) as a divine mother figure to the Gentleman, collapsing the ventriloquist dummy into baby doll, which — sure. but if we choose to do that, we need to pay careful attention to what role the concept of “motherhood” plays in the landscape of this narrative. because “motherhood” is not morally neutral within the aesthetic/storytelling language of the long live tour, just as it has never been morally neutral in gerard’s previous works, and just as it is not morally neutral in real life.

in draag, “mother” is the invisible, all-powerful hand of power. “mother” is that which has the capacity to discipline, the capacity to kill, the capacity to disappear from public memory. “mother” has its boot on the neck of the black parade and all the citizens of draag. mother doesn’t love you anymore. mother wants to see you disciplined. mother determines if you live or die. you love mother for how she provides as just as you fear mother for how she takes away. you will do what you can to please mother, which, in this case, means you must fall in line.

draag’s flag and crest, which both depict a juvenile deer being killed, is not incidental to this use of the “mother”/“motherhood” dynamic. the draag national anthem mentioning “breaking” babies’ fists to turn them into proper citizens to defend the nation (the motherland) through righteous force (through swords, through imprisonment, through execution, through missile strike) is not coincidental. in the long live tour, motherhood (and the figure of the mother) is inseparable from the crushing force of the authoritarian state.

which, then, forces us to ask, just as gerard and the band are telling this careful story about authoritarian force and power, how do we project our own desires onto that story?

and at the end of the day, what exactly is it that we desire for gerard (as parade leader) to embody, step into, or reclaim?

is reappropriation even possible within the landscape presented to us? why are we so attached to reclamation within such a narrative? and what does that attachment to repair or reclamation reveal about us?

in other words: under these conditions, if gerard becomes mother, what does gerard become?

mikey as a dracula orchid

i looove gerard's fuckass inconsistent accent. 1000% commitment to bleeding out dragging yourself across the stage maybe like 45% commitment to the accent

it's you and your mcr t-shirt agaisnt the world so never give up bitch

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SPECIAL GUEST THE FUCK YOU SPECIAL GUEST?

frank iero biting things that aren’t food compilation

what happens when ppl say no way fyi