Sweet dreams & Creamy memes.

No longer marked explicit! Now that's something everyone can enjoy!

[dogbearinggifts]

I was listening to Spotify’s Emo Forever playlist, partly to celebrate MCR’s impending return and partly out of pure nostalgia. There’s a lot of good music on there, and the emo era produced a lot of great bands and singles. But something struck me about the content: a good many of the songs included were love songs. 

This really isn’t surprising, honestly—probably at least 75 percent of all music produced is about romantic love. I’m not sure how religious songs and hymns would affect that statistic I just pulled out of thin air, so we’ll stick with non-religious music for now. Suffice it to say, romantic love is a popular song topic. It’s been popular in every era and genre—cue up any All Out [Insert Decade Here] playlist on Spotify and love songs will dominate—and emo music is no exception. From early hits about lost love (All-American Rejects’ “Swing Swing”) to peak emo ballads about enforced separation (Paramore’s “crushcrushcrush” or We The Kings’ “Check Yes Juliet”) it’s clear romance was on the minds of many emo bands. 

But not MCR’s. 

They did write songs about romance, don’t get me wrong. It’s hard to argue that “I Don’t Love You” or “The Ghost of You” are about anything but. And yet they’re not really love songs. “I Don’t Love You” puts the spotlight on a troubled and unhealthy relationship (though whether there’s hope for reconciliation is up for interpretation) while “The Ghost of You” takes us deep into the heartbreak of someone who has lost their partner. Even their more straightforwardly romantic songs contain cracks in that sweet and shiny veneer; “I’ve got a bulletproof heart, you’ve got a hollow-point smile” hints at defensiveness that’s come up against the one person able to crack it in a world demanding you live for the moment because you might not get too many more of them. 

But those songs are just blips on the radar. MCR’s real interest lay in other aspects of the human experience—the darker aspects, yes, but often not related to romance. The Black Parade gives us “I Don’t Love You,” but it’s presented alongside songs about self-loathing (“Dead!”, “House of Wolves”) self-destruction and destructive relationships (“The Sharpest Lives”) war (“Mama”) PTSD (“Sleep”) death (“Cancer”) fear that the next generation will self-destruct (“Teenagers”) nihilistic despair (“Disenchanted”) and—finally—acknowledgment that with all its pain and horror and heartache, life is worth continuing (“Famous Last Words”). Even on Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, where two lovers are shot to death and one returns for vengeance, romance takes a backseat to the all-consuming fury of the main character. 

And honestly, I think that’s part of why My Chemical Romance is rightly considered a musical legend. 

That isn’t to say I don’t like romance in my fiction, or that I think all stories would work better without it. I love romance, when it’s done well. Big Eden is, at its core, a queer romantic dramedy, and it’s one of my favorite movies. The romances between Klaus and Dave and Hazel and Agnes were high points of the first season of The Umbrella Academy for me. I’m not opposed to romance, and I’m not opposed to a focus on it. 

But there’s so much more to life than just romance, and there’s so much more to MCR’s music than romantic songs, tragic or no. Hell, one of their most tragic love songs, “The Light Behind Your Eyes” is about a love that’s completely platonic (“So long to all my friends/Every one of them met tragic ends”). MCR didn’t just write songs about love, or lost love, or unrequited love. They wrote songs about life. They wrote about the darkest aspects of life, the darkest moments of being, and they turned those moments into something magnificent and stark and life-affirming. 

The emo era gave us a lot of great songs, and a lot of fantastic bands. But many of them were just that—bands. My Chemical Romance was a phenomenon. 

There’s a reason for that. 

[ruinedchildhood]

[neurodivergent-crow]

If he lived closer I would 100% hire him.

[spoopy-metroid]

How dare you hide that in the tags

[thoodleoo]

ancient roman things we should bring back

the toga

having a cool ring with a seal on it that you could sign important documents with

those arm bracelets that look like snakes

weirdly sexy religious festivals like the lupercal and bacchanalia

dating things by the founding of your city

putting dicks on everything to ward off the evil eye

niche gods like verminus, the god of worms that your cows get

[ayeshaclitorica-deactivated2019]

[merriweatherpostpaviliontshirt]

[especiallyecho]

Source

[angelbrained]

the tuning on these spongebob utaus is getting kind of frightening

[jimmythechair]

I imagine there are giant flat screen TVs in hell, so that while you're floating down the river of fire, having your flesh peeled from your skeleton, this is what's constantly playing on a loop in the background.

[anthonycrowleymoved]

christmas hot take: religious christmas songs are mostly bangers it’s the secular tunes that suck

[anthonycrowleymoved]

me listening to o holy night when they get to the part about falling on your knees

[ilovegodwyn]

[tiktoks-we-like]

[start] *intrumental break in my heart will go on from Titanic playing while showing two aquatic frogs, one is holding up the other like jack, the one being lifted has its arms up like rose* [end]

[injuries-in-dust]

Give a bored human a screwdriver and you’ll find a pile of scrap where your ship used to be, with a proud looking human sitting nearby. 

[injuries-in-dust]

“Boredom is a dangerous thing to a human.” 

“I don’t understand,” Chuul’s mandibles clicked nervously, “why not simply take the tool from the human.” 

Minxx’s antennae stood straight up, a sign of shock, fear, or surprise, “You don’t simply take something from a human. If you do they will either turn the ship upside down trying to find it again, or they will replace it with something else that will lead to more destruction.

“I speak quite literally by the way. Human-Mark used to have a tool he called an “Hex Key” he used it to remove the doors to the clothing storage areas in his quarters because he was bored. When he lost it he literally turned the ship upside down by reversing the gravity.” 

Chuul’s tentacles curled up defensively, “Gravity controls are locked, how-”

“No one knows how.” Minxx shook her small wings as the memory of suddenly falling upwards returned to her. “but his reasoning was that the tool would fall out of whatever hiding place it had come to rest within. He had not considered that all tables, chairs, equipment, and personnel, would also fall. It took weeks to clean.” 

To be fair to the human, Mark had only intended to reverse the gravity in his own quarters but had, quote, “pushed the wrong button.” A sentence which would send fear through any intelligent creature in the known galaxy. To be completely unfair to the human, there were still stains on the ceiling in almost every room of the ship from dropped food, chemicals, various other liquids, and even a couple of empty bowels. Some races just didn’t find the idea of resting comfortably in their sleeping quarters, only to be suddenly awakened as they fell ten feet toward a ceiling which had now become a floor. Mark was no longer allowed near environmental controls. 

Minxx continued, “He did not find this “Hex Key.” However, he did find the screwdriver and it seemed to please him when an owner was not located. The captain let him keep it since it seemed that it would keep him from doing any more strange things to locate his original lost tool. We did not consider-” she trailed off as her wings quivered again. 

There was silence between them for a few moments, Minxx was almost unwilling to continue and Chuul was almost too afraid to press for more details. Slowly, but surely, Minxx calmed herself enough to speak again. “we did not consider what he may be able to do when armed with a leverage optimiser.” 

“We were given shore leave while the ship was being fixed after the gravity incident. Thank goodness the captain took out act’s-of-human insurance or it would have cost the profits from our next five cargo hauls.” The premiums were high, but it was worth it. “After 14 rotations, human-Mark began to complain over the lack of stimulation, he called it “bored.” On the 15th rotation he disappeared for some time and he had hoped he had found some new activity to occupy his time.” 

Chuul did, but at the same time didn’t, want to know, “Had he?” 

Minxx waved her antennae in confirmation, “he had. He was located in one of the cargo holds, using the screwdriver to dismantle one of the mining probes. To, quote “see how it worked.” It was almost 90% deconstructed.” 

Mark had claimed it was almost 10% REconstructed, as he was trying to put it back together again, but couldn’t quite remember where all the parts went. In Mark’s words, the captain was a “glass half-empty kinda guy” (whatever that meant) and wrote DEconstructed on the claim form for a replacement probe. 

Chuul’s natural camouflage kicked in and they took on the colour of the chair they were sitting on. “Those probes have no screws for the leverage optimiser to use, how did he-” 

Minxx’s wings shivered again, “no one knows how. He just did.” 

Chuul was silent for a moment. He’d never served on a ship with a human before. He’d heard they made things “interesting” and if you ever got into trouble, a human was the very best thing to ever have on your side. It was why they were so many job opportunities for humans in the alliance. All the same…the thought of a human causing such damage and destruction just because of a lack of mental, or physical, stimulation was a more than a little frightening. What if the human wanted to see how the engines worked, or the weapons?!!  “Maybe I should transfer to another ship.” 

Minxx’s antennae curled, a smile to her race. “You are safe. The captain has found a way to occupy our humans free time. During our last stopover, he commissioned a shiny orb be constructed.” 

Chuul coked their head, “what is a shiny orb?” 

Minxx’s curled antennae moved up an down; a sign of mild laughter. “It is nothing. A sphere made of shiny metals, humans do like shiny things, roughly two feet diameter made of a collection of gears, levers, screws and switches which appear complex and should have a function, but do entirely nothing. The captain handed it to Human-Mark and stated: “see if you can fix this.” and Mark has been “tinkering” with it during his off-duty hours for almost 24 rotations now. He can take it apart and rebuild it as many times as he likes, but it will never perform any task.”

Chuul was just thinking about how their captain must be a genius, when the door to the mess hall opened and Human-Mark entered. He was carrying the shiny orb under one arm, and his screwdriver in the other hand. He looked around, seemingly not noticing any of the crew members. He smiled when he spotted an empty liquid container and sat down at the table with the cup. 

Chuul and Minxx watched curiously as Mark set the orb on the table in front of the cup. He used the screwdriver to tighten one small screw and flipped a switch. At once there was a whirring and clicking of clockwork, a blinking of lights hidden in the depths of the machine and even a TING from a small bell. Then a small funnel-shaped piece of metal opened up in the side of the machine and poured a small amount of hot, black, liquid into the cup.

Mark jumped to his feet, pumping the air and yelling loudly enough to send Chuul’s camouflage reflex off again. He grabbed the orb, abandoning the cup of steaming hot liquid, and moved to the door. 

Minxx stared after them, “Human-Mark?” 

Mark only paused for a second in the doorway. He was prominently displaying his predatory teeth. Chuul had read about these “smiles” but it was still disturbing to see. “Can’t stop Minxy. I gotta let the captain know I fixed his coffee maker.” 

With that, he left. Leaving Chuul and Minxx frozen in place, dumbfounded. 

Wherever Chuul was going to transfer to, Minxx began to hope she could get a posting on the same ship. 

[callmebliss]

[liberal-memes]

[h6p28d9p-deactivated20201121]

[justbadpuns]

When you dig up ghosts from the past, burying them again is a phenomenal undertaking.

[jimmythechair]

Well I mean yeah they just phase through the dirt

[beaky-peartree]

captain hook: arrrg i miss vine. twas me fav’rit app

smee: but capn! there’s a new app! its not exactly the same but it’s very similar!

captain hook: what’s it called?

smee: um

[lickthemagaindeacy]

FUCK

[i-was-today-years-old-when]

i learned that every Dec 25th, a town in Peru celebrates “Takanakuy” where men, women and children settle grudges from the past year by calling each other out and having a fist fight. Then everybody goes drinking to numb the pain and move on to a new year. (x)

[fleetnaturals-deactivated202110]

the solution to toxic callout culture

[asknotbug]

The Christmas celebration we deserve.

[catchymemes]

[stimman4000]

[radical-eirini-deactivated20210]

turns out if you mess with the moon, the moon messes with you.

[gayboomhauer]

I love it when people ask shit like “Which world would you rather live in? Star Trek or Star Wars?” When like, Star Trek takes place in a world where mankind has erradicated diseases and war and explore space to make contact with new civilizations, and in Star Wars everything is old and dusty and every 20 years a new angry white man murders half the galaxy.