Apparently, there are standing and using whiteboards activities, which is gonna be Hell on our body... tempted to eat the professor considering their advice to us saying we have a physical disability is essentially "do the activity anyways, then sit when you're done"! It's not just our legs/standing, but lifting our arms to write on the boards for extended periods of time!! It is nothing like writing on paper, professor >:(
Hi hi and hello Lex! ~
We never officially talked (bc I'm shy, but I try to be better, so-), but I read through all of your "Bite Forbidden Fruit" and Bylerween got me good.. So I had to ask:
Do you have any kind of moodboard or anything else to share the vibe of the AU? Or something on how you imagine the party to look like in it? (I kinda binged through all of the parts today and thought maybe you have something more you'd like to share about it! Or maybe something I missed) ~ :D
Hiyaaaa Fluffy! And no, I totes get it, cuz I'm a shy person myself on here! P.S. I looooove all your drawings
Oooh, you're in luck because I've had this au since June when I was talking with @light-lanterne extensively about it and some other details with @microwaveonwheels and others about it too. Here's also some Extra Lore (the lore is subject to change). Also have no idea why but I never like considered doing a moodboard for this ficlet series looooool. But I guess I'll make one sometime later, I mean, I got ideas so might as well 🤭Fun fact: Bite Forbidden Fruit and Best Friends Forever have the same shorthand BFF lol
Feral Will's differences/Similarities from Will
Feral Will has a distorted voice that sounds like 3 people or more are talking, with Will's normal sweet voice being the underlying tone
Feral Will's teeth sharpen and turn to fangs and his eyes get blackened, later on they'll change to a glowing red and maybe I'll give Will claw-like nails to slash at his food better
He obviously acts more animalistic but he still knows how to talk, sometimes though he will crawl
Feral Will ALWAYS obeys Mike even if he doesn't agree (not killing someone)
Feral Will believes that Mike smells the most tastiest and is actually the main person he wants to consume, the others are substitutes
This is a mix of Bones and All/Ginger Snaps/Jennifer's Body so Feral Will/Will is dependent on Mike and Mike wants to be depended on
Like Bones and All, Feral Will loves his family and friends to the point that he wants to eat them so they can stay with him forever, Mike topping that list and it makes Will feel guilty. Mike enjoys that Will wants to eat him though, a bit possessive over who Will eats/feeds on
Feral Will has the ability to make his loved ones develop amoral tendencies if it means he is safe, kind of like a crying abandoned baby has nurturing adults immediately adopt and protect it
First Part (Origin Story behind the scenes)
Will came back wrong after he was saved in s1. In between s1/2 Will notices that normal food tastes awful to him and that the slugs he throws up can grow and are under his control
Because of the trauma of s1, and his body changing, Will's powers get unlocked which is why he can control the demodogs and why his nose bleeds (nose bleeds also when his feral side is activated)
Will is otherwise fairly normal in his genetic makeup so Dr. Owens and them can't detect that he's turned into a cannibal, even after they run tests (a reference to Will being good at hiding)
Originally, to abate his hunger, he would sneak out at night to eat small animals (squirrels, birds, the chickens on neighboring farms etc) and his feral side would take over, leaving Will's true self to have a hazy mind like he switched personalities
When he realizes the chickens aren't satisfying, feral Will goes to the Wheeler house to finally confess to Mike of his troubles (Mike already suspected something was wrong).
Mike then cleans Will up in the basement bathroom (it's rather cute if you can picture it like that) and offers his clothes that he's grown out of that Karen won't realize is missing. This is the 1st time Feral Will bites Mike on the arm and thus their dynamic shifted because instead of feeling scared, Mike sees its helping Will and cares more about Will's comfort than his.
After this interaction, Mike vows to keep Will under control so he won't get caught and taken from him again. Mike decides in order to protect Will's innocence he'll be the one to find "sacrifices" for Will to eat, lessening the already horrible situation of Will being different and wrong. Mike won't let Will taint his hands by becoming a killer. Hence the reference to being Will's sword and shield. Only he and Will know of their bad choices until El stumbles upon them and then it becomes the trio working together as El keeps watch and maybe helps kill people with Mike.
Eventually, against Mike's wishes and behind his back, El convinces a hungry Feral Will to feed from her (biting only, he never tears their flesh unless its the sacrifices). Mike is upset because he's possessive of being the ONLY ONE that Feral Will bites. But it's too late and Feral Will has a taste for El's blood too, though regular Will is still jealous of her and Mike's bond. One day, during an incident, Feral Will attacks Lucas, Dustin and Max and that's how the rest of the Party find out that Will's messed up, so is Mike and El. But Lucas and Dustin love Will too much to leave him so they reluctantly help, but they leave the killing to Elmike. Max accepts the risk anyways even though Mike gives her an out by saying if she keeps it to her grave she won't be hunted.
Then s2 possession happens with Feral Will trying to fight and Joyce/Jonathan/Nancy/Hopper only think that Will's possessed and not a cannibal. Also, since El is helping Byler, in this au she doesn't go looking for her mom or Kali yet.
Second Part (s3 arc)
They're fully committed to this life now. The Party has grown kind of apathetic to Elmike's brutality. Bit of hierarchy system now, but only when it comes to feeding Feral Will. Mike won't let anyone else get bit but he'll let them do bloodletting by blotting on a towel or shirt or cloth for Feral Will to lap up. Mike still lets Feral Will privately drink from him, but when it comes to others, even El, Mike monitors to make sure Feral Will doesn't lose control and eat them out of love.
Mike and Feral Will kind of get walked in on by Jonathan and Nancy who are shocked, and Feral Will goes to attack them just like he did with El (seeing them as a threat to his food source, but also seeing them as a food source). Mike stops this and explains the situation to a weepy distraught Jonathan and a very composed Nancy trying to comfort Jonathan. Feral Will changes to normal and also cries because he thinks Jonathan will hate him (this is how his reaction was when Lucas/Dustin/Max found out). Jonathan unconditionally loves his brother though and says he'll do what he can to help him, also he curses himself for not noticing when Will didn't finish all of his normal human food or that he was in pain like this.
Nancy decides to help as well because she wants Jonathan to be stable (also cuz she loves him so she supports her man's wrongs, atp in time though she still dates Steve). Mike is upset that more people are getting involved, again possessive over who can support Will, but he relents since Jonathan is Will's family and all. Byler squared then works together to bring sacrifices to Will, with Nancy discovering she likes to reclaim her power by using feminine wiles to lure in men after that shitty summer internship she had. Nancy enjoys killing now and Jonathan worries about her. Mike doesn't really care for killing, he only does it for Will. El initially only killed because she chose to listen to Mike over Hopper's rules but she also has a kinship with Will because she doesn't feel like the only monster now.
Lucas, Dustin, Max, and Jonathan are all accomplices. Dustin uses a calendar to track when Feral Will is going to come out and demand food. Lucas and Max are the go-betweens that contact Jancy or Elmike to get ready. The Party tends to hang in the junkyard cuz it's secluded enough for them to give Feral Will an appetizer (drinking their blood). Feral Will during this era ends up eating Steve's douchebag friend Tommy, Max's older stepbro Billy (Feral Will thinks he's protecting Max and friends from Flayed Billy), among Nancy's sexist bosses.
As this all happens, Vecna is collecting information, knowing that Will feels guilty and ashamed and plans on using that against Will. He wants Will to join him and it's kind of like a twisted non-love triangle where Vecna wants to make Will his protégé and control whereas Mike already has influence over Will through consent. The conflict happens when the Byers leave Hawkins for Lenora and Jonathan and El are to watch over Will without the Party's help. They have yet to tell the adults Jopper yet and then Hopper "dies".
Mike is very worried about Will and Nancy is worried about Jonathan. Joyce is unawares. Obviously with this distance, Will and Mike don't have that miscommunication of the phone calls cuz of the dynamic changing again.
Third Part (s4 arc)
In Lenora, Joyce discovers what happened to her son Will as he is eating the raw meat she was going to cook for dinner. Jonathan and El explain to her and Joyce is grieving again (from Hopper, to Will's condition now). El is also grieving Hopper still and isn't as focused on finding sacrifices for Will. Also she's hiding from the government so she can't be careless.
Will bites El more and eventually Jonathan "man's up" and finds someone to be Will's food after hanging out with Argyle and scoping the Surfer Boy's pizza shop. Joyce isn't as regretful as Jonathan, and she is willing to hurt others to protect her baby boy, so she's really the one that hunts and finishes the job when Jonathan just... He can't... and he hates himself for not being able to be strong enough to cross that boundary for Will like Joyce, El, Mike, and Nancy can despite being blood brothers.
Preoccupied with Feral Will turning up, Joyce isn't grieving Hopper as much as she's gone back into s1/2 mode. Then Mike comes for Spring Break (Nancy couldn't even though she wanted too but figures it'd be too suspicious as Mike planned on feeding Will for all the months they missed out)
Then s4 shenanigans happen and now they've returned to a broken Hawkins
Fourth Part (Established Byler On the Run Era)
After Vecna's defeated, Mike and Will become traveling serial killers. Hopper now knows of their exploits but doesn't turn them in due to his love for Joyce and El (although he's pissed El was following Mike's orders this whole time under his nose).
This is more focused on Mike and Will and how they function as a dysfunctional couple with Will's first kill ever being Lonnie. They drive around, motel to motel, odd job to odd job, all while being compared to the Zodiac Killer for how elusive they are.
That's all folks!
So anyways, that's the loose plotline that may or may not have more details added on but eventually it all leads to Byler being gay and sadistic and tortured souls who are in love. Will feels cursed because of how many people were okay with doing evil deeds for him to be around as a son, friend, brother, and partner.
Thanks sooo much for your ask and I hope I didn't bombard you with too much of the lore of this. Tried to leave with the element of mystery of how exactly did Byler start dating considering Will thinks Elmike is a thing and Mike is very jealous of Willel's bond while El in the beginning is obsessed with Mike but confused at why he's so soft around Will. 3 way jealousy is my fav.
