Damn You Wentz

damnyouwentz was a closed-membership community dedicated to discussing and posting fanworks of All-American Rejects, Cobra Starship, Fall Out Boy, Gym Class Heroes, Panic At The Disco, The Academy Is..., The Hush Sound and others. 
As of 2017, the community had 3567 posts, 47,490 comments, and 77 members.community profile, archived (Accessed 26 February 2017.)
==History==
damnyouwentz was founded in March 2006 by addictedkitten and deliberatehips as a haven for Popslash fans who had fallen for bandslash by the way of Fall Out Boy, Panic At The Disco, and The Academy Is....damnyouwentz's Profile as of 2006-05. Retrieved 20 October 2008 from Internet Archive.deliberateships. Untitled, archived, posted on 25 March 2006 at damnyouwentz. (Accessed 20 October 2008.) (The intro post mentioned only FOB, PATD, and TAI by name, and the early community profile specified that their interest in MCR was through Mikey Way."But being fans of pretty things, we sometimes find ourselves distracted. And Fall Out Boy? Yeah, they're our kinda pretty. And Panic! At The Disco, they can come too. And The Academy Is... And Mikey Way from MCR, we like him also. Because he's little. And wears glasses. (Pretty! Easily distracted!)") As noted in a 2007 FAQ, MCR was not included in the comm's scope because a community already existed for it (yeahchemical)., posted by addictedkitten 2007-04-11.
The community was somewhat modeled after yeahchemical in that it 1) was geared toward mature fans, 2) emphasized quality in fanworks, and 3) had a closed membership policy, but unlike yeahchemical, most content was not locked.addictedkitten. Untitled, archived, posted on 26 March 2006 at damnyouwentz. (Accessed 20 October 2008.)yeahchemical's profile. archived.
 (Accessed 20 October 2008.)
damnyouwentz was active for two years. In March 2008 addictedkitten shut down the community with no warning. A note on the userinfo page says, "DYW is completely and totally closed."
==Membership==
Initially, fans who wanted to join damnyouwentz either had to prove that they were a relatively good writer or able to contribute to the community somehow, whether that be through uploading footages, posting pictures, leaving feedbacks, etc. etc., before their membership request was approved.Rae. Just a reminder., archived, posted 05 April 2006 at at damnyouwentz. (Accessed 20 October 2008.)Sara. mod post, pay fucking attention, archived, posted 22 May 2006 at damnyouwentz. (Accessed 20 October 2008.) However, this policy was later changed and members were invited only at the discretion of the moderators.damnyouwentz's Profile as of 2007-03. Retrieved 20 October 2008 from Internet Archive.Jessa. DYW membership cap, archived, posted on 02 July 2006 at damnyouwentz. (Accessed 20 October 2008.)
150 was floated as the membership capaddictedkitten. , posted to damnyouwentz, 2006-05-22.; the community grew to 99 members in May 2006.deliberatehips. , posted in damnyouwentz, 2006-05-18. In July a mod announced that no new members could be added. callsigns. , posted to damnyouwentz, 2 July 2006.
damnyouwentz did briefly open membership for applicants in September 2006, but it was really the only occasion where anyone was allowed to request membership after the community's membership policy was changed.callsigns. ADMIN: DYW Application Time!, archived, posted on 10 September 2006 at damnyouwentz. (Accessed 20 October 2008.) There were 15 spots open and over 100 comments on the post.
In January 2007, mods checked recent posts and booted inactive members: "We’re sort of at a weird point where lots of people want in and some of our actual members seemed to have drifted off to parts unknown."deliberatehips. , 2007-01-16 A few more fans were invited to join, but there was no public post encouraging people to apply as there had been in September 2006.
A 2006 poll revealed that 39% of the community was "younger than Joe Trohman" (under 21) and 21% were "older than Pete" (27+).schuyler. , posted to damnyouwentz, 2006-05-16.
==Controversy==
damnyouwentz was one of the first - and for awhile the only - communities to focus on interband aspects of Bandom (DD+, MCR) and for many, the community became the central place for their fandom activities, a starting point for new fans and a gateway to quality fanworks. 
However, as Bandom grew, damnyouwentz's closed membership policy became a source of tension and contention. People felt that the comm was elitist and were annoyed that primers posted to the comm were friendslocked. In July 2007, commenting on the wank, kalpurna remarked,
One of the mods commented in reply to say that "DYW wasn't meant to be the be-all, end-all of fandom, it was only that for lack of other options."16 July 2007 comment by deliberatehips, archived
==Legacy==
damnyouwentz's most important legacy may be Bandom itself., anon comment thread in fail_fandomanon, 2014-02-06.
It's difficult to know if the locked Pete/Mikey primer was the inspiration, but later bandom communities posted explicit rules against friendslocking primers. See bandom_primers and primedforbandomPlease leave your primer posts public. , 3 October 2011..
damnyouwentz is rumored to have popularized chatficExample of a damnyouwentz chatfic: , posted 2006-08-20 by clumsygyrl., picspams, and the extensive creation and use of primers in bandom. damnyouwentz was not the first bandom comm where chatfic was posted, but it was far more popular than sidekickfic, created in December 2005 by yeahchemical mod xoverau.
damnyouwentz also inspired the creation of weemo_closet.
==References==
Category:Bandom Journal Communities
Category:2000s