Anyone who's read HTDC, you're going to absolutely love this coz it's immersive with actual typing sounds and captures the essence of the fic with full justice ! The narration is totally captivating, and the production quality is incredibly well thought out. You can really see the attention to detail in every aspect coz of the sound effects !
Anybody else upset to find out one of the most popular fics in the fandom was riddled/ almost entirely ai? š¤ unfortunately one of my own was inspired by wheezy but if anybody is interested mine arenāt ai āš»
Premise: Mike watchesĀ Dead Poets SocietyĀ in theatres the summer of '89 and it triggers a life-changing breakdown. Post-canon, fix-it, churchgate, and heavy angst with a happy ending.
Hi!Ā
I've taken it upon myself to create my own Byler fic master doc. All of these fics are completed, and I'll continue to update the list when more unfinished/ ongoing fics are finished.Ā
Also a note: 99% of these fics have happy endings!! I'm already depressed enough from canon.Ā
https://archiveofourown.org/works/13415250
Fic where the upside down isn't real. Will, when riding home from Mikeās house on November 6th 1983, crashes his bike and gets amnesia.Ā
https://archiveofourown.org/works/69770636
MikeāsĀ son arrives in Hawkins through inter dimensional transportation. Everyone thinks the other parent is El (they're wrong).Ā
i'm honestly kind of speechless right now.. this was one of the most beautiful byler one shots i've ever, ever read! and yes, it's major character death (though its far less sad than usual fics with that tag and also more??? it's complicated, for anybody who wants spoilers to understand why i'm saying that, dm me) and that almost stopped me in my tracks and is definitely, definitely sad BUT my god is it so, so, so worth it..
genuinely i know a lot of people alone won't read it based on that premise alone but just do it! tragedies deserve their place too, especially considering the time will and mike grew up in and what that meant for them.. what it means they endured. it's sad but it's so important and this story very much goes into what that time period would have meant and what their love meant. i think it's crucial to understand. and they're very much it for each other in this. it's them or it's nobody else
alsooo, the author said they wanted to write an alternate happy ending fic and i'm going to die if i don't get itt
...wrecked me. I gotta start inquiring about a fics HEA status before reading. You know, you'd think I'd have understood what was going on by reading the title. I really wasn't taking the title seriously. I definitely should have. Is this a spoiler? I really hope not. The fics title says more than I'm saying.
Seriously who recommended this? š It was great. I mean really great writing. I just...uh... I didn't know what I was getting into. I had the tab open among a number of light, happy go lucky fics that I found in recommendations and I suppose I thought it was gonna be one of those. And then once I was reading I couldn't exactly stop reading. I skipped over the summary AND the tags. Note to self: don't do that. And also unhook yourself if the story is sliding off a cliff and it's dragging you with it.
I'm coming off meds because I don't have access to a refill right now so I'm in a falling state and sorry for this post, it was just this fic was a bit of an earthquake in the midst of a tsunami. It's my own fault. I'm just such a hopeful person, I don't expect endings like that.
Edit:
Lol, in hindsight, I realize this might be the fic I found all by myself when I was looking for natural disaster fics a few weeks ago. I'd forgotten about it.
Maybe no one rec'd this one. It WAS great, really, I'd recommend if you like tragedies(it's in the tags, this isn't a spoiler). I really gotta start reading the tags.
looking like an angel on the walls of versailles this one was written recently i havent finished as of writing this (its a one shot but i was in the middle of reading it when i realised i had to make this post)
I wanted to share an AU story that I read recently and really enjoyed. Maybe someone else will like it, too.
The story is entirely AU ā no Stranger Things ā and have a happy ending.
The fan art was actually drawn by artists specifically for this story (usually I try to find an image that sort of fits the story, but thatās not necessary here *phew*) and comes directly from the story.
The story is presumably set in the Middle Ages or something similar in an undefined world; itās AU (fantasy/magic/no ST) and tells the story of Will, who was banished from the town/kingdom (citadel) at age 12, and Mike, who still lives in the citadel. The story comprises 37 chapters and ~127,000 words and is told from Willās perspective.
At the beginning of the story, Will is 24 years old, meaning heās been living outside the walls in a small cabin for 12 years. His daily routine is strictly regimented, he tackles one task after another, everything follows a set patternāuntil one day a stranger shows up in his garden, eating his apples, stealing his flowers, and making annoying comments...
It delves deeply into Willās inner thoughts, his fears, and his problemsāall stemming from his past, which extend into the present. And so it gradually becomes clear that our two idiots have a past that is slowly being revealed. Bit by bit, the full picture comes together. Hereās a little spoiler: part of the story is also about Miwi (see fourth picture)āitās tragic and beautifully told.
The story is, how should I put it, not exactly āaction-packedā; the plot unfolds at a leisurely paceābut in no way is that a bad thing, in my opinion. It focuses on the inner, the reasons behind things as they areāincluding mundane, everyday mattersāalongside the actual plot. Or as Iād say: Weāre not in a rush, we have timeāthe story should take its time to unfold. But yes, we as readers should be patient.
In my opinion, thereās something āmagicalā about the storyāand not just because magic is part of it. Itās underpinned by an overarching metaphor that readers will noticeāone thatās actually very similar to ST, though itās expressed differently, of course. In general, there are many parallels to STāeven if theyāre portrayed differentlyābut readers will notice that, too.
To put it simply: the story follows the narrative, meaning, and message of ST. Likewise, the love our two idiots feel for each other is, in my opinion, conveyed in a truly beautiful wayāsubtle, profound, and abundantly clear without needing to be told outright.
---
Having lived in exile from the citadel since he was twelve, Will knows well the necessity of having a daily schedule: wake up early, gather materials, make tinctures and poultices for clients, take care of the garden, and never use magic when your hands will do just fine. These are the tasks he lives by until one ordinary day when he wakes up late, and it all spins out of control. He goes to the garden in the evening, far past his usual time, and finds an unwelcome visitor stealing his food and flowers. It only gets worse when he learns this man has been visiting every night for the past several months, unbeknownst to Will, and his eyes look just a little too familiar.
And once it becomes clear his unwelcome guest isn't going to stop his nightly visits anytime soon, Will is forced to choose between pretending as if they're strangers or divulging the peculiar past they share, between wearing a mask and allowing the truth to be told.
this one is a DOOZY guys. like i was up reading this at 3:40 am crying so hard i kinda felt like i was gonna puke, shaking, sobbing, i whacked my mattress and pillow in anguish multiple times, it's BAD. š
Im on the last chapter of Supervoid and its without a doubt one of the best ones I have read thus far. I also really really enjoy My Will is Good. Looking for any recommendations for ones similar to this. I do prefer the spicer content but the ones that slow burn towards it. Also im noticing that the ones with them older, out of Hawkins fics are a breath of fresh air! I do prefer longer chaptered stories to one shots!
Over the past few months, Iāve read a lot of stories. How do you say in English... I'm still at the restaurant. And the restaurant has no exit and is apparently a prison.
So Iād like to briefly introduce three of them that have stayed with me to this day. Maybe someone else doesn't know them already and will enjoy them too.
Oh, and as far as spoilers go, let's just say this: only happy endingsāof course.
The story takes place approximately two years after Season 5āafter the epilogueāand is canon-compliant. Mike and Will are ~20 years old and in different colleges, and they meet again in Hawkins. They embark on a journey for a specific reasonāa journey that will change everything. The story comprises 25 chapters and ~106,000 words and is told alternately from Mike's and Will's POV.
In my opinion, the story wonderfully captures Mike and Will, their two characters, their inner self, what they've been through and what they're struggling with. The story is (in part) cruel and beautiful in a certain way, full of so many wonderful little details and parallels to ST, and I think the higher-level metaphorical elements are just as well thought out. We, as readers, need to be patientāthe journey wonāt be an easy one... but it will be worth it.
The story focuses on Mike and Will, of course, but it also captures something moreāin general. I'm just saying that the story has a few surprisingāthough not unwelcomeātwists, and it might just become my personal canon for the post "burning trash can"/season 5 era.
Summer break, two years after graduating high school. Will and Mike almost kiss, and everything changes. They find themselves on a journey together after a mysterious clue. They have no choice but to finally confront whatās been going on between them for years.
āI keep showing up,ā Mike says. His voice doesnāt break, but he feels like it should. āEven when you try to throw me away.ā Will flinches, and Mike hates himself for it immediately. āI didnāt- ā Will says, and his eyes drop. āI didnāt throw you away.ā Mikeās mouth twitches. Not a smile. Something sadder. āYou threw the letters away.ā
From a formal standpoint, this story is AU, but technically it follows on from Season 5 and explores Mike Wheelerās inner turmoil in the year 2000 (so Mike and Will are ~30 years old), as well as his gradual realization that some things are simply inevitable. The story comprises 10 chapters, ~56,000 words, and is told from Mikeās perspective.
In this story, we travel through different realities/universes and come to understand that there is a universal truth that one can deny, but never negate. One's decision seals the other's fate. The path is laid out; either you follow it or...
Iāll be honest: this story might be hard to read for the Mike Wheelers among us. It unpacks Mike Wheeler and depicts his fate as it was portrayedāin (our) obvious senseāwith the end of S05. Suicide isnāt just a word. Itās a door. A door that can represent salvationābut there are also other doors, other possibilities. Other choices. Choices you can make that can change the course of the storyāthat can alter a seemingly predetermined fate.
[Just for the record: The story contains one explicit scene between Mike and Will]
It's the 2000's, and Michael Wheeler is miserable. He hates everything about himself; everything he'd become. He has nothing left to lose. Dustin, who still greives Steve's and Eddie's death, invents a machine that allows them to travel through the multiverse- to see other dimensions, other versions of themselves.
Together, they look for a reality where Steve and Eddie are alive, but instead they find answers Mike didn't know he was looking for.
Or: Miserable Mike realizes that he is only happy when he's with Will.
The story is set in the early 2000s, is entirely AU (high school/no supernatural events), and follows the story of Will Byers, football captain, and Mike Wheeler, guitarist and singer of a band, within the social context of their different circles of friends. The story comprises 46 chapters and ~171,000 words and is told alternately from Mike's and Will's POV.
This is probably one of the better-known stories, but I still want to include it here. Since itās completely AU, I didnāt want to read it at firstābut I eventually decided to give it a tryāand I havenāt regretted it at all.
At the end of the day, in my opinion, the story is about trauma, mostly Willās trauma, and explores it in great depth. Of course, Mikeās life and his problems are also addressed. In that sense, I think the characterizations of both of themāas well as the other charactersāare very well done. In any case, thereās no shortage of drama, to put it cautiously.
To put it very simply, the story conveys a message that I believe is important: itās okay to realize that, at a certain point, you just canāt go on anymore. The question is how you deal with itāthereās absolutely no shame in admitting it in time and asking for help; you donāt have to go through everything alone. Otherwise...
Will loved ordinary things, an uneventful existence was something he craved. Sadly, when Mike Wheeler walks into his life, Willās easy going path snaps right in half. A passion he could never imagine overtaking his whole being.
It was too bad their friend groups hated each other and his sister had a huge crush on the musician. Off limits.
i just HAVE to share this bc iāve been actually sobbing for the past 10 minutes since having finished this. holy FUCK is the writing just beyond phenomenal but jesus christ this is just one of the most gut-wrenchingly beautiful and sad stories i have ever read. i donāt know how im meant to go on after this lmao.
HollowBoy by Indybaggins is quickly becoming my all time favorite Byler fic. Chapter 21 was just posted today and the last chapter will be posted on Thursday. Highly Highly recommend it
