#four more days then im off until the new year.......🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[toastsnaffler]

got woken up by red hot period cramps goddamn it's not even 5am....

[sade-alicious]

summer reading list except byler edition (all AO3) - im still reading new fics btw so there’ll be updates on this post (updated 10/22)

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a dream always the same

Mike learns more about himself in four months than he has in fourteen years and comes to realise that he's fallen in love with his best friend.

A four part historically accurate coming of age story set between July and October 1985.

this one is my number one, its set between the battle of starcourt and when the byers move away, its from mikes pov and not short of amazingly written, it includes all of the canon events in the show towards the end of the s3 finale but manages to tie them in really well, absolutely read this

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over a bridge of time

Hawkins isn't the same without Will. So Mike goes to visit him in Chicago.

Set during Thanksgiving in November 1985.

this is a sequel to adats, same thing goes for this work, but be warned, this is the second (but not last) completed work in a series, so its gonna end on a cliffhanger/unresolved problems like the first fic

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the red envelope

Will writes a letter to Mike, confessing everything. Unknowingly and stupidly, he lets Mike take the envelope home, forgetting just the amount of secrets inside. At the end of the letter he tells Mike to meet him at Castle Byers Saturday at two, to tell him yes or no. Because of course Will had to ask for Mike to be his boyfriend at the end of the letter. So now Will has two choices, somehow get the letter back, or wait at Castle Byers praying for a miracle?

this one is good, it has an interesting concept and was “will they or wont they?” for me. u can read the sequel, but i really dont like because 1. smut (ew, but dont worry only the sequel has it) 2. it follows a will byers has powers trope, and i dont care for it

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touch like velvet

It was easy for Will Byers to fall in love with Mike Wheeler.

The trouble came when he had to pretend it wasn't real.

this one is an au of will and mike not meeting until they’re 17, there is no upside down and el isnt a lab experiment but instead a normal person. will still has the rest of the party, but its sort of split in two. will, lucas, and dustin are all bsfs, and el and max are gfs who are coworkers/friends with mike. this one i truly recommend so so much. its a lengthy slowburn, but it is unfinished and updates slow

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im tearing you asunder

The world ends, and then some. Mike and Will find each other again, amidst the debris and distance.

someone made AMAZING fanart based off of this which ill link here. but anyways this ones really nice, mike isnt an asshole and actually treats will like a friend. its a lead off of the s4 finale and ive been obsessed with those fanfics rn. (if you have any recs please comment them🙏)

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kiss it better

Mike and Will, through the years and in between the lines of friendship and something more.

i LOVE young mike and will and this one has plenty. it has byler scenarios over the course of their friendship from 5 to 18 which shows their relationship evolving the years. its a great concept in it of itself. but yeah, please read this one

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let me lead

this one just has a snippet of the fic so ill try to explain. basically this is a lead off of s4, so pretty much everyone thinks this is their last night alive, and to which mike says “screw it” and invites will over and confronts him about some things

so for my opinion, they wrote it in a scenario like, if i dont say what i think/feel now…when will i? which is great because it helps move things along quickly, so its not exactly a slowburn but they write everything in just under 6k words from el breaking up with mike, to an angsty fight, to byler confessing in a way that doesnt feel rushed

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pictures of you

Will is the last one left at Mike's house after a day playing DnD.

Mike brings out an old box, full of memories of their past.

ugh this one is short but its so good. it does a lot in under 3k words and is a great byler first kiss scenario

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a game of truths

Mike and Will play a game of truths.

this one is amazing, like the rest of the fanfics ive listed. its one of the more byler centric ones. most of it is just mike and will talking and having their moments. its really cute (esp with young mike and will) and does byler justice without writing two long paragraphs of them just making out. 

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8/14/22

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where is my mind?

On November 6th, 1985, Will Byers crashed his bicycle while riding home from the Wheeler household, damaging his head and waking up two days later with no recollection of who he was.

Plagued with the absence of his memories and a dark haired boy who refuses to tell Will his name, all Will Byers has to do is remember. That's the hard part.

this is by the same author that wrote “touch like velvet” and they’re a GENIUS. this one like the other fic, its an au aside from the upside down where will just suffers from memory loss instead of getting kidnapped and everything, but its really cute because its like no matter what will and mike still love each other

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static re-connection

A miles-apart, oblivious mutual pining, emotional summer vacation disaster-fest starring Mike, Will, and one incredibly unreliable radio connection.

miscommunication trope at its FINEST. once the angst started it hurt, the confession is great and we get plenty of mike and nancy sibling moments👍

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i never find out ‘til i’m head over heels

Wherein Mike believes he’s being obvious, Will doesn’t know what he believes, and the pair of them could use a lesson or two in effective communication. Somehow all of this has both nothing and everything to do with five years' worth of school dances.

this ones great but also kind of funny because will’s being the oblivious one instead of mike. its light angst btw so u dont have to worry abt your heart being ripped out of your chest.

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10/13/22

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head over heels

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.

i was praying for more byler scenes in volume 2 whether be at a gas station, motel, or literally anywhere else so this fanfic gave us what we deserved, but yea its really cute def recommend !!

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undertow

Will has never had his first kiss. Mike is happy to lend a hand

as you can tell its gonna be a mike teaching will how to kiss and those are always cute even tho ive only read two successful versions of this scenario. also madwheeler🫶🫶 its really fluffy and cute at the end so this was also a good 3am read

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force of gravity

Will loved ordinary things, an uneventful existence was something he craved. Sadly, when Mike Wheeler walks into his life, Will’s 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.

Fantastic.

you already KNOW i had to include this one, its too good not too. and you probably already heard of this if not read it bc its like the most popular fanfic among the byler ship/fandom (it might as well be a fandom at this point) right now. but yea the amount of times when i thought they were gonna have a normal conversation but then start argueing is INSANE. hella angst. fluff if you look past the bucket loads of angst and just GO READ IT IF YOU HAVENT

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10/22/22

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to hell and back again

After Mike unwittingly stumbles into a series of interpersonal bombshells, he immediately sets out to find Will so he can find out what, exactly, that painting meant, and why Will lied about it. Unfortunately, Mike is obsessively obstinate and relentless to a fault, and he'll go to the literal ends of the earth to get the answers he needs.

Or: Mike and Will's Apocalypse Romcom Spectacular

this one is actually super underrated and i havent seen many people talking abt it, and the author has been updating the fic recently too. but ANYWAYS im on chapter 11 rn and its really giving apocalypse byler, what we’ve ALL been praying for for season 5🙏 but other than that its really good so far but OML MIKE NEEDS TO GET HIS PRIORITIES STRAIGHT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD AND ALL THINGS GOOD HE IS SO DOWN BAD ITS LAUGHABLE

[iheardarumorthings]

Plz im on my knees begging🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️ five x reader where shes like an older motherly sister to him🙏 like she knows hes independent and knows what hes doing but everyone needs someone to fall back onto no?

Maybe a scene like were luther and diego find him drunk but instead its reader and she takes him back home and cleans him up, gets him water and puts him to bed so hes all safe<3

Tbh ill take anything i just wanna pamper him and give him affection and look after himm😩💕

hi!! once again, so sorry that this took so long. i really hope that this is what you were looking for and that you love it!! thank you so much for your request and your patience <33

Warnings: mentions of alcohol, reader being a little angry, classic five shenanigans.

I KNOW YOU'RE ANGRY

The amount of times that the words ‘Look, I know that you’re angry,’ have come out of his mouth for the past 58 years was astonishing.

The fact that it’s been 58 years was even more so. You thought you would’ve died by now, what with everything he’s put you through stress-wise. God, what was it? Near heart attack number eight? Grey hair number 3,800?

You didn’t know at this point. All you knew was that your brother was aging you and you didn’t like it.

You’ve already counted three grey hairs today, and you were in your thirteen year old body once again. Which sucked, it sucked really bad, but still.

Maybe you’d be able to age better after the apocalypse was over, you’d thought. Until you found him drunk in the library. With Dolores.

That’s when you knew that you would never see another day without him giving you some new stress-induced sickness. But you supposed with what he’s done for you as well, you owed him nothing but kindness, no matter how much you wanted to throttle him sometimes.

So, wordlessly rolling your eyes and huffing a sigh, you moved toward Five, elbows going under his armpits and dragging him upward.

You just hoped he’d stay asleep until you arrived at Diego’s apartment… if you could even call it that.

~*~

Well, he didn’t. He didn’t stay asleep, and, once again, you you were ready to chop his head off. But, he was drunk. He was… surly.

You couldn’t take advantage of his ridiculously drunken state. It wouldn’t be a fair fight. And he needed caring for, not an ass-kicking.

“You know what’s funny? We’re going through puberty. Twice.”

Someone, please, you thought. Give me aspirin. Or the rest of the vodka. Either one is fine.

~*~

“Look, I know you’re angry,” Five started once Luther had left.

You shushed him. “It’s ok, Five. You’ll be ok. This’ll all be ok.” You offered him water and from Diego’s fridge, along with some toast. You didn’t even know if Diego had any frying pans or pots to cook the eggs in. That was the only thing in his fridge besides bread and energy drinks. And thank the lord you found that, otherwise you would’ve assigned yourself yet another person to take care of.

Not that Five wasn’t fully capable of handling himself. But it never hurt to have someone watching your back, just as he does for you. Constantly. That’s why, you supposed, you two were twins. Not anyone else. Just you two.

Destiny was a funny thing.

“Are you sure you’re not pissed?”

“Yeah, Five. Do you need anything else?”

“Yeah, actually,” he said. “I’m going to need you to grab dad’s gun from wherever he put it. I have a plan.”

“A full plan? Or half of one?”

“I’d say even half is being generous.”

And that was grey hair number four.