#mike wheeler is vecna'd

[sonofthemoon2]

based on this post from @titforatat, I imagined something like this:

"Mike had his eyes fixed on the paper in Will's hands. His painting.

His ears were ringing, barely registering the muffled sound of his own voice. Will had his painting, the precious gift he had made for Mike.

It didn't matter if the idea to give him a drawing hadn't come from him, if it had just been a commission, if he was only painting for Mike because his sister had asked him to.

That wasn't important to Mike's record, it only mattered that it was something Will had done, something he had worked diligently on. His art.

He had given his art to Mike.

"Will... Will, please give it back to me. " he pleaded, his voice sounding high and brittle, very different. Strange. Even to him. "It's my painting, Will... please."

Mike didn't understand what was going on. He didn't understand how they'd gone from talking about Mike and El's expected breakup to this. To him being a distraught mess and Will being angry.

Disappointed.

What had Mike done? How had he managed to disappoint Will again? Hurt him again? What was wrong with him?

He didn't know. He didn't understand.

He just wanted his painting back.

"Your painting? Yours?!" he bristled, waving the paper in the air. Will looked more than furious. Hurt, tired and disappointed. For Mike. "Do you know how long it took me to do this, for you? Only for you to throw it all away... everything I said, everything I did to get you together, in the trash Mike. My efforts...in the rubbish."

Mike flinched.

He didn't like being yelled at. He especially didn't like being yelled at by Will.

He felt so devastated. They weren't like this before, what had happened to them?

How did they get to this point?

Will started pacing back and forth, ranting on and on about how insensitive and ungrateful he had been.

How had he managed to break his friendship with Will like this? Had he damaged their bond so badly?

When had their bond gone from a safety line to a noose around both their necks?

This was wrong, it shouldn't be like this. It shouldn't feel like this.

But that was something Mike was familiar with. There were a lot of feelings he shouldn't have.

They were wrong. They were out of place.

They made him act bad. Really bad.

"W-Will, please? " he pleaded, reaching out to him. His tears burned in his tear ducts and the lump in his throat pressed harder and harder. He couldn't breathe, couldn't even speak properly. "Please, I-"

"Shut up, Mike. And forget it. " he cut him off, pulling away even further. For a brief second, he looked at Mike's face, but then he looked back at the painting. And he smashed it. He broke it into as many pieces as he could.

Mike felt his own heart break. As if Will had pulled the vital organ out of his own chest and crushed it.

"You don't deserve to have this. You don't deserve my art, my effort, or me."

Mike knew that. He knew it all too well.

He'd never deserved to have a friend like Will, so understanding and kind. Sweet enough to put up with Mike.

But he knew that someday his time would be up, and Will would realize he could do so much better.

Mike was replaceable, and any day he could say that. Any day.

Will stormed out of Mike's room, leaving the pieces of paper scattered on the floor. What had once been a beautiful painting was now just pieces.

What had been his friendship with Will, that irreplaceable relationship was now shattered, cracked and broken because of Mike. Because Mike didn't know how to feel properly, how to explain himself clearly.

Mike had ruined everything.

And now he had lost Will, again. Again.

He dropped to the floor, tears spilling down his cheeks without restraint. It didn't matter if he cried.

He pressed his trembling fingers against his mouth, drowning out as much of the disturbing noises as possible. He didn't want to get his mother's attention, how could he? He didn't want to force her to try to untangle his brain, didn't want her eyes hooded with disappointment.

He had to manage on his own. To fend for himself, after all, what would be different? All his life he had been taught that the way was to be self-sufficient. That he had to take care of himself.

That was the only way.

And he couldn't be a burden. Not now. He didn't want his mother to be angry with him for not feeling bad properly, or for showing more than he should.

It was wrong. It was so wrong.

Mike was so wrong about everything."

and bam, in the end it's a pseudo illusion, like Will's disappearance in the first season, and Vecna takes Mike away for two whole years. ta-da.

[thefirstlioveyou]

forever thinking of every breath you take being used as a song because the ending bit is literally just vecna watching mike

every breath you take

every move you make

every bond you break

every word you say

every vow you break

every smile you fake

i'll be watching you

[henrysglock]

mike vecna vision...mike vecna vision come home to me...

[azuries]

ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ sᴜᴄʜ ᴀ ʜᴏʟᴅ ᴏɴ ᴍᴇ ɪᴛ ᴘɪssᴇs ᴍᴇ ᴏғғ

[brionysea]

he's literally getting vecna'd idk what to tell you

[palettehao]

I'm still obsessed with the concept of Mike getting Vecna'd. I need him to materialize inside Mike's noggin, wiggling his fingers like "you've been hiding from yourself too long, gay boy!!"

[coniangray]

In honor of one and a half year of rooting for that fic and working on it for 9 months:

Here's the fanart that inspired me to write some scenes in "a footnote will do" in July 2022- December 2023.

In order used of appearance in the fic:

From @kidovna:

Mike ending on a busy line while will was away in lenora:

Will's vision under vecna's curse:

Kidovna's flickergate:

Byler on halloween 1987:

From @taeiris :

Meeting with the party to arrange the plan for the ud entrance and their final movements:

Vined Will byers, vision of Mike:

Mike's vision of possesed/ intoxicated Will:

From @meowza315:

Mike getting cursed by Vecna:

Thats it! I was supposed to post this about half a year ago, but legit just noticed it in my drafts and found it as an opportunity to thank everyone for inspiring me to write this 121k word long fic.

It really travelled with me through hell but im fr happy to have ended it and not just abbadoned it in the middle of nowhere lol.

Hope u enjoy it if you havent read it already <33

[transautisticmikewheeler]

"How am I even supposed to trust this is real?" Mike asks, his voice cracking with emotion as he stares at Will, exhausted. "F-For all I know-" Mike sniffs, cutting himself off as he swallows back tears. "I... don't want this to be... I don't want you to be fake," he ends in a whisper, begging unconsciously to whoever is listening. "Will, I can't-"

"Mike," Will interrupts, voice stern, solid, enough to latch onto. "You're real, I'm real, we both exist, okay?" Will grabs his arms, digging his fingers into the flesh enough to further ground the fog surrounding Mike's head through it, his jacket not on for once.

Voices still whisper in his head, but Mike focuses on Will's fingers, the pressure of them, and imagines the balloon his head is being pulled down from where it was in the clouds.

"I promise, Mike, okay?" the other boy continues softly. Pulling a hand back, he holds out a pinkie. "I swear to you, all of you, that this is real and we exist, and you never have to go back there."

Mike's eyes drift to Will's held-out finger, to his eyes, searching, then back. He feels entirely too shaky, body tense with fear from narrowly escaping death in the middle of town, everything about him spilling out, seams ripping too much to hide now. Too much to hide how sick he is, how his parents see him, treat him, because of it.

It almost breaks him, finding this out, knowing he's not alone. The fact that he does not exist singularly, but as a part of something.

And he wants to believe it so badly, that he can escape them, how they made him, but the whispering in his head serves as a reminder he can never truly get away. Even so, he reaches his own pinkie out, curling it around Will's, desperate for something.

"Please," Mike mutters, voice giving out halfway through.

Will surges forward now, arms wrapping around Mike as the whispers get louder, clearer, closer. Mike loses himself in them, eyes closing, exhaustion catching up.

"Rest, Mike."

[apocalyptic-byler]

those mike gets vecna’d theories are looking mighty good rn

[sky-neverending]

Vecna: I know what you are, Micheal.

Mike: Gay?

Venca: No

Mike: In love with my best friend?

Venca:…no

Mike: THEN WHAT?!?!

Vecna: Someone who wears socks with sandals

Mike: Oh.

[heheidks]

the way there are no scripted lines planned for young will or young jonathan but only for young MIKE

[byler-alarmist]

I know it's petty of me, but I would love to see a moment in S5 that makes it clear to the GA that Mike isn't interested in El.

Perhaps in a Vecna vision a flashback to them kissing and Mike just looking extremely bored, repulsed, or uncomfortable in a shot that we didn't see previously

Like that scene in But I'm a Cheerleader when Megan is still dating a boy:

I mean, I know we (Byler Nation) saw this play out, but I think the GA needs it to be even more in your face for them to get it.

So that by the time Byler kiss happens, the difference will be so, so obvious.

[azuries]

tw: glitch effect, glitching, flashing images till death do us part

original images under readmore!

[brionysea]

quick! how many hints can we drop that mike's being targeted by vecna before they catch on?

[a-strangers-thoughtss]

Wip Wednesday 💪

(Sorry I’ve been so bad at consistently updating lmao)

My dogs are actually making me so mad rn bc they won’t shut up, so that’s fun too

[mirkwoodsuperspy]

times mike wheeler nearly made me cry

that look on his face when he found out will was missing and lucas and dustin were arguing over him

he was so proud of his big tv

that horrified look when will was possessed in the hospital (and he was covering his ears)

his talk with hopper at the end of s2

the way he hugged his mum at the end of s3

mileven fight in s4 like my guy just couldn't do anything right could he??