Fall Out Boy
| RPF Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name(s): | Fall Out Boy, FOB |
| Scope/Focus: | Core band in Bandom |
| Date(s): | 2001-2009, 2013-present |
| See also: | My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Fall Out Boy is an American rock band from Wilmette, Illinois, formed in 2001. The band consists of vocalist-rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, bassist Pete Wentz, and drummer Andy Hurley. Fall Out Boy was in the Warped Tour lineup in 2004 and 2005.
Fall Out Boy is a core part of Bandom, a fandom that emerged around 2004-2006 and focuses primarily on bands signed to Fueled by Ramen/Decaydance as well as My Chemical Romance. The fandom and its scope is often humorously described as "Six Degrees of Pete Wentz".
The band announced it was going on hiatus in 2009, but reformed in 2013, to the surprised delight of its fans.
Band Members
Though there were a few early line-up changes, the band is best known as having the following members.
Pete Wentz
Pete Wentz (Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III) is the bassist, lyricist, and occasional backing-vocalist of Fall Out Boy. He is credited as creating all of Bandom and is the founder of the Decaydance record label, which began as a subset of FOB's Fueled by Ramen. He was married to Ashlee Simpson until 2011 but is most likely paired with FOB vocalist Patrick Stump in fic. He is also paired with Mikey Way of My Chemical Romance, with whom he became close when the bands toured together on Van's Warped Tour in the summer of 2005; this time period has since been dubbed by fans as "The Summer of Like."
Patrick Stump
Patrick Stump (born Patrick Stumph) is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and primary song composer for the band. He produces records for a number of the other Bandom bands.
Joe Trohman
Joe Trohman is the lead guitarist and backing vocalist, and rarely gets paired with anyone, though he and his wife are occasionally background characters in Pete/Patrick fics.
Andy Hurley
Andy Hurley is the band's drummer and percussionist. Since Fall Out Boy's hiatus he has also drummed in the band The Damned Things.
Shipping
- Pete/Patrick
- Though less frequent, Joe/Andy often appears in order to pair up the remaining band members.
- Pete/Mikey, of MCR
- Patrick/Gerard of MCR
- Heypetekey (Chris Gutierrez (Arma Angelus), Pete Wentz and Mikey Way (My Chemical Romance))
On the AO3 in 2018, the most popular FOB ship is Pete/Patrick, followed by Pete/Mikey, Andy/Joe, Patrick/Joe, Patrick/Brendon (of PATD), and Pete/Gabe (of Cobra Starship).[1]
Common Fanwork Settings and Tropes
- Van days, fic set during the early days of the band's history, when they still toured in a van[2]
- Sixteen Candles 'verse, based on FOB's video "A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me"[3]
- Warped Tour 2005, often known as "The Summer of Like"
- Cultverse[4][5], created by queenofhell and based on popslash cultverse fics
Fanwork Examples
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
- a rare bandslash fanvid by fabella: Chasing Arizona (2008-03-29)
Interactions With Fandom
- See also: Bandom and the Fourth Wall
Over the years, the band reactions to fannish activity such as fan fiction (including RPS) and fanvids has been reported as neutral.[citation needed] However, in late 2014, they began a series of public explorations of their fanbase. In Dec 2014, the band released a video of them reading posts from the popular Fall Out Boy Confessions, a tumblr blog. It was billed as a "Christmas gift" to their fans in advance of the release of their new album in January 2015.
A few weeks later, they announced their plans to read fanfiction aloud on a radio show, much to the dismay of many of their fans:
"This radio show, along with the decision to read excerpts from the FOB confessions tumblr, is a real change in the way they treat their fans and particularly problematic given the way it focuses on the idea that women’s desire is something ridiculous and to be mocked. (nb: I haven’t watched the FOB confessions video, but as I understand it, it’s all focused on confessions having to do with sex, rather than the very many posts on that tumblr which have nothing whatsoever to do with sex.) I’m not sure what’s changed and I still hope they’ll reconsider this latest decision."[6]
"Personally I’m not a writer but I’m aware that the fanfic some people write is an outlet and to have fall out boy basically come up and possibly read it and then to make fun of it is just…really gross :/"[7]
Some fans expressed their disappointment with the band's choice:
"I think it would’ve been really great if they had sat down and seen all the beautiful fanart and gifs people post for them and all the poetry and songs that are dedicated to them. That would be SO nice because that’s what we want the world to know. We want the world to know how much we respect these guys and what their music means to us. I have been in the bandom for a long time and fanfiction has never been a problem but this might make it one. I have never know Fall Out Boy to do something that will cause their fans/supporters anxiety. But this will. It’s all okay at the first glance and as a joke, but really, to me it feels less like a joke and more like a mockery of the fandom that owes them so much and wants them to notice all the good they’ve done and not the fanfiction they write just as a creative outlet."[8]
Other fans disagreed with objections to the fanfic reading:
"OH MY GOD WTF IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE I get it that you’re upset about fanfics being read and this supposedly ‘hidden’ side of fandoms being brought out in the open but to call it FOB being ‘misogynists’ (fuck???) and hating on @ZackHallCloud on twitter when he’s trying to explain that it’s a) not meant to be a mockery but just a fun session thing, bringing fanfics out from the chatrooms and stuff and b) the names of the writers will NOT be revealed so basically its not like they’re gonna be humiliated publicly (if they feel ashamed on their own that cannot be helped because well, they did kinda write the fics) THAT IS SO FUCKED UP CALM YOUR MOTHEREFFIN TITS."[9]
And as one fan somewhat cynically noted:
"Well if fob do this whole reading fanfic thing that I don’t really have an option about maybe they’ll lose fans and it will be easier to get concert tickets…"[10]
On Jan 5, 2015, they announced they were canceling the fanfic reading event.[11]
Fannish Resources
Archives
LiveJournal Communities
- falloutboylove - general FOB community (not RPF)
- midnight_party - FOB fanfiction community
- falloutboyicons - icons community
- fobficfinder - for finding lost fics
Primers
- FOB Primer by eleanor_lavish at damnyouwentz (2006)
- A Brief, Yet Thorough Introduction to Fall Out Boy RPS by lierdumoa (2007)
- The One With the Vampires, a Sixteen Candles 'verse primer by siren_mage at bandom_primers (2007)
Copypasta
Zines
- Our Lawyer Made Us Change The Name Of This Book So We Wouldn't Get Sued: A Fall Out Boy Charity Fanbook (2024) - charity zine for Gaza.
Other Resources
References
- ^ See the relationship filter on the Fall Out Boy works page (accessed 28 March 2018)
- ^ See, for example, trixiesfic's How to Be a Rock Star, by Patrick M. Stump, Aged Seventeen. 4 December 2007. (Accessed 1 February 2011.)
- ^ siren_mage in bandom_primers. The One With the Vampires. 13 June 2007. (Accessed 1 February 2011.)
- ^ queenofhell. New Cultverse, and a Master List. 16 May 2007. (Accessed 1 February 2011.)
- ^ queenofhell in cultverse. Background and Masterlist. 20 May 2007. (Accessed 1 February 2011.)
- ^ The Brainworm Eradication Society (Girlpearl uses a tag “fandom is the best/worst”...), Archived version
- ^ A mini rant in regards to Fall out Boy + Fanfic - ʕ´•ᴥ•`ʔ, Archived version
- ^ 'The Poisoned Youth', Archived version
- ^ 'The Poisoned Youth', Archived version
- ^ ~House Rules~, Archived version
- ^ Fall Out Boy on Twitter: "gonna have to cancel the fan submitted fall out fan fic night on thurs in LA w @jensenclan88", Archived version