writer of about ten years, somehow still quite rusty so bear with me ! currently writing for stranger things, check out my new socmed series "capture it!" featuring byler.
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(„• ֊ •„) ( lost? here's a lil map to help you out! )
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・rules 「 ✉️ 」 masterlist :三 requests ✩
⟢ my backup / personal blog @4kodzu
⟢ you can also find my works on twitter
⟢ semi-retired editor, but you can find me on instagram sometimes at @semisfx
truly, though, hello again! it’s… been a while. i stated in my last post (cough… 4 months ago…) that i was returning shortly after a small break due to a car accident. …well! things were a lot more serious than previously anticipated, to say the least—i won’t get into the whole “author went through serious trauma and could only think about their unfinished story” schpeel, even though damn i get it now, but i think im finally in the right space to finally get writing again!
as for candid love, i will do my absolute best to finish it. i know stranger things has been over for a while now (we are officially a dying fandom, rejoice), but i think there are still a few of you who have stuck around. i get your notifs! c;
as for new writing, i’m currently into the group chat, and would love to write some stuff about them if i get the chance!
i have a pretty packed schedule now, but i’d like to get writing again. i hope to see yall around <3 i missed you!
sorry guys, i didn’t abandon the fic— i got into quite a bad car accident due to black ice … im doing better now, hoping to update soon! hope i didn’t lose you guys just yet 🤍
notes: not to spoil too much, but will has been dealing with something the doctors have been calling a "medical mystery" for years on end at this point. he gets testing done and has to leave school regularly for it, despite never getting a call back after the labs are done. no answers, not even a "hey, we didn't find anything this time". he's beyond embarrassed by it and is weary about opening up to people about it other than his close friends that have been there since day one. he's started to build up a resentment for doctors as a result. and yes, max saying mike "finally has a stalker"is absolutely an homage to lucas. ;)
previous [chapter three], masterlist, next [chapter four]
notes: will was up fidgeting for hours wondering when lucas was going to get back to him about asking max. he was scrolling through netflix trying to find a show to sleep to when his phone pinged, and the remote went flying. there's a dent in the wall, and it woke el up. sorry, family. mike tends to get very anxious when it comes to meeting new people, as said before, and hates himself for acting so weird afterwards. he felt like he blacked out after will revealed it was him behind the drawing. he honestly might've.
previous [chapter two], masterlist, next [chapter four]
notes: mike is so anxious because this (almost) exact scenario has happened to him once before. when he was a part of the a/v club, he developed a crush on one of his partners. they became close friends and hung out a lot until one day mike started taking candids of him while they were at a fair. the boy thought it was weirdly intimate and told him off, ending his argument with 'we're just friends, man. cut that shit out'. needless to say, he was horrified and never showed his face again in that club.
authors notes: WOW hi guys!! i wasn't expecting this story to get as much attention as it did so fast! i'm so grateful for all of you who are reading!! my heart is so full from all the lovely comments you all have been sending my way. thank you thank you!
previous [chapter one], masterlist, next [chapter three]
taglist is open! @higuysetc @zombiecleric @caesuim @nigripes-lover @mikethebravewheeler @hrmarvolo
notes: ehehhehe surprise!! will's had a hallway crush on him since around sophomore year. he doesn't know his name or anything about him, just that he's.. well. a cute boy. hence the name. mike's never seen him before, mostly because he doesn't really pay attention to anything in class, let alone his classmates. but today? he felt like that one lego meme of the guy staring (you know which one.. i hope)
if the story would be easier to read with different themes for the two boys (mike being dark mode and will being light mode), let me know and i'll incorporate it into the next chapters! <3
previous [will's love club], masterlist, next [chapter two]
JANE/EL HOPPER ➜ senior in highschool, in many many school clubs because she can't pick one thing that she loves the most. will's adoptive sister, but they tell everyone they're twins (i mean, can you tell otherwise?). changed her name in fourth grade, but doesn't mind if those close to her call her el. very very busy, always either outside reading or at an event with one of her clubs.
LUCAS SINCLAIR ➜ senior in highschool, defender on the basketball team. dating maxine mayfield, who he practically harassed until she finally opened up to him, to which was the best day of his life. would literally die for will, loves him to pieces and is his biggest supporter-- the definition of a best friend.
2 new characters unlocked!
￬ jane hopper, lucas sinclair
previous [ride or dies] , masterlist, next [01. cute boy]
DUSTIN HENDERSON ➜ senior in highschool, leader of the school's d&d club and takes it scarily seriously. has known mike since they were about five, and took him in as his token sad boy™️ . arguably the easiest person in the school to befriend, and always stands ten toes down for the people he loves.
MAXINE MAYFIELD ➜ senior in highschool, in a relationship with lucas sinclair. doesn't want her relationship to muddle in with her friendgroup, so she's never introduced them. a D1 mike hater but she's the only one who's allowed to do it; anyone else who tries will face her wrath.
2 new characters unlocked!
￬ dustin henderson, max mayfield
previous [the main characters] , masterlist, next [will's love club]
MICHAEL WHEELER ➜ senior in highschool, left all the clubs he was a part of besides photography in his junior year. a very reserved boy who struggles opening up to people (small talk and first impressions are his absolute worst nightmare). enjoys playing d&d with dustin, who he founded the schools d&d club with. fell in love with photography when he was young and would make movies with his action figures.
WILLIAM BYERS ➜ senior in highschool, likes to stay late after school and hoard all the supplies in the art classroom (he pretends he's with the drama club, and jane always vouches for him). always doodling in class, will sometimes occasionally draw his classmates to which they all find endearing. very friendly, but always keeps his walls up until he can fully trust someone.
⤷ summary: in which mike is a photographer and loves to make art of of the things he loves, likes, or thinks are really cute sitting in the corner of his biology class. ♡
status: ongoing (started january 22, 2026)
warnings: may be a little ooc, equal amounts of fluff and angst, foul language, dark/crack humor, timestamps are irrelevant unless stated otherwise
- names of chapters can/will change as the story progresses
- chapters with (⭑.ᐟ) will have written section(s)
profiles
the main characters!
mike's ride or dies
will's love club
chapters
01. cute boy
02. full send?
03. phase two
more to be announced ..
notes - hi! don't think i forgot about candid love, i didn't. this story is based in modern times; i'll try to introduce the characters and their personalities as best i can in the intros, but you'll get to know them more as the story progresses, so don't feel like there's missing info just yet ;). i'm also posting this smau on twitter for the first time (@4byerz), so we'll see how that does HAHA. but i hope you enjoy my interpretation of the characters, i love them very dearly.
yuuta is really good at drawing and has been since he was younger. the only person who knows about it is toge, who’s caught him awake at ungodly hours of the night quite a few times with his nose in a sketchbook.
yuuta never had close friends when he was a child, he was the type of kid in class who was friendly with everyone, but never close enough to deem them friends. this is why he gets emotional sometimes when hanging out with his group.
toge inumaki
toge has spotify premium but always forgets to pay for his phone service, the only playlist he’s ever downloaded is blond by frank ocean and he starts to hate it more and more each time he has to press play
toge is absolutely obsessed with games that have proximity chat. he’ll stay up until the ass crack of dawn hooting and hollering into his headphones until yuuta snaps at him to go to bed. his favorite gimmick is to jump off of high buildings and scream all the way down because he was featured in a youtube video doing it once.
maki zenin
when maki was younger, her and toge used to play pranks on her sister. they even convinced their parents once to do the prank where they pretended she was invisible, and took a picture without her in it to scare her even more. maki ended up feeling bad, toge thought it was hilarious.
maki despises anything that has to do with the ‘clean girl’ aesthetic. she thinks it’s a ploy by companies to buy their products that ‘don’t do shit’. one time, nobara wanted to prank her, so she showed up to her house with her face slathered in vaseline, saying she was ‘slugging’. maki refused to let her lay down in the bed until she wiped it off.
yuuji itadori
yuuji was the type of kid to watch videos like “TOP 10 BIGGEST WATERSLIDES IN THE WORLD” on youtube when he was younger. some of them are still in his ‘watch later’.
yuuji and y/n used to bike around and hang out in the most sketchy parts of town on purpose. in their heads, it was already crazy there, so who cared if two kids were running a muck? they got stopped by cops one time for loitering outside of a burger king after hours. they avoided that part of town like the plague after that. they call it “the incident”.
megumi fushiguro
megumi is the one in the group who takes the Longest to get ready. he’s definitely a morning shower person, and takes his time doing a long skincare regime afterwards. he insists that he doesn’t do anything to his hair, but everyone knows he does.
megumi loves taking secret pictures of his friends without them knowing. he has no idea what a ‘candid’ is, but he literally takes them all the time. he has a locked album in his photos app that is simply captioned “🎥”. his friends ask about it ALL THE TIME, but he always says he has no idea what it is or how it got there.
nobara kugisaki
nobara thinks retail therapy is a real thing and denies that it is negative in any way. buying things she likes = happiness.
one time, nobara accidentally stole $20 worth of items from the store after walking out with the hand-basket tucked under her arm. she’d forgotten to pay after getting her (daily) coffee at the cafe. when she got home, she called maki freaking out, who just laughed and told her to go back. she brought the items back and paid for them, but kept the basket because she thought it was ‘actually kinda chic’.
y/n l/n
y/n has convinced yuuji to let her experiment with his hair from time to time. this always means something different, he could leave at the end of the night with pigtails, or bright purple hair. he’s okay with either option though, since he doesn’t really care about looks.
y/n has a huge cardboard box under her bed full of journals that are busting at the seams. she used to journal every single day, sometimes multiple times a day, until megumi told her to just do it on twitter. they’re not aesthetically pleasing by any means, with pictures lazily taped everywhere and random receipts tucked into the pages from things she likes to call ‘canon events’, but they’re nostalgic to her and very fun to flip through.
looking for more? head to the masterlist for the full smau <3
