anyway i dont think the theory that the dictator is the leader of the black parade is thaaat far off. i dont think theyre the same character but i think its more like a fascist using nostalgia/the past/the imagined past as a way to appeal to the masses. as in the dictator is purposefully drawing on the imagery of tbp leader to garner the people's support

So i was looking at my swarm tour poster and has anyone considered this could be the ruins of DRAAG/the grand immortal dictator/the concrete age after theyve been overthrown or destroyed (which im assuming will happen - doesnt seem very mcr like that the fascists will survive). And that all of the swarm promo with the broken statues could have been hinting at the downfall of the concrete age/DRAAG all this time. I know the statues weren't made out of concrete but the symbolism is there

So how are we feeling everyone !

“MCR wouldn’t be putting in all this effort if there wasn’t another album on the way”

WRONG!!

It’s about the DRAMA!! The CREATIVITY!! The STORYTELLING that goes beyond just using music as the sole medium!! It’s about APPRECIATION for THE ART!!

And you FOOLS only understand it through the lense of CONSUMERISM!!!!!!

Being a band doesn’t just have to be about creating album after album, MCR has created an entire immersive cinematic universe that their music goes along with. They’re not the first or only band to do this, but it does seem to be a bit of a lost art form these days.

“MCR wouldn’t be putting in all this effort if there wasn’t another album on the way”

Yes they would. And you can’t say this level of dramatic theater kid faggotry isn’t their normal way of operating. Of fucking course MCR would announce a US tour with a whole concept video. They announced the last tour that way. And they’ll continue to announce tours that way. Because they enjoy the act of creation and art.

Have some damn appreciation!!!

That fact that soooo many fans only see new music as the only valid form of creation from MCR, and not the videos and tours they’ve been producing is quite frankly disrespectful. MCR is one of many who really like to play around with what it means to be a band in terms of creativity. It can be a group of people making music. Or it can be a group of people creating an entire immersive universe, and using mediums aside from music to build this world out.

It’s one thing to sing about your feelings and experiences in a song. It’s another thing entirely to sing about your feelings and experiences in a song through fictional characters that tell a narrative story while also being vessels for you to express yourself through.

They could easily make a Patreon and lock this content behind a paywall, but they don’t. Because it isn’t about the money, it’s about the immersive storytelling. It’s about art, creation, expression and connection.

And all you cretins want is new music!!!

realistically tho are they actually allowed to sell tickets under the guise of the tour being a black parade album tour if it’s not gonna be that? that’s the only reason I’m not fully convinced on these “playing new music as the band the black parade” theories even if they make total mcr theatrical sense

In th school bathroom shaking over the new MCR post

btw I agree with the theory that the words in " " are song titles, they've done it too much to be a coincidence

Shout-out to my bestie for knowing absolutely nothing about My Chemical Romance except for what I say in my unhinged ramblings and continues to let me ramble in their inbox every time one of the guys even so much as BREATHES

MCR5 is a harsh noise album.

Jokes aside though I definitely think it may have some noise elements

i still firmly believe that those four fags from new jersey are incapable of being within 7km of each other and NOT writing at least SOMETHING. like. they have to have created something new since foundations right??? they haven't spent all this time together without working on new stuff(songs?) i'm so sure.

analysis/theories about the secretary character in long live the black parade below cut

ughhhhh that would be so good,,,,,,, why do some fans think that shes secretly evil

Being in the MCR fandom is mostly getting overexcited over grown men being happy to do their job with their friends, and then trying to decipher some cryptic videos

So I've read as much as I can take of the fandom bigotry. It hasn't been showing up for me, I've only seen people complaining about it, and uhhhh it's gonna upset me too much to keep seeing examples.

That being said. I am not by any means an expert on fascism. I do my best to learn about oppression throughout the history of the world, but there are a lot of things I don't know until someone online says something.

If I share (or god forbid, say) anything offensive in reference to the new MCR stuff, do not hesitate to call me out. I want to learn and be a better person. There's always the chance that someone will use a dogwhistle in some fanart that I'm unfamiliar with, or something like that. Tell me if that happens.

I didn't know the rising sun was a political symbol until I heard MCR fans talking about it years ago. It's not willful ignorance, I promise. Maybe I'm privileged to not always recognize dogwhistles, but that doesn't mean I don't want to recognize them.

MCR made brothers out of sisters, and tomorrow they’ll turn brothers into enemies

My working theory that connects the Concrete Age Dictator concept with Foundations of Decay and Swarm

I’m writing this while high so if something I’m saying makes no sense, that’s why! But maybe it makes a lot of sense…. please let me know if you have more ideas or catch a plot hole in this theory! Would love to brainstorm more

--

This all started when I was looking through reddit and saw a lot of people thinking it was crazy for MCR to come up with SWARM concepts for 2022 tour and then just throw it away after they put so much effort into theming years ago. So as I thought of that, I was listening to foundations of decay since it’s the only song they’ve released since coming back and directly related to Swarm. I, along with many other people, originally thought Foundations was just an abstract retelling of the Band and their rise/fall. However, I think I found the connection with Foundations of Decay/Swarm with the new CONCRETE AGE/Dictator concepts coming out.

Okay so follow with me a bit. It’ll all start to make sense soon:

In foundations of decay, we start with an old man, dreaming of all the battles he’s won. 

We hear about the battle. There are dead soldiers, blood spilled in vain. 

Gerard says:  

For those fighting in this battle, this line sounds like a question of whether or not they know what they’re fighting for, perhaps a fight just to live, and if they really truly wanted that. If not, if they didn’t truly believe in what they were fighting for, then they would die, not making it through the battle. 

Then we hear about potentially another man, or perhaps the same man from beginning but younger. 

This is where I felt like there really were connections to the new concepts. In the new dictator concept, we know there’s a Grand Immortal Dictator and he’s recently risen to power, bringing upon the concrete age.

The Dictator stands in a tower, surrounded by towers, all built by or inhabited by the people of power, looking down upon these swarms of crowds. In my mind, that crowd of people kind of resembles all the flies in the foundations of decay visualizer, or a mass amount of vermin, swarming together to see the dictator, the king rat, etc. What makes up the foundations below these high towers the dictator are in? All of the people. 

I feel like Foundations of decay was a song passed by ancestors to (the older man) to tell story to inspire to inspire a next generation. To call for the swarm, the vermin, the people who make up the foundations to get to action. To start their last crusade, to fight for what they believe in against extinction. 

I really feel like Foundations of decay was the first of many new songs in this new album/new concept. In this new concept, maybe Foundations of Decay is a story told by the "Black Parade Band" in the Concreate Age world, retelling a story of battle/of revolution and asking us what we’re made of/if we’ll get up and join the fight. 

The end of Foundations of Decay is literally a conversation between someone giving up and someone call them to action:

& in reply, the last line

We can lay down in the comfort of complacency, or we could GET UP and fight back.

--

So really tying into the SWARM tour, there was a lot of imagery/backgorunds that resembled broken/burnt down buildings similar to the ones we saw standing in the new dictator concept. I feel like the Swarm tour was a theatrical preview of the fall of the dictator and CONCRETE AGE and the back and forth between the dictator and the swarm.

We saw a lot these character: the dictator, the secretary, the man the flower(?), and we saw them kind of decay, especially  the secretary. Some drum sets said phrases from the dicator side “SIT, STAY BEG” “BACK IN THE CAGE” while others said “KING MOB” (either a reference to the revolutionary comic book character by grant Morrison, or a real radical cultural anarchist group from London in the 1960s... both fitting for this revolutionary concept) 

There was also the Everybody Hates The Eagles https://x.com/sewerwolfs/status/1563914965072986112 noise jam. Which looking back has so many potential references to anti dicator/anti military/end of civilization concept that we’re seeing in foundations of decay and the concrete age. 

I feel like the SWARM concept was us seeing a preview of the aftermaths of a revolution, where the swarm start fighting back, decaying the foundations of the CONCRETE AGE and bringing down the dictator/secretary.

So what we’re seeing right now in the new teasers are the leadup to this giant revolutionary story. A war. We’re seeing a new dictator enter, and we know the Black Parade is being invited back to perform again. But their music might inspire something from the people that brings the dictator down…We know there’s a secret message in the teasers, and people have deciphered  one of it to say “MEN AT ATTENTION”. Maybe the black parade is leaving us secret messages to start revolutionizing, to assemble like soldiers so we can fight our last crusade. To bring down the dictator and end the concrete age.

DOES THIS MAKE SENSE? OR AM I GOING CRAZY? I’m sure there’s more to cover and plot holes to figure out so please add your thoughts!

--

PS: This can just be a fun concept, or it could be like everything else Gerard has ever done and actually have a greater message about the political climate / state of the world right now. It feels like a call to realize that we are a large swarm of people who make up the foundations of our world’s towers: the government, the people in power. And without a stable foundation, those towers can and will be brought down. Do we welcome our extinction or perhaps snap out of it and fight back?

-Elsie

The real reason MCR announced a tour is so that they have a good alibi when Frank Iero inevitably assassinates Donald Trump

"Opera." was the 164th video...... we're in for a doozy tomorrow boys