Will starts rejection therapy but he has severe social anxiety so instead of going up to random strangers, he always asks his family and friends for things they cannot provide him. It’s usually something stupid, like a loan of a million dollars.
But then his therapist tells him that, for the treatment to work properly, he needs to ask for something that he actually wants. So he asks Mike for a kiss knowing that the answer will be no.
And Mike knows that Will is only asking as a joke, because he’s been making stupid requests and laughing them off for months now. He says yes anyway.
because the discourse over "the big three" makes me genuinely queasy
for a multitude of reasons.
Below the cut you'll find 15 (generally smut free) byler fic recs organized by word count (increasing), all of which I absolutely love and adore, as well as my first thoughts after reading them (ao3 bookmark description), and a quick no-spoiler-description.
(Also if you dont want to read all 15 and are looking for just one fic that may or may not change your life, I saved the best fic for last)
Short <25,000 fics
"What's the worst that could happen, If you stay a while?", Lyxchen, 6,364, 1/1
"Glitters and Gold", Caravaggiosbrushes, 6,817, 1/1, unfinished series of byler variants
"Holy **** this was so good????? I need my mind wiped just so I can read it again"
I reread this fic regularly (totally not putting myself on blast for this) but this is so canon to me, this, this is what happened in episode 8. Its heartwarming to watch will work up the courage to tell mike how he feels, and its also kind of hilarious for mike to have no idea what hes encouraging.
"Byler yearning"
A hawkinshigh teacher au, mikes pov, he's completely whipped for will, and crushed at the thought that he doesnt have a chance, his last hope is the faculty christmas party.
"Secret Letters", Nohzdyves, 7,528, 1/1
"Short, sweet, and simple party fic"
The short secret dating extravaganza where byler cant help but be all over eachother no matter whose house they are in.
"Spiderboy, king of theives", Whyamistillwritingpages, 17,426, 1/1, 1/2 in series
"Micheal-freaked-out-wheeler over here. Thats it. Thats the fic. Just Mike Queerler whoring out over his best bud/the hot new hero who saved his life"
Mike wheeler moved to New York, met Spiderman, got the hots for him immidiatly, got jealous over will and non-existent dates, struggled to open a jar, and overall jsut had a very embarrassing time. (Self inflicted of course). Great marvel comic and movie references and party dynamics.
"Standing by and waiting at your backdoor", Underchemtrails, 21,374, 2/2
"New favorite strangerthings character just dropped. Switches pov FOR GOOD REASON I've never seen a jealous Micheal queerler like this before and I am HERE for it. Also el is such a great wingwoman."
Highschool au but not really, will be freindships Jennifer hays, fake dating shenanigans begin, mike freaks out, el is his voice of reason during the troublesome times.
Medium 25-75k fics
"Love in slow motion", Astrobi, 29,011, 1/1
"Stardusted", Cooltrick, 31,588, 1/1
"Perfect fake-dating-trope execution, Incredible characterization, Season 3 personalities, Lots of the party."
Fake dating done to a TEA, also I love the party dynamics and how messy EVERYONE is, they truly are teenagers in this and it just includes so much personality for everyone. As always, great tension, It has great humour throughout it, and its painfully obvious how mike feels to everyone but himself. Even the audience. Who sees his perspective.
"Charisma Check (DnD is just an excuse for flirting without consequences)", Rogue_Mercury, 51,707, 5/?
"I never thought I'd find a fix that tortures mike wheeler enough
Until now"
Great tension, mike is pathetic, whipped, and tortured (painful yearning), will is just having a good time letting him figure it all out. Its so sweet. Mike is so dramatic. They may only be in wizard and paladin costumes, but mike may as well have taken an oath to will, and in mikes eyes, will must be a wizard to be that bewitching.
Happening right around the epilogue, Mike got his **** together and started planning a dnd campaign to communicate his story, and to hit on will in the meantime. Great tension, it has surfsahoy soon to come, and I love the dnd campaign itself, its very compelling!
"i've come home, i'm so cold", Astrobi, 53,522, 4/4
"Sweetheart your so cruel", Perexcri, (music snob) 54,518, 4/4
(Somehow I haven't bookmarked this yet, but I haven't read it in a while, so instead of doing thatnow, im going to reread it, then add a bookmark, then possibly update this)
The urge to draw a comparison between mike queerler and a golden retriever will grow with every word you read. The mystery aspect blends nicely in with will and mike trying to figure their own feelings (and eachothers) out (except its only wills pov, and I dont think mike thinks enough to try to know what will might be thinking [I say lovingly]) this is a great college au, has great tension, and the party is well written as always.
Long >75k fics
"Really really good enemies to lovers, the romantic tension is so prevalent feom the start"
Love watching two people who very clearly are interested in eachother switch up, suddenly try to end eachothers careers, only to slowly become eachothers biggest supporters. I love a flawed will byers, he eats up every fic hes present in, and he shows UP for this one.
"I'm in love with you, (do you think it shows?)", Apateangle (dm3rv), 105,445, 15/15
"RESPONSIBILITY", Wheelerboi, 110,717, 9/10
"Really sweet, heartbreaking, gut wrenching, cinematic, and will make you cry"
Absolutely gut wrenching and sickeningly sweet fic. It hurts, so much. 90s established byler but suddenly launching epilogue mike into 90s Mike's body. I cried. I sobbed. I cried again...... guess how many times I cried. (Guess how many were happy tears)
"Cinematic as hell, this is easily top 3 fics of all time im crying at the fact it hasn't been updated in 3 years but im about to check if the author has more instead of sleeping"
.....I dont think this fic will be finished BUT WAUT BEFORE YOU SCROLL, it does leave off on a cliffhanger BUT HEAR ME OUT, the 9 chapters we have are still incredible and worth reading! Its got great tension, enemies (they hate eachother a bit) to friends to lovers, a great plot, and i love how important the friendships are.
"To hell and back again", Perexcri 144,837, 32/32
"This is just season 5. This is what happened in season 5. hands down. Incredible in every way. Mike-homotron-wheeler pov. Idc what the tags say will is not a loser in this BUT MIKE IS (how it should be). Jonathan is a (big) side character, his 'clairvoyance' is a main character. Lucas and Dustin ARENT forgotten, and El is still perfect and can do no wrong and is the best sister and friend."
Will and mike go to the upsidedown, and its actually dangerous (but still has great humour). Its called a romcom spectacular for a reason, but it still has some angst that might take you a by surprise.
"Matador", Alice_reese48, 154,503, 23/23
"'I need to finish it but it already looks incredible' I says,
I was then shot 57 times in the chest"
Gut wrenching, violent sob enducing, pain inflicting "will never found" au. When this fic inserts song links into the text, YOU CLICK THEM. It deals with so many character points we never got to see fleshed out in Canon, which also means it deals with an incredible amount of heavy topics, so review the tags carefully, but it is my second favorite fic of all time (becuase it hurt so much, and my #1 is generally happier). I hope you read this, and if you do/have, I am so sorry and I am sending you virtual flowers, tissues, and get well soon cards. I want to cry thinking about this fic.
"A Cruel Summer With You", Astrobi, Andiwriteordie, Wiseatom, 371,633, 13/17, 5/5 in series with more to come
"'This is the best byler fic ive ever read-' I say as im cauterizing the knife wounds through my heart, '-Its my favorite fic in existence.'"
My favorite fic of all time, byler summer camp au, frenemies to lovers, rivals to lovers, they have a lot of problems they both have to work out, but we get both povs so we watch them work them out in real time. We also get to slowly peice together their EXPANSIVE history.
If you were going to read JUST ONE FIC from this list, have it be this one. It is that good. I've been on the edge of my seat since I first read it early this year, and I almost cried when I saw another chapter had come out.
Theses are just some of my favorite fics, and I hope the short, medium, and long fic categories help make this accessible to everyone!
i am a will byers dies young truther. not like... child age, but maybe 38, when he's been married to mike for a good few years. he leaves behind a daughter around 8 or 9 and she can't help thinking that there's something missing from mike as the years go by. when she gets old enough, she realises that the part of mike that is missing is will.
i'm also a mike has a long life truther. he lives to 80 or 82. he doesn't celebrate his 79th birthday because it marks the year where he's lived longer without will in the world than with him. he never remarries and he never falls in love again. he's buried next to will, and the plants growing on will's grave spread to mike's soon enough, like he's holding out his hand to him.
i’m seeing a lot of people reblogging suicide hotlines and this is just a reminder that this is a suicide help line that works like a text-based instant messenger for people who may need to talk to someone but have trouble/are uncomfortable making phone calls
This is so so so very important. If you are struggling I want you to be safe, I want you to know that you are loved. I don’t like talking on the phone, sometimes I clam up and can’t talk when I’m anxious. So I’m glad that I found this to share. Spread the word.
Hey guys! The first chapter of my story is up on Ao3 (sorry I ended up not getting around to writing chapter 2, I was gonna wait to share this but I want to at least give y'all an update).
Here's a bit of the summary:
After high school everyone is moving on and living life, but this time it's Mike Wheeler who is falling behind.
Now a two-time college dropout, Mike is barely holding it all together. He has to learn for himself it means to be alive even when he feels like he has nothing left to fight for, and he turns to social media to help. What he doesn't know is that the decision to post his first ever video diary on YouTube will be the thing that changes his life forever. It all starts with a sudden bout of unexpected internet fame and a friend request from a familiar name from his childhood: William Byers.
Also— it’s a multimedia fic (audio/ textual) and a mix of prose and epistolary if that’s interesting to you! The first chapter is a “video diary” that Mike posts to YouTube. I hope you’ll give it a read!
this year has really sucked so far, but writing byler has given me so much joy. I'm working on chapter 7 now and aaahhhhh, I just want to write all day 💙💛
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