DISCLAIMER: All relationships on here are FALSE/FICTION, I only goof. And no, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are...n't actually in a secret marriage for over a decade, I can't believe this disclaimer is needed, but it seems like reading the room is a social skill these days. If Bill gets scared he could go into his trampoline room - located in his giant mansion - to blow off that steam.


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Part 1. What is "MicroApple?"

Formed from a fusion of the names Microsoft and Apple, "MicroApple" is a ship name coined within modern fandom culture (credited to Silly-cheese-rat on Tumblr) to describe a hypothetical homoerotic romance between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. This falls under the category of RPF (real person fiction), which includes fan-created works such as fiction, artwork, edits, etc.

So where did this ship originate? After some digging, the earliest traceable spark appears shortly after the release of Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999), a film that dramatizes the early years of Microsoft and Apple. Beyond functioning as a standard tech biopic, the movie presents the dynamic between a boyish Bill Gates and a mercurial Steve Jobs with a tension that many viewers later interpreted as subtly charged. Played by Anthony Michael Hall (The Breakfast Club) and Noah Wyle (ER), the performances offer us moments that feel weirdly intimate.


* One infamous scene has Steve angrily demanding that Bill fly out just so he can confront him, a moment staged less like a business dispute and more like a lovers' quarrel. This is followed by a shot of the two lying side-by-side on a stark white couch, Steve's shirt rumpled, their voices lowered.

While the film alone may not have fully ignited the ship, it clearly contributed to its formation. By unintentionally portraying Gates and Jobs as emotionally entangled figures, Pirates of Silicon Valley helped shape early fandom perceptions, leading audiences to view them as potential romantic counterparts. In this way, the film played a significant role in the birth and spread of the "MicroApple" ship within online communities.




PART 2: BIRTH OF INFAMY! (CIRCA 1999)

In a slash forum created that same year by a user named Dara Sloan, the idea was formally introduced through an essay titled, and I quote:

"My essay about how Bill and Steve were just so doin' it in Pirates of Silicon Valley." [1]

Soon after, another name began circulating in the same corners of the internet: Jezebel Slade. At first, the two appeared to be separate femgeeks who had independently discovered the same oddly specific fascination. However, through overlapping writing style, shared hosting behavior, and new-found evidence [2], it becomes clear that Dara Sloan and Jezebel Slade are two pseudonyms of the same creator.

Using these twin identities, Dara/Jezebel leaned fully into the bit. With a push from what can only be described as fandom's most primal instinct, she began producing the first fic... ahem... slash between the all-powerful tech CEOs.

* Slash fiction, or slashfic, is a genre of homoerotic fanfiction typically written by women for a primarily female audience. Its central focus is the emotional and physical dynamics between same-gender characters, often depicted in explicit or taboo ways. The name "slash" originates from the use of the "/" symbol to denote a romantic pairing between two characters (e.g., Kirk/Spock).

From this project emerged Infamy [3], a site managed under the Jezebel Slade name (read at your own discretion). It hosted irreverent, half-satirical, half-smutty stories about the two "fictionalized" figures. The main series was divided into six short, punchy parts. Later, additional Bill Gates/Steve Ballmer fics appeared under the Dara Sloan alias and were archived into Infamy 2.0 [4], effectively a small digital shrine she built.

Jezebel Slade's notoriety even crossed into mainstream tech culture. The pseudonym was interviewed by Wired on June 13, 2002, and later earned a mention on the infamous CrackBaby.com.

Inspiration followed. One of the earliest fics I could trace from this wave came from another pseudonym: LOVE SET FIRE, who uploaded their piece in 2000. "Preying Mantis." [5]

So how did something so absurd, so specific, manage to catch on? Maybe it was the thrill of colliding billionaires with low-brow eroticism. Maybe it was the deliberately simplistic, almost dumb format. Or maybe it was simply fun to say: "Steve Jobs/Bill Gates yaoi."

Wait, Actually...









PART 3: MICROAPPLE YAOI! (LITERALLY.)

Yes, Microapple yaoi exists. In fact, it's happened twice, funnily enough.

The first, and more widely known, creator is Takahiro Ozawa, author of SteveS (2018), a manga that reimagines Steve Jobs's life through the melodrama of a classic shonen anime. While the MicroApple element is indirect, it lingers beneath the surface. One scene in particular stands out: Steve gently placing his hand over Bill [Gates]'s as he guides the Macintosh mouse. It's subtle... almost.

Later, Ozawa released an extra comic titled "SteveS Special Edition" on Pixiv. [6]

This bonus chapter follows Bill as he navigates his philanthropic era after Steve's death. And then, out of nowhere, the author drops a bombshell of a line:


    * The scene shows Bill reminiscing, haunted, almost, by something Steve once told him: "Gates, what you're doing... has no taste."

    A few panels later, Bill is shown sitting alone in his chair, gazing up at the sky. "You think it's an inelegant solution, don't you? Steve-kun."

    "I still want to see this world anyway."

    And then, in the final panel, the camera pulls back. Bill, with a smirk.

    "But it's a little tasteless."

    "Without you."


The second manga comes from one of my favorite authors: BALICPAPAN, also known as Yuhki Takada.

Rather than a single narrative, her work feels like a fever dream collection of interconnected yaoi one-shots (BL, depending on how you define it, and notably, no real smut).

Her first piece, titled Billionaires, was uploaded in 2005 (yes, I helped edit the Yaoi Wiki page for it, you're welcome). It became part of a larger, ambitious series called Microkids, which eventually expanded to about five books. Billionaires appears in Microkids 1.0, and while the full set hasn't been released digitally, the author has sold PDF versions of three volumes. [7] All of which I own.

Now, despite how absolutely insane some scenes are (and yes, almost the time Bill Gates is drawn the size of a small dog), much of the dialogue is pulled from real quotes or real excerpts. Just a bit tweaked. You know, to push a certain agenda.

* If you're looking for serious or accurate depictions, this is not the place. Paul Allen is barely recognizable. Steve is your average anime guy in a turtleneck (and honestly, SteveS is guilty of that too). And Bill... look at him. I'm slapping my knee.

That said, I find it strangely endearing. Maybe it's BALICPAPAN's beautiful brushwork and coloring that pulls me in (this woman made the Curlz font look cohesive, goddamnit), or maybe it's the structure of each one-shot. Even the dumbest scenes carry a weird kind of sweetness. To my surprise, all the references and shout-outs actually hold up. You really have to read it for yourself.

Maybe not the part where Steve gently takes care of a deliriously exhausted Bill wandering the halls of Apple Inc., and they almost kiss on the rooftop. That one's harder to defend. But technically... we'll never know.

If it were up to me, I'd hand over my "Bill Gates #1 Fan" title to her without hesitation. But this is about MicroApple; and if I went into my full bias for this author, we'd be here all day. So instead, let's take a flight tooooooooooo...




PART 4: CULTURAL EXCHANGE (CIRCA 2012)

Remember when I said Pirates of Silicon Valley played an important role in Microapple? Well, hold on to that thought, and excuse my french, but that bitch was the holy grail of Microapple history.

Somewhere around 2012, a Russian fanfiction site called Ficbook.net saw a sudden (okay, modest) uptick in MicroApple works. I say "surge," but it amounted to about thirteen fics. Still, in fandom math, that's enough to matter.

One key figure in pushing these stories toward the mainstream was a user named Margo Ivanovna. And really, what's more mainstream than YouTube.com?

Starting on September 30th, 2012, Margo Ivanovna/Studio Sagittarius uploaded her first Pirates of Silicon Valley edit: "Sky Is Over // Pirates of Silicon Valley." A few more followed, scattered across the years, my favorite would have to be the Halloween Special. The final video "Steve Jobs|Bill Gates [Patterns]" - posted on October 22nd, 2015 - strayed far from the film, but still bore the unmistakable stamp of SteveJ/BillG. And then - poof. The Microapple edits vanished. [8], [9], [10]

So how did any of this help the fanfics resurface, you ask?

Well, in a handful of her AMVs, Margo was kind enough to link some of the fics that inspired them in the descriptions. Me being, Well, me, I took it upon myself to track down every last one I could find on that site.

>>> For archival reasons:

    Studio Sagittarius/Margo Ivanovna: Fic 1, Fic 2, Fic 3.

    Чудо с желтыми глазами: Fic 1, Fic 2, Fic 3, Fic 4, Fic 5.

    Влюбленный фотограф: Fic 1

    Dalima: Fic 1

    Double-Trouble: Fic 1, Fic 2.

Some of these fics didn't strictly follow the Pirates of Silicon Valley plot - or even acknowledge its existence. Some leaned more into RPF (real person fiction) than others. Still, they all circled the same star: Microapple.

While scouring the archives, I stumbled onto something unexpected: a fan translation of Jezebel Slade's work by a user named "Лаура Зонтикова," dated around the same period as the other Russian fics. In the editor's note, they write:

"Перевод первого из рассказов серии о тайной страсти Гейтса и Джобса, написанной всемирно известной Изабель Слейд, которая наиболее удачно смогла сыграть на скандальности и необычности пейринга."

Roughly translated, it frames the piece as the first story in a series about the "secret passion" of Gates and Jobs, crediting Jezebel Slade for leaning into the scandal and oddity of the pairing.

Whether Jezebel was the main engine behind the movement or just one influence among many is hard to pin down. Maybe it was her. Maybe it was simply the strange alchemy of the internet doing what it always does. Whatever lit the fuse, there's something undeniably sweet about people translating and exchanging art across borders, even when that art is, well... Bill Gates/Steve Jobs fanfiction.

As far as I can tell, this corner of the fandom didn't survive much past 2017, and even that might be a generous estimate.




PART 5: MODERNISM

After MicroApple's quiet post-2018 hiatus, something began to shift.

In 2023, a user going by Silly-Cheese-Rat (also known as CitronRat on Twitter) uploaded the first recorded use of the term "MicroApple." From there, a small but dedicated corner of the internet gradually reawakened.

Back then, it was only me, CitronRat, and another user (now deactivated) known as Adile_28, or Sumi, holding it down. Two whole years of threads, deep dives, screenshots, ship art, you get it.

Although Pirates of Silicon Valley still held an important place for us (atleast, for me), we began to focus more closely on real-world material such as interviews, conference footage, articles, and traces left behind on older MicroApple sites. Rather than imagining their dynamic, we started reading it, not simply as "Steve and Bill," but as two individuals. Their own words and perspectives became part of how the relationship was interpreted.

From there, it became difficult not to notice how often their stories intersected in press interviews, keynote appearances, and public statements.

For example, at the D5 Conference in 2007, Steve Jobs joked, "We've kept our marriage a secret for over a decade now."

There was also the Mac Dating Game (now partly lost media), which framed Steve as a bachelor choosing between suitors, one of whom was Bill Gates.

Other anecdotes circulated as well, including rumors of double dates, the fact that Bill's favorite Atari game in college was built by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, and many overlapping moments throughout their careers.

Taken individually, these details are minor. Together, they accumulate. The connection does not need to be romantic to feel significant. When viewed from a distance through rivalry, dependence, criticism, and admiration, their relationship becomes something people naturally want to examine.

Of course, MicroApple isn't real. If you asked either of them about it, they'd laugh. If you pushed harder, you'd probably meet a restraining order.

But culturally? It's kind of impressive. There is a particular curiosity in wanting to understand what motivated them, and the way two influential figures repeatedly orbit one another across decades.

Today, the fandom is more diverse than I expected, and it is no longer centered solely on slash. People engage with it from different perspectives and for different reasons.

Perhaps the community will continue to grow, which is a little scary to me. Perhaps it will not. Either way, it is interesting to watch how people navigate it, and why it continues to hold attention.

Then again, maybe it is simply enjoyable to ship two tech figures together.

Maybe that is all it ever needed to be. And, borrowing Steve's phrasing:




"REAL ARTISTS SHIP."

- Steven P. Jobs


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References

  1. Trickster.org - Symposium 8: Fragments & Fictions
  2. Tumblr (Archived) - "Jezebel Slade Sends Her Love"
  3. Femgeeks.net (Archived) - Infamy Site
  4. Jezebel Slade WordPress (Archived)
  5. Cerulia.net (Archived) - "Preying Mantis"
  6. Pixiv - Artwork #90872146, Steve.S Special edition
  7. Booth.pm - BaliCpapan Store
  8. YouTube - Sky is over // Pirates Of Silicon Valley
  9. YouTube - HAPPY HALLOWEEN // Everybody Wants To Rule The World
  10. YouTube - Steve Jobs|Bill Gates [Patterns]
  11. Schlender, B., & Tetzeli, R. (2015). Becoming Steve Jobs: The evolution of a reckless upstart into a visionary leader. Crown Business.
  12. Tagen-Dye, C. (2023, November 6). George Lange recalls 'competitive' Steve Jobs and Bill Gates during rare photo shoot together (Exclusive). People.com.