Bandom (Decaydance+, My Chemical Romance)

RPF Fandom
Name(s):	Bandom
Scope/Focus:	Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, My Chemical Romance, and associated bands
Date(s):	2005 - Present
See also:	Pete Wentz and His Humans, Bandom (Music Source Text), Bandslash, Popslash
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

For other definitions, see Bandom (disambiguation).

Bandom is the name given to a Real People Fiction fandom featuring a large but specific group of American bands, many of whom became popular in the mid 2000s. The three "core" bands are My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, and Panic at the Disco. In this context, the term is a portmanteau of bandslash and fandom, though it is understood differently in other fan communities. See Bandom Terminology Debate. The term's first use is hard to pinpoint, but it first became popular in early 2007 when a new wave of fans became interested in the bands and their surrounding fandom.

Bands

The bands that make up Bandom are all interlinking, usually having developed a relationship through touring together, being on the same record label (specifically Fueled by Ramen/Decaydance), or having band members who were previously in other band together. In fact, because of the degree of interconnectedness of these bands, many will, often jokingly, make reference to Six Degrees of Wentz, where all the bands can be linked back to Pete Wentz (bassist of Fall Out Boy) and each other with less than six degrees of separation. As a result, most of these band members will often appear in supporting roles even in fanworks not centered around their band, making crossover a popular genre (though intra-Bandom crossovers would not often be labeled as such).

See this flowchart of Bandom interconnections, created by wistfuljane as part of the comprehensive Subset Bandom Connection primer:

Main Flowchart by wistfuljane

Core bands

• Fall Out Boy (FOB) is a pop-punk band from Chicago. The members are Patrick Stump (lead vocals; guitar), Pete Wentz (lyrics; bass), Joe Trohman (guitar), and Andy Hurley (drums). Founded in 2001, the band went on hiatus in 2009, though come-back rumors were numerous. The band returned in 2013.

• My Chemical Romance (MCR or My Chem) is a punk-rock band from New Jersey, formed in 2001. The members are Gerard Way (lead vocals; lyrics), Frank Iero (guitar), Ray Toro (guitar), and Mikey Way (bass). Touring musicians for the band include James DeWees (keyboard; backing vocals), Mike Pedicone (drums; 2010-2011) and Jarrod Alexander (drums). Former members include Bob Bryar (drums; 2004-2010) and Matt Pelissier (drums; 2001-2004). The band announced that it was breaking up in March 2013. The band would formally reunite in 2019, having secretly gotten back together in 2017.

• Panic! at the Disco (P!atD or Panic!) is a band from Las Vegas that happily defies categorisation (but has been called anything from punk, pop, punk-cabaret, dance-punk, to emo). The original outfit founded in 2004 included Brendon Urie (lead vocals; guitar; keyboard), Ryan Ross (lyrics, occasional lead vocals; backing vocals; guitar), Brent Wilson (bass) and Spencer Smith (drums). In 2006, Brent Wilson was replaced by Jon Walker (bass; backing vocals), the lone Chicagoan of the band. In the summer of 2009, Panic split up, an event sometimes referred to as "The Divorce": Ryan and Jon created The Young Veins, while Brendon and Spencer remained as Panic! At The Disco (adding back the exclamation point). Ian Crawford and Dallon Weekes joined as touring musicians on guitar and bass, respectively. Dallon was added as a core member in 2012. Spencer Smith left the band in early 2015, due in part to struggles with drug addiction. Weekes officially left the band in late 2017, with Nicole Row replacing him as touring bassist. Many fans have jokingly referred to the band as Brendon! at the Brendon, because of the fact that he is the only fulltime member of the band left, and the biggest influence on where the band is heading. On January 2023, Brendon announced he decided to discontinue Panic! at the Disco.

Other FBR/Decaydance Bands

• Cobra Starship was founded in New York in 2006 by Gabe Saporta, Nate Novarro, Vicky-T, Ryland Blackinton and Alex Suarez. Ryland and Alex left the band in late 2014. The band formally announced two new members: Eric Halvorsen and Andy Barr. The band announced its breakup in November 2015.

• The Academy Is... (TAI) was discovered in 2004 by Pete Wentz, who convinced Fueled By Ramen to sign them. This inspired, by their success, Wentz to create his own label, Decaydance. Frontman William Beckett is highly popular in Bandom, but often appears coupled in fanfiction with members of other bands, such as Gabe Saporta (Cobra Starship) or Travis McCoy (Gym Class Heroes), rather than members of his own band. Butcher/Sisky also appears as a background pairing in some fics, and as the focus of a Racebending Revenge fic Home is hard to tell by redsnake05. Mike Carden is often paired up with Kevin Jonas in the So Damn Skippy pairing. Mike Carden/Michael Guy Chislett also exists.

• The Cab was a late addition to the Bandom bands, signing to Decaydance in 2007 with the help of fellow Las Vegans Panic! at the Disco. Along with Panic! at the Disco, it is one of the most popular bands to feature GSF. The name stands for "The Cash and Alex band," a play on drummer Cash Colligan and the fact that most of the other members are called Alex (Alex DeLeon, Alex Marshall, Alex Johnson), apart from guitarist Ian Crawford (who went to join Panic after the Panic divorce.)

• Gym Class Heroes (GCH) was a hip-hop, pop-funk band formed in Geneva, New York in 1997. It was signed to the FBR/Decaydance label before its indefinite hiatus which started in 2012. Despite a brief return in 2018, they once again resumed hiatus in 2019. Lead singer Travis McCoy commonly appears in fic (especially Cobra Starship and TAI fic), but the other members appear more rarely.

• The Hush Sound (THS) is a FBR/Decaydance band that has been on hiatus since 2008 and whose members are currently involved in other projects. Singer Greta Salpeter is notable as the only other female band member in the main of Bandom besides Cobra's Vicky-T, and thus Greta/Vicky-T femslash is relatively popular.

• Hey Monday is signed to the Decaydance label. They rarely appear in fic.

• Twenty One Pilots is a band originating in Columbus, Ohio. They are signed to Fueled By Ramen. Though not directly connected with any Emo Trinity band members, they have often toured together, and the members of Twenty One Pilots often appear in ensemble cast fic. Twenty One Pilots swapped out several members early in their career, and have had their current lineup of frontman and founder Tyler Jospeh and drummer Josh Dun since 2011. They are a part of newer bandom, and along with MCR, FOB and P!ATD form the Emo Quartet.

Other Associated Bands

• The Used - features in early Bandom fic due to multiple connections to MCR: TU's touring manager was Brian Schechter, their sound guy was Bob Bryar and frontman Bert McCracken and Gerard Way shared a brief but intense friendship.

• Empires: Connected due to former TAI guitarist Tom Conrad.

• All-American Rejects (AAR) was on the 2005 Warped Tour.

• Mindless Self Indulgence (MSI) is notable for their connections to My Chemical Romance. MSI bassist Lyn-Z and MCR frontman Gerard Way got married backstage after Projekt Revolution in 2007, for which the two bands toured together. Kitty, their drummer, also often appears in fics which need an extra minor female character.

• The Sounds is a Swedish band, associated with Bandom by singer Maja Ivarsson's appearance on the Cobra Starship debut single "Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)" for the 2006 film Snakes on a Plane. At the time, Cobra Starship had only one member, singer Gabe Saporta, but the single also featured William Beckett (TAI), Travie McCoy (GCH), and Nick Wheeler (AAR).

• The Like is an all-girl band, so popular when someone tries to include more female characters or femslash in their fic. Z Berg, the lead singer, came to the attention of bandom when she and Ryan Ross were dating and got fake-married on Twitter. Their first incarnation was Z, Tennessee Thomas and Charlotte, then Charlotte left amid drama (see lyrics to Narcissus in a Red Dress on their second album), and Laena and Annie joined. picspam intro by annemaris

• The Long Island bands—a collective term for Brand New, Taking Back Sunday, and Straylight Run, who are all bands from Long Island—are also of peripheral interest to bandom. These bands all share a significant link, as members of each band were in a band together at some point in the past. Taking Back Sunday has also toured frequently with MCR and are good friends with them.

• Waterparks: (also abbreviated to Parx) is a band associated with newer waves of Bandom as well as the members' own fan involvement with more "classic" Bandom such as The Used, Fall Out Boy, and My Chemical Romance. Geoff Wigington noted his first concert as Warped Tour 2005 and Otto Wood noted his as Projekt Revolution 2007[5], both events heavily referenced and associated with Bandom and fics. They are also known for their connections with Mikey Way (MCR), who played bass on their EP, Cluster and their fourth studio album, "Greatest Hits", and some of their live shows on occasion. Awsten Knight indirectly mentions Pete Wentz on the 2018 track "TANTRUM" ("getting texts from idols I've looked up to since 15") and later got Pete's approval to namedrop him in the lyrics for the 2019 track "Turbulent".

• I Dont Know How But They Found Me (often stylized in all caps, abbreviated to iDKHOW) is a band formed by ex-Panic! at the Disco member Dallon Weekes and drummer Ryan Seaman. Originally a secret sideproject, iDKHOW would become Weekes' main project after leaving Panic! at the Disco, in comparision to his pre-Panic! project, The Brobecks. Similar to Ryan Ross' post-Panic! fandom, iDKHOW has fans among current Panic! fans and ex-fans turned off by the Brendon-centric turn of the band and various other controversies. Often associated with other acts in newer waves of bandom, including Waterparks.

• All Time Low: is connected with various Decaydance+ acts through touring, including Fall Out Boy, Cobra Starship, and Hey Monday. They were rejected from being signed to Fueled By Ramen in 2006 only to later sign with them eleven years later. Pete Wentz has previously mentioned regretting not signing them to Decaydance Records. In spite of starting the band around the same time as Fall Out Boy and MCR and being a consistent face in the alt rock/pop punk scene that bandom focuses on, ATL is often not considered part of "bandom" proper. Their more meaningful connections are with acts in newer waves of bandom like Pierce the Veil, pre-bandom acts like blink-182, and bandom collaborators like 5 Seconds of Summer and Demi Lovato.

Associated Pre- and Post-Bandom Bands

Many of the band members have been in bands prior to their current ones. Those bands are rather notable within Bandom, and include Pencey Prep, Midtown, and 504Plan.

Additionally, many of the band members have since moved on to new bands or solo projects and will occasionally be featured. Notable ones include Black Cards, Gerard Way and the Hormones, Frank Iero's multiple solo and side projects, I Don't Know How but They Found Me, among others.

Fueled By Ramen/Decaydance

Fueled By Ramen (FBR) is a record label, founded by John Janick and Vinnie Fiorello (drummer of Less Than Jake) in 1996 and based out of Florida, to which Fall Out Boy is signed; FBR is sometimes referred as Fall Out Boy's indie label as they are also under contract with Island Records. When Pete Wentz (bassist of Fall Out Boy) founded Decaydance Records in 2005, it was an imprint label under Fueled By Ramen - any acts signed to Decaydance Records were also signed to Fueled By Ramen, i.e. Gym Class Heroes, Panic at the Disco, The Hush Sound, Cobra Starship, The Cab, but the contract between Decaydance Records and Fueled By Ramen has since expired. In 2014, Decaydance changed its name to DCD2 records, though it kept all previously signed acts.

Fandom History

See also: Timeline of Bandom

Before Dreamwidth and AO3, Bandom lived on LiveJournal, where it slowly emerged from the primordial ooze of general band RPS around 2004-2006 and gained a sense of identity. Many key canon events for Bandom occurred around 2004-2007, including The Summer of Like in 2005, linking musically distinct bands together in a complex web of personal and professional relationships that defined the scope of Bandom. The name of the fandom also evolved from Bandslash to Bandom, though as it transpired, this name caused confusion with fans of other rock bands in 2007.

In the early 2000s, teenage music fans were writing RPF about the bands who played at Warped Tour and other popular rock acts. Fanfiction.net banned RPF in September 2002, around the time fandom was moving to LiveJournal, so while many fans congregated on message boards and archives, others posted (or cross-posted) their bandfic to LiveJournal communities like slashypunkboys. In July 2004 a community called rareslashpairs was created "for people who are sick of reading the regular Good Charlotte and Mest stories out there and are looking for something a little different. Here you can post stories about bands that are not written a lot about or cross overs from different bands." In the first month, fans posted a Fall Out Boy fic, a My Chemical Romance/The Used crossover, a Mest/The Used crossover, and a story about Geoff Rickly of Thursday, along with various other bands that were popular at the time. patrickxpeter, possibly the first Fall Out Boy slash comm, was also created in July 2004. A few months later, the band-specific comm mychemicalslash was created. In 2005, slashatthedisco (for PATD) and midnight-party (for FOB) were created.

As fannish excitement about the bands grew, adult fans created several smaller communities, often friendslocked and with moderated membership to keep out badfic and teenagers who frequented the general fic comms. Some of these fans were former Popslashers, including the mods of both yeahchemical and damnyouwentz. yeahchemical, an MCR comm, was created in 2005 and in turn inspired the creation in 2006 of damnyouwentz, a multi-band comm that may have been a significant factor in defining Bandom and encouraging its growth. In 2007 weemo_closet was created along similar lines as damnyouwentz, but with looser membership requirements. In July 2007, fans discussing damnyouwentz's restrictive membership policy noted that the explosion of Bandom on livejournal had already rendered these early closed communities irrelevant. In the meantime, a whole slew of new bandom communities were being created with no such restrictions, including bandslashmania and bandflesh.

In a 2008 discussion about fanfic writing styles, kalpurna contrasted Bandom with Due South fandom (which started in 1994):

Bandom has no history, and the teenagers for whom this is their first fandom vastly outnumber the people who even know what a mailing list was. Not to mention the live canon and the RPS thing and the four hundred meta issues that I've never seen mentioned in any fandom before. (What do you do when an RPS subject replies to fic (directly, on LJ, logged into their own account) with "dialogue rings true"? WHAT?!) And all of these things, these young-fandom-characteristics, influence the fic in tiny imperceptible ways that you get used to without knowing what you're getting used to.

In a 2009 discussion about the wankiness of Bandom, fans pointed to sidelining of BNFs and adult bandom communities as a possible factor:

The other thing is that there really wasn't centralization in the form of bandom BNFs. Initially there was, but when bandom grew so quickly almost overnight, a lot of the early fic writers stepped back/away for various reasons. So there was a massive influx of people into a fandom that isn't just splintered by pairings, the way others are, but by bands.

Bandom grew exponentially, almost overnight. In the beginning, when it was a (relatively) small group of people in the fandom, there were set rules and standards that were similar to other online fandoms. There were a few centralized Elders/BNFs and they and their friends created the communities, hosted the challenges, and established the rules. And then suddenly, the number of people in the fandom had ballooned dramatically.

Other fans contested the idea that more BNFs would have resulted in less wank, but one thing these meta discussions show is that Bandom was thought of as a single coherent fandom, which was not true before damnyouwentz. (If anything, thinking of itself as one fandom may have been a major source of Bandom's problems. See also Bandom Big Bang's endless rounds of arguments over which bands could be included.)

Waves

Early waves - 2007-2013

In 2007 fans were already distinguishing between two "waves" of bandslashers—the earlier, smaller group associated with DYW and the 2007 flood of newcomers. makesmewannadie described the second wave as fans getting into Bandom "through the existing fans rather than through an initial interest in the music."

relative popularity of different Bandom bands over time, based on Bandom Big Bang fanworks

However, from later vantage points, some fans described the history of Bandom as consisting of two main waves of fans, the first circa 2006-2009 and the second circa 2010-2013. In 2012 one livejournal fan contrasted "Neo-Bandom" with "Old-Bandom", commenting, "By 2010, Bandom was nothing what it once was. The rise during 2011 and 2012, however, has given me hope that it isn't dead."

The most popular pairings during the 2006-2009 wave were Pete/Patrick, Brendon/Ryan, and Frank/Gerard, and the most popular pairings during the 2010-2013 wave were Frank/Gerard and Brendon/Spencer. During the first wave, Panic! At the Disco was the most popular band for fanfic, but when it split in 2009, everyone's OTP was ruined, so the fandom diminished considerably. Meanwhile Fall Out Boy went on indefinite hiatus in 2009, though later Patrick Stump released an EP and Pete Wentz toured with Black Cards so fandom didn't forget them completely. In 2010, MCR's album Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys ushered in the second wave of fans and spawned a lot of fic set in the AU world of the concept album. (This has happened before for other concept albums and single videos in bandom, but not in such a large volume or as such a distinct subset of the fandom.) MCR was then the most popular band in Bandom until its breakup in 2013, after which many of the denizens of Bandom slowly packed up and moved on to other fandoms. However, shortly before MCR broke up, FOB reformed, so there was still plenty of new Pete/Patrick fic, possibly representing a third wave. This time also kicked off a small resurgence of one of the popular crossover pairings Pete/Mikey, as many fans attributed one of the new FOB songs to the supposed relationship they had in the past, circa 2005.

Early-mid 2010s

There were multiple pushes to include new bands and singer/song writers in bandom. The most notable of these is Twenty One Pilots, whose rise coincided with the resurgence of FOB. Others include Halsey, Melanie Martinez, and occasionally Troye Sivan. However, referring to these artists as "Bandom" is controversial because while their fan bases overlap, these artists rarely have actual personal or industry connections to classic Decaydance and MCR bandom. The connections are made instead based on lyrical content, especially relating to mental health, and aesthetic appeal to those who are already into Decaydance. LGBTQ+ and female representation also played into the discussions around these pushes, with some criticism around TOP's inclusion centered around why they were being prioritized over groups like Paramore. These artists rately have prior connections to "original" bandom, but on occasion have prior fandom attachment, with Halsey referring to herself as a Warped Tour regular and a Livejournal lurker. People often refer to the MCR, FOB, P!ATD, and TOP fandoms together as the "Emo Quartet" as opposed to the "Emo Trinity." The inclusion of 5 Seconds of Summer in fandom was also contentious.Their connections with other pop punk acts and relation to One Direction, which had fandom overlap, made them appealing to some bandom fans. However, their sudden popularity made them subject to fandom wank over whether or not they were a boy band and their legitimacy as a rock band.

The fandom's big bang challenge continued running for several years, but there was a steep decline in number of participants in 2013, and it continued to shrink until fizzling out mid-challenge in 2019. (It was later revived by a new group of fans.)

Lull and emo revival - 2017-current

Fan activity for many of the Bandom bands continues on Tumblr, with many fans not old enough to have participated in the earlier waves of Bandom. A handful of older fans remain.

MCR announced their reunion on October 31, 2019, which energized their lasting fanbase there and encouraged younger or newer fans to join in. The current wave of MCR fandom on Tumblr is far less RPF-friendly than previous forms of bandom. Literary analysis, with a focus on intertextuality and Gerard Way's media influences, makes up a significant portion of that platform's bandom content, along with discourse. Common discussion topics include the ethical acceptableness of RPF, celebrity culture and parasocial relationships, (Gerard Way's) gender and sexuality, MCR's legacy and its social/political meaning (or lack thereof), and Gerard Way's relationships. Early in MCR's return, fans were also worried that their reunion tour was an uncharacteristic cash grab - these concerns largely vanished once the tour was underway, as it became obvious that the band was not only invested in the tour but actively derisive toward the concept of a cash grab reunion. Unholyverse remains startlingly popular on Tumblr. Bexless is essentially revered, while other RPF series are almost ignored. The fandom has one confession blog, mcrsecrets, created in July 2020 and run by Mack, the semi-notorious closest thing Tumblr bandom has to a big-name fan. The blog has been the subject of heavy criticism (albeit in vagueposts) for publishing and not tagging asks that some users believe normalize and/or perpetuate transphobia. Fancomics remain popular in certain circles of MCR fandom, with the Tales from the Zones comics anthology zine having a successful Kickstarter and the series Deathwish being unofficially okayed by those involved by the band to be sold in digital and print.

As of summer 2020, Panic! at the Disco has been the subject of significant criticism and controversy, with hashtags about those events trending on Twitter and not just in bandom circles. Tumblr blog Pretty Odd Fever posts obscure content, sourced images, and interviews. They also debunk common Ryden fan theories, possibly reflecting significant anti-RPF leanings in this phase of bandom.

A newer wave of bandom may be sprouting among fans of the bands Palaye Royale, Waterparks, and other relatively new pop-punk/alternative bands. Waterparks has capitalized on this phenomenon: frontman Awsten Knight has shown a greater awareness of fandom culture than band members prior due to his accessability and promotion of the band on social media. Awsten also notably has a podcast with professional writer and friend of the band Travis Riddle, "Awsten and Travis' Slumber Party", where the two read Waterparks RPF consentually submitted by fans. While Awsten is less aware of the "fourth wall" concept than previous bandom figures, he has been largely accepting of fanworks of all kinds -- in comparision to more direct complaints about fandom toxicity and entitlement towards musicians, to the point where conflicts between the band and toxic elements of their fanbase inspired their 2019 album "FANDOM". Palaye Royale collaborated with fanartist XoBillie on an official band graphic novel, "The Bastards: Volume One", a seven year effort that constitutes an "official" Alternate Universe based on the band's lyrics, art, and music videos where the band members exist as characters.

Referring to these newer bands along with bandom is controversial, possibly more controversial than TOP's inclusion in the "emo quartet" was. Older or more serious fans of the "original" bandom often take offense when younger fans discuss them alongside their favourites, and mocking newer pop-punk is a fairly common practice. TOP, and bandom's TOP phase, is also a frequent target of mockery, and widely seen as embarrassing. This embarrassment can be seen as "Emo Quartet" era bandom fans coming of age and finding their teenage obsessions retroactively embarrassing, similar to what's seen in other popular Tumblr fandoms like Homestuck. TOP also garnered controversy in summer 2020 due to Tyler Joseph falling short of fan expectations of meaningful support of the Black Lives Matter movement after a poorly conceived joke in which he made light of fans wanting him to "use his platforms." Newer bandom fans on platforms like Twitter will often mention not approving of "apologia" for figures like Brendon Urie and Tyler Joseph.

While similar to the early-to-mid-2010s controversies over introducing newer artists, the controversy over newer acts being included in can be seen as hypocritical depending on the act; Waterparks in particular have meaningful ties to bandom figures like Mikey Way and Pete Wentz, as well as proto-bandom acts like Good Charlotte. This attitude also isn't universal amongst older or more serious fans of "original" bandom, who either welcome the similarities that acts like Palaye Royale and Waterparks have to their older favorites or are largely unaware of those acts due to them not being as popular as FOB, Panic!, MCR, and TOP. Unlike the early-to-mid-2010s acts proposed for bandom, the newer wave involves bands who haven't fully reached the mainstream as opposed to groups that were just about to "break" into the mainstream at the time of Tumblr fans discovering them, like TOP and Halsey.

Fanart, often explicitly "shippy" RPF art, is popular with younger bandom participants on Instagram, and Twitter users have close-knit fandom communities as well. RPF is still posted on AO3, but Wattpad is popular with younger fans, similar to Instagram. Depending on personal tastes and awareness, fans who create more explicitly "shippy" or NSFW art on social media will block the band accounts of those involved, as often platforms like Twitter and Instagram are used by promotion by the bands themselves.

Bandom's fandom presence on social media has splintered: some fans might not participate on platforms like Tumblr and Twitter due to toxic fandom or personal distaste for the platform. Older fans can largely be found holding out on Tumblr, while younger fans primarily use Twitter. However, some fans do have accounts on multiple sites for fannish activity, and following Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter, some Twitter users have chosen to make accounts on Tumblr.

"Emocore" and "scenecore" aesthetics and fashion have grown in popularity, especially since MCR's return. These styles do not necessarily indicate involvement in bandom, but there is a loose association between the two - unlike "egirl" fashion, which is also mocked by subsets of current bandom.

Bandom Big Bang was revived by new fans in 2021 and returned to its usual yearly schedule. However, a rule change for the 2022 round banning Waycest and other problematic topics inspired the creation of a rival big bang challenge, Bandom Summer Blowout.

Shipping

See also: List of Bandom Ship Names

Because the majority of the musicians in the bands are male, slash is the most common fanwork genre, though gen, het and femslash can be found (often featuring the female musicians and more commonly the wives and girlfriends (WAGs) of the male musicians).

There are many popular pairings in bandom, both intra-band and inter-band, the latter of which are sometimes referred to as crossover pairings. The most popular pairings are usually based on band members' public or fan-perceived relationships with each other.

Almost any conceivable pairing can be found, and many fans don their tin hats and promote their favourite pairing using picspams, vidspams, and quotes to illustrate the connection between the band members involved. Individual pairing love is encouraged, and ship wars are almost non-existent. bandom_ships is a community created to celebrate one's OTP, OT3 or GSF with ship manifestos, much like the multi-fandom LiveJournal community ship_manifesto.

Common intra-band pairings, past and present

Listed in order of popularity of pairing tag on AO3, as of Sept 11, 2014. (Note that AO3 might not be an accurate representation of the popularity of pairings as Bandom predates the archive and all works might not be reposted there):

• Frank/Gerard of MCR: 5114 uses
• Patrick/Pete of FOB: 2560 uses
• Ryan/Brendon of PatD: 1495 uses
• Spencer/Brendon of PatD: 1022 uses

Updated numbers as of Feb 25, 2023:

• Frank/Gerard of MCR: 11544 uses
• Josh/Tyler of Twenty One Pilots: 6729 uses
• Patrick/Pete of FOB: 6016 uses
• Ryan/Brendon of PatD: 3175 uses

Other common intra-band pairings:

• PatD GSF: Ryan Ross/Spencer Smith/Brendon Urie/Jon Walker
• Frank/Mikey of MCR
• Ray/Mikey of MCR
• Ryan/Jon of PatD
• Brendon/Dalllon of PatD

Common crossover pairings

Common inter-band pairings include:

• Pete/Mikey: Pete Wentz of FOB/Mikey Way of MCR
• Gabe/William: Gabe Saporta of Cobra Starship/William Beckett of The Academy Is
• Gabe/Wiliam/Travis: Gabe/William/Travie McCoy of Gym Class Heroes

Smushnames

Unlike many other fandoms, bandom pairings are not usually referred to by a portmanteau, though some pairings, often the most popular ones, do have such commonly-used names. For example:

• Gabilliam for Gabe/William
• Peterick for Pete/Patrick
• Frerard for Frank/Gerard
• Ryden for Ryan/Brendon

It must be noted that while many early Bandom fans shared a dislike for smushnames, associating the terms with low quality fic and tinhatting, the relative decline of journal-based fandoms, the rise of Tumblr and Wattpad and the influx of newer fans have democratized the use of smushnames. See dedicated Tumblr communities such as:

• everythingsfrerardnothinghurts
• frerardhub
• theultimatefrerardreclist
• rydenfics

Pan-bandom Fic

A large subset of bandom fic features stories or universes in which multiple bands and pairings can be found. These can be either canon-based stories (commonly set during tours while the bands were out on the road together) or AUs. The various pairings might occur in the same story or be showcased in different parts of the same verse.

Many bandom fics that focus on the members of one band will also mention members of one or more other bands, or focus on one inter-band pairing, with the majority of the background characters pulled from one or the other of the main characters' bands. However, some bandom authors seem to be in a competition to include as many musicians from as many bandom bands as possible, pairing up many of them with each other. For example:

• Wednesday-verse by arsenicjade, a San Francisco AU with hookers and AIDS clinics featuring diverse pairings such as Spencer/Bob, Brendon/Ryan/Jon, Frank/Gerard, past Mikey Way/Matt Pelissier, and Mikey/Ray.
• The Hammond Affair by queensheep (LJ): this 96,000-word Jurassic Park AU features no less than 10 pairings, both inter- and intra-band.
• Gerard Way's (Vampire) Detective Agency verse by jjtaylor (AO3): 156k verse that includes pairings such as Frank/Gerard, Pete/Mikey, Lindsey/Jamia and Bob/Ray.
• Forever, Now by harriet_vane (AO3): 227k verse with main pairings Frank/Gerard, Ryan/Brendon, and Spencer/Jon.
• Straight Up Chicago Style verse by AirgiodSLV: a 41k strip club AU featuring Frank/Gerard, Pete/Ryland, Gabe/William and Brendon/Ryan.
• the first rule of broom-wielding by skoosiepants: a 14K AU in which everyone in bandom lives in the same apartment building. Pairings include Spencer Smith/Brendon Urie, Frank Iero/Gerard Way, Bob Bryar/Joe Trohman, Patrick Stump/Pete Wentz, and Ryan Ross/Jon Walker.
• (To Die Will Be) An Awfully Big Adventure by FayJay: 72k urban fantasy AU featuring Frank Iero/Gerard Way, Lindsey Way/Gerard Way, Pete Wentz/Ashlee Simpson, and Pete Wentz/Patrick Stump.

The Fourth Wall

The Fourth Wall in Bandom has been described as being "more like a fringe curtain." There exist numerous occurrences of bands acknowledging fandom and commenting on fan activities, as well as extensive debate amongst fans as to appropriate behaviour relating to maintaining the Fourth Wall - or not. The fourth wall has changed even more with the advent of streaming, something which P!ATD frontman Brendon Urie has done often on his Twitch channel.

See The Fourth Wall in Bandom for detail.

Bandom Journal Communities

See also: Category:Bandom Journal Communities

• dotcoms_refresh on LJ: a popular newsletter community, which links to fanworks, news and meta.
• bandslashmania on LJ: pan-bandom fanworks community.
• angelsandkings: pan-bandom Dreamwidth community for fanworks.
• bandom-ships: "a comprehensive, all-squeeing OTP appreciation community" on LJ.
• mcrficfinder: a story-finding community for MCR.
• Six Degrees for Band Femslash, a dreamwidth comm attempting to counter the gender imbalance in Bandom. It only had 3 entries as of 30 August 2015.

Challenges

See also: Category:Bandom Challenges.

• anon_lovefest: an anonymous bandom prompt meme
• Bandom Big Bang on LJ - does what it says on the tin, and has had several popular rounds or waves.
• Bandom Summer Blowout is a Big Bang challenge made with the explicit premise of allowing all content, after Bandom Big Bang imposed content restrictions in 2021.
• Bandom Reverse Big Bang on LJ is a Big Bang challenge where artwork, mixes, and voice performances are created and used as inspiration for fics.
• Moldy Pits And All: a challenge "dedicated the dirty/filthy/gross/nasty/asshole antics of the boys and girls in the bands"
• no_tags (on LJ and on DW): a short, anonymous ficlet exchange
• bandomstuffsit: a seasonal pan-Bandom fic exchange.

Other Fannish Resources

• BANDSLASH POST O'DOOM, ^{Archived version} by duendeoflorien on livejournal (2007-05-19)
• Bandom (fbr/mcr) Primer/Reference, ^{Archived version} by sightsee on livejournal (2008-01-15)
• The Subset Bandom Connection, ^{Archived version} by wistfuljane: a comprehensive primer of the interconnections between all Bandom bands (last updated 2008)
• newbieguide's Bandom Overview, ^{Archived version} by wistfuljane (last updated 2008-03-29)
• crack_van's Bandom Overview, ^{Archived version} by iamtheenemy (last updated July 8, 2009)
• for your entertainment *rimshot* pt. 1, ^{Archived version} and pt. 2, ^{Archived version} by andlightplay on livejournal, bandom primer and reclist by an Adam Lambert fan (2010-12-05)
• The Ultimate Cross-Bandom Timeline by mizubyte on google sheets (last updated in 2021)

References

Related Links
People	Pete Wentz, Patrick Stump, Frank Iero, Gerard Way, Ray Toro, Mikey Way, Bob Bryar, Brian Schechter, Brendon Urie, Spencer Smith, Ryan Ross, Jon Walker, Dallon Weekes
Places	dotcoms_refresh, Damn You Wentz
Things	Bandom Terminology Debate