On December 3, 1984, a baby was born. Well, probably a lot of babies were born. But the one we're interested in grew up to be this:
That's Mike Carden. Happy 25th birthday Mike! I'm celebrating by talking about you on the internet.
Many people dislike Carden. I find him kind of fascinating. People who dislike him either dislike him because they like Tom or because they think he looks creepy. When I was first getting into bandom, one of the lectures I got about not liking William Beckett was from a friend who grudgingly allowed that I could like Bill as long as I didn't like Mike. I have a strong rebellious streak when it comes to fandom, so that probably contributed to my interest in Mike.
This was originally going to be a more general Mike Carden primer, but the reality is that there's a perfectly good, if older, one
here (as of this moment, the pictures are no longer there, but the information is) and
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
riorhapsody has written an excellent and excellently well sourced
TAI primer. So this is going to be three things: interesting facts about Mike Carden, pictures I feel are worth sharing, and information about Mike Carden pairings. Enjoy!
FactsIn high school, Mike was on the swim team. He worked as a lifeguard during the summers. He was also captain of the debate team. (
source,
source)
Scurrilous internet gossip holds that Mike quit smoking in 2008 or so. (
source)
Mike himself has said other things about living a healthier life these days:
Like Chislett, Carden also calls Los Angeles home when the band are off the road. He relocated from the Chicago suburbs to L.A. this past November, and has since taken to hiking, eating healthier and reading Nick Hornby novels. He also took some much-needed time away from his guitar. "There was a point where I probably put the guitar down for about two months, and I didn't want to see it and didn't have any interest," Carden says, having traded places with Bicket in the bus' lounge. "Then one day it just hit me. I'm like, 'I need to keep learning because that's part of it.' I think when you stop you kind of get uninspired and it's hard to move. It's like exercising the first few days - most people quit. So I think with guitar, it's breaking through that." (source)
People who met Mike on the AP Fall Ball tour described him as "chatty" and "quite the chatter box." (
one source)
The Real Life GirlfriendIn about February of this year, someone or someones started posting anonymously that Mike is dating Jared Leto's assistant. (
source) Her name is Emma Ludbrook. She was his date to Bob McLynn's wedding.
( Photo proof )For those of you upset about privacy things, I am sympathetic. At the same time, Emma is a public enough figure that there is a magazine article about her:
( Scan of the article, plus more about Emma. )Picture Time!Let's start with a review of some of
Mike's t-shirts. This might be an odd thing to fixate on, but I'm alternately baffled and intrigued. I can't figure out if these are things he chose for a reason, or if they're just shit he picked up at a thrift store.
( Mike and his t-shirts. )Next, we move on to the section I like to call, "
Bill likes to lean on people, including Mike."
( Bill leans on Mike )Now let's take a look at Mike in his
younger days.
( Younger Carden )Mike Carden is a
giant dork. This may or may not be a known fact. When I saw TAI on the Fall Ball tour, Mike waved at the crowd (and let me note that he waves like a little kid - that grasping kind of wave), then gave us a thumbs up, then waved again with both hands. At least one scurrilous internet gossip thread has a lot of conversation about him being awkward and/or thanking people a million times. (
source)
( Mike being a dork )This section is for
pictures that didn't fit anywhere else. It includes Mike in bed, Mike in bathtubs, Mike on couches, Mike in a hat, Mike cuddling up to other people, Mike on stage, Mike being hot, and some other stuff.
( Other stuff )PairingsAnd now the part you're probably actually here for: pairings involving Mike Carden.
Mike/Kevin JonasLet's be honest: there's a good chance you've wandered over here thinking, "What the hell is up with this Jonas Brothers nonsense?" Well, let me tell you.
( Origins, questions, and recs. )Tom/MikeI don't read Tom Conrad fic (I know someone who knows him, so in my head, he's a friend of a friend, not a random guy in a band), so I don't actually have any recs for this. You might try the delicious
tom/mike tag (read carefully; that's as likely to be Tom Welling/Mike Rosenbaum as it is Tom Conrad/Mike Carden), or perhaps someone who does read it will leave some recs in the comments.
If you don't know why you might want Tom/Mike, I recommend reading
riorhapsody's
TAI primer for more on their history. I will leave you with some pictures, though:
( Pictures! )Mike/WilliamRemember that whole section up above where William was leaning on Mike? Why isn't there more fic about them?
( A little about them, a picture, and a rec. )Mike/SiskyWhy would I tell you about this when
dandylionsgirl has written
a perfectly good primer? You should go read that.
Today there's this:
siskybusiness: I would like to take this time to wish a happy Birthday to my main man Mike Carden. I love you Santi. You are my worst best friend! Muah (source)
Then, if you want to read fic, you can browse through the delicious
mike/sisky tag. There isn't that much there; you can read it all in an afternoon or so.
Mike/Michael Guy ChislettMike fell in mad guitar love with Michael the first time they met:
But, see, I knew Michael (Guy Chislett, Conrad's replacement), and Michael played with Butch, and I met Michael at the "Slow Down" video that we did for Almost Here. I sat down with the dude, we just talked about music, we played guitar. It's funny. I was with a friend that night, and I go back, we're shooting this video, and I go, "Dude, that dude Michael is awesome. I know I'm gonna play guitar with him someday. I just don't know when it's going to be." (source)
( Picture and recs )TAI gsfFor whatever reason, there isn't much in the way of TAI gsf. I don't know why not; they're just as gay as any other band.
There's one here:
Two boots and a spur on by
modillian. I don't think I've read it, although I have read other things by her that were good.
William/Mike/SiskyThey're the three original members of the band. They used to go out for midnight pancakes together:
( Video where Mike and Sisky talk about pancakes while Mike clutches a throw pillow. )There is one excellent William/Mike/Sisky story:
Three Cheers by an anonymous author. (As far as I know, it's the only William/Mike/Sisky story.)
Except Sisky's got his tongue down Bill's throat and one hand on Mike's thigh. Bill's got one arm around Sisky's shoulders and his other hand between Sisky's legs, rubbing him through his sweatpants, and Sisky’s got one hand on Mike's thigh. Bill does something, either with his tongue or his hand (or possibly both at the same time) and Sisky gasps, squeezing Mike's thigh tightly, and Mike can't help but to gasp as well, because fuck.
Mike/GabeTAI went on tour with Midtown (Gabe's previous band) early in their career. Gabe was also at Mike's 23rd birthday party in Las Vegas. It's entirely possible this was because it was also Rob Hitt's 30th birthday party (Rob was also in Midtown), but Gabe and Mike clearly hung out together:
( Pictures, more source material, and a rec )Mike/Greta SalpeterI have no idea what the basis for this pairing is. My best guess is that it's because they're both musicians from Chicago and when you need a girl, your choices in bandom are relatively limited. That doesn't stop it from being adorable.
icanbreakthesky appears to be the main Mike/Greta writer. You should become LJ friends with her so you can read her
locked entry with bits of a lovely Mike/Greta story in progress.
( More recs )We've now come to the section of pairings that
I think there should be fic about but isn't, at least to my knowledge.
Mike/Vicky-TThis does not just come from a limited choices in girls place. They clearly know each other - TAI and Cobra love to tour together - and there are a couple of pictures they're in together (and I swear there's one more out there that I can't find again:
( Pictures! )I really want fic where they're not romantically involved, but they are friends and the sex is good, so they hook up when they're on tour together.
Mike/someone in PanicThey toured together. They're in pictures together.
( Picture that isn't up above. )Mike said, "I like listening to Panic every night." (
source) That's more than enough for their to be fic about them.
Mike/someone in Fall Out BoyDid you know that Mike could have been a member of FOB?
BE: So I went and checked out your Wikipedia entry, and it says that you once turned down an offer to join Fall Out Boy. True?
MC: Well, I mean, "turned down"? (scoffs) I grew up with those dudes! I had another year of high school left, and they were talking about it, and Patrick used to just sing, and I knew Joe and Pete, and we joked about it, but I don't know that I really "turned it down." I guess the cards just didn't fall in the right place at the time. Which is totally cool. (laughs) (source)
I could totally go for some fic where he did join or where he didn't because one of them was an ex or where he hooked up with one (or more) of them.
Other Mike RecsI have two other stories to rec to you that don't fit into any of the categories above.
( The last two recs )![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif){kind=small}
