Pete/Mikey

Pete/Mikey, sometimes known as Pikey or PetekeyPetekey appears to be the more popular smushname, based on tagging counts on AO3. As of 17 March 2018, a tag search revealed that the freeform tag "petekey" had 158 uses, while "pikey" had 44 uses., is the Bandom slash pairing of bass players Mikey Way (of My Chemical Romance) and Pete Wentz (of Fall Out Boy).
As of December 12, 2024, the pairing appeared in 2346 works on AO3, making it the 5th most popular pairing in the Bandom tag (fourth if you discount Twenty One Pilots). 
The pairing is at the center of many stories, and is also often found as a side or background pairing in Frank/Gerard stories. 
==Ship History==
Pete and Mikey are easy to ship due to their propensity for praising each other('s bands) in interviews, wearing each other's merch, hanging out when on the same tours, sharing clothes and exes and being in not only one, but two gangs together: the "Sweet Little Dudes" and the "Fraternal Order of the Handsome Boy," along with a so-called band that has made no music, "Fruit Brute".
The infamous Summer of Like aka Warped Tour 2005 may be the origin of the pairing and certainly gave it a boost in popularity. On LiveJournal, the first community dedicated to the pairing was probably _sweetlildudes, created on August 7, 2005. However, that comm had only 8 entries; petexmikey, created on September 2, gained more traction.
They still tweet at each other a few times a year, referencing their SLD "gang".Pete's Apr 4, 2013 Tweet @mikeyway and me are in the same town. gonna make a sweet lil dude hang happen.Pete's instagram pic of him and Mikey captioned One of my favorite dudes ever #sweetlittledudes @mikeyway, posted June 14, 2013Mikey's Feb 12, 2016 Twitter reply: @petewentz thank you #sld!
Some fans believe that Pete and Mikey may have had a real-life romantic relationship during the summer of 2005, and even skeptical shippers frequently adopt the rumors about this time as fanon. For example, some point to writings allegedly deleted from Pete's LiveJournal in 2005 and reposted on various other websites. There are also rumors that Pete and Mikey did not want to be seen together, which would explain why there is only a handful of pictures of them together from 2004 and 2005, the time they were on Warped Tour together.
The Fall Out Boy songs "Bang the Doldrums" (2007) and "Fourth of July" (2015) are rumored to have been written by Pete about Mikey. Fans also speculate about other songs that may have been inspired by the relationship.
==Common Aspects of Fanworks==
Pete/Mikey fic commonly features angsty themes related to drugs, mental health, and questioning one's sexuality, due to Pete's repeated quotes about making out with men but only being "gay above the waist."See for example this interview with The Advocate: Big Gay Following: Pete Wentz, published Apr 9, 2007: You made a lot of gay fans happy when you admitted that you’d kissed boys because “anything above the waist is fair game.” [Laughs] I actually mean it. That’s just kind of how I am. I’m a little bit of a makeout king. I don’t discriminate too much. 
Storylines sometimes make MCR members protective of Mikey and suspicious of Pete's motives/mental stability. Gerard and Mikey's strong sibling relationship features frequently, as well as Pete and Patrick Stump's friendship. 
A number of fanworks refer to or feature Alicia, Mikey's ex-wife who also toured with and dated Pete, sometimes in a threesome setup or a poly relationship.
==Example Fanworks==
===Fanfiction===
* As a Toy Soldier by anonymous. Pete/Mikey-centric with background Frank/Gerard. Killjoys AU. (2011-01-27)
* Blurring the Truth and the Lies by turps. Pete/Mikey hurt/comfort AU. (2013-06-26)
* Everyday Mysteries In The Summertime by Waxjism. Pete/Mikey-centric, 22k, small town Highschool AU. (See also Frank/Gerard-centric sequel Nightswimming) (2007-07-17)
* Fanart for arsenicjade by gira_luna: drawing for the story A Little Less Doolittle, A Little More Noah's Ark. (2012-01-09)
* MWAT is kind of the UNICORNS, comic by llampi in which Mikey rescues a kidnapped Pete with the help of unicorns. (2008-06-23)
* Podfic: Spin the Wheel of the Year (Close your eyes and Point) performed by pennyplainknits, written by jjtaylor. Pete/Mikey, 01:50:20. Part of the Gerard Way's (Vampire) Detective Agency verse. (2012-12-26)
* When the Road Disappears written by romanticalgirl for bandomstuffsit. Pete/Mikey. Summary: Mikey knows Pete doesn't do cock. Pete's not as sure. (2010-12-28)
* Slideverse originally posted on livejournal in multiple parts, written by dancinbutterfly. Summer of Like story following as closely as possible to the known timeline in real life, and ends in a Family Man style AU where Pete is shown a world where he made a different decision at the end of that summer (2009 - 2011)
===Meta===
*The Pete/Mikey Primer: The Relationship aka “Sweet Little Dudes” by iwritesins (2005-09-03)
*Primer primer. by iwritesins (2006-04-03)
*comment-primer by gigantic (2007-01-20)
* Mikey/Pete Manifesto (Turned Primer)archived by blushandrecover at bandom_ships (2008-02-28)
* Second Primer (slightly more updated) by dallianceatdusk (2012-01-04)
*who is pete wentz writing songs about? by ierodorable-way (2015)
*a scarily in depth petekey manifesto by anklebiterss (2016)
*The Petekey Manifesto by badmcr (August 2018)reblog with dead link
*love can’t save you: a pete/mikey otp post (called the "petekey masterpost") by crucios (2020 reblog, originally from February)document backuparchive of original post
*“you make me want to fall in love and get stuck”, or very important summer of like lore 🌈 by chicagosoftc0re (March 2020)
*The Petekey Masterpost by Capspandex (April 2020)Google Doc
*Petekey Info Card by tearsonice/notbellasophia (2020)
*“Totally back in love” -- Petekey Primer (October 2020)
*petekey was real and the government knows it by mintberries (c. 2020)
*a petekey video essay. by blakeisew (2022)
==Fannish Resources==
* Pete/Mikey fanworks at Archive of Our Own
* Pete/Mikey podfics at Audiofic Archive
==References==
Category:Slash Pairings
Category:My Chemical Romance Relationships
Category:Fall Out Boy
Category:Bandom Relationships
Category:Social Media Feature-Ship Sunday