#happy international byler day

[bylertruth3r]

we’re getting Miwi back in s5 after the confession Mike’s gonna be close to Will again finally being on the same page and being a team (couple)

[total-serene560]

Summary: A movie night, a DnD campaign, a Halloween party, an unhappy compromise, a rejection, and a letter. Mike and Will spend senior year falling together, apart, and in love while trying to navigate growing up and the complicated reality of wanting another man in a world where almost nothing could be worse.

Snippet:

All he can think about is how comfortable he feels, how warm Will’s leg feels where it’s pressed up against his, the hairs tickling his thigh where his shorts have ridden up. About how glad he is that he gets to quit tomorrow and that his friends like him and that Will likes him and- okay. Okay, yeah. Mike is definitely feeling it. And okay, maybe Mike is a bit of a lightweight, but he’ll never admit that to Dustin.  Will shifts, leaning a little closer, his hair tickling Mike’s ear as he whispers, “Mike?” Mike nods before responding, “Yeah?” “Are you drunk?” “A little,” Mike admits, glancing up at Will, “You?” Will shakes his head, lips tilting at the corner, “No.” “Oh,” Mike responds, he watches the way Will’s lips purse together as he swallows, bits of chapped skin wrinkling.  Will leans away suddenly, focusing back on the movie, but now Mike finds himself just looking at him. At the way his shaggy hair almost falls into his eyes, at the stubble on his cheeks where he missed a spot while shaving, the slant of his nose, his chin, his adam’s apple where it bobs up and down as he takes another swig of his one and only beer. At his broad shoulders and his hairy arms and the veins in his right hand where it rests on his own thigh, right next to Mike’s where they have their legs pressed together.  And Mike wants… he wants…

tagging: @foodiewithdahoodie @sparks-olivarpente (if you want to be added to the tag list for this fic, lmk!)

[stranger-chichka]

Happy International Byler Day everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!💙💛

Crazy together, right?

[therainscene]

I've described myself in the past as "overly-queerbaited" as a way of explaining why it took me so long to come around to Byler endgame as a legitimate possibility... but that's kind of a misleading way of putting it.

Truth is, I've always been too much of a cynical fuck to fall for queerbait... or any other story that promises positive queer rep.

[Sherlock couldn't touch me; I saw this cringe homophobia coming from a mile away. Fans mistaking straight anxiety jokes for meaningful gay subtext was clearly doomed to end in mockery. Nobody deserved to be treated like that... but god, it was easy to predict.]

I think it's a symptom of having grown up under Section 28 -- feeling like I'm being unreasonable for wanting to see queerness normalized is such an ingrained habit that even today I instinctively recoil like a vampire touching sunlight whenever an optimistic queer story falls unrequested into my lap.

But I'm hardly alone in feeling this way -- many queer Millennial and Gen-X fans of Stranger Things are against the idea of Byler because it would ruin the catharsis of watching the gay boy growing up in the same era as we did slowly succumb to the same despair that we did.

[For those who haven't played the VR game: Vecna is speaking in this screenshot.]

There's genuine comfort to be found in painful stories -- this type of catharsis is practically the cornerstone of horror as a genre -- so I can't really fault myself or anyone else for wanting it, despite the obnoxious oversaturation of disappointing queer endings in media.

This is the nostalgia show, after all -- and like it or not, for many middle-aged queers in the target audience, nostalgia is shot through with the pain of homophobia and loneliness.

But do you know who else is a hurt queer(-coded) adult who resents happy endings? This cynical fuck:

Henry personifies despair and loneliness and the dark urge to take our pain out on others -- and when Will is in the picture, I would argue that he also represents internalized homophobia.

Will might represent who we were -- but Henry represents who we've let ourselves turn into.

And I don't think many of us want to admit to that, because that would involve questioning why we have so much in common with the literal villain of the show; why we're still so consumed with self-pity after 20+ years that we're obsessing over the fate of some kid.

I'm not suggesting that wanting a less-than-fairytale ending for a fictional gay boy is equivalent to being a child killer lol. It's perfectly valid to want to see your pain acknowledged, and stories which appeal to that desire deserve to exist.

But between Henry's connection to Will and the cycle of abuse themes of the show, it's clear that this particular story simply isn't about wallowing in the bleakness of growing up gay in the 80s, but about self-actualizing in spite of it all.

So I just can't bring myself to want a "relatable" ending for Will.

As much as I struggle to enjoy positive queer rep, I don't want to be so cynical. I'd thrown up so many walls to protect myself as a teenager that I forgot how desperately I wanted to see just one of those painful queer stories end on the same uplifting note that straight stories were always entitled to: with true love overcoming the odds, saving the day, and living happily ever after.

[But I'm A Cheerleader, a surprisingly fun movie about conversion therapy, is proof that stories like this did exist when I was a teen... but finding them in the pre- and early-internet days amidst so much censorship was a tall order.]

What makes Stranger Things different from most queer stories -- and what allowed it to pierce through my defenses and stab me in the gut -- is that it perfectly mimics those bleak, acceptable-to-the-censors stories from my youth -- only this time, the secret uplifting gay plot twist is real.

Not for the sake of shock value or of grabbing some empty woke points at the last second, but because the plan all along was to slap the audience in the face for believing homophobic lies about the existence of queer happiness.

That's some gourmet catharsis, if you ask me.

Just the possibility that my inner child might finally be vindicated has allowed me to truly let myself want the things I want for the first time in 20 years -- and that's the first step towards finally crawling back out into the sunlight.

Happy Pride Month, everyone. 🌈

[resident-gay-bitch]

🦇 Stranger Saturdays 🦇

Will x Mike (Byler) cute getting together (3k words)

“Hey, what are you drawing?” Mike asked, almost falling out of the chair he was swinging on to get a good look at the page Will was entirely focused on. 

“None of your business, nosey.” Will scoffed, turning his page even further from Mike's view. But he glanced up, rolling his eyes and shaking his head with a soft look on his face, considering Mike for just a moment before turning back to his drawing. 

Mike felt himself blush at the fleeting attention. Mike always feels a little flustered with Will's attention, and it was only recently that he became aware as to why. 

It took El dumping him, which was not the best feeling. Getting dumped, whether one actually has feelings for their girlfriend or not, will always be a punch to the gut… and the ego. 

It was when Mike was complaining to Lucas about it later that things started clicking into place. 

You don’t love me, She said, You spend more time looking at your best friend than you do at me. 

Why don’t you call me as much as you call Will? 

When we were both hurt, you went to Will first! 

It took Lucas actually slapping him around the head to get it. To get why. 

And it’s infuriating; knowing that you’re in love with your best friend, that is. Mike was very happy being completely ignorant to the fact, thank you very much. At least then he could be a little bit soppy without feeling like he’s gonna be crowned town pariah. 

Besides, it’s agonising, wondering if his feelings could possibly be reciprocated. But he doubts the fact. The chances of Will being queer in this small town too are already slim, and the chance of him loving Mike, out of everyone else? Well, that's even slimmer. 

Lucas is a far better option. 

Hell, even Dustin! 

Even Steve, and that’s really saying something, because Steve is annoying as all hell and a total loser. 

But sometimes… sometimes it feels like… Sometimes Mike gets his hopes up, and it’s like a little spark in his chest that's fighting to not blow out. He never wants that spark to die. 

He blows a raspberry at Will and brings his chair back down to four feet, playing off his stumble very cool-ly so the teacher doesn’t take his chair away from him again. He gets told about some made up kid that swung on his chair, cracked his head open and died, at least once a week these days. 

“You don’t have to see everything I draw.” Will comments after a while, sensing Mike's blatant disappointment with the fact. 

He loves how easily Will can read him. 

Though, he’s sure his dramatic sighs and groans are obvious enough for anyone to read at this current moment. But in a more general sense, even when Mike is adamant on keeping his emotions on lock. Wills just… he’s got this way about him; an internal compass that points directly at Mike's moody feelings and gives him step by step instructions on how to cheer him up. 

“But I like everything you draw.” Mike sighs, leans a hand on his chin as he melts onto the desk, neglecting his work completely. 

“Well, you can like everything else. This is just for me.” Will says, attention completely on the page again and Mike has never been jealous of paper, but suddenly, he is. 

“I can never see it?” Mike pouts, “Not even when it’s done?”

“Nope.” Will shakes his head, keeps sketching. 

“Why not?” Mike asks, nosey, nosey, always nosey when it comes to Will Byers. 

“Because…” Will sighs, stops for a moment to glance up at Mike before his attention is gone again, “It’s embarrassing. It’s… it’s stupid, okay, it’s just for my own practice and enjoyment. It’s not even good.” 

“I’m sure it’s great–”

“Whatever.” Will rolls his eyes and smiles, “I’m too embarrassed to show you, so leave it alone. Maybe when were thirty.”

“You better keep it ‘till we’re thirty then.” Mike huffed, laying his upper body flat on the desk now in a dramatic display of boredom, “Can’t believe you won’t show me. I thought we were best friends, I saw your butt once, nothings embarrassing–”

“You didn’t mean to see my butt!” Will laughed, “Stop using that as an argument for everything.” 

“Sorry.” Mike groaned, poking his tongue out, “I just want to see your art.”

“I’ll draw something else to show you later.” 

Mike blew another raspberry, and Will completely ignored him. This feels similar to torture, for Mike. He’s not sure what to do with himself, when Will ignores him. No matter how many fart noises he makes, how many bad jokes he cracks, no matter how much he wails and wiggles around, Will just ignores him. Barely even laughs!

And Mike feels utterly betrayed by this, and maybe a little heartbroken. He lives for Will's attention, and more importantly his happiness, and most importantly his affection. And in this current moment, Will is refusing Mike all of those pleasures. 

And he’s too embarrassed to show Mike his drawing. Which is insane, because it’s probably something cool like a freaky weird dragon, or The Party going to battle or something. 

Or maybe it’s something creepy and haunted. Will does that sometimes, draws his nightmares, the pictures getting more and more graphic as he ages. And he tends to not show Mike those, so Mike doesn’t have to worry about them. But Mike always finds out, and he worries anyway, because he just wants the best for Will. Wants to make everything better, or as good as he can. 

He only hopes to bring Will half as much comfort as Will brings him. 

“William.” The teacher calls, peering down her glasses and waving him over with a finger, “I have a question about your essay.”

Will glances over at Mike and pulls a sour face before hopping up. Mike gives him a sympathetic smile, hopes Will doesn’t get detention or anything. Though, it would be funny since he’s the only one out of the Party who hasn’t gotten a detention yet. Somehow. 

Mike watches them, as Will pulls up a chair with a little annoyance. And Mike feels that annoyance even more, because that means Will is going to be up there, and away from Mike for a while. And Mike already misses him. 

Boredom gets even worse, and Mikes got this bad feeling stirring in his gut. He’s desperate to know what Will's drawing. What he’s so embarrassed about. And he knows it’s bad, knows it’s a boundary to peek, but Will has never kept a drawing from Mike before. Not really. 

Sure he’s chosen not to show things to Mike, but if asked, he’ll share. He’s never denied Mike the ability to awe over his best friend's work. 

So, when he’s not looking, Mike leans over in his chair until there's only one leg of it on the ground. 

He’s wobbling, one hand on the corner of Wills desk to attempt to help support him, his tongue strategically poked out of his mouth, and he’s glancing over at them every couple of seconds to make sure he’s not going to get caught. 

And with his middle finger, he’s able to carefully lift the corner of the closed page to catch a tiny peak. 

But he can’t quite make it out, so he dares a glance to the front, and lifts the closed page higher. 

He furrows his brow, because he’s sure he’s seeing things– Or, he’s not quite sure what he’s seeing at all. 

He stretches his arm as far as he can to open the page almost ninety-degrees, and staring up at him, coloured fully in vibrant pencil, is a portrait. 

A portrait of Mike. 

And it’s… wow, it’s amazing. 

Mike has never thought he was all that good looking, but this drawing really does him a good justice. And his hair looks fucking great. 

The portraits got every one of his freckles, his dimples, the smiling wrinkles of his eyes. Behind him is golden and warm, cast in beams of light that set him centre stage, making him look almost godly. Makes it seem like he’s actually something worth looking at. 

And when his eyes fix on the little hearts floating around his head, and the scribble of “Mr. Will Wheeler” down the bottom, Mike falls out of his chair. 

He splats down on the ground with a clatter, his chair somehow bouncing off the ground and landing on his back, ow. 

“Mike Wheeler! How many times have I told you not to swing in your chair?” The teacher bellows for probably the millionth time. 

Mike just groans in response, this is humiliating. He’s never fallen out of his chair before. And to do so in front of his whole class? Humiliating. 

He can hear Max somewhere in the classroom laughing her ass off. Total trator. 

“Detention. Now!” 

Mike rolled his eyes and got himself to his feet, collected his things and headed towards the front of the class. Not without a sparse glance at the sketchbook again, now closed, thankfully. But Mike knows what’s nestled within. 

As he walks to the teacher, to collect his detention slip, Will shakes his head laughing. He seems relaxed, which means he didn’t see Mike peaking, which is good for now, since they can’t talk about it. 

Shit. 

They have to talk about it. 

In haste, Mike collects his detention slip and races out of the room. He obviously doesn’t go to detention, instead he ditches school and skates around town because he’s freaking out and this is the only way he can think to pass the time and calm down. His moms probably gonna kill him, but whatever.  

Mr. Will Wheeler. 

Mike's heart is in his throat and his hands are trembling and he’s sweating and riddled with nerves. He doesn’t quite know what to do with himself. 

Mr. Will Wheeler. 

This is… everything. 

He’s spent so long skating around and rambling in his own head about what to do, he didn’t realise school had gotten out. He only realised when the sun began to tint the sky orange and warm, casting Hawkins in a golden glow that made something once drabby into something worth looking at, just for a moment. And Mike thinks about the portrait. 

And he thinks about it. 

And he thinks about it. All the way to the Byers house. All the way to Will's bedroom window, which he climbs through without knocking. 

“What are you doing?” Will asks, a hand to his chest from the spook Mike caused. He almost dropped his cup of soda, sitting it down on his desk, flicking his sketchbook closed before Mike's eyes could pry, he thinks, “Where'd you go after English? Are you okay, you seem off?” 

Mike shook his head, sets his skateboard down under the window, drops his backpack, “I saw your drawing.”

Will's face turned ghostly white, “What?” 

“I looked.” Mike said plainly, almost lost of breath completely. Who knew talking to the guy he loved, knowing he felt somewhat the same, would be so breathtaking, “I’m sorry, but I looked. I saw what you drew… what you wrote.” 

“Fuck– Mike, I’m– I–” Will began to stutter, slowly trying to back away before he collided hip to his desk, “I’m so sorry, please don’t–”

“I’m gonna kiss you.” Mike said, very still in place, “That okay?”

“That– What?” Will asked, cherry red now, clearly as terrified as Mike was. 

“I’m gonna kiss you.” Mike said again, nodding to help convince himself to actually do it. To kiss him. To kiss Will. 

“You’re…”

Mike nodded one more time before charging forward, grabbing Will by the face, and kissing him. 

Will definitely didn’t pull away. 

In fact, he grabbed Mike back, pulling him closer and closer. And this… this is that fairytale shit in all of Holly's story books. This has got to be true love, or something. 

It’s gotta be. 

“Honey, I’ve got– Oh!” 

The both of them split apart all too fast as the door swung wide open, Joyce standing in it, staring at them both. Mike is about to freak out. 

“I’ve been waiting for this to happen– keep the door open, please. Are you staying for dinner, honey? We're having meatloaf.” 

Neither of the boys answered for a long while. Clearly just as confused as the other. It took Joyce shaking her head at them, confused, to jolt Mike into action. 

“What?” He asked, stuttering it out. 

“Are you staying for dinner?” 

“Uh… S-sure.” Mike said, because he’s not very good at saying no to Joyce these days. 

“Okay, can you two set the table for me then?” 

Mike and Will were still stuck standing in place, each a little worried to move. Mikes a little worried that the moment he does move, Will will take all of that back. 

“Hello?” Joyce said, now standing with her hands on her hips, “What is with you two today– is it because I walked in on you kissing, because I’ve seen worse, you don’t wanna know the things I’ve walked in on Jon doing–”

“Ew, mom.” Will scoffed. 

Joyce laughed, walking over into the room to tidy up Will's bed, “Don’t worry about me. Anyway, dinner will be ready in ten, so come out quickly.” 

“Okay, mom, can you please…”

“You’re okay with it?” Mike asked, terribly pale in the face. 

Joyce froze, turning her head to look at him for a moment, considering the pair. With a sigh she wandered over, her soft hand on his cheek, and she has to look up at him now– at both of them. She keeps going on about how they have to stop growing so fast. 

“Honey, all I want for my boys is happiness.” She smiled, leant up to press a little kiss to his cheek, “I’ve known about this for a long time, longer than you, I’m guessing. I’m surprised Will didn’t tell you that we’re okay with this around here. And don’t worry, I won’t tell your mom anything you don’t want me to.” She said with a wink, turning and leaving the room. 

“Ten minutes.” She called, as if she hadn’t just said the most meaningful thing she’s ever said to Mike, “Jon, El! Dinner’s almost ready, come help your brother and his boyfriend set the table.” 

Mikes heart is in his throat. 

“Boyfriend?” Came three consecutive shouts throughout the house. 

Beside him, Will groaned, shuffled over to his bed where he flopped down face first into it, “This is mortifying.” 

“Mortifying?” Mike scoffed, “Your mom just told your whole family we were in a relationship before we even agreed on a relationship!”

Will turned his head, peaking one eye up at Mike, “But… we’re… we’re in a relationship?”

Mike could feel his cheeks burning up, and he’s sure he looks stupid, blushing this much. But it can’t really be helped after kissing the boy he loves, and with the prospect of more. 

Mike nodded his head, and Will turned back into his bedsheets. The two of them stayed like that for a moment, equally as nervous, equally as awkward. They were only torn out of the best new seconds of the rest of Mike's life when they heard Hopper shout out from the kitchen. 

“Not Mike again!”

On the bed, Will broke out in hysterics. 

“He hates me.” Mike muttered. 

Rolling onto his back, Will smiled, reaching a hand out for Mike. And when he took it, his hand felt like it was burning, sparks flying everywhere. Will's hand is so soft and warm, and Mike doesn’t want to ever let go. He lets himself be dragged over towards the bed. 

“Yes, he does.” Will says through laughter, “But he's just gonna have to put up with that.” 

Before Mike could get another word in, Will yanked him down onto the bed, Mike toppling over on top of him. And they were kissing again. 

And Mike never wants to leave this moment. He’s sure this is the best thing he’s ever done, other than asking Will to be his friend that day on the swing sets. 

He can’t wait for the rest of their lives. 

ive never written byler before so this was fun yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy i think they're so sweet and i cant wait for them to become cannon in season 5 :)

ive been rooting for them sincei was 14 and watching season 1 when it first came out and thinking oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck they remind me of myself and my best friend oh fuck does this make me gay too?

[emily-mooon]

Happy (late) Byler Day!

Since my first piece of fan art I ever posted for ST was my Jancy/Byler Titanic AU, why not make some fan art for another Byler Titanic AU?

I decided to do some sketchs of @cherbearsz Titanic AU designs because I think they are really cool. I did come up with my own idea for Mike’s evening wear based on the red dress Rose wears when she has dinner with Jack and also because I’m a fashion history nerd and had the internal urge to put him in an evening tux (pretend the bow tie and waist coat is red and not blue).

Again, Happy late Byler Day!

[angelwithnightmares]

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL BYLER DAY! It's a short one this time, with a song from our beloved Taylor Swift. Crazy together everyone ♡

[strangeswift]

happy happy birthday @astrobei !! as my gift to you, please enjoy some modern au college jancy (ft. byler)

If you told fifteen-year-old Jonathan Byers that one day he’d be taking time off of his busy schedule as an NYU Student and part time photography intern to get on a plane to Boston to visit his girlfriend, Nancy Wheeler, he probably would have fainted on sight. 

(Well, he probably wouldn’t have believed you, but if somehow he had, there would’ve been a high likelihood of him fainting on sight.)

The truth was, Jonathan’s life was kind of perfect now, as far as he was concerned. Most importantly, the world hadn’t ended, which was a pretty major concern a few years ago. 

His mom and Hopper were married now, and Hop was ten times the father Lonnie had ever been. It’d been a little bit of an adjustment at first, accepting Hopper into the family, but easier than you’d expect. Hopper had already been there for them for years, so it didn’t feel all that different.

El was living at home in Hawkins, commuting to Community College, which would’ve been Jonathan’s worst nightmare, but El seemed to be more than happy with the arrangement. Jonathan thought she might’ve been making up for lost time a bit, living at home with mom and Hop. Having a mom and a dad, a stable home. She definitely deserved it.

Will was finally happy, which had been Jonathan’s main concern in life for pretty much as long as he could remember. He was going to school for art in California and sharing a dorm with Mike, which he’d been pretty stoked about. Jonathan wasn’t entirely sure about the nature of their relationship these days, though he had his suspicions, but he knew Will was happy, and that was what mattered. Not to say that he and Nancy hadn’t tried to do some investigation on the matter, because they absolutely had. Call it journalistic instinct.

He and Nancy were better than ever these days, despite the distance. The fantastic thing about government hush money is that it’s not only good for tuition to your dream school, it can also be used for frequent air travel. Boston was only about an hour from New York City by plane, so they took turns visiting. Jonathan liked visiting Nancy, if only for the fact that she lived in a one bedroom apartment with no roommates. Glorious privacy. 

They’d just arrived back at said apartment after dinner with a few of Nancy’s friends from school, who Jonathan thought were nice, if a little high-strung. As soon as they entered the bubble of Nancy’s apartment, Jonathan gently grabbed her face and kissed her, slowly walking her back against the closed door.

She pulled back and laughed at him, her eyes filled with adoration. “What was that for?”

“I missed you,” he said sincerely.

She scoffed playfully. “We’ve been together for hours already.”

Jonathan pressed a kiss to her forehead, then to each of her cheeks, and finally connected their lips again. “Missed you,” he repeated.

She looked up at him through her eyelashes and her cheeks flushed bright pink. “I missed you too,” she murmured.

---

One bottle of red wine later, they ended up on the couch, Nancy wrapped up in Jonathan’s arms as he ran a hand through her hair. 

He was-- Okay, he was a little buzzed. He’d always been a bit of a lightweight. (The alcoholic genes did absolutely nothing for him.) Nancy was even worse off.

So there they were, a little tipsy, tangled together and staring into each other's eyes, just because they could.

“Have you talked to Will lately?” Nancy asked suddenly.

Jonathan nodded. “He texted me earlier.”

“Have you collected any more intel?” Nancy asked curiously, leaning forward. 

Jonathan could smell the wine on her breath. He took a moment to find it funny that she was referring to prying for information on their little brothers and their possible romantic relationship (probable romantic relationship) as collecting intel.

“No,” Jonathan said, “I haven’t asked him about it in a while, he got all touchy last time,” he frowned.

“Mike won’t tell me shit,” Nancy complained, “he won’t even pick up the damn phone.”

“I should call Will,” Jonathan announced, and Nancy nodded earnestly.

He shimmied a little so that he could retrieve his phone from his back pocket, then settled back into place. Nancy watched intently as Jonathan called Will and put it on speaker. They both listened to the phone ring, and Jonathan held a finger to his lips, gesturing for Nancy to stay quiet. She giggled and nodded.

“Jonathan? Is everything okay?” Will’s groggy voice came over the phone.

“Oh. Were you sleeping?” Jonathan asked.

Will huffed. “Yeah, Jonathan. It's midnight. Are you drunk? You sound drunk.”

The existence of time zones suddenly dawned on Jonathan and he felt like an idiot. “A little, yeah. I’m not used to you being on California time. Sorry,” he said.

“It’s fine,” Will said through a yawn.

Jonathan was about to apologize again and let Will go back to sleep, when he heard a voice in the background grumble, “Who is it?” and Will quietly answer, “Shh. Just Jonathan.”

Jonathan’s eyes widened and he looked excitedly at Nancy. She grinned back at him.

“You settling into the dorms okay?” Jonathan asked.

“Uh… Yeah?” Will responded, obviously wondering why the conversation was still happening.

“You and Mike got separate bedrooms, didn’t you?” Jonathan asked, biting back a smug grin.

After a pause, Will said, “Yeah,” his tone clipped, “We got lucky.”

Jonathan and Nancy exchanged another look.

“Cool,” Jonathan said, “And you’re in bed now?”

“Yeah, Jonathan, it’s midnight, I was sleeping,” Will said, “Listen, I can call you in the morning if that’s okay?”

“Sure, buddy,” Jonathan said.

“Okay, I’ll--”

“Just out of curiosity though, who’s in bed with you right now?” Jonathan asked abruptly.

Will coughed. “What?”

Jonathan heard a distant “What is it?”

“Nobody is. I’m alone,” Will insisted.

Nancy rolled her eyes and Jonathan held in a laugh. “You know, you can tell me if you met someone out there,” he said, “I’m happy for you. Seems a little fast though, you’ve been there… what? A week?”

“I haven’t met anyone! Jesus, Jonathan,” Will said.

With that, Jonathan noticed Nancy was also on her phone, and he furrowed his brow in confusion, until he saw Calling Mike on the screen. The next thing he heard was a ringtone coming through the other end of the phone, followed by a loud groan.

“Hey!” Nancy said, “He sent me to voicemail.”

“Is that Nancy?” Will asked, “What the hell Jonathan?”

“Maybe,” Jonathan answered sheepishly.

There was some shuffling on the line, then Mike’s very tired voice came through the phone loud and clear. “Hey, Jonathan and Nancy. Great job, you caught us, we’re going back to sleep now. Fuck you and goodnight.”

Before Jonathan could respond, the call ended. He locked eyes with Nancy who looked similarly bemused.

“Case closed,” she said with a shrug, erupting into giggles.

“Case closed,” Jonathan echoed. He couldn’t help but recall a few years back, watching the two of them through a rear-view mirror in the Nevada desert.

He was really, really happy. And a little wine drunk, but mostly happy.

[jungkooksknot]

imagine this: the hot guy (it’s some character that’s gonna be in the season idk much more lol) on the left is some popular jock and he is kind of a dick and Will has to tutor him because it’s been set up by their teacher so he sometimes walks by the party to be like ‘don’t forget tutoring Byers’ all annoyed and the others all look angry at him, anyway the tutoring doesn’t really happen cause all the guy and will do is make out and will thinks it’s exciting cause he’s kissing a boy and he’s cute and popular, but yeah he treats will really bad and has huge internal homophobia, so will doesn’t know what to do because he’s also scared to say something about how he’s treated, anyway Mike absolutely hates the guy and one day he goes to will’s house cause he wants to see how these tutoring sessions go, only the guy and will are at home, the guy is already lashing out to will about stuff and Mike gets pissed and wants to confront him but then the guy pulls will to him and kisses him and when will wants to say something, the guy says ‘shut up and blow me’ will looks hurt, Mike is shockeddd, he had an idea that will liked boys but the confirmation is different, anyway the guy being an asshole is a bigger concern, so Mike becomes season 2 protector again and makes sure that will isn’t alone with the guy, and at one point the guy catches on and is like ‘what’s your problem???’ and Mike is like ‘you can’t treat will like that and also fuck you’ and the guy says to will ‘oh so now I’m not good enough anymore you moved on like some whore’ and Mike sees red and they start fighting and Mike wins cause idk he just does, the guy runs away and then will tends to Mike’s wounds, and Mike is like ‘why didn’t you tell me?’ and will is like ‘It’s not exactly something easy to talk about…’ and yeah he’s right, so anyway Mike and will hang out more cause they’ve just really missed each other and Mike just has to think of will kissing other boys and somehow thinks of kissing him and idk how to end it but byler get together and have a happy ending (also the whole upside down thing also works out lmao) <3

[pearyaoki]

byler fic rec week 2023 (day seven: free day)

A Darker Timeline: egg98 (T, 33k, incomplete)

canon divergent, slow burn/build (heed tags!)

☆one of my absolute personal favorite on-going fics, a raw look into Will's mental health after being left in the Upside Down

Love, Mike: nfna118 (T, 12.7k, complete)

internalized homophobia, pre-relationship

☆this fic does include age-appropriate discussion of masturbation/sex

What will you do now, Will the Wise?: RainbowNixie (G, 11.5k, complete)

fluff, post s4-v2

conversations we had in hell while the world was ending: iry (T, 11.5k, incomplete)

s5 speculation, post s4-v2

☆a biased recc but my personal favorite cin fic, everything i could possibly want in a s5 speculation fic

the darkest hour: AmberEyedFox (T, 44k, complete)

slow burn, angst with a happy ending

Only A Dream: Chaser_Of_Stars (M, 86k, complete)

psychological horror, aged-up characters

i hit my peak at seven: blackdeathmamba (T, 77k, incomplete)

fix-it fic, canon rewrite

Little Glances: DragonBoy7 (T, 9.1k, complete)

character study, internalized/externalized homophobia

☆Karen 3rd person perspective, deals very heavily with homophobia

pink & black: queer_we_are (G, 1.1k, complete)

implied/hinted byler, queer community & mentorship

☆a fantastic fic where byler is not the main focus, and instead a mentor-like relationship between Eddie & Will

yesterFriday: nbfutureboy (T, 19.2k, complete)

time loop, psychological horror

☆a very early byler fic. the first byler fic i ever read, i HAD to include it!

i know, i know, i know: aude_sapere (T, 33k, complete)

alternate universe - canon divergence, fix-it fic

see, I've already waited too long (and all my hope is gone): Leodine (T, 12k, complete)

will has powers, light angst

what if our dnd characters got married (and we did too): joyfullyrissa (T, 14k, complete)

modern setting, fluff

☆my fic, shameless self promo: a fun dnd adventure fic

[crazytogether1984]

Happy international byler day!!!💙💛

To me everyday is byler day but we shall celebrate this very very important day

I can’t believe it’s been a year since we got one of the most significant byler scenes in the whole show and a subtle (not very subtle but Mike’s a little oblivious) love confession from Will

Season 2 Byler my beloved 💙💛

💙💛

[kiirotoao]

Hey!! It's the byler music fairy!! What are the songs you most associate with byler, Will, and/or Mike, and why??💙💛🎶🎵🧚‍♀️

Well, hello there, Byler Music Fairy!!! What a lovely surprise to see you this fine day.

OOoo and with a good question, too. I have an entire playlist of songs that remind me of Byler, so allow me to look through it and arrange this accordingly. But also, oh, boy, why? I think for explanations I’m going to pick a top three for each: Mike, Will, and then them together. Because otherwise this post would be an entire essay 😂.

Mike

Glimpse of Us - Joji

The second I heard this song, I was like: Oh. My. God. This is Mike Wheeler. Take one look at the lyrics and the battle between remembering a past lover while having someone else in your arms and it all screams Mike’s love towards Will and El. The emotion and the way that Joji sings with pain and regret coupled with the gentle piano really makes this song powerful and sweetly holds the internalized emotions that I perceive in Mike.

Watch Me Bleed - Tears For Fears

I feel like Mike goes along with Tears For Fears so much, and a good fit I feel for him is Watch Me Bleed, a song written with frustration, acceptance, wrapped in a tender cry for help. I feel like this song really reflects Mike’s role in his family as well as his view of himself and putting himself down in season 4. Basically, this song really carries the angst of his story for me.

LOST BOY - Troye Sivan

I can’t have a song list without Troye Sivan, and oh my gosh, this one is killer. Lost Boy sings a tale for s3 Mike the most, but it also carries over to his relationships all throughout the show, in my eyes. This song is about not being sure to commit to someone, to wanting freedom, to wanting someone to be free with him, to also not wanting to quite grow up. And as much as that idea of growing up is often tied to Will, I really feel like this song leans more to Mike’s side of the story, of loving so openly and maybe even too quickly that it leaves him in this state of uncertainty.

Will

tolerate it - Taylor Swift

THIS. SONG. HOLY. SHIT. This song was made for Will Byers. With a somber and soulful piano line, Taylor weaves a lament of her lover not noticing her works of art, her simple care, her presence. It’s invisible love as a song, and it’s every longing stare that Will gives Mike without him giving anything back. This is a reflection of Will’s heart when it cries - there’s even a lyrics about “use my best colors for your portrait” - and I just need to stop here before I go insane.

I’m Still Standing - Elton John

I call this cheating because I tried to keep away from using songs directly on Mike and Will’s Spotify playlists, but this one is way too perfect for me to leave out. I’m Still Standing highlights Will’s journey, his perseverance, and I love the chorus’ line: “looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid.” That succinctly captures Will’s story of going through hell and still coming through with his whole heart, enough to still feel wholly his age. It’s an upbeat kind of pick-me-up song, and it makes me really happy when I think about it in terms of how strong Will is.

FOOLS - Troye Sivan

And of course, another Troye song for Will. And this one is for Will as regards his queerness. This song is special to me for that. Fools is a heartbreaking dream that Troye knows will never come true, a forbidden romance, and he calls himself a fool for falling for the boy he loves. I also like to think of it as an ode to Will’s painting and the van confession. This is tolerate it but openly gay, and it’s so, so painful in a lovely way.

Byler

I Found - Amber Run

This song is another somber one, and like Fools, it’s about forbidden love. This time it’s much more general but also pointedly about a love that “wasn’t supposed to be,” of someone “right in front of” the singer. I love this song and Byler because it’s all about their struggle as best friends in a homophobic town, not sure what to do with their relationship. The many pushes and pulls and yet the gravity in Amber’s voice really brings out the almost inevitable nature of the pull and how it hurts with how strong it is. Powerful stuff.

Right Here Waiting - Richard Marx

When making this list, I was like, okay, I have to choose a love song. But which one? So many go with Byler! And then I came across this one that I found on the radio, and I immediately came back to this post to put it down. Right Here Waiting is a sweet ballad of long distance love, of looking back at all the good things grown between the lovers, of literally “going crazy” without the lover. So, I mean, come on. Crazy together, it’s all there. This is a love realization song for them that makes me think of them very fondly, like they were right there for each other and finally came to understand it.

The King - Sarah Kinsley

OH my god. I promised that I wouldn’t make this an essay, and I’m trying hard not to, but guys. Please. Of all songs here, please, if you go and listen to one song on this list, make it this one. The King is probably one of my favorite songs of all time, and I found it thanks to a mutual on TikTok (who’s currently a private account, so sorry, but I can’t link) who made a Byler edit with it, and my brain merely exploded. This song never even names, “love,” but it’s so intrinsically heartfelt and laced with emotion and want and beauty and I cannot express to you how gorgeous it is!! To me, this song captures all of Byler’s hopes and ambitions and forces of love. It’s such a thrilling song, and it makes me feel like I’m flying. It’s a spectacularly euphoric rendition of what their love is and can be in its full and realized greatness, and I think that that’s the most exciting part about this song. It feels like what Byler can be, like the peak moments of their flirting put to music and all the dreams in their eyes that flash back and forward in that single second.

And not only that! The lyrics are also scattered full of Byler things: of time, of phone calls, of the rain, of a castle built and falling, of wholly falling apart and getting back together, of future dreams, of being the “king of your heart,” just like that painted crown above the heart. This song simply is romantic Byler to me.

And that’s all I’ll say as this has gotten long enough. But thank you for coming to my TED talk if you made it here, and THANK YOU dear anon! This was a very fun write 🫶

[pareiwheeler]

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL BYLER DAY YOU NERDS (affectionate) 💙💛👹

[hessolivagant]

God, this scene tells me a lot about how mike is feeling. Mikes micro expressions from el to will, is so??? Mike seems to have some conflict going on but we don’t exactly know what it is yet, which i 100% think is going to be addressed in s5. All of the looks, heart eyes and speeches are all going to add up to mike being a gay man. I know that Will isn’t going to be used for his queerness to help a straight relationship. This will ruin all three characters arcs, it would not make sense and it would also be harmful to the queer community:(

Mikes arc: this is based off my interpretation of mike and what i think his conflict and how he’s going to end up in s5. His conflicts are his queerness and his internalized homophobia that causes him to push everyone away while also watering himself down to the standards of “normal” mike is actually a gay man who loves to play dnd with his friends, he also loves star wars and writing :) but his father makes fun of him a lot, he was bullied in middle school, and he is associated with the “occultists”(dnd group💀) at school, he’s pretty much been outcasted his whole life for being different, so of course the poor boy is gonna have internalized homophobia and he going to repress who he actually is to impress el and to seem straight. He even pretended to not gaf about dnd but immediately after s3 he joins a dnd group, clearly he’s pretending to be someone he is not. At the airport he’s wearing his silly little outfit, and argyle points out that it’s a shitty knockoff, which is a double meaning. The clothes are knockoffs of ocean pacific and mike is a knockoff of himself. He was pretending the entire day. So his conflict is pretending he’s normal. Even though he stated in the first episode(with his gay montage) that he doesn’t want to be normal but then he turns around and does this? Interesting.

Mike and eleven: why i think mike and el won’t be endgame, mike won’t have his arc of being himself again and he’s gonna repeat the same thing his parents did(nuclear family) which is boring as hell and also ew? Why are we romanticizing this possibility?? Mike changed for el, mike changed to impress el. He also feels inferior to el and he’s said “i love you” twice to her for the past?? 4(?) years(I don’t remember I don’t pay attention to milkvan) mikes arc would be useless if he was just pushed into this other than, accepting himself and being who he was in s1 and s2 where he didn’t feel the need to pretend.

Mike and will: will, doesn’t pretend to be someone he is not. He’s still in the closet but he’s still himself. He doesn’t want to pretend to be anything else whilst mike is pretending. Mike needs will to fulfill his interests and accept who he is. They need each other to be themselves and they need each other in general because they love each other. If mike ends up with will, we will see our beloved s2 mike. And we will see a more interesting version of mike than mike with el.

Mikes s5 ending: none of us know but one thing i do know is that he’s gonna have his gay little moments, and i want it to be NOTICEABLE. I want people to be like “ohhh, okay that makes sense” LMAO YK?? Also byler kiss!! I’ll take anything, as long as they kiss and confess to each other. I don’t think theyll pull a reddie or all of us bylers are going to riot💀 so i want mike and will alive, they deserve a happy ending.

Also in s5 i want mike to be with another queer character where they open up, like robin orr vickie(?🤨) or maybe even just a conversation with will. OR SUPPORT, ANYTHING FOR THE POOR BOY😭😭 el could be like “mike, ik what you are” and it would work. Please, he needs comfort 😢

(Im in class and my teacher has been showing us monkey photos for like 30 minutes, so um😭???)

[zannolin]

loving the stranger things posting as someone going through a sudden random stranger things phase lol. i have a question: what makes byler an interesting dynamic for you? i'm not a big shipper person personally but i like to hear people's thoughts!

it's so funny i got here because i was suffering from cares too much disease about the karate kid and i needed something to distract me and then um. it did more than distract.

sidenote: coming back to say this got??? so long. so i'm sorry lol. i'm a chronic rambler.

i'll be honest i never actually shipped byler seriously until literally 2 months ago today. i sort of went "haha what if...?" back in 2022 mostly because my friend was into it and i really love mike as a character. oh mike wheeler the character that you are...i've loved him since 2016 lol and i loved him and will as a dynamic since i saw s2. i was so sold on their friendship, and then s3 and s4 were brutal for me to watch as someone who has grown apart from a lot of friends because of similar circumstances (moving, mostly, but also some relationships, and the inherent tragedy of growing up, and the fact that having a shitty family and being 15 can do a lot of damage to your relationships if you're not careful, etc) so like basically i then got More into them because i am obsessed with friendship estrangement plots. and i like both their characters. ("like" is such an understatement even in 2022 i was unhinged about michael wheeler)

frankly they're interesting to me as a ship for all the same reasons as they're interesting to me as a friendship: devotion, knowing someone better than you know yourself, the fear of loss, the fear of change, how easy vs how hard it is to grow up with someone, estrangement, feeling like you're a bad person and self-sabotaging, etc. the funny thing is i didn't even think will was gay or that there WAS (one-sided, anyway) byler until the literal van scene in s4 because i have that little faith in netflix lol, not to mention i used to be a mileven shipper. and then s3 happened which killed my interest in that and then s4 beat the dead horse from here to california. i realized for one thing mike being queer is really interesting to me and opens a lot of room for fun angles on his canonical character with comphet and internalized homophobia, etc, and it works very well with established canon. to me.

i'm honestlyyyy kind of surprised i got into it at all because besides the fact that i'm not a big shipper anymore, i'm RARELY a childhood friends to lovers fan because 1) it's often boring to me, i'm like but why do we need something Other than friendship?? (aro alert) and 2) i personally do not enjoy romance where it's like. you end up with the person you dated in high school? like it's jsut a me thing but i go aaaaaa when it's idk 12 year olds being like "i'm in love" no you're not you're twelve. i literally have DMs of me to my sister watching s4 where i was like michael why are you saying you loved eleven the day you met her, you were twelve and spent the entire season fucking obsessed with finding your best friend and kept dropping her the second she wasn't useful for that, like i love you but you were— what. (regardless of whether or not that bullshit turns out to be, you know, Actually canonically bullshit. that was my reaction lol). um i'm rambling sorry. anyway. they just happened to hit really good beats for me where it could go either way for me (platonic or romantic) and i wouldn't mind and i'm happy with both. but apparently my brain is like What If Romance when it comes to fic for them and i'm being a bit self-indulgent. i want will byers to have nice things and i want mike to not be stuck in the world's worst written relationship ever (to me).

actually the tl;dr is basically everything i like about mike as a character has to do with his plots concerning will, and everything i don't like about what they've been doing with him lately has to do with his relationship with el, so via potentially unintentional gay symbolism, the power of friendship estrangement plots + my love of friendship breakup/makeup scenarios, and my fascination with writing queer loneliness and mutual pining, AND that "good luck, babe" edit, i ended up here.

also finn wolfhard keeps making the most ridiculously intensely tender expressions during byler scenes and i'm a simple creature i see a man with big wet brown eyes and i go oh well mayyybe....

[lordystrange]

Happy international Byler day! 💙💛💚

Here’s a fic rec for y’all. This was one of the first ones I read and still also one of my favorites!

RomeoWrites - a game of truths