i've never written a byler fic before, but I have an idea for a post-canon one: after El's death, Mike wants to be a better friend to Will so he follows up on will's coming out. Will expresses he's always felt different especially when everyone got gfs, so Mike asks if he maybe wants to explore that through their DnD campaign. Will the Wise had always had a familiar/page, so Will says, why don't we explore establishing a romantic relationship with the Page? That way, Will can get some relationship practice as a gay teen, before he finds someone in real life hopefully. And Mike's like, yeah! so one day he surprises him by having the Page ask Will the Wise to a fae ball, starting a relationship, but then for some reason is caught off guard when Will continues the RP, like ok yes! can i kiss him. Mike slowly realizes that he also has to continue to RP as the Page and give them scenarios to do. Will is also starting to learn about queer culture independently (especially in college) and he offhand mentions to Mike that there's so much lore to it, like comics/movies. Mike is like, wait I can nerd out on lore, so Mike starts to get more familiar with queer culture too behind Will's back, leading to more accurate and interesting RP. In parallel, Mike and Will are starting to realize things about themselves in college, like Mike starting to wonder what it actually means to love + how long queer people have been real and 'hidden/closeted.' And Mike starts to get uncomfortable with the RP, but Will assumes it's because Mike is uncomfortable RPing romance after El's death, so Will makes suggestions about how to make the relationship between Will the Wise and the Page totally different from things Mike and El would have done. However, Mike starts to realize some of those things are things he's done or would have done for Will, or they are totally new scenarios specific to gay exp that he for some reason still finds himself uncomfortable with -- for being too exciting and easy. And then when Mike learns Will has started to take his practice from the game and apply it to his own queer dating life, Mike gets weirdly sad/angry and isn't sure why. They have a side convo about how Will is grateful for DnD but he recognizes now, after the rainfight, that it's just a childhood tool that will end eventually. And he's ok with that now. But Mike realizes that he's always thought of DnD as something real to him (esp since in the show everything he mentioned became real, pretty much), an exploration of his possibilities that real life didn't introduce to him and a real processing of emotions, that he doesn't want to end. But like, Mike isn't gay like the Page. He knows that, but as a science nerd he needs to prove it. Prove that character bleed is fake. He knows that the proof that he must have loved El was the fact that he made grand gestures for her, and the proof that he isn't gay for anyone (especially Will) is that he isn't in a relationship with a man (even if he has to ignore that Will isn't in one either and still is sure he is gay). He's even tempted to suggest going on a real date with Will just to prove Mike isn't that, like how he's not a real Knight. And he suggests that Will can even pretend Mike is someone else on the date, which Will thinks might be a good idea to prove to himself that he's over Mike, too. If he can either feel nothing on the date or easily imagine it being one of his crushes from college, then maybe Mike really was just a Tammy from a lack of options. Maybe there are references to how Mike's re-read of his own campaign over the years actually makes him realize the Page/Will storyline was always there, maybe that actually the Paladin is not too dissimilar (byler rewatch analysis ref). Maybe when Will says he can't continue playing in the campaign as often, as school starts to pick up and so does his dating, Mike starts looking into weird clues he definitely didn't intend over the yrs but that he now uses to pretend a secret episode of the campaign is coming (conformitygate, happened offscreen refs).
Just so people know, I AM writing this! i had a version a few weeks ago that was just eh, but it started having a life of its own, and I'm doing a rewrite (hopefully in time of 3/22) in that time period, so much has changed: the byler fandom's fic tastes have changed (incl "lawlessness" -- formerly 'spiciness' + wanting things fluffier/happier/less-canon-aligned), the mourning/criticisms have evolved, there are a lot more tropes/in-jokes to potentially reference, and most of all, i took a more critical look about what i wanted to explore in it + have the characters address. But I really do hope when i do post it, at least someone enjoys! (if nothing else, i've had a blast)
