just like up on the screen

321...we came to fuck

bonus:

Behind the scenes photos by photographer Justin Borucki for Kerrang! magazine. New Jersey, 2004. 

“I was hired by Kerrang! magazine to follow Gerard and Ray around and revisit the making of their latest album (I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love). We visited a hospital, the bar where they played their first gig, their childhood homes (Ray’s childhood bedroom is pictured), their practice space, and a diner that they ate at a lot when making the album. Most of these images were never run or seen by the public.”

Broke: Gerard and Frank should make out on stage again like they used to bc I was too young when it was happening to see it at a show and I’m pissed I missed it

Woke: Gerard and Frank know that the purpose of them making out on stage was because it was subversive: a lot of people were calling them fags and devil worshippers at the time and were afraid mcr would make their children into gay satanists: It was spitting in the face of The Man to do things like wear eyeliner and talk about your emotions and make out with another guy without it being the butt of a joke and they did it not because they were gay but bc it was Important Work to be done in 2005 and meant a lot to people: doing that in 2025 would come off “stage gay” or “queerbaiting” because although two men kissing obviously isn’t considered 100% acceptable to everyone in America, it’s much more acceptable and in the cultural mainstream to be a gay man nowadays than it was in 2005. On the note of subversion, it’s actually significantly more subversive to do the things they HAVE been doing AKA Gerard dressing however they want during the swarm tour, wearing skirts and dresses and makeup, not in the now more mainstream style of drag you see in rupaul, nor in the sexualized femboy way that's become popular online, but just wearing dresses and skirts and tights as themself and showing a very genuine and honest breakdown of gender barriers and stereotypes as a form of self expression. There’s also the clear antifascist messaging and satire of the long live the black parade tour, which illustrates the breakdown of democracy and the illusion of choice (the signs), the doomed nature of political prisoners and those othered by a society (the band cheering for the executions nearly every time until it was THEM on the chopping block), the way that cultural icons are treated as mouthpieces and puppets (Gerard during blood in Boston) , the digestibility of media and how everything has to be palatable these days (laugh track after cancer), the insidious nature of advertising harmful narratives and products to the youth (teenagers), and how companies will resurrect popular media and bastardize it as many times as possible rather than fund new projects if they think they can make money off of it (Gerard coming back with his face looking more fucked up every show) etc. The things that they’re doing now are perfect critiques of the current political climate and state of the country in a way that is much more apropos for 2025 than two guys that now both have wives and children making out with each other on stage (which would likely come off as disingenuous)

yeah does this help

or maybe this one.