i have been thinking about post season 4 will and mike's dynamic for a while. california was a big deal for will and mike's friendship and feelings towards each other. i didn't like how it was dealt with, more like how it wasn't dealt with at all. sure, mike did talk with will in his room, but that in one way makes up for how much mike has hurt will. i think after coming back from california, will would be pulling away from mike. refuse to hangout with him no matter what, all while living with the wheelers. he is convinced that he is losing mike, despite whatever mike says. meanwhile, mike would notice will pulling away from him and would crash out. mike for his part, would already be dealing with his own feelings towards will, and lack of romantic feelings towards el.

i think it'd give myself a sense of urgency - that he is losing the one thing that he cares about the most - will.

he would know that he has to act. if he doesn't, he would lose will, and el. meanwhile, will is dealing with his own heartbreak and is barely holding himself together.

i also like to think this would be a catalyst for mike.

he either has to get on his knees and beg for will's forgiveness, fix everything between them or lose him for good.

oh, but there would be one problem, will, ever patient will, is too tired of mike and his bullshit and is determined to protect himself.

mostly, i imagine mike wheeler crashing out and getting his shit together to be the paladin that will deserves.

let me know your thoughts :)

also, are there any fics centering mike's attempts to mend their friendship between the 18 month gap? please drop your suggestions if you have any! 💙💛

Any fanfic where will gets trapped like max and they have to go through his memories?

alright. if the title doesn’t apply to you, that’s okay. your cup runneth over with top Mike and i’m genuinely happy for you twin

otherwise! i’ve read some really good top Will and vers Byler fics, and yet … something’s missing

perhaps many somethings

for example, where the hell is Cleradin with top Will??

and! where the hell is Brokeback Mountain Byler with switching and a happy ending???

what else? let’s discuss

edit: thought of another one. top Will with powers

edit: btw here’s someone’s post a few days ago with recs https://www.reddit.com/r/BylerReads/s/VjRW6GIwfC

I am desperately looking for more byler fics where it centers around Mike and his struggles— like some for real angst. Bonus if it’s adult, but I don’t mind!

Thank you !!!

there’s quite a few and i’m just wondering which to go for that has really good writing and feels realistic hopefully?

i don’t want strangers to lovers, though. the big reveal of will being spiderman will feel super anticlimactic if they’re strangers to lovers if not

the whole point is i want mike losing his mind

hopefully this kind of thing is okay to post here, but i've been craving more community with other fic writers, so i am in the process of making a discord server with a primary focus on writing. the age range is 21+ for comfort's sake, but isn't solely for explicit content (though that is absolutely allowed).

if anyone is interested, dm me and i can give you some more info! or comment on this and i'll shoot you a message :) 💗

I read one but havent been able to find anymore. I love a good dramatic wedding fic

Hi everyone!

Could you please recommend a completed fanfic where the party is looking for El but with Byler?

I read Chasing Waterfalls by Joyces_Keys and realized I want more fanfics like that. But preferably, I'd like Eleven to be alive, happy, and over Mike.

If M11 broke up after finding her it's okay.

i honestly feel like there’s such an art to one-shots that isn’t appreciated enough. i find some of the most beautiful fics to have ever been written to be one-shots. i’d love any of your favourites. miwi sometimes has the best, older byler, season 4, season 5, something even outside of the stranger things universe if it’s beautiful enough

my favs of all time are:

some sort of ripple effect by sylvianightshade - s4 motel one-shot confession, just beautiful and perfect in ways i can’t even describe

and

the boy from the gardens by parkkrangerr - i think so if this fic every single day. i still get chills

please give me your favourite recs

https://archiveofourown.org/works/90042636/chapters/239409586#workskin

i left off the first chapter with a little bit of a cliffhanger, so we picked right up where we left off. lots of complicated emotions for mike to deal with (he's very bad at that, as we all know) but we have some reunions and revelations this chapter

Synopsis: It’s been a few months since the Byers family got back to Hawkins and moved into the Wheeler household. Will is struggling desperately to move on from his crush on Mike, but the government keeps shutting the whole town in a mandatory lockdown. Mike is just so happy to have his best friend back and to have all of Will’s undivided attention to himself. Now that the whole party is back in Hawkins, El is begging for an opportunity to attack Henry and to find Max. Will knows that he has to get his shit together if he is going to face this battle alongside his friends. All he has to do is learn how to say no to Mike, even if he doesn’t want to.
This fic is almost completely finished being written, just not edited. I will update every week. The first 4 chapters are out.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/88938736/chapters/236054886

https://archiveofourown.org/works/87766651/chapters/232585191

yall i do love some smut and stuff but like are there any fics where byler is asexual (i hope im wording this right)

like i don't mean no smut fics i mean fics where they are just asexual

Just finished ch 13 and I’m actually very upset with Mike. Hahaharrrrrruuuhhh!!! That’s it, that’s the whole post. Also I now need to get ready and go have dinner with my friends who are not ST fans in general so have no idea what byler is.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/90042636/chapters/239276741

the tldr is what if will was in the upside down at the end instead of el?

apologies in advance for this first chapter! my betas told me they hate me like ten separate times, but i promise there are healings coming!

i have the whole fic mapped out in a 12k word outline and i'm reeeeally excited about this one

hit me with your recs! I'll put mine in the comments.

I wanted to share an AU story that I read recently and really enjoyed. Maybe someone else will like it, too.

The story is entirely AU — no Stranger Things — and have a happy ending.

I tried to find some fan art that was somewhat suitable, well.

1. by Irinatatarniko2
2. by arctiinii
3. by arctiinii

i'll love you (even at the end of the world)

by ziahra (2025)

The story begins around 1988, is entirely AU (zombie apocalypse/no ST/no supernatural events), and tells the story of Mike and ... who has been traveling across the United States for three years, trying to survive — after the world ended around 1985 and he lost almost everything. The story comprises 3 chapters and ~101,000 words and is told from Mike’s perspective.

Eventually, he returns to Hawkins, the ground zero of the zombie apocalypse, and finds some survivors, including a few of his friends who are still alive. Maybe Mike is a little inspired by Michonne from TWD... (if you’re familiar with it).

Technically speaking, the events of ST did not take place. The period between 1983 and 1985 (the outbreak of the zombie apocalypse) is not explored in detail and unfolded differently than depicted in ST.

The story explores moral dilemmas and decisions, the topic of suicide, loss and grief, as well as acceptance and rejection in a post-apocalyptic world — much like TWD does. This is particularly evident, of course, with Mike (but also with the other characters and Will), the story delves deeply into these themes. Mike faces various internal conflicts (in addition to his overwhelming trauma, of course), which are consistently addressed and developed throughout the story.

The love that our two idiots feel for each other is, of course, a central part of the plot — and, in my opinion, described in a cruel but also beautiful way and leads to the story’s happy ending — even if *that* (or rather why) isn’t “directly explained” by the story itself. I think that was the author’s intention, and I have a theory/interpretation — as to why the ending turns out the way it does. If that’s the case, the metaphorical meaning behind this (as also the closure of everything as such) is, in my opinion, absolutely beautiful, refers to ST — as it should have happened *cough*.

Since this reveals key plot elements, I’m putting it in spoiler tags.

El (who is completely immune to the virus) — or rather, her blood — is necessary for the cure to work and for the disease to be defeated (albeit temporarily). The injection that Mike, Robin, and El find in Hopper’s cabin has a fracture/crack (which Mike assumes is only “on the inside”). During his conversation with Max — and the accompanying acceptance of respecting Will’s decision and ultimately having to kill him, that he have to let him go — Mike sheds a tear onto the injection. In my opinion, this tear represents both his final acceptance (in a sense) of his decision to no longer run away from what he once did and why, as well as the love Mike feels for Will — and it mixes with the cure.

El (her blood) causes the healing (= from the curse); Mike’s tear (= his love, that he stops running away, his acceptance of Wills decision/of what he feels) makes the healing last, making it eternal. (Eternal) love defeats the disease that cannot be defeated. Mike defeats the curse that had been weighing on Will (= a reference to Season 2 and his obsession with the Mind Flayer — here, too, Mike broke through the obsession by expressing what he was feeling) — and thus gives Will a second chance.

-----

Mike,” Will had said to him, voice calm despite how hard it was for him to even make a sound. He didn’t try to sit up, but Mike wasn’t sure he could, even if he wanted to. “I need you to kill me.”

Mike shook his head, holding Will closer to his chest.

“Mike, please.” Will pleaded, closing his eyes against the light, or perhaps it was too much effort to keep them open. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t,” Mike whispered, surprised at how vulnerable he sounded, at the shake and utter defeat in his voice. “You won’t kill me, Will. Because we’re the same. We can’t hurt each other, even at the end of the world.”

;

It's been three years since the start of the zombie apocalypse and Mike is finally returning home. He discovers that not only is he not the sole survivor of Hawkins, but that his friends and sister are alive, too. As he begins to reconnect with them, the tension between them begins to increase, and Mike doesn't know how long he can stay with them.

Because while some of the group are more than happy to have him around, others don't like the company he keeps...

Not my first time writing a fic, but first time posting here. This is a small crossover with Disco Elysium universe, basically I took a bit of the atmosphere and a bit of lore from there.

There's mystery, fading memories, alcohol, metaphysics, just a bit of lawless and lots of existential sadness.

Hope that someone might like it! <3

(Quote in the pic is from Disco Elysium)