My friends, I have encountered a problem. One which requires your advice. You see, Elizabeth recently told me that she doesn’t feel part of the MCRmy, but that she feels she has a duty to defend it.
My initial reaction was “Of course you want to be a part of the MCRmy! We’re awesome!” but then I thought about it and realised that she has a point. What the hell is the MCRmy?
Well, by definition on the official website, it is a group of dedicated My Chemical Romance fans who support each other and the band. How far do you have to go in order to be ‘a fan’? Should you own a record, buy a piece of merch, know the names of songs on Bullets, have been to a live show or just enjoy Na Na Na? I can tick all of the above boxes, but I know people who don’t own physical copies of albums and don’t know all the songs but who are quite definitely My Chem fans… Whether you’re happy to bop along to Teenagers or you have tattoos of Famous Last Words lyrics, it’s none of anyone’s business if you consider yourself a fan or not.
Considering yourself to be a member of the MCRmy, however, seems a bit different. Dedicated. What, standing in the rain for five hours before a show starts to get to the barrier, or stalking the guys’ wives on Twitter? I’ve never done either, yet, but I do consider myself a member. I have a Zone 6 account, I got Twitter because I thought Mikey Way was funny – and before you ask, I’ve seen them live twice, once dressed as a Killjoy. Frequent readers of this blog are familiar with Elizabeth, Ruby, Isobel and Ellen, all people I know either through school or because we got chucked in the same cot as babies. I wouldn’t be nearly as close with any of them if we hadn’t all been MCR fans though… There’s nothing like a debate over Gerard’s stupidest hair colour or an evening planning ludicrous Killjoy outfits to bond with someone.
Basically, I do not give a shit whether you like one song or all of them, whether you own limited edition merch or have a Killjoy name. Neither does the band. The fact you like that one song, or wanted to buy that merch, or briefly fantasised about how fun it would be to run around the desert with a raygun, is enough. Sadly nowadays I can’t browse Zone 6 or My Chem’s YouTube channel without being bombarded with declarations of how hot Gerard is, or how depressed a person is, because their life is so completely shite.
I must admit, Gerard is quite easy on the eye. Doesn’t mean I want to drown his wife in a ditch and handcuff him to my bed. I’ve also been depressed, but I don’t feel the need to tell the entire Internet (seriously guys, if I ever start emoshitting on here please slap me).
All of the emoshitty blogs I’ve read have been by teenagers who should know by the age of fourteen that crazy hormones mean bipolar disorder for seven years. The world might be crashing down on you today, guys, but there’s always tomorrow. Your declarations of how badly you’ve mutilated your wrists does not make you a My Chemical Romance fan. I know someone with a genuine self harming problem who isn’t even into rock music. Self harm is in no way something to joke about. One scratch you’ve made in your hand because your friends like The Black Parade does not deserve a trip to a therapist’s office (incidentally, if you think that The Black Parade glamorises death, you should fuck off, the MCRmy doesn’t want you). Please do not insult people with actual depression issues with your whining.
Abuse of My Chem doesn’t end there, however. Last week I heard LynZ Way called a whore by someone who thinks she wants to marry Gerard. She has never met Gerard or LynZ… Even if she had, surely if she’s that infatuated with Gerard, she’s happy for him? You only have to see pictures of them together to see how in love they are, after all. Any person who ‘properly loves’ any celebrity is lacking substance in their lives, and doesn’t actually have a clue about what love is.
On Twitter today, not long after I talked to Elizabeth, Frank posted this on Twitter:
I don’t follow many My Chem fans on Twitter, and I was shocked that this is even an issue. Of course you don’t know Frank. You simply like what he does for a living. If you did know him, you probably wouldn’t even want to marry him (no offence dude). What the guys in the band do when they aren’t being a band is none of our business. Since they aren’t in the tabloids getting stoned every night, they clearly want their private lives to be private. They deserve to be left in peace after everything else they’ve done for us.
Back to the MCRmy. Elizabeth thinks that what the MCRmy stood for, learning what’s right and wrong and helping one another through, has disappeared into a cloud of ‘GEE’S SO FIT’. I really, really, don’t want to agree with her. I want to think that the ‘old’ MCRmy still exists; just look at #SINGItForJapan, people like Cassie Whitt and her work. Look at all the fans who can genuinely say that having My Chem’s music in their lives has made their lives more sociable, more fun or simply more interesting. It feels like there’s two MCRmies: the one for the kids who love the music and respect the guys for making the music, and the one for kids who think they love the guys.
Sadly, the latter gives the former the motts and a bad reputation.
To the untrained ear, does ‘MCRmy’ mean shrieking, stalking fangirls and bitching over the Internet, or does it mean a family of people who are proud to say that My Chemical Romance has had a positive impact on their lives? And, more importantly, is Lizbeth right about the MCRmy disappearing? She shouldn’t have to feel she should defend the band against kids who turn ‘I’m a Killjoy’ into ‘I’m a headcase who needs attention and masses of respect even though all I do is make Tumblr accounts about Mikey Way’s arse’.
Should she?
Update 1: About half an hour after I originally posted this, this caught my eye. I thought, please, someone, tell me it’s a bad joke and the world isn’t going to shit. I had hoped My Chem-related ignorance had been left in 2007, or in the sad hands of Glenn Beck. The MCRmy has agreed on something and signed the petition telling its creator to go fuck himself, it seems. I am not going to sign and comment, however, because that would give the sad old fart who created the petition what he wants: a reaction. The best way to retaliate is to ignore it completely… Eventually the person will bugger off (although I have to say, I agree with the comments that My Chem would go to prison with Frank and get busy reenacting Prison. Heh heh. Sorry).
Update 2: When I logged on to the stats page of WordPress and my Twitter, the day after posting this, and saw how many people are agreeing with what I’ve written, I almost fell off my chair in surprise. Then I scrolled down my Twitter timeline and saw that while I was offline some serious shit had gone down between members of the MCRmy. I don’t have a Tumblr so cannot say for sure, but it seems like some perfectly nice My Chem fans have tried to say what I did, and got told to go kill themselves. Cassie’s right. If you call yourself a member of the MCRmy, please start acting like one. It’s starting to sound like everyone’s forgetting what this fan base is. ‘MCR’ and ‘army’. The moment we forget that we’re a united front which is there for anyone who needs it, we may as well give it up… because we’re doing My Chem, and one another, a disservice.
One-Year-Anniversary-Update: I wrote this to say thank-you.
Francesca's Thoughts 
Hey. There are a couple of things in this that I find issue with.
I have been in the mental hospital for severe depression, self harm, and suicidal ideation. I am fourteen. The kids saying that stuff on the internet (and I know because I was one of them) have no one else to turn to. It’s easy to turn to the internet and say, “FUCK, I WANT TO DIE.” I’m not saying it’s okay, but when you have literally no one to turn to, as I and many other teenagers experiance, then the internet is a good, anonymous place to turn. You cannot, for gods sake, tell me that losing people who have changed my life in a positive way, who were the only people I could talk to, to suicide, doesn’t give me a right to do some “emoshitting” on the internet.
All in all, though, a really good article. It described how I’ve felt for a long time. I love My Chem for their music, not their asses.
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Hey,
First off: I’m sorry to hear about your depression. I was not in any way belittling it; I know firsthand how horrible self-harm is, and I will never make light of it. Writing this, I was not getting pissy at people like yourself. Personally, I do not think that random comments on YouTube videos are the best places to express negative feelings, as there are many other places, on the Internet and off, that can give you space to show your feelings and get help (for example, the SISH Resources section of MCRmy.com). I was angry, as I stated, at people who ‘self harm’ for attention, and ‘love’ MCR for attention, seeing it as a means to rebel, or something equally as insulting, to people with actual depression, which I also stated.
I don’t know your story, and nothing I wrote was personal to anyone. You have every right to say what you want on the Internet, but your voice amongst all the other fake ones, makes me automatically inclined to believe you really are just making shit up, something I have dealt with in real life and serves to make me incredibly sceptical about all self-harm stories. Like I said, it’s nothing personal.
You’ve inspired me to think some more about this whole thing, if you check back in the new year I might have written a part two, of sorts 🙂 Thank you for taking the time to comment, I really do appreciate it (and sorry for any rambling).
Happy Boxing Day and New Year!
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okkkaaayyyyy, so how about….earphones. That way you could play music at the same time?
orrrr, a skipping rope? i sure we tied ross to a lamppost once with ellens skipping ropes, and that it took him ages to get out. whilst we went down the park. We were so young that we still played “shipwreck” on that weird onstacley framey thing. with the seats on it.
ellen and i went their the other day. and we sat on the swings. and swung. or is it swinged. like a hang in the pasdt tense in hanged. which annoys me.
anyway………. i look forward to thursday. the mass emailing is confusing. but thats just me i think.
p.s does anyone know what the weathers like on thursday?
bel x 🙂
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Frank, you were talking about handcuffing gerard to the bed. seeing as “Lizbeth” hasn’t mentioned it (yep, if you are reading this Lizzi, Frank told me about the conversation you had. admitedly, it took her about an hour for her to tell me. And many hysterical laughing fits.). anyway, back to the point.
What if you didn’t have ANY Hnadcuffs. And happened to be lace up boots. Or as i suggested to frank, what if you happened to be carrying battery operated fairy lights that flash lots?
I thought i might mention it. So in a years time, i can make myself laugh when i read the past comments.
Anyone that isnt frank, lizzi or me (or anyone else that frank has told) will not have a clue what im on about, so to you guys, this is a waste of a read. but its okay. Because im not sure if that many people actually read the comments anyway. I do. Afterall, only extremely cool people read the comments.
Oh, and i have some good news!!!! something has happened to the comment box AND IT NOW EXPANDS AS I WRITE!!!!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!! I’M SO HAPPPPPYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!.
Actually, i’m not. we had sports day today, and i had to do hurdles (urgh) whilst ellen and ross and the rest of their school sauntered off to the beach. i hate you guys.
i am proud to say, that i am not a fangirl. I haven’t actually looked at mikeys butt yet, (ive seen gee’s but that was coz i watched the NaNa video) . And if i was a fangirl, i would probably do less criticising of mikeys teeth (they freak me out okay?! and i think his voice is a bit weird too. Thats clearly why he doesn’t do any singing.), ray in general, franks long hair that is now gone thank the lord (im still not sure WHO the lord is, but i do know that the prayer that i thought was the North prayer, is in fact, the Lord’s prayer. Its okay though. if i know that, then i can become a priest. vicar. whatever they’re called these days.)
anyway………… i think i have run out of things to say now. i wanted to do another long comment to celebrate the fact that i can now see what im writing.
Oh, and anyone that hasn’t got bored after the first line, YOU HAVE TO GIVE ME ALL YOUR MONEY!!!!!! Rob a bank, rob your grandma, rob santa, just give me all the money you have!!!!!!! pretty please.
I have to raise £1075 so i can go on world challenge to morocco. And trek across the sahara, and eat camel poo and sheeps eyes. And walk through a gorge.
Think off it as sponsoring me. And if you do, i promise to send you a picture of me eating sheep eyes, camel poo and mule guts as proof, and maybe even a pressie. (as in sand.from the 2nd/3rd biggest desert in the world.) Frank says shes gonna publish my diary of those 10 days on the blog. im going in april i think.
anyway, if you have read down to here, you are way cooler than you think, and i apologise if i have bored the life out of you or given you a headache.
Bel x 🙂
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I love how we’ve turned an essay on the MCRmy into a discussion about a My Chem fan fiction involving priests.
I knew there was a reason I started this blog…
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Oddly, I have not published a conversation about handcuffing/bootlacing/fairy lighting my friend to a drainpipe on the Internet.
Oh hang on.
Isobel, you need more than the ‘North Prayer’ to become a priest, if you’re part of the Catholic Church, and vicar if you’re Anglican. You need ACTUAL FAITH. In GOD. Not just in your friends’ abilities to rob their grandmothers.
What is this about a beach? They went to the beach with their school? I can’t even have a bath, let alone go swimming (Dad’s turned the water off).
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Oh my Christ.
I’m too young to die!
Or, alternatively, TOO YOUNG TO BE HANDCUFFED TO A DRAINPIPE WITH FAIRY LIGHTS YOU TWISTED MANIACS.
…I disagree with this idea because I hate fairy lights. That is all.
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So you’ll let me do it with anything but fairy lights?!
Forget Monroeville. We’re making a new Ricky Rebel video and dedicating it to @fuckyeahSING.
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ah, okay. ill tell isobel off for making a fuss.
me x
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which is why im so sad-
it was a billiant plot at the beginning!
tsk.
i feel like i am fanfictions parents:
“no! youve got it all wrong, goddammit! it was fine before!”
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It’s brilliant all the way through – Isobel’s ruined it for you! I mean, it’s pretty obvious who’s going to get with who, it’s My Chem fan fiction…
There’s some really sweet stuff toward the end (in between the dodgy stuff, which I advise you read from behind your fingers).
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no, im onto the third book now, and isobel has told me (well, i guessed, and she said i was right) what is going to happen.
i am genuinly sad that these books are simply a build up to yet another fangirl’s messed up dreams.
sigh.
me x
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Me too! I mean, they’re messed up, but at least they’re intelligent, with actual characters and a plot… and she can write.
It’s a rare, rare thing nowdays, to have a writer that knows how to work the English language, and an even rarer one to have that writer do fan fiction.
I really ought to review them and tell her that.
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i never actually said yes. you read it over my shoulder. and you had contacts in. so you could actually read it.
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couldnt have put a better rant together myself.
taling of fan rubbish, etc-
have you read all of the unholy series?
me x
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I have indeed read it all. It’s rather interesting. Why, is Isobel holding the printouts to ransom?!
There’s a link a few blogs back.
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I told you, I write Lizbeth because I’m lazy. The way I write, the Z dots the I, everything flows nicely. Also it’s kinda cute 😀
Hey, I didn’t name names! But thank you. I think because everyone who isn’t thick thinks it, it makes sense…
I dunno, but go ahead, spread the word now the typo is fixed!
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First, ‘Lizbeth’? Is that cute or….well, I don’t know what it is. And second, my nose looks really big in that picture. That is not a good angle.
HOWEVER: It’s awesome, dude! I’m impressed with how well you’ve managed to pretty much capture what everyone is attempting to say on Twitter without actually looking at Twitter….it’s like you’re physchic.
Oh, and I’m impressed that you’ve haven’t actually insulted anyone directly (apart from Tayler) and haven’t gone ‘sod being polite! YOU PEOPLE GET ON MY TITS.’ Which is, you know, what I’d do.
What I mean is that you sound very democratic and logical in the blog (mini-essay) that you have just presented to us, which I will retweet many a time and spread around all of the people on my Twitter timeline.
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