#happy byler week i guess

[perexcri]

best friends, ex-friends til the end (better off as lovers and not the other way around) - [byler week 2023 - day 2]

aka the byler/goncharov au i needed so badly i had to write it myself

title from: bang the doldrums by fall out boy

dedicated to: my commitment to the bit

special thanks to: @cherryisgone for providing me some much-needed poetic Italian for everyone’s favorite Scorcese film

tw: mentions of falling out of a window and blood, guns

The Naples skyline burns with light in the encroaching fog of the night. His back to the stones of the tower, Mike heaves several ragged breaths, and he tries not to think about how steep of a fall it would be down to the town square below. He imagines it’d be quick: his bones would snap, his blood would spill, and there’d be his body, an example laid out on the streets of Naples for all to know the folly that is trying to outrun who you once were.

The sting of vodka on the tips of tongues, frigid nights spent maneuvering through the streets of Leningrad in search of their next hit. Being smuggled onto a rusted plane down to the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, El nestled beneath his arm, just the clothes on their backs and the jewels on her wrists and neck and ears. Nothing makes sense–it hadn’t for a long time–and for so long, he’d been able to stay just ahead of it.

But now, the entropic forces of this chaotic life are clawing at him, gesturing him down to the street to achieve a silent and still end.

He sighs, and the glowing yellows of the skyline blur in his eyes. He can’t tell if it’s from the mist blowing off of the sea or the tears that threaten to break free from the tight hold he put on them long, long ago.

Behind him, the clock ticks and ticks and ticks–

Until its rhythm breaks: in the breaths between each tick, there’s the clicking of shoes on stones.

The gun digs into Mike’s back, right where it rests against his hip, ready to be drawn by his quick, willowy fingers.

“È questo che sono per te, ora? Soltanto qualcuno che non puoi incontrare alla luce del sole?"

“Quit the front,” Mike growls, just loud enough to be heard over the heartbeats of the clock. It had been years since he’d last spoken Russian, and despite the familiarity that will always be afforded to his native tongue, the consonants sound too harsh and aspirated in his mouth, stretched like taffy under years spent in hiding among the Italian elite.

Will scoffs from where he stands in front of the clock, its second hand ticking menacingly behind him, its gears in an endless whirl behind the clock’s face. The hand moves from behind his legs to crowning his head before he bothers to slip into that shared language of theirs that transcends words and physicality, that which fills the spaces of silence between their every pulse and breath. “And why did you want to meet me here?”

Mind spinning with the centrifuge that always comes from standing on the edge–of one’s life, of destiny, or simply the jut of a clocktower’s window–Mike looks upon Will for what feels like the first time in ages, though it had only been a mere day ago when they’d strolled down the city’s streets under the cloak of night, and he’d held an apple out to his old friend’s paint-stained hands, a silent plea for help in a quest Mike knows he’ll never complete. The pressure of years of hiding from his own desires, being on the run from his own troubled past, and being caught in the twisted web of that sickness which has poisoned all of humanity breaks all at once, and it is all too easy to pull the gun from its holster, click the safety off, and point it at the heart of the only person he’s ever truly loved.

For love is a kind of violence, after all.

“Hm,” Will hums with disinterest. He calmly reaches into his pocket, withdraws a cigarette, and sticks it between his teeth. When he pulls out his lighter, it has just enough time to make the end of the cigarette glow before being snuffed out by the ever-ticking hands of the clock.

Mike’s hand shakes in time with it, always falling into that rhythm of life he’s sought so hard to be free from, caught in an endlessly looping maze he sees no escape from.

Tick. Shake.

A thick puff of smoke falls out of Will’s mouth.

Tick. Shake.

Mike grits his teeth together.

Tick. Shake.

Will cocks an eyebrow at him. Well?

It doesn’t take much for Mike to squeeze the trigger: that indelible pressure which has filled his chest for so long has finally found release, and it presses hard against the metal, letting the gun’s ignition do the work of his anger for him. He can almost feel time stretch thin as the trigger clicks down, as the bullet flies from the gun, as it sails through the tight air between them, aiming straight and true–

Will doesn’t bother to flinch as the bullet lodges straight into the second hand of the clock. Its gears whir on, but its other hands tremble and groan with agony, time itself bleeding from the wound.

Mike swallows against what feels like sharp, jagged pieces of glass in his throat. Despite the clock’s faulty motions now, he can still hear that eternally derisive tick in his mind, a permanent reminder of the life he is chained to.

With a great intake of breath, Will pulls the cigarette away from his lips, lush with warmth from the tobacco and drizzled in moonlight. He shakes out the ashes from its end as he lets another mouthful of smoke dissipate into the night air.

“Time is something you can’t stop, Mike,” he says in a harsh, scraping whisper. He tosses the cigarette onto the ground, stubs it out with his heel, and turns away.

For a single moment, his hand clenches at his side, as if there’s something more he wants to do, reining himself in from saying anything more than the cold, empty phrases they’re now left to exchange and fill with this shared language of theirs.

When he finally leaves, Mike’s eyes drift from the cigarette stub, up to the clock and how its gears grind on, even as its hands remain still.

This time, he lets the tears fall.

- - -

Here’s what Will says in Italian (courtesy of Cherry): Is this what I am to you now? Just someone you can't meet in the sunlight?

[chirpsythismorning]

Today is Day 185: What This Line Means for El's Letter to Mike at the Start of Season 4

I know a lot of fans are convinced that the Duffers are careless since they 'forgot' Will's birthday. But I assure you… they’re not.

There's zero doubt in my mind that the writers have a calendar which they refer to religiously, especially when making decisions about the timeline for the story. 

Literally every season starts with a date to establish the setting. Do we think they just settle on a date, without referring to any sort of notes?

There’s a basic responsibility there, at the very least, to be aware of what the characters would be doing at that moment in time, based on what generally happens during that time of year. This would require research beyond just picking a date and slapping it on the first episode of the season. 

Is it Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter? What events are likely to take place during that time of year and how do they plan the expectations of the setting around the characters and the story itself? That's all intentional and well thought out. There’s a reason every season is surrounding some sort of holiday/event at some point, and it’s because time is very very important in the world of Stranger Things.

Think about the various times they’ve had characters literally countdown events?

Mike with El in s2? El with Mike in s4? Suzie when referring to Dustin’s birthday in s4? They wouldn’t throw out lines like that if they didn’t do the math at least once themselves.

The ‘353 days’ line is one perfect example of the Duffer’s proving to us that they have access to calendars, calculators or even simply, google.

Look at that! It appears when Mike used the walkie to call El on Halloween of 1984 (October 31st) in s2, it had indeed been 353 days!

What makes this detail so so so so so fucking important, is that this might hold the answer to the murkiness of the s3 ending going into s4.

Because as of now, we don't really know when s3 ended exactly.

But the similarities of s3's ending to previous seasons, might help us figure out that answer...

Every season ends with a vague timestamp for the literal ending; the epilogue. They only offer up the date at the start of the season, but when it comes to the ending, they never do. It's always months or days if we're lucky.

For s1-2 we got a vague 'one month later', for s3 we got an even more vague 'three months later' and for s4 we surprisingly got something more specific, with 'two days later'.

I think the reasoning for this seems complicated, but it's fairly simple.

While it is quite commonplace to give exact dates at the start of stories, to set the scene and everything, there's this agreed upon understanding in film and even books arguably, that also providing an exact date for the epilogue feels a little cheap? Or maybe a bit too 'handholdy' is a better word? I could see that being something an amateur would do without realizing it looks tacky.

I also think it allows the writers to be more vague in what exactly the date is for the end, according to the audience at least. Because they 100% know what the date is on their end, but that doesn't mean they have to reveal it to us.

We don't know when s3 ends exactly. We know that the battle at Starcourt ended on July 4th-5th (respectively). Though we also know that based on s1's timeline, Mike's countdown considered El's death to be the morning of November 13th, and so we can presume perhaps that s3 technically ended on July 5th.

And so the s3 epilogue being 'three months later' would bring us to October 5th, 1985 right?

Well, not exactly.

You see, when the Duffers give us their vague epilogue scenes, they're not saying that it's exactly one month or three months later, to the exact day. They're being intentionally vague.

Season 1 ending says one month later, but it's actually been 25 days.

Season 2 ending says one month later, but it's actually been 40 days.

Season 3 ending says three months later, but it's actually been... well we don't fucking know!!!

BUT I don't think it really matters, because if the Duffer's made an effort to do the math correctly for their 353 days line in s2, then it's probably safe to assume they'd do math for their 185 days line in s4 as well? And to also give us the answer to that question somewhere in the show already, as opposed to throwing out some random date seasons later?

Otherwise why have countdowns like that at all? It literally makes no sense for them to give us an exact number, like 353 or 185, without checking that the days match up with the exact countdown they're giving us.

I'm just one fan, and it only took me maybe 3 google searches to figure this out in a matter of seconds. They are however literal experts in their profession, and for that reason I do feel comfortable giving them some credit here.

So now, let's try to apply this logic then to s3.

Perhaps it's safe to assume that El's countdown didn't start when the Byers moved to Cali in the s3 epilogue, just like Mike's countdown didn't start at the end of the s1 epilogue either.

It's believed that the Byers, but El specifically, had to go into hiding after the battle at Starcourt. And so, could this mean that El's countdown started on July 5th?

The day that Hopper died? The day she lost her powers? The day she had to go into hiding and probably couldn't properly communicate with Mike for about three months?

Honestly, I think it would make a lot more sense to have their countdown's (Mike's 353 vs. El's 185) parallel in how they started.

And it would be weird to restart that countdown simply because they reunited for one afternoon to move, again because there was obviously so much significance to everything that happened on July 5th, that it does make sense to me that El's countdown would have started there.

Also, I want to be thorough by mentioning that, the main reason we can easily rule out the Byers move date being the start of El's countdown, is that it doesn't add up whatsoever.

El saying it has been 185 days since the Byers moved, would mean she was writing the letter on April 7th, 1986, which is impossible. (Also Mike's birthday, which is hilariously ironic).

Even if we spread out that three month window, we still have to take into account that if it was closer to two months or four months, they would've just said that instead. So either the Byers moved on October 4th, or sometime between September 5th at the earliest and November 5th at the latest.

And so where do we go from here? 

Basically, from what we understand in canon on the show, there isn’t much to go off of besides that. And I think that’s the intention.

Over the seasons, the obscurity of the time jump between the epilogues has allowed for them to say obscure comments between seasons, such as, Yeah for like a month (Jonathan in s2) and It’s been a year, Mike (Will in s4) and so they obviously like this appeal of the audience not knowing for certain. But that doesn’t mean they don’t know for certain.

I would argue they have to know for certain, and have very likely done the math at least once or twice or ten times, especially because as I mentioned, there would be no reason to have characters countdown to the exact day, on multiple occasions, if the creators/writers or literally anyone involved with the show wasn't checking to make sure those numbers added up correctly.

And so, based on all of that, I think that El started counting down from the day they separated, just like the previous season, which would’ve been July 4th-5th (respectfully).

And so 185 days after July 4th-5th, 1985, would be January 5th-6th, 1986. 

Just work with me here. Because while there are several things that could work against this theory, I think those things could have intentionally been there to trick the audience into thinking this letter was written very close to spring break, even though the math for that doesn't add up. And so lets look at some of the details that might be telling us this letter isn't as recent as we're being lead to believe.

The main detail I want to mention, is that major projects like the one El describes in her letter, requiring a visual aid, is more likely to be assigned at the start of the trimester.

If you don’t live in the United States, or are unfamiliar, basically how it tends to work for most high schools is the school year get’s split into 3 trimesters. The 1st trimester goes from September-December, the second goes from January-March, and the third goes from March-June. It varies depending on the city/county/state. Though it may not seem very equal, it goes like this to accommodate the major holidays with extensive breaks. The first trimester has Thanksgiving then a brief return to school, followed by Christmas/New years. The 2nd trimester starts right after New Years, and ends with Spring break. Then once you return afterward Spring break, that’s the start of the 3rd trimester. It evens out to each trimester being about 3 months.

I think El would've mentioned this assignment to Mike closer to when it was assigned and not right before she was turning it in. And the reasoning for this is kind of obvious but understandably overlooked.

While most kids would probably not think about working on a project like this until the last minute, because most of us are expert procrastinators after almost a decade in school, El however is completely new to this experience. And so I imagine the moment she heard about this assignment, she was just like 'best get to it!!'! We even see her still working on it after the project was already graded because the significance of it was clearly important to her. And so if her and Mike were writing somewhat consistently as it appears, then this would have been mentioned a lot sooner than her most recent letter to him.

And when it comes to the rest of the letter, there are several clues that could also support this theory that it wasn't written as close to spring break as we're being lead to assume.

Like the mention of Joyce's new telemarketer job. It wouldn't really make sense for her job to have been like super new, within the last week from March 22nd, especially if it's intended to be this sort of deterrent for Mike getting ahold of Will on the Byers phone presumably since the move.

Also Jonathan's car, is looked like it had been deserted there for a long time, not a matter of days or weeks, but possibly months (since early winter)... And so Argyle driving them to school wasn't something that happened within the last week worth mentioning to Mike right before their reunion in her most recent letter, but most likely another detail she mentioned as an update, since Jonathan's car is being referred to as still broken.

Even separate from the letter, I wondered if there was evidence somewhere else that they could sneakily be trying to hint to us that this is actually being written early in the Winter trimester and not the very end. Then it hit me.

The lyrics in the background...

Although, there are some things that contradict this theory, again I think those details were put there for the sake of tricking us.

Like just think about it, if this was El's most recent letter, wouldn't it make more sense for her to mention both the countdown for when they last saw each other, and how many days until they'd be seeing each other if it was really that close? Unless of course that number of days until their reunion was still too high at the time for her to hype it up, assuming she was writing this letter, perhaps 1-2 months out?...

I also do think that it's likely Mike and El are quite active in their writing back and forth. After all, Will said El had like a book of letters from Mike, so they want us to think that they wrote a decent amount.

I'm guessing the conversation was casual and broad for this letter specifically, because El is still new at writing/reading obviously and because this letter was also being used to update the audience about the characters whereabouts since we last saw them.

This might not seem that groundbreaking, but what this theory boils down to, is that s4 opened with an old letter, not a recent one. It means Mike was reading a letter, possibly from as early as January, 2 months previous to present. This would mean Mike presumably had other, more recent letters available to him to look at, with countdowns like 20 days and 10 days or 5 days, with El gushing even more intensely over the fact that they're closer and closer to finally reuniting.

And yet Mike was fixating on this letter specifically the morning before their reunion, AN OLD LETTER!!

But why?

Let's again look at the vibe of El's letter. If you look really close, it comes off like a response to a questionnaire.

I've always said that although El's lied a lot in her entire letter to Mike, there's a reason they never let us see a letter from Mike to El, and it's because he probably wouldn't have faired much better.

I don't even think it's actually that Mike would've lied necessarily, as much as I think it was mostly a lie of omission situation.

He showed up in Cali as his inauthentic self, and so it wouldn't make sense for him to have given El updates on Hellfire in his letters, which was pretty much all he focused on back in Hawkins from what it looked like.

And so I think the letter he wrote, which El was responding to in that specific letter, was Mike focusing on asking her questions about how she was doing and how the Byers were doing. It's also probably the last time he asked about the others because of one specific detail he got that time, which he's been fixating on ever since... (you know the one...)

Regardless, Mike was reading an old letter, which makes the implications of this (and this)... astounding.

[carigm]

About Dyersfilm’s “leak”

For all of you who don’t know, dyersfilm is an insufferable individual who used to go by the name of swiftlynatalia. She is racist, homophobic, transphobic, and even made fun of her supposed favorite actress’ eating disorder. However, people on Twitter (especially mlvns) entertain her because she had reliable sources during the filming of S4, and after during post production. She had some true leaks, many being the same that Reddit got right, while others only she had. She was also wrong about quite a few things, but generally she was reliable.

It is worth noting though that she is extremely biased against byler (many of the leaks she got wrong for S4 were pertaining their storyline) and absolutely hates the ship.

This time around, she was getting some leaks during the first couple of months of filming to her curious cat, but she herself claimed that these were not reliable leaks whatsoever and that she was pissed because this time she doesn’t have access to the real sources she had for S4. She has complained about this repeatedly for these past few months. The leaks she has gotten tho, many she has mocked and made fun of because they don’t align with what she wants from the show. She also made a “disclaimer” when the show started filming again that she would not be posting leaks about Byler because she hates us all, and yet every single one of those most likely fake leaks she got she posted, and many of them talked about Byler. She would post them and mock them for “clearly being untrue”. She has barely gotten a single Mlvn positive leak this whole time, and when she’s gotten at least something that alludes to them having scenes together she immediately ran to post it and alert all her friends, even tho she herself knows all of these are most likely fake.

For weeks now, her curious cat has been dry af because I guess nda’s are stronger this time, or no one wants to leak shit to her (she’s rude as hell). she posted the following ask 10 days ago. Someone asked her if she knew about any Mike and El scenes and she said no. Keep this in mind for what’s coming next…

Then suddenly yesterday, she alluded to a Jonathan spoiler she’s supposedly pissed about, but refused to post it like she’s done for everything else. People quickly thought it might involve Byler because she said she wasn’t going to post “leaks” about it, even though she had already lol. So they asked her and she said that “yes, it has to do with Byler.”

Then shortly after this someone asked about Mlvn again, this was just today. Again, note how she proceeds to say she knows nothing about Mlvn 😭

Bylers on Twitter noticed her answers about Mlvn and her comment about a supposed byler leak involving Jonathan and started speculating. She ofc noticed this, and not even after an hour of her saying she knows nothing about Mlvn she goes on to say this.

….

She knows nothing but somehow she knows Mlvn is stable? The bipolar disorder of these answers could rival my own bipolar.

Mind you, we all know that she would’ve jumped up at the first opportunity to post any leak that implied Will was pining and miserable, her and her friends would’ve had a field day over it. And yet, she only clarifies this after…

Not to mention how utterly ridiculous this all is. They’ve filmed stuff up until episode 4 (from what we know), why the hell would Will be pining and hung up over Mike if Mlvn is endgame? That makes absolutely no fucking sense. They would have him immediately fully patch things up with Mike and move on, not be hung up on someone he can’t have in the middle of an apocalypse. Especially not after the Duffers said he’s getting a happy ending. Will getting a happy ending but still being in love with Mike halfway through the last season with Mlvn being endgame is absolute lunacy.

Especially when you consider the fact that narratively, in a sense, Will has already moved on. He doesn’t expect anything from Mike, he doesn’t think Mike can like him back. He saw Mike confess his love in front of El, he helped that confession happen. Will literally has no problem with Mlvn anymore pls 😭 He saved them!!

This is the most ridiculous shit I’ve ever read.

Will is somehow upset at Mike not feeling the same way…when Will already believes Mike doesn’t feel the same and doesn’t ever expect any reciprocation 😭

Either she’s wildly twisting this supposed leak out of context to fit her own perceived narrative of what should happen, or she’s straight up lying about this.

And we know she’s lying about Mlvn so…you people decide what you think of this buffoonery lol.

Wait for Reddit leaks y’all. This woman could get a legit leak saying Byler is endgame and dig her own grave before posting it.

[notebooknonbinary]

Byler Week, Day 6: Pre-Volume 2 Vibes

:)

-

He eyes the two sketches. They both would be a bit like putting his heart on the canvas. But which one would be more damning?

And which one would make Mike the happiest to get?

…

Still undecided, he pads out into the living room. Thankfully, Mom is between calls. She looks up and gives him a weary smile.

Evens, the DnD picture, odds, the swingset. “Hey, can you pick a number between one and ten?

“Hmmm, seven.”

“Okay…Thank you…”

Will goes back to his room, closes the door, and forces down the roiling anxiety making his throat tight. Swingset painting it is, then.

Mechanically, he finishes setting out his painting supplies. He sets the drawing in easy view of the easel.

If the painting is too much…If he finishes painting out this pivottable moment from their childhood (“It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”), and the love he has for Mike comes across too clearly…Well, he can just give Mike the drawing of the DnD scene. It’s a good drawing anyway. One he’ll probably want to paint out at some point anyway.

He takes a few deep breaths, and focuses on the canvas.

-

Will hates to see Mike so down on himself.

Perhaps it’s not the best time. Maybe he should be a good friend and brother, focusing on trying to fix whatever it is that’s broken Mike and El apart so badly. But Will’s heart is hurting that Mike is hurting and he just wants to see him smile.

“Can I show you something?”

Heart in his throat, he hands the painting over. Jonathan and Argyle in the front of the van seem miles away. All Will can focus on is Mike’s face, as he unrolls the painting.

And…

A smile spreads across Mike’s face, and it’s the most beautiful thing in the world to Will.

Mike looks up to beam at him.

“This is amazing,” he says genuinely. “Did you paint this?”

“Yeah…I…I mean…” Will looks away, feeling flustered at the genuine awe and happiness that’s taken over Mike’s face. He picks at a loose thread on his pants.

“These past few months, I’ve been so…lost without you.” He curls his fingers into the fists. “It’s just…I’m so different from other people.” His eyes suddenly burn from the tears he’s been swallowing back all week. “And when you’re…different, sometimes you can feel like a mistake.” He forces himself to face Mike, needing him to understand. “But you don’t make me feel like a mistake. You make me feel like being different is good. I think I’ve been kind of mean and distant lately, but that’s just because I’m so scared of losing you.” He bites his lip, feeling like maybe he’s said a bit too much. He refocuses on the painting.

“A couple years ago you said…asking to be my friend was the best thing you’ve ever done…” Will swallows and looks up, watches Mike’s face go pink. His eyes are wide and almost sparkling. Pretty. It gives Will the courage to finish speaking. “Well, I guess this was me saying that telling you yes was the best thing I’ve ever done.”

Mike tears up, and it’s so sudden and startling (Mike hardly ever cries), that Will feels himself tearing up again in response.

And then Mike grabs him into a hug, tight and warm and oh so familiar. “Thank you Will. This is the best thing I’ve ever gotten.”

For a moment they sit, hugging and crying a little, and for the first time all week things feel brighter.

“I tried to call,” Mike mumbles into Will’s shoulder. “But the line was always blocked with your Mom’s job. I’ve been scared of losing you too, because it keeps happening.”

Oh.

Part of Will immediately wants to burst out into apologies, allow the nudging guilt at the back of his brain to take the forefront. But that can wait until later.

Right now, Will just wants to hug his best friend. Everything else fades into the background. This moment is theirs.

-

In the front of the van, unheard by the younger teens, Argyle whispers. “Dude, was that a confession? Does baby bro have a boyfriend now?”

Jonathan nudges him. “If they are, they’ll say so when they’re ready.” He bites his lip. Either way, I should make sure Will knows I’m here for him.

[didyoupainthis]

I feel like the best way to explain why I’m so convinced Mike IS aware of his feelings and has been since at least S2 is like this;

The reason I’ve never cared about Mleven before just blatantly not liking them is that they went straight from acquaintances to dating. They skipped friends, they skipped crush, they skipped feelings altogether and I know this because they didn’t actually have any personal bonding time for that week because Mike was so worried about Will and El was so worried about the bad guys

For Byler to be different, they would be going through all these stages over time. Friends, then best friends, developing feelings, crush and THEN they realise they don’t just love each other, they’re in love with each other

I’ve read about people saying that one season just isn’t enough for Byler to happen and you know what? I agree somewhat. But ONLY because I think one season isn’t enough to make Mike just fall in love with Will. However we don’t have to worry about that because it’s not just one season, it’s 5 seasons and it would have been happening this whole time

We know that Will’s been developing his feelings slowly over time and he’s been accepting it because that is his character ( staying true to himself ). But we only know this because his feelings have been confirmed. We could’ve just as easily swapped the canon and made it that Mike was canonically in love with Will and then people would have missed the signs that Will has been developing feelings this whole time

Mike is different in his realisations over time and instead of accepting his feelings, he rejects them because he wants to be normal and conform. Just like his parents and just like everyone around him. We’ve been seeing a change since S4 and that’s Mike slowly allowing himself to be himself ( not wanting to be popular, playing DND again, admiring Eddie for his individuality ) which is amazing character development for him

S2 was THE Byler season, the season that shows us their natural dynamic and really put Mike through it with the whole losing Will agenda again. This is how he would have started noticing his feelings. He can’t deal without Will, he needs Will and he still wants Will to keep giving Mike his art. Will has been with him his whole life and Will has always made him happy and at this point, Mike has been put through the ordeal of possibly losing that twice. At the end during the Snowball, Dustin watches Max ( his crush ) looking clearly upset because Max is dancing with someone else. We have Mike in the same shot, right next to Dustin with the same face except he’s not watching Max because he doesn’t have a crush on her. He’s watching Will because… well

So to conclude this whole thing I guess, we know Will didn’t just fall in love out of no where and so neither did Mike, that’s all. Sorry if u disagree this is just what I think

[jaegerisim]

PT. 2 of my HP x BYLER AU

The summer holidays passed by in a blur and between homework and hanging out with Will, Mike had been pretty busy.

Now, in "Platform 9 and 3/4" Mike buzzed with excitement to hug Will. Although they'd seen each other barely 48 hours ago, Mike couldn't help but feel like they'd been 48 days or years. So he moved around with his trolley until he spotted a familiar brown head sticking up in the multitude.

Mike pushed his trolley forward and grinned at Will, who still hadn't seen him as he was focused on something or someone else. That person was Max, who was babbling excitedly about all the new curses and charms Robin was going to teach her this year, while Will nodded along. Meanwhile, Will's mother fussed over how Will's hand-me-down shoes were already displaying holes and his tie was all crooked. Jonathan had his arms wrapped around Steve Harrington whose cheeks were a pretty red color.

Will turned to look at his brother, who stuck his tongue at him. Max grabbed Will's hand trying to draw his attention towards whatever it was she was saying. Will slapped her hand away playfully and she said something in mock offense.

Mrs. Byers was watching the whole interaction with an amused face. Finally, Mike reached his limit and marched over.

"Will!" Mike called "I missed you!"

"So, did I," Will laughed as Mike pulled him away from Max "but we saw each other 2 days ago! It's been weeks since I've seen Max!"

Mike frowned, they'd seen each other during the summer, without The Party? Worse of all, Will hadn't told Mike about this. It was outrageous, they'd promised to tell each other everything! This was all Max's fault.

Not only that, but the red-haired girl he got on Mike's nerves because she seemed to go wherever Will went, meaning he would no longer have Will to himself.

Once in the train, they bumped into El, Lucas and Dustin. Who invited Mike, Will and Max to sit with them. Much to Mike's dismay, Will sat next to the window and Max took the seat next to him.

So Mike sat between El and the door. El was acting weirder than she had last year, she was constantly red in the face and stuttered a lot. Mike almost thought she has a fever, but apparently that wasn't it. Anyways, seeing Max and Will share inside jokes and swap food provokes something really ugly inside of Mike, something burning and painful.

Since Mike was too focused on his own jealousy, he failed to notice Will's own frustration and longing stares while Mike seemingly "flirted" with El.

As the days passed Mike felt he and Will were growing distant from each other. Will hung out with Max and Robin more often while Mike felt like El was the only one who truly understood him.

"Mike!" cried Will, one cloudy, spring day, as he rushed into the courtyard where Mike sat "I tried out for the Quidditch team and they accepted me! I'm a Beater! Training starts tomorrow!"

Mike wanted to be happy for him, he truly did. Yet, he couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to genuinely be happy for his best friend. He couldn't fathom his sweet and caring Will playing such a dangerous sport.

"Will, be honest, do you even like Quidditch?" Mike asked, with a skeptical frown.

"Y- Yeah! I do. It's a great sport and Professor Creel says I'll be a great Beater!" Will sounded defensive.

"Professor Creel? You trust him? Will, he's not to be trusted!" insisted Mike

"I'm sorry?" snapped Will "He is not to be trusted? Why? 'Cause he's a Slytherin, right?"

Mike bit his lip, he hadn't meant to say that.

"Well, guess what? I'm Slytherin too! Does that mean you can't trust me either, huh?"

It began to rain and at one point Mike didn't know if the droplet he felt against his cheeks were tears or the rain itself.

"That's not what I meant!" Mike sobbed

"You sure, Mike? Professor Creel is a magnificent teacher. Just because you're Gryffindor and don't like him doesn't mean he is bad. Not every Slytherin is bad, y'know? Although you Wheelers seem to unjustly despise all of us!"

"That's just not true!" Mike scoffed, why was Will being such an asshole about this?

"I'm leaving! I'm gonna go find Max and Robin 'cause at least they'll be happy for me" spat Will.

"Will, you can't leave!" Mike tried desperately "It's raining" but it was hopeless, Will had already left him.

For the next few weeks, things were awkward between Will and Mike, their conversations had become stilted and forced until they stopped completely. The catalyst for this was Mike hearing rumors of Will and Max dating. Rumors he thought made sense, they were always together, they held hands sometimes and they were super protective of each other. Another reason why Mike felt betrayed by Will. Will hadn't told Mike he liked Max, how were they supposed to be best friends if they kept secrets from each other!

By the last days of school, Hogwarts buzzed with excitement.

The Quidditch match finals were just around the corner. The 2 Houses competing were Hufflepuff and Slytherin, which meant the 2 Byers Brothers were up against each other.

Both were quite the players as Will was pretty bold and didn't think twice of hitting the Bludger with his bat while Jonathan did fantastic saves as a Keeper.

Begrudgingly, Max invited The Party to come see Will but by the first part of the match, El had become bored of the game and told Mike to accompany her back to the school grounds.

Mike accepted since he thought Will wouldn't even care if he wasn't there, curiously, Max shot him a furious glare when he got up to leave.

Both him and El talked for hours, walking around aimlessly. El told him that her Dad had began to date Will's mom and that Will and her are going to be together a lot this summer.

Then, when the sun was almost down, they sat in the courtyard and El grabbed the side of his face, her cheeks were a rosy color and her mouth was in a shy smile.

Mike felt paralyzed, he knew what was going to happen. El was going to kiss him! Yet, he didn't feel that fluttery sensation his sister told him she felt when she kissed her best friend Barb and her ex-boyfriend Steve. His hands weren't all sweaty or clammy like Lucas described he feels when his near his crush. Nor was he a rambling, stuttery mess like Dustin! What did that mean? Why wasn't he feeling the things he should?

"Do you want to do this, Mike?" whispered El, softly

"Um, uh, Ye- Yeah. I do." He can't believe it took him so much willpower to want to kiss El. No, to want to kiss a girl.

El began to kiss him and he kissed her back. Still, nothing magical happened, it was the most boring thing ever. He was just kind of there.

He heard a noise from behind him and he turned around to find Will and Max staring at them, shocked. Max balled her fists and angrily stormed away muttering curses. Will on the other hand, stood there, mouth parted, tears welling up.

Mike knew he fucked up. He'd abandoned Will's important game to kiss a girl. He shouldn't have done that, he knows that.

Will turned around and left, wiping his face with his emerald Quidditch robe.

Mike didn't run after him, Mike turned to face El. She looked slightly sad but mostly confused, she didn't understand what happened.

The last day of school, Mike went over to the Slytherin table at The Great Hall.

"Hey, Will." he began

He felt Max glare daggers at him and Robin give him the stink-eye, several other Slytherins snickered. Billy, had a sneer plastered on his annoying and punchable face.

"Hi?" answered the smaller boy with confusion l

"I wanted to apologize for our argument, ok?" Mike apologized using his softest voice

"It's ok, Mike, really" Will dismissed with a small wave.

"No, it isn't I-" Mike insisted because it wasn't ok it was wrong.

"I said drop it, Mike" the brunet snapped. He did that a lot lately and when he did, he looked eerily similar to his father. It made Mike shudder. Mike shrugged helplessly and left to meet El and Lucas.

Lucas was blushing and El frowned at whatever Lucas was saying.

"So then me and Max kissed under the bleachers, yesterday and it was awesome!" Lucas gushed

Wait, Max and Lucas? Weren't she and Will dating? But if they kissed that meant that the duo were just friends and Mike had misunderstood everything. He'd fucked up again and Will was obviously not fine. Maybe the summer and spending time with El would help.

Mike ended his second year at Hogwarts wondering where exactly he'd gone wrong.

[michaelnotwheeler]

Happy Byler Week !!!

I literally only had time for a sketch I’m sorry 😔

It’s crap I know but here it is I guess

The side profile is frankly just sad 😅

@bylerweek2023

[justmy-account]

„ I’m glad you did it.”

„ Did what?” Will doesn’t understand. 

Past few weeks was Will having the time of his life. He never felt so happy since he was 12 years old. Mike and Will are officially dating now. Well, not really officially, because no one except them and Jonathan knows. Jonathan has his own small apartment now, and he always lets them to go there on a little dates, so no one can see them. Like now, there’s literally no personal space between them, but there wasn’t even before they started dating, but besides that they don’t act like a couple, but people still look judgingly at them. 

„ That you did the first step. I would never guess that you like me back, I would be scared that you won’t feel the same.”

„ Well, I was scared too.” admits Will. „ but I kinda knew how you feel.”

„ What?”

„ Ehm…” Will laughs. „ Remember when we went to the Reefers Rick’s house with the rest of the party? There were some beers, Dustin said they brought them for Eddie, before he had to run away from there and before he… you know.” Mike is very sensitive when it comes to Eddie’s death.  „ You wanted to give Eddie a toast, and you got drunk. Jonathan drove you home, and while we were alone for a while, you told me: , Wanna know a secret? I like Will. But you can’t tell him.’ And I guess that this made me tell you.”

„ Hmm.” Mike’s quiet for a while. „ That’s why I don’t remember anything from that night.”

They both chuckle. 

„ Hey.”

Moment interupts some girl. Her three friends are standing behind her and they’re whispering something to each other. 

„ What’s your name?”

„ She thinks you’re cute!” Yells one of the girls from the back. 

Will doesn’t answer. He doesn’t know why, but girls stop him at the street many times. He usually panics and runs away. 

„ He’s dating someone.” says Mike. He’s not very comfortable with Will getting so much attention from girls. It’s not that he’s jealous(he is), but Will seems uncomfortable with it eather. 

„ Aw, is your sweetie-pie here?” says the girl’s friend mockingly. 

Mike wants to say something, but Will starts first: „ Yeah, actually, he is.”

He kisses Mike, grabs his wrist and draggs him away. 

well, this is my byler fic. Sorry if my grammar is wrong, or my style of writing, i’m still working on my english weiting skills. Hope you liked it and i would love to know your opinion on it.

[existingonanotherplane]

Happy Stranger Things day :D!!! Byler tag is winnin rn c:

Here’s Part 2 of the ‘i love you’ series, sorry it took so long c:

Uh oh, Michael! That look you’re giving is a little tender 😟

Mike is bored as hell.

Mike is bored as hell.

Who knew that the government slowly taking over the remnants of his home town while some dude, who he guesses is obsessed with Will, is trying to end life as they know it would be so slow.

Not that he wants any life ending things to happen. He just never thought he'd find himself bored, of all things, while the world was trying to end.

It was the day after the talk with Will about the painting, which if hes being honest, he still feels really good about. Maybe he'd been a little sappy saying that he loved him but it was true! And he didn't regret it.

It's been a few months since everythings started and other than the very obvious changes that have happened like the weather or the gates, Mike has been feeling like he's been getting hit with surprise after surpise every other week.

Dealing with the aftermath of the injured friends, the town ripping into four, Max was in a god damned coma, and Eddie-

Mike didnt like thinking about that moment. Even if things were marginally better now. So he doesn't. The feeling lingers anyway.

Point is lots of things changed and they haven't stopped.

It wasn't long after that that Will and El had decided he'd let the rest of the party (and extended party as well) that they'd discovered some kind of hidden power in Will. They'd explained how they weren't sure why it did'nt manifest in Hawkins before they moved, other than the True Sight and Now Visions, that there was more that he could do.

Mike is pretty sure they're still keeping an ability of his hidden but from what they can understand, his powers are similar to El in the since of like, moving things with his mind and going into the Void. The differ though, because Will's makes things react like how the upside down or its creatures does.

Like flickering lights or sometimes, when he's feeling strongly, particles will appear around him. There's a few theories going around with this, the craziest one, thanks to Dustin, is that maybe Will is a walking gate.

Mike isn't sure about that but he knows Will has always been tied to the UD since things have started. Will feels like he can't escape the upside down but maybe its the other way around?

He thinks that's maybe why Will was able to sense that Eddie was still barely alive down there. He and El had been able to locate him, and although it had caused a lot of heartache they got him out. So now he sits in the hospital with Max.

Mike wonders how many more times he's going to lose something to that hellhole only for it to come right back.

He shakes his head, not really sure how he ended up thinking about all that in the first place.

Head knocking back on the couch, Mike releases an honestly extreemly dramtic and long sigh. The meeting they had schedueled for today could not get here any faster.

'knock knock knock'

Was that the door? The meeting isn't for another three hours so honestly Mike isn't really expecting it when he opens the door to find none other than Will standing outside.

"Will!" a smile flys over his face before he could think otherwise. Not that he'd want to anyways.

"Hey!" Will greets back in a tone similar to his own. His own pretty smile gracing his face.

Mike takes a moment to give Will a once over. Not for any particular reason but he thinks it only makes sense to look when Will is constanly looking as nice as he does. Even in an apocolypse, Will still manages.

Today he's wearing a turtle neck, something they've all started doing since the weather took a turn for the colder, some baggy pants and the same boots hes been wearing since he found them a couple weeks ago at the shelter. It's a simple outfit but Will looks good anyways.

"Uh, Mike?"

Mike's eyes snap back up to Will's face. He looks a little red and Mike wonders if he's cold. He backs away from the door frame so Will doesn't freeze, recognizing that the weather, while still super cold, is actually good in the whole "not raining poision" kind of way.

Will shuffles past him, giving him a strange look on the way in. Mike realizes that he has yet to respond.

"Sorry! Zoned out there for a second." He says in a rush, glancing back over at his friend. Will nods, looking a little confused or maybe concerned, but Mike is too focused on how cozy he looks and that same tingling feeling he had gotten yesterday returns.

Maybe he needs to the doctor? He walks over and wraps Will in a hug instead.

"What's going on? You're here so early." Mike says, leaning his cheek on the top of his head.

He feels Will adjust a bit, moving a little closer.

"Yeah, they were trying to rope me into more cabin repairs."

Mike lets out a breath of air, laughing. They'd been staying there for a while and there's still repairs that they've had to do. At least that giant hole in the roof is gone.

"Oh yeah," he says instead, "we wouldn't want that. Can't have you working too hard." Mike finishes, squeezing Will a little more into the hug.

Will lets out a laugh, knocking his hand against Mike's side and making him jump back to avoid the impromptu tickle attack he would've gotten.

"Says the guy who breaks down the moment someone even thinks of excersize." Will says through a laugh.

Mike rolls his eyes. He's not that opposed to working out, no need for dramatics.

"I don't think you're any better, Will."

And that might be a lie actually, because Will has defintly filled out compared to Mike's own lankiness. The height is nice though and he's managed to keep his title as the tallest in the group, althogh Lucas had almost taken that from him.

Mike reaches for Will's hand, correcting a little instead for his wrist. It might be a little weird if he just grabbed his hand. Before pulling him out of the walkway and towards the basement.

"Remind me. Why do I talk to you again?" Will says behind him and Mike bites down a smile, knowing he's about to say something stupid.

"Can't resist the Wheeler-" he lets out, stretching the second half of his name.

Will goes dead silent but Mike knows that if he looks back Will would be struggling to hold in a laugh.

He giggles to himself when he hears a "Dude. No." instead.

Time passes pretty quickly after that. He and Will hung out for a while. Mostly talking or playing games or even just sitting there and enjoying each other's company.

Everyone eventually showed up and the meeting started. With things being a waiting game there wasn't much to say. It became an overview of the plan they'd come up with some adjustments here and there, scheduling training for various people, talking about supply runs and then just general updates.

All in all it went smoothly but now everyone was packing things up. It was getting late and there's a curfew now. Not to mention, being out after dark was overall dangerous. Mike didn't enjoy everyone leaving the way they did but he knew they had to.

They had just finished their goodbyes and were loading into their respective cars. Will had ridden his bike over to his house and was now getting on it to ride it over to his family's car before Mike stopped him again, placing his hand over the bike's handlebar. And subsequently, Will's hand.

Mike didn't want anyone to leave really but it felt especially strong with Will in that second. Maybe he should ask him to stay over? Wait, no he can't do that either because of the early morning training he had.

Mike sighs, hunching slightly and looking back down at their joined hands, smiling at the sight. Palm tingling where it sits on top of Will's.

Wait-

He glances back up at Will, who looks a little flushed, probably from the cold, but is looking at him curiously. He and El had started doing this thing where they tilt their head in confusion. He's not sure who started it but it was insanely adorable and maybe Mike should say something instead of just staring at his best friend actually.

"Um, there's a meeting tomorrow too, right?"

That might've been the dumbest thing he's said. They'd just got out of the meeting. The next one's date was written on a board downstairs. Mike had been the one to write it. He wants to slap himself.

If Will thought it was weird he didn't say anything.

He smiles a little as he replies, very easily and not at all strange like Mike had just been, "Yeah. It's at the cabin."

And Mike knew that because when they had said it Will had bumped his shoulder with his own and shot him a smile so of course Mike committed it to memory. Which is a normal thing to do. Will hasn't been smiling as often and not to mention it's a great smile so why wouldn't he?

Plus it's like his duty to commit it to memory as his best friend.

Mike nods a few times, probably too many, hunching down a little more to look at Will's face in full.

"Cool… Welp, uh, goodnight William."

He's an idiot.

He hears Will mumble an almost inaudible "Ew, what the hell." A small smile playing on his lips, which Mike isn't looking at. Or well he is looking at them but it's a totally normal amount.

He pulls his eyes back up to Will's just in time to see him roll his own and Mike thinks he loves him.

"Goodnight, Michael-" Will starts, exasperated and fond.

"Love you. Get home safe." Mike finishes. Voice sounding sweeter than even he was expecting.

Will's face looks much like the last time. A little shocked but there's a smile starting to form. Mike watches some color flood into his cheeks and a full body tingle settles itself over him.

"Will! C'mon!" Jonathan yells over from inside of the car. Successfully snapping Mike out of whatever trance he had been in. He was definitely staring at his mouth for too long that time.

"I'm comin'!" Will shouts back, placing his feet onto the bike pedals.

He looks back at Mike briefly, a little sheepish when he says

"Sorry. I'll be safe." He pushes off beginning to pedal towards the waiting car but mike doesn't miss his words,

"Love you too, Mike." He can hear the smile in his voice.

Maybe Mike's heart melts a little but he wouldn't tell you that.

_________

Notes: (might post this on AO3 if i finish it haha)

And that's that. part 2 c: Would y'all believe that Mike is still not aware of his feelings :D. He'll figure it out c: Now it's time to start part 3. Happy stranger things day!

<<<Previous part

[wheelerssecret]

Byler Week Day 1 Cleradin/DnD

I posted this some time ago but I changed a lot of things and I wanted to share with everyone

💛💙

My boy

Mike and Will are in love. Of course they are. Since a long time ago. And after many years of relationship, they still feel the same. It's not that hard to feel the same. Because they're Mike and Will.

In one weekend, they are seated on the couch in their little apartment, and they decide to leave it to make a little trip to Hawkins. They always visit their parents and friends but this time is different. Mike is feeling something different.

So they pack all their D&D stuff, their luggages and get in the car. Mike puts some music and starts singing while driving. He looks at Will every time he can. How could he not?

"I guess... YOU'D SAY!" Mike sings and moves his hand into Will's direction as if it was a microphone. "What can make me feel this way... MY BOY"

Will just rolls his eyes and laughs, thinking "Why do I have to be completely in love with THIS man?" But he can't help joining him singing and Mike just continues driving, because he loves driving with Will by his side, even when they're singing like idiots.

When they get to the city, they go directly to Mike's house.

In all their other trips to Hawkins, Mike didn't want to go to his basement. He had good memories of the place, but the bad memories, the memories of what he went through when Will moved to Lenora were still stronger, they were more recent. And Will knew, but he didn't want to pressure Mike about it, so they always stayed in Mike's room or at Luca's or Dustin's to play D&D.

But Mike wants to try this time. He wants to turn that place into a happy place again. Because it was once. For him, and he know that it was for Will and his friends too.

So he just stands up in front of his basement door and keeps staring at it. Suddenly he is nervous. Will walks to him and holds his hand. Mike looks up at him, startled by his action and he watches his boyfriend smiling at him.

"You want to go in?" Will says, trying to give him a little bit of courage.

"Yeah... I guess so." Mike tries to smile back at Will.

"I'm here with you, you're not alone. You know that, right? We're doing this together!" Will says, bringing Mike's hand close to his face and giving a gentle kiss in its back.

"Crazy together?" Mike asks with his eyes full of water. He doesn't want to cry, but it's hard not to. He gives Will a smile, even if he's still a little apprehensive.

"Crazy together..." Will replies, still looking at Mike, and in the next moment, their hands are together in the door handle.

They open it together and go in. Will observes the place. "Wow, these are still here..." He walks near the wall and touches some of his old drawings that are suspended on it.

"Yeah... I think 99% of my basement is you. Not the messy part of course, but yeah..." Mike says, chuckling.

Will looks at the mess and he feels guilty about it. He knows Mike missed him and that he suffered a lot years ago, but he didn't understand the dimension of the situation until now. "I'm sorry... for everything. We're gonna clean this up and it's going to be exactly like before."

"Hey... you don't have to apologize! Never! It was not your fault. I didn't know how to deal with my own bullshit, I did this to myself. I pushed you away and I think I never really forgave myself for that..." Mike let the tears that were still stuck in his eyes fall.

"Do you still feel this way about yourself?" Will walks and stops in front of him, feeling awful for that, and cups his cheeks.

"Yeah... it was the most painful time of my life and I was a shitty friend to you, I made you suffer too... it was all my fault! And I knew what I felt for you, but it was so hard to be... different. I just... I didn't know what to do." Mike cries and Will just approaches him, letting Mike fall in his arms.

Will lets Mike cry. Mike almost never cries. Will knows he needs that. But after some minutes, Mike stops and Will notices it. "Hey!" Will holds Mike's chin up, softly. "That was not your fault, okay? We were kids, the world was and still is messed up and we didn't know what to do. You were trying to figure things out, just like me. But in your own way, of course. I've also pushed you away, and I felt terrible about it. But everything is ok now. We're together! You don't have to feel this guilt. I know it's hard, but it's gonna be okay... I'm here and... and I love you!" Will dries Mike's tears with his thumb and then he holds Mike's cheeks while touching their foreheads.

"I love you too!" Mike says, looking at Will's eyes.

"So... let's clean it!!!" Will steps aside and grabs a broom that was behind the door. "This one is for you" He throws the broom in Mike's direction.

"What?" Mike laughs but Will doesn't answer and starts to take some of the garbage to throw away. He turns up the radio and starts dancing while cleaning the place. Mike just melts with the view.

Even if it hurts sometimes, even if they have to stop a few minutes so Mike can breath and take a look at some stuff, they do it. They spend all afternoon cleaning the basement. And Will is there, he's always there for him.

When it's over, Mike looks amazed. "Well, I missed that..."

"Me too!" Will smiles at him. "But there's something missing... I'll come back in a minute!" He makes a funny face and goes upstairs.

Mike takes a look at the basement. He takes a deep breath. It's hard, but the pain is not like it was before. He is surprised with the fact that he can smile again in this place.

Will appears and he's carrying their D&D stuff. Mike can't help himself but smile from ear to ear. Will puts the stuff on the table and starts to set up the game board. He sits on the floor and look up to Mike. "Hey, come here with me!" And Mike sits beside him.

"Okay... cool! Um, you wanna play? "Mike questions him. He's almost trembling. He really wants to know Will's answer. As if it isn't obvious. As if Will would ever deny this to him.

"I'd love that!" Will says it with a soft voice and holds Mike's hands. "Okay, let's do it!"

"OH MY GOD!!!" Mike screams and then jumps.

"What happened???" Will gets startled, but also laughs in confusion.

"If we want to do this, we need to do it right!!!" Mike looks thrilled for the first time in the evening. Like a paladin, a knight in shining armour. And Will looks up to him in awe.

"What is it?" Will asks, curious, but Mike doesn't answer, he just gets up and goes in the direction of his closet.

He opens the door and smiles. "That's it!" He picks up Will's cleric costume that was still hidden there and closes the door in a hurry, making the door slam and Will opens his mouth in surprise.

"Wow, I think I haven't seen this in like... more than 10 years, maybe 15, I guess? You really kept it there!!"

"How could I not?" Mike says and little does Will know that Mike looked at his costume every single day in that summer. "So... I don't think it's going to fit you anymore, you've really grown up and..." Mike takes a look at him from head to toe, getting hypnotized for a moment. Will laughs with embarrassment, taking him out of trance and Mike gets a little shy, and even if they know they're in a relationship for years, and they're best friends, there are still some things that make them blush, but he continues. "But anyways, you have to try it on!"

While Will tries to dress up, Mike takes a shield of his closet.

"I DON'T BELIEVE WHAT I'M SEEING!" Will starts laughing and jumping like a ten year old kid. "You don't use this since you were like eight or something... you always thought you looked embarrassing."

"That's just not true!" He raises his brows but he gives up. "Yeah... that's true, but I was an idiot, I don't care about this anymore, you know that..."

"Yeah, and I think it is the cutest thing ever!" Will points at his shield. "That's why I draw it for you..." His cheeks start getting red. "The heart, in that painting..." and Mike thinks he's cute. Even more now because he has his cleric hat on.

"You're the cutest thing ever, Will the wise!" Mike touches Will's nose with his fingertips and they laugh to each other.

They sit around the table but Will gets up again and Mike is confused.

He opens all the drawers trying to find something, until he finds a paint brush, a red and a yellow paint. "I knew it was somewhere here!" He kneels and turns into Mike's direction.

Mike is holding his shield and Will takes his paint brush and opens the can of paint. He starts making his art in the shield. He draws a big heart in it and on the top of the heart, he paints a crown, like he did in that painting years ago. He puts his tongue out of his mouth and bites it while almost closing his eyes in concentration and Mike finds it adorable. When Will finishes, he puts his tools in the table and cleans his hands in his pants.

"Okay, done!" He sits again and puts his index finger on Mike's chest. "You're the heart! You've always been... the heart of the party, of course, but also my heart!"

Will's eyes are shining. They always shine, but this time, they were even brighter, and Mike feels like he's never been so happy before. Mike's heart is overflowing with love, and he knows that he wants this for the rest of his life. And now Mike understands what he was feeling earlier. That different feeling. They lock eyes for a minute and Will frowns, puzzled.

Mike spills out "Let's start a new party, you and me..."

And Will laughs. "Well... we're doing that, right? We're gonna play?"

"No!" Mike always screams* "No, no, not like that... it's just. You and me?"

"Umm, yeah?" Will asks and when Mike doesn't respond he continues. "What are you talking about, Mike?"

Mike stands up, just to take Will's hand and make him stand up too. Then he kneels in front of his boyfriend.

"Will you be my cleric for the rest of our lives?"

"OH MY GOD, MIKE, WHAT???" He screams in surprise but then he can't help but tease Mike. "Are you asking me to... marry you?"

"Well... if you see it that way" Mike smirks at Will.

And Will just stares at him, still shocked, but when he watches Mike looking at him, with that big dark eyes, hesitant, still waiting for the answer, he laughs, with tears in his eyes.

Well... And he said yes. He said yes. And Mike thinks it was the best thing he's ever done.

That's it. Some fluffy Byler stuff. (And I'm sorry about the mistakes!!!!!)

@cluelessbees tagging you here because the song was your idea and I had to give the credits because YES!!! hehe

And tagging @morganee @notebooknonbinary @que3rduckling @hynts @elmoshipsbyler @strangerartist @atombstone because you gave me courage to post it after the Watch Party hahaha and @basiltonpitch because you left the Watch Party earlier and I wanted to show it to you too!!

[messrsbyler]

The end of the year is near! Give a shoutout to your favorite blogs and tag them to spread positivity before the year ends! (from: a secret anon)

the end of the year is long gone but here we go:

@andiwriteordie: you had to be the first one on this bc well, you are the best friend i've gotten from this hellsite. from having a mutual friend crush to being each other's demons (and also twins separated at birth), i adore you (don't let it get to your head). you are an amazing friend, an amazing writer, an amazing person. love to talk to you every day, love how we are basically the same person (which is also creepy wtf) and love that i can feel so comfortable and good around you. love you. i guess. it's whatever. you suck still <3

@strangeswift: my first friend here! we don't talk that much but it's always so good seeing you on the dashboard. love your energy and your posts and LOVE that you have at least one foot into the stonathan brainrot. i'll fully turn you one of these days, i know it. i also LOOOOOVE your writing, from that first wip you posted of mike sitting next to max's bed and talking to her (yes i still remember and will forever remember that one) it was a match make in heaven for me. also you had most of the blame for my taylor swift era.

@astrobei: sometimes i want to, very kindly, open your head and study your brain. seeing your posts or rbs with tags on them or simply reading your fics (all of them so good wth do you put in them to make them so addictive) has me convinced that you are one of the funniest people i know here. i am still a liiiiiittle intimidated by you but what you gonna do. also I AM ALWAYS THINKING ABOUT YOUR STONATHAN WIP DON'T THINK I'VE FORGOTTEN ABOUT IT BC I HAVEN'T-

@foodiewithdahoodie: LEX!!!! it's always so fun to talk to you and read your posts and thoughts and headcanons. your presence in the dashboard brightens my day and i also have to say i've learned a lot from your thoughts on the show and your criticism, things that hadn't crossed my mind before. you are always so kind and nice to me and also YOU ARE PART OF THE STONATHAN BRAINROT WE LOVE TO SEE IT!!

@willow-lark: you are one of the nicest moots i have and also you are so creative and talented and and and i just looooove your mind. also we have a project together that will take some time but still our minds connected for a second and we pulled a boss move hdshdhs i'm sorry i've been so ia i left discord for a bit but i'll be back really soon!! anyhow, love to have you as my mutual/friend and to have so much fun talking about a certain au we shouldn't say much about in public hehe

@babygirl-jonathanbyers: ABBY!!! you are always so sweet and nice, always fun to talk to and so easy to talk to which not often happens to me, but with you it's just not hard or uncomfortable at all!! sorry i've been lost but like i said i left discord for a bit (again. help). you are so talented with your mbs and writing and also PART OF THE STONATHAN BRAINROT!!! i really want to keep knowing you and talking to you!! i have a lot of fun always

a HUGE shoutout to @mayahawkins and @willelfanpage for being part of the stonathan week with me!! it was stressful at times, but the final product was so good and i am very proud of us and of what the project turned out to be!! also both of you have huge minds i am not worthy

also some of my other fav blogs that i need to mention are:

@wiseatom bc your writing is simply stunning and even if we haven't talked that much i feel like we connected and you are so fun to talk to and also always and forever thinking about your roommates byler fic

@parkitaco one of my fav byler writers. i think our timezones don't match bc i only see you online when i go to bed at like five am which SUCKS but love to see you and also RWRB STONATHAN AU HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOO

@kidovna you are one of my fav artists of all time i happy cry whenever you post you are so talented and sorry for the out of the blue tag but i had to take my chance to simp for you aaahhh-

@perexcri also an amazing writer with amazing ideas and a galaxy brain and so nice and sweet!!

@elekinetic amazing scripts and i NEED more of your madwheeler bc bc bccccccc forever thinking about them!!

@moonlightmarvey AMAZING ART I ADORE!!!

@endof-beginning you know i'm a huge fan of your edits, love them all, you can do no wrong, i will simp for your edits every day of the week and every week of the year

(i'm probably missing some people but this post is already long so-)

[byler-4-life]

Will, You're Amazing

Okay, here's a little fic about Kindergarten Mike and Will. This was actually supposed to be a 'through the years' fic, but I never even started the other chapters, so this is just gonna stand as a one shot. Without further ado, here is five-year-old Byler and how Mike might have contributed to why Will loves to draw so much.

Pairing: Mike Wheeler & Will Byers

Word count: 1290

Read below the break.

Five Years Old

Will Byers had never really loved drawing up to this point in his life. Sure, he liked it okay. It was fun sometimes, and if his mom was to be believed, he was really good at it. But then again, he was pretty sure moms were supposed to say those things to their kids. At any rate, his dad didn't seem too impressed with it, always giving it a cursory, 'yeah, that's nice' before quickly suggesting going out back to play catch.

So for Will, he never thought drawing would be his favorite thing. It was just a fun way to pass the time every now and then. But all that changed one day with three simple words from a certain dark-haired, brown-eyed boy who shared Will's class.

It was about a week or two into kindergarten. A week or two since Mike Wheeler had come up to Will on the swings. A week or two since Will had made his first friend.

"Okay class, today I want you to draw a picture of you and your family," their teacher instructed.

There was excited chattering from about 20 five-year-olds as they all got out their paper and crayons. "How many people do you have to draw, Will?" Mike asked with a big smile. Will loved Mike's smile.

"Um, five. Me, my mom, my dad, my brother Jonathan, and Chester - that's my puppy," Will replied brightly. "How about you?"

"Just four. My mom and dad, my sister Nancy, and me."

Will hummed a happy affirmative. He had met Mrs. Wheeler once when she was picking Mike up from school, she was nice. The boys got to work on their respective drawings, the conversation ceasing as they got wrapped up in their assignment. Will decided to draw his family all standing out in front of their house on a bright sunny day.

He drew his brother in his favorite green t-shirt, with Chester rolling in the grass near his feet. He drew his parents both with big smiles on their faces, his dad's arm wrapped tightly around his mother's shoulders. That wasn't how things normally were around the house these days...in fact, it seemed like his dad hardly ever smiled anymore. But still, he did sometimes - and those times were Will's favorite.

Lastly, Will added himself, right smack dab in the middle of the group. Not because he felt he was special, or wanted to be the center of attention, but because he wanted to be as close as possible to each member of his family. It was where he felt the safest and most loved. He was just putting the finishing touches on his work when he heard a sharp intake of breath to his left.

He looked over to see Mike staring at his drawing, mouth agape. Will frowned as he looked back down at his artwork. Did he mess something up somewhere? He didn't see any obvious mistakes or anything. Unable to determine what Mike was staring at, he looked at the other boy's work for reference and....oh. Mike's own drawing of his family was a collection of crudely drawn stick figures standing in front of what Will could only guess was a tree.

Will felt bad as he saw Mike's face crumple a little. Was Mike bad at drawing? It was okay if he was! In the short time that Will had known him, he had found out that Mike was good at lots of other things. He wasn't afraid to go climbing even to the top of the highest monkey bars. He always told the best stories with funny voices included. And he never, ever failed in making Will laugh when he tried. So what if drawing wasn't something he was good at?

Will looked back up to say something comforting, but Mike's eyes were not on him anymore. Instead, they were quickly roving the drawings of the other kids in the class. As Will followed his gaze, he saw that more and more, every other drawing was much closer to Mike's than it was to his own. And that's when the truth became apparent. Mike wasn't bad at drawing. It was just that...

"Will, you're amazing!" Mike let out breathlessly.

Okay, Will wouldn't have quite said it like that. But Mike had, and Will could feel his face heating up from the compliment. "What!? No I'm not," he squeaked in protest. But it was too late, Mike had made up his mind. That was another thing Mike was good at - making his mind up and sticking to it.

"Yes, you are! Look at your drawing, it's awesome! It's the best one in the whole class."

Mike's exclamations were starting to attract attention as a few of their classmates started craning their necks to look at Will's drawing. Will quickly flipped the paper and looked at Mike pleadingly. He didn't want everyone staring at him or his work. He could see a confused look on Mike’s face, as if he didn’t get why Will was shy about this. But he got the message and quieted down nonetheless, even going so far as to glare a few kids who had gotten up to see Will’s drawing.

Will shot him a grateful smile, and they both were able to turn in their work without further drama. The incident stuck with Will though. He couldn’t get Mike’s words out of his head. “Will, you’re amazing!”

And while he didn’t want everyone staring at his art…well, if Mike wanted to stare at it, that might be alright. So that night, Will spent his evening at home working on another drawing, this one showing Mike and Will swinging together on the playground at school.

He presented it to Mike at the end of school the next day, as they were waiting to be picked up by their moms. The shock and awe on Mike’s face when he saw it was topped only by the smile he gave when Will said it was for him.

“What? I can keep this? Are you sure, Will? It’s so good!”

“Y-yeah. I made it for you,” Will stuttered, basking in the positive feedback he was getting from Mike. “It even has your name on the back of it.”

Very solemnly, Mike took the drawing and delicately put it away in his backpack. Not crammed and stuffed in there like every other paper was. But actually placed neatly in one of his folders first, careful not to fold or crinkle it in any way.

Mike had just finished putting his backpack on again when he rushed forward and gave Will a big hug. Will was a little shocked at first. He was pretty sure this was the first time anyone outside his family had given him a hug. But he returned it eagerly anyways. Something about it just felt right.

“Thanks, Will, I’ll take good care of it and keep it forever,” Mike said into Will’s shoulder.

Before Will could respond, a gentle honk of the horn broke them apart as Mike’s mom waved at him from their car.

“Bye, Will, see you tomorrow!” Mike waved as he ran to his car.

“See ya!” Will waved back.

He took a deep breath as he watched them drive away. Will's insides had never felt so warm and fuzzy before in his entire life. He would never forget how good it felt to make his first friend so happy with something that he made for him. And he knew right then that he would never get tired of Mike's hugs. And if drawing was the thing that got him those reactions, well then...maybe art was something that Will actually loved after all.

[will80sbyers]

I wish people wouldnt close themselves to the bi!mike or unlabelled!mike reading this much. Bc what they are gonna do if mike just is confirmed to be inlove with Will and thats it in the next season...? It is more likely that he wont have a canon sexuality confirmation, it is most likely that the show will make a point that he had a crush on el at some point and now that he loves will. I read all of those angsty and elaborate theories and im like... they most likely arent aiming for that. But ppl close themselves to other ideas so much that they will become disappointed in the end when mike doesnt have a confirmed gay sexuality or that his sexuality wont get a focus at all tbh

Yeah, I agree!

I think it's best to keep in mind every possibility to avoid the last scenario... I made a post a few weeks ago about this because I was a bit worried about people not liking Mike if he didn't have extreme ih... I just hope people don't get too disappointed if it's not the story they imagined

I think I have provided a solid alternative explanation tbh but in the end if it happens how I think and they are disappointed I can't do much about it... personally the only thing I really care about is byler endgame and Will being happy so I'm set whatever happens... I guess I'm lucky lol

I just need them to kiss, get together and be happy for the rest of their imaginary existence and I will be happy too 💗

[luveurmilk]

Castle Byers

Mike flipped open his comic book and Will finally drifted off for a small nap inside the warmth and serenity of Castle Byers.

or; a fluffy short-fic of a glimpse into a rainy afternoon inside Castle Byers.

Words: 1.06K

I know this is short, but I hope you enjoy it. Will is my child and I feel like he deserves all the happiness in the world. Come yell at me on my socials and keep an eye out for more Byler content! I have another short-fic posted if you want to read it!

Twitter: gentlebvc AO3: gentlebvc

Mike and Will were a fumbling mess of giggles and limbs as they stumbled into Castle Byers just as the first of many fat raindrops fell from the sky. Thanks to the new, much needed, renovations; the small hideout was a sturdy place to shield them from the weather and was big enough to hold them both to where they could comfortably stretch out their legs. And even though there was space for them to have their own personal bubble, Will settled into the warm junction of Mike’s arm and torso with his head resting on his chest and an arm slung over his waist. 

A satisfied sigh left Will’s mouth and his eyes closed as the sound of his boyfriend’s heartbeat filled his ear. Here, in Castle Byers, they could just be them. They didn’t have to worry about his mom barging in, or Hopper forcing them to leave the door cracked and an eye peeking in when they went particularly quiet. Mike tried once (out of frustration) to remind Hopper that they were both boys and nothing bad could come out of them closing the door. That earned the door to stay wide open for an entire month and a glare so heavy from his step-dad that Will thanked God looks couldn’t kill. 

Mike’s room and basement were off limits because the party liked to barge in without warning sometimes and they weren’t ready to have that conversation with their best friends about them just yet. The only reason his parents knew is because his mom accidentally walked in on a shared kiss between them, so they had to have that conversation, but they were still new to this whole dating thing and wanted to make sure it was all going to work out before dropping the news. Sure, they knew Will was gay, but they didn’t know about Mike and if they did, they never said anything. 

So, Castle Byers it was, and Will wouldn’t have it any other way. “I know I flunked that test we had today in Mr. Wilson’s class,” Mike said as he flipped through a comic book. He seemed unfazed, but Will wasn’t. “We studied for hours! I thought you had it!” The shorter of them whined as his brown eyes fluttered open and his head tilted up to look at his boyfriend. Not only hours, they spent all week studying together. Even giving up precious arcade and D&D time! The chest Will was comfortable on shook gently as Mike laughed and gave him a tight squeeze. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. It was a breeze. I owe it all to my wonderful tutor.” A kiss was pressed to the top of the brunette’s hair and a soft flush of embarrassment warmed Will’s cheeks. 

“Shut up,” Will mumbled through a smile and got comfy again against Mike’s chest and closed his eyes. The rain sounded so peaceful, enough to where he was half tempted to lull to sleep until Mike spoke up. “Can I talk to you about something?” The comic book he was reading didn’t seem as interesting anymore, so he closed it and placed it where he found it and Will’s stomach flipped as a wave of anxiety came over him at all the possibilities that Mike would talk about. “Yeah, of course.” The pair shifted to where Will was sitting up in front of the raven haired boy who took both of his hands and held them. Mike’s thumb sweeps over his knuckles a few times and his heart stutters in beats at the tender touch. Mike’s lower lip was trapped between his teeth with his brows furrowed. He was thinking too hard about what he was fixing to say, Will guesses. “Hey, you can tell me anything.” He reminded and gave his boyfriend’s hands a soft squeeze. 

Mike gave a smile, reassured, and took a deep, bated breath. “I think.. No, I know that I’m ready to tell our friends about us. That is if you are too! I just.. I don’t like hiding sometimes, you know. I see Lucas and Max and Nancy and Jonathan being open. I want us to be like that too. I love you, and I want everyone to know that I love you.” 

Will felt a hot zap run through him because not only was Mike ready to be out he also said he loves him. He loves him. He swallowed thickly and he felt tears threatening to spill. “You love me?” He said slowly and let himself fully look at Mike who wore a light pink flush that matched his. The raven haired boy nodded his head quickly, scooting closer to his boyfriend to where their legs were touching. “I love you too, and I’m ready to tell our friends about us,” Will gave a soft, glee filled laugh and wiped away the single tear that leaked from the corner of his eye. “Yeah?” Mike questioned like he needed the extra confirmation, but his hands were already coming up to cup both of Will’s cheeks. “Yeah.” He leaned into the warmth of his boyfriend’s palms before his lips were captured in a kiss.

Will leaned into it and could only kiss back as his heart thumped loudly inside his chest. Mike’s lips tasted like the cherry sours they were sharing earlier, urging Will to press closer to him. Both hands held Mike’s biceps as the kiss progressed from soft and loving to something passionate and greedy. A surprised noise left Will’s throat as he was pushed back to where the other boy was hovering above him and a tongue licked past his mouth for a brief second. He swore his brain short circuited because he felt fuzzy and warm from the subtle action, let his lips fall slack, and welcomed Mike in his personal space in the more intimate way they craved. 

It wasn’t until their lips were swollen and lungs screaming for air did they pull away wearing the same stupid grin with butterflies swarming in his stomach. Mike settled back down beside him and Will settled into the cranny of his underarm; both boys wearing a flush on their cheeks. 

“Mike?’

“Hm?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Mike flipped open his comic book and Will finally drifted off for a small nap inside the warmth and serenity of Castle Byers.

[strawberrybyers]

a rant i guess

idk i wish people could just let others enjoy things. i find it very unnecessary to harass people or post in a tag that is relevant to something you don’t like 🙄 never once in the many years i have had social media have i ever felt the need to purposefully seek out something i dislike to harass the people in that fandom. there’s a shit ton of fandoms out there for things i don’t care or know about and guess what? i mind my business. i post what i like. it gets very annoying that every fandom revels in toxicity and stan wars like chill out? have a good time? isn’t there enough bad shit going on? i haven’t had social media in awhile because i got tired of people taking away the happiness i felt from things i enjoyed. it no longer felt like we were all connecting on something we enjoyed, but became obsessed with attacking others for liking one thing and disliking another. i created a tumblr account over a week ago because i missed talking to people about my interests. also the fixation for stranger things was taking over hardcore and i’m sure the people i know irl were tired of me talking about it 😂 but idk maybe because i’m 21 i don’t have the energy to engage in negativity anymore and just want to have a good time and i’m all about blocking whatever makes me uncomfortable. the byler tag is one of the safe spaces for me on here and i’m sure it is for other people also. some people like byler because they see how it perfectly fits into the storyline, some people are queer and care about queer rep, like there’s tons of reasons why people care about byler and not once have i seen anyone that supports byler say anything harmful (it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist just because i haven’t seen it, i’m just saying so far everyone seems nice and cool). and in my opinion, the ones actually being harmful are the ones who are homophobic, seeking attention, and clearly feel so insecure with themselves they feel the need to attack others who are having fun. anyways sorry this is long i’m just getting a little annoyed lol. also worried that as we get closer to friday and on the day of, the posts/comments are going to get worse. pls for the love of god let people enjoy things and especially let queer people talk about queer ships.

[andiwriteordie]

I just read your new byler Christmas fic and I am obsessed! I guess I just wanted to let you know that I love all of your writing and I was wondering if you had any tips on writing in general? Like, how do you write so much? You are a productivity god <3

ahhh!!! thank you so much!! 😭❤️ i'm so glad you enjoyed it and that you enjoy my writing!!!

ok, so here are a few things i can think of that i like to do when i write:

writer's block is everybody's worst enemy, right? i have this kind if internal understanding that i'm just going to write whatever i feel inspired to write to keep the creative juices flowing. like there are some days where i absolutely hate what i'm writing, so if you have to switch gears, then absolutely don't feel bad about doing that! (that said... be careful bc that's how you end up with 20+ wips... like me lol)

for longer fics, i've realized it's a really good idea to outline what you want to write—and the more detailed you are, the better. this is a PAIN IN THE ASS because it takes forever, but it's so worth it. i spent about a week outlining i know better (but you're still around) and i was so annoyed, because i just wanted to jump into writing it! the entire outline ended up being about 90 pages though because i just went through and wrote out as much as i could think through about the plot of each chapter. and so, i hit writer's block when writing chapters 10-14, and i really relied on the ideas i'd written down and for myself and was able to push through and finish those chapters!

so, this is a very niche and highly nerdy thing that i do, but it's something that i think has helped me in terms of characterization and writing perspectives of different characters. i usually use the enneagram type descriptions as a base point for writing characters. i enjoy the enneagram a lot when compared to things like mbti, because it really focuses on the core motivation behind what people do instead of just external actions or character traits? so, for writing fanfics, i'll try to go through and identify what characters are on the enneagram (i.e. i believe mike's a 2 and will is a 9), so then when i'm writing things, i'll try to think through and do some research about that personality type and how they'd interact with other people, why their interactions are that way, etc. this, ofc, is just a starting point, but i've found it incredibly helpful as a baseline that i can then adapt to specific characters and their unique experiences!

anyways, i hope those helped! that's all i can think of right now, but if you have more specific questions, i'd be more than happy to answer any of them! 😊