The Summer of Like

The Summer of Like is a fannish term used to describe the Warped Tour 2005, and specifically the relationship between Pete Wentz and Mikey Way at the time. The two became very close over the course of the tour, and photos of them together in conjunction with Pete's suggestive blog posts at the time caused fans to suspect and/or tinhat a romantic relationship between the two.
The term is used to indicate the setting of Bandom fanworks that take place during this time. While Pete and Mikey's friendship is generally taken as canon, "Summer of Like" works do not necessarily feature Pete/Mikey or even either character at all.
== Etymology ==
Though the origin of the term is unknown, Pete was quoted in Rolling Stone in January 2006 saying that "Summer of Like" was a working title for a song—reportedly what became "Bang the Doldrums"—though it is unclear whether Pete had ever used the term in relation to the summer of 2005.saline_joy at bandfandom_ref. Summer of Like. 11 September 2009. (Accessed 25 May 2011.)blushandrecover. The Summer of LikeLove: Mikey/Pete Manifesto Turned Primer. 28 February 2008. (Accessed 25 May 2011.)
The term is probably a play on the Summer of Love of 1967, but it has taken on different fan connotations:
:"[Pete and Mikey] were basically BFFs for a summer, and then nothing. That's where the term Summer of Like comes from, by the way. [...] It has a connotation of 'it all ends once autumn comes.'"
== Bert/Gerard ==
While some fics and other material include the Bert/Gerard friendship as also occurring during the Summer of Like, their falling out had actually already occurred, sometime in the spring of 2005. It is possible that Warped Tour 2005 was confused with Taste of Chaos, a.k.a. "Winter Warped," for which The Used and My Chemical Romance toured together from February though April 2005.James Montgomery. MTV News. Taste Of Chaos — A.K.A. 'Winter Warped' — Tour Dates, Lineup Confirmed. 19 November 2004. (Accessed 25 May 2011.) Incidentally, the Used was not on Warped Tour in 2005, though Bert performed with Street Drum Corps on their dates and allegedly told fans not to watch MCR play.turnyourankle. The Taste of....A Used Primer (part 1). 24 March 2008. (Accessed 25 May 2011.)
==Example Fanworks==
*Always Knew I'd End Up Your Crazy Ex-Boyfriend by fluffontop (Pete/Mikey), posted 2008. Author's note: So I know I am just going through all the fic clichés now, but everyone must write a summer of like fic at some point, right? Extract:
*Suddenly Last Summer by romanticalgirl (Pete/Mikey), posted 2012. Summary: On summer never ends. One summer never begins. One summer is the Summer of Like
*Thighs and Lips verse by ladyfoxxx, a Pete/Mikey, Patrick/Ray, Patrick/Pete/Mikey/Ray two-part story posted for in 2012 and for bandombigbang 2013. Summary for part 2: Warped passes in a blaze of hot nights, broken strings and stolen kisses. The last night of tour finds Patrick, Ray, Pete and Mikey the last guys standing after a long, lazy night of partying. It makes a weird kind of sense that it would be the four of them, Patrick figures. Two couples nearing their use-by date, trading sleep to wring every last moment from the summer.
Non-Pete/Mikey Summer of Like fics: 
*music gave you back your beat so you could dream by gonnafeelgood (Gerard/Pete), posted 2008: 
*Highway Lines and Interstate Signs by airgiodslv (William Beckett/Travis McCoy(/Gabe Saporta), posted 2009. Summary: “This is a tour,” Travis replies easily. “Stop packing, you’ve got five days still. Take a vacation. I’ll see you on Warped.”
== Resources & Further Reading ==
* Love Can’t Save You: A Pete/Mikey OTP Post (updated April 2018)
* Summer of Like is a canonical tag at the AO3, with 116 uses as of October 2016.
* The Summer of LikeLove: Mikey/Pete Manifesto Turned Primerarchive.is (Feb 2008)
* Explanation by giganticarchive.is (Jan 2007)
== References ==
Category:Bandom Glossary Category:My Chemical Romance Category:Fall Out Boy
Category:Social Media Feature-Terminology Thursday