TALK TO ME ABOUT THE SUMMER OF LIKE, OMG

[ladyfoxxx]

Okay, so I was tweeting with gala_apples and turps33 and dangerous_47 earlier about Summer of Like and I just need to post a little about how it continues to be one of my VERY FAVOURITE pieces of canon. So many feelings. Love, despair, friendship, augh. Sweet little dudes. Ex-friends, better off as lovers etc.



If you don't know what I'm talking about, dear god read this ship manifesto NOW.

So, there are a lot of songs about Mikey and Pete's doomed love turned eternal friendship and Pete's written most of them.

This one was written by Pete. Because Pete likes to write love songs to Mikeyway and make Patrick sing them.

BEST FRIENDS, EX-FRIENDS TO THE END, BETTER OFF AS LOVERS AND NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND
and
THIS IS A LOVE SONG, IN MY OWN WAY. HAPPILY EVER AFTER BELOW THE WAIST. (Because Pete's said in a million interviews about how he is "gay above the waist". Let's think about that.)

I'm not going to go on about this song and interpret it and stuff because the manifesto I linked above does it so much better, I'm just going to paste this blog post from Pete's journal that feels like it might have been the earliest incarnation of it here:

wrote you a goodbye note (you just wrote me off) on your arm when you passed out. bestfriends, exfriends- better off as lovers not the other way around. racing through the city in the back of yellow checkered cars. the takeoffs are the worst but the skin from your shoulder to your ear makes it all worth it. and im sorry the way my moods flicker on and off like old light on your porch, but i know you wouldn't have it any other way. sneaking in your window instead of out. the way you hold a cigarette cause you don't know what to do with your hands when we are sitting this close. the way the waists of pants feel better at the ankles. the way you always were my best excuse for calling in sick on everyone else. i miss you.
petey

I have no idea why, but "the skin from your shoulder to your ear" and "the way you hold a cigarette cause you don't know what to do with your hands when we are sitting this close" just FEEL like Mikey to me /tinhat

UGH, THIS SONG.

There is also this original song by James Butterworth:

TELL ME THAT SONG DOESN'T GIVE YOU ALL THE FEELINGS. HOLY SHIT. (This dude writes amazing filk, BTW. He also gave us The Boy In The Trucker Cap (Pete/Patrick) and Pint Sized Romeo (Frank/Gerard))

And by the time that I am gone, you'll be just another song I didn't sing

Right? That's so Pete-like it's nearly painful. PETE KEEPS WRITING SONGS ABOUT MIKEY AND MAKING OTHER PEOPLE SING THEM. IT HURTS BECAUSE IT'S TRUE.


And then there is ANOTHER song Pete wrote (arguably) about That Fateful Summer, this time not with Fall Out Boy but with The Black Cards: Smash

So high, high that I'm feeling, you know I like you best when you're kneeling.
and
Just surrender yourself, let's have some fun, I won't tell anybody, if you don't tell anyone
Just let yourself go, I can blow you away
You know that I'm trouble but you can't resist it

This was only ever a demo, sadly. There was some talk from Pete about it that I can't find (if anyone has links I'd be grateful) FOUND IT! (Thanks annemaris)



TELL ME HE DIDN'T WRITE THAT SONG ABOUT MIKEY, OMG.

What really INTERESTS me about Smash, is how it takes a different angle on Summer of Like. A lot of interpretations of SOL in fic are very deep and angsty and thoughtful and they are all about DOOMED LOVE, and while I LOVE THOSE, I also really love the idea that it might have been just really fun and reckless, the idea of slamming each other up against buses and getting drunk and teasing and making trouble and it just being FUN. Stupid, dumb, reckless fun, you know? It almost feels more fitting in some way, like it might have happened that way, given that Mikey and Pete stayed friends afterwards (because I'm not going to entertain for one moment that SOMETHING didn't happen between them that Summer.)

Anyway, the point is, Pete is STILL thinking about that summer, and he's STILL making his poor lead singers sing songs about Mikeyway, right?

Not to mention they still tweet at each other (or at least, they did, until Mikey forgot his twitter existed) but Pete totally still tweets about Mikey and the Sweet Little Dudes.

RECS!

I am TERRIBLE at keeping track of fics, I honestly do it by memory, I don't have bookmarks or a delicious account or anything, so I SUCK at reccing fic. I'm not even going to TRY to make any kind of useful list, I'm just going to post the three SOL fics that I think of FIRST, which is probably more telling than anything since they're the ones that obviously stayed with me.

This Is A Love Song by brooklinegirl
Summer was Tinkerbell, and Pete was clapping as hard as he could to keep her alive.
Everything I love in a SOL fic. Awkward, charming, tragic, beautiful and the Pete voice is perfect. (bonus fic - Sometimes We Take Chances - awkwardest phone sex EVER)

Love means never having to say "You're lyrics" by strangecreature
P.W. + M.W. Pete wrote inside the heart. Summer ’05. Limited Run.
Now this fic feels like "Smash" to me - Mikey and Pete pretty much stumbling over each other, fun and reckless, but still has the right level of emotional depth, (and written two years before the song emerged!)

Committing to Heart And Hospital by dancinbutterfly
“Marry me, Mikey Way,”
Okay so it's not CANON, but when you're all cried out from all the SOL fic about Pete and Mikey's DOOMED LOVE it's time for some fix-it fic. Wentz-Way, guys. In fact just read all of the Slideverse, you won't regret it.

So, TALK TO ME ABOUT SUMMER OF LIKE. What was your favourite canon thing? How do you think it went down? What are your favourite SOL fics? Link me to some picspams! Tell me things I've forgotten/gotten wrong! What OTHER songs should be on the epic playlist of "songs about the Summer Of Like"?

Tell me about the epic Summer Of Like fic you want someone to write! (EDIT! turps33 TOTALLY DID. READ IT. Not!fic things in the comments! Write me Pete-like blog entries. Pimp this post to your friends and make THEM talk to me about SOL.

TALK TO MEEEEE

Comments

[annemaris.livejournal.com]

I HAVE THE LINK I HAVE THE LINK HOLD ON.

Twitter link! (https://twitter.com/#!/petewentz/status/76552661381558272) (It's in my faves for easy finding.)

I'm gonna post this and then go read the... actual post, okay. Yeah. (FEELINGS, AHHHHHHHH.)

[ladyfoxxx.livejournal.com]

AHHHHHHH YOU'RE THE BEST. *spins you* That was superfast too.

I can't believe you managed to pull that out in between weeping into your cereal. You're like a canon ninja.

[pennyplainknits.livejournal.com]

Omgg summer of like gives me all the feelings.

I...actually know the Bang the Doldrums blogpost by heart. I had to record it for a podfic and I love it as a piece of prose.

I kind of like the doomed romance element of it, in that neither of them really where in a place where it would have worked long term, but what makes me sad now is that Mikey is so happy he glows, and Pete..isn't.

[ladyfoxxx.livejournal.com]

I read a LOT of SOL when I first got into bandom and then I didn't read much of it for a really long time. I stumbled across some of the earliest SOL fics I read again recently when they went up on AO3 and I just had SO MANY FEELINGS. They all came rushing back!

I kind of like the doomed romance element of it, in that neither of them really where in a place where it would have worked long term, but what makes me sad now is that Mikey is so happy he glows, and Pete..isn't.

UGH, this is so true, and it makes me SO sad. It's ridiculous how much Pete's state of mind concerns me. I've written at so many fics where Mikey comforts Pete with sex in the wake of Pete's various public dramas. THIS IS MY THERAPY.

[halfeatenmoon.livejournal.com]

Later when I'm less exhausted I'll post my favourite recs, which tend to be less romantic and more "Pete accidentally proposes then regrets it, and later runs around trying to throw pee at everyone".

[ladyfoxxx.livejournal.com]

You give good rec! Oh man, I love fics with pee throwing!

I am trying to start a SOL fic renaissance. CAN YOU TELL?

[annemaris.livejournal.com]

I glanced at the recs and saw Summer was Tinkerbell, and Pete was clapping as hard as he could to keep her alive. and started weeping again, ahhhhhhhhhhh. I remember stopping at that line and underlining it in my Kindle and also proceeding to have all the feelings. I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS RIGHT NOW. *CLINGS*

On another note, ngggh, I love the image of them slamming each other up against buses. *_______________*

Idkkkkk, I wish I could properly talk about this, but I have no coherency at the moment. *clings some more* AHHHH.

[xoxxblitz7.livejournal.com]

On another note, ngggh, I love the image of them slamming each other up against buses. *_______________*

nuuuuuuuuugh. Me too, good mental image!

[ladyfoxxx.livejournal.com]

WEEPING. Fuck me, that story. That line. I LOVE THAT LINE. My feelings all came RACING BACK when I read it on AO3 and I was clutching my heart going AUGH SUMMER OF LIKE YOU HURT SO MUCH BUT IT'S A GOOD PAIN. MUST READ MORE.

Fuck me, I want all the fic about Mikey slamming Pete up against a bus and covert handjobs and drunken makeouts and grinding on each other in semi-public places. AHHHHHHHHH MAKE IT HAPPEN.

You are coherent enough. *CLINGS* *HEARTCLUTCHES* *WEEPS*

[kopperblaze.livejournal.com]

oh man i love EVERYTHING about summer of like. though at work right now, so can't elaborate as much as i want to. just. pete's blogs. and that song. and and...just THINKING that it might have actually happened and the sweet little dudes and gaaaah all the hearts!

[ladyfoxxx.livejournal.com]

PETE'S BLOGS. Gah. The man has NO FILTER. I love that about him. More than anything it's this SENSE that something went down, for real, like we are not just making that shit up - something really happened that summer and I love so much that they are still friends and they've kept in touch after all this time.

[xoxxblitz7.livejournal.com]

I was JUST reading the manifesto!

Oh god. It just makes my heart HURT. I want them to travel back in time, I want SOL Mikey back and for them to just COME OUT GOD DAMMIT.

JAMES'S SONGS! Oh god. We have pint sized romeo as our tour song, it's all we listen to, haha! That song is just heartbreaking and perfect.

I need to go and read Slideverse now!

It's just so damn OBVIOUS that they were together. I just don't get why they didn't come out about it. It's just so. MY HEART.

[ladyfoxxx.livejournal.com]

Damn, I am so glad that manifesto is still there. It was one of the first pieces of bandom canon I read about (after the Frank/Gerard one) and I was like I LIKE THIS BANDOM PLACE, GIVE ME ALL THE STORIES.

There are so many achey beautiful things about SOL, I think it's why it makes such good fic fodder, and that sense of impending doom, that the Summer is going to END, it's just so ;_________________;

SOMETHING HAPPENED. SOMETHING TOTALLY HAPPENED OMG. And it's so PAINFUL that whatever it was had to end. Gah. Those boys. My heart.

[turps33.livejournal.com]

I've told you this many times but I desperately want the story that captures Mikey and Pete's relationship from beginning to now. How they actually met before SoL and then met again on the tour and how something had changed that drew them together so suddenly. Like, did the attraction start on those very first meetings and then burst into flames during SoL or had they been flirting/distance dating all the time, just SoL brought that into the light.

And then they'd have this summer where Pete pretty much wears his heart on his sleeve -- or pin on his hoodie -- and they share jackets and have trips together but then it has to end but even then they're meeting up with Mikey playing bass for FOB at secret shows. I want the fic to explain all of that, how they're fighting to be together as hard as they can but it's a fight that's hard and made even more so with them both dealing with mental health issues too. And they'd be fucking each other up in some ways, bad for each other and knowing it but they'd also understand each other and even though it hurts like crazy they'd pull apart, keeping in touch with texts and emails that are always random but arrive just at the right time.

I want whole chapters about how they both get married and Pete having to deal with Mikey marrying someone Pete used to date and how sometimes he can't help thinking that it could have been him if he'd been braver, more insistent, to deal with his own issues and be strong enough to hold Mikey up too. But Pete knew that he wasn't, so he's happy that Mikey has Alicia but it also hurts too.

And they'd both be happily married and keep up their in-jokes, green tea kit kats and pool houses and all the time they'd be the kind of friends that you can call at 2am and have them just listen even if all you can do is breathe and Pete would have his birthday party and Mikey comes with Alicia and it would be painfully bitter sweet and they'd talk and be together and even in the middle of the chaos of the party for a moment all they'd smell is baked earth, chlorine and sunshine.

Then it would go on to deal with Pete's marriage break up and band hiatus and how it feels like he always loses everything he loves and his friends would rally around, Gabe taking him out and all the time and Mikey would send light hearted texts, ones that Pete hardly ever responds to but that doesn't matter, because what they're meant for is a reminder that things may end but not everything does, and that includes the sweet little dudes.

It would also talk about how they met up in Scotland when MCR and BC were both touring there, and they'd be a little awkward for a moment, then things just click, settle into something that always feels right. They'd also eat a battered mars bar then, it's my personal canon that it happened.

Anyway. Pete would start to feel better and starts dating again but thoughts of Mikey are always there, a 'what if' that he picks over, and I don't know. Somehow it would end up with Pete staying at Mikey and Alicia's, with the dogs and cats and domestic harmony. Enough that Pete feels like a third wheel. And he'd end up staying awake all night, making cryptic blog posts & asking for questions on twitter and eventually Mikey would come down, hair up in tufts and wearing sweat pants he'd just pulled on, grumbling that Pete needs to stop already and come to bed.

And Pete would just sigh and agree whilementally making plans to leave in the morning, but when he tries to walk past Mikey Mikey stops him, grabbing his arm and pulling him toward the master bedroom. Probably he'd say something cheesy like, you're not alone, and Pete wouldn't move, because, Alicia, she's sleeping in there, Pete can see her watching from the bed. And Mikey would just give him a look and tell him, there's room, there's always been room.

I will shut up now.

[ladyfoxxx.livejournal.com]

DON'T YOU EVER SHUT UP ABOUT THIS. OMG. EPIC SOL FIC OF MY HEART. UGH. I LOVE the idea that it goes on AFTER the Summer and them being in each other's lives even as they move on with other people and OMG THIS:


Pete having to deal with Mikey marrying someone Pete used to date and how sometimes he can't help thinking that it could have been him if he'd been braver, more insistent, to deal with his own issues and be strong enough to hold Mikey up too.

;_________________________; PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETE

Pete's marriage break up and band hiatus and how it feels like he always loses everything he loves

PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETE OMG ;_____________; Yes. Fuck I would read ALL the fic about Mikey helping Pete realise he doesn't have to lose everything. OMG. MY HEART.

And the endinggggg And Mikey would just give him a look and tell him, there's room, there's always been room.

THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN ROOM. Oh man, that is PERFECT. FIC OF MY HEART. Do you think if we just wish hard enough it will spontaneously EXIST?

THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN ROOM FOR YOU, PETE.

LOOK WHAT YOU ARE DOING TO ME

;______________________;

*_____________________________*

ILU.

[monkey-pie.livejournal.com]

Summer of Like breaks my heart. I think my fave SOL fic is Love Means Never Having to Say "you're lyrics" just because it captures the fun and recklessness and is still meaningful without being full of angst and doom. I have definitely listened to Bang the Doldrums and cried - so many feeeeelings.

I also really like A Heart on Fire (http://snakevsladder.livejournal.com/8362.html) - is is short and kind of beautiful to me.

[ladyfoxxx.livejournal.com]

It's truly the heartbreaking story in bandom, isn't it? This idea that they had this WINDOW of time, I think that's why that line from brooklinegirl's fic about clapping to keep her alive just TEARS ME UP, because it's like they're trying to fit it all into one summer.

Thanks for the rec! It looks great! ♥

[rivers-bend.livejournal.com]

lkdjfhalsdkjfsdf I hate angst, HAAAAATE it, ALMOST ALWAYS EXCEPT WHEN IT'S SUMMER OF LIKE ANGST.

I do not know why but I love rolling around in its deliciousness. Even though it gives me that same D: D: D: D: feeling that angst gives me which is why I hate it. I DON'T UNDERSTAND. BUT I DON'T ARGUE.

BASICALLY, THIS POST MADE ME FLAIL.

[ladyfoxxx.livejournal.com]

I don't even like angst that much either! I can take it if I know there is a happy ending, but SOL very RARELY has a truly happy ending - unless you change it away from canon and YET! Apparently this is FINE. I will read ALLLLL the SOL ANGST and I will LIKE IT.

THESE BOYS MAKE ME FLAIL. OFTEN.

[melusina]

This is the tin-hattiest of bandom pairings for me. Like, I totally legit believe that SOMETHING happened between the two of them that summer. And as much as I like to read super angsty fic about the two of them, it seems likely that it was somewhat more lighthearted, given that they seem to have remained pretty good friends. That said, Pete pretty much gives me ALL THE FEEEEEELINGS. . .

These are fantastic recs!

[ladyfoxxx.livejournal.com]

as much as I like to read super angsty fic about the two of them, it seems likely that it was somewhat more lighthearted, given that they seem to have remained pretty good friends.

CO-SIGNED! I love the idea of them being on-again off-again fuck-buddies, or exes who became incredible friends or IDK ANYTHING that keeps them in each other's lives. I am stupidly invested in their friendship, I know /tinhat.

SO MANY FEEEEEEEEEELINGS. THEMMMMM.

[x_dark_siren_x]

THIS IS A LOVE SONG, IN MY OWN WAY. HAPPILY EVER AFTER BELOW THE WAIST.

I have only just now learned what that last bit is. After knowing what the song's about for years. Oh, Pete. ;____________; Why do you do this to me. Also, that blog post will never not break my heart, and I spend a lot of time wanting to ensure Pete is smothered in hugs - it may be a full time thing now. :S

[littlblackghost.livejournal.com]

FRIDAY. ALL THE WAY/WENTZ TALK, YES? ♥

[dancinbutterfly.livejournal.com]

*dons tinhat* They're married. They have a baby. they are happy and they spend christmases in jersey with the Ways and sometimes the Wentzes fly in from Chicago to join them. It. Is. Fact.

[ladyfoxxx.livejournal.com]

Your reality is the best reality bb. ♥

[littlblackghost.livejournal.com]

GIRL. WHY YOU MAKING ME ALL EMOTIONAL TONIGHT? *sob*

[ladyfoxxx.livejournal.com]

I'M SORRY I JUST HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS OKAY?

[gala-apples.livejournal.com]

I HAVE THINGS!

Four In The Morning (http://gala-apples.livejournal.com/340677.html) SOL and post SOL from Patrick's pov.

SOL 2.0 (http://gala-apples.livejournal.com/312728.html) MCR and Black Cards touring, Mikey thinking back.

The Lows of Love (http://gala-apples.livejournal.com/342915.html) Mix and drabbles about Pete right after SOL.

I will come back later with more ~thoughts~.

[ladyfoxxx.livejournal.com]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MCR AND BLACK CARD'S TOURING, SOL FROM PATRICK'S POV, YOU ARE MAGIC.

BRB reading ALL THE THINGS.

[desfinado.livejournal.com]

IT IS JUST SUCH A GREAT PIECE OF CANON. The more I get to "know" Pete (as much as anyone on the internet can), the more I see just how plausible all of that was. BOYS. ♥__________________♥

[ladyfoxxx.livejournal.com]

God I have struggled, STRUGGLED I TELLS YA, with my love for Pete. It's such a battle past all the MOTTS to come to a place where you can APPRECIATE how much of his soul he is happy to bare to the world. I love the Smash interpretation too. Oh man, I am so tinhatty about this. ♥

[brooklinegirl.livejournal.com]

I had never seen the Black Cards song lyrics and MAN, I love the idea of it being just a THING. Just s summer THING. That said, I do think that Pete has, oh, IDK, gained PERSPECTIVE, maybe, since then, but WHEN YOU'RE IN IT, you are so so in it. And. MY HEART. I just really love reading these lyrics that show that he NEVER. FORGOT. &BOYS;

srsly summer of like SERIOUSLY. my heart cannot TAKE it. I want endless late summer nights of sweat and making out and sliding up against each other, quiet and safe from RL and stumbling off tour buses holding hands. FOREVER.

(thank you for the rec, bb! :DDDD!)

[ladyfoxxx.livejournal.com]

I was really surprised that Smash didn't make more ripples in the bandom world, because in my mind it is so COMPLETELY a SOL song. I LOVE the idea of it being this summer thing, wild and fun and crazy down in it. I love that we have TWO songs from Pete about it and I totally agree that there is PERSPECTIVE in the second one. HE NEVER FORGOT. HE IS A FATHER AND A DIVORCEE NOW AND HE NEVER FORGOT. &THEM;

I will never tire of SOL. I want a SOL renaissance with lots of fic about stupid boys making out and water parks and smashing into things and love that only lasts a summer and I want all the fic about Pete REFLECTING on SOL years later and tweeting at Mikey and writing SONGS ABOUT HIM and trying to explain to Bebe what kind of emotion she should put into her singing because it's ABOUT MIKEYWAY.

FOREVER.

(You're welcome for the rec! That fic gives me so many FEELINGS omg)

[isweedan]

Oh god, this post. All its COMMENTS. Aaaaaaaah. SUMMER OF LIKE.

[ladyfoxxx.livejournal.com]

I JUST WANT TO ROLL AROUND IN IT FOREVER AND EVER. AUGH.