Lindsey Way
| Name: | Lindsey Way |
| Also Known As: | Lyn-Z |
| Occupation: | musician, artist |
| Medium: | |
| Works: | Mindless Self Indulgence discography |
| Official Website(s): | twitter account |
| Fan Website(s): | |
| On Fanlore: | Related pages |
Lindsey Way (aka Lindsey Ballato, Lyn-Z) is the bassist of the American band Mindless Self Indulgence and an artist. She is known for doing back bends while playing her guitar. Because she is married to Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance, she appears in a lot of Bandom fanfiction.
Shipping
On the Archive of Our Own, Lindsey is tagged on 1,161 fanworks as of February 2023.[1] The most common Lindsey ship is Gerard/Lindsey with 556 works[2], although many of these are Bandom fics that include them only as a side pairing. She is also shipped with the other MCR wives, most often Frank's wife Jamia (99 fanworks)[3], but also Mikey's (ex) wife Alicia (8 fanworks)[4]. Often these femslash pairings are side pairings. Fans also write her in a threesome or poly relationship with both Gerard and Frank[5] or in a foursome including Jamia[6] as an alternative to breaking up a canon het ship in order to write slash.
Lindsey is very rarely shipped with her own bandmates, likely due to Mindless Self Indulgence being a very small fic fandom. There are a few femslash works pairing Lindsey with her drummer Kitty.[7]
Controversy
Lindsey has historically been the subject of numerous rumors. In the early 2010s, much of the hate directed at Lindsey seemed to be generated by her former friends, particularly Jessicka Addams. The criticism largely centered around accusations of treating friends, fans, and family poorly, and was documented on the Tumblr account lynzuglyliar. By the late 2010s, many fans - especially younger ones - believed that the tendency to bash Lindsey was misogynistic, and past rumors were largely ignored.
Around 2020, however, Lindsey came under fire on several occasions. She was criticized for responding inappropriately to discussions surrounding the Black Lives Matter Movement,[8] as well as the allegations of sexual misconduct by her bandmate Jimmy Urine.[9] Fans once again began talking about the accusations made by Lindsey's former friends and the lynzuglyliar account, and she faced renewed backlash for race-faking,[10] victim-blaming, and alleged plagiarism in her artwork.[11] Lindsey's tweets about Black Lives Matter were quickly deleted, and as of February 2023, she has not posted to Twitter since.[12] Current fans who are aware of this history appear to regard her as a problematic figure, whether or not they actively dislike her.
Example Fanworks
Art
- MSI: Ballooooooooooooonquatre by easelweasel. Drawing of Lindsey with a balloon head. (2007)
- Lyn-Z MSI by putrithewicked. Digital art. (2007)
- Lyn-Z sketch from a post of old bandom art by theopteryx (also on tumblr) (2008)
- FUCKING LYN-Z by IThoughtIToldYou. Digital drawing of Lindsey doing a backbend. (2011)
- Lyn-Z Way 4 by UNTILitFADEStoBLACK. Color drawing of Lindsey playing. (2013)
- Gee+Lyn by mmrated. Digital cartoon-style art of Lindsey performing with Gerard (2013)
- untitled gifset by ballato of Lindsey doing a backbend (August 8, 2014)
- Frank and LynZ guitar/bass duelling by mychemicaldoodle (September 2014)
- i love the art witch and her celestial friends - :), Archived version by ratwolv (November 5, 2017)
- ANOTHER…, Archived version by bunnybaum on tumblr (April 29, 2018)
- untitled art by happy_humbug76 (May 6, 2018)
Fanficton
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Fannish Resources
- lyn-z picspam by erraticonstilts on livejournal (2009-03-05)
- Part Nine: I Am Gay For His Wife by valerie_z on livejournal (October 26, 2007)
- lynz-tattoos tumblr
References
- ^ Lindsey Ballato works page, 25 February 2023.
- ^ Lindsey Ballato/Gerard Way works page, 25 February 2023.
- ^ Lindsey Ballato/Jamia Nestor works page, 25 February 2023.
- ^ Lindsey Ballato/Alicia Simmons
- ^ 16 fanworks, Lindsey Ballato/Frank Iero/Gerard Way works page, 16 August 2015.
- ^ 21 fanworks, Lindsey Ballato/Frank Iero/Jamia Nestor/Gerard Way works page, 16 August 2015.
- ^ 6 fanworks Lindsey/Kitty works page, 16 August 2015.
- ^ https://lynzuglyliar.tumblr.com/post/634253663588728832/lindsey-way-says-black-lives-matter-then-blocks
- ^ https://lynzuglyliar.tumblr.com/post/631072359727742976/lindsey-way-makes-her-return-to-social-media
- ^ https://lynzuglyliar.tumblr.com/post/622837066297966592/lindsey-way-lying-and-appropriation
- ^ https://lynzuglyliar.tumblr.com/post/638053875427966976/lindsey-way-art-thief
- ^ https://twitter.com/lynzway?lang=en