hey, everyone! as you know, there has been an incredible increase of byler fics on ao3, and since it can be hard to find what do read or how to find what you're looking for, i thought i could contribute with my own list of fic recs. This is only part one, i'll keep updating as i read. Also, if you have any fic rec for me, please share them with me via ask or dms!
None of the fics in this list are rated Explicit.
The italics represent the fic summary. The comment underneath is my opinion.
a game of truths - RomeoWrites | 22.5k | canon compliant
“Tell me something that you’ve never told me before.”
OR
Mike and Will play a game of truths.
I loved how their relationship was portrayed here. The change between being so close, to suddenly not telling each other stuff and even lying, and then slowly trying to rebuild their friendship and trust. Their relationship developed beautifully. I wish i could read this again for the first time!
no end to this want - astrobi | 21.4k | canon compliant
"Mike thinks back to the painting Will gave him, rolled up and placed carefully in his dresser drawer because for some reason it felt too wrong to hang it up on the walls with everything else. Too intimate. Like Will had made it for his eyes only. Or, apparently as everyone else thought, some mystery lover in California. And then he thinks about Will dozing off on his bed, and saying I think I’m in love with you all soft and slowed down from the inertia of sleep, and that’s right about when Mike starts to feel seriously lightheaded. He leans back against his bed and focuses very hard on taking deep, even breaths."
Mike contemplates his feelings for Will Byers, partakes in a concerning amount of swooning, and learns to drive. Sort of.
This was amazing. I love reading from Mike's pov because i wanna study his brain under a microscope. This fic takes you through the process of realizing his feelings while trying to mend his friendship with Will, and where he accidentally tells the party Will likes someone and they think it's some mysterious girl and it's hilarious. you're not gonna regret reading this one!
i'm tearing you asunder - smoosnoom (moonsooms) | 21k | canon compliant
“Did I do something wrong?” Mike questions, mouth twisted in a frown, eyes less wide than they were a few moments ago, sleepiness gone. His arms stay at his sides, although his fingers fiddle with his sleeves. “What did I do wrong?”
Will frowns back. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Mike doesn’t look like he believes him. Will doesn’t blame him. “Then why do you keep leaving?”
The world ends, and then some. Mike and Will find each other again, amidst the debris and distance.
I'm pretty sure a lot of you have already read this one, but i just have to include it. I love how, from Mike's perspective, Will is the one pulling away from him. We're so used to reading everything through his eyes, that sometimes we forget how confused Mike must feel. But then again, he fails to understand how sidelined Will has felt for a while. They misunderstand each other, which is hard after so many years of friendship and being so close. This fic takes us through the journey of them relearning how to trust each other and be vulnerable.
i’d love to see me from your point of view - unidentifiedblackthorn | 8k | canon compliant
Now that Will’s sitting and Mike’s the one that’s standing, he looks impossibly tall. Tall and lanky, and huge. He should sit back down, Will thinks, lay back down next to Will and stay in their own secluded little bubble.
“I really want to kiss you,” Mike says, and Will’s eyes snap back up to his so violently he thinks he hears his own neck crack with the force of it.
“Don’t,” Will croaks, before his brain has even processed the words. “Don’t say that.”
“Okay,” Mike says easily, still staring. And what the actual fuck is going on? Is Will hallucinating? Is the weed making him hallucinate? “So sausage and pepperoni?”
Will stares dumbly at him. “Um - yeah. Yes.”
“Cool,” Mike replies and then just turns around and leaves Will sitting dumbly in his own room.
or
Mike and Will get high on Jonathan’s weed and Mike has an amazing idea.
Just as the summary says: basically Mike and Will get high and Mike makes a petition. This was hilarious, beautiful, and a little heartbreaking, you name it! it has everything. I just really love Mike in this one:)
darling, you got to let me know (should i stay or should i go?) - andiwriteordie | 11k | canon compliant (pre vol. 2)
Nobody expects it to be Mike.
Everyone is expecting it to be Max or Nancy, who both have already been targeted. Or maybe El, whose childhood in Hawkins Lab makes her the perfect target. Or Will, who has gone through more than enough trauma in the past three years alone for all of them.
Nobody expects it to be Mike.
Or, the one in which it's Mike, not Will, who Vecna targets.
Mike gets vecna'ed, and we get to see what he's really going through. This was a great fic to read while we waited for vol. 2, but it's always going to be an amazing read! and honestly, everything this author writes is wonderful, i'm not including all of their fics only because i haven't read them all (yet).
what a goddamn kiss to think about - zadurn | 5k | i think au? unsure of the clasification here i'm sorry
“Can I kiss you?” he asks. Hearing the words out loud makes everything feel that much more real, and Mike loves it. He thinks he might love Will, too, and the thought doesn’t feel new. It’s like a stone that’s half buried in the dirt but just got kicked loose. It’s something that’s been deep in Mike’s heart for a while, years, maybe, but just got unearthed.
Will pushes him away, and Mike has no idea what he did wrong. He was just telling the truth. Friends don’t lie. “What?” Will asks, voice sounding kind of choked. He’s grimacing, and Mike wants to un-say whatever bad thing he said so that Will smiles at him again.
“I— I asked if I could kiss you,” Mike says, and Will shushes him. He looks around frantically.
“Mike,” Will replies. He sounds tired. “You can’t just ask that.”
“Why not? I want to kiss you so I asked.”
“But you don’t, Mike. You don’t want to… to kiss me. You’re just drunk.”
–
alternatively: mike pines while drunk, and then he pines while sober.
Listen, i just really love pining!mike fics where he asks Will if he can kiss him and Will thinks it's not real because Mike is under the influence of some substance. This was such a fun read! the ending was beautiful!
when the dust settles - teafortozier | 4.8k | canon compliant
When all is said and done, days later, when Hawkins is condemned and quarantined and the town evacuated, Wheelers and Byers divided between four motel rooms in the nearest town with any vacancies after the mass exodus from Hawkins—it’s just Mike and the painting.
*
The post-season 4 fix-it the Duffers are too cowardly to write.
They have the very necessary talks where they address what should've been addressed in the show too. This is Mike's pov, which, at this point, is notable i love haha. One of my favorite fix-it fics, definitely!
why would you ever kiss me? - aghostlybreath | 51k (so far. ongoing.) | canon divergence
When Eleven saves Will from Vecna she gets more than she bargained for when they wake up in the wrong bodies. Now to prevent Vecna from infiltrating the mind of his most perfect host the two of them must pretend to be the other.
Will grapples with the feelings that he’s trying to push away.
Mike wonders why it feels like he’s falling in love all over again.
What will become of everything when Hawkins finally falls?
In order to save Will from Vecna, El traps herself in his mind. What he doesn't know, is that this causes them to switch bodies. And on top of that, they can't tell anyone about their switch because Vecna would find out if he entered their mind. Soo, Will has to pretend to be El, and El has to pretend to be Will. And let me tell you, i can't stop thinking about this fic since i read it, seriously. This scenario makes possible to explore a lot of themes and situations! Will suddenly has to deal with having Mike's attention all the time, and El understands how it feels to be ignored/pushed away by someone you love. Willel is amazing here, too, they start bonding even more thanks to their particular situation. And Mike... Poor Mike, he's so confused and doesn't know what he's feeling and why. This fic has everything! it's funny at times, really sad and heartbreaking at others, clever, and makes you go through so many different emotions. Be aware it's still ongoing, but don't worry, it's usually quick to update!
Us against the world - wasabi8000 | 13k | canon compliant
They were right, Mike really is oblivious.
Which is why when he figures out Will likes him, his entire world is turned on its axis.
Or
Mike finally puts the pieces together. Chaos ensues.
It's really common to have Mike be absolutely oblivious to what is happening with Will, but what would happen if he figured it out? he's a little clueless when it comes to feelings, but he's also smart. This fic explores that. A great read that differs a little from the most popular interpretation of "mike doesn't figure it out".
i think we're alone now - friendstolovers | 3.5k | canon divergence i think?
"Whatever," Lucas shrugs. "You’re just jealous that you aren’t getting any.”
Mike raises an eyebrow, like he knows something the rest of them don't. Will looks like he wants to drown him. He probably deserves it.
In which Will has a love bite, the Party freaks out about it, and Mike is jealous of himself.
Teens being teens, Mike being jealous and not being able to stop thinking about Will. The party being clueless as to what is really going on haha. It was a sweet and fun read! perfect for when you want to step away from angst for a bit and are looking for something more lighthearted.
Mike Wheeler is Doing Just Fine - AtomosphericNonsense | 5k | canon compliant
Mike Wheeler is doing just fine. No. Really. He’s okay. He’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with him. Nothing to see here, just mind your own fucking business.
AKA: local stressed and queer teen has a mental breakdown, yells at a lake, and then has several more breakdowns.
This is a Mike character study, in which he has several meltdowns. Luckily, he has people who help him endure it. Steve and Robin are wonderful here!
the winner takes it all - andiwriteordie | 9k | canon compliant
“Honestly, I bet they’ll end up dating at one point or another. I’ve just got a feeling.”
“I’ll take that bet,” Steve says, voice filled with certainty. “Bet you ten bucks Wheeler and Byers are just friends and don’t get together.”
Robin and Steve make a bet on whether Will and Mike will end up together. Naturally, chaos ensues.
Just as established by the summary, Steve and Robin make a bet about whether Will and Mike will get together. Then it escalates, more people get involved, and the bet changes from if to when. Such a fun and entertaining read!
when will you accept yourself? - awhstrangerthings | 8k | canon compliant, but post s3 and pre s4.
There was only one thing he and Robin Buckley had in common; they both were undeniable nerds. So he's a little confused when he walks into the Video Store, and Robin offers advice of all things. After many visits and conversations about life, relationships, who he is as a person— Mike realises why he's been so drawn to converse with Robin, and that there were two things they had in common after all.
Over the course of a month, we see Mike Wheeler in a state of vulnerability that we've never seen him in before as he comes to terms with himself, his sexuality, and his feelings for a certain friend in California with the help of Robin.
Or, Mike Wheeler and his blossoming friendship with Robin Buckley.
We have quite a few fics of Robin befriending Will, which i love, but now think about this: Mike befriending Robin. Their friendship is truly everything!
head over heels - ashhaxkerman | 11k | canon compliant
On their way to Hawkins, the group decides to stay at a motel for the night.
Mike and Will get a moment alone to talk.
In which Will's birthday is forgotten and Mike attempts to fix their friendship, which he realizes, is something so much more.
we could be heroes (just for one day) - buffymysavior | 8k | canon compliant (pre vol. 2)
Will can’t help but feel a sense of dread as Jonathan speeds past the familiar “Welcome to Hawkins” sign, the cold air pouring in through the windows and making the back of his neck prickle in a way it hasn’t since he’d left town.
The past week had been…unexpected, to say the least. At the most, he thought that maybe, just maybe, he would give Mike the painting currently sticking out of the front of his backpack and that Mike would suddenly remember how much Will meant to him, and then things could go back to how they were supposed to be, and maybe Will could write off the past year of loneliness and self-pity as overthinking and nothing more.
Instead, he found himself spending the week in the back of a pizza truck that had at one point housed a dead body, and when they weren’t in danger of getting shot by rogue government agents, he was trying to ignore the butterflies Mike Wheeler gave him whenever he smiled at him like it meant something.
This fic written by my friend! Will gets vecna'ed, and Mike has some realizations. Although it doesn't follow vol. 2 events because it was written before, it deserves a read! It's both heartbreaking and sweet:) Also, you can pretend Mike's monologue here is the real one, instead of the one we got in the show haha.
Unbreakable Connection - Tea_For_One_Please | 20k | Soulmates AU
At midnight on everyone's sixteenth birthday, they receive a connection of some kind with their soulmate. Some are connected by strings. Some have contact marks, a shadow of the first time their soulmate touches them. For some, the first words their soulmate says to them appears on their skin. Some find objects that their soulmate has misplaced.
On the night of Will Byers' sixteenth birthday, he hears a little voice in his head. But whom does the voice belong to? Will he ever get to meet the mysterious "Gabriel"?
This is the first AU on this list! I'm usually drawn to canonverse fics, but this caught my attention and i don't regret reading at all! It was great and their bond was portrayed in a unique way. Definitely worth a read!
Expect part 2 soon, as i'm consuming fics as if my life depended on it!
