This is really good! This is not, in any way, dragged out or confusing, and it didn't seem like you struggled with this at all. I like that this was full of flashbacks. It gave is more insight as to why Mikey is the way he is, why he thinks he's so selfish. Mikey was supposed to take care of Gerard while he was doing alcohol, but he only ever succeeded in getting beaten up and being called a bad brother, but then Gerard is forced into taking Mikey into his care and giving up his love of alcohol, and Mikey still isn't the good brother he needs to be. Mikey takes everything that people say to him to heart, and he has such low self esteem that he believes it. Of course he's going to feel bad about Gerard having to take care of him when he never took care of Gerard. Well, according to their father anyway. And that Gerard was like that because of Mikey never taking care of him. It's like he always causes Gerard grief and he's always making things worse for him. First, Gerard is coming home drunk everyday because Mikey doesn't realize that his responsiblity is to look after Gerard, and then when Gerard becomes sober he's having to take care of Mikey, and all Mikey does is bother him. It's like Mikey feels like he owes Gerard something. I also really liked that Mikey really, truly trusts Pete, but he has a hard time believing that Pete thinks he has outer beauty, but when he's with Pete it's like Pete knows who he really is on the inside. He feels beautiful when Pete is around to tell him, but he knows that he's not worthy of Pete's love and time. I thought the flashbacks were harsh, not to the point where it seemed like it didn't fit or anything, but I thought it effectively showed why he is the way he is. What things made him seem so fragile, but he's really not. He can take a lot more than most people can handle, and he thinks that he's weak because all of the bad things that happened to him make him have nightmares and cry. I really liked this chapter. It was written with such emotion and it really showed us a lot more about Mikey. Fabulous job.
Author's response
Thank you very much; it's really nice to know that you thought this was alright and not dragged out/confusing.
I really wanted to use this chapter to show how much Mikey really has gone through and how he came out of it as the really introverted, frightened person that he has become. Flashbacks were the only way I could think to do that and I wasn't at all sure if I liked them, so I'm really pleased that you did! Your interpritation of this chapter is spot-on to what I was trying to get across; Mikey's Dad told him that he should be taking care of Gerard but he didn't, but then Gerard gets sober and has to look after Mikey, thus resulting in an extremely guilty and selfish-feeling Mikey Way. He feels like he owes Gerard because he thinks that Gerard is being everything that he should be, when all Mikey ever does is make him feel bad and let him down; even though this isn't the case at all.
I wanted to get across that whilst he does trust Pete, he doesn't really believe that Pete thinks he is beautiful nor worthy of anything to do with Pete, so I'm glad that you picked up on that.
Whilst Mikey may believe that he is weak, he really is quite strong for taking all that he has.
Thank you very much for taking the time to leave such a friendly and detailed review; it really does mean a lot! :)