Mitchell "Mitch" Nathan Mueller is one of the two protagonists of comic Long Exposure. He is the former bully turned best friend and eventual boyfriend of Jonas Wagner.
As a child, his broken family life left Mitch to be an outcast, and his struggling sexuality made him tease Jonas Wagner, who he had a crush on. After an altercation with his stepdad, Mitch was sent to juvenile hall, disappearing from Jonas' life until their senior year, where he returned taller, gruffer, and scarier. Tension rises when Jonas is paired with Mitch for their Environmental Science project. In the woods, their research causes the boys to accidentally stumble across a chemical leak, where Mitch acquires the ability of telekinesis while Jonas acquires to ability to stream beams of light through his emotions. With these new abilities, Mitch and Jonas grow closer both platonically and romantically as they hide from government agents and the threat of Jonas' bigoted foster father, Dean, a police officer.
Personality[]
Mitch is polar opposite compared to Jonas; he's obnoxious, extroverted, crude, immature, loud, and likes to get a rise out people. He hides his low self-esteem and body insecurities behind a cocky and smug attitude. Mitch has a tendency to get violent and destructive at the drop of hat, especially when being challenged or when he (or the people he loves) is threatened. Mitch is especially untrustworthy towards older men, stemming from the abuse he endured from his stepfather. Most people write off Mitch as untrustworthy or even as a "psycho" due to his unpredictable and threatening mood swings. Mitch is often a jokester, wearing homemade T-shirts with dick-related jokes or sayings on them. With Jonas, Mitch would bully him to maintain his powerful status and also smother his crush on him. In comparison to other people Mitch bullies - where he frequently physically assaults them - Mitch teases Jonas in an almost flirtatious way, poking him in the face or calling him "Spots". He never attacks Jonas in a malicious manner, in comparison to Neil, who bullies Jonas for his weight and calls him homophobic slurs. As Mitch and Jonas grow closer both platonically and romantically, Mitch becomes softer and is fully dedicated to making sure he won't mess up his relationship with him.
Appearance[]
As a child, Mitch had a scrawny build, with strawberry blonde hair shaved down to the scalp with small strands sticking out. His face was more round with missing, crooked teeth. Due to his poor income, Mitch had ratty, torn, and oversized clothing. Even in middle school, Mitch was extremely taller than his peers.
By the time he was a repeated senior at nineteen, Mitch towered over his classmates, standing at 6'4". He had a lean, athletic build stemming from both physical altercations and his battle with anorexia/bulimia nervosa. His hair had darkened to a dirty blonde tint, and now was shaped into an undercut. Mitch's face had grown longer, having a stubble on his chin, and his teeth had grown longer and slightly discolored due to smoking.
In his adulthood, Mitch had grown to become more muscular, letting his sideburns grown into his bead stubble. He had acquired now a large tattoo on his left bicep featuring a heart with Jonas’ name surrounded by fire and roses and a banner saying, “The light of my life”.
His wardrobe consists of mostly very tattered shirts with holes in them, and he has a single pair of distressed jeans with plenty of tears. Most of his clothes are very old, thrifted, or stolen. He wears orange converse high-tops that look as equally destroyed as the rest of his clothes. He is often seen wearing a denim vest with a zombie graphic patch on the back.
Powers[]
Mitch has telekinesis, which he acquired after accidentally coming in contact with chemical waste at the research site.
Telekinesis abilities:
- Mitch can move, push, lift, and throw (currently only small) objects with his mind. He needs to concentrate to use his powers. He gets nosebleeds and becomes light-headed if he overexerts himself.
History[]
Mitchell “Mitch” Nathan Mueller was born on April 11 in Sellwood, California, to Tom and Henrietta Mueller. He was their second son, behind Frederick “Freddie” Mueller, by nine years. Due to the Muellers being financially struggling, they resided in a trailer park. Tom was extremely negligent and did little effort to be a father to his sons, leaving Henrietta to work and take care of their family. In turn, Freddie was the only real “father figure” in Mitch’s life, but Freddie proved himself to not be the best influence, often pranking his brother by throwing him in the pool or switching his toothpaste with mayonnaise. He would also use his brother’s small size to do crimes, such as carjacking or stealing beer. However, Freddie loved Mitch deep down and would look after him when he could. Unfortunately, when Mitch was nine, Freddie was taken in a car accident. Henrietta was left devastated while Tom abandoned his family. A few years later, Henrietta met a man named Gary Snyder, who she eventually married and even took his surname. However, Tom was incredibly abusive (physically and emotionally) to his wife and especially his stepson, leaving him with bruises on his arms that he would cover up with his shirt sleeves. His homelife and trauma led Mitch to become more destructive and rebellious at school, becoming a bully to other kids and often ending up in detention. During this period, Mitch began suffering from an eating disorder. In the sixth grade, twins Jonas “Joey” and Sidney Wagner joined Mitch’s class. Though Mitch was often rude to his new peer, Joey would give him his lunch and brought him to the arcade. After getting angry and breaking a game, Mitch and Joey sit outside, where Mitch comments that his destructiveness leaves him friendless. Joey attempts to comfort him and tells him that he likes him, but Mitch, confused about his feelings for him, rebukes his friendship and tells him to leave him alone. This soon led to Mitch teasing Joey - calling him “Spots” due to him having a plethora of freckles - and once again be left alone. Mitch never physically assaulted Joey; he would often poke him in the face or spray water at him. During his time in detention, Mitch formed a friendship with other poor kids from his neighborhood - Javier “Javi” Osorio, who was teased for not having enough money for school supplies, Cliff Lonnie, who was teased for stealing lunch food, and Crystal “Scratch” Dyer, who was made fun due to her uncleanliness and talkative nature. Together, they would beat up popular kids and stir up trouble in the trailer park. At age 17, Mitch came to the realization that he was gay when he attempted to have sex with a girl at a party. Not liking it, he went home and told Henrietta about the next day in tears. Although Henrietta was extremely supportive, Gary was extremely homophobic and caused his abuse to worsen. Finally, Mitch had snapped when witnessing Gary beat up Henrietta, and stabbed him with a knife Freddie had given him. This led to Mitch being sent to juvenile hall for a few months, before moving out of Sellwood with Henrietta and living out of their car for two years. At some point, Henrietta was arrested for drug possession after taking the fall for Mitch. Due to her being in jail, Mitch is sent back to Sellwood to live with his maternal aunt, Loretta, and reenrolling at Sellwood High School for his senior year.
After Joey’s graduation, he and Mitch stayed in touch via a long distance relationship when Joey goes to an unnamed college. Mitch would visit him on weekends and breaks, where he’d get annoyed due to his boyfriend’s popularity. To leave them alone, Mitch told them that he and Joey would be busy having sex, and made a point to be loud to give Jonas' friends the hint. At some point in their twenties, Mitch gets a tattoo for Jonas in honor of their anniversary; a heart surrounded by fiery roses with Jonas name in the middle and ribbon that reads “The Light of My Life”. Eventually, Mitch would propose to Jonas, who would immediately say yes, and the two embrace with a kiss.
Relationships[]
- Jonas - Mitch has a long-standing crush on Jonas. He picks on him as an attempt to get his attention. Later on in the comic, they become a couple.
- Henrietta - Mitch is very close with his mom. He becomes extremely defensive if anyone talks badly about her.
- Sidney - Sidney and Mitch do not get along. He is often irritated by her efforts to keep Jonas away from him.
- Javier - Javier could be considered Mitch's best friend, if he had one. Although Mitch tends to boss him around, Javier is supportive and loyal to him
- Scratch - Mitch considers Scratch one of his good friends, but usually finds her irritating.
- Cliff - Cliff and Mitch butt heads a lot, with Cliff being less open-minded about Mitch's sexuality, and the fact that Mitch loves putting him down and targeting him for his cruel jokes. Their relationship appears to be improving.
- Neil - Neil and Mitch are rival bullies at Sellwood High. He considers himself in charge and hates Neil's attempts at challenging Mitch's status. He also often gets into physical altercations with neil protecting Jonas from him.
Trivia[]
- Out of any character in the story, Mitch swears the most.
- Mitch is right-handed.
- Has a pet named Bud of unknown species (looks like a mix between possum, porcupine, raccoon, and badger). He dresses Bud up in baby clothes.
- He hates cops.
- His favorite movies are zombie horror movies.
- Mitch is an Aries.
- Has occasional panic attacks, which often turn violent.
- Shown to suffer from PTSD, anorexia, and bulimia nervosa (though with Jonas, he seems to be recovering).
- Mitch gets very little sleep a night, averaging 4-5 hours and also has frequent night terrors.
- He uses weed recreationally as well as to help him relax.
- Drowns his feelings in alcohol.
- Swears constantly.
- Favorite music is anything loud and angry or emotional. Loves Rage Against the Machine and Nirvana.
- Loves violent and stupid TV shows, like Jackass. His favorite cartoon is Beavis and Butthead.
- His secret guilty pleasure TV shows include The Bachelor, and cooking competition shows. He used to watch reality TV with his mom.
- Sad Disney movies make him cry, but good luck getting him to ever admit it.
- Watched Star Wars once as a kid before his family fell apart, so the movies have sentimental value to him.
- Favorite character is Leia.
- Had a girlfriend once after moving away from Sellwood, when he was still in the closet.
- Cannot resist peeling paint off walls, picking at his scabs, and scratching at acne.
- Horrible spelling and grammar.
- Sometimes says words or phrases wrong, dubbed "Mitchisms"; inspired by Trailer Park Boys' "Rickyisms."
- If overexerting himself using his telekinesis, Mitch gets bloody noses and migraines.
- He is often associated with sharks and sometimes coyotes.
- Favorite food is nachos.
- Mitch is not religious.
- Mitch has had to repeat grades in school twice.
- Afraid of heights, and growing up to be like his stepdad.
- He hates eating in front of people.
- For no explainable reason, he hates Michael Cera.