hisho-ao3

[hisho-ao3]

hold up I got a crazy idea

no promises but... the other day I got a spark of inspiration

[hisho-ao3]

no promises but... the other day I got a spark of inspiration

[hisho-ao3]

Final chapter is out! I made a few last minute changes, but I'm glad to leave it here. Happy TUDUM everyone! Thanks for sticking around!

[hisho-ao3]

spoilers for the next chapter under the cut, thought I'd share something since it's been a while since the last update.

Will keeps his eyes on the road ahead, staring out the window as Hawkins blurs past—quiet, gray, and stubbornly unchanged. Empty fields, barbed-wire fences, brittle grass. Aside from the cracks in the earth and the government lockdown, it looked just like it always had. Like the town refused to admit anything had ever gone wrong.

He thinks about the way El had looked at him earlier—soft and full of understanding. Like she knew what it meant to be afraid of yourself, afraid of what you might become. She’d offered him empathy without needing to say a word, even when he didn’t deserve it.

And all the while, he had spent the night before wrapped up in her boyfriend—pretending she didn’t even exist.

Part of him, something dark and mean and rooted too deep to dig out, had resented her since the day he met her. Not for anything she did. Just for being who she was. A girl made in a lab, raised behind glass, taught nothing but pain—and still, somehow, she turned out so kind. She’d only just begun to understand love, romantic and familial, to have it in her life without fear.

And now he’s the one who’s gone and broken it. Ruined whatever version of peace she might’ve finally found with Mike.

He thinks about Chance. How he’d dragged someone into his orbit just because he was desperate to feel wanted. How he’d allowed that quiet ache to take root in someone else—the kind he knew too well, the kind that lingers in your chest and consumes you. It made him worse than selfish. A hypocrite. Will hadn’t meant to ruin his life. But maybe that’s just what happens when people get too close.

He swallows. Hard.

Because if he could do that to Chance, what’s stopping him from doing it to Mike?

And it’s not just that. There’s this thing in him. Not just One. Something else. Older. Colder. A weight that’s always been there, curled in his chest like a second pulse. What if it wasn’t anything supernatural? What if it’s just him?

He should’ve pulled back before it all got too real. Should’ve been be honest about what was going on with him. But he didn’t. He let himself pretend, just for a little longer, that he could pass for normal.

And now look what happened.

Will presses his sleeves into his palms, fingers curling tight around the fabric.

“I don’t think I’m a good person,” he says quietly.

“Why would you think that?” Jonathan asks, soft and tentative.

“I just know.” Will’s voice stays flat, but his hands tense where they rest in his sleeves. Then, before he can stop himself—

“I’ve made bad choices. I knew they were wrong, and I did them anyway.” He swallows. “And the worst part is… I don’t think I regret it. I wanted to do them. Still do. And I don’t know what that says about me.”

Jonathan watches him carefully. But he doesn’t ask what Will did. Just says, gently:

“It says you’re human.”

He keeps his eyes on the road, then adds, “Life’s messy. People screw up. Especially after the kind of shit you’ve been through. It scrambles your moral compass. But making mistakes doesn’t make you a bad person. It just makes you, well—a person.”

Will stares down at the sleeves bunched in his fists. He wants to believe him. Wants it to be that simple.

“You don’t understand,” he mutters. “What I did… was really fucked up. You’d hate me for it if you knew.”

Jonathan shrugs. “Try me.”

Will hesitates. The car hums quietly around them, engine low and steady like it’s holding its breath too. The silence stretches long enough that he could still take it back, swallow it down, let the moment pass. But he doesn’t. Instead, He grips the edge of the seat and speaks.

“I…” His voice falters. “I might’ve… slept with our sister’s boyfriend.”

Jonathan blinks. His fingers loosen on the wheel, surprise flickering across his face. Clearly, he hadn’t expected that.

“Well… at least you didn’t kill someone.”

Will groans, dropping his face into his palms. “Ugh! I might as well have.”

And technically… yeah. He almost had. Three possible bodies under his belt from that same night. He was on a real streak. Gold medal shitstorm.

“I didn’t think Mike had it in him.”

Will shakes his head, voice muffled through his hands. “He kissed me first, yeah. But I was the one who took it further.”

Jonathan’s eyes widen. He looks even more shocked now—probably just processing the fact that his innocent little brother isn’t so little anymore… and apparently has a sex life.

“I mean… I’ve been with someone else,” he says, voice low. “Since the start of junior year. Kind of all summer.”

Jonathan leans back slightly, thinking. “Is that why you’ve been late a lot? Playing hooky? Sneaking around?”

Will doesn’t answer, but his ears go red beneath his hands.

Jonathan grins. “Happened to me too, when I first started seeing Nancy. I was about your age.”

There’s a brief pause—then a muffled laugh slips out of Jonathan, barely contained. “Do I still need to give you the talk about the birds and the bees?”

Will groans again. “Shut up.”

[hisho-ao3]

Thought I'd share this! These are all the songs mentioned (and will be mentioned) in my fic 'cause love's such an old-fashioned word

I made sure all of them were released on or before the fall of 1987. This will also be the mixtape Will would make for [redacted] that's mentioned in Chapter 4 ♡

[hisho-ao3]

Forgot to mention this but Chapter 4 is out! I think I wrote about 10k words, woooh.

I'm hoping to post the Final Chapter around TUDUM season!

[hisho-ao3]

short excerpt cause I've been writing the whole day, I don't think I'll finish it yet tho but wanted to share something

In hindsight, it was a bad idea. But ever since junior year started, Will’s been acting on impulse more than he should.

It was supposed to end when summer did. Just a summer fling. That had been the unspoken agreement—no more late-night drives, no more excuses to run into each other in parking lots or alleyways. It was usually Chance who started it. Usually the one suggesting when, where, how far. But now it’s Will standing here, breaking whatever silent rules they’d built around themselves. So yeah. Bad idea.

The gym smells like sweat and floor polish—like a dozen teenage boys have already come and gone. The lights overhead hum with that cheap, tinny buzz, casting long reflections off the varnished wood floor. Chance is alone under them, making free throws in a steady rhythm. Shoot. Bounce. Catch. Again. Each thump echoes softly, filling the space like a slow heartbeat.

Will stands just inside the double doors, backpack slung over one shoulder. He’s supposed to be home by now. Told Mike he had to stay late in the art room for a last-minute AP project. Which, okay, technically isn’t a lie. He does need to work on it. But that’s not why he’s here.

Right now, he’s watching the ball sail clean through the net—but his eyes aren’t on the shot. They’re on the boy taking it.

Chance is flushed, breathing a little heavier now, sweat darkening the collar of his jersey. The fabric clinging in all the right places, damp and nearly see-through. Will’s eyes catch on the muscles in his arms as he lifts them—defined but not bulky. Roped with just enough tension to suggest he could pin you without trying.

He could pin Will without trying. Has, before.

“So,” Chance says without looking at him. “What’s the deal with Wheeler?”

The way he says it—it’s too casual. Like he’s asking what Will had for lunch or if he caught the game last night. But Will knows that tone.

It’s the same tone Chance used the first time they talked, back in the alleyway of the supermarket, near the dumpsters. Before things escalated. Before they started crossing lines. Before two strangers became two bodies pressed close.

Will blinks. “What do you mean?”

Chance retrieves the ball, dribbling slow and lazy. Like he’s stalling. “You two looked pretty close today during the pep rally.”

A pause—one beat too long.

“I saw you in the bleachers. Laughing. Knee to knee.”

He doesn’t say touching. He doesn’t have to.

Will doesn’t answer at first. Just watches him. He knows Chance well enough to read between the lines.

“You’ve noticed,” Chance adds, spinning the ball on his fingertips like it’s a trick he’s barely thinking about, “he’s always orbiting around you, right? Waiting by your locker. Sitting at your lunch table. I’ve seen him hang back after class just so you can leave together. What’s that about?”

Will exhales, slow. “We’re friends.”

Chance raises a brow without looking at him.

“He’s letting me crash in his basement since I moved back,” Will adds. “We bike home together. It’s not weird.”

Chance dribbles again. This time the ball bounces harder. “Didn’t say it was.”

Another beat.

“I mean,” Chance continues, releasing another shot—he misses. “I get it. He’s your best friend. History. Nostalgia. Whatever.” He wipes a hand on the side of his jersey. “But you got a lot of friends who look at you like that?”

This time, Will grins. Just a little. “Like what?”

Chance doesn’t answer. The next shot bricks off the backboard, hard. He doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t go after it either.

Will takes a few slow steps forward, arms crossed loosely. “You jealous?”

The words are light, teasing, but his voice has an edge to it. Like he already knows the answer.

Chance snorts, turning to face him this time. “Of Michael Wheeler?” It’s a scoff disguised as a laugh, all teeth and no humor. “Please.”

But Will’s close now. Close enough to see the tightness in his shoulders, the slight downturn in his mouth. It’s a performance. One Chance doesn’t know he’s failing.

And anyway, why would he care?

It’s not like they’re dating. They don’t talk about it—whatever this is. They don’t label it. Wouldn’t even consider themselves a ‘thing.’ But it’s somewhat exclusive. Or at least, it always felt that way. Not just on his end, either. Chance never talks about anyone else. Doesn’t touch anyone else.

Still, he’s not Chance’s boyfriend. Not his anything.

So why does Chance care who Will sits beside? Who he laughs with?

Why does he?

[hisho-ao3]

"Mike? Mike, I've been calling your name for like 5 minutes. Are you okay?"

[hisho-ao3]

With all this Bychance drama going on in the Byler tag lately what’s your honest opinion on Bychance?

I think it's utterly harmless.

It's a crack ship that's fun to engage with. It has 0 chances of being canon, but I'm kind of annoyed with some of the discourse around it recently. For one, crack ships are a bedrock of fandom. It's okay to dislike one, but I'd just mute or scroll at that point.

Secondly, I really resent this notion that Will Byers is only capable of loving or being loved by Mike Wheeler. That's just so dehumanizing. What, Mike can have a girlfriend and continuously be homophobic and hurtful to Will, and Will is just supposed to wait around on his hands and knees for Mike to figure himself out?

Will is deserving of love and affection. He doesn't deserve to grovel after someone. Canonically, I really want Byler endgame to be a thing. I want Will to get his happy ending and Mike to figure his shit out and resolve it. I think it's the logical conclusion of what has been written.

But outside of the canon narrative, I not only enjoy Will being shipped with other male characters his age, I actively support and encourage it. I love fics where Will figures himself out and finds a way to internal happiness on his own, and only gets with Mike later, after he has figured himself out and earns his way back into Will's affections.

Sometimes, I think some people are more interested in Mike ending up happy than they are about Will, and I think discourse around shipping Will with other characters is what reveals that. Why can't he be attracted to other people? Why can't he enjoy their affections and want to date them? Why does he have to constantly wait around for Mike and get hurt over and over and over again, just so he can pet Mike's hair and babygirl him when Mike finally decides he wants something? Hasn't he been through enough pain? And no one was ever around to defend him, or pet his hair, or tell him everything was going to be okay. They abandoned him again and again.

So, at least in the realm of fandom—fan art and fan fics—let Will stans enjoy imagining him happy. We all want him with Mike canonically and in the end because we know that will make him happy; but we also know that it's not harmful for him to explore his sexuality and find other small flames and loves along the way.

/rant

((I do want to be clear after all of that that there is no ill-will intended towards people who just don't fuck with Bychance. That's valid, you don't have to like it, but I needed to get all of that off my chest lmao))

[hisho-ao3]

the drama apparently skyrocketed my fic and it now has the most kudos in the will byers/chance tag. There's only like 20 fics hahaha but I guess, you know what? thanks 👍 I started writing this about a week ago 💃

[hisho-ao3]

I gotta say that while I like the idea of Chance as a conduit to the audience of Mike’s feelings, and a showcase for his jealousy, I also like Chance as something uniquely for Will and his growth/growing up. While I get wanting the sort of pure, overly romantic “you or no one else” true love story for byler, it would be kinda unfair to Will (and unrealistic) if he was the only one that never got to experience anything romantic of his own, just stewing in heartbreak and sadness, until the day Mike decided he wanted to act on his feelings finally.

Kinda unfair to Will as his own character to expect him to sit around and be sad and lonely for years after ripping off the band aid of his love for Mike, since where he’s at in the story now Will has accepted that Mike will never love him and has essentially closed the door. Therefore narratively it makes total sense for him to have something with someone else! Even if it’s briefly and just a plot device, it not only helps Will grow as a character who frankly, needs to be seen by the audience as a desirable romantic leading man if they want byler to hit like it should, since he’s always been the one who needed to grow up, the childish one etc, but also is a way to hammer home how hopeless the Mike situation is to him at this point, how Will has closed the door on that, given up, all things that will serve to make the byler reveal that much more surprising to some, and generally impactful.

Will needs to grow up and into himself, his confidence, both as a person and as a gay man(and in his mind he thinks he needs to get over Mike) which is classic coming of age stuff. If chance happens, it fully makes sense imo. Idk if I expect it to or not, but I can easily see how it would and i’m also struggling to see how you do the whole Will coming of age and Mike feelings reveal without some catalyst, and no I don’t think a painting is enough. Because I don’t think Mike is stupid, I think he suspects (or knows) what Will was trying to say, but it’s the 80s and he’s scared and hasn’t faced that side of him yet. Mike needs something to shake him out of his complacency. Something like Chance could be that catalyst. Ofc they could always use Will being in danger, Vecna etc to get him to act, but I feel like that isn’t gonna cut it. Also I think them showing us every season now that someone else has been interested in Will but he says no to every single one (cause they are girls) could be a subtle build up to the final season where yet another person shows interest in Will… and this time he does reciprocate. Cause this time it’s a boy. Coming of age indeed. A coming of age that ties right into Mike’s coming of age of dealing with his sexuality. They would both directly impact each other.

anon, this is so beautifully worded <3 exactly my thoughts too but worded better than I ever could!