Michael Shelley to me looks like Robert Plant. That's My Michael. Robert Plant if he had brown eyes.
For many years, (over five years by now) I've been quietly sharing this headcanon with lots of people and I'm super stoked whenever I show them these damn pictures and they go "OH! That actually makes a ton of sense"
So, without further ado. Behold:
Like, TELL ME THIS DOESN'T LOOK LIKE HIM (also, go watch this interview and try to convince me his weirdo sideways smile that kinda crawls up the side of his face isn't Michael Distortion enough too)
I will admit I have way better pictures on my phone and an external hard drive, but for now bear with these. I may reblog with additions at some point (I have so many pictures of this man. You have no idea how many pictures of this man. Say a number, you will be wrong).
Bonus Gerry FC below (Kelly Nickels). Yes, I've been saying this one for years too.
Alright, I've been way too hush hush about this out of my own anxiety but I'm trying to get over that.
I've decided to share my version of Michael Shelley (and maybe eventually my version of Gerry Keay) so I can maybe lose the anxiety of my own writing and get back into it, as well as post some fics I have in the back-burner.
Below is an introduction on how this came to be. (Basically, me playing with how little we know about him as a person and filling in the massive gaps. I'm playing with dolls, babeyyyyy. And bear in mind, a lot of these are also kind of projection and/or self-indulgence)
This will be a series of text posts where I'll go into different details and aspects of him. Personality, looks, backstory, relationships, etc! If at any point you have questions, feel free to ask them!
Faceclaim
What's wrong with him (some speech stuff and psychological stuff) [tbp]
Queer and aromantic [tbp]
Family [tbp]
Background [tbp]
So, for context: I spent about a year over-analysing the way he talked and using said analysis for homework and stuff at uni. And that kinda spiraled (no pun intended) in me dragging out a lot of information from those few seconds in which he talks (And some from how the Distortion talks only when it's Michael).
This started with speech patterns, then psychological traits based on speech patterns, and it kept going and going. Of course, no trait is an absolute, a lot of it is pseudoscience and/or assumptions based on patterns and coincidences, but itsn't it fun to disect speech quirks?
It made me want to expand on it. I've been working on this for several years, and I tried putting bits and pieces in my fics but I was very afraid of the fandom Not Liking It that I refrained from adding a lot of it. Especially because My Michael greatly differs from fandom view of the character in many points. Historically, the fandom has had quite a few times where I've seriously considered dropping everything bc of how heinous some people are but that's a completely different point I may or may not talk about some day.
Props to @eyeball-jam who's encouraged me to share these because they think my Michael and Gerry are neat and so I can post the fics of my blorbos with their OCs.
Michael (19) went to see Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me when it came out and left the theatre with a vacant, red-eyed stare and having learnt "new" things about himself (repressed trauma).
After a very nervous few moments, Gerry is very pleasantly surprised by what Michael planned for his birthday.
(For the Ao3 link)
Thank you gift for ultimate creature @peachtinzz for this lovely lovely fanart it made of on of my previous fics! (Which is also on Ao3)
“Okay. When we get out of the car, promise not to look until I tell you so”
“Michael, it’s just a day. We don’t have to do anything. I don’t understand why you’re making such a big deal of it.”
The blonde snickered before faking offence. “Just a day?! Gerry Delano, you’re turning thirty, it’s your birthday!”
“I knooow” he whined a bit. “But isn’t it like, the age in which birthdays matter even less? I don’t even remember having a proper birthday celebration until you came about, and it’s still… Weird”
“Well, if the past five years have shown me anything about that, is that even if it’s weird, you do end up getting excited about it anyways” he smiled, opting to rub Gerry’s shoulder, then raised his eyebrows in an insinuating way. “Besides, when you actually don’t want to do something, you make it very clear. And so far I haven’t heard any real complaints” he tapped Gerry’s nose and looked at him, waiting for confirmation on his statement.
“Yeah, yeah, you’re right… Do I get a clue, at least?” he says, trying to relax his stance a little and undoing the seatbelt.
“No” Michael leaned in and gave him a peck on the cheek. Gerard let out a laugh and leaned forward, too, until their noses were almost touching, mischief trying to hide how nervous he was.
“I’ll be so annoying on the way to whatever you planned. You’re gonna beg me to stop”
“Gerry, I have dealt with way too many obnoxious people to be annoyed by my own boyfriend purposefully trying to get on my nerves. You’re not getting any clues”
“Okay, I’ll stick to the rules of the game. What else should I do? Plug my ears and pinch my nose?”
Michael looked away, contemplating.
“Now that you mention it… it might be a good idea”
“What? No, that’s not fair! And you know I don’t like when most of my senses are out…” initially Gerry had tried to be playful about it but the deep-seated worry settled in a bit quicker than he expected. Michael was quick to hold his face with both hands so he’d look at him again.
“Oh, love. Nobody’s gonna force you to do that, it’s okay. I was just realising there might be people talking and that will give it away. But at least you’ll be inside before that happens.” The blonde smiled to help the other relax, and both got out of the car. Gerry was facing the opposite way of the building, as per Michael’s instructions but shifted his weight from one leg to the other anxiously.
“I know birthdays are still hard for you, and you know I wouldn’t put you in a situation you wouldn’t like or be safe in. I promise nothing wrong will happen, okay? If you don’t like it and want out, we can stop it all and go home”
“Okay.” Gerard took a deep breath and closed his eyes, reaching for Michael’s hand. The other rubbed his thumb over the goth’s hand for reassurance. He leaned against the blonde’s side, seeking extra contact to ground himself. Michael pet the shoulder opposite to the hand he was holding and awkwardly walked forward, guiding Gerry.
“Now, keep your eyes closed and hold my hand. I’ll tell you whenever there’s a step or when to pause, okay? It’s just until we’re inside and then you can open your eyes. You’re okay, I’ll keep you safe, love.” And slowly, they walked away from the car and into the building. A staff member approached to welcome them, but Michael held his free hand in a motion of silence with a wide grin. The woman recognised him from the other day, and as she looked at the other man with closed eyes and a nervous expression, she nodded and hurried to usher a few kids so they wouldn’t spoil the surprise too soon by their own chatter. Michael relaxed his shoulders, less worried about the tell-tale comments of other visitors.
“Okay, we’re gonna go down a few stairs. You think you can do it for me?”
“Stairs?”
“Yeah! We have to go down a bit. Don’t worry, I’ll be right in front of you and guiding you with both hands” This made Gerry stutter in his step.
“Do they have a lift? I’m feeling a bit too lost to do that” he asked, a slight blush of shame covering his ears.
“Shit, I forgot that’s an option. Yes, we can do that.” Michael hurried, turning him around gently and walking away from the stairs. He noticed Gerry was still a bit tense “Are you okay? We can stop, we’re inside the building already”
“No, I’m good. I just need to stand still for a bit. I trust you.”
“Let me know, okay? I want you to tell me the truth if you really want out, I won’t mind, I promise.” The ding of the elevator and the hum of the door opening filled in the silence before Michael spoke. “It’s your birthday. I care more about how you feel than any of this”
“I trust you. You won’t let me get hurt, even on accident, like… ever. I’m just being a bit of a baby.”
“No, Gerry. I promise it’s okay. I don’t think you’re being a baby for feeling uneasy” Michael’s tone was now starting to reach an anxious pitch. Maybe it was a bad idea after all. Gerry squeezed his hand and smiled a bit.
“Michael, if there’s anyone I can relax around, it’s you. And I need to acknowledge that and trust that you’ve planned something nice for my birthday like you always try to” he muttered, one of his eyelids trembling trying to take a peek.
“No cheating. I saw that.”
“And I didn’t” He stuck his tongue out. “Okay, I can do this…” he breathed in again and stepped into the lift. He rested his head on Michael’s shoulder “Is it a lot?”
“Like four floors down.”
“Where the hell is this?”
“Nowhere close to hell, that’s for sure.”
The two waited for the new ding and the shifting of the metal doors to let them out. Gerry’s first thought was that he heard running water. And that it was a bit cold. He could hear a few kids in the distance too.
“Okay, we’re almost there. Just to the main hallway… here. Open your eyes” Michael was standing to his side, but forward enough to face him. He probably wanted to see his expression once he saw where they were.
It was dark, and different shades of light blue surrounded them. The walls were all dark blue as well, except for ones that were… glass? Gerry froze, having spotted something looming overhead in the glass case above them.
“Michael…” it was dry, like he was worried raising his voice would make him fall. And when tears started falling, Michael understood it like that and rushing to hold his side just in case, face-full of concern.
“I’m sorry, I really am, Ger-”
“Michael, that’s a zebra shark!” he interrupted and pointed up so Michael knew where to look. The blonde took a few seconds of confusion to look at his boyfriend’s face, bright and smiling wide, tearing up at the creature swimming over his head. Its mouth was closed, the two bits Michael assumed were… nostrils? making it look like a smiley face. Flat and silly. “Look, there’s another one!”
“Um… Happy birthday?” the blonde followed him around the area, still a bit tense about the fact the other had started crying.
“You’re kidding! I’ve never been to one of these places before!”
“I know!” he laughed, finally relaxing again as Gerry kept nodding or pointing at the fish and other animals beyond the glass and checking the signs to see if he got the names right. Michael strolled closely and sometimes tried to join in on guessing what the name of the fish Gerry was pointing at was. When they got to a small rest area with a few screens showing time-lapses of a coral reef, with the droning voice of some narrator that tried to emulate but clearly wasn’t Sir David Attenborough, Michael reached for Gerry’s hand.
“I’ve been trying to figure a way to bring you here ever since I saw how excited you got over that deep sea exploration documentary you caught on TV one night. You were beaming at every shot and looked so happy. It made me want to scoop you up and take you right then and there.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve said yes immediately”
“I didn’t want you to pass out from excitement before we even got in the car. Besides… reaching thirty is a big deal. I wanted it to be special.”
“So you took my old ass to my childhood dream?”
“I wouldn’t phrase it like that, I mean-” he was cut off by Gerry hugging him and lifting him off the floor a bit. Michael flailed for a second, but soon felt he was back with his feet on the ground and his jumper had started feeling warm and wet.
“Thank you… I’m sorry, I’m not crying because it’s bad. I just-” Michael took out a tissue and let Gerry blow his nose, leading him to a bench nearby. He showered the goth in small, mumbled reassurances against his dark hair, letting him cry his fill. He even turned around a bit in case Gerry didn’t want others to see him crying.
“Is it too overwhelming?”
“Yes, but in a good way. I always wanted to come here, but at first my mum said it was a ridiculous thing to do, and then…” he sniffled, trying to clean his eye without messing up the makeup too much. Michael gently tapped the corner of his eye with the edge of the tissue. “I suppose I kept pushing it away because I felt I couldn’t give myself the pleasure while doing what I do”
“Lucky for you, I think you deserve getting a few joys more often than what you usually allow” Michael crouched in front of him and held both his hands. “Is it everything you ever dreamed of?”
“I don’t think it’ll ever compare to what seeing a Stygiomedusa Gigantea face to face must feel like, but with the sharks it’s pretty close”
“Stygio- … what?” the puzzled look on Michael’s face made Gerry burst into laughter, quickly covering his own mouth as to not bother other visitors, but still giggling.
“Oh, I’ll show you when we get home! They’re these huge deep-sea jellyfish. Real spooky but like in a goth way” he explained, and Michael gave him a knowing look.
“Of course it’s in a goth way” he chuckled and stood back up, offering a hand to Gerry so they could keep walking.
The lights and the blue hues made Gerry look like a ghostly apparition, eyes puffy from crying and bright white face with a chain choker. Michael’s hair, in turn, looked very green in some areas where the light was less focused. They passed a few ray exhibits, but sadly they were very full of excited children and it would’ve been hard to get close.
Gerry stopped at a tank full of jellyfish. They swarmed together and floated slowly creating a sort of colourful, glassy wreath of squishy orbs. A few people were taking pictures in front of it like it was an ethereal frame or a backdrop around them.
“Michael, look there for a second”
“Here? Why? Do you want me to find something in the jellyfish?”
“Try to guess what you have to look at.” He walked back and fished out of his pocket a small, flat camera. One of the instant ones he always had at hand in case of encounters with the stranger. Gerry quietly asked another visitor to take a few pictures.
The sound of the photograph coming out was enough to clue Michael, and he turned around right in time when Gerry had reached his side, planting a kiss to his cheek. Another whirr of the camera and Michael blushed brightly, realising what was happening. He decided to take a bit of revenge by holding Gerry from the waist and lifting him up, kissing the crook of his neck where the blonde knew he was a bit ticklish.
He let go once he felt the embarrassment was equal and Gerry went back to retrieve his camera and the pictures, and to thank the visitor for the help. She looked amused at how this very tall figure, in very intimidating boots and piercings and makeup, kept giggling with every word he said as he looked at the pictures, and seemed overall very soft in his demeanour around the even taller blonde he had kissed.
“Feeling better already?”
“Very much so. Thank you, Michael” Gerry had leaned against his shoulder and murmured the words. He held Michael's hand and watched the jellyfish float about a little longer before walking on.
Once the journey through the many marine critters’ displays ended, Michael and Gerry left. Hand-in-hand, they got back into Michael's car and they went to a quiet café to celebrate with a piece of blueberry cheesecake and tea. They talked about the past year's events, and Michael sang Happy Birthday to Gerry, handing him a necklace with an iron moulded figure of a shark.
“It was amazing.”
“Mm?”
“Today. Thank you for insisting on… celebrating. I know I can be a handful with birthdays, so I'm really glad you had the patience”
Michael hugged Gerry by the side, wrapping his arms around his neck. “It was no problem, love. I'm very glad you had a good time.”
“Now I need to figure out your childhood dream venue for your birthday.”
“… Home.”
“Huh?”
“I always dreamed to be with someone I felt at home with. I'd really like whatever as long as it's together…”
Hi! I am a queer, trans and Latino adult. I go by he/him pronouns most of the time.
🇵🇸 btw
No lengthy DNI just don't be a dick or under 16, and know I block as much as I want if I don't want you here.
Also, if you're under 18, do not interact with my +18 posts. Keep it PG. I'm not your mom to hover over your shoulder on the internet, but respect the fact that I'm an adult who doesn't want minors interacting with my adult stuff.
This includes: If I don't want you here, I will simply block you. That means if I blocked you here, I'm blocking you on every one of my blogs.
Pfp by @eyeball-jam
Please, don't tag me on tag-games.
Notes on this blog's content:
This is an adult blog. I WILL reblog nsfw stuff. If you're a minor, either go away or don't complain. I'm not a babysitter.
I will tag any triggers that people ask me for (you can ask on anon and let me know how I should tag it).
Any reproduction of my work is strictly prohibited, especially in regards to AI generators.
This also goes to usage of my art in general, if you want to use my art in any form for personal use, do ask me first.
Blog specific tags:
michinopost for all posts made by me
michinoask for answered asks
michinothought for general musings
michinofandom for anything fandom related
michinoart for art posts
michinowrite for fanfiction links (Ao3)
Find me on Ao3 and tiktok under the same username (replace the hyphen for an underscore)!
Full-time interests:
Paleofauna
Sea animals
Queer stuff
Language and linguistics
Witchcraft
Cryptids and monsters (lore and design)
Musicals
Character developments (OCs and stuff)
Fandoms:
The Magnus Archives / Protocol
Led Zeppelin
My friends' OCs
From Eroica with Love
Twin Peaks
Gotham
Jurassic Park
Welcome to Night Vale
LotR
(will list as they come to mind. For now those names are the ones I can remember)
For the get to know your fic writer asks, 13, 27, 47, 55, and/or 62? However many you want to answer
For Get To Know Your Fic Writer Asks
Hihihihihi I'm so sorry for having taken so long. I had an incredibly rough two weeks and I barely am getting back into gear. I hope this isn't upsetting to you.
13. what’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?
Create a time skeleton!
Okay, that sounded like I'm gonna do some weird necromancy. No, that's what my literature professor called drafting charts. Basically, know what order you'll want your main events to happen in. I usually go with timelines in the following format:
[Year, *month/season]: [Event/Action] of/by [Name of character].
*optional, usually in the case of several important events happening in the same year.
I highlight the names a different colour each. Also, if this is not set in a long term story, I replace the first part of the format by "beat 1/beat 2/beat 3/etc"
27. What is your most and least favorite part of writing?
I loooove writing dialogue! I also really like describing in very flowery ways what someone is like or feelings. I grew up surrounded by metaphors and comparisons to explain abstract and firm concepts, so it's really fun to do that.
The main issue I have with writing as a whole is connecting scenes. I hate it so muuuuch! Why can't I just give you disjointed bits and bobs and you fill in the voids? Because that's mean and also The Vision doesn't come out right.
47. How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?
Every. Single. Time. I open that document it's revision time. I just keep reading and revising as I go. It helps me get into it and as I revise I start continuing where I left off. That works for me!
55. Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers’ reactions to certain ones?
My main dears are obviously Gerry and Michael. Equally. I don't think that's changed (unless you count the many weeks I got harassed and threatened for liking the ship that left me in a really bad anxious state where I was even scared to like the characters individually, especially Michael). Next is Eric, because I love a good dad, and a handsome older man as is my right being a little over a decade old resident in the sexualising-that-old-man website. Jon is um... He's fun, but I'm not gonna recommend what I've written, just in case. You look at the age ratings and tags on those by yourself, buds.
I used to write for other fandoms and enjoyed writing for specific characters a lot, but most of my English fic has either been orphaned or deleted because I cringe about those wips that I used to have in my old computer. My style has definitely changed after joining TMA. It was way more US-white-fangirl-catering and the fandoms have been horrid beyond reparation. So, it doesn't sit right with me anymore to keep them. I know there exists some ancient fics in Spanish for stuff none of you would ever recognise and I'm just patting baby-me's back and smiling awkwardly while mumbling "that's so cute, buddy! Great job" even though I don't like it anymore. Don't kill your inner child's work, that kid worked their ass off on that keyboard back in the day and made masterpieces for their age, it's worth celebrating (tho sometimes from afar).
62. Thoughts on cliffhangers?
Darling, I write fanfiction. One of the main reasons fanfic writers write is cliffhangers. We carry the torch!
But in more concrete answers: I struggle with writing cliffhangers myself because I feel a deep need to finish all my stories (yes, I haven't abandoned any of them in this fandom. I'm just struggling and get distracted), but I do enjoy reading them every once in a while. If it's good food, you don't refuse it.
