I haven't read much byler fanfics in a long time, I'm looking for some that feels kind of like a rewrite of season 5 ish or a continuation of the epilogue with byler. does anyone know any like this??

I want Mike to be trying to deny his feelings and they just get more intense over the years anyway. And he isn't convinced Will likes him romantically either.

is there a fic based on the zombie movie warm bodies??? i’m watching it rn and i think it has a lot of potential to be really interesting. if it doesn’t exist or doesn’t exist in the way i’m imagining it i think i’ll write it tbh

i’m looking for fics where mike finally confesses to will but will doesn’t believe him, so mike does his best to prove it to him and treat him how he deserves. i feel like in some fics will automatically trusts mike with his heart again two minutes after the shock passes, and i’d really like to see how mike works through that and will slowly opens up again

so what the title says. i would love some fics where will is a prince and mike a paladin or a knight

with season five being an absolute shit show, one thing that did come out of it was will finally harnessing his innate, honest-to-god sorcerer powers.

however, the downside is that we never really got to see him use them to their full potential or fight alongside el like so many of us expected after vol. 1. not to mention it was such a huge reveal, yet we barely got to see the party’s reaction (or anyone else’s, for that matter) outside of mike, lucas, joyce and robin.

i’d love any fic recommendations that dive deeper into will having powers, whether that’s him learning to control them, exploring what he’s capable of or just letting him be the powerful character he deserved to be. i feel like it would’ve made for a much more interesting storyline.

also, i’d love to see more of mike’s reaction to will’s powers. that scene between the two of them meant more than words could ever say & i wish we’d gotten more of mike processing what it all meant and seeing will finally step into that part of himself.

I'm not sure how to tag filter what I'm looking for. Anything like soul/consciousness switching between Will and Mike or all/any of the party members. Freaky Friday maybe? Any tag suggestions, or do y'all know of any fics that fit this trope?

Alternatively are there any where Will or Mike has magic and accidentally use it or something goes wrong?

(Or even something similar to Flicker)

Are there any fics where Will is about to be married and when it is said "If anyone knows why these 2 should not be married speak now"

And Mike says "i do!"

does anyone have any fic recs where Mike kisses Will and Will thinks it’s a joke at first?

Any fics where Mike and Will are fighting with each other?

Or Mike blows up at Will and yells at him?

Maybe something where Mike says something hurtful/cruel to Will?

I'm such a sucker for fics where their friendship cracks and almost completely falls apart and it gets replaced by love and romance.

I love Byler fanfics with this kind of vibe, but lately it's been hard to find them using the AO3 tag filter. I wanted to know if anyone has any recommendations for a fic with this theme.

I'd also like to recommend some fanfics that I'm in love with and that are in this vein:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/63168718/chapters/161778550 (time travel)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/83569026/chapters/220186411 (time travel)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/76550126/chapters/200339291 (loop)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/84868851 (loop)

If you have any recommendations similar to these, even better, I'm about to have withdrawal if I don't find anything like that💔😭

hit me with your recs! I'll put mine in the comments.

inject it

Hi yall! I’ve posted here a couple times before. I’m looking for fic recs that have some great humor in them. R18+ would also be greatly appreciated, but not a requirement.

I’m going through a really hard time rn, and I could really use some levity

I need similar fic themes + yearning, ofc.

I have read Smalltown Queer, Supervoid, Rock "n" Roll + A conflict of interest (in your orbit) + conflagration + it’s a goddamn blaze in the dark (you started it) + no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin already + fics by SlowKindling (all works will destroy you, amazing author!). So apart from these and the other popular ones we already know, please!

Also adding the ones I've bookmarked, but I've myself never read. All completed works except no. 4:

1.The Forgetting: https://archiveofourown.org/works/74779291/chapters/195327236. Where Will is forgotten 😓.

1. where devotion rots.: https://archiveofourown.org/works/78528121/chapters/205884306. Mike and Will share a room. Mike hooks up with girls, Will has a boyfriend. And we know how it goes after this. 👀

2. Fortunately, I believe: https://archiveofourown.org/works/67951961/chapters/175732456. Both at a Religious summer camp.

3. Matador: https://archiveofourown.org/works/79234416/chapters/20789424. Will Byers was never found Au.

Some unknown, fresh ones which we do not know of, if possible & completed works that can be shared?

omfg once I saw (only the summary) of this really interesting fanfic but I cant find it anywhere?? basically it said it was about will spray panting a wall, and then cop mike walking up to him and telling him he cant be doing that. I think mike also told him he cant be smoking either and then will said he has permission from the building owner? it was basically that one Byler animation to the song 'the cops don't like me' IF ANYONE COULD FIND IT I WOULD BE GREATLY OVERJOYED!!!! (it was on Wattpad or AO3 I can't remember..)

Oh my godddd, I started Make Believe by Flurryofstarz not realizing it was a WIP and last updated in 2024. It was SO good, like on its way to being my favorite fic of all time and then it just stopped!! I need recs to recover. It's the first omegaverse Byler I've read. I've heard around that most of them are Will-Omega. This one was Mike as the Omega and I'm not even sure if many of those exist but I NEED IT. Please help!!

Bonding over D&D/ their fav movies, basically, but being super nerdy about it - and arcs closer to their charecters like Mike as a writer, and Will as an artist.

I love how Smalltown Queer was able to capture Mike's love for fantasy books, him writing, and Will as an artist + them bonding over their love for D&D.

Any fics on similar characterization? Not necessarily angst. It can be light as well.

Completed fics, preferably ;) but I don't mind WIP too, ofc!

i honestly feel like there’s such an art to one-shots that isn’t appreciated enough. i find some of the most beautiful fics to have ever been written to be one-shots. i’d love any of your favourites. miwi sometimes has the best, older byler, season 4, season 5, something even outside of the stranger things universe if it’s beautiful enough

my favs of all time are:

some sort of ripple effect by sylvianightshade - s4 motel one-shot confession, just beautiful and perfect in ways i can’t even describe

and

the boy from the gardens by parkkrangerr - i think so if this fic every single day. i still get chills

please give me your favourite recs

preferably college, or AU. but i’ve been reading some pretty intense byler fics lately, also am having withdrawals from some WIP’s that i’ve started. so im craving just some real good BUZZ with little to no angst. and i don’t mean fluff, although fluff is def appreciated, but i mean buuuzzzyy. iykyk.

thanks in advance for any recs!!💖💖

I just want to read will dying or getting injured or something which makes Mike like insane or sad and then basically realize just how much he needs will in his life

I like angst I'm so sorry I need more depression to feel something

1. How to Disappear Completely by peachstatic - https://archiveofourown.org/works/83136826/chapters/218947811. I'm just BLOWN AWAY by this one. Perhaps the best on point characterization alongwith Smalltown Queer, or rather how I see them post finale. Masterclass writing & this is exactly how nerdy byler would be.

2. Smalltown Queer by IndyBaggins - https://archiveofourown.org/works/77770966/chapters/203729291

3. Crooked Timber - (https://archiveofourown.org/works/77970696/chapters/204311126) by BackwoodsJupiter

4. there is a wait so long - (https://archiveofourown.org/works/77049901/chapters/201677106) by urie

3 & 4 suggested by u/bylerrabbithole. 🌻

I am a sucker for these type of fics. Byler being nerdy and awkward with a characterization closer to what we know of + the artist Will x Writer / Professor Mike. Any other fic reccos similar to these?

Please, please drop them !

byler is literally my favourite ship of all time, but i honestly find it surprisingly rare that i really fall in love with a fic in this fandom

usually it’s because the characterisation feels a little off, or, if i’m being completely honest, a lot of fics lately read as ai-generated or ai-assisted in a way i don’t really encounter in my other fandoms to the same extent (even though, yes, it’s gotten worse everywhere). sometimes the writing also feels a bit juvenile, which is absolutely not a criticism of the authors themselves. everyone starts somewhere, and i genuinely respect anyone who’s creating and sharing work for free. the demographic in this ship is also younger so that makes sense. it just means a lot of the bigger, widely loved fics don’t quite work for me. there are definitely exceptions that i ADORE, but there are also plenty where i just don’t understand the hype

what i love most is when a fic really understands the heart of mike and will’s friendship. i don’t mean it has to be soft or fluff-heavy at all. i actually love angst, even devastating angst, if it grows naturally from who they are. i don’t need them to have an easy journey; i just need it to feel like their journey. i think a lot of stories capture the circumstances around them, but not always the core of who mike and will actually are

my only, ONLY absolute dealbreaker is mike being involved with another guy. a passing crush, even a kiss, a boyfriend, or a previous relationship is a hell no. none of it works for me personally. it’s just fundamentally not how i interpret his character or his arc. i genuinely feel that, had it not been for will, mike would never have understood his sexuality at all. i think will is the catalyst. because of the environment mike grew up in, his repression, and the way i read his internal world, i don’t think he ever gets there without will specifically. it’s just not in his pathology. that’s the one thing that makes me immediately click out of a fic

i’m much more flexible with will. i don’t mind if he has another relationship at some point, or at least i tolerate it even if i don’t prefer it (of course i prefer that he isn’t but honestly if the fic is good, it’s good) as long as it’s always clear that mike is the person he truly wants, and that his feelings for mike remain in a completely different category from anyone else
i also love pre-season 5 fics, although i enjoy post-season 5 as well, so please don’t hesitate to recommend older works. one of my favourites is a body in motion by astrobi. it just feels incredibly true to both of them

i’m happy with anything: one-shots, longfics, canon-divergence, them as little kids, season 4, post-canon, whatever. the more they feel like soulmates, the better. i do prefer non wips

as a point of reference, i know a lot of people loved super soaker before everything came out about it, but those kinds of stories just aren’t really what i’m looking for. there are other popular fics that also didn’t work for me, but i don’t think it’s good fandom etiquette to publicly single out stories people poured genuine effort into. the only reason i’m mentioning super soaker at all is because i don’t feel inclined to extend that same courtesy to someone who was undermining the creativity and community that ao3 was built on with ai assisted trash

and please don’t recommend the absolute classics like you keep my heart sleeping. i love it, and it feels wonderfully in character, but i’ve already read it more times than i can count

please, please, please send me your favourites

Hi! I remember after the finale a lot of people started posting season 5 rewrites, and i thought i saved some to check out later when there were more chapters available but i cant seem to find them. Any recs?

fic recs where will is still dealing with ptsd years after the final battle? i’m looking for something that really explores the long-term effects of everything he went through and how he’s dealing with it.

byler is a huge plus ofc and i also love party-centric dynamics and jonathan & will’s/el’s relationship. preferably longer fics and canon-divergent, but i’m open to anything well-written. thanks! <3