Bandom overview (image heavy)
Edited on July 8, 2009
Bandom was built on the backs of a million picspams and primers, so I’ve included links to many of them here, in case you want go more in depth about any of the bands mentioned.
Overview
The Big Three
Fall Out Boy
The fact that there even IS a bandom can be attributed to Pete Wentz. The man has made himself an empire.
(l-r: Pete Wentz, bass; Joe Trohman, lead guitar; Patrick Stump, vocals and rhythm guitar; Andy Hurley, drums)
Fall Out Boy’s Evening Out With Your Girlfriend (2003)
Take This To Your Grave (Fueled By Ramen Records, 2003)
My Heart Will Always Be the B-Side of my Tongue (Fueled By Ramen Records, 2004)
From Under The Cork Tree (Island/Def Jam Records, 2005)
Infinity on High (Island/Def Jam Records, 2007)
Folie a Deux (Island/Def Jam Records, 2008)
Fall Out Boy was formed in 2001 by three boys, Joe Trohman, Pete Wentz and Patrick Stump, in the wealthy suburbs of Chicago (drummer Andy Hurley was added later). They started out playing basements and skate parks and bowling alleys all over Illinois, until they signed with indie label Fueled By Ramen Records and then major label Island Records. They have plenty of incestuous ties to the Chicago hardcore and punk scenes that will come into play later on in this overview.
The Band:
Joe Trohman
· 25 years old.
· Recruited Pete Wentz and later Patrick Stump, whom he met at a Borders, to join his band.
· Plays guitar.
· Has a unique brand of performing (mainly consisting of spinning around with his guitar and sometimes playing some chords) which has been coined “Trohmania” by his bandmates.
· Has been dating the same girl, Marie, for years.
· Has a slight lisp and a wicked Jew-fro that would make even Seth Cohen jealous.
· Admits to smoking pot.
Pete Wentz
· 30 years old.
· Was a local celebrity in the hardcore scene before joining Fall Out Boy.
· Plays the bass, writes all the lyrics and is the front man for the band.
· Is the CEO of Clandestine Industries, which primarily houses his clothing line, but which also sells books and other items. There are now Clandestine stores in Chicago and LA, and Nordstrom sells the clothing line.
· CEO of Decaydance Records, an imprint of Fall Out Boy’s label, Fueled By Ramen. Decaydance is home to many of the other bandom bands, including Panic at the Disco, Gym Class Heroes, Cobra Starship and The Hush Sound.
· Married Ashlee Simpson, but his ex-girlfriend of note is a girl named Jeanae, who Pete dated off and on for years. They started dating when she was 15 and he was 23. Yeah, I know.
· Once took naked pictures of himself that ended up being leaked to ohnotheydidnt. The most common theory is that they were leaked by a former friend - Chris Gutierrez, or HeyChris - after Pete sent said pictures to HeyChris’s girlfriend. We don’t know for sure, though. HeyChris has also denied this rumor.
· In February of 2005, before the release of their first major label album, From Under The Cork Tree, Pete attempted suicide by overdosing on the prescription anti-depressant Atavan in his car outside of a Best Buy. This is commonly referred to as the “Best Buy Incident.” He’s written songs about it that are on Fall Out Boy’s latest record, including “7 Minutes in Heaven (Atavan Halen)” and “Hum Hallelujah.”
· Was rumored to have had a fling with Mikey Way of My Chemical Romance when their respective bands co-headlined Warped Tour ’05. This time is referred to as the Summer of Like (more about that later).
· Is involved in politics and some global issues. He’s big on spreading awareness about the situation in Uganda, and the organization Invisible Children. The band traveled to Uganda in the summer of 2007.
Patrick Stump
· 25 years old.
· Met Pete for the first time wearing an argyle sweater and knee socks. He originally wanted to drum for the band, but then Pete heard him sing and knew they’d found their lead singer.
· Plays rhythm guitar, sings and makes Pete’s lyrics into songs.
· He also plays bass, drums, piano and trumpet, to name a few things. Patrick is something of a musical mastermind.
· Produces music for various musicians, mostly on Pete’s label, including Cobra Starship, the Hush Sound and Gym Class Heroes. Basically, Pete signs the bands and then sends them over to Patrick for all the heavy lifting.
· Is currently dating a girl named Elisa, but you’ll hear mention of his ex-girlfriend, Anna, who supposedly cheated on him.
· Has some body issues that he’s talked about in interviews. He wears a hat because he’s developing a bald spot, and he’s self-conscious about his fluctuating weight.
Andy Hurley
· 28 years old.
· Only member of the band that’s not from Chicago. He’s from Wisconsin, and still lives there with five other dudes, including Matt Mixon, his bff. They call their house Fuck City, and have corresponding merchandise/Myspace/Twitter stuff revolving around it.
· Was added to the band after they had recorded their first demo, Evening Out With Your Girlfriend, in 2003.
· Plays drums.
· Only straightedge member of the band. He's also vegan and doesn’t smoke, drink or do any drugs, among other things.
· Politically leftist with serious opinions on the state of society.
· Majored in history and anthropology.
Supporting Cast:
Jeanae, Pete's on again and finally off again ex-girlfriend, and his good friend, Nick Scimeca (previously of 504 Plan with Jon Walker of Panic at the Disco, currently of being awesome). Nick is involved in an intense bromance with Plain White T's drummer De'Mar Hamilton. It's fucking adorable.
Ashlee Simpson, Pete's wife and the mother of their son, Bronx. She is wonderful.
Matt Mixon, Andy's super-hot bff and roommate in Fuck City. You can't make this stuff up, folks. He, and other members of Fuck City, are members of the Chicago/Milwaukee hardcore scene.
Pete's dog, Hemingway. He can be seen on t-shirts and tote bags that Pete sells for his clothing line.
Other Information:
· Fall Out Boy has an interesting stage show because of the fact that Patrick, though the lead singer, isn’t actually the front man of the band. Pete does all the talking between songs, and Patrick routinely goes through whole concerts without saying a word that isn’t a song lyric.
· In the winter of 2003, on their way to New York to film the music video for “Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy?” their van skid on some black ice and smashed into a tree. The cover art on “From Under The Cork Tree” is an allusion to the van wreck.
Ships
Pete/Patrick
The main intra-band Fall Out Boy ship is Pete/Patrick. I would guess that probably about 75-80% of the slash fic you’ll find will center around them, and that’s being conservative. The biggest BNF in the Pete/Patrick community is Pete Wentz. That guy loves the SHIT out of Patrick, and seems to get a kick out of stirring up rumors. The place you see this the most is online, in his various blogs and web sites. There’re tons of fun examples of this. I’ll only show you a few, because this is an overview and I have like 30,000 other bands to get to. Check out the picspam I’ve linked to, though. It’s good stuff.
question
Why did patrick suck balls on FUSE?
asked by Renee on 2005-05-11
answer
that kid is my bestfriend, i don't care if you're a girl i'd still punch you in the mouth if you said that to my face. have a nice day.
answered by peter on 2005-05-11
question
Pete, If you were on a deserted island and had to choose between an Ipod full of your favorite songs or Patrick, what would you pick?
asked by sara on 2005-11-13 15:13:00
answer
trick question. patrick is an ipod full of my favorite songs.
answered by peter on 2005-11-13 17:14:00
question
Hypothetically asking, Ok, what if one day you woke up and Patrick was not there. Would you be worried?
asked by I Didnt Do It on 2005-06-14 19:59:00
answer
it would make me want to disappear to wherever he was.
answered by pete on 2005-06-14 20:05:00
sal and dean (or my proximity to greatness- thx jd)
after writing On the road jack was interviewed incessantly mostly about dean moriarty. most journalists assumed he was dean and that was all they wanted to know about. until his death jack proclaimed he was in fact sal paradise. dean was neal cassady. patrick is my dean. he keeps the car between the lines. he unlocks the secrets. he is the conversation. he is the magic. i know i am sal and i feel damn lucky to have the wind blowing in the thru the windows as he keeps us at 80mph. make no mistake, there is a difference between a parlor trick and true blue magic. i will remember this til the day i die.
And lest you think Pete is alone in his adoration, have a couple Patrick quotes:
"One of my favorite compliments that I'll get is 'Oh yeah, fuck Pete, you're the thing, you're the star.' I'm like 'Dude, that's my best friend, what the fuck are you talking about? That's not a compliment to me. That offends me. You just put him down.'"
-- from Kerrang Magazine
"It was a real tour in that we went out and played shows and some band played Fall Out Boy songs, but it wasn't Fall Out Boy at all. I had to go up there and do my best Pete impression onstage, because that's all I knew. And I had to say verbatim what Pete says, because I'm an idiot and don't know anything about what to say onstage. It is a tour, so, of course we had a little fun, but every day I was like, 'I never want to sing another one of these songs ever again if that dude's not there.'"
-- from AP magazine
Panic at the Disco
v. Brent Wilson. (l-r: Ryan Ross, guitar and back up vocals; Spencer Smith, drums; Brendon Urie, vocals, piano and guitar; Brent Wilson, bass)
v. Jon Walker. (l-r: Jon Walker, bass; Brendon Urie, vocals, piano and guitar; Ryan Ross, guitar; Spencer Smith, drums)
A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out (DecayDance Records, 2005)
Pretty. Odd. (DecayDance Records, 2008)
In a suburb of Las Vegas, a young, Tom Delonge lookalike named Ryan Ross and his best friend since they were toddlers, Spencer Smith, formed a band with Brent Wilson and some other guy who is inconsequential, but who I think is named Trevor. They played mostly Blink 182 covers until Ryan started writing his own stuff. Soon after, Trevor disappeared and they recruited Brent’s school acquaintance, Brendon Urie, on vocals and keyboards. In 2005, before they’d ever so much as played a show, Ryan posted a handful of their songs to the web site PureVolume and sent the link to Pete Wentz. Ryan, in the early days, was a bit of an internet stalker. One hilarious AIM conversation between Ryan and Pete, and one visit to Vegas later, and Pete essentially created Decaydance so that he could sign Panic and be their A&R. Then in 2006, Ryan, Spencer and Brendon fired Brent. The reasons sited were that Brent didn’t show up for a gig, and he wasn’t a very versatile musician. In his place, they hired Jon Walker, a guitar tech for The Academy Is…who they met while opening for that band in 2005. Jon stayed with the band until July 2009, when it was announced that both he and founding member, Ryan, were leaving to pursue their own divergent musical interests.
The Band:
Ryan Ross
· 22 years old.
· Used to have a LiveJournal, where he posted pictures of himself to communities such as tightpants.
· Has gone through many different personal styles over the last two years. He used to draw elaborate designs on his face with make up. He’s now hit some kind of hippie phase that people either love or hate.
· Plays guitar and wrote most, if not all, of the songs on their first album.
· His father was an alcoholic. Ryan wrote about his struggles with this in songs like “Camisado” and “Nails For Breakfast, Tacks For Snacks.” His father died of alcohol-related complications in 2006. In the earlier days, he talked about not being comfortable with alcohol because of this. Lately, he seems to have embraced the rock and roll lifestyle.
· Had a nasty past history with girlfriends, another part of his life that he brought to his music. Recently broke up with Keltie Colleen and is now, maybe, sometimes, dating someone new.
· His voice is a monotone that often betrays little to no emotion.
· Once offered fans some of his soup when they were waiting outside in the cold before a show.
Spencer Smith
· 21 years old.
· Plays drums.
· Though Spencer’s the youngest member of Panic, he’s also known to be the most responsible. It was Spencer that made the phone call to fire Brent, while Brendon and Ryan listened on speakerphone.
· Fandom says that he’s a “bitch” and talks about his “bitch face” often, which is something I think has been over-exaggerated, especially recently.
· Has a dry, smart sense of humor that probably contributes to the "bitch" characterization.
· Acquired a beard that has left most of fandom shaking their heads.
· Has a love of shoes which becoming rich and moderately famous has only intensified.
Brendon Urie
· 21 years old.
· Plays a little of everything, but mostly piano and guitar, and sings lead.
· Comes from a Mormon family, and was kicked out of his house for joining Panic instead of going to college. He has apparently mended fences since then.
· Acts like a loveable spaz, though he’s not as ridiculous as fanon sometimes makes him.
· Has mentioned his love of Disney, and Aladdin specifically, on more than one occasion (and has been mocked by Ryan for it).
· Has been previously linked to scene queens Audrey Kitching and Lana Jade (which I’ll talk about later). Both girls have insinuated that he was somewhat less than straight, but I personally don’t trust anything said by angry ex-girlfriends in general.
Jon Walker
· 23 years old.
· Is the only member not from Las Vegas. He’s from the Chicago suburbs.
· Played in the band 504 Plan with Nick Scimeca and Tom Conrad.
· Was a guitar tech for Chicago-based band The Academy Is…for the Truckstops and Statelines Tour, where he met the other members of Panic at the Disco.
· Enjoys photography.
· Enjoys wearing flip-flops.
· Used to work at Starbucks, a fact that has been used in many an AU fic.
· Fandom considers Jon the “real boy” of Panic, and the more easy-going, Beatles-inspired appearance of Panic of late has been attributed to him.
· Is dating a girl named Cassie.
· At this point, pretty much everyone has joined Team JWalk, including Brendon, who literally joined teamjonwalker when he had a LiveJournal.
Supporting Cast:
Brent Wilson, the original bassist for the band. He was kicked out, supposedly via a phone call from Spencer. He had been showing up late to practices and soundchecks, and he missed a whole show. His side of the story is different, though I'm not sure about the specifics. The break was not an amicable one, but he seems to have moved on.
Zack Hall, one of their bodyguards. He's apparently very nice in person. The guys in the band are fond of snuggling with him and getting piggyback rides, Brendon especially.
Jac Vanek, Ryan's ex-girlfriend. He stalked her through LJ for a while before she agreed to date him. They were together for a few months at the end of 2006.
Keltie Colleen, Ryan's other ex-girlfriend. She's a dancer.
Haley, Spencer's (maybe, probably) ex-girlfriend.
Cassie, Jon's girlfriend.
Audrey Kitching, Brendon's ex-girlfriend (also, his first girlfriend. Precious!)
Katie Kay, one of the dancers on Panic's Nothing Rhymes With Circus tour.
Other Information
· On July 5, 2009, Panic at the Disco announced that they are, essentially, splitting in half. Brendon and Spencer are keeping the name Panic and recording/touring as the band, while Jon and Ryan are working on their own music together. No one knows the whole story, but there doesn't seem to be any bad blood between the band members, and there's going to be at least one more Panic at the Disco album put out by Brendon and Spencer.
· In January 2008, scene queen Lana Jade wrote an open letter to Brendon Urie on her buzznet account. The letter was hilariously ridiculous, and alleged, among other things, that Brendon likes to be called “big daddy” during sex and that he uses cocaine. The letter was soon locked down, and Lana made another post saying that someone had hacked into her account and composed a fake letter in order to make her look bad. Or something, I don’t really know. Whether or not it’s true is pretty inconsequential at this point. It’s an amazing read.
· Following the unbelievable success of their debut album, Panic sequestered themselves in a cabin in the woods of Nevada in an attempt to start writing again. This is now referred to as the “pornocabin.” The songs they wrote at that time were eventually scrapped when they decided that they wanted to take the album in another direction.
· It might seem like Panic is everywhere right now, and that’s because, after a long hiatus, their follow up album has been released and a new Spring tour announced. They’re touring the U.S. and Canada as the headliners for the Honda Civic Tour, and they’re being supported by bandom band The Hush Sound, as well as Phantom Planet and Motion City Soundtrack.
Ships
Unlike Fall Out Boy, which has one dominant OTP, Panic fandom is all over the place. Anyone can be paired with anyone else, including all combination of threesomes and even a sizeable amount of gsf (group sex fic or group slash fic). However, there are two main pairings.
Brendon/Ryan
This is the biggest pairing, mainly because of their banter on stage, and Brendon’s tendency to hold Ryan’s hand, pet his face and wrap his arms around Ryan’s waist. In the early days of the fandom, this pairing dominated.
Spencer/Jon
I think that this pairing started as a default, since Brendon and Ryan were always written together. It’s become a strong pairing in its own right, though, helped along by the way that Spencer’s smile takes up his whole face whenever Jon looks at him.
See also:
Spencer/Brendon
Jon/Brendon
Jon/Ryan
Ryan/Spencer
Panic gsf
Ryan/Pete Wentz
This crossover is probably the most popular Panic crossover pairing, because of the way that Ryan got Pete to notice him and his band in the first place. A lot of fic will suggest that a starstruck Ryan did more than just play music for Pete in the early days.
My Chemical Romance
v. Matt Pelissier. (l-r: Frank Iero, rhythm guitar; Matt Pelissier, drums; Gerard Way, vocals; Mikey Way, bass; Ray Toro, guitar)
v. Bob Bryar. (l-r: Bob Bryar, drums; Ray Toro, guitar; Gerard Way, vocals; Mikey Way, bass; Frank Iero, rhythm guitar)
I Brought You Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love (2002, Eyeball Records)
Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge (2004, Reprise Records)
Life on the Murder Scene (2006, DVD/CD, Warner/Reprise Records)
The Black Parade (2006, Reprise Records)
In 2001, comic book and horror movie geek, Gerard Way, traveled back and forth from New Jersey to New York for his job at the Cartoon Network. He lived in his parents’ basement, self-medicated with a strong cocktail of anti-depressants, alcohol and drugs and was generally dissatisfied with his life. Cut to September 11th when Gerard was stuck on a ferry as he watched the Twin Towers fall. That experience was the kick in the teeth that he needed to quit his job and start making meaningful art. He decided to give music one more try - after several failed attempts previously - and called up his friends Matt Pelissier and Ray Toro to form a band. Gerard’s brother, Mikey Way, taught himself to play the bass in order to join the group, and Frank Iero, whose former band, Pencey Prep, had recently broken up, rounded out the band. Due to creative differences, mostly between Ray and Matt, they fired Matt in 2004 and recruited former sound mixer for The Used, Bob Bryar, to be the fifth member of the band.
The Band:
Gerard Way
· 32 years old.
· Sings lead vocals.
· Graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York.
· Wrote the graphic novel series The Umbrella Academy, illustrated by Gabriel Ba and distributed by Dark Horse Comics.
· Honestly wants to Save Your Life and change the world with his band and their message. You can see this in the first song he wrote for MCR, "Skylines and Turnstiles." It's about 9/11 and includes the lyrics: "And after seeing what we saw/Can we still reclaim our innocence?/And if the world needs something better/Let's give them one more reason now."
· Smokes (a lot of) Marlboro Lights.
· Known for his lack of personal hygiene, though that’s gotten better recently. (He once bragged that it had been 11 days since he last showered. Frank Iero has talked about both Way brothers having a distinctive odor and an “armpit problem.”)
· Was blonde for a while in 2006, a look that will live on through the videos for “Welcome to the Black Parade” and “Famous Last Words.”
· Is responsible for MCR’s whole aesthetic, from the cover art, to the band’s logo, to the Black Parade marching band of the damned uniforms they were wearing for a while.
· Has been clean and sober since August of 2004. Things got pretty bad when the band gained popularity, culminating in Gerard having a breakdown in the summer of ’04. He gave up drugs and alcohol cold turkey after a horrible trip to Japan where he is said to have thrown up for 45 minutes straight after a performance at the SummerSonic festival. The behind the scenes DVD, Life on the Murder Scene, showed some of Gerard’s lower moments, including him being passed out in the street in the middle of the afternoon. (LotMS is the best source of canon in the whole fandom. If you’re at all interested in this band, buy it.) He claims now that he doesn’t even like taking aspirin when he gets a headache.
· Married Lyn-Z Ballato, bassist of the band Mindless Self Indulgence, in September of 2007 after a shotgun romance on the Projekt Revolution tour. They toasted with sparkling cider. Lyn-Z recently gave birth to Bandit, the couple's first daughter.
· Was rumored to have had a romance with Bert McCracken of The Used when their respective bands toured together in 2005-2006 (more about that later).
Ray Toro
· 31 years old.
· Plays lead guitar.
· Is very serious about music, and had the back of their bus turned into a studio so that he could record while on tour.
· Has hair that defies all the laws of god and man.
· Can shred like a motherfucker.
· Got engaged to long-time girlfriend, Krista, on his thirtieth birthday, and they're now married.
· Ray tends to recede from the fame game, preferring to stay in the background, but his influence on MCR’s music is strong.
Mikey Way
· 28 years old.
· Plays bass, which he learned specifically to be in the band.
· Nicknamed Mikeyway. (Yes, that IS his whole name said as one word. Yes, his brother and fellow bandmates refer to him that way.)
· Known as a space cadet, but it is my fervent belief that Mikey is smarter than you and he’s smarter than me. In fact, I think that Mikeyway is a secret super genius. He’s just that awesome.
· Gave up alcohol and drugs along with his brother in 2004. I don’t know if he’s completely clean the way that Gerard is, but he’s definitely slowed down a significant amount, and claims that his only addiction is coffee.
· Had a bit of a breakdown during the recording of The Black Parade, and subsequently began taking bi-polar medication.
· Has gone through a noticeable physical transformation in the last two years, including getting Lasik surgery on his eyes.
· In March of 2007, he married Alicia Simmons, who worked as a bass tech for bands like Evanescence, Avenged Sevenfold and even Fall Out Boy.
· Took a brief sabbatical from the band in mid-2007 to enjoy having lots of newlywed sex with his new wife.
· Was rumored to have had a fling with Pete Wentz when their respective bands co-headlined Warped Tour ’05. This time is referred to as the Summer of Like (more about that later).
Frank Iero
· 27 years old. His birthday falls on Halloween, a fact that he’s inordinately proud of, if the word HALLOWEEN tattooed across his knuckles and the giant jack-o-lantern between his shoulder blades is any indication.
· Plays rhythm guitar.
· Known for wreaking havoc on stage. He’s kicked Gerard in the balls, dragged Mikey to the ground mid-song and accidentally toppled Bob’s drum kit, among other things.
· Is one of the smallest members of bandom at 5’4’’. He has no trouble fitting inside of school lockers.
· Was a sick child, and still gets sick easily.
· Smokes (a lot of) Camel Lights.
· Is vegan, and speaks out about that decision.
· Owns Skeleton Crew, a clothing line, publishing company and record label. His side project, Leathermouth, is produced by Skeleton Crew.
· Is a tiny, hyperactive shit that gets a kick out of annoying Bob Bryar as much as possible. At the same time, though, he’s just as earnest about the band as Gerard.
· Has a wife named Jamia that he’s been with since 2002, and to whom he’s adorably devoted.
Bob Bryar
· 29 years old.
· Took the place of Matt Pelissier when the latter was kicked out of the band in 2004.
· Plays drums.
· Lives in the suburbs of Chicago (the Chicago transplants, they are everywhere!)
· Met the other members of My Chemical Romance while sound mixing for The Used.
· Before he joined the band, he went along on one of their European tours and helped out for free.
· Has been known to cause damage to cameras that show him too much attention.
· Smokes Parliaments.
· Is patient with Frank’s tendency to climb him like a tree at any available opportunity.
· Apparently dating someone, but I’ve never seen any pictures of them together (omg, pix or it didn’t happen!).
Brian Schechter
· Is (or was?) the band’s manager. He’s important enough in fic that he deserves his own section.
· I think that MCR and Brian have gone their separate ways since MCR went on a year-long break. Still, Brian was incredibly important to the creation of the band, and he was important in shaping who they are and how successful they've become.
· Good friends with all the members of the band. He basically gave up his life savings to support them in the early days.
· When Gerard thought he was going to kill himself, it was Brian he called, high on cocaine, and Brian who talked him down from it while thousands of miles away.
· Years after Brian helped Gerard, Gerard and the guys returned the favor by encouraging him to check into a rehab facility in Utah.
· Tour managed The Used, which is how My Chemical Romance met Bob and how Gerard met Bert. MCR and The Used were good friends and did a few tours together between 2003 and 2005, before having a falling out.
Supporting Cast:
Matt Pelissier, original drummer of the band from 2001-2004. He was kicked out in the summer of '04 due to creative differences, primarily between him and Ray Toro.
Alicia Simmons (Way), Mikey's lovely wife. She's a bassist and worked as a tech. She's also rumored to have had a relationship with Pete before getting together with Mikey. She and Mikey have really hideously awesome matching love tattoos on their inner forearms.
Lyn-Z Ballato (Way), Gerard's lovely wife. She's the bassist for the band Mindless Self Indulgence, who toured with MCR on the Projekt Revolution tour in the summer of 07. She and Gerard got married on the last day of the tour, after a public courtship that involved matching unicorn shirts and messages written in Sharpie on their skin. It's almost TOO adorable.
Jamia Nestor (Iero), Frank's lovely wife. They got married in early March 2008, which makes them newlyweds right now. Nothing says honeymoon like a 30-date U.S. tour, am I right? I think you'll find that Jamia is the most well-liked of the bandom girlfriends, probably because she's been with Frank through his hilarious chubby, dreadlocked stage. Plus, look how adorable they are! Frank is also vocally crazy about her, and that helps a lot.
Worm, one of their bodyguards. He always looks kind of long-suffering when shown, probably a side effect of constantly having to corral Frank Iero.
Matt Cortez, referred to by Gerard Way as the hardest working tech in the biz. He's been Frank's guitar tech for years, and he filled in on bass when Mikey took a sabbatical for his honeymoon.
Other Information
· Everyone in the band but Bob is a Jersey boy through and through. And we’re talking bodies-floating-in-the-pond, can’t-let-your-kids-play-outside Jersey. They’re also very proud of that fact. As far as I know, they all still live in Jersey, even after becoming rich.
· You may notice that there’s not much crossover between My Chemical Romance and the Fueled By Ramen bands. However, they did play Warped Tour ’05 and part of Warped Tour ’04 with Fall Out Boy, The Academy Is and Gym Class Heroes. Also, in 2006 when both bands were in LA making their most recent albums, Patrick and Bob lived together. Gabe Saporta, currently of the band Cobra Starship and formerly of the band Midtown, also knew My Chemical Romance from the New Jersey music scene. You can also find pictures of Gabe and a young Mikeyway doing some dirty dancing. Gabe was thanked a lot in the liner notes for MCR’s early albums.
· My Chemical Romance has a long history of its band members getting sick and having to cancel shows or play them without all the members. There’s Frank’s general sickness - he’s gotten pneumonia and the flu on more than one occasion. Bob’s leg got burnt by pyrotechnics while shooting the video for “Famous Last Words.” He didn’t take care of it, and it got infected with gangrene. Later on, Bob had to sit out half of a European tour because of wrist problems. In summer of ’07, Bob and Ray contracted salmonella from eating some bad chicken and the band had to cancel five or six shows. Once they even played a song without Gerard when Gerard lost his voice. Adam Lazzara of Taking Back Sunday provided the vocals.
· Right before the band began recording "Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge," Mikey and Gerard's grandmother died. She was a huge supporter of the band, and the person that first encouraged Gerard to sing. Consequently, the album became about, according to Gerard, "two boys who lost their grandma." It kicks off with the song "Helena," which is named after her and is a tribute to her. (lyrics: "What's the worst that I can say?/Things are better if I stay/So long and good night/So long and good night") The first time they heard the finished song, Mikey had to leave the room.
Ships
Frank/Gerard
The biggest ship in the My Chemical Romance fandom is Frank/Gerard. They spend every interview trying to out earnest each other, and every concert trying to out hot each other. They’ve mastered the art of the stage gay. They love each other. They love you. Frank's response to being called faggots on stage while playing a show was to grab Gerard's face mid-song and stick his tongue into Gerard's mouth. Even though they both have beautiful wives, that hasn’t stopped the slash fans. They’re amazing.
Ray/Bob
This is another big pairing that you’ll find floating around. This is the pairing of Real Dudes who play music and don’t wear (much) make up. Ideal for anyone interested in the fandom who’s not so into tiny, tattooed emo boys.
Frank/Bob
Some people dislike this pairing for whatever reason, but I like it. Frank’s always teasing Bob and climbing on top of him and purposely antagonizing him. It makes for great story possibilities.
See also:
Frank/Mikey
Mikey/Bob
Mikey/Gerard (Yes, you read that right. Bandom has managed to combine RPS fic with incest fic all in one shiny package.)
Mikey/Ray
Ray/Gerard
Gerard/Bob
Brian/Gerard
Brian/Bob
There’s a good amount of het, threesomes and femmeslash in this fandom with the guys’ super hot significant others. Alicia is popular shipped with Mikey, Pete, Gerard and Lyn-Z, Gerard’s wife. Jamia/Frank fic is pretty prevalent, and you can also find some Jamia/Frank/Gerard fic floating around. Gerard/Lyn-Z is another popular pairing in the recent months since they’ve gotten married. Some people are touchy about reading stories featuring non-famous people or canon relationships, but if you’re curious, that stuff does exist.
Bands With One Or Two Important Members To Know
Cobra Starship
(l-r: Nate Novarro, drums; Ryland Blackinton, guitar; Gabe Saporta, vocals; Victoria "Vicky-T" Asher, keytar and back-up vocals; Alex Suarez, bass)
Cobra Starship actually started out as a supergroup that included Gabe Saporta, William Beckett (lead singer of The Academy Is…), Travis McCoy (lead singer of Gym Class Heroes) and Maja Ivarsson (lead singer of The Sounds). They all came together to make the song “Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)” for a certain movie soundtrack (guess which one). After that, the other three went back to their own bands and Gabe formed the secondcoming of Cobra Starship, who were then signed by Decaydance in 2006.
Gabe Saporta
Gabe, who is 29, wears a Justin Timberlake pendant around his neck and wrote a song about, “loving someone so much that you lock them in your basement.” And yes, that’s what the song is about. (“You can’t escape now/I’ve got you locked inside this room/You know I did good/And soon you will love me too”) That’s…pretty much Gabe. Even though he comes off kind of creepy, every fan encounter with him that I’ve read online has said nothing but nice things about him. When I met him, he literally signed autographs until security dragged him away by the waist, and even then he was reaching out to sign stuff for people.
“Being From Jersey Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry,” a song off of their first album, is his apology letter to the New Jersey scene and all the fans of his old band, Midtown, who thought he was ditching them in order to be part of a pop group. Kind of heartbreaking if you listen to the lyrics.
Victoria (Vicky-T) Asher
You will also need to know Victoria, or Vicky-T. She’s one of the only females in bandom, so she gets a lot of action, both male and female. Also, she’s incredibly hot. So, you know, that’s another reason to get to know her.
The Academy Is...
v. 1.2 Tom Conrad. (l-r: Andy "The Butcher" Mrotek, drums; William Beckett, vocals; Adam Siska, bass; Mike Carden, guitar; Tom Conrad, guitar)
v. 2 Michael Guy Chislett. (l-r: Adam Siska, bass; Mike Carden, guitar; William Beckett, vocals; Andy "The Butcher" Mrotek; Michael Guy Chislett, guitar)
TAI is another band out of Chicago. Pete convinced Fueled By Ramen to sign TAI before Pete founded Decaydance. The Decaydance website has them listed as part of the label, though I'm not sure how that worked out.
William Beckett
William Beckett is the lead singer. He’s 23 years old, and apparently married with one kid, though he hasn’t publically announced this. At this point there’s fanon speculation, pictures of band members with a baby and an announcement on a church web site, but no confirmation. He’s tall and very, very long, with legs all the way down to the floor. At one point when Patrick was 14 and William was 13, they played some music together. In fic, he’s often portrayed as slutty, drunken and silly. There’s definitely pictorial evidence of his drunken-ness and his silliness, but not so much the sluttiness. Still, that’s the fannish perception.
TAI is the band that Jon Walker used to tech for. At that time, Tom Conrad was their guitarist.
Tom Conrad
He has since left the band for unspecified reasons. For a while, Tom traveled with Panic and photographed them. Now he plays for a new, currently unsigned, band called Empires.
Gym Class Heroes
(l-r: Eric Roberts, bass; Disashi Lumumba-Kasongo, guitar; Travis McCoy, vocals; Matt McGinley, drums)
GCH has actually been around the longest of all these bands, but they didn’t start gaining real popularity until Pete signed them to Decaydance.
Travis McCoy
Their lead singer is Travis McCoy, who is a total ham in the best way possible. He’s kind of nasty (again, in the best way possible), and likes to talk about sex a lot between songs. Their music is a fusion of hip-hop and pop rock, with Travis rapping over rock music.
Patrick has collaborated with GCH on several occasions, most notably the songs “Cupid’s Chokehold” and “Clothes Off!”
Ships
Any combination of Gabe, William and Travis works, including all three of them together. These dudes really like each other.
Travis/William
William/Gabe
Travis/Gabe
Vicky-T provides most of this fandom’s het and femmeslash fodder. She’s often paired with either Gabe or Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy, whom she once referred to as her “favorite person in the world.” In terms of femmeslash, it’s a bit thinner on the ground, but I’ve seen her with Greta Salpeter from The Hush Sound and Ashlee Simpson, Pete’s girlfriend, most often.
Vicky-T/Gabe
Vicky-T/Patrick
Ryland Blackinton/Alex Suarez
This is kind of a sleeper ship that's slowly been gaining popularity.
William/Tom Conrad
This fic is mostly angsty and ends badly, since William and Tom had a falling out which led to Tom being kicked out of the band.
Tom Conrad/Jon Walker
Lots of best friends fic, sometimes angsty due to Jon leaving to tour with Panic.
Other Bands To Know
The Hush Sound
(l-r: Chris Faller, bassist; Bob Morris, guitar and vocals; Greta Salpeter, piano and vocals; Darren Wilson, drums)
Another Chicago-based band signed to Decaydance. Another Decaydance band that Patrick Stump produced. Ryan Ross, of Panic at the Disco, discovered their PureVolume page and alerted Pete to them. You’re most likely to see Greta in fic, paired with Vicky-T or, less likely, one of her other bandmates. She is darling. In late '08, the band announced that they're taking a break, with several of them working on solo material. They still seem to be good friends.
The Cab
(top l-r: Alex Marshall, keyboards; Alex Johnson, drums. bottom l-r: Ian Crawford, guitar; Alex "Singer" Deleon, vocals; Cash Cooligan, bass)
Ian Crawford left the band and has been replaced by a dude named Bryan who is also dating Keltie, Ryan's ex-girlfriend. I don't even know. This time it was Spencer Smith and Brendon Urie who discovered these guys in their hometown of Las Vegas. Brendon is featured on their most popular song of the moment, “I’ll Run.” They’ve been opening for Cobra Starship on the Really, Really Ridiculously Good Looking Tour. Their van recently crashed, injuring some of them and costing them a lot of equipment.
You’ll also notice that there are three different Alexes in this band. In order to make it less confusing they usually go by last names, though Alex Deleon, the singer, has been cleverly nicknamed Singer.
Cash has been paired with Brendon quite a bit lately.
All American Rejects
(l-r: Chris Gaylor, drums; Tyson Ritter, vocals; Nick Wheeler, guitar; Mike Kennerty, bass)
These guys are on an island unto themselves, in terms of fic. I’m not sure why, since they’ve toured with several of the other bands. I’ve seen some crossover stuff featuring these guys, but mostly it’s just a bunch of awesome fic written on its own. Nick and Tyson, the guitarist and lead singer, respectively, have the same best friends forever vibe that is so appealing in Pete/Patrick and Ryan/Spencer. They are also from Oklahoma, and have the adorable accents to go along with that.
Taking Back Sunday/Straylight Run/Brand New
There's apparently some crazy, angsty, epic shenanigans going on over on the Long Island branch of bandom. Sadly, I'm not the person to tell you about them. All I know is that there's a Jesse Lacey/Adam Lazzara/John Nolan clusterfuck of hurt feelings and betrayal and bitter song lyrics (and possibly angry break up sex). See the primer linked for details. Taking Back Sunday is important because they're good friends with the members of My Chemical Romance. Gerard has, on several occasions, referred to them as their best friends.
The Used
l-r: Branden Steineckert, old drummer (new drummer is Dan Whitesides); Jepha Howard, bass; Bert McCracken, vocals; Quinn Allman, guitar
Another group of guys that, sadly, I don't know much about. The canon perception of the band is that they're crazy, and big with the tour shenanigans. Bert McCracken, the lead singer, is made out to be the devil in some My Chemical Romance fic, but I don't think that's true. You need to know this band primarily because they toured with My Chemical Romance, and because Bob used to work for them. However, there is a good chunk of intra-band fic floating around out there, mainly Bert/Quinn.
The Way Brothers' Big, Gay Tour Romances
Gerard Way/Bert McCracken
(Bert McCracken and Gerard Way - The Skeeve Twins)
When My Chemical Romance were first introduced to The Used in 2003 by Brian Schechter, Gerard and Bert became good friends. There’s plenty of smiley pictures between the two of them where they both look drunk and smelly and happy. Rumors ran rampant that it was more than that, though, something that Gerard and Bert didn’t do much to dissuade or deny. There’s even one video between the two of them from the Taste of Chaos tour in 2005 where they are answering fan questions and Gerard admits that his mother gave Bert a framed picture of Bert and Gerard for Bert’s birthday.
In 2005 they had a falling out, which became huge and public. Neither would say what happened, but Bert was known to boycott MCR shows with a bullhorn. There is fan speculation that Bert didn’t like that Gerard got clean, or that he was jealous of the success of My Chemical Romance, but it’s all guesswork.
Of course, because these are our guys, there were songs written. “Pretty Handsome Awkward” is said to be about Gerard, and Gerard has admitted that “The Sharpest Lives” is about a crazy bender with Bert.
Mikey Way/Pete Wentz
(Pete Wentz and Mikey Way)
This is the slash pairing that has the most evidence of an actual romantic relationship. It’s all circumstantial, of course, but it’s still interesting.
In the summer of 2005, during what is referred to as the Summer of Like (named by Pete Wentz, thanks Pete!), Mikeyway and Pete became really close. Pete spent a lot of time blogging about him, and said that they formed a gang together called the Sweet Little Dudes (Pete makes t-shirts. Of course he does.) There’s lots of band member swapping between the two bands and pictures of Pete wearing Mikey’s glasses, and Mikey wearing Pete’s hoodie and jacket and so on. Suspiciously, there are almost no pictures of them together. Apparently they refused to be photographed together, though separately was fine.
These things end, of course, and Mikey started dating Alicia Simmons, who Pete is rumored to have had a relationship with as well. Pete wrote an angsty blog entry, which turned into an angsty song with lyrics such as: “Best friends/ex-friends to the end/Better off as lovers/But not the other way around/Racing through the city/Windows down/In the back of yellow-checkered cars.” The song was originally called “Summer of Like” before being changed to “Bang the Doldrums.”
The primer above has the whole thing laid out in great detail, including copies of Pete’s blog entries, the pictorial evidence and reported fan sightings (Mikey and Pete coming out of the Fall Out Boy bus holding hands).
The Music Videos
One of the many awesome things about bandom is that they, literally, write the AUs for us. Isn't that thoughtful?
Vampire AU
This popular AU works off of the universe created in Fall Out Boy's music video for the song "A Little Less 16 Candles, A Little More Touch Me." In it, Fall Out Boy are vampire hunters, and Pete has been turned into a vampire. Also features William Beckett, Travis McCoy and Brendon Urie as vampires. William is the vampire that turned Pete. The song has hilariously little to do with the concept for the video.
High School AU
Another popular one. Every fandom has its share of high school AUs, but we actually have canon to back us up in the form of My Chemical Romance's video for the song "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)." The video is made to be a movie trailer about the five guys as outcasts and freaks in a preppy private school.
World War II AU
Another My Chemical Romance gem. It's for the song "The Ghost Of You," and the band plays soldiers who go off to fight at Normandy. This is a really good video, though it's pretty sad.
The Girlfriend Issue
You might be wondering how so much slash gets written in a fandom where almost every person involved has a girlfriend or a wife. The girlfriend issue is usually resolved in one of three ways.
1. Girlfriends, what girlfriends? - This kind of story completely or selectively ignores the girlfriends' existences.
2. The Convenient Break up - Many fics have the guys breaking up with their girlfriends, either with throwaway lines or as major plot points.
3. Hetting It Up - There are still other fics that include the girlfriends in the guys' lives, and incorporate that real life relationship. This usually leads to either guilt on the part of the cheater(s), or acceptance, even encouragement, on the part of the girlfriend.
Links
A list of blogs and Twitters for the various members of bandom - Maintained by samedifference_
The Subset Bandom Connection by wistfuljane - Still confused about how all the bands relate to each other? This intricate flowchart should help.
Bandslash Resource by wistfuljane - A comprehensive and ongoing list of bandom links.
Bandom overview @ newbieguide
Bandom primer/reference @ recslikewhoa - Where I got many of the links for this overview
bandom_ships - Where I got most of the ship manifestos that I linked to.
bandom_primers - Where I got many of the primers that I linked to.
bandfandom_ref - A community for asking questions about bandom canon
dotcoms_refresh - Bandom newsletter for fics, recs, meta, concert reports and primer updates
theydresstight - Weekly newsletter for bandom-related media updates
Bandslash media post of DOOM by quettaser
bandslashmania - Bandom noticeboard
bandom_recs - A rec a day on a different bandom subject!
heartsintact - Weekly bandom fic rec community
damnyouwentz - Now defunct fic community with some decent fic in its archives.
bandslash tag @ polyfandomrecs - My bandom recs (also archived at my web site)
Bandom recs @ makesmewannadie
Bandom tag @ del.icio.us
Thanks to sathinks, druidspells, storydivagirl, playfullips, miss_saigon, erilyn and my whole flist. I found pictures from trolling picspams, and here.
Bandom was built on the backs of a million picspams and primers, so I’ve included links to many of them here, in case you want go more in depth about any of the bands mentioned.
Overview
The Big Three
Fall Out Boy
The fact that there even IS a bandom can be attributed to Pete Wentz. The man has made himself an empire.
(l-r: Pete Wentz, bass; Joe Trohman, lead guitar; Patrick Stump, vocals and rhythm guitar; Andy Hurley, drums)
Fall Out Boy’s Evening Out With Your Girlfriend (2003)
Take This To Your Grave (Fueled By Ramen Records, 2003)
My Heart Will Always Be the B-Side of my Tongue (Fueled By Ramen Records, 2004)
From Under The Cork Tree (Island/Def Jam Records, 2005)
Infinity on High (Island/Def Jam Records, 2007)
Folie a Deux (Island/Def Jam Records, 2008)
Fall Out Boy was formed in 2001 by three boys, Joe Trohman, Pete Wentz and Patrick Stump, in the wealthy suburbs of Chicago (drummer Andy Hurley was added later). They started out playing basements and skate parks and bowling alleys all over Illinois, until they signed with indie label Fueled By Ramen Records and then major label Island Records. They have plenty of incestuous ties to the Chicago hardcore and punk scenes that will come into play later on in this overview.
The Band:
Joe Trohman
· 25 years old.
· Recruited Pete Wentz and later Patrick Stump, whom he met at a Borders, to join his band.
· Plays guitar.
· Has a unique brand of performing (mainly consisting of spinning around with his guitar and sometimes playing some chords) which has been coined “Trohmania” by his bandmates.
· Has been dating the same girl, Marie, for years.
· Has a slight lisp and a wicked Jew-fro that would make even Seth Cohen jealous.
· Admits to smoking pot.
Pete Wentz
· 30 years old.
· Was a local celebrity in the hardcore scene before joining Fall Out Boy.
· Plays the bass, writes all the lyrics and is the front man for the band.
· Is the CEO of Clandestine Industries, which primarily houses his clothing line, but which also sells books and other items. There are now Clandestine stores in Chicago and LA, and Nordstrom sells the clothing line.
· CEO of Decaydance Records, an imprint of Fall Out Boy’s label, Fueled By Ramen. Decaydance is home to many of the other bandom bands, including Panic at the Disco, Gym Class Heroes, Cobra Starship and The Hush Sound.
· Married Ashlee Simpson, but his ex-girlfriend of note is a girl named Jeanae, who Pete dated off and on for years. They started dating when she was 15 and he was 23. Yeah, I know.
· Once took naked pictures of himself that ended up being leaked to ohnotheydidnt. The most common theory is that they were leaked by a former friend - Chris Gutierrez, or HeyChris - after Pete sent said pictures to HeyChris’s girlfriend. We don’t know for sure, though. HeyChris has also denied this rumor.
· In February of 2005, before the release of their first major label album, From Under The Cork Tree, Pete attempted suicide by overdosing on the prescription anti-depressant Atavan in his car outside of a Best Buy. This is commonly referred to as the “Best Buy Incident.” He’s written songs about it that are on Fall Out Boy’s latest record, including “7 Minutes in Heaven (Atavan Halen)” and “Hum Hallelujah.”
· Was rumored to have had a fling with Mikey Way of My Chemical Romance when their respective bands co-headlined Warped Tour ’05. This time is referred to as the Summer of Like (more about that later).
· Is involved in politics and some global issues. He’s big on spreading awareness about the situation in Uganda, and the organization Invisible Children. The band traveled to Uganda in the summer of 2007.
Patrick Stump
· 25 years old.
· Met Pete for the first time wearing an argyle sweater and knee socks. He originally wanted to drum for the band, but then Pete heard him sing and knew they’d found their lead singer.
· Plays rhythm guitar, sings and makes Pete’s lyrics into songs.
· He also plays bass, drums, piano and trumpet, to name a few things. Patrick is something of a musical mastermind.
· Produces music for various musicians, mostly on Pete’s label, including Cobra Starship, the Hush Sound and Gym Class Heroes. Basically, Pete signs the bands and then sends them over to Patrick for all the heavy lifting.
· Is currently dating a girl named Elisa, but you’ll hear mention of his ex-girlfriend, Anna, who supposedly cheated on him.
· Has some body issues that he’s talked about in interviews. He wears a hat because he’s developing a bald spot, and he’s self-conscious about his fluctuating weight.
Andy Hurley
· 28 years old.
· Only member of the band that’s not from Chicago. He’s from Wisconsin, and still lives there with five other dudes, including Matt Mixon, his bff. They call their house Fuck City, and have corresponding merchandise/Myspace/Twitter stuff revolving around it.
· Was added to the band after they had recorded their first demo, Evening Out With Your Girlfriend, in 2003.
· Plays drums.
· Only straightedge member of the band. He's also vegan and doesn’t smoke, drink or do any drugs, among other things.
· Politically leftist with serious opinions on the state of society.
· Majored in history and anthropology.
Supporting Cast:
Jeanae, Pete's on again and finally off again ex-girlfriend, and his good friend, Nick Scimeca (previously of 504 Plan with Jon Walker of Panic at the Disco, currently of being awesome). Nick is involved in an intense bromance with Plain White T's drummer De'Mar Hamilton. It's fucking adorable.
Ashlee Simpson, Pete's wife and the mother of their son, Bronx. She is wonderful.
Matt Mixon, Andy's super-hot bff and roommate in Fuck City. You can't make this stuff up, folks. He, and other members of Fuck City, are members of the Chicago/Milwaukee hardcore scene.
Pete's dog, Hemingway. He can be seen on t-shirts and tote bags that Pete sells for his clothing line.
Other Information:
· Fall Out Boy has an interesting stage show because of the fact that Patrick, though the lead singer, isn’t actually the front man of the band. Pete does all the talking between songs, and Patrick routinely goes through whole concerts without saying a word that isn’t a song lyric.
· In the winter of 2003, on their way to New York to film the music video for “Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy?” their van skid on some black ice and smashed into a tree. The cover art on “From Under The Cork Tree” is an allusion to the van wreck.
Ships
Pete/Patrick
The main intra-band Fall Out Boy ship is Pete/Patrick. I would guess that probably about 75-80% of the slash fic you’ll find will center around them, and that’s being conservative. The biggest BNF in the Pete/Patrick community is Pete Wentz. That guy loves the SHIT out of Patrick, and seems to get a kick out of stirring up rumors. The place you see this the most is online, in his various blogs and web sites. There’re tons of fun examples of this. I’ll only show you a few, because this is an overview and I have like 30,000 other bands to get to. Check out the picspam I’ve linked to, though. It’s good stuff.
question
Why did patrick suck balls on FUSE?
asked by Renee on 2005-05-11
answer
that kid is my bestfriend, i don't care if you're a girl i'd still punch you in the mouth if you said that to my face. have a nice day.
answered by peter on 2005-05-11
question
Pete, If you were on a deserted island and had to choose between an Ipod full of your favorite songs or Patrick, what would you pick?
asked by sara on 2005-11-13 15:13:00
answer
trick question. patrick is an ipod full of my favorite songs.
answered by peter on 2005-11-13 17:14:00
question
Hypothetically asking, Ok, what if one day you woke up and Patrick was not there. Would you be worried?
asked by I Didnt Do It on 2005-06-14 19:59:00
answer
it would make me want to disappear to wherever he was.
answered by pete on 2005-06-14 20:05:00
sal and dean (or my proximity to greatness- thx jd)
after writing On the road jack was interviewed incessantly mostly about dean moriarty. most journalists assumed he was dean and that was all they wanted to know about. until his death jack proclaimed he was in fact sal paradise. dean was neal cassady. patrick is my dean. he keeps the car between the lines. he unlocks the secrets. he is the conversation. he is the magic. i know i am sal and i feel damn lucky to have the wind blowing in the thru the windows as he keeps us at 80mph. make no mistake, there is a difference between a parlor trick and true blue magic. i will remember this til the day i die.
And lest you think Pete is alone in his adoration, have a couple Patrick quotes:
"One of my favorite compliments that I'll get is 'Oh yeah, fuck Pete, you're the thing, you're the star.' I'm like 'Dude, that's my best friend, what the fuck are you talking about? That's not a compliment to me. That offends me. You just put him down.'"
-- from Kerrang Magazine
"It was a real tour in that we went out and played shows and some band played Fall Out Boy songs, but it wasn't Fall Out Boy at all. I had to go up there and do my best Pete impression onstage, because that's all I knew. And I had to say verbatim what Pete says, because I'm an idiot and don't know anything about what to say onstage. It is a tour, so, of course we had a little fun, but every day I was like, 'I never want to sing another one of these songs ever again if that dude's not there.'"
-- from AP magazine
Panic at the Disco
v. Brent Wilson. (l-r: Ryan Ross, guitar and back up vocals; Spencer Smith, drums; Brendon Urie, vocals, piano and guitar; Brent Wilson, bass)
v. Jon Walker. (l-r: Jon Walker, bass; Brendon Urie, vocals, piano and guitar; Ryan Ross, guitar; Spencer Smith, drums)
A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out (DecayDance Records, 2005)
Pretty. Odd. (DecayDance Records, 2008)
In a suburb of Las Vegas, a young, Tom Delonge lookalike named Ryan Ross and his best friend since they were toddlers, Spencer Smith, formed a band with Brent Wilson and some other guy who is inconsequential, but who I think is named Trevor. They played mostly Blink 182 covers until Ryan started writing his own stuff. Soon after, Trevor disappeared and they recruited Brent’s school acquaintance, Brendon Urie, on vocals and keyboards. In 2005, before they’d ever so much as played a show, Ryan posted a handful of their songs to the web site PureVolume and sent the link to Pete Wentz. Ryan, in the early days, was a bit of an internet stalker. One hilarious AIM conversation between Ryan and Pete, and one visit to Vegas later, and Pete essentially created Decaydance so that he could sign Panic and be their A&R. Then in 2006, Ryan, Spencer and Brendon fired Brent. The reasons sited were that Brent didn’t show up for a gig, and he wasn’t a very versatile musician. In his place, they hired Jon Walker, a guitar tech for The Academy Is…who they met while opening for that band in 2005. Jon stayed with the band until July 2009, when it was announced that both he and founding member, Ryan, were leaving to pursue their own divergent musical interests.
The Band:
Ryan Ross
· 22 years old.
· Used to have a LiveJournal, where he posted pictures of himself to communities such as tightpants.
· Has gone through many different personal styles over the last two years. He used to draw elaborate designs on his face with make up. He’s now hit some kind of hippie phase that people either love or hate.
· Plays guitar and wrote most, if not all, of the songs on their first album.
· His father was an alcoholic. Ryan wrote about his struggles with this in songs like “Camisado” and “Nails For Breakfast, Tacks For Snacks.” His father died of alcohol-related complications in 2006. In the earlier days, he talked about not being comfortable with alcohol because of this. Lately, he seems to have embraced the rock and roll lifestyle.
· Had a nasty past history with girlfriends, another part of his life that he brought to his music. Recently broke up with Keltie Colleen and is now, maybe, sometimes, dating someone new.
· His voice is a monotone that often betrays little to no emotion.
· Once offered fans some of his soup when they were waiting outside in the cold before a show.
Spencer Smith
· 21 years old.
· Plays drums.
· Though Spencer’s the youngest member of Panic, he’s also known to be the most responsible. It was Spencer that made the phone call to fire Brent, while Brendon and Ryan listened on speakerphone.
· Fandom says that he’s a “bitch” and talks about his “bitch face” often, which is something I think has been over-exaggerated, especially recently.
· Has a dry, smart sense of humor that probably contributes to the "bitch" characterization.
· Acquired a beard that has left most of fandom shaking their heads.
· Has a love of shoes which becoming rich and moderately famous has only intensified.
Brendon Urie
· 21 years old.
· Plays a little of everything, but mostly piano and guitar, and sings lead.
· Comes from a Mormon family, and was kicked out of his house for joining Panic instead of going to college. He has apparently mended fences since then.
· Acts like a loveable spaz, though he’s not as ridiculous as fanon sometimes makes him.
· Has mentioned his love of Disney, and Aladdin specifically, on more than one occasion (and has been mocked by Ryan for it).
· Has been previously linked to scene queens Audrey Kitching and Lana Jade (which I’ll talk about later). Both girls have insinuated that he was somewhat less than straight, but I personally don’t trust anything said by angry ex-girlfriends in general.
Jon Walker
· 23 years old.
· Is the only member not from Las Vegas. He’s from the Chicago suburbs.
· Played in the band 504 Plan with Nick Scimeca and Tom Conrad.
· Was a guitar tech for Chicago-based band The Academy Is…for the Truckstops and Statelines Tour, where he met the other members of Panic at the Disco.
· Enjoys photography.
· Enjoys wearing flip-flops.
· Used to work at Starbucks, a fact that has been used in many an AU fic.
· Fandom considers Jon the “real boy” of Panic, and the more easy-going, Beatles-inspired appearance of Panic of late has been attributed to him.
· Is dating a girl named Cassie.
· At this point, pretty much everyone has joined Team JWalk, including Brendon, who literally joined teamjonwalker when he had a LiveJournal.
Supporting Cast:
Brent Wilson, the original bassist for the band. He was kicked out, supposedly via a phone call from Spencer. He had been showing up late to practices and soundchecks, and he missed a whole show. His side of the story is different, though I'm not sure about the specifics. The break was not an amicable one, but he seems to have moved on.
Zack Hall, one of their bodyguards. He's apparently very nice in person. The guys in the band are fond of snuggling with him and getting piggyback rides, Brendon especially.
Jac Vanek, Ryan's ex-girlfriend. He stalked her through LJ for a while before she agreed to date him. They were together for a few months at the end of 2006.
Keltie Colleen, Ryan's other ex-girlfriend. She's a dancer.
Haley, Spencer's (maybe, probably) ex-girlfriend.
Cassie, Jon's girlfriend.
Audrey Kitching, Brendon's ex-girlfriend (also, his first girlfriend. Precious!)
Katie Kay, one of the dancers on Panic's Nothing Rhymes With Circus tour.
Other Information
· On July 5, 2009, Panic at the Disco announced that they are, essentially, splitting in half. Brendon and Spencer are keeping the name Panic and recording/touring as the band, while Jon and Ryan are working on their own music together. No one knows the whole story, but there doesn't seem to be any bad blood between the band members, and there's going to be at least one more Panic at the Disco album put out by Brendon and Spencer.
· In January 2008, scene queen Lana Jade wrote an open letter to Brendon Urie on her buzznet account. The letter was hilariously ridiculous, and alleged, among other things, that Brendon likes to be called “big daddy” during sex and that he uses cocaine. The letter was soon locked down, and Lana made another post saying that someone had hacked into her account and composed a fake letter in order to make her look bad. Or something, I don’t really know. Whether or not it’s true is pretty inconsequential at this point. It’s an amazing read.
· Following the unbelievable success of their debut album, Panic sequestered themselves in a cabin in the woods of Nevada in an attempt to start writing again. This is now referred to as the “pornocabin.” The songs they wrote at that time were eventually scrapped when they decided that they wanted to take the album in another direction.
· It might seem like Panic is everywhere right now, and that’s because, after a long hiatus, their follow up album has been released and a new Spring tour announced. They’re touring the U.S. and Canada as the headliners for the Honda Civic Tour, and they’re being supported by bandom band The Hush Sound, as well as Phantom Planet and Motion City Soundtrack.
Ships
Unlike Fall Out Boy, which has one dominant OTP, Panic fandom is all over the place. Anyone can be paired with anyone else, including all combination of threesomes and even a sizeable amount of gsf (group sex fic or group slash fic). However, there are two main pairings.
Brendon/Ryan
This is the biggest pairing, mainly because of their banter on stage, and Brendon’s tendency to hold Ryan’s hand, pet his face and wrap his arms around Ryan’s waist. In the early days of the fandom, this pairing dominated.
Spencer/Jon
I think that this pairing started as a default, since Brendon and Ryan were always written together. It’s become a strong pairing in its own right, though, helped along by the way that Spencer’s smile takes up his whole face whenever Jon looks at him.
See also:
Spencer/Brendon
Jon/Brendon
Jon/Ryan
Ryan/Spencer
Panic gsf
Ryan/Pete Wentz
This crossover is probably the most popular Panic crossover pairing, because of the way that Ryan got Pete to notice him and his band in the first place. A lot of fic will suggest that a starstruck Ryan did more than just play music for Pete in the early days.
My Chemical Romance
v. Matt Pelissier. (l-r: Frank Iero, rhythm guitar; Matt Pelissier, drums; Gerard Way, vocals; Mikey Way, bass; Ray Toro, guitar)
v. Bob Bryar. (l-r: Bob Bryar, drums; Ray Toro, guitar; Gerard Way, vocals; Mikey Way, bass; Frank Iero, rhythm guitar)
I Brought You Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love (2002, Eyeball Records)
Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge (2004, Reprise Records)
Life on the Murder Scene (2006, DVD/CD, Warner/Reprise Records)
The Black Parade (2006, Reprise Records)
In 2001, comic book and horror movie geek, Gerard Way, traveled back and forth from New Jersey to New York for his job at the Cartoon Network. He lived in his parents’ basement, self-medicated with a strong cocktail of anti-depressants, alcohol and drugs and was generally dissatisfied with his life. Cut to September 11th when Gerard was stuck on a ferry as he watched the Twin Towers fall. That experience was the kick in the teeth that he needed to quit his job and start making meaningful art. He decided to give music one more try - after several failed attempts previously - and called up his friends Matt Pelissier and Ray Toro to form a band. Gerard’s brother, Mikey Way, taught himself to play the bass in order to join the group, and Frank Iero, whose former band, Pencey Prep, had recently broken up, rounded out the band. Due to creative differences, mostly between Ray and Matt, they fired Matt in 2004 and recruited former sound mixer for The Used, Bob Bryar, to be the fifth member of the band.
The Band:
Gerard Way
· 32 years old.
· Sings lead vocals.
· Graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York.
· Wrote the graphic novel series The Umbrella Academy, illustrated by Gabriel Ba and distributed by Dark Horse Comics.
· Honestly wants to Save Your Life and change the world with his band and their message. You can see this in the first song he wrote for MCR, "Skylines and Turnstiles." It's about 9/11 and includes the lyrics: "And after seeing what we saw/Can we still reclaim our innocence?/And if the world needs something better/Let's give them one more reason now."
· Smokes (a lot of) Marlboro Lights.
· Known for his lack of personal hygiene, though that’s gotten better recently. (He once bragged that it had been 11 days since he last showered. Frank Iero has talked about both Way brothers having a distinctive odor and an “armpit problem.”)
· Was blonde for a while in 2006, a look that will live on through the videos for “Welcome to the Black Parade” and “Famous Last Words.”
· Is responsible for MCR’s whole aesthetic, from the cover art, to the band’s logo, to the Black Parade marching band of the damned uniforms they were wearing for a while.
· Has been clean and sober since August of 2004. Things got pretty bad when the band gained popularity, culminating in Gerard having a breakdown in the summer of ’04. He gave up drugs and alcohol cold turkey after a horrible trip to Japan where he is said to have thrown up for 45 minutes straight after a performance at the SummerSonic festival. The behind the scenes DVD, Life on the Murder Scene, showed some of Gerard’s lower moments, including him being passed out in the street in the middle of the afternoon. (LotMS is the best source of canon in the whole fandom. If you’re at all interested in this band, buy it.) He claims now that he doesn’t even like taking aspirin when he gets a headache.
· Married Lyn-Z Ballato, bassist of the band Mindless Self Indulgence, in September of 2007 after a shotgun romance on the Projekt Revolution tour. They toasted with sparkling cider. Lyn-Z recently gave birth to Bandit, the couple's first daughter.
· Was rumored to have had a romance with Bert McCracken of The Used when their respective bands toured together in 2005-2006 (more about that later).
Ray Toro
· 31 years old.
· Plays lead guitar.
· Is very serious about music, and had the back of their bus turned into a studio so that he could record while on tour.
· Has hair that defies all the laws of god and man.
· Can shred like a motherfucker.
· Got engaged to long-time girlfriend, Krista, on his thirtieth birthday, and they're now married.
· Ray tends to recede from the fame game, preferring to stay in the background, but his influence on MCR’s music is strong.
Mikey Way
· 28 years old.
· Plays bass, which he learned specifically to be in the band.
· Nicknamed Mikeyway. (Yes, that IS his whole name said as one word. Yes, his brother and fellow bandmates refer to him that way.)
· Known as a space cadet, but it is my fervent belief that Mikey is smarter than you and he’s smarter than me. In fact, I think that Mikeyway is a secret super genius. He’s just that awesome.
· Gave up alcohol and drugs along with his brother in 2004. I don’t know if he’s completely clean the way that Gerard is, but he’s definitely slowed down a significant amount, and claims that his only addiction is coffee.
· Had a bit of a breakdown during the recording of The Black Parade, and subsequently began taking bi-polar medication.
· Has gone through a noticeable physical transformation in the last two years, including getting Lasik surgery on his eyes.
· In March of 2007, he married Alicia Simmons, who worked as a bass tech for bands like Evanescence, Avenged Sevenfold and even Fall Out Boy.
· Took a brief sabbatical from the band in mid-2007 to enjoy having lots of newlywed sex with his new wife.
· Was rumored to have had a fling with Pete Wentz when their respective bands co-headlined Warped Tour ’05. This time is referred to as the Summer of Like (more about that later).
Frank Iero
· 27 years old. His birthday falls on Halloween, a fact that he’s inordinately proud of, if the word HALLOWEEN tattooed across his knuckles and the giant jack-o-lantern between his shoulder blades is any indication.
· Plays rhythm guitar.
· Known for wreaking havoc on stage. He’s kicked Gerard in the balls, dragged Mikey to the ground mid-song and accidentally toppled Bob’s drum kit, among other things.
· Is one of the smallest members of bandom at 5’4’’. He has no trouble fitting inside of school lockers.
· Was a sick child, and still gets sick easily.
· Smokes (a lot of) Camel Lights.
· Is vegan, and speaks out about that decision.
· Owns Skeleton Crew, a clothing line, publishing company and record label. His side project, Leathermouth, is produced by Skeleton Crew.
· Is a tiny, hyperactive shit that gets a kick out of annoying Bob Bryar as much as possible. At the same time, though, he’s just as earnest about the band as Gerard.
· Has a wife named Jamia that he’s been with since 2002, and to whom he’s adorably devoted.
Bob Bryar
· 29 years old.
· Took the place of Matt Pelissier when the latter was kicked out of the band in 2004.
· Plays drums.
· Lives in the suburbs of Chicago (the Chicago transplants, they are everywhere!)
· Met the other members of My Chemical Romance while sound mixing for The Used.
· Before he joined the band, he went along on one of their European tours and helped out for free.
· Has been known to cause damage to cameras that show him too much attention.
· Smokes Parliaments.
· Is patient with Frank’s tendency to climb him like a tree at any available opportunity.
· Apparently dating someone, but I’ve never seen any pictures of them together (omg, pix or it didn’t happen!).
Brian Schechter
· Is (or was?) the band’s manager. He’s important enough in fic that he deserves his own section.
· I think that MCR and Brian have gone their separate ways since MCR went on a year-long break. Still, Brian was incredibly important to the creation of the band, and he was important in shaping who they are and how successful they've become.
· Good friends with all the members of the band. He basically gave up his life savings to support them in the early days.
· When Gerard thought he was going to kill himself, it was Brian he called, high on cocaine, and Brian who talked him down from it while thousands of miles away.
· Years after Brian helped Gerard, Gerard and the guys returned the favor by encouraging him to check into a rehab facility in Utah.
· Tour managed The Used, which is how My Chemical Romance met Bob and how Gerard met Bert. MCR and The Used were good friends and did a few tours together between 2003 and 2005, before having a falling out.
Supporting Cast:
Matt Pelissier, original drummer of the band from 2001-2004. He was kicked out in the summer of '04 due to creative differences, primarily between him and Ray Toro.
Alicia Simmons (Way), Mikey's lovely wife. She's a bassist and worked as a tech. She's also rumored to have had a relationship with Pete before getting together with Mikey. She and Mikey have really hideously awesome matching love tattoos on their inner forearms.
Lyn-Z Ballato (Way), Gerard's lovely wife. She's the bassist for the band Mindless Self Indulgence, who toured with MCR on the Projekt Revolution tour in the summer of 07. She and Gerard got married on the last day of the tour, after a public courtship that involved matching unicorn shirts and messages written in Sharpie on their skin. It's almost TOO adorable.
Jamia Nestor (Iero), Frank's lovely wife. They got married in early March 2008, which makes them newlyweds right now. Nothing says honeymoon like a 30-date U.S. tour, am I right? I think you'll find that Jamia is the most well-liked of the bandom girlfriends, probably because she's been with Frank through his hilarious chubby, dreadlocked stage. Plus, look how adorable they are! Frank is also vocally crazy about her, and that helps a lot.
Worm, one of their bodyguards. He always looks kind of long-suffering when shown, probably a side effect of constantly having to corral Frank Iero.
Matt Cortez, referred to by Gerard Way as the hardest working tech in the biz. He's been Frank's guitar tech for years, and he filled in on bass when Mikey took a sabbatical for his honeymoon.
Other Information
· Everyone in the band but Bob is a Jersey boy through and through. And we’re talking bodies-floating-in-the-pond, can’t-let-your-kids-play-outside Jersey. They’re also very proud of that fact. As far as I know, they all still live in Jersey, even after becoming rich.
· You may notice that there’s not much crossover between My Chemical Romance and the Fueled By Ramen bands. However, they did play Warped Tour ’05 and part of Warped Tour ’04 with Fall Out Boy, The Academy Is and Gym Class Heroes. Also, in 2006 when both bands were in LA making their most recent albums, Patrick and Bob lived together. Gabe Saporta, currently of the band Cobra Starship and formerly of the band Midtown, also knew My Chemical Romance from the New Jersey music scene. You can also find pictures of Gabe and a young Mikeyway doing some dirty dancing. Gabe was thanked a lot in the liner notes for MCR’s early albums.
· My Chemical Romance has a long history of its band members getting sick and having to cancel shows or play them without all the members. There’s Frank’s general sickness - he’s gotten pneumonia and the flu on more than one occasion. Bob’s leg got burnt by pyrotechnics while shooting the video for “Famous Last Words.” He didn’t take care of it, and it got infected with gangrene. Later on, Bob had to sit out half of a European tour because of wrist problems. In summer of ’07, Bob and Ray contracted salmonella from eating some bad chicken and the band had to cancel five or six shows. Once they even played a song without Gerard when Gerard lost his voice. Adam Lazzara of Taking Back Sunday provided the vocals.
· Right before the band began recording "Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge," Mikey and Gerard's grandmother died. She was a huge supporter of the band, and the person that first encouraged Gerard to sing. Consequently, the album became about, according to Gerard, "two boys who lost their grandma." It kicks off with the song "Helena," which is named after her and is a tribute to her. (lyrics: "What's the worst that I can say?/Things are better if I stay/So long and good night/So long and good night") The first time they heard the finished song, Mikey had to leave the room.
Ships
Frank/Gerard
The biggest ship in the My Chemical Romance fandom is Frank/Gerard. They spend every interview trying to out earnest each other, and every concert trying to out hot each other. They’ve mastered the art of the stage gay. They love each other. They love you. Frank's response to being called faggots on stage while playing a show was to grab Gerard's face mid-song and stick his tongue into Gerard's mouth. Even though they both have beautiful wives, that hasn’t stopped the slash fans. They’re amazing.
Ray/Bob
This is another big pairing that you’ll find floating around. This is the pairing of Real Dudes who play music and don’t wear (much) make up. Ideal for anyone interested in the fandom who’s not so into tiny, tattooed emo boys.
Frank/Bob
Some people dislike this pairing for whatever reason, but I like it. Frank’s always teasing Bob and climbing on top of him and purposely antagonizing him. It makes for great story possibilities.
See also:
Frank/Mikey
Mikey/Bob
Mikey/Gerard (Yes, you read that right. Bandom has managed to combine RPS fic with incest fic all in one shiny package.)
Mikey/Ray
Ray/Gerard
Gerard/Bob
Brian/Gerard
Brian/Bob
There’s a good amount of het, threesomes and femmeslash in this fandom with the guys’ super hot significant others. Alicia is popular shipped with Mikey, Pete, Gerard and Lyn-Z, Gerard’s wife. Jamia/Frank fic is pretty prevalent, and you can also find some Jamia/Frank/Gerard fic floating around. Gerard/Lyn-Z is another popular pairing in the recent months since they’ve gotten married. Some people are touchy about reading stories featuring non-famous people or canon relationships, but if you’re curious, that stuff does exist.
Bands With One Or Two Important Members To Know
Cobra Starship
(l-r: Nate Novarro, drums; Ryland Blackinton, guitar; Gabe Saporta, vocals; Victoria "Vicky-T" Asher, keytar and back-up vocals; Alex Suarez, bass)
Cobra Starship actually started out as a supergroup that included Gabe Saporta, William Beckett (lead singer of The Academy Is…), Travis McCoy (lead singer of Gym Class Heroes) and Maja Ivarsson (lead singer of The Sounds). They all came together to make the song “Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)” for a certain movie soundtrack (guess which one). After that, the other three went back to their own bands and Gabe formed the secondcoming of Cobra Starship, who were then signed by Decaydance in 2006.
Gabe Saporta
Gabe, who is 29, wears a Justin Timberlake pendant around his neck and wrote a song about, “loving someone so much that you lock them in your basement.” And yes, that’s what the song is about. (“You can’t escape now/I’ve got you locked inside this room/You know I did good/And soon you will love me too”) That’s…pretty much Gabe. Even though he comes off kind of creepy, every fan encounter with him that I’ve read online has said nothing but nice things about him. When I met him, he literally signed autographs until security dragged him away by the waist, and even then he was reaching out to sign stuff for people.
“Being From Jersey Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry,” a song off of their first album, is his apology letter to the New Jersey scene and all the fans of his old band, Midtown, who thought he was ditching them in order to be part of a pop group. Kind of heartbreaking if you listen to the lyrics.
Victoria (Vicky-T) Asher
You will also need to know Victoria, or Vicky-T. She’s one of the only females in bandom, so she gets a lot of action, both male and female. Also, she’s incredibly hot. So, you know, that’s another reason to get to know her.
The Academy Is...
v. 1.2 Tom Conrad. (l-r: Andy "The Butcher" Mrotek, drums; William Beckett, vocals; Adam Siska, bass; Mike Carden, guitar; Tom Conrad, guitar)
v. 2 Michael Guy Chislett. (l-r: Adam Siska, bass; Mike Carden, guitar; William Beckett, vocals; Andy "The Butcher" Mrotek; Michael Guy Chislett, guitar)
TAI is another band out of Chicago. Pete convinced Fueled By Ramen to sign TAI before Pete founded Decaydance. The Decaydance website has them listed as part of the label, though I'm not sure how that worked out.
William Beckett
William Beckett is the lead singer. He’s 23 years old, and apparently married with one kid, though he hasn’t publically announced this. At this point there’s fanon speculation, pictures of band members with a baby and an announcement on a church web site, but no confirmation. He’s tall and very, very long, with legs all the way down to the floor. At one point when Patrick was 14 and William was 13, they played some music together. In fic, he’s often portrayed as slutty, drunken and silly. There’s definitely pictorial evidence of his drunken-ness and his silliness, but not so much the sluttiness. Still, that’s the fannish perception.
TAI is the band that Jon Walker used to tech for. At that time, Tom Conrad was their guitarist.
Tom Conrad
He has since left the band for unspecified reasons. For a while, Tom traveled with Panic and photographed them. Now he plays for a new, currently unsigned, band called Empires.
Gym Class Heroes
(l-r: Eric Roberts, bass; Disashi Lumumba-Kasongo, guitar; Travis McCoy, vocals; Matt McGinley, drums)
GCH has actually been around the longest of all these bands, but they didn’t start gaining real popularity until Pete signed them to Decaydance.
Travis McCoy
Their lead singer is Travis McCoy, who is a total ham in the best way possible. He’s kind of nasty (again, in the best way possible), and likes to talk about sex a lot between songs. Their music is a fusion of hip-hop and pop rock, with Travis rapping over rock music.
Patrick has collaborated with GCH on several occasions, most notably the songs “Cupid’s Chokehold” and “Clothes Off!”
Ships
Any combination of Gabe, William and Travis works, including all three of them together. These dudes really like each other.
Travis/William
William/Gabe
Travis/Gabe
Vicky-T provides most of this fandom’s het and femmeslash fodder. She’s often paired with either Gabe or Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy, whom she once referred to as her “favorite person in the world.” In terms of femmeslash, it’s a bit thinner on the ground, but I’ve seen her with Greta Salpeter from The Hush Sound and Ashlee Simpson, Pete’s girlfriend, most often.
Vicky-T/Gabe
Vicky-T/Patrick
Ryland Blackinton/Alex Suarez
This is kind of a sleeper ship that's slowly been gaining popularity.
William/Tom Conrad
This fic is mostly angsty and ends badly, since William and Tom had a falling out which led to Tom being kicked out of the band.
Tom Conrad/Jon Walker
Lots of best friends fic, sometimes angsty due to Jon leaving to tour with Panic.
Other Bands To Know
The Hush Sound
(l-r: Chris Faller, bassist; Bob Morris, guitar and vocals; Greta Salpeter, piano and vocals; Darren Wilson, drums)
Another Chicago-based band signed to Decaydance. Another Decaydance band that Patrick Stump produced. Ryan Ross, of Panic at the Disco, discovered their PureVolume page and alerted Pete to them. You’re most likely to see Greta in fic, paired with Vicky-T or, less likely, one of her other bandmates. She is darling. In late '08, the band announced that they're taking a break, with several of them working on solo material. They still seem to be good friends.
The Cab
(top l-r: Alex Marshall, keyboards; Alex Johnson, drums. bottom l-r: Ian Crawford, guitar; Alex "Singer" Deleon, vocals; Cash Cooligan, bass)
Ian Crawford left the band and has been replaced by a dude named Bryan who is also dating Keltie, Ryan's ex-girlfriend. I don't even know. This time it was Spencer Smith and Brendon Urie who discovered these guys in their hometown of Las Vegas. Brendon is featured on their most popular song of the moment, “I’ll Run.” They’ve been opening for Cobra Starship on the Really, Really Ridiculously Good Looking Tour. Their van recently crashed, injuring some of them and costing them a lot of equipment.
You’ll also notice that there are three different Alexes in this band. In order to make it less confusing they usually go by last names, though Alex Deleon, the singer, has been cleverly nicknamed Singer.
Cash has been paired with Brendon quite a bit lately.
All American Rejects
(l-r: Chris Gaylor, drums; Tyson Ritter, vocals; Nick Wheeler, guitar; Mike Kennerty, bass)
These guys are on an island unto themselves, in terms of fic. I’m not sure why, since they’ve toured with several of the other bands. I’ve seen some crossover stuff featuring these guys, but mostly it’s just a bunch of awesome fic written on its own. Nick and Tyson, the guitarist and lead singer, respectively, have the same best friends forever vibe that is so appealing in Pete/Patrick and Ryan/Spencer. They are also from Oklahoma, and have the adorable accents to go along with that.
Taking Back Sunday/Straylight Run/Brand New
There's apparently some crazy, angsty, epic shenanigans going on over on the Long Island branch of bandom. Sadly, I'm not the person to tell you about them. All I know is that there's a Jesse Lacey/Adam Lazzara/John Nolan clusterfuck of hurt feelings and betrayal and bitter song lyrics (and possibly angry break up sex). See the primer linked for details. Taking Back Sunday is important because they're good friends with the members of My Chemical Romance. Gerard has, on several occasions, referred to them as their best friends.
The Used
l-r: Branden Steineckert, old drummer (new drummer is Dan Whitesides); Jepha Howard, bass; Bert McCracken, vocals; Quinn Allman, guitar
Another group of guys that, sadly, I don't know much about. The canon perception of the band is that they're crazy, and big with the tour shenanigans. Bert McCracken, the lead singer, is made out to be the devil in some My Chemical Romance fic, but I don't think that's true. You need to know this band primarily because they toured with My Chemical Romance, and because Bob used to work for them. However, there is a good chunk of intra-band fic floating around out there, mainly Bert/Quinn.
The Way Brothers' Big, Gay Tour Romances
Gerard Way/Bert McCracken
(Bert McCracken and Gerard Way - The Skeeve Twins)
When My Chemical Romance were first introduced to The Used in 2003 by Brian Schechter, Gerard and Bert became good friends. There’s plenty of smiley pictures between the two of them where they both look drunk and smelly and happy. Rumors ran rampant that it was more than that, though, something that Gerard and Bert didn’t do much to dissuade or deny. There’s even one video between the two of them from the Taste of Chaos tour in 2005 where they are answering fan questions and Gerard admits that his mother gave Bert a framed picture of Bert and Gerard for Bert’s birthday.
In 2005 they had a falling out, which became huge and public. Neither would say what happened, but Bert was known to boycott MCR shows with a bullhorn. There is fan speculation that Bert didn’t like that Gerard got clean, or that he was jealous of the success of My Chemical Romance, but it’s all guesswork.
Of course, because these are our guys, there were songs written. “Pretty Handsome Awkward” is said to be about Gerard, and Gerard has admitted that “The Sharpest Lives” is about a crazy bender with Bert.
Mikey Way/Pete Wentz
(Pete Wentz and Mikey Way)
This is the slash pairing that has the most evidence of an actual romantic relationship. It’s all circumstantial, of course, but it’s still interesting.
In the summer of 2005, during what is referred to as the Summer of Like (named by Pete Wentz, thanks Pete!), Mikeyway and Pete became really close. Pete spent a lot of time blogging about him, and said that they formed a gang together called the Sweet Little Dudes (Pete makes t-shirts. Of course he does.) There’s lots of band member swapping between the two bands and pictures of Pete wearing Mikey’s glasses, and Mikey wearing Pete’s hoodie and jacket and so on. Suspiciously, there are almost no pictures of them together. Apparently they refused to be photographed together, though separately was fine.
These things end, of course, and Mikey started dating Alicia Simmons, who Pete is rumored to have had a relationship with as well. Pete wrote an angsty blog entry, which turned into an angsty song with lyrics such as: “Best friends/ex-friends to the end/Better off as lovers/But not the other way around/Racing through the city/Windows down/In the back of yellow-checkered cars.” The song was originally called “Summer of Like” before being changed to “Bang the Doldrums.”
The primer above has the whole thing laid out in great detail, including copies of Pete’s blog entries, the pictorial evidence and reported fan sightings (Mikey and Pete coming out of the Fall Out Boy bus holding hands).
The Music Videos
One of the many awesome things about bandom is that they, literally, write the AUs for us. Isn't that thoughtful?
Vampire AU
This popular AU works off of the universe created in Fall Out Boy's music video for the song "A Little Less 16 Candles, A Little More Touch Me." In it, Fall Out Boy are vampire hunters, and Pete has been turned into a vampire. Also features William Beckett, Travis McCoy and Brendon Urie as vampires. William is the vampire that turned Pete. The song has hilariously little to do with the concept for the video.
High School AU
Another popular one. Every fandom has its share of high school AUs, but we actually have canon to back us up in the form of My Chemical Romance's video for the song "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)." The video is made to be a movie trailer about the five guys as outcasts and freaks in a preppy private school.
World War II AU
Another My Chemical Romance gem. It's for the song "The Ghost Of You," and the band plays soldiers who go off to fight at Normandy. This is a really good video, though it's pretty sad.
The Girlfriend Issue
You might be wondering how so much slash gets written in a fandom where almost every person involved has a girlfriend or a wife. The girlfriend issue is usually resolved in one of three ways.
1. Girlfriends, what girlfriends? - This kind of story completely or selectively ignores the girlfriends' existences.
2. The Convenient Break up - Many fics have the guys breaking up with their girlfriends, either with throwaway lines or as major plot points.
3. Hetting It Up - There are still other fics that include the girlfriends in the guys' lives, and incorporate that real life relationship. This usually leads to either guilt on the part of the cheater(s), or acceptance, even encouragement, on the part of the girlfriend.
Links
A list of blogs and Twitters for the various members of bandom - Maintained by samedifference_
The Subset Bandom Connection by wistfuljane - Still confused about how all the bands relate to each other? This intricate flowchart should help.
Bandslash Resource by wistfuljane - A comprehensive and ongoing list of bandom links.
Bandom overview @ newbieguide
Bandom primer/reference @ recslikewhoa - Where I got many of the links for this overview
bandom_ships - Where I got most of the ship manifestos that I linked to.
bandom_primers - Where I got many of the primers that I linked to.
bandfandom_ref - A community for asking questions about bandom canon
dotcoms_refresh - Bandom newsletter for fics, recs, meta, concert reports and primer updates
theydresstight - Weekly newsletter for bandom-related media updates
Bandslash media post of DOOM by quettaser
bandslashmania - Bandom noticeboard
bandom_recs - A rec a day on a different bandom subject!
heartsintact - Weekly bandom fic rec community
damnyouwentz - Now defunct fic community with some decent fic in its archives.
bandslash tag @ polyfandomrecs - My bandom recs (also archived at my web site)
Bandom recs @ makesmewannadie
Bandom tag @ del.icio.us
Thanks to sathinks, druidspells, storydivagirl, playfullips, miss_saigon, erilyn and my whole flist. I found pictures from trolling picspams, and here.