The Black Parade
| Title: | The Black Parade |
| Creator: | My Chemical Romance |
| Date(s): | October 23, 2006 |
| Medium: | music album |
| Fandom: | My Chemical Romance/Bandom (Decaydance+, My Chemical Romance) |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Black Parade is the third and most commercially successful album by the American rock band My Chemical Romance. It was released shortly before the rise of bandslash fandom on LiveJournal in early 2007, though MCR already had its own active RPF fandom following the release of the second album.
The Black Parade is a concept album about mortality, featuring several characters including a Patient dying of cancer and "Mother War". The album art and related music videos, especially "Welcome to the Black Parade," have a black-and-white aesthetic. Marketing added mystique to the album during the lead-up to the album's release: before the title was announced, there were mysterious references to what fans thought was a new band called "The Black Parade"[1] and MCR actually performed as "The Black Parade" and not as themselves[2].
While the circumstances surrounding the creation of the album and the videos were incorporated into RPF (see Paramour Fic), the album itself also inspired fannish creativity, especially fanart, fancrafts, and costumes[3]. Some fanfic was also created, though not to the same extent as that inspired by Danger Days.[4]
The Lack of Black Parade AU Fanfic
In early 2008, baffled fans on livejournal were discussing why there were so few Black Parade AU fanfics around. Posting a Supernatural/Black Parade crossover in January, Ethrosdemon commented, "The other day I was reading a comment by (I think) Pouncer about the lack of fic set in The Black Parade, um, universe? and I thought "YEAH!" and then that was that."[5] In February chebonne posted a plot bunny to wolfshirts:
I was watching both Welcome to the Black Parade and Famous Last Words earlier and I was wondering, why aren’t there more Black Parade AUs? And I don’t mean, like, the Black Parade is an actual band that MCR meets etc., etc., I mean the actual world, the Metropolis/Jeunet world that the Patient lands in after death.[6]
The future author of The Fall and Rise of The Black Parade commented on the post to say, "If I don't talk myself out of it in the next few days, I may be writing a Black Parade AU for bandombigbang."[7]
Despite the popularity of The Fall and Rise of The Black Parade, it apparently didn't usher in a new era of plenty. As of 2016 some fans were still wondering:
I really think it's odd that TBP has had a relatively small impact on the fandom, compared to their other albums. Especially since it was probably their biggest album. People make edits/GIFs of the shows and music videos, but I don’t see the aesthetic anywhere, and I haven’t seen a TBP fic in years.[8]
Welcome to the Black Parade
The song "Welcome to the Black Parade," which is fifth on the album and the first released as a single, is very popular and has also become a meme in its own right.
The intro lyrics generated the meme When I Was A Young Boy.
The "G Note" meme is based on the distinctive first note of the song. The meme focuses on the strong emotional reaction that hearing just the first note of the song elicits in MCR fans.
The "G Note" meme gained popularity on video platforms, such as Vine and later Tiktok. These videos usually showcase people reacting with depression, sadness, anger, etc.
- Tricking someone into hearing the opening by @ciridmandsit
- Must join the Black Parade by @ feer.cblah
- Created glow in the dark crafts by @screwloosesar
Fanwork Examples
Fanart:
- She dies, digital art by Szikee on deviantart. Black Parade!Gerard carries Helena. (February 5, 2011)
- Black Parade by chriztaychuang on deviantart (April 21, 2012)[9]
- mcr songs as movies: #16 The End. by tumsa on tumblr (June 21st 2012)
- call me your sweetheart by terminalveracity (mychemicaldoodle), drawing of Mother War (October 28, 2013)
- 1 by AmalieArt on deviantart (February 26, 2014)
- untitled art by terminalveracity on tumblr (October 24, 2014)
- Welcome To The Black Parade by fuckingVITAMIN (August 5, 2015)
- The Black Parade cartoon by PandorasBox341, with a height-related joke possibly from the making-of video for "Helena" (February 28, 2015)
- It’s late. Carry on. by mycynicalromance on tumblr (September 25, 2016)
- October 23rd, 2006 - 10 years with The Black Parade. gifset by misspellediero (October 23, 2016)
Fancraft:
- Welcome to the Black (Cat) Parade by turlough (2016-09-14)
Fanfic:
- The Fall and Rise of The Black Parade[10] by wordslinging (2008-06-14), podfic[1] by argentumlupine (2012-01-21)
Fannish Resources
- tbp-anniversary tumblr
- Black Parade AU and Black Parade fandom tags @ AO3
References
- ^ hobocake. TBP, Archived version, posted in chemicalromance, 29 July 2006.
- ^ missxmoody. Review-ish for last night, Archived version, concert review post in chemicalromance, 23 August 2006.
- ^ fear/regret halloween costume!!: chemicalromance, Archived version, 1 November 2006. it's a little late, BUT...: chemicalromance, Archived version, 9 November 2007.
- ^ Compare the AO3 tag for The Black Parade (19 works) with Danger Days (855).
- ^ untitled livejournal post, Archived version, 2008-01-11.
- ^ Seriously, these boys. They invent our AUs for us., Archived version, 5 February 2008.
- ^ comment by jezrana in a post by chebonne in wolfshirts. Seriously, these boys. They invent our AUs for us., Archived version, 5 February 2008.
- ^ quote2, Archived version
- ^ archived
- ^ made for the first Bandom Big Bang and posted on [https://web.archive.org/web/20170411024523/http://bandombigbang.livejournal.com/14377.html June 14, 2008]. masterpost on wordslinging's livejournal. AO3 link