whynotme
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Summary
No one ever talks about what happens after.
No one told Will that the monsters would never really leave him. No one told Will how being taken and possessed would sit in his stomach like a coiled-up vine. No one told Will how he'd never feel like himself again.
No one told Will what to do, now that the worst is over and he doesn't feel any better. No one told Will how to handle the after, the in-between of not dying and still feeling dead.
No one told Will how to feel alive, so he figures it out for himself.
(Or; A study of how Will handles— or doesn't handle— the aftermath of what happens to him.)
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 16,650
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 90
- Kudos:
- 1,266
- Bookmarks:
- 307
- Hits:
- 16,013
Bookmarked by whynotme
08 Mar 2026
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Bookmarker's Notes
Will throughout each season, exploration of his trauma, coping by self harm and vomiting. Byler at the very end. Very well written
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Summary
In the summer of 1989, the Byers family moves to Montauk, cutting short Mike and Will's last summer together before college. Certain he'll never see his friend again, Will confesses his love on their last night together, rocking Mike's world entirely. As the tear-filled goodbyes draw to a close, however, Mike is suddenly offered the unexpected opportunity to travel with the Byers family and help them move.
They have five days out of state together to address Will's confession, learn to communicate, and maybe, just maybe, say a few things they should have said all along.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 48,479
- Chapters:
- 6/6
- Comments:
- 328
- Kudos:
- 2,457
- Bookmarks:
- 882
- Hits:
- 58,380
Bookmarked by whynotme
08 Mar 2026
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Bookmarker's Notes
Will confesses when he's leaving Hawkins and think they're not gonna talk anymore. Jonathan steps in and convinces Mike to accompany them in a roadtrip to Montauk then to NYC for a few days. They slowly grow closer and talk about important stuff. Mike realizes he will have a miserable life if he doesn't accept himself and his love for Will.
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Summary
Twenty-two years after leaving, Will travels back to Hawkins to face his past. Only Mike now lives there, too.
Or, ‘He might as well have carved 'Mike' into his thigh. It would have been more honest.’
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 65,523
- Chapters:
- 15/15
- Comments:
- 2,345
- Kudos:
- 2,575
- Bookmarks:
- 965
- Hits:
- 54,310
Bookmarked by whynotme
02 Mar 2026
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Bookmarker's Notes
Best fanfic ever. 22 years later, Will is a recently divorced artist living in NYC and comes back to Hawkins, where Mike (also divorced) lives with his kids as an English teacher, to make a graphic novel about his childhood trauma. We follow them as they reexplore the past, their relationship, and finally find each other.
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A conflict of interest (in your orbit) by wheezingwheeler
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
01 Feb 2026
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Summary
"They were satellites in unstable orbit, trying desperately not to collide while being pulled toward each other anyway."
Will Byers thought he'd buried his feelings for Mike Wheeler somewhere between Hawkins and Chicago. Then Mike walks into his life again, and eight years of distance collapse into nothing.
What starts as a forbidden attraction becomes something neither of them can name - desperate encounters, painful misunderstandings, emotional manipulation, and Mike's inability to reconcile who he is.
When Mike finally stops running, he might just be too late.
Series
- Part 1 of The stratosphere
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 47,680
- Chapters:
- 26/26
- Comments:
- 1,283
- Kudos:
- 5,497
- Bookmarks:
- 1,545
- Hits:
- 143,353
Bookmarked by whynotme
25 Feb 2026
Bookmarker's Tags:
Bookmarker's Notes
8 years after season 5, Will takes Mike's class and things get messy.
"Professor Wheeler"
A lot of internalized homophobia
Mike is a mess
Dustin's wedding catastrophe -
Tags
Summary
Mike pushes into his hands, but Will keeps him still.
"Ask again," he says. Because he's greedy, and he wants Mike to want him.
He stares at Will's mouth. "Please."
"Again."
El is gone.
Will tries to figure out how to move on in New York, and Mike follows him. Their apartment is haunted not by ghosts, but by the two of them.
Or: Catastrophically traumatized boys cling to each other and accidentally figure out how to be close—too close—while moving through their grief.
Series
- Part 1 of Supervoid (& Will’s Letter to El)
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 48,989
- Chapters:
- 4/4
- Collections:
- 4
- Comments:
- 1,796
- Kudos:
- 14,283
- Bookmarks:
- 4,203
- Hits:
- 268,859
Bookmarked by whynotme
24 Feb 2026
Bookmarker's Tags:
Bookmarker's Notes
College, roommates barely talking dealing with their shit, ton of angst, king of fuck buddies but Will wants more and Mike is a mess