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mikeywayarchive · 11 months

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Mikey Way: “I was borderline terrified a lot of the time My Chemical Romance was active. I was learning the bass in front of 20,000 people every night!”

By Gregory Adams ( Bass Player ) published June 9th 2023

The reunited emo kings’ low-end ranger reveals why he swapped out his signature Fender Mustang for a sparkling new signature Jazz Bass, learning bass in arenas, and how he overcame insecurity about his chops

Full interview under cut:

My Chemical Romance’s reunion has seen bassist Mikey Way thrumming through the high pomp punk of The Black Parade and Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge favorites with a familiar rhythmic fortitude, but keen-eyed band obsessives have probably noticed the musician is no longer sporting the snazzy, silver-flake Squier Mustang signature model Fender built for him back in 2012.

The good news is that’s because, as Fender have just formally announced, Way has a brand-new – but just as glammy – Jazz Bass out now. There’s a good reason why Way’s made the switch: the Jazz Bass is his first love.

Though he started out on guitar, Way got the hang of a four-string in the mid ‘90s while playing a loaned-out Jazz Bass in his pre-My Chemical Romance project, Ray Gun Jones. He upgraded to a silver-finish Jazz of his own by the time MCR started touring in the early ‘00s, but a trailer mishap led to that instrument getting smashed to pieces on a highway.

Way tells Guitar World that he eventually became obsessed with the short-scale sturdiness of a Mustang bass guitar as My Chemical Romance were writing their 2010 full-length, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, after fooling around with a model Duff McKagan had left at North Hollywood’s Mates Rehearsal Studio. By 2012, Way had his Squier model in stores.

It was during the downtime after My Chemical Romance went on hiatus in 2013, though, that the stubbiness of his Mustang became a little hard to handle.

“I stayed away from playing bass for a little while, which is natural – I was just decompressing,” Way explains. “Then, sometime in 2014, I picked up the bass again, to get my chops back, [but] I noticed that the Mustang felt strange to me.”

After reaching out to the folks at Fender, Way got a grip on his playing by stretching out on the longer-necked Jazzes they sent him. Way’s take on the Jazz Bass is outfitted with ’70s-style single-coil pickups, and a thinline “C”-shaped maple neck the bassist says is super-speedy.

The finish is silver, of course, but Way also wanted an aesthetically inkier black pickguard. The headstock, likewise, pops with its matching gloss-black finish.

Speaking with Guitar World, Way gets into the glam and grunge gods who inspired his love of a good sparkle coat, overcoming performance anxiety, and why a steady attack wins the bass race every time.

What were some of the musts when it came to designing this latest signature?

“I’ve been obsessed with the sparkle finish as far back as I can remember. Growing up in the ‘90s, the silver-flake [finish] was big in alternative music. Chris Cornell had the Gretsch Silver Jet, [Daniel Johns] from Silverchair had one – [with] the imagery the Smashing Pumpkins used, they liked sparkles.

“Ace Frehley, of course, was big into flake finishes, and as a kid, you love the larger-than-life, comic book world of Kiss. [And there’s] David Bowie – the glam rock stuff. That flake finish makes me think of so many different things, but that’s why I love it so much.

“I remember being younger and going into stores and seeing a flake finish and being like, 'Oh my god, that’s an expensive [looking guitar] – I can’t afford that, let alone play it.' It was almost intimidating.”

One aesthetic difference between your Mustang model and this Jazz is that you didn’t throw a racing stripe on this one.

“I thought about bringing it back and keeping the continuity. Maybe somewhere down the line we’ll throw a racing stripe on this. The thing with [seeing a] racing stripe was always like, 'This player is a badass!'”

Is there a psychology behind removing the racing stripe, then?

“The psychology behind it is that I forgot about it. When My Chemical Romance was talking about doing reunion shows [in 2019], I’d contacted Michael Schulz from Fender and was like, 'Is it OK if I make a new bass for this [next] era of My Chemical Romance?' I wanted to take my past and bring it to the future – taking my Mustang and melding it with the Jazz Basses that I loved so much.

“I tried to have my cake and eat it, too. I wanted the thinner neck, and I wanted the silver-flake, but I wanted it on a Jazz Bass. They knocked it out of the park immediately.”

Getting back to how you used to admire those silver-flake guitars in the shops, you actually started out as a guitarist, right?

“So, the story goes that my brother [My Chemical Romance vocalist Gerard Way] had a Sears acoustic guitar when he was 10 years old. We would take a shoelace and make a strap, and we would stand on the couch pretending we were in Iron Maiden. And then it got real around ’93-’94, which lines up with the rise of alternative music. You started to see people that looked exactly like you, and they were playing guitar. They were playing Fender Strats!

“My brother got a Mexican Stratocaster, Lake Placid Blue. I found it not too long ago, and Michael from Fender hot-rodded it. That’s how I cut my teeth – that Mexican Stratocaster [was] my first foray into really trying to learn how to play guitar. I would watch bootlegs of concerts, and watch [guitarists’] hands and fingers – Thom Yorke, Billy Corgan, Noel Gallagher, Jonny Greenwood. I would watch what they were doing. It all started from that.

“Bass came out of necessity, twice. Me and my brother had a band called Ray Gun Jones, I guess in ’95-’96. It was kind of Weezer-ish, or us doing a surf-punk thing [with] a little bit of pre-mid-west emo. At the time we were really into Weezer, Jawbreaker, Promise Ring, Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, Sunny Day Real Estate.

“[Ray Gun Jones] needed a bass player, so my brother was like 'Hey, do you want to play bass for my band?' I was already a huge fan – I’d always tag along to practices. The ex-bass player let me borrow their bass. We had 4-5 songs, and I got the rudimentary from that. In that era, everyone was like, 'I want to be a guitar hero,' but I realized I had a natural knack for [bass]. I picked it up right away.

“Then, with My Chemical Romance, it was the same thing. My brother was like, 'We need a bass player,' and I was like, 'Well, this is familiar' [laughs]. 'Here’s the demo; learn these songs.' They weren’t terribly difficult.”

Was that bass you had borrowed a Fender Jazz?

“Yup, I’ve only ever played Fender. I’ve tried tons of other basses from other companies, but it always feels alien to me.”

You mentioned studying the playing of Thom Yorke or Billy Corgan through those bootleg vids. Were there any bassists that you treated similarly, to understand the mechanics of bass?

“Matt Sharp from Weezer. I tried to ape him in the beginning, but my attack sounds vaguely reminiscent of a Smashing Pumpkins recording. I would learn Siamese Dream and Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, and the Blue Album [the band’s 1994 self-titled debut] by Weezer. Those were the three albums that I put the most time into learning. That’s in my DNA.”

How about from a hyper-local perspective. If My Chemical Romance started out playing New Jersey basements and VFW halls, where there any bassists from that scene that inspired you, or that you appreciated?

“Yes! We shared a rehearsal space with this band called Pencey Prep – that was [MCR guitarist] Frank Iero’s original band. John McGuire was their bassist, and he let me borrow his equipment all the time. He taught me fundamentals, and gave me pointers – he taught me a whole heck of a lot.

“I always respected Tim Payne from Thursday, I loved his attack and stage presence. And when I’d watch Gabe Saporta from Midtown, I thought 'This dude is the coolest guy in the room.' He’s got this calm, cool, and collected [presence] that you can’t fake or learn. And then Eben D’amico from Saves the Day – brilliant!

“I would try to learn Saves the Day basslines. They were pretty complex [compared to] what most bands were doing in that scene. Most bands in the post-hardcore scene had simplistic basslines, but Saves the Day did not.

“There’s also Ray Toro, the guitar player of My Chemical Romance. Not only is he truly gifted at guitar, but he’s truly gifted at bass and drums – Ray can do everything. He was instrumental, early on, with showing me the ropes. Ray gave me lessons when I was a novice. I can’t thank him enough for that.”

What kind of pointers was he giving you?

“He showed me proper fretting, or [how to maintain] a steady attack. I got a really great compliment from our front-of-house guy, Jay Rigby. He told me that I’m one of the very few bass players that he doesn’t have to go in and tweak the volume [for]. 'You’re steady, throughout.' I think that’s something that Ray Toro instilled in me: the consistency of attack.

“It’s funny thinking about it, but I was such a novice going into My Chemical Romance that I would bring myself into an anxiety-ridden state of, 'Oh my god, we have a show tonight; I have to start practicing right now.' I would be practicing four to five hours before we played – I’d play the set [in the green room], and then I’d play it again. Other bands would be like, 'What are you doing?' I was so neurotic at that point, because there were so many people around me that were beyond gifted.

“I got pushed into the deep end; you’ve got no choice but to figure it out. Ray and Frank are so gifted that I had to keep up. I didn’t want to ever do the music a disservice.

“That brings me back to the simplicity of the early My Chem basslines. The first album [2002’s I Brought You Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love] was me learning the bass, and somehow [producer] John Naclerio recorded me and said, 'You did a great job,' which I did not expect.

“I thought I was going to go in there and they were going to have to do some studio magic, or someone would come in and play [my] part. I thought of the worst-case scenario, but I went in and did it. I played the bass seriously [enough] by that point.”

What are you generally looking for in a My Chemical Romance bassline?

“What makes it for me is if I do a fill, I’ll only do it once. If you listen to [the band's 2022 comeback single] The Foundations of Decay, any fill on there I only do one time. What’s interesting about The Foundations of Decay is that it’s very loose and run-and-gun. We went in and punched things in for timing, which everyone in the world does, but the meat of that is first-or-second take. Which brings me to someone else who was very instrumental to my bass playing: Doug McKean.

“He’s no longer with us, unfortunately, but he was our engineer from The Black Parade [until his passing in 2022]. He was always a huge cheerleader for me – he instilled confidence in me. He was always good at getting a killer performance out of me.”

What are some of the biggest My Chemical Romance bass moments for you?

“I’ll say that fill in on Foundations. No-one saw that coming.”

There’s a YouTube video out there of someone playing their favorite Mikey Way basslines, some while using your signature Squier Mustang, but one standout in particular is The Black Parade’s The Sharpest Lives.

“What’s funny is Sharpest Lives has a bass solo, and I was terrified of it. I had performance anxiety [through] the 12 years before we broke up – I don’t have it anymore. Somehow when the band got back together, a switch in my brain [got] flipped. [But] while My Chem was active, I was borderline terrified a lot of the time.

“I’m playing with people far above my skill level, I’m playing [on bills] with bands where their bass players are way better than me, [and] our shows were getting massive. We were playing arenas! So not only are you learning the bass, but you’re learning the bass in front of 20,000 people every night. It made me tweak a little, but I think it shaped me into what I became.

“That solo gave me anxiety. It was when we were playing the biggest venues of our career, and it would break for the solo [Way starts singing his ascending bass lick]. I practiced it relentlessly, then it [became] second nature. Later on, it [became my favorite part of the show.”

You’re already playing the Jazz signature in your live show, yeah?

“It’s what I use for the live show. Basically, Fender built [it] for the reunion, and then we made a couple tweaks for when we release it.”

Was there a learning curve at all towards transferring My Chemical Romance songs you’d written on a Mustang onto the Jazz?

“There was Planetary (GO!), a song off Danger Days. I’d guess you’d say the whole thing is a disco beat. It’s dance-y – [Mikey starts singing an octave-popping bassline], I do that for the entirety of the song. I was very happy that I only had to do that on a Mustang, initially [because of the shorter scale]. But going back to what I said, [after] I took a little break, [I] went back to a Jazz Bass.

“I missed the room, or the way my hand went up and down the neck. I wanted to go back to that, so I jumped back in and felt right at home again.”

How many Jazzes are you bringing on the road?

“I bring two basses out, [but] I stopped even switching [during the set]. This is a testament to Fender craftsmanship – that thing stays in tune. It’s got the four-saddle bridge, and it stays in tune so well. I’m a little neurotic so I’ll tune every few songs, but if I went five to six songs you probably wouldn’t even notice.”

What does it mean to you to now have a fully-formed Fender signature model – as opposed to the Squier – and with the body shape you began your career with?

“It’s really a dream come true. It’s funny, in 2002-3 we started touring across the country. I had a Mexican Jazz Bass, but [the band] were like, 'You have to use something with better electronics; better wood. Step it up!' So, I went into the Guitar Center on Route 46 in New Jersey, and at the time Fender had released a special Guitar Center edition that was silver-flake.

“It always bugged me that the pickguard was white – it threw me off, aesthetically, and I was like, 'I’m going to change that pickguard one day.' So, I got that, and I was using that for a while.

“We were out with [Boston emo quartet] Piebald – it was one of our first cross-country tours ever – and one night someone forgot to close the trailer door. We’re driving on the highway, and half the contents spilled out – unfortunately, my bass was a casualty of that.

“But Frank Iero, and his heart of gold, jumped out on the highway in the middle of the night and tried to recover [the bass]. He was like, 'Maybe we can fix it!' I’ll never forget him doing that. He got a chunk of it – it’s in one of our storage units.”

For more information on the Limited Edition Mikey Way Jazz Bass, head to Fender.com.

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petewentzisblack1312 · 7 months

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Ok ok ok this took a sec bc I had to clean my room

So the first 2 pics are ones I don't have colored variants for but I got the ghost one today and was very excited bc the insert is like 28 pages long and fully illustrated and it's gorgeous (I'll send pics if you want) and then my 2 fob records and my EC ep and the silver cobra fbr anniversary vinyl. The only 2 picture discs I have are the watchmen one because it sounds like shit but it looks really really cool on my wall and the electric century self titled because it was only released on picture disc because mikey way hates me personally. And then i have my bones uk vinyl which was very cool because the insert had the guitar tabs to one of their songs and my ls dunes one. My absolute favorite is my there's a dyke in the pit 7 inch which has 4 singles on it from bikini kill, tribe 8, seven year bitch, and Lucy Stoners and was the first release from outpunk records in the 90s, which was the first explicitly queercore record label. Also as u can see it's a colored vinyl and idk why but it's genuinely the highest sound quality vinyl I have it's insane

I Need That 45.

this is a REALLY cool collection those picture discs look really cool (if nothing else 💔) and that is a really really cool selection of albums. the ghost one comint with a 28 page insert sounds completely right. like i wouldnt expect it but its exactly how its supposed to be i think. alsooooo that split vinyl. i love split vinyl it looks so fucking cool.

#dils declares #fix me in 45s #thank you thank you thank you!!

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punk-baby-sfw · 8 months

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all of the killjoy cg mood boards I made! (with photo IDs for each one which is why it's under the cut)

Party Poison mood board

[mood board ID: there are nine photos all in a grid pattern with a red, yellow, and blue gradient background.

The top three photos in order from left to right: A picture of a lizard plush with a blue body, red head, different patterned legs, different colored paws, and three different colored shapes on the body; an orange square, a red circle and a green triangle. A picture of some crayons with a bright filter over them. A fabric pattern that is rainbow blended waves with white stars over it.

middle three photos from left to right: a red kandi bracelet with the word "baby" on a white background. A picture of Party Poison, played by Gerard Way, with a white background. A red, yellow and blue kandi bracelet with yellow and red star shaped beads that says "poison".

bottom three photos from left to right: a picture of comics stored like how you would find them in a comic store. a picture of The Girl's boom box. a picture of a blanket fort lit up with fairy lights. /.End ID]

Fun Ghoul mood board

[mood board ID: same layout as the party poison mood board this time with a neon green and black gradient background.

top photos left to right: multi-color black light reactive paint splatters on a black background. Spray paint cans with multi-color black light reactive paint splatters on them. Green glow in the dark plastic bugs.

middle photos left to right: A kandi bracelet with green star shaped beads, black round flat beads with white stars on them and the word "gremlin". A picture of Fun Ghoul, played by Frank Iero, from the Na Na Na music video. A green, yellow and black kandi bracelet with black and yellow stars that says "Ghoul".

bottom photos left to right: glow in the dark stars stuck to an all black ceiling. A green black light reactive cassette tape labeled "classic UFO hunter". Blue and pink neon lights of shooting stars on the ceiling. /.End ID]

Kobra Kid mood board

[mood board ID: same format, black, red, and gold gradient background.

top photos left to right: a lot of brown/tan/clear cassette tapes in front of a red background. Someone holding a red electric guitar with stuff drawn on it with sharpie. A screen shot from the movie Mary Poppins, it's the measuring tape and it says "Extremely Stubborn and Suspicious".

middle photos left to right: an orange, red and yellow bracelet with round beads that says "Da Bomb" on a white background. A picture of Kobra Kid, played by Mikey Way, from the Na Na Na music video, it shows him sitting in the car (the trans am). a red and black kandi bracelet that says "kobra" on a tan background.

bottom photos left to right: a cut off photo of a yellow music record playing on a yellow record player. Two red converse tennis shoes with unreadable words on them with a grey background. a red, yellow, and black crocet snake plushie on a white background with a hand hoilding up the head. /.End ID]

Jet Star mood board

[mood board ID: same nine photo layout with a gold, medium blue and dark blue gradient.

top photos left to right: A blanket fort with star shaped fairy lights in it and a purple filter put over it. A corner of a bed with a star plush, a light blue night sky themed pillow, a yellow crocheted blanket and dark blue sheets with little gold stars printed on them. A line of star shaped fairly lights in a dim room.

middle photos left to right: A kandi bracelet that has silver sparkley beads, glow on the dark beads, iridescent blue beads and says "moon light" with a star shaped bead in between the two words. A photo of Jet Star, played by Ray Toro, turning their head to the side with nature, like trees, in the background. A kandi bracelet with blue and black beads as well as glow in the dark star shaped beads, the words on it are "Jet Star".

bottom photos left to right: A dark blue fuzzy blanket with shiney gold stars printed on it. Two MAM style baby pacifiers, both are blue with stars or night sky images printed on the front buttons. A lava lamp with light blue and dark blue stuff in it, gold stars are printed on the outside. /.End ID]

Show Pony mood board

[mood board ID: nine photo layout with a three different color blue gradient, ranging from medium blue to very light blue.

top photos left to right: a pair of roller skates being worn, they sparkly medium blue with sparkly green wheels, one of the skates is lifted up slightly from the heel side. A blue themed makeup pallette with blue, silver, and white eyeshadow colors. A photo of medium blue glitter.

middle photos left to right: a blue and light purple kandi bracelet with two sparkly clear star shaped beads on either side of the word "Dreamer". a picture of Show Pony, played by Ricky Rebel, skating down route guano from the beginning scene of the Na Na Na music video, the background has a blue sky and a road behind them. a bracelet with round purple and blue beads and blue star shaped beads, it says "Dream on".

bottom photos left to right: a photo of white and very light blue mini peal and glitter mix. A blue and white tiger plush from the TY Pluffies line, it had medium blue stripes, light blue base, and white cheek fluff, ears and paws. Different colored blue nail polish, top down view with all of them open and some spilled nail polish around the bottles. /.End ID]

Dr Death Defying mood board

[Mood Board ID: same layout, with a light and dark brown gradient background.

top photos left to right: an LP vinyl record playing on a brown record player. An old radio microphone that says "on the air" on it above the main part. a panel from an old comic book that shows a cartoon-y explosion with the word "boom" over it.

middle photos left to right: a green, dark brown, light brown and tan bracelet, the green beads being wooden, the bracelet says "bug". a picture of Doctor Death Defying, played by Steve Righ, holding a phone up to his ear and looking somewhat concerned. A bracelet made out of different sized gem stone or rock beads.

bottom photos left to right: an original Polaroid camera. a tan beanie baby bear with a brown ribbon tied around it's neck and brown fussy ears. a pile of cassette tapes, the photo take in a top down view all of them are black with neutral colored stickers on them. /.End ID]

Vaya and Vamos mood board

[Mood Board ID: same layout with time with a half and half blue and pink gradient.

top photos left to right: a pink spotted white puppy plush from the TY Pluffies line on a light pink background. two makeup pallettes right next to each other, the left on being pink and the right one being blue. a blue spotted white puppy plush from the TY Pluffies line on a light blue background.

middle photos left to right: a bright pink and blue kandi bracelet with the letters "xoxo" on it with a heart separating the XOs. an image of both Vaya and Vamos from the True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys: California comic, Vamos is on the left with a light pink back ground behind them and Vaya is on the right with a light blue back ground behind them. Two kandi bracelets one with a bunch of different shaped blue beads and the other with a bunch of different shaped pink beads.

bottom photos from left to right: a light pink and white marching band jacket with little stars printed on it in front of a light pink background. a picture of a lot of Starburts mixed together but there's only two colors, blue and pink. A Blues Clues letterman jacket with medium blue for the main part and lighter blue for the sleeves and accents on a light blue background. /.End ID]

and that's all of them, if you read through all of those IDs thanks, and I'm hoping that they're helpful to people :]

☆

[Picture ID: A banner that says "DNI if you sexualize age regression" DNI standing for Do Not Interact. It is shown in big white text over a purple space background with a drawing of the Sanrio character Cinnamorol wearing headphones and sporting a purple mohawk /.End ID]

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boogiewrites · 2 years

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Cherry Bomb Part 2

Characters: Eddie Munson x OFC Mary Cherry

Summary: Mary Cherry, a peer-proclaimed good church girl decides once turning 18 that she no longer wants to be that angelic good girl. She wants to be bad.

This chapter is about the growing chemistry between Mary and Eddie. He smokes her up and gets her to open up about herself. He introduces her to 'real' music and changes her worldview forever.

Comment & Reblog to let me know you like it and want more!

Warnings/Tags: Drug use (weed). Conversations about sex, sexual tension. Sexual awakening with metal and Eddie playing guitar. Hands.

Part One if you missed it.

Part 3 link at the bottom!

Mary and Eddie formulated a plan. They used her skills of scheduling and his skill of sneaking around and found pockets of time they could meet up. She scheduled things weeks in advance and it was all very foreign but also very amusing to Eddie. He didn’t know if he’d ever talked to someone who seemed to have their shit together to such a degree as Mary. He was used to metal heads and D and D players, groups not known for their full social calendars.

“I didn’t know churches had so much stuff going on.” he looks over the scribbled notes.

“Well you don’t HAVE to do it but if you want to look good you do.”

“All about keeping up appearances.” he mumbles.

She stops and makes a point to look him in the eyes. He expects her to scold him. “I’m so glad you get it, Eddie.”

“Get it?”

“No one else will admit that all this stuff is for show. They pretend it’s all about God and being close to him but it’s never felt like it’s about that. The meanest people I’ve met have been in church. Those old ladies are downright nasty. I didn’t wear tights ONE time to service and they called me a trollop behind my back!”

Eddie’s face lights up, a laugh down into his chest as he pushes back his hair and she’s distracted from her train of thought for a moment. The sound of the leather on his jacket, and the glint of silver from his jewelry was enough to capture her mind in rebellious thought. He was so unlike her in appearance, and yet he understood her mind better than anyone she’d spoken to before. “I didn’t know people still used that word.”

“They talk about me not wearing tights but if they knew what went down at those church lock-ins they’d forget all about my tights.”

“DO go on.” he pleads.

“Well last lock-in Ben fingered Cindy while everyone was watching a movie,” she says so casually he chokes on his drink for a moment. “And she denies it but I KNOW Lisa was going at it with someone outside a few weeks back.” she absentmindedly takes a sip. “During service people sneak off all the time. No one’s in the basement, there are plenty of bathrooms, they find a way.” she shrugs.

“I knew those church kids were gettin’ some.” he hits his hand to the table softly, “I’d never been able to confirm it but - thanks for that.”

“It’s nice to be able to tell someone to be honest.”

“Do you ever sneak around during church?” he asks with a raised brow.

“Oh no. I sit with my parents.” she shakes her head.

“Ol Mikey’s never wanted to… ya know.” he clicks his teeth and winks. It at least gets a brief smile out of her.

“Nah, he’s next to me and his parents next to him.” she sounds sad and it’s more than piqued his interest.

“I don’t mean just in church. From your list I’m guessing not.” he narrows his eyes, voice inflecting to lessen the invasive question. She doesn’t answer right away, avoiding his eyes. “If that’s too forward, sorry. I’m trying to gauge your comfort level, ya know? See where you’re at. You could be a freak for all I know.”

This makes her roll her eyes his way. “No more of one than you. My list is pretty straightforward. I’ve not done anything that’s on it before.”

“Nice way to dance around the question, I can respect that.” he nods and taps his chin in thought.

“What about you?” she asks after a pause, looking at her list.

“What about me?”

“Have YOU ever…” she tried to figure out what she really wants to ask and chickens out. “Done the things on my list?”

“Oh yeah, all of it.” he nods without hesitation. “You came to the right person. If I do say so, and I do.” he grins. “I’m not gonna judge you alright. Everyone goes at their own pace. We’ll figure it out together, kay?” he leans forward to hold her attention.

“Thanks. And thanks for not calling me stupid or the idea dumb or anything.”

“I’ve heard plenty of stupid plans in my life and this isn’t one of them. You’re wanting to break free from your chains, man. You’re rebelling against the system. You’re thinking outside the box. I love that shit. It’s metal as hell, Mary, and just from this conversation I’ve gained a lot of respect for you. This was brave.”

“Thanks.” is the best she can manage for a moment. She loved his enthusiasm, the clenching of his fists, and the way his eyes lit up when he got excited. “I’ve gained a lot for you too. You’re being really nice and I really appreciate it. You didn’t have to even talk to me, let alone help me out.”

“And you didn’t have to wake up and figure out the world you were living in was full of shit. But here we are,” he answers proudly. “Anyone willing to see past the wool they pull over our eyes is good by me. I’m all about nonconformity and being your own person, so this… you are exactly the sort of person I’m happy to help.”

“You’re really nice.” she answers with sad eyes.

“Don't tell anyone.” he whispers and winks.

He gets a soft smile from her, looking away and blushing so red he notices across the table and in the dim lighting. She considers telling him this was the nicest anyone had been to her in a long time. Everyone talked to her like she was dumb because of the church crowd she was in with. She wasn’t dumb, and he was supporting her point of view. It was a heart-touching change of pace for her. Before she can get sentimental, her eyes glance at her watch. She slightly jumps when she sees the time. “Oh, I’ve got to get going soon. I didn’t realize how late it’d gotten.”

“It’s not even 9 yet.” Eddie answers with a deadpan voice.

“Yeah, I have to be home before 9:30.”

“Not very bad of you.” he tsks.

“Baby steps.” she insists. “If I get grounded, I can’t do anything. I have to be smart about it.”

“You wanna knock one of these off your list before you head out?” he offers, sitting up to stretch his back.

“Which one?” she asks with a deep-set brow. It retreats and she lets out a noise of understanding as he tapped his pack of cigarettes against the table. “I have perfume in my bag, I think I can get away with it.” she nods happily, her childlike wonder in her eyes seeming so out of place to him now.

“You drive here?” he asks, standing and moving slowly, letting her follow in his shadow as he made his way outside.

“Yeah. You?”

“Yeah, my van is -”

“The one over there yeah. I’ve seen it at school.” she nods and puts her hands in her pockets nervously as he stands relaxed at the corner of the old stone building.

“Hard to miss,” he adds before lighting his own cigarette. “If you want to seem more relaxed and less well, tight, you’re gonna have to learn some body language,” he mumbles with a cigarette on his lip, moving to grab her arms take them out of her pockets and shake them. “Loosen up. Stand like you don’t care about going anywhere. Like you have every right to be right where you are. Take up some space.” he moves her around, using his foot to kick her legs apart. “Don’t put your hands together like that, here -” he hands her the cigarette that was in his mouth. “One hand with this, other on the hip. Stick it out. There ya go. Better. Not perfect but better.” he nods in approval before getting himself a cigarette but is distracted by a coughing fit that erupts next to him and he starts to laugh. “Long way to go, kid.”

“These taste so BAD!” she speaks with her tongue stuck out of her mouth and he continues to openly laugh at her.

“It was on YOUR list.” he retorts. “Give it back if you don’t want it.”

“No! I’m gonna try.” she steadies herself and with that cute wrinkled nose, she tries again. “Why does it taste like…dirt that’s gone bad?”

“Because that’s exactly what it is.”

“Good to know.” she mutters before taking a less noisy drag, only silently gagging this time.

“Hold it like his. Not like some fancy french woman” he manipulates her hand. “You gotta loosen up. Head up, confidence is key. People aren’t going to respect you unless you look like you deserve it.”

“I don’t look like I deserve respect?” her eyes go wide with question.

“You look like - don’t take this the wrong way. An easy target. Like you can be taken advantage of.”

“I do?” She looks slightly mortified.

“Bad people know what to look for in people. It’s a skill they gather, learning how to spot insecure people so they know they won’t stand up for themselves. Think of it this way. If you saw me like this -” he stand with his arms crossed, a neutral but vaguely threatening look on his face. “Would you wanna mess with me?”

“No.”

“How about now?” He shoves his hands into his pockets like she had and looks at the ground, weight shifting from leg to leg. “You see the difference?”

“Yeah I do now.” she scratches her head.

“Just think, don’t fuck with me, in your head and the rest will follow.” he offers with a sweep of a hand that now had another cigarette in it.

“That…weirdly makes sense.”

“Of course it does.” he retorts.

“I’ve been thinking oh God, no one mess with me, I’m scared, I don’t know what I’m doing.” he laughs as he lets out a small cough.

“Yeah I could tell.” he nods and grins.

“It’s been that obvious. Wow.” she shakes her head, now standing with arms crossed, cigarette pinched between her pink painted nails. “I’ve been at this with you for a few hours and I’ve already had a full-blown revelation.”

“Just wait for 48 hours, that one is a real doozy.” —-----------------------------------------------------

There was always a lot going on in a teenager's head at any given time. But since their meeting, more than usual had been following Mary and Eddie around. She assumed he hadn’t been thinking of her as much as she had him. But she’d been taking his advice to heart. It was natural for her to light up a little when she saw him in the lunchroom. She knew she couldn’t go talk to him but a sincere smile, a small head nod once they met eyes and the tiniest almost nonexistent wave of her fingertips clutched around her books caught him off guard mid-bite.

His eye went wider than he intended. He hadn’t expected her to acknowledge him at all. He didn’t know if he should acknowledge her back. He lost his cool exterior for a moment, eyes darting around paranoid before matching hers again. He gave a slight nod back and took a bite of his sandwich before breaking the eye contact.

“What the hell was that?” Dustin asked in a pubescent screech.

With a mouth full of food Eddie's eyes swing quickly to Dustin's sitting diagonal from him at the lunch table. “Mhmm? What the hell was what?”

“That… whatever happened with that pretty popular girl just now.” Dustin very obviously points and Eddie slaps his hand down into his tray of food.

“It was nothing.” a tone that clearly said back off.

“Nothing my ass. She did a little…” he does a tiny little wave of his hand.

“Who was that? Little Marry Unpoppable Cherry?” the older club member jokes under his breath.

“Maybe not so unpoppable.” the one next to him adds in an amused snort.

Everyone but Eddie laughs.

“Her name is Mary… and I wouldn’t call her popular OR call her by that nickname. How’d you like if someone called you some shitty nickname behind your back?”

The shamed boy shuts his mouth.

“You know who gave her that nickname? Those pricks that are sitting around her. We aren’t like them. We don’t call people stupid little nicknames and talk shit when we don’t know what the hell we’re talking about. Then we’re no better than them.” he roughly gestures with one hand in the general direction of the table where she sat with the athletes.

“Sorry.” someone mutters.

A quiet falls across the table. “So you’re not going to tell me what the hell that was about?”

Eddie glares into Dustin's soul with his almost black-brown eyes.

“Alright! Alright! Can’t blame a guy for tryin’!”

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eddie’s sitting in his van, a street over from the library. This was the quietest his music had ever been in his vehicle and it was making him stir crazy. He drummed to a song faintly playing as he popped his lips and looked into the rear view mirror. He didn’t want to draw much attention to himself, as he didn’t want to seem suspicious and not only potentially blow Mary’s cover but his own. He pauses, eyes focused as a form comes into view. It was Mary, her sparklingly white reeboks stood out against the grass as she stumbled, pulling a sweatshirt over her head. Underneath was a stripped blouse of white and pink. A small V neck and rolled sleeves is a completely normal thing to see on a woman anytime, but for her, it was a bold step. Eddie only recalled noticing her in modest dresses or some kind of group t-shirt and jeans. She pulls the ribbon from her hair, fluffing it as she approaches, her sweatshirt now hung over her arm. She’s bright-eyed and only slightly huffing as she finishes her light jog at Eddie's van door.

“Hey!” she chirps and plops into the seat willingly.

“Go okay?”

“Oh yeah. The car’s parked between the library and the theatre. No one saw me leave the library.” she smooths down her fluffy hair, past her shoulders, and is now being fidgeted with at the ends.

“Nice break, jailbird.” he jokes with a smile before they make the drive to his place. As soon as they’re on the edge of town he turns his music back up. The head banging and hand drumming helped hide his nervousness. He shouldn’t have been. He’d had much more nerve-wracking plans with women before driving back to his place. Maybe he was picking up on hers. But she seemed oddly content in the passenger seat, head slightly moving with the music, watching the world go by outside the van window.

She followed him with a perfectly polite expression, like a puppy up to the trailer behind him.

“Ladies first,” he says with a slight bow and wave of his arm. She enters to find a room full of collectibles and trinkets. Hats hung like decorations and mugs lined shelves around the room. “Welcome, welcome. Excuse the mess.” he hunches and turns from her, headed toward the open space’s kitchen. There wasn’t a mess to speak of, he’d cleaned before she came over. He’d seen the house her family lived in, and it wasn’t hard for him to feel intimidated about where he lived when faced with how the other half lived. And Mary was certainly the other half. Her family wasn’t wealthy, but a two-story house in a nice neighborhood with two working parents and two cars was far from the situation he was in.

“Are these yours?” she asks, not turning his way.

“No, they’re uh… my uncles. Well, technically my aunt’s, was - my aunts.” he scratches his head, going blind to the decor of the space after it going unchanged for so long.

“They're cute.”

He huffs out a laugh, watching her inspect some hanging above the kitchen bar with nothing but genuine curiosity on her face. He didn’t expect her to be rude, but it wouldn’t have been the first time someone tried to be sarcastically nice about the place. “They used to uh, travel. A lot.”

“I wish I’d been to this many places.”

“Yeah me too.” he adds quietly, watching her before she returns to his face.

“The movie won’t start for another,” she glances at her watch. “Hour and a half and it has a run time of 86 minutes so we have plenty of time.”

“I know.” he gives a warm smile she doesn’t expect. “I got the uh, itinerary note you put in my locker.” he laughs, searching in his pocket and finding it and giving it a shake. “I’ve gotten plenty of things slid into my locker but none of them was an itinerary.”

“If I’m going to lie, I want to be sure we’re on the same page. To be a good liar you need to know all the information to manipulate the truth in your favor,” she explains confidently.

“I’ve created a monster.” he raises his head dramatically.

“I’ve always been like this.” she smiles proudly. “Except it’s been used to keep track of things like tests and babysitting. Never for lying. But it helps.”

“Whatever works.”

“And your Uncle is already gone for the night?” She knew he'd told her that already but she asked again out of nervousness.

“Yeah, he’ll be gone until the suns up. You’ll be long gone by then.”

“If this doesn’t kill me.” she tightens her lips.

“It won’t.” he laughs and moves to take her shoulders. “C’mon. It’s in my room. You’ll be FINE.”

“I’ve heard it makes you stupid.”

“That’s just a myth.” he groans.

“That it kills brain cells.”

“That’s just propaganda. Did they have you watch Reefer Madness in church or something?”

“How did you know?” she stumbles slightly looking back at him.

“Oh God, they did? Shit, I was joking. I’m sorry sweetheart. They’ve…they’ve really done a number on you, haven’t they. Damn cult.” he mutters as he still has hold of her shoulders gently, directing her down the short hall to his bedroom.

“I had someone tell me that one time. They were shouting we were in a cult, that we were sheep and needed to wake up. Whatever that meant. So I looked up the word cult in the dictionary and it said “a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object”. So I mean… they were kinda right weren’t they?”

“You memorized the definition? Didn’t know you were such a nerd.” he teases and gets a laugh out of her.

“Knowledge is power, Eddie.” she answers defiantly.

“Oh someone’s been watching their Schoolhouse Rock.” he mocks.

“Shut up!” she laughs as she tries to shove him playfully but he pushes her unexpectedly to plop onto his bed.

“So tell me, Miss Cherry, why would such an apt pupil, armed with all the knowledge a brainwashing campaign can offer, want to do a thing like this?” He says with a faux authoritative tone while digging through a cabinet.

“To find out for myself.” She states as if it’s obvious. “Same reason I talked to you.”

He stops and looks up, then to her. “That’s a good answer. Keep that.” He jabs his finger at her before rising and opening a familiar-looking lunch box on his dresser. “I don’t have any rolled so, gimmie a minute.”

She nods and bites her lip, taking in the cluttered bedroom. There was so much going on it was hard to know where to focus. It reminded her of her older brother's dorm room she’d seen when they visited him at college. Posters, art, and stickers covered the walls, she counted possibly 4 guitars and two big amps in the already small room. “Why so many guitars?” She asks innocently.

“Because I love them.” He answers happily. “You got the ax here. She’s the queen of the place. The acoustic is necessary for variety but also it’s what I learned on. This was my first electric, pawn shop special. She’s solid enough but she’s not the ax.” He beams the entire time he talks., fingers working some magic on the table Mary doesn’t understand.

“They’re all girls?”

“Oh, they are grown women.” He draws out the words and then amused with himself, laughs at his joke. “Yes, they’re ladies.” He adds looking up briefly from rolling the joint on the table.

“Why?”

“Have you ever played guitar Mary?”

“No.”

“And -no offense- I know you’ve not made love to one-“

“A guitar?”

“No! A woman you…” he snorts and runs the joint across his lips. “Don’t play dumb. It doesn’t suit you.” He interjects. “I love these guitars. They’ve got curves and you have to touch them just right to get them to do what you want.” He smirks and notices the blush subtle on her cheeks. “But when you do it right. When you’re in the zone and it’s all coming together it’s mind-blowing and feels better than anything else you’ve ever experienced.”

She gulps. “Are we talking about women or guitars now?”

“Both. Actually.” He gives a smile that makes her feel more at ease as he sits next to her on the bed, fingers fussing with the joint.

“Then I’m glad I had that added to my list already.” Her eyes were a bit wide and she stated it in a tone that felt like a joke but she meant it.

“You’ll get there.” He pats her knee. “But tonight we’re crossing this off.” He wiggles the joint in his fingers. “I’m going to introduce you to some real music and we’re gonna smoke and it’s gonna be great. Very chill hang out sesh, kay?”

“That sounds great. “

“Then stop picking your nails and loosen up your shoulders.” He sneers, lighting the joint and taking a drag before handing it to her. “Hold it like I showed you with the cigarette.”

She pinched it and stared it down as if it might attack her. She took a deep breath and looked over to Eddie for support.

“You’ll put it in, like a straw, right? And suck the air through it. Hold it if you can a few seconds then exhale.”

She nods quickly and swallows.

“It’ll be fine. I promise you.” He puts his hand over his heart.

She does as instructed and goes into a coughing fit about 2 seconds into holding it.

“That-a girl!” He praises as she shakily hands him the joint back. “Gotta cough to get off.” He pats her back supportively.

Without words, she asks what the hell he’s talking about with her face.

“It’s a saying. Coughing makes you higher. Makes the lungs take it in more.” He waits for her to wipe the tears that had formed and return her hands to her lap. “You good?”

“Yeah, I think so I don’t really….” She pauses and feels a warmth wash over her.

He watches her shoulders slump and her posture go bad. “Uh-huh you don’t, huh?” he snickers.

“I do.” She answers simply and it causes him to start laughing.

“Ya feeling it?” He teases and takes another drag.

“Uh-huh” she doesn’t nod but he can see the wheels turning in her slowly shifting bloodshot eyes.

“You good?” he follows up again, leaning in to get a good look at her face.

She considers it for a moment.

“Mary? Hello?” He asks, snapping his fingers.

“Sorry yeah, what?” Her aloof expression causes another giggle from him.

“I ask you a question and you were quiet for a few minutes.”

“Oh sorry. Yeah, I’m… my thoughts are going all over the place. What’d you ask again?”

“I asked if you were good.”

“Oh right. Yeah. I am but the whole point was to try to be bad right?”

“I meant are you high but you answered my question with that response.”

“Oh.” She begins to giggle now. “I was getting all… existential on ya.” She titters quietly.

“That’s the best part about smoking man. The conversation. And also that nice relaxed feeling. Do you get it in your chest? Like everything doesn’t suck for once?”

“Yes its… very nice.” She lets out a groan she didn’t know she needed to release.

“I thought you might benefit from it honestly. You’re wound so tight.”

“I know. I don’t wanna be.”

“You won’t always be if you work on it. You can change anything about yourself whenever you want. That’s the wild thing about being human.”

“Hmmph. You really can can’t you?” She sees different versions of herself flashing before her eyes.

“If you don’t give a fuck about what anyone else thinks you can.”

“Man, what's that like?”

“Wouldn’t know.” He shrugs.

“You act like you don’t care about anything.”

“Yeah but like you said. I act.” He offers with a dramatic hand.

“But you do all these things, the music the look, the drugs? Doesn’t that mean you don’t care?”

“I care a lot actually.” He pauses and tilts his head, looking around the room, resting his hands on the bed, leaning back slightly. “Just not about what most other people at Hawkins do.”

“You care about guitars.”

“Yeah. And music. D and D.”

“Dungeons and Dragons.” She states. “That’s your club right?”

“Yep. I love that shit man. You get to go be someone else, be somewhere else. Make up your own rules. That’s the thing with fantasy you don’t have to follow the rules that you do in real life.”

“I think I’d like fantasy.”

“You know what? You’re right. You would.” His eyes light up and he starts looking around the room. She watched him move things intermittently before a worn book is chosen. “I assume you read?”

“I can yeah.”

“I meant in your spare time” he laughs.

“Oh.” She shares the giggle. “Bible study, book club. Homework.”

“I don’t mean the Bible or for school. Do you ever read for fun?” He sounds exasperated for her.

“I… yeah.” He sees her shrink up a little.

“Did I upset you? Was I an asshole just now? I didn’t mean to be.”

“No, I'm just… sensitive. Sorry.”

“I’ll back off.” He holds his arms up in defeat.

“No, don’t. I need to toughen up. I need to share these things with you for you to understand me, be able to help me out.”

“That’s what I wanna hear.” He claps his hands together, still holding the book before sitting back next to her on the bed and facing her this time.

“I’ve been… taking books from the public library and the school's library for a year or two now. I don’t want anyone to know I read them so I can’t check them out.” She turns to face him too. Knees almost touching on the made bed. “I’ve been reading Sweet Valley High books. And there are some YA novels from the 70s that are surprisingly… risqué in the library.”

He didn’t want to patronize her. She was opening up to him. But he was seeing just how sheltered she’d been. She wasn’t allowed to read something as harmless as Sweet Valley High? No wonder she’d come to him for help. She was in a world that he was quickly realizing he couldn’t relate to. This made the tasks at hand that she’d shared with him all the more difficult to play out. He didn’t want to feel sorry for her or pity her. He hated when people did that to him. So instead he begins to look at her as someone fascinating. He wanted to know what her world was like. He loved fantasy and in a way she was stuck in one. Albeit a dystopian one. He was now the light-bringer in her world. The one who lit the way to enlightenment. As an avid fantasy fan and dungeon master, it wasn’t a task he took lightly.

“I remember finding a romance novel in my mom's bedside table. I couldn’t take it and read it but I flipped through it and it was… well there was certainly sex in it.” She grins. “And I thought to myself, if my mother can have something like this and claim to be so… so holy then I can read books with romance in them too. If she isn’t limiting herself like she’s limiting me then that’s not fair. That’s honestly something that started this whole list.”

“It’s called being a Hypocrite.” He says with a judgemental tone he didn’t try to hide. “People who try to control others very rarely follow their own rules. I would bet that if you went and snooped some more you’d find things that you’d never expect them to have.”

He sees it wash over her face, soberer for a moment with flashes of memories where they had indeed been hypocrites. “Do as I say and not as I do.” She mutters.

“Oh yeah. That’s textbook hypocrisy there.” He points his finger at nothing particular but the emotion being it was sure something.

She sighs and moves to see the joint in a makeshift ashtray on the nightstand, now no longer lit. “Can I?” She holds out her hand.

“Yeah, of course.” His voice was soft and so were his hands as he helped her learn to work the lighter and light the joint again. Another coughing fit ensues but it isn’t enough to distract her from how nice it felt for his hands to touch hers. Once she’s gathered herself, now 3 hits in and coughing less each time she continues.

“You have soft hands.”

Its the last thing he expected out of her mouth and his face gave away his surprise. “Thanks. I use lotion on them.”

“Really? I don’t know any guy who does that.”

“It helps with the callouses.”

“Like on toes?” She asks innocently.

“See? When you play guitar it toughens up your hands from the friction of the strings. Learning to play your hands bleed before you build up callouses.”

In her open and vulnerable state, she does what she wouldn’t otherwise have the courage to and takes his hand into hers and studies it. The backs were baby soft but the fingertips were hard. Like tapping on a wall. He lets her look, now thinking how nice it felt to have someone touch his hands too. Her fingertips traced lines in his palm to his fingertips where she inspected the hard pads.

“If I don’t use lotion they get scratchy and well, they don’t feel that great on your skin when you’re trying to touch someone.”

She compares their hand sizes and finds his finger much longer. “The effort doesn’t go unnoticed.”

She spoke like an oracle in one of his stories. He must be higher than he thought because she elaborated after watching his reaction. “Girls talk all the time about how guys don’t take care of themselves. Wishing they’d do stuff like use lotion and wash their faces. They like to bitch about their boyfriends a lot. It’s the majority of what they do. At least around me.” She shrugs. “So anyone getting touched by you notices and appreciates it. I can tell you that.”

“I never understood why people complained about their boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives so much. If you don’t like them why are you with them?”

“Right?! She says with relief. “If you’re so miserable, leave! Or shut up about it. Because I don’t care. I think your boyfriend is a prick who tried to get me to sleep with him while you were dating. So anything to inconvenience him I’m down for.”

“That didn’t sound hypothetical.” he showed his concern in his voice.

She looks up to meet his gaze. “Yeah, it wasn’t.” Her face read as disappointed but he wasn’t sure at what exactly. “I know what they call me,” she adds quietly. “Unpoppable Cherry.” she rolls her eyes.

“Yeah…” his voice had vocal fry, dragging a bit and not knowing how to comfort her. “I’ve never called you that.”

She boldly holds eye contact with him for a long while, then looked over his face which was the kindest anyone had looked at her since she could remember. “You’re the only one I think.”

“They’ve been pretty awful to you haven’t they?”

She nods and finally looks away.

“Why do you still hang out with them?”

“I don’t know. Habit? The girls I’m on the team with, the guys are their boyfriends. My boyfriend plays basketball so those guys come with the territory.”

“Why ARE you a cheerleader anyway? You aren’t like any of them.”

“I’ve done it since I was a kid. I like it. It’s fun. The actual tumbling and the athletic part of it. Not so much any other part. Not the girls for sure. They’re either mean or ignore me. I don’t know which is worse.”

“I get that. That’s how a lot of people treat me. They’re either angry to my face or they act like I don't exist. I think I prefer the to my face. At least it’s honest.”

Another weak “Yeah.” to add to the growing list. He hadn’t meant to bum her out.

“Well maybe this’ll help you forget it.” he raises the book he’d forgotten about. “Fantasy, right? You don’t have to think about that shit when you’re in it.” he holds the worn copy of Fellowship of the Ring to her. She takes it and studies it. “It’s about the journey this Hobbit takes to… well save everyone. To put it simply. There’s wizards and monsters and all that epic shit. It’s a favorite of mine.”

His enthusiasm as always is infectious.

“Oh! There’s this band, Led Zeppelin, and some of their work is influenced by the books. There are multiple books by the way so when you finish that one, I can give you the others.” he speaks quickly and squats in front of a few stacks of records in a cabinet. There’s a lot of other kick-ass bands that like them too. Megadeth, Sabbath, you ever heard of Pink Floyd?”

She shook her head but didn’t speak, her eyes were no longer sad and he knew he’d succeeded in his distraction of her.

“Then prepare to have your mind blown,” he announces proudly. “This is Led Zeppelin 2, came out in 69. The same year as their debut album named the same…minus the 2.” He handles the record like a baby, light fingers and delicate movements to gently place it on a player connected to a large cassette sound system. “So many iconic riffs on this album.” he turns the needle to ‘Ramble On’ as he grabs his guitar and sits on the bed, head, hand, and foot already bobbing to the tune.

He watched as she got to experience her first taste of what he considered real music. Her pupils dilated, she barely even blinked as she listened. He played along with a short section quick guitar, snatching her attention away from the stereo as goosebumps crossed her arms. She’d never seen hands move so fast. He matched the song exactly in every way and she was completely invested in every movement his fingertips made. “Mordor is a place in the book,” he explained as the lyrics passed. She barely heard him speak, nodding and leaning forward slightly, eyes bouncing back and forth between his hands. The song ends and he pops up the needle on the record. He couldn’t help but ask “So… what’d you think.”

‘Holy shit.” she says breathily. He couldn’t have wished for a better reaction.

“Good right?” his brows raise and he excitedly starts hitting switches and finding a certain cassette. “I’ve played this one so much I don’t know if it’ll work, to be honest. I need to get a new one.” he fumbles, a pencil shoved into the cassette wheel to make sure it was tight before snapping it in. “This song…lemme find it…” the stereos blare for a few seconds at a time as he finds the song he’s looking for. “This one… I think you’ll like it. “It’s called Eat Your Heart Out. By Dio.”

“Like your jacket.” she meets his eyes, still in a daze.

“Exactly! You noticed!” he clenched his fists in excitement. “Listen to the lyrics. It’s…well it’s kinda about you.” he drops, sitting back down again with his guitar to mimic the entire song.

This song was heavy. It was fast. It was metal. And her ears tingled as she had to take a deep breath in to steady herself. She’d never heard anything like this before, and now she didn’t want to hear anything else. She thought his fingers might start smoking with the speed they picked up on the guitar. Her heart rate had been raised for many reasons at this moment but hearing someone talk about “Eat Your Heart Out, You’ve been a bad, bad girl…” she flushed red all the way down to her chest. Speaking of being in prison, of breaking free. ‘You’ve been hungry all your life.’ She’d never related to a song more. She mouths the word “Fuck” unheard by Eddie as he was concentrated on nailing the solo. The only thing she was more distracted by than his hands was his mouth. He mouthed every word, only stopping to bite his lip as he concentrated. She felt her mouth dry, not sure if the weed or the sudden feeling of flutters in her stomach and farther down were to blame. She wanted to ask if this is what being turned on felt like. She wouldn’t dare ask that. Yet. From that moment on she would compare all music to the songs, he introduced her to, changing her view of music forever. It wasn’t the only thing that changed that night inside her. Her feelings about Eddie had shifted, and she never looked at him the same way again.

PART 3

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portalmcr · 10 months

Text

Mikey Way: “Eu estava aterrorizado na maior parte do tempo em que a My Chemical Romance estava na ativa. Estava aprendendo a tocar baixo na frente de vinte mil pessoas todas as noites!”

O ranger low-end dos reis emo reunidos revela por que trocou seu Fender Mustang por um novo e cintilante Jazz Bass, aprendendo a tocar baixo em arenas, e como ele superou a insegurança sobre suas habilidades.

Entrevista por Gregory Adams (baixista) publicada dia 8 de Junho de 2023

(Créditos da imagem: Cortesia da Fender)

A reunião do My Chemical Romance viu o baixista Mikey Way passar pelo punk magnífico de The Black Parade e Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge com uma força rítmica familiar, mas os olhos atentos dos obcecados pela banda provavelmente perceberam que o músico não mais ostenta o modelo Squier Mustang de flocos prateados que a Fender construiu para ele em 2012. A boa notícia é que, como a Fender acaba de anunciar formalmente, Way tem um novo – mas igualmente glamuroso – Jazz Bass lançado agora. Há uma boa razão pela qual Way fez a troca: o Jazz Bass é seu primeiro amor.

Apesar de ter começado na guitarra, Way pegou o jeito do baixo em meados dos anos 90 enquanto tocava um Jazz Bass que lhes foi emprestado em seu projeto pré-My Chemical Romance, Ray Gun Jones. Ele deu um up com um Jazz Bass próprio e de acabamento prateado quando o MCR começou a fazer turnês no início dos anos 2000, mas um acidente de trailer fez com que o instrumento fosse esmagado numa rodovia.

Way diz ao Guitar World que acabou ficando obcecado com a robustez de curta escala de um baixo Mustang na época que a My Chemical Romance estava escrevendo seu album de 2010, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, depois de dar uma brincada com um modelo que Duff McKagan havia deixado no Mates Rehearsal Studio de North Hollywood. Em 2012, Way teve seu modelo Squier já nas vitrines. Foi durante o período de inatividade após My Chemical Romance entrar em hiato em 2013, no entanto, que a teimosia de seu Mustang se tornou um pouco difícil de lidar.

"Fiquei um tempo sem tocar baixo, o que é natural – eu estava apenas relaxando", explica Way. "Então, em algum momento de 2014, peguei o baixo novamente para recuperar as habilidades, mas notei que o Mustang parecia estranho para mim."

Depois de entrar em contato com o pessoal da Fender, Way conseguiu controlar sua forma de tocar estendendo-se nos Jazzes de braço mais longo que eles lhe enviaram. A versão de Way do Jazz Bass é equipada com captadores single-coil estilo anos 70 e um braço de maple em forma de “C” fino que o baixista diz ser super veloz.

O acabamento é prateado, é claro, mas Way também queria um pickguard preto esteticamente mais escuro. A cabeça, da mesma forma, se destaca com seu acabamento preto brilhante correspondente.

Falando com a Guitar World, Way fala sobre os deuses glam e grunge que inspiraram seu amor por uma boa cobertura brilhante, superando a ansiedade de desempenho, e por que um ataque constante vence a corrida do baixo todas as vezes.

Quais foram alguns dos requisitos quando se tratou de projetar esta última assinatura?

“Sou obcecado com o acabamento brilhante desde que me lembro. Crescendo nos anos 90, o floco de prata [acabamento] era grande na música alternativa. Chris Cornell tinha o Gretsch Silver Jet, [Daniel Johns] de Silverchair tinha um - [com] as imagens que o Smashing Pumpkins usava, eles gostavam de brilhos.

“Ace Frehley, é claro, adorava acabamentos em flocos e, quando criança, você adora o mundo dos quadrinhos do Kiss, maior que a vida. [E há] David Bowie – o glam rock. Esse acabamento em flocos me faz pensar em tantas coisas diferentes, mas é por isso que eu amo tanto.

“Lembro-me de ser mais jovem e ir às lojas, ver um acabamento em flocos e pensar: 'Oh meu Deus, essa guitarra parece cara - não posso pagar por isso, muito menos tocá-la'. Foi quase intimidador.”

Uma diferença estética entre seu modelo Mustang e este Jazz é que você não colocou uma racing stripe (algo como uma faixa de corrida, as linhas pretas que Mikey tinha adesivadas no baixo da era Danger Days) neste.

“Pensei em trazê-la de volta e manter a continuidade. Talvez em algum momento coloquemos uma racing stripe. A coisa com [ver uma] faixa de corrida sempre foi como, 'Este jogador é foda!'”

Existe uma psicologia por trás da remoção da racing stripe, então?

“A psicologia por trás disso é que eu esqueci. Quando o My Chemical Romance estava falando sobre fazer shows de reunião [em 2019], entrei em contato com Michael Schulz da Fender e fiquei tipo, 'Tudo bem se eu fizer um novo baixo para esta [próxima] era do My Chemical Romance?' Eu queria pegar meu passado e trazê-lo para o futuro – pegar meu Mustang e fundi-lo com os Jazz Basses que eu tanto amava.

“Eu tentei ter duas coisas ao mesmo tempo. Eu queria o braço mais fino e o floco de prata, mas queria em um Jazz Bass. Eles fizeram muito bem imediatamente.

Voltando a como você costumava admirar aquelas guitarras prateadas nas lojas, na verdade você começou como guitarrista, certo?

“Então, a história é que meu irmão [Gerard Way, vocalista do My Chemical Romance] tinha uma guitarra Sears quando tinha 10 anos. Pegávamos um cadarço e fazíamos uma tira, e ficávamos no sofá fingindo que estávamos no Iron Maiden. E então ficou real por volta de 93-94, que se alinha com a ascensão da música alternativa. Você começava a ver pessoas que se pareciam exatamente com você e tocavam guitarra. Eles estavam tocando Fender Strats!

“Meu irmão comprou uma Stratocaster mexicana, Lake Placid Blue. Eu a encontrei não muito tempo atrás, e Michael da Fender fez uma modificação nela. Foi assim que eu comecei - aquela Stratocaster mexicana [foi] minha primeira incursão em realmente tentar aprender a tocar guitarra. Eu assistia a gravações de shows e observava as mãos e os dedos [dos guitarristas] – Thom Yorke, Billy Corgan, Noel Gallagher, Jonny Greenwood. Eu observaria o que eles estavam fazendo. Tudo começou a partir disso.

“O baixo veio por necessidade, duas vezes. Eu e meu irmão tínhamos uma banda chamada Ray Gun Jones, acho que em 95-96. Era meio Weezer, ou nós fazendo uma coisa surf-punk [com] um pouco de pré-midwest emo. Na época, gostávamos muito de Weezer, Jawbreaker, Promise Ring, Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, Sunny Day Real Estate.

“[Ray Gun Jones] precisava de um baixista, então meu irmão disse 'Ei, você quer tocar baixo para minha banda?' Eu já era um grande fã – sempre acompanhava os ensaios. O ex-baixista me emprestou o baixo. Tínhamos de 4 a 5 músicas, e consegui o rudimentar disso. Naquela época, todo mundo dizia, 'Eu quero ser um herói da guitarra', mas percebi que tinha um talento natural para o baixo. Eu peguei imediatamente.

“Então, com My Chemical Romance, foi a mesma coisa. Meu irmão disse, 'Precisamos de um baixista', e eu, 'Bem, isso é familiar' [risos]. 'Aqui está a demo; aprenda essas canções.' Elas não foram terrivelmente difíceis.

Aquele baixo que você pegou emprestado era um Fender Jazz?

“Sim, eu só toquei Fender. Já experimentei muitos outros baixos de outras empresas, mas sempre me parece estranho.”

Você mencionou estudar a interpretação de Thom Yorke ou Billy Corgan através de bootlegs. Houve algum baixista que você tratou de forma semelhante, para entender a mecânica do baixo?

“Matt Sharp do Weezer. Tentei imitá-lo no começo, mas meu ataque soa vagamente como uma gravação do Smashing Pumpkins. Eu aprenderia Siamese Dream e Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, e o Blue Album [a estreia autointitulada da banda em 1994] do Weezer. Esses foram os três álbuns que eu dediquei mais tempo para aprender. Isso está no meu DNA.”

Que tal de uma perspectiva hiper-local. Se o My Chemical Romance começou tocando em porões de New Jersey e clubes pequenos, onde há algum baixista dessa cena que te inspirou, ou que você apreciou?

"Sim! Dividimos um espaço de ensaio com uma banda chamada Pencey Prep – que era a banda original do [guitarrista do MCR] Frank Iero. John McGuire era o baixista deles e me emprestava seu equipamento o tempo todo. Ele me ensinou os fundamentos e me deu dicas - ele me ensinou muita coisa.

“Sempre respeitei Tim Payne do Thursday, adorei seu ataque e presença de palco. E quando assisti Gabe Saporta do Midtown, pensei 'Esse cara é o cara mais legal da sala'. Ele tem essa [presença] calma, legal e controlada que você não pode fingir ou aprender. E então Eben D'amico do Saves the Day - brilhante!

“Eu tentaria aprender as linhas de baixo do Saves the Day. Eles eram bem complexos [comparados com] o que a maioria das bandas estavam fazendo naquela cena. A maioria das bandas da cena pós-hardcore tinha linhas de baixo simplistas, mas o Saves the Day não.

“Tem também Ray Toro, o guitarrista do My Chemical Romance. Ele não apenas é realmente talentoso na guitarra, mas também é realmente talentoso no baixo e na bateria - Ray pode fazer tudo. Ele foi instrumental, desde o início, mostrando-me as cordas. Ray me deu aulas quando eu era novato. Não posso agradecê-lo o suficiente por isso.”

Que tipo de dicas ele estava lhe dando?

“Ele me mostrou como posicionar os dedos próximos aos trastes propriamente ou [como manter] um ataque constante. Recebi um grande elogio do assistente, Jay Rigby. Ele me disse que sou um dos poucos baixistas que ele não precisa ajustar o volume. 'Você está firme, o tempo todo.' Acho que é algo que Ray Toro incutiu em mim: a consistência do ataque.

“É engraçado pensar sobre isso, mas eu era tão novato entrando no My Chemical Romance que me colocava em um estado de ansiedade dominado por 'Oh meu Deus, temos um show hoje à noite; Eu tenho que começar a praticar agora.' Eu praticava de quatro a cinco horas antes de tocarmos - eu tocava o set [na sala verde] e depois tocava de novo. Outras bandas diriam, 'O que você está fazendo?' Eu estava tão neurótico naquele ponto, porque havia tantas pessoas ao meu redor que eram superdotadas.

“Fui empurrado para o fundo do poço; você não tem escolha a não ser perceber isso. Ray e Frank são tão talentosos que tive que acompanhar. Eu não queria nunca fazer um desserviço à música.

“Isso me traz de volta à simplicidade das primeiras linhas de baixo do My Chem. O primeiro álbum [I Brought You Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love] foi eu aprendendo o baixo, e de alguma forma [o produtor] John Naclerio me gravou e disse: 'Você fez um ótimo trabalho', o que eu não esperava.

“Eu pensei que iria entrar lá e eles teriam que fazer alguma mágica no estúdio, ou alguém viria e faria [minha] parte. Pensei no pior cenário, mas entrei e fiz. Eu toquei o baixo seriamente [o suficiente] naquele ponto.”

O que você geralmente procura em uma linha de baixo do My Chemical Romance?

“O que importa para mim é que, se eu fizer um preenchimento, farei apenas uma vez. Se você ouvir [o single de retorno da banda em 2022] The Foundations of Decay, qualquer preenchimento lá eu só faço uma vez. O que é interessante sobre The Foundations of Decay é que é muito solto e rápido. Entramos e acertamos as coisas para cronometrar, o que todo mundo faz, mas a essência disso é a primeira ou a segunda tomada. O que me leva a outra pessoa que foi muito importante para o meu baixo: Doug McKean.

“Ele não está mais conosco, infelizmente, mas era nosso engenheiro de som do The Black Parade [até sua morte em 2022]. Ele sempre foi um grande líder de torcida para mim - ele incutiu confiança em mim. Ele sempre foi bom em obter um desempenho matador de mim.

Quais são alguns dos maiores momentos do baixo do My Chemical Romance para você?

“Eu diria que Foundations. Ninguém viu isso chegando."

Há um vídeo no YouTube de alguém tocando suas linhas de baixo favoritas de Mikey Way, alguns usando seu Squier Mustang exclusivo, mas um destaque em particular é The Sharpest Lives do The Black Parade.

“O engraçado é que Sharpest Lives tem um solo de baixo, e eu estava apavorado com isso. Eu tive ansiedade de desempenho [nos] 12 anos antes de terminarmos - não tenho mais isso. De alguma forma, quando a banda voltou, um interruptor em meu cérebro [foi] acionado. [Mas] enquanto My Chem estava ativo, eu estava quase apavorado na maior parte do tempo.

“Estou tocando com pessoas muito acima do meu nível de habilidade, estou tocando [no Bills] com bandas onde seus baixistas são muito melhores do que eu, [e] nossos shows estavam ficando enormes. Estávamos tocando em arenas! Portanto, você não está apenas aprendendo o baixo, mas está aprendendo o baixo na frente de 20.000 pessoas todas as noites. Isso me fez mexer um pouco, mas acho que me moldou no que me tornei.

“Aquele solo me deu ansiedade. Foi quando estávamos tocando nos maiores locais de nossa carreira, e estava para começar o solo [Way começa a cantarolar sua linha de baixo]. Eu pratiquei incansavelmente, então [tornou-se] se tornou automático. Mais tarde, tornou-se minha parte favorita do show.

Você já está tocando a assinatura do Jazz em seu show ao vivo, certo?

“É o que eu uso para o show ao vivo. Basicamente, a Fender o construiu para a reunion, e então fizemos alguns ajustes para quando o lançarmos.”

Houve uma curva de aprendizado para transferir as músicas do My Chemical Romance que você escreveu em um Mustang para o Jazz?

“Havia Planetary (GO!), uma música de Danger Days. Eu acho que você diria que a coisa toda é uma batida de disco. É dançante - [Mikey começa a cantar uma linha de baixo de oitava], eu faço isso durante toda a música. Fiquei muito feliz por ter feito isso apenas em um Mustang, inicialmente [por causa da escala menor]. Mas voltando ao que eu disse, [depois] de fazer uma pequena pausa, [eu] voltei para um Jazz Bass.

“Senti falta do quarto, ou da maneira como minha mão subia e descia pelo pescoço (do baixo). Eu queria voltar a isso, então voltei e me senti em casa novamente.

Quantos Jazzes você está trazendo na estrada?

“Trouxe dois baixos, [mas] parei até de trocar [durante o set]. Esta é uma prova da habilidade da Fender - essa coisa permanece afinada. Tem a ponte de quatro selas e fica afinado muito bem. Sou um pouco neurótico, então vou afinar a cada música, mas se eu for de cinco a seis músicas, você provavelmente nem notaria.

O que significa para você ter agora um modelo de assinatura Fender totalmente formado – ao contrário do Squier – e com a forma do corpo com a qual você começou sua carreira?

“É realmente um sonho realizado. É engraçado, em 2002-3 começamos uma turnê pelo país. Eu tinha um Jazz Bass mexicano, mas [a banda] dizia, 'Você tem que usar algo com eletrônica melhor; madeira melhor. Intensifique!' Então, fui ao Guitar Center na Rota 46 em Nova Jersey, e na época a Fender havia lançado uma edição especial do Guitar Center que era um floco de prata.

“Sempre me incomodou que o pickguard (uma peça da parte da frente do baixo ou da guitarra, como uma placa) fosse branco – isso me incomodou, esteticamente, e eu pensei, 'Vou trocar esse pickguard um dia.' Então, eu comprei e estava usando por um tempo.

“Estávamos com o [quarteto emo de Boston] Piebald – foi uma de nossas primeiras turnês através do país – e uma noite alguém esqueceu de fechar a porta do trailer. Estávamos dirigindo na estrada e metade do conteúdo escapou - infelizmente, meu baixo foi uma vítima disso.

“Mas Frank Iero, e seu coração de ouro, pulou na estrada no meio da noite e tentou recuperar [o baixo]. Ele disse, 'Talvez possamos consertar!' Nunca vou me esquecer dele fazendo isso. Ele pegou um pedaço do baixo – está em uma de nossas unidades de armazenamento.”

• Para obter mais informações sobre a Edição Limitada do Mikey Way Jazz Bass, acesse Fender.com.

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Texto original

Tradução por 🍷 Jaq

#my chemical romance #mcr #portalmcr #mikey way #swarm era #reunion era

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solstice-snakes · 6 years

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lo-fi love letter

#my phtography #polaroid #bass #bassist #bass guitar #mikey way bass #fender mustang bass #silver bass #aesthetic

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manesalex · 3 years

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All I'll never know is if you want me

Michael is in love with his roommate and Isobel does some meddling. for @alexmanesappreciation

Warnings for mild sexual thoughts, but, otherwise, it’s pretty PG.

***

Michael is certain his roommate is going to be the death of him.

They met thanks to Michael’s college lab partner (and also Michael’s brother’s girlfriend), Liz Ortecho. And only because Max was leaving the apartment to move in with Liz. He still remembers her insisting, “You’ll love him, Mikey!”

The problem is that she was a little too right.

Alex is thoughtful and kind, immediately offering to share his guitar with Michael when he learns that Michael plays but doesn’t have one. He’s organized, always cleaning up after himself far better than Michael or Max ever had. And his sass never ceases to make Michael smile.

He also smells amazing, in a way that makes Michael want to bury his face in Alex’s neck and inhale. His easy affection only serves to leave Michael longing for more. And his hands… Well, he’s always wearing black nail polish and stacks of silver rings that draw attention to those long fingers and strong palms that leave Michael with thoughts of being held down and taken apart by him.

It’s not like Michael’s attraction to men is new to him. But Alex is his roommate. And that makes him off limits.

It’s not just that though.

Coming home to Alex every night, curling up on the couch with him while they watch TV, playing music with him, trying to explain his latest project to Alex, trying to understand Alex’s latest coding puzzle… It’s the first time in his life that Michael has felt like he truly belonged somewhere. Outside of Max and Isobel, anyway.

So he’s happy to have Alex in his life, however he can.

***

He’s just unlocking the door to his apartment one day, phone balanced between his shoulder and his ear as Isobel tells him all about the Thanksgiving dinner she has planned for them. She’s insisted that both Max and Michael travel to visit her, rather than her coming to visit them and, well, neither one of them has managed to figure out how to say no to her.

“And bring that boyfriend you’ve been hiding from me!” she demands just as he’s opened the door.

In his shock (and attempts to juggle everything), he drops the phone. So it’s a few seconds before he picks it back up again and manages to say, intelligently, “Huh?”

“Come on, Michael. Both Max and Liz have met him. You don’t have to keep hiding him from me!”

Michael is well aware that maybe it’s a problem that he knows exactly who she’s referring to. “I’m not-- We aren’t--”

“Please. You’ve been half in love with him since you met him. Oh, Isobel, he’s so funny. Oh, Isobel, he has the voice of an angel. Oh, Isobel, his smile is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

Michael would argue, but the only thing she’s said that he could argue with is that he’s only half in love with Alex Manes.

“If you’re not dating, you need to put yourself out of your misery and ask him out. That’s all I’m saying,” she continues. “And invite him to come with you! We do have two guest bedrooms, after all. Plenty of room in one of them for you and Alex.”

Before he can say anything, she’s hung up.

“Was that Isobel?” Alex asks, from the kitchen, oblivious to Michael’s panic. “I bet she’s got a long list of things she expects you to bring.”

“Yeah, she wanted me to bring you,” Michael blurts out before he thinks.

“Really?” Alex looks surprised and, if Michael didn’t know any better, hopeful.

“Yeah, um, I know you’re probably busy and don’t want to--”

“I wouldn’t want to impose, but--”

“Wait, you’d want to go?” Michael asks.

“It’s not like I was planning on going to spend the long weekend with my family. And,” Alex blushes, ducks his head, “I don’t know, this place feels really empty when you’re not here.” He pauses before continuing, “I mean, I'm not exactly fond of Thanksgiving, and I know you were looking forward to some time with your siblings, but--”

“I’d love it if you came with me!”

“Really?” Alex looks unsure.

“Yeah. Will you be ready to leave after work tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I’ll get started packing after dinner.”

***

It's late when they reach Isobel's and she's quick to push drinks into their hands.

So it's only when Michael is staring across the far too small bed at Alex, whose t-shirt is stretched tightly over his obscenely muscular chest, that Michael realizes what a huge mistake he's made.

Apparently, he’s staring too long, because Alex offers, “I can sleep on the floor if it’s a problem.”

He looks like he’s trying to hide his hurt, and Michael can’t handle that, so he instantly reassures Alex, “It’s not a problem. I just…” He tries to think of a way to explain, a way that doesn’t involve him explaining that he’s been in love with Alex for a long time. “Isobel thinks we’re dating,” he admits instead.

Alex laughs as he climbs under the covers, “Yeah, Liz thinks the same thing.”

Michael joins him, forcing a laugh, “Apparently, two queer dudes can’t be friends.”

Alex’s expression is soft and warm when he says, “Or not just friends, anyway.”

Michael takes a breath, takes a chance, “What if I don’t want to be just friends?”

“You don’t?”

“I mean, I’m good with just being friends if that’s what you want and I’d rather just be friends than lose your friendship, but--”

Alex silences him by placing a hand on his jaw, waiting until Michael is silent, is paying attention, to lean in and press a kiss against his lips, a kiss that Michael enthusiastically returns.

***

The next morning, Isobel winks at Michael when she hands him his coffee. It’s only then when he notices that Max won’t look up from his own cup of coffee, that he’s not even looking at Liz as she’s talking about something new she’s working on.

To Michael’s surprise, Kyle pats him on the shoulder and says, “I’m happy for you, man.”

Alex comes into the room a moment later and grabs Michael’s coffee from him, taking a sip of it and, well, if it were anyone else, Michael would object, but then Alex is pressing a kiss to his cheek and he’s pretty sure the grin on his face is even bigger than the grin on Isobel’s. He’ll have to thank her for her meddling later. For now, he’s just going to enjoy having all his favorite people around him.

#alexweek21 #alexappreciation21 #roswell fic #rnm fic #malex fic #malex #roswell new mexico #michael guerin #i love (1) actual disaster #alex manes #actual cinnamon roll #protect him at all costs #michael x alex #otp: home can be a person #malex fanfiction #*myfic

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gerarchive · 2 years

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My Chemical Romance FAQ

☠︎ What's the significance of the name of the band?

Mikey came up with the name My Chemical Romance. It works on a lot of different levels for the band. At the root of it, the name refers to the works of Scottish author Irvine Welsh. A "chemical romance" is the genre he has created in works such as The Acid House, Filth, and of course Trainspotting. Mikey added the word "my" to it to add a personal dimension to the name. In essence, it means a romance with chemical substances.

☠︎ So are you saying you guys do drugs?

No. My Chemical Romance does not do drugs or condone the use of drugs. However, the band is not straightedge and likes to party like everyone else.

☠︎ How long have you guys been a band? It seems like you guys came out of nowhere...

As a fully functioning band, My Chemical Romance has been together since Jan of 2002, when Mikey was officially added to the roster as bass player. Matt and Gerard started the band in November 2001, with Matt playing drums and Gerard singing and playing guitar, but Gerard isn't that good on guitar and he wanted a guitarist so he could just sing, jump around, dance and do other things like "unleash the bats,""hump the sky," and "exorcise the demons." Ray then joined the band and they had a hard time finding a bass player until realizing they should just train Mikey, who ended up making them all look like bitches when he learned the set in a month. Other than that all of the members of the band have been making music together for years in various bands and have been a part of the scene in various ways. Until now, the music and the combination of musicians never fit perfectly and could best be chalked up as a learning experience. We've recently Frank Iero as another guitarist, and the band now finally feels complete.

☠︎ You guys have a record coming out on Eyeball Records? How and When?

Eyeball Records is a label we respect and love, and we're thrilled to get the offer to do our first record with them. They have a long history, have put out and worked with a lot of bands we love, and have given us 100% creative freedom to make this album however we wanted. They are as excited about the record as we are. We record the first week of May '02 and expect the record to have a summer release. The album entitled "I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love" will feature all of the songs from our set, including a final mix of "Vampires Will Never Hurt You". From then on we will tour and support the album for a long time while working on new songs.

☠︎ What are your influences?

Everything. We listen to lots of different music but if we had to list some bands and artists that have been a big influence on our sound we would have to say: Iron maiden (it doesn't get any better than these guys), At The Gates (except these guys), The Pixies, The Misfits (Danzig years) and Samhain, The Smiths, Morrissey, The Haunted, Pulp, Blur, Johann Sebastian Bach, Fernando Sor, Queen, Guns and Roses, Helloween, and the list goes on and on...

☠︎ Are Mikey and Gerard brothers?

Yes. Mikey and Gerard are loving brothers that enjoy rocking out together. But they consider Ray and Matt their brothers too, only Puerto Rican and French ones.

☠︎ What kind of equipment do you use?

Ray plays a Session guitar. A Session is a knock off of a Gibson Les Paul from around the early 80s. I asked a vintage guitar store owner some information about Session seeing as how Ray won't play anything else and he said, "It's a piece of shit. It was made in the Philippines in the '80s and Sam Ash used them to sucker people into buying a cheap guitar. Worst guitar ever. And the factory blew up". Ray also uses a 100 watt Marshall JCM 2000 head, a Laney Cabinet, and assorted stomp boxes. Mikey plays a Fender American Jazz bass with obnoxious silver sparkle finish. Matt uses Pearl drums, Zildjian cymbals (a lot), and an enormous Gibraltar drum cage. If you've ever seen us live then you understand how big this thing is. Gerard uses an SM58 Shure mic. The mic of choice for Bruce Dickinson.

☠︎ I want a T-shirt! Any merch soon?

We have some buttons and we're running out. We just invested in a button maker so we can have all sorts of self-indulgent crazy buttons you can wear for cheap. The band has finally decided on 2 designs that are being drawn up as we speak and they love them, so expect them soon.

☠︎ What's all this nonsense about bats???

The band likes bats. Who doesn't? If you've seen the band live you might have heard Gerard mention something about turning into one or unleashing some sort of swarm of them. "Unleash the fucking bats" is something they say to each other seconds before starting the set to get themselves pumped up. This all started back in Jan '02 when the band finally came together and started playing together with an intensity none of them had ever known. That fateful night they rocked together so hard that a "rock portal" opened up and out flew a swarm of giant bats. No shit.

☠︎ I heard you guys cover Morrissey...why?

We cover a B-side called Jack The Ripper. Basically we wanted to cover it because we knew we could do a really rocking version of this song. It rocks as it is but we felt if we added a little "kick" to it and did like we do all of our others it would be something special. If you've ever seen us play this live we absolutely can't control ourselves while we're doing it, and its a good warm-up for "Vampires Will Never Hurt You."

#my chemical romance #my chem #mcr #july 2002 #2002 #bullets era #gerard way #mikey way #frank iero #ray toro #personal stuff

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suchalonelysunflower · 3 years

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Strings Attached (m.c)

Pairing: Michael Clifford X Reader

Summary: It’s been four months since your break up with Michael, but you still have to give him one last birthday gift. ~ A small piece for @devilatmydoor and @blackbutterfliescal Michael’s birthday celebration ❤️🦋

Warnings: Soft Angst, language, overthinking, some bad grammar probably (English is not my first language, I’m sorry)

Word Count: 1.9 k

Author’s note: Well hello there 👀 I have been struggling to find a promt for this Michael fic but I think I got it right this time ✌🏼 This is a genderless fic and I hope you can all enjoy it ✨ Reblogs, likes and comments/feedbacks are always welcome and encouraged! I love to hear about you guys ❤️ Hope you like it and Happy reading 🦋

My materialist and other Michael fics if you wanna be tag in future pieces please let me know!

Picture from Pinterest

You have to stop staring. It’s been half an hour already, probably even more. It’s almost pathetic, but you had to make a choice and it’s a matter of now or never. Though, you had to admit that the “never” option sounds really good at the moment.

You groan as you run your hand through your hair and turn around, away from the object that had you in this horrible dilema.

You have to give it to him, you have to. It’s his, after all. You bought it for him but how the hell could you know what would have happened just a few days later?

The fight started like any other, the usual ones you used to have whenever he came late from the studio or forgot an important date. Although this time you can’t really seem to remember the reason you both lit the match that ended up burning your little world. All you can remember is walking away and slamming the door on your way out. And just like that, it was over.

Almost three years of relationship thrown away by some harsh words and invalidated feelings. At least you could say it was mutual, you needed to get away and he didn’t stop you. Would you have stayed if he did? You knew the answer was yes.

The first few days after the break up were filled with angry emotions and bad coping mechanisms, yet once it all became real you realized the mistake that you both made. You were burned out, stressed and too tired and angry to have a normal conversation, and, suddenly without realizing, the spark became a fire and it was too late to salvage anything. The damage was done and you regret every single word as you saw the ashes fall once it was over.

You can’t deny the disappointment of him not calling, but, to be fair, you haven’t called either. You two can be very stubborn, you are alike that way. The thought of “maybe this was for the best” came as it went. How can this be for the best when you are still in love with him?

You miss him, with every beat of your heart you miss him and long for him and his touch. Not even when he went away for months on ends you missed him this much. Of course, whenever he had to leave you were reassured of his love for you. You were his and he was yours. No doubts, no walking away. And yet, you did.

The guilt of it all consumed you. And maybe, just maybe, this object could be the chance you needed to fix everything you once had.

“Oh, fuck it” You said in a sigh.

You grabbed the heavy object and walked up to your car, placing it carefully on the back seat, stopping only to take a look at yourself on the reflection of the window. You were set on what you were going to do, yet you still failed to hide the fear in your eyes.

What if he started over? What if you don’t have a place in his heart anymore? Maybe he doesn't even miss you as much as you do. Maybe he doesn’t miss you at all and you will just ruin everything for him today. Could he still love you still?

Shaking those thoughts away, you open the driver’s door and start your way towards the house you once (and still hope to) call home. There was no time to back up now. You had to do this, if not to fix it then to find some closure to all of this mess.

The music on the radio served as background noise to the thousand scenarios you created in your head, not all of them with a happy ending; but you still stayed hopeful, you had to be.

Your heart skipped a beat as you pulled on the too familiar driveway, the feeling of being so close and yet so far made your stomach rumble with anxiety. But you felt an odd sense of calm as you stepped out of your car, almost like coming back home after so long of being lost by your own mistakes and missteps.

You rehearsed the words you wanted to say to him in your head without realizing that your hand acted on its own and already knocked on the door, so once you saw him open the door and stand in front of you, you were a loss of words.

“Michael…” You breathed, the shock of seeing him became too much.

He was standing there, his hair was longer and a bit unkempt. His scruffy beard framed his face and made him look more mature, you always loved his beard and how it tickled every time he kissed your cheek. You almost smiled at that thought before you remember why you were there “Hi”

“Hi,” Michael said softly, almost like a whisper. The surprise was evident in his eyes as he looked you up and down. Suddenly feeling self-conscious, you lowered your gaze and noticed that he was still wearing the hoodie you gifted him a few years back “Wh- what are you doing here?”

You winced at the sound of his voice, it did not sound like him at all. The Michael you knew was always loud when in public, his bubbly laugh filling any silence there was and, when in private, his voice would always be soft, loving and calming. That was the Michael you knew, not this timid and broken man that was standing in front of you.

“I-” You started, but soon had to clear your throat as your voice sounded as weak and scared as you felt “Happy Birthday, Mikey” You offered instead.

Michael’s green eyes soften at the words. He hasn’t heard from you in months, yet he somehow knew, hoped even, that you wouldn’t forget him today “Thank you” He murmured, gaze gracing the floor.

You wanted nothing more than to hug him and hold him tight, you had to physically fight every urge in you to do so.

“I have something for you” You said with a more uplifting tone, trying to comfort him this way.

“Babe-” He said before realizing “Sorry. You didn’t have to…”

“I wanted to” You rushed before you dwell on the way he called you, feeling your heart grow with love “I mean, I already had it and I’m not really sure what to do with it since it’s yours and well, I can’t really use it and I really want you to have it so you-” You sighed. You were rambling and it didn’t make any sense right now “Just… It’s in the car. Michael, please?” You pleaded.

He sighed as he nodded his head. Seeing you has taken a toll on him since you were the last person he expected to see today, or ever if he was being honest. It gave him too many memories, too much hope.

Keeping his distance, he walked with you towards your car. He could tell you were nervous, he guessed it was because you didn’t want to be here in the first place but you wanted to get rid of whatever was in the backseat. One last piece of him for you to forget.

Funny how all those thoughts disappeared when you opened the door and his eyes fell into the object that was meant for him, making him almost forget to take a breath and keep breathing.

The guitar was perfect. That was all he could think off. The body seemed made out of marble, shining against the bridge and buttons that were colored silver and black. The strap was embroidered with his initials in a soft glittery grey, claiming itself as his. Yet none of that caught his attention like the stings and how 5 of them were clear, almost transparent as they clashed with the color of the neck, and perfectly in tune. But the sixth string that was placed in the middle of it all stood up with its ruby color, balancing everything just perfectly.

You watched expectantly as his eyes scanned the guitar up and down, wanting nothing more than to touch it but feeling reluctant to do it.

“I had it customized a few months ago… after we visited that shop you like?” You ventured, trying to fill the uncomfortable silence “I- I know it’s not that impressive given that you have thousands of other guitars and probably have one now that might be similar to this one. But you seemed to like one like this and-“

“It’s perfect” You heard him say. No shaking in his voice, no whispered tone or rushed words. Only sincerity and gratitude “It’s perfect, magnificent, even. I-I.. thank you”

When your eyes met his you could barely hold your emotions at bay. Oh, how you missed those green eyes. Especially now that they were looking at you with such gratitude and love that you almost forget you are not together anymore.

You cleared your throat, shaking the thoughts away “I’m glad you like it”

The two of you stayed silent for a moment, too much to say yet no words being exchanged between both of you. That’s until Michael noticed “The string… the middle one, why is it red?”

He knew you were a sucker for symbolisms; Easter eggs; hidden meanings; and surprises, this could not be a random thing.

“Remember when you went to Japan last year?” You asked, not daring to look at him just yet “You told me about that legend you heard about the red string of fate, that no matter how long or tangled it's become, the two people that are connected by it will find their way to each other. No matter time, place or circumstances, what’s meant to be it’s meant to be” You felt tears rolling down your face, but you couldn’t do anything to stop them as your eyes met his one more time “You’re my red string, Michael. Always has and always will be. And I’m such a fool for letting it tangled this much and letting you go”

Michael stared at you with glossy eyes, not wasting any other second without having you in his arms as he pulled you closer into a hug, wrapping his arms around you as you molded into him.

“These past few months without you have been turture” He said with his face hidden in your neck “I- I don’t know what went wrong but I was so afraid of fucking it up further that I just thought it was for the best. That you would be better off without me”

You chuckled through the tears “I was scared, too. I thought you were the one who would be better off without me and that you moved on” You held him tighter “I’m so sorry, Michael”

“I’m sorry, too, love. So fucking sorry”

“Can we please start over?”

Michael let go of you for just a moment before cupping your cheeks and crashing your lips into his in a slow, sweet, loving and awaited kiss “We were never over, love. I love you, now and forever. We are meant to be” He said as he placed his forehead on yours.

You smiled and brought him down to kiss him once again. “Meant to be” And you knew that from that moment on, everything would be alright.

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velvetdestroya · 2 years

Photo

Bring on the bass!

Mikey takes the spotlight at Rotterdam Ahoy, Netherlands, June 2, 2022.

[photo credit; eva van kuik]

#mcr #my chemical romance #my chemical romance 2022 #my chemical romance rotterdam 2022 #my chemical romance netherlands 2022 #my chemical romance reunion tour 2022 #mikey way #mikey way 2022 #mikey way rotterdam 2022 #mikey way netherlands 2022 #mikey way silver guitar #mikey way reunion tour 2022

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mikeywayarchive · 9 months

Text

MCR’s Mikey Way: “I hope that we’re the band that get to pass the torch”

My Chemical Romance bassist Mikey Way tells us about his love for the Fender Jazz bass, how he cut his teeth on Weezer’s Blue Album, and more

by Tamzin Kraftman

June 29, 2023

Full interview under the cut:

“It’s crazy to think about how much time has gone by since the last one!” says Mikey Way, reflecting upon his newest Fender signature Jazz bass which has arrived 11 years after his first foray into signature instruments. “It seems like just two years ago. You don’t realise how quick a decade shoots by.”

The My Chemical Romance and Electric Century bassist knows all too well how much can happen in that timeframe. The breakup of a band; the formation of a new one; reuniting with the old band; a sold-out world tour. Not to mention a global pandemic, a marriage and two children.

Things have also gone a little more upmarket since that silver-finished first signature bass – a Squier Mustang. This time, perhaps reflecting My Chem’s status as emo aristocracy since their surprise 2019 reunion, it’s a full Fender Jazz Bass, which is handy as Way believes his “approach to the signature bass has definitely shifted”, but one thing has clearly stayed the same. He sure does love glitter.

Getting Into Gear

You can just tell sitting across from the computer screen in his Nashville home that Way’s love for the bass and all its technicality, is monumental. After the disbanding of My Chemical Romance in 2013, Way says he found his previous signature Mustang, a “little too confining”, especially due to the short-scale neck. It was an experience that brought him back to the Jazz – an instrument he says solidified his love for the bass back in 2000. “I started checking out what Fender had to offer,” he admits. “My first kind of experience with a real instrument was a Fender Strat, so from that being my jumping on point, it’s why I’m kind of partial to Fender”.

As he explains, this then led to a conversation with Head of Signature Artists at Fender, Michael Shulz, who sent him a Fender Jazz bass, and he “never went back since”.

“The reason I love the Jazz Bass is the neck,” he clarifies. “Especially on my signature model I was very clear that we had a neck that started out thin that got wider as it got to the bottom, a C neck! As far as comfortability and speed, I kind of dig it, it’s just kind of personal preference but I like the thinner neck.

“I think the alder body, I love the way it feels, I love the shape and it’s great in keeping a balanced tone – mids, highs, it covers all of it. Earlier on in my career I’ve tried different basses but it always felt a little alien to me. I always thought, this doesn’t feel right, that doesn’t feel right, but it’s a real testament to Fender. It’s what I’ve always known and loved, and it’s what I’ve always gravitated towards.

“The people at Fender really will build me whatever I want. They have helped me made a couple basses throughout the years, and I’ve been able to share with everyone which doesn’t go unnoticed on me how fortunate I am! When you think about how many bass players there are in the world, being chosen to have a limited edition is a special kind of honour”.

A special kind of honour it certainly is, and Way seems adamant that this collaborative approach is needed when trying to create the specific MCR sound.

“I like something to sound even, but it has to sound big, that’s the hallmark of the MCR tone. It can’t be too clean, can’t be too growly, it’s got to hit you just right, it’s hard to explain it. Which brings me to the signature edition. Using the 70s Jazz Bass pickups, they needed to be in there because that’s as close as I could probably get to the MCR tone”.

However, it is clearly not just the guitar that has allowed him to develop and hone this “big” sound over the years. Instead, he gives much of the credit to Rob Cavallo, American record producer whose large repertoire includes the likes of Green Day’s American Idiot, Goo Goo Dolls’ Dizzy Up The Girl, and of course My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade. It was when the band were recording their third album, Danger Days, that Cavello encouraged the bassist to use a Klon Centaur in his tih.

“I tried it and from that moment on, it kind of puts this tone and a veil on your instrument where it’s kind of an overdrive, kind of a compressor. It creates a nice basis for a tone and then you can go to your head and tweak it.”

“James Bowman from Against Me! has a pedal company called Bowman Audio Endeavours, and he makes this Bowman and it’s pretty close to the Centaur [The Bowman Overdrive – Ed],” he continues. “That’s also a favourite pedal of mine, because I don’t always want to bring the Centaur on the road with me because it is rare and expensive, and James’ is just as good for my purposes. He has a tonne of different pedals that my bass tech Joe tries to incorporate into my rig sometimes, we tweak everything together. However, the Overdrive is probably my favourite.”

The Foundations of Way

My Chemical Romance was, and still is a band that has carved out an individual path. Despite the Way brothers being known for realising their passion while watching the Smashing Pumpkins headline Madison Square Garden in the mid 90s, MCR has made one thing clear: they are a sound you have never heard before, and never will again.

“I think our sound was really developed when we thought about a band that we wish existed,” says Way. “We took everything we loved about our favourite stuff and without aping anything we just tried to make it our own. I feel like that’s how we ended up with the sound of MCR.

“You know from ground zero it was like, what if Morrissey sang for Iron Maiden? We kind of dreamt up a sound and I feel like we nailed the sound that we set out to create,” he continues, “and I think it ended up unique, and I don’t think you can listen to MCR and think ‘oh they’re just ripping off x, y or z’. I think we’ve incorporated all our inspirations into our DNA, and we’re able to have an organic natural sound.”

Regardless of MCR’s authenticity as a band, Way is not shy in admitting who the icons are that allowed him to find his passion in music. Aside from the Pumpkins, of course, he notes Paul Di’Anno from Iron Maiden, and New Order’s Peter Hook among those who inspired him to pick up the bass.

“I still am a big Weezer fan, Matt Sharp especially,” the bassist says. “I love Micky Welsh, but Matt Sharp was very important to me when I was younger. When I was younger and first playing the bass guitar, for me, Weezer was so prominent, especially with the Blue Album. I loved how he played, and I love how much fun he had up there. He owned it and I respect that so much.”

There’s clearly quite a dichotomy between the world of Mikey Way, who has a deep love for alt-rock, and the “aggressive poppy punk with hints of hardcore” of My Chemical Romance.

“I cut my teeth on that album,” he bluntly says. “Once I joined MCR it was this different world. The New Jersey scene around me, it was a lot faster and a lot more aggressive so I had to follow suit and for someone who came from the world of trying to play like you’re in The Smashing Pumpkins, and then you’re going into this world where you’re playing with American Nightmare and the Get Up Kids, so I think that’s why my bass playing is like it is, because I went from this alt-rock world, to this punk world. It gave me a good range.”

Finding the Power to Inspire

Despite being admittedly “shy by nature”, Way is determined to show younger bassists how to get to his position, just like The Smashing Pumpkins did for him.

“I think everyone in the world starts out aping something,” the bassist admits. “You look at the legends, The Beatles. They were copying their favourite R&B bands and doo wap. It’s the same thing with Rock n Roll, you’re aping and then eventually those training wheels fall off.

“I remember nudging my brother, during the Smashing Pumpkins concert at Madison Square Garden, and saying this is what we’re going to be doing when we’re older, we’re going to be playing this place especially, but this is what we’re going to be doing. He said to me “maybe you’re right”. It’s just this thing where we’ve had this realisation and I feel like that’s what music does to people, it possesses you almost.

“For me there are bands that got me to pick up an instrument,” he continues, “and I hope that we’re the band that get to pass the torch. I want to inspire kids to say, “that’s what I want to do for a living. It’s a cool power to have.”

#mikey way #gw #michael schulz #james bowman #mcr #the smashing pumpkins #weezer #fender #guitar.com #interview #return #2023 #jun 2023 #6/29/23 #limited edition jazz bass #text #originals

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foundationsoftheslay · 2 years

Note

whats your favorite guitar and/or bass?

i have two favorite guitars and they're both kirk hammett's: his black ESP LTD KH-3 spider electric guitar, and his purple sparkly ESP LTD ouija guitar (the black spider guitar might have to be my favorite out of those)

as for my favorite bass guitars, it's either my own bass (not biased it's just yellow and black with a rainbow strap and it's a model idk the name of but it's awesome and i named it caution), or mikey way's silver sparkly mustang

get to know me!

#i loooove this question i love guitars and bass guitars so much #asks #anon

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androcola · 5 years

Text

What am I doin' hangin' 'round - just another diamond day

The train arrived at its destination and he stepped out, with a guitar case strung up to his back with straps and a case in each hand he proceeded to walk, the warm air brushed his face gently, the warm air was all too familiar, reminiscent of days spent in the fields running after dogs and chasing lightning bugs. He was at home.

Back at the pad the two sat, two long days without their leader had been days spent quietly, things just weren't the same without him there.

Davy was standing on a stepping stool reaching for the pepper in the top cabinet, an apron strewn around his chest, eggs sizzling in a skillet on the stove for breakfast. Micky and Peter sat on the couch having just woken up, Micky was blindly switching through television channels and Peter was still trying to open his eyes to all the light around him.

Davy stepped down from the stool with a pepper shaker in his hand, he turned to the stove and shook the pepper lightly over the egg, he smiled in satisfaction, this was quite a fine egg.

Two plates sat on the counter beside the stove, one plate with an egg and hash browns and another plate with bacon, but no egg.

"Click!.."

The stove was turned off with the turn of a nob and Davy carefully lifted the skillet. He grabbed the spatula beside him and carefully slid the egg out of the skillet and on to the plate.

He stepped back proudly, he knew Micky and Peter would enjoy their breakfast quite a bit. He placed a fork on each plate and carried them carefully to the table. He laid a napkin beside each plate. He untied his apron and hung it up on a hook.

"Micky!.. Peter!.. breakfast!...."

They both shuffled over to the table tiredly, they pulled out their chairs and sat. Micky yawned and picked up his fork.

"Man.. this looks delicious... You really out did yourself.." and with one bite he was in love, it really was quite a fine egg.

Peter looked at his plate, hash browns! His favorite! He smiled and picked up his fork.

"Wow.. this looks lovely...." He looked up. "I wonder what Mike is eating right now... Gosh, I sure do miss him.." He pulled off a piece of a hash brown and ate it.

Davy was drying his hands off after washing them and looked back at Peter.

"I'm not sure, I really hope he's made it safe if he's made it already.. I'm sure we'll get a call soon... But I'm sure he's having a great breakfast.."

There it was, standing before him like he always remembered, the old farm house with a rough dirt passway up to the door, there were fences which had horses behind them, they trotted along and picked at the grass, not even noticing he was there.

There were little round metal cages that were open at the top, inside were chickens clucking, picking at eachother and scraping their talons through the dirt, they seemed to be establishing a pecking order between themselves. In the cage next to them was a large rooster crowing loudly. Mike smiled, he felt very at home, but the thought of his friends did creep in every now and then.

He looked up to see an elderly man in overalls in the distance building up a haystack, he rammed a large hook into the ends of the hay bails and threw them up on to eachother. He stood up straight and let out a huff, the work had only just begun. He looked around and spotted a man, a tall skinny man with a case in each hand and a larger one on his back. He called out to him.

"Hey!..." A gruff voice with a thick Texas accent called out. "What're you doin' here! Don't you know this is private property? Move on now before I grab my BB!.."

Mike was taken aback, had he ended up at the wrong farm? The farm really looked like the one he remembered.. he shrugged and pushed on..

"Wait a minute!.." the old man called again. "... Mikey?.... Is that you?.." he remembered his grandson was set to arrive by train today.

Mike looked back then nodded desperately, he just really wanted to be let in so he could set these heavy cases down, not to mention the one weighing down on his back..

The old man approached Mike and adjusted his glasses.

"Well I'll be darned.. look at'cha! ... Could you get any taller?... You made it early!..."

Mike smiled, he hadn't seen his grandpa in forever. "Hey, grandad!... It's been a while, huh?... Where can I set these bags?.." he laughed.

"Oh, sweetheart, you made it!.."

They both looked over to see a short elderly woman with an old Amish styled dress and silver hair in a bun walking towards them.

She approached Mike and reached her hands up and put them on each of his arms, she looked up at her grandsons face, a face she hadn't seen in years.

"Look at you!.. Oh, I haven't seen you in so long!.. you simply must tell me how the train ride was!... Come on, now, I'll show you in..."

She gently held his arm and lead him to the door, she opened the door and he walked in. He was so relieved to be able to set down the two cases but he was most concerned with getting the guitar off of his back. He carefully let down the straps and lowered the guitar case to the floor, picked it up and leaned it against the wall.

He sighed in relief, he knew that there were two long weeks of work ahead but he was ready..

"Oh, look at how skinny you are! Are you eating?.. I'll get you some breakfast... So.. how's your band?..." She walked to the kitchen to whip up something for her grandson.

Mike rubbed the back of his neck, it was kinda sore.. "The band's been good.. we had to save up just for me to come here... But the business has been good to us..."

She smiled. "How have your little bandmates been?... Micky, uhm.. Pete and ... Oh...... What's his name... The little short English one?..."

Mike couldn't help but laugh, the little short English one, that was amusing..

"Micky, Peter and Davy?... Oh they've been good, real groovy.. they saw me off at the train station... I don't know how they're gonna survive without me.." he chuckled, he knew Davy and Micky wouldn't let him down..

"That's so great.. have you had any big concerts lately?..."

Mike scratched his head. "Well... Not concerts exactly.."

She turned to him and put her hands together. "Oh, I remember the days when I was your age, sitting in my room, listening to my records, wishing I could see my favorite singers for myself... Those were lovely times..."

Suddenly, grandpa walked in holding a little baggie in his hand.

"Mikey!.. what're you doin' in here?.. I need your help out back!..."

Mike looked over and nodded.. "Oh, sure, grandad!.." he started to walk over but was stopped by grandma, she put her hand on his back.

"Now, Murphy, he was just about to eat!.."

Mike turned his head back and smiled a little.

"I'm sure I can eat later, right now I think I should help grandad out back..."

She smiled and patted his back.. "Ok, dear.. but you be careful out there and wash your hands when you come in.."

He nodded and followed his grandpa to a big field. He turned to Mike and handed him a little baggie.. on the front of the baggie was a picture of a tomato.. they must be tomato seeds.. his grandpa placed his hand on his shoulder and started to talk..

"Alrighty, son.. now I'm gonna need a big favor of ya... I want you to put that there bag of seeds in yer pocket and help me pull the plow... If you think you're up to it, that is.. when we're done plowin' the field I want you to spread those seeds while I tend to the chickens.."

Mike looked up to see the big metal plow at the opposite end of the field, tied to it was a thick coarse rope. It looked like it was gonna be a miserable job to be done but it had to be done... He placed the bag of seeds in his pocket and nodded..

"Sure.. alright... I think I can do that... How far are we talkin'?..."

His grandad turned around and pointed to the other end of the field.

"We're pullin' all the way to the other side... Think you can do that?..."

Mike looked.. that was quite a long way to go, especially with such a large plow.. he nodded..

"Yea.... Yea I think I can do that.."

Grandpa clasped his hands together. "Alrighty then... Let's get to work.." Mike took a deep breath, this was gonna be hard..

The two walked up to the big plow, old, dirty and covered in rust.... After some stretching they both grabbed ahold of the thick rope.. He looked at Mike..

"One.... Two.. pull!..."

With that, they both started pulling with all the strength they could muster, Mike grunted, planting his feet firmly in the dirt as to not fall forward, he pulled as hard as he possibly could.. It was gonna take every bit of energy he had to get this plow all the way to the other end of this field..

After a couple hours and a lot of sweat they had finally made it to the other end.. Mike let go of the rope, his hands were burning.. he breathed heavily and coughed a few times but the worst was over for this job.. his grandad patted him on the back, it was enough to almost knock him over..

"Well look at that! Ya made it all the way through!.. You're not as much of a city slicker as I thought you were!... I'm sure you'll have no problem spreadin' the seeds!.."

Mike was too busy huffing, just trying to get a good breath.. he stood up the rest of the way and just nodded, he could hardly speak.. his grandad patted him on the back once more..

"Alright, I'm gonna go to the hen house and pick out the newly laid eggs and hope I don't lose an eye!.." he laughed and walked away..

After taking a bit longer to get a good breath, Mike pulled the bag of seeds out of his pocket and pulled the drawstring to open it up a little.. he poured some seeds into the palm of his hand and began walking up and down the field, lightly sprinkling the seeds into their place.. after every seed had been placed he went back and covered all of them with the dirt..

He dusted off his hands and sighed, it took quite a bit of time but that part was done.. beads of sweat ran down his face at a rapid rate, he removed his wool hat and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his arm.. the front of his hair was drenched in sweat and his legs had never been so sore... He walked back to the house and wiped his shoes off at the door.. he stepped into the kitchen and washed his hands and splashed some water on his face to cool himself down.. he was definitely getting to sleep tonight..

"There you are, darling!... How did it go?.. you must be starving!.."

Mike dried his hands on an old wash cloth and looked up.

"Well.. every muscle in my body hurts so I'd say it went well... Hold on a second, Nana, I have to make a call..."

She smiled. "Alright, dear.. I'll get the food ready..."

Back at the pad things were pretty uneventful.. Davy, Peter and Micky were sitting on the couch watching TV and everything was still and quiet.. Davy was resting his eyes after doing quite a bit of house work and Micky and Peter were sitting and watching a show..

Tables and shelves had been dusted, dishes had been washed, things had been arranged and put away, floors had been swept, rooms had been tidied and errands had been run..

Everything was done and Davy was exhausted..

When the phone rang Peter and Micky nearly fell over eachother to get to it first. Micky grabbed the phone, hoping it would be Mike.

"Hello, Davy?...."

Micky was almost too excited for words, but he managed.

"Mike!!.." he yelled, which startled Davy out of his rest.. he sat up and rubbed his eyes..

"Micky?... Is that you?.. where's Davy?..." Mike asked.

"Mike!!... How are you man? Did you make it? How's your day been? What's the farm like?..." He had never been more excited to talk to Mike.

He sat down in the dining room chair, man did it feel good to rest his legs.

"Yes, I made it.. the farm's nice, just how I remembered it.. lot more chickens and horses, though.. but I wonder if ol' Bess is still here..... Hey, listen, could ya put me on with Davy?.."

Micky nodded. "Oh, sure man!..... Davy!.. it's for you!.." he handed the phone to Davy and he sat up straight and grabbed it tiredly from Mickys hand..

"Hello?... Mike?.."

"Davy!.. hey, buddy!... How've things been by the pad?.." Mike was already missing the pad quite a bit..

Davy smiled. "Oh, everything's been good.. kind of quiet, honestly.. Micky and I just got all the days work done... How was the train?...."

Mike chuckled.. "Quiet?.. wish I could say the same here.. these roosters really have somethin' to talk about... The train ride here was alright.. it was quiet and real peaceful.. it was nice watchin' the acres pass by.."

"Oh, that sounds lovely.. did you do anything big yet?.. did they have you groom the horses or something?.." Davy replied..

"That's not until tomorrow.. I just got done helpin' grandad plow the field and spread the seeds.." Mike said, exhausted from the work.

Davy chuckled. "Plowing the field?.. that's quite a job, right there.."

Mike smiled. "Yep.. it was somethin'.. I'm gonna be mighty sore tomorrow... Listen, I'm gonna let ya go, I gotta eat or I might just die.."

Davy laughed. "Alright, then!.. I'll talk to you tomorrow!.. goodnight, Mike!.."

"Goodnight, Davy.." he hung the phone up and reluctantly stood up, his legs were gonna hurt something awful tomorrow..

After a well deserved dinner and a cool shower he trudged to the guest room, or his room for the next two weeks.. he set his bags in the corner and surveyed the room.. the walls were a faded old olive green and there were old vintage paintings strewn up on the wall in a very orderly fashion, an old wooden dresser sat in the corner with a bed beside it.

The floor was hard wood and by the bedside was an end table with a lamp and a small framed picture and beneath it was a round fuzzy rug. Other than that the room was very empty.. the bed was made up and it looked so unbelievably comfortable to him.. a large brown comforter and two big white fluffy pillows.. the window had long floral pattern curtains that hung low to the ground but only almost touching the floor..

Mike stepped over to the window and pulled the curtains open to see the fields below, the land was a glowing evening color.. it was beautiful... The sun set on the horizon and the farm began to sleep..

He settled under the covers and pulled the lamp cord and with a click the room went dark..

Just another diamond day on Nesmith farm..

#the monkees #writing #im gonna be so freaking mad if this gets no notes this took all freaking day

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pxssion-tea · 5 years

Text

Hey Neighbor- Ray x Mikey

A/N: What the hell did I write? God I cringed so hard as I wrote this and proofread like ten times. I suppose this could be set in whatever era. I am so sorry for this lmao

Warnings: Strong language

“Fucking finally!” Ray exhaled loudly as he brought the last box into his new apartment. Slamming the door, he slid down against the wall, running his hand through his curly hair. He stared out the window into the afternoon sky with a smile. 'I finally moved out' he thought to himself. Pride filled his face as he observed the apartment closer, mapping out how he should arrange the furniture.

'It's better if I just put all the stuff into the rooms today' He said in his mind. Starting out with the kitchen stuff, he lifted the heaviest box to the kitchen, he felt a sharp pain in his hip as he bumped into the edge of the counter. “Fuck!” He screamed, letting go of the box to clutch his side.

Crash!

He winced as he heard the loud shattering and knew he made a huge mistake. The open cardboard box revealed that most of the dinnerware was broken and scattered all over the tile floor. “Well shit.”

-----

Mikey's fingers froze on the bass frets as he heard a loud string of curses from the dude next door. “The new neighbor seems to be having fun,” he snickered as the shouting continued. He felt a bit of concern and debated on checking on them, or giving in to his socially awkwardness.

'Might as well check on them' He laid his silver sparkle bass on his unmade bed and went off to meet the clumsy neighbor.

-----

Ray's procrastinating was interrupted by a quiet knock on the door. He helped himself up and stepped over the china shards to open the door.

“Hey, I'm your neighbor Mikey, I heard a bunch of stuff and uh, just wanted to see if you were O.K.” A lanky man introduced. He was a few inches shorter than him with awkward knees. Mikey's light brown eyes hidden behind glasses were what really got to him. He wasn't gonna lie, the guy was kinda attractive.

Ray pushed away his thoughts and gave a polite smile to the guy. “Um, yeah. I guess I was being an idiot and broke some glass... I'm Ray, by the way” He replied, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

“Want any help? I'd be glad to,” Mikey offered with a kind voice and a straight face. Ray wanted to learn more about this guy, so he couldn't decline.

-----

A few bandages and tiny shards of china later, they were getting along just fine. They had some stuff in common, they shared a love for music and comics and were both from New Jersey.

“Haha you have to show me your guitar skills someday, we can totally start a band if we wanted to!” Mikey exclaimed.

“Seems like a great idea!” Ray smiled.

“Maybe we can practice together sometimes,” Mikey smirked raising his eyebrows.

Ray blushed and changed the subject, “Hey, can you help me move the boxes into the rooms please?” He grabbed a box and brought it into the kitchen, Mikey sighed and grabbed a bunch of boxes and brought them to their designated room.

-----

As the sun began to set, the two actually managed to assemble all the furniture and put away all the stuff, Ray reminded himself to go grocery shopping later. The two exchanged numbers, even though they live right next to each other. Ray and Mikey jokingly flirted with each other the entire day. They could even consider themselves friends after today.

“Thank you so much for the help Mikey! Talk to you later,” Ray thanked, waving goodbye with a wink. Mikey's face turned a slight pink and scurried out of the room.

---- A few weeks later

Ray has been living in the complex for about four weeks now, he woke up to banging on the door. “Ray get your ass up!” The voice was muffled, but he knew it was Mikey. The two became close friends in the short amount of time. He checked the clock, 9 AM, he rolled out of bed and dragged himself to the door and met Mikey in his Star Wars pajamas with a smug grin. “Wanna watch Jaws? I've got pizza,” Mikey invited with light in his eyes.

At that moment, Ray's stomach growled. 'Goddammit Michael, this is the third time we watched this movie' “Fine.” He finally answered. Mikey grabbed his bicep and pulled him to his apartment. The touch made Ray blush and sparked his imagination into something he shouldn't even be thinking of.

Mikey's apartment had a welcoming aura to it. The place was somewhat clean and had a few pictures on the wall. “Ray, can you grab the pizza from the table?” Mikey called from in front of the T.V., putting the disc into the player and pushed it in. They hopped onto the sofa and helped themselves to some pizza.

-----

The movie was great, but Ray got distracted by Mikey's appearance. His light brown hair was disheveled and covered his right eye, he didn't care to push it back, and he pushed his glasses back in place on occasion. 'He's so cute.' Ray beamed.

“Why are you staring at me?” The bassist inquired, his cheeks flushing. “It's weird.” He looked down with a slight smile.

“Oh crap, sorry I zoned out,” Ray lied and looked away. Mikey shook it off, and they continued to watch the movie. Ray already knew how the movie ended, but Mikey seemed to enjoy it, so he stayed silent.

As the credits rolled, Mikey turned towards Ray with his signature poker face and nervous eyes.

“Dang it Mikey, now you're doing it to me? I think I get it alrea-” Ray was cut off by Mikey pulling him by his shirt and crashing their lips together. He was shocked for a moment, but then placed his calloused hand on Mikey's soft cheek and Mikey wrapped his arms around Ray's neck. Mikey's lips were soft and tasted like pizza. He smelled like coffee and old books. The kiss was messy, but sweet. It was their first kiss after all. They pulled away from each other for a gasp of air and leaned their foreheads together, their cheeks rosy.

“Hey, that's pretty good,” Mikey finally said, laying his head on Ray's shoulder. Ray laughed and pet his soft hair.

After an hour of just chatting, Ray hesitantly opened his mouth to speak. “Wanna go on a date with me?” He nervously bounced his knee waiting for a response.

Mikey lifted his head off of his shoulder. “Of course, dude!” The younger man replied, replacing his usual straight-face with a joyful grin. Ray sighed with relief.

“I guess I'll pick you up tomorrow at 5?” Ray asked with a wink, earning another smile.

“See you then.”

I am so sorry guys, this was wack. Constructive criticism is welcome and thank you for reading! <3

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boneswriteswords · 6 years

Note

The angsty idea about the reader over hearing how their turtle is attaracted to April is soooo sooo sooo good! If you take requests and it wouldn't be too much of a burden, could I request that for Mikey?!??

A/N: I finally got around to doing this. I’m not 100% happy with it but I’m never 100% happy with anything I write so whatever. Lol

Its also unbeta’d like all my other stuff.

Enjoy.

Its almost 2500 words of angst tho so you might not.

You felt like you couldn’t breathe, the unexpected rush ofpain tasted like tinfoil, razorblade sharp on your tongue.

It had been a good day, the world bathed in shades of paleyellow. You were working at a job that you loved and that paid well. You had paidoff one of your student loans in full, dramatically decreasing your debt. Yoursupervisor had surprised you with donuts and an extra week of paid vacation as a thank-you for all the extra hours you put in tohelp her finish a major product. You got to pet three dogs. You were even ableto make progress in your language lesson.

It had been a good day.

‘And it’s about to get better,’ you had thought as you madeyour way down one of the tunnels the turtles used when they were going topside.You had been so excited to see your boyfriend.

Mikey is everything you could ever want. He brought youbalance, helped you find and maintain a peace in yourself that you hadn’trealized was missing until he came along. He was adventure where you werecaution. He was vibrant where you were subtle. He was affectionate where youwere reserved. He kept you secure, in yourself and in your life and never madefun of you for the way you experienced the world.

He is the golden glow that scatters over the city as the sunsets, bouncing off the high windows and reflecting off the glass. You had neverthought you’d be loved so intensely by another person before him.

At least, you had thought he loved you.

Now, you weren’t so sure.

Not after this.

Not after you had heard him say that he desired April. Thathe’d drop to her feet and serenade her on her obvious beauty, her wit, herlaugh and her smile. That his dramatic declarations of affection extended toher in a room you had thought was only for you and him.

But he wouldn’t.

Because he had you.

And he wouldn’t do that to you.

Lurking just behind the entry way, you felt your body breakdown and put itself together again. Cells combusted and reformed. Synapsesfired in all different directions, unsure of what to process and where to sendwhat. Pink turned to purple turned to grey. Shaky legs managed to keep youupright but only just.

Fuck.

It had been too good to be true.

Tears slipped out without meaning to. You quickly wiped themaway and breathed, contemplating turning around and walking away beforediscarding that idea. They were expecting you. They would come looking for youif you didn’t show up, expecting the worst.

You’d have to tell him what you heard. You’d have to hear itagain but this time, it would be to your face.

A coldness blanketed you like anill-fitting suit. A new skin molded from copper and stitched with the smell ofsulfur. A safety net to catch all the little broken pieces of yourself as youchip and crack under the pressure.

You took another deep breath and walked into the lair,greeting everyone with a big smile stretched painfully across your cheeks. Yourstomach lurched. It felt wrong.

“Baby! You’re here!” Mikey exclaimed, leaping over furniturewith his usual brand of puppy-like excitement. Normally, you’d be flattered athis attentions, the way that he disregards obstacles in his path to get to you.No one had ever been that excited to see you before.

But you weren’t this time. It felt like an exaggeration, anovercompensation. It smelt like sickness.

When he reached you, you let him pull you close and kissyou.

It tasted like a lie, black and gritty. Bile gathered in theback of your throat and you swallowed to keep it down as he pulled away,concern written in the furrow of his brow.

“You okay angel? Something the matter?” he asked softly,stepping away to rub his hands down your arms before pulling you close again.He pressed his beak to the side of your face, leaving little pecking kisses ashe did. Despite the close proximity, his warmth felt distant, a ghost of atouch on your skin.

“I just had a rough day Mikey,” you muttered back, givinghim a small smile. You pulled his face away from yours, reaching a hand tostroke the scaled skin of his cheek, lips quirking as he nuzzled into yourtouch. He still smelt like summer and electricity and you were relieved thatsomething remained the same. “I’ll be okay.”

He never pushed when you didn’t want to talk and you weregrateful for it. He knew that you needed to process things bit by bit beforeyou could talk about them, especially if they were stressful oroverwhelming.

“Anything we can do to help?” Leo asked, his voice silver,like moonlight that bounces off water in the dark.

You shook your head no, “It was just a bad day. Happens tous all. I’ll be fine. It wasn’t all bad. I met someone with beautiful colorstoday.”

“Is that so Angelcakes?” Mikey asked, a playful grin on hisface as he picked you up, “Were the colors prettier than mine?” He nuzzled hisface into your neck, a big smile on his face as you looped your legs around himas much as you could.

“Um…”

Raph snorted from his perch on the couch, “Don’t ask herthat. She doesn’t have the heart to tell you your colors are ugly as shit.”

Mikey gasped dramatically, clutching you further to hischest, “You take that back! My colors are beautiful. You’re just mad cuz yourtexture is puke! Isn’t that right baby? Raph is the texture of puke and smellof crusty unwashed ball sacs.”

An argument about colors and numbers and textures ensuedbetween the brothers, Leo and Donnie joining in when attempts to stop it wheremet with mean comments about their own visual representations, giving you areprieve from their concerned stares. You climbed off Mikey while he wasotherwise distracted and sat next to Splinter on his meditation mat, foldingyour legs under you.

“Are you alright my dear?” Splinter whispered, eyes focusedon his sons. His hand grasped one of yours, giving it a little squeeze and yourealized two things. Splinter had been paying attention to his sons’conversation and he knew your ‘bad day’ had everything to do with it.

“Not really Master Splinter.” Lips twitched into a sadlittle grin as you squeezed his hand back. “Not right now.”

Before he could say anything else, you were ripped off themat and back into strong green arms, pressed flat against a wide, muscledplastron. Mikey’s face beamed down at you, the tang on your tongue gettingstronger the longer you looked at him.

“Tell them angel. Tell them my colors are beautiful,” he breathed,all golden light and reflective shimmer and the breaths right before you blowon a dandelion.

You swallowed thickly, voice dropping to a whisper “Yeah.I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.”

If circumstances were different, you would have believedthat he had actually swooned, knees locking to keep you both upright. Youwould have believed the sheer force of emotion that appeared on his face wasreal and that he loved you the way you loved him. You would have believed thatnothing could ever be wrong between you and him, that you had found the love ofyour life.

But you didn’t.

“Oh come on! Of course she’s gonna say that. She loves ya!”Raph argued, hands thrown up in your direction, “I want a new judge!”

Another argument broke out but instead of letting you go,Mikey kept you close so you laid your head on his shoulder, closedyour eyes, and counted down the minutes until you could go home.

—–

You didn’t know what to do so you stayed late at your office everynight under the guise of being overloaded at work to figure it out. You knew you were feeling insecure, lumpy andchunky and off-white, and you knew you could bring it up and actually talk toMikey about it and he would understand.

But you also couldn’t. You didn’t want to break up with him.He was the only one who didn’t think you were weird when you said musicsometimes felt like there were guitars strings tied on your spine and someone’splaying them, the melodies vibrating through every bone in your body. Or whenyou said Raph’s laughter smelt like cinnamon. Or when you baked lemon squaresbecause Donnie asked you to describe his voice.

You didn’t want to break up but you couldn’t visualize aconversation that didn’t end up in a break-up.

You didn’t want to lose him but you had to considerthat….maybe it was inevitable.

Maybe he wasn’t yours anymore.

Maybe, the deep dark purple part of you whispered, he wasn’teven yours to begin with. Who’s to say that you were the one he picked insteadof just being the one who said yes.

The razor sharp tang was heavy on your tongue.

———–

April took you out for coffee the Saturday morning afteryour week long escape. Despite the circumstances, she was one of your favoritepeople, all vanilla scented lipgloss and pink silk with flashes of lighteningbugs behind it. Incredibly beautiful to look at and be around.

You couldn’t hate her.

“So, how are things? I haven’t seen you in a week,” shesaid, smile sweet as she poked her straw through her latte. She was dressed inher signature yellow jacket and a basic tank top with her hair up in a messybun but still somehow looked put together. She was always put together.

You recalled wearing a similar outfit a few days ago.Shopping was something you and April liked to do together because your styleswere similar. You liked a lot of the same things, especially when it came tofabric textures, so the two of you often went perusing in the other’s closetwhen looking to put a new look together.

The dark purple part of you reminded you that she was theone Mikey really loved, that he asked you out because you dressed similar,walked similar, had similar interests, did similar things in your free time.Always similar. Not quite but good enough.

“Pretty good,” you responded, only a partial lie, “I love my job. The people are great. The clients are great. I’m never bored. It’sfantastic.”

“Good. I’m glad. You deserve to have a good workplace,” shetook a sip of her latte, “Mikey mentioned that you had a bad day last week butyou didn’t say what it was about. Are you ok?”

You took a sip of your own drink, a new holiday drink thecoffee shop was promoting and immediately decided it tasted too puce for yourliking.

“Yeah. I was just overwhelmed. I had met a lot of new peopleand it was bit overwhelming,” you shrugged, hoping that your lie wasbelievable. You gestured to your outfit, an old sweatpants and hoodie, “I may notlook it but I feel better.”

She nodded sympathetically, smile widening, and you couldsee how Mikey fell in love with her, “Well, I’m glad you feel better. Does thatmean you’re coming to movie night tonight?”

Fuck.

You forgot about movie night.

“Of course I am.”

Double fuck.

“Great! Mikey will be so excited. He misses you so much.”

“I miss him too.”

——-

April was already at the lair when you dropped in, some oddnumber of hours later, arriving a tad too late for it to be normal. April hadwalked you back to your apartment before heading to work after coffee, ramblingabout what had happened that week as far as Foot activity and crimes thathappened in the area while you thought about what to do about this entiresituation.

You had changed quickly into an over-sized shirt and adifferent pair of sweatpants, not really bothering to put an outfit together.There was no reason for you to put an effort into looking nice. You didn’t wantto look like April.

Distance. You needed to put a tangible, aesthetic distancebetween you and April. No wearing the same clothes. No styling the same way. Nodoing makeup like she does. No connection between you and her.

You weren’t surprised to see Mikey wrapped up inconversation with her, sitting as close as he does when he sits with you,breathing her air the same way he breathes yours but it still fucking hurt.

He looked so happy to be in her space, loud and boisterousand excited.

You knew what you had to do.

“Hey Mikey,” you whispered, trying to catch his attentionwithout seeming too rude for interrupting, “Can I talk to you for a sec?”

“Baby! When did youget here? You’re late! Why are you late? You’re never late! Are you ok? Did youget hurt on the way here? Was it Foot ninja? Cuz I thought we cleared them outof the area but if not and they hurt you, they’re gonna pay. I swear angelcakes–“ you cut him off, the influx of questions causing your chest to tighten.

“Too much Mikey.”

His mouth snapped shut and he pulled you out of the room asyou ran through one of your breathing exercises, muttering the colors in theFibonacci sequence. He was watching you closely, his stupidly blue eyes floodedwith regret and locked on your face as you made your way through the firstfifteen numbers.

“I’m sorry honey,” he mouthed as you slowed in yourcounting, breathing a bit easier and steady.

Calmer, you met his gaze and for a moment, you thought aboutthe world you experienced with him. All the new colors and sensations andtextures. The things you had never felt before and how they explodedbeautifully inside you. You had never known that love tasted like coconut orthe sensation of looking forward to seeing someone was a splattering of rainbowcolors across a white background.

“What’s up baby? What’s wrong?”

You wondered if you’d ever experience those things again.

“Its over Mikey.”

The words tasted grey, shadows over paper.

——

There you have it. Angst. Poorly written angst. I’m sorry.

Also let me know what you thought of the reader I used.

#mikey #michelangelo #angst #angst prompt #story #My writing #ask #mun responds #mun is sorry

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