First Edit: Byler Angst (I Love You, I’m Sorry Gracie Abrams

No bc same 😭

thank god it's spring semester senior year i could not manage hyperfixating this hard any other time

honestly just keep it at this point I don't want it anymore

YES OFC DO YOU THINK WE'RE MENTALLY STABLE??

byler nation are we doing footballgate pt.2 for the super bowl?

I’ve read Montauk, the og script for s1 ep 1 of stranger things, back before it was called stranger things

Some highlights

Montauk is in New York, and it’s also a coastal town.

Lucas was called Lucas Conley. Mike has a birthmark (but we all knew this) and Dustin wears glasses.

“Will Byers, 12, playing as a wizard”. “Lucas Conley, 12, playing as a knight”.

Will says the “We're screwed if it's the Demogorgon” line.

After Karen tells Mike to wrap the campaign up, he complains that he didn’t know it would take 7 hours. Yep you read that right, not 10 like in the show, 7. (Imagine how tired we are). It was a seven.

Instead of Dustin going to Nancy’s room offering pizza (and it being a friendly, non romantic gesture), Lucas goes into her room to like, look at her. He has a crush on her.

Nancy used to wear braces?? As in, in the past, not 16 year old Nancy.

Will asks for Dustin’s X-Men Uncanny 269, instead of X-Men 134.

Will doesn’t live near the woods, but rather near the beach.

While Will is pointing the gun towards the door of the shed, instead of whatever it is that took will appearing behind him, it simply enters through the door, Will doesn’t fire cause he’s terrified, and then, AND THEN, WILL’S NOSE AND EARS BEGIN BLEEDING. WHAT THE FUCK.

“Will doesn't fire. He just stares. Paralyzed by fear. The hairs on his arms stand up again. His ears begin to drip blood. And then his nose. He fights tears.”

Hopper has a stumble not a full beard.

Joyce works two jobs, one of them is being a waitress. She wears “too much makeup” and curses a lot. She has a Long Island accent and long fingernails. Jonathan works two nights a week at a movie house. Joyce also is much more aggressive.

Jonathan goes to look for will directly after finding out he didn’t spend the night at the wheelers. As in, skips school and decides to just look for him.

James and Troy are 14, 2 years older that the party.

Mike has a crush on Jennifer Hayes??

Barb wears braces

Instead of a party at Steve’s, it’s a bonfire at the beach. And, Chrissy mention?? “There's gonna be bonfire at Turtle Cove. Chrissy'll be there,”

Terry Ives is a man??

“Florence (hopper’s secretary): And Terry Ives called again, yammering on about some more activity last night at Camp Hero.

Hopper: Tell him I've seen that Twilight Zone. No, scratch that, don't encourage him. If he calls again, cite him for wasting my time.”

Hopper wears reading glasses, and his desk is a mess of mugs, papers, and candy wrappers?

Joyce says “He [Lonnie] doesn’t give two shits about that boy [Will].” Damn.

El is actually 10 years old, 2 younger that the party.

El doesn’t steal fries. She sees the fries boiling, the oil splutters and she gets scared. She encounters a freezer, opens, and finds frozen fish inside. She never has seen fish before, she smells it, studies it. She bites into its belly. When hearing Benny approach, she just grabs as many fish in her hands as she can and runs.

Benny serves fish and chips, and he’s also Benny Henderson. At least, that’s what he tells el. He’s described as “Benny Hammond”.

Mr Clarke is hot, as the girl classmates acknowledge it. He teaches “earth and biology”

Benny makes El fish and chips. She eats it with her hands.

Hopper graduated in 1958. Scott in 1962.

Benny has a Rottweiler. El and him become friends. The agents chasing el kill him :(

Steve sexually assaults Nancy??

After Nancy doesn’t appear again, and Barb is left alone with the rest of people, she decides to call out for Nancy one last time. No answer. She grabs her car keys and goes home. Or at least tries.

All the characters are much meaner too??

This scene with hopper is so creepy

And, huh, confirmation it was Vecna who took Will?

And you can hear things from the upside down!

@acswywill on Twitter

Can someone call this and record it??

Byler from other people POVS fic list

some light-hearted cute fics where where everyone already figured out what is actually going on between Will and Mike, before the two of them say anything.

Mike Wheeler and the G-Word

by lunii_vii

A coming-of-age fic in which everyone realizes at their own times that Mike Wheeler is queer, but leave him to figure it out himself. (Each chapter is from a different character's POV.)

14k words

13/13 chapters

Note: very cute fic, especially chapter 11 and 12, they had me giggling and kicking my feet.

almost but not quite

by Marigold_Flowers

“Lucas you have to tell me —” she pats his arm vigorously— “is Mike blushing?” Lucas takes a moment to process this but Max can tell the moment he understands what she’s been trying to say all along when he starts patting her arm back. “Oh my God, he totally is,” he says, and he sounds awed, like he’s just made a world-changing discovery. “Is this what you meant?”. “That they’re totally crushing on each other?” Screw subtlety. “Duh.”

Or -- 5 times people agree that Will and Mike have a crush on each other + the time they discover the truth

20k words

2/2 chapters

Note: y’all have to read this one it’s just so awesome. i looove happy slice of life fics, so when i read this it became one of my favorites.

this secret language that we’re speaking

by afterglowssss

“I can’t see,” Will announces, and immediately—and when Lucas says immediately, he means the second the sentence left his mouth—he jumps onto Mike’s back, and Mike has absolutely zero reaction, he just grabs onto Will’s legs so he doesn’t, like, fall off.

OR lucas doesn’t quite understand will and mike, until he does

1k words

1/1 chapter

Note: this is a private work, so you need an account to read it. this one is really nice and well written, so if you have ten minutes i would give it a quick read

mama said you can’t hurry love

by andiwriteordie

this fic is the first part of the 9 part serie “let’s hear it from the boys”, that i strongly recommend, and the first parts are all in theme with this post, but i’ll only put the two fics i liked the most. You can read both of them without reading the other parts.

Before Mike is out of an earshot, she calls, “Mike!”The young teenager turns back around. “Yeah?”“Thank you,” Joyce says, suddenly feeling choked up. “For being Will’s best friend.” Mike’s expression softens, and a familiar sort of fondness—something she’s seen more than once on Will’s face—forms on his face. “Like I said,” he says quietly, “it’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”

Or: Will and Mike over the years, as seen through the eyes of Joyce Byers.

8k words

1/1 chapters

Note: also private, it goes from when Will and Mike are little babies to… well you have to read to find out ;)

the winner takes it all

by andiwriteordie

also part of the serie “let’s hear it from the boys”, you don’t have to read the other parts to understand this one

“Honestly, I bet they’ll end up dating at one point or another. I’ve just got a feeling.” “I’ll take that bet,” Steve says, voice filled with certainty. “Bet you ten bucks Wheeler and Byers are just friends and don’t get together.”

Or: Robin and Steve make a bet on whether Will and Mike will end up together. Naturally, chaos ensues.

9k words

1/1 chapters

Note: another private, when the description says “Naturally, chaos ensues” believe it. I’m not sure if it is a slice of life, but it sure did feel like one lol. It’s a pretty chaotic and fun fic, and i loved reading byler on robin’s POV

i think there is someone (you love)

by fireflywitch

El thinks Will’s been acting weird. But he’s not the only one. Featuring excessive 80s pop synth, secret dance parties, the sick, ruinous embarrassment of existence, blue paint spills, motel room realizations, dictionary definitions, and that four letter word.

22k words

4/4 chapters

Note: this fic is one of my faves! the author understands El so well (this is one of the best interpretations of her character I've seen) and Will is awesome here. Follows s4 and beyond.

Dustin Henderson, the Scientific Method, and Homosexuality

by crow_of_crimes (Theyna_Shipper)

Dustin Henderson is, if nothing else, a firm believer in the scientific method. As a bug collector since age 4, an aspiring computer scientist since 5th grade, a member of Hawkins A/V since 6th grade, a science camp attendee since 7th grade, and a boy with a lifelong passion for science, he recognizes its principles: careful observation, study, and peer review. So when strange things begin to happen in Hawkins, that fall outside the usual nature of strange things that happen in Hawkins, he returns to his roots to find the answers. After all, the scientific method applies to social science, too. And if any observation ever needed careful dissection, it was this one.

Or: Dustin Henderson applies the scientific method to figure out why two of his best friends have been acting so strangely.

3k words

1/1 chapter

Note: Dustin in this fic really feels like season 2 Dustin and that was really cute

friend of my brother is my enemy (or something like that)

by rosesgf

Jonathan would never hear the end of it if Will found out what he’s doing, so he needs to be subtle. Just enough to get Mike to treat him better. Just enough to redirect things. He settles on a stern, “Mike, I think we need to have a talk.”

7k words

1/1 chapters

Note: I just loved so much how they characterized Mike. angst warning, but like it’s like very good angst

maybe the snowball is about moments frozen in time and fear of things changing and people growing and having to let go of some things and the first love is perfect for that because they tend to want to preserve that first love as static but it never does and the snow ball ends up breaking as the characters break up and it becomes just a nice memory sometimes

my favourite fics

making this while drunk after reading a reallyyyy good byler fic in bed at midnight just chilling like a blade of grass i love it

u can probably tell my taste in fics after seeing this lol

he likes it scalding by CastleByersAfterDark - domestic, slice of life fic where will has a bath after a cold miserable day and its written so well like i feel the love theres so much loveee

Say It With Your Hands by Pseudologia - the only time you'll ever catch me reading a different first meeting fic. just so cute, byler meet at a movie theater (working) and mike's obsessed with him

a bed in your shape by passerine_in_jade - omg the angst was angsting but it was so realistic as well i loved it, the payoff ended up being so good.

A Blue Christmas by kwritessometimes - the most carefully and beautifully written fic about mikes coming out to his family. it perfectly shows the connection between him and will's family too, and ughhhhhhh i cried

but if i'm all dressed up (worth it for once) by castlebyer (loverslakes) - regency era england fic. i rarely ever read byler fics in an alternate timeline but omg this was so good and just as i imagined it.

nothing else i could do by astrobi - mike and will live together and they get a dog and then they kiss or smth idk i havent read it in a while but its astrobi so its good

if you kissed me now by astrobi - cute lil secret relationship fic and byler are just so soft and are actually realistic teens in this ugh

i hate accidents (except when we went from friends to this) by burgandyshirts - oh this is the funniest ever, there is a miscommunication where mike thinks he's dating will but will has no idea <3

said that i was fine, said it from my coffin by ruetistic - really sad about byler being gay in the 80s where mike gets hurt by people but its hurt/comfort so dw

feeling like the opposite by delusionaltogether (Whyyyyy) - such a good and memorable love confession on mike's part, also college byler teehee

i have everything i wanted by delusionaltogether (Whyyyyy) - series of one shots of byler that all follow an amazing format basically catered to my fave tags on ao3 HAHA

(give me a second to) forget i ever really meant it by delusionaltogether (Whyyyyy) - one of the better practice kissing fics i've read

autumn air, jacket 'round my shoulders is yours by gaysforbyler - will's feeling the anniversary effect and it just shows how much care mike has for will and how much understanding they have for each other

all this time (how could you not know?) by astrobi - for me, this is a long fic. yeah that tells you everything abt me lmao but this is so amazing it has a great pay off (byler at prom!!!!)

i might be hoping about this by astrobi - this right here will always be my favourite fic. it is perfection. it was one of the first byler fics i ever read and the pure domestic bliss paired with it being a SICKFIC HELL YEAH makes it just soooo perfect

and i might as welllllll um

what you really want by ME - yes this is big headed of me but im so proud of this fic i worked so hard on it and sacrificed some of my grades for it but it was worth it

okay im so eepy im going to eep and then have a hangover and i have a raging headache now ive done this on a whim bye