1 - 20 of 77 Bookmarks by BackwoodsJupiter
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“Hey, Mike?” Will asked. “Why now?”
Mike was silent for a long time, so long Will thought he wasn’t going to answer at all. “I just… I don’t know. How can I move on if I don’t know for sure? I can’t stop thinking that if she is out there, if I was right, and I don’t even try to find her, then maybe I really didn’t deserve her.”
A year after graduation, Mike decides to start a search for El and asks Will to come with him. Their friendship hasn't been the same since Will came out and Eleven disappeared, so Will agrees, kicking off a complicated journey that brings them back together. Will is in college, trying to move on, and Mike is idling in Hawkins, torn between his past with El and his confusing feelings for Will. As the search brings them closer than either ever imagined, Will and Mike grapple with first loves, moving on, and growing up together.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 137,389
- Chapters:
- 17/17
- Comments:
- 143
- Kudos:
- 334
- Bookmarks:
- 136
- Hits:
- 11,093
Bookmarked by BackwoodsJupiter
18 Jun 2026
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The Great Red Dragon (Stranger Things 5 Rewrite) by rossl
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
26 Apr 2026
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I am bitter about the majority of Season Five, so here is a rewrite more rooted in the small town horror of Seasons One and Two. Will include Byler, actual stakes, fights that are not Marvel-ified, consequences, deep talks, Mike has a braincell and uses it, questions answered etc.
Bookmarked by BackwoodsJupiter
15 Jun 2026
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Where Were You (When I Was Lonesome) by Concerned_terrapin
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
21 Jun 2023
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Summary
He didn’t really understand why someone would want to go to a cemetery for a birthday party, but hey, maybe Will was a bit of a weird kid.
“Hey Will.” Mike called, his voice gentler than he had ever heard it.
He whipped his head around, scanning the rows for another figure, desperately looking for Will. It didn’t really click until Mike stepped forward and knelt beside a grave, placing his perfectly imperfect cake in front of a well-kept headstone.
Oh.
Will Byers is dead.
So how the hell did he end up stuck haunting Mike Wheeler's basement?
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 86,242
- Chapters:
- 15/15
- Comments:
- 418
- Kudos:
- 1,636
- Bookmarks:
- 396
- Hits:
- 31,869
Bookmarked by BackwoodsJupiter
13 Jun 2026
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All I wanna do (is my Surfer Boy) by Mia_MoonlightYearning
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
20 Jun 2026
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Summary
Summary: Chapters 1–4
Mike Wheeler came to 1990 Los Angeles for a degree, not to be mentally and physically dismantled by a sun-kissed Will Byers, his long-lost first love, who surfs and looks like a water god. Was it too soon to say he loved him? Or was it actually over six years too late? Will seems determined to strip away every bit of Mike's overthinking (and clothes) until there's nothing left to do but give in to the Californian heat.Summary: Chapters 5–8
The 'first time' was a revelation, but the 'every time' after is what’s truly dismantling Mike Wheeler. Now that the Californian heat has finally melted his defenses, Mike is discovering that domestic bliss is its own kind of high-stakes adventure. From tangled mornings and stolen kitchen kisses to the terrifying vulnerability of sharing a future, being Will’s boyfriend is the best job Mike’s ever had. As they navigate family, friends, dreams, and the freedom of the open sun, they’re making one thing clear: they’ve already wasted enough time. When you’ve nearly lost your forever, you devour every ordinary second of it.Bookmarked by BackwoodsJupiter
09 Jun 2026
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“My name is Michael Wheeler, I’m 16 years old, and a year ago today, my best friend lost his mind.”
Nobody understood why Will Byers started spouting nonsense about other dimensions, and especially not Mike Wheeler, his best friend.But then, a mysterious girl named Eleven reveals herself to Mike and shows him the truth: Will isn’t crazy. Vecna stole memories of the Upside Down from everyone in Hawkins, and they need to be restored.
The party reunites to take Vecna on one last time, but when Vecna starts altering Will’s mind at a last attempt at power, things take a dark turn. Will Mike and the others be able to help Will hold on? And in a reality where anything could be fabricated, how can Will know what’s real… and what’s a trick of the mind?Bookmarked by BackwoodsJupiter
08 Jun 2026
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in knowing that the sun is there by musthavebeen_thewind
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
14 Jun 2026
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Summary
Mike hasn’t prayed since November, 1983. But nearly ten years and 800 miles away from the last time, staring up at the dark stain in the ceiling paint, Mike thinks: God, give me a sign.
And then, the phone rings.
or; New York City in 1992 is just as perpetually rainy as Hawkins was in 1987. Mike Wheeler, lonely creature that he is, is well accustomed to this. Will Byers, despite Mike's best efforts, is a beam of sunlight. Circling each other over the course of five years, Mike and Will figure out what it means to want to die, what it means to want to live, and what it means for the sun to follow a rainstorm.
Bookmarked by BackwoodsJupiter
07 Jun 2026
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i could be your lover (and you could be my heartache) by sunsetozier
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
19 May 2026
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Summary
Silence. Hungry, carnivorous—or maybe cavernous, vast and lined with teeth, ready to bite. The quiet before the storm, the gasped breath in before the heart stops. Tragedy tastes bitter. Blood tastes like pennies. Both are in the air, promises coating the tongue. Something bad is about to happen.
From beneath the bed, something reaches out—a mass of darkness, a shapeless nothing—and it grabs Mike by the wrist, yanks him forward. Mike chokes on a yelp and flails his arm free, blood dripping from where the shadows grabbed him, like the touch of darkness has split him open. He tries to scramble away, unfolds his legs to kick himself back but only makes himself easier, more vulnerable. The unidentifiable mass encircles Mike's ankle, and he screams something agonized, terrified—and then it pulls Mike, clawing at the carpet with his bloodied fingers, under the bed.
This time, the silence isn't hungry. It's satisfied.
will starts entering the mindscape in his dreams on the same night that mike gets taken by vecna. this is probably the least confusing part of everything that happens after.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 101,949
- Chapters:
- 13/13
- Comments:
- 1,390
- Kudos:
- 4,248
- Bookmarks:
- 1,483
- Hits:
- 108,792
Bookmarked by BackwoodsJupiter
04 Jun 2026
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“For the love of God! Mike, I haven’t had an orgasm in like two fucking weeks! That’s what’s wrong!” Will snaps. Mike’s eyes go wide. He opens his mouth to reply, but he closes it again. The silence between them is heavy for a moment. Like they’re both weighing what Will just admitted. “And you have been driving me fucking insane with all this touching. I don’t know what’s happening, but it needs to stop.”
OR
The world shutting down causes Mike and Will to start crossing the boundaries of their friendship.- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 79,035
- Chapters:
- 7/?
- Comments:
- 453
- Kudos:
- 2,519
- Bookmarks:
- 634
- Hits:
- 81,453
Bookmarked by BackwoodsJupiter
03 Jun 2026
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Summary
Will has been collecting data on everything Mike Wheeler since he was five years old. He has hundreds of file cabinets in his brain, cataloguing all of Mike’s behaviors. His likes and dislikes. His mannerisms and tells. His strengths and his…weaknesses.
If this asshole thought he was going to come in and snatch Mike up without a fight, he is sorely mistaken.
Or
When his best friend unexpectedly shows up to Spring Break with a boyfriend, Will quickly decides that if he can't have Mike Wheeler, no one can.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 80,956
- Chapters:
- 9/?
- Comments:
- 646
- Kudos:
- 1,207
- Bookmarks:
- 306
- Hits:
- 35,695
Bookmarked by BackwoodsJupiter
27 May 2026
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Just for a second, I remembered myself by Romanoff_mylove
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
24 Apr 2026
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Summary
Mike has finally made it as an author. But writing about your own past can get complicated, especially when fans start to draw conclusions that point Mike in the direction of the person he's been writing about all along.
And living life is hard. Especially when you're doing it all on your own. But grief and love are a lot more similar than you might realise. They both tend to wake us up from the monotony of our lives.
OR: Mike has a horrible time, which somewhere along the way turns into a wonderful time.
Podfic version by Sahana: https://archiveofourown.org/works/83941371/chapters/221295601
Russian translation: https://ficbook.net/readfic/019ce7f9-31da-7933-8df9-83a19fad21d6Series
- Part 1 of Just for a second, I remembered myself
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 100,889
- Chapters:
- 36/36
- Comments:
- 1,797
- Kudos:
- 3,013
- Bookmarks:
- 734
- Hits:
- 73,002
Bookmarked by BackwoodsJupiter
26 May 2026
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Summary
Set in 2007 Hawkins, a recently divorced father of two — Mike Wheeler — bumps into his old friend Will at his workplace, Hawkins middle, where he’s the substitute teacher for a class hosting his eldest daughter and Will’s son.
Will had moved to New York in the early 90’s when Mike got married to his ex-wife, Kimberly, and they lost touch—not have talked in over 15 years. Will expressed his reasons for moving may have been triggered by Mike’s choice in romantic partner and Mike is quick to admit his disapproval of Will’s ‘boyfriend’.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 68,634
- Chapters:
- 18/20
- Comments:
- 260
- Kudos:
- 539
- Bookmarks:
- 134
- Hits:
- 20,729
Bookmarked by BackwoodsJupiter
20 May 2026
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- Words:
- 91,790
- Works:
- 2
- Bookmarks:
- 12
Bookmarked by BackwoodsJupiter
19 May 2026
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Summary
Will wishes he could take a mental snapshot of their life now and somehow send it back to his teenage self. Just to let him know that he's going to have this: their bed, and their shitty shoebox apartment, and Mike, who has a screwed up sleeping schedule, and who leaves his dirty clothes anywhere but the hamper, and who kisses the corner of Will's mouth when Will is doing the dishes, and who wants to do things with Will—the things that made Will so scared and miserable for wanting them at sixteen. Mike, who is completely naked, propped up on the elbows, and looking up at Will like he hung the moon.
Will's twenty years of deep happiness and acceptance told through the series of firsts.
Series
- Part 2 of Some Marvelous Experience
Bookmarked by BackwoodsJupiter
19 May 2026
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To Be Sorrow's Desire by littlewombats
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016), His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
02 Jun 2026
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Summary
"Do you wonder what Hawkins is like now?" Lieven stares through the window like he can possibly see something three hundred miles away from here. Will knows the direction they are to take tomorrow. It sends a shiver down his spine.
"I doubt it changed much in four years," he says.
"So you don't think it could also be recovering?" hopeful, always too hopeful.
Will sighs. "Is this still about Hawkins?"
Lieven hops across the table and onto Will's wrist. "Is there much of a difference to you?"
In August 1993, Will Byers drives cross-country to a wedding he's been dreading, and tries very hard not to think about Mike. He makes it as far as Missouri. Two thousand miles is a long way to go without looking back.
or: An estranged friendship, a broken water pump, the road, and your own soul insisting on a hope that has no right to exist.
UPD: Artwork is added to the end of Chapter 8
Bookmarked by BackwoodsJupiter
19 May 2026
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into the deep end (take me with you) by sunkissedlover
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
12 Jun 2026
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Summary
Those protective instincts kick in and Mike can’t help himself as a crazy, irrational idea takes root in his mind.
An idea that has absolutely nothing to do with seeing Will practically naked in a speedo two nights a week for an entire year. Nope. Definitely not.
“What if I joined the team with you?” Mike blurts, reddening.
Or:
Will and Mike join the Hawkins High swim team in their senior year, spend waaaay too much time together in teeny tiny speedos and one thing leads to another at the pool…
Setting: Post Vecna-defeat (except El lives because she deserves a better ending, just like our boys do), their final year of high school but I’m aging them up to 18 because the content is explicit. (I head canon that the total devastation of Hawkins resulted in their normal high school trajectory getting delayed because that makes more sense than what the Duffers did.)
Bookmarked by BackwoodsJupiter
13 May 2026
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Summary
“What would you have said?” He asks, needing confirmation that he’s right. That Will had actually told him everything in the summer of 1986.
“What?” Will asks, a little high-pitched.
“If you confessed. What would you have told me?”
“Mike, we don’t have to—“
“I— I want to know,” Mike urges, forcing a smile. An attempt at softness, at lightness. A smile that’s trying to say, this can just be for fun, right?
Will studies him for a few moments, brows furrowed. He sighs, sitting up and bringing his hands to his lap where he fidgets with them. “I don’t know. I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I probably would have made a complete mess of it.” He huffs a cautious laugh.
Mike widens his smile, tilting his head to say, go on.
OR: Mike and Will leave Hawkins together for a road trip during the summer of 1989. The two weeks they spend together change them and their relationship irrevocably.
Bookmarked by BackwoodsJupiter
12 May 2026
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Summary
twelve different parallel universes where mike and will find each other and fall in love (because they are quite literally the definition of soulmates). every fic is named & (loosely) based on a taylor swift song from each album! all fics can be read as stand-alones!
- Words:
- 157,538
- Works:
- 3
- Bookmarks:
- 14
Bookmarked by BackwoodsJupiter
12 May 2026
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Summary
Summer break, two years after graduating high school. Will and Mike almost kiss, and everything changes. They find themselves on a journey together after a mysterious clue. They have no choice but to finally confront what’s been going on between them for years.
“I keep showing up,” Mike says. His voice doesn’t break, but he feels like it should. “Even when you try to throw me away.”
Will flinches, and Mike hates himself for it immediately.
“I didn’t- ” Will says, and his eyes drop. “I didn’t throw you away.”
Mike’s mouth twitches. Not a smile. Something sadder. “You threw the letters away.”- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 106,429
- Chapters:
- 25/25
- Comments:
- 1,061
- Kudos:
- 2,547
- Bookmarks:
- 736
- Hits:
- 78,020
Bookmarked by BackwoodsJupiter
12 May 2026
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fifty-seven hours in new york city, 1989 by cinnamoncider
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
17 Mar 2026
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Summary
“What in the absolute fuck are you doing here?”
“I—” Mike tries, but the words die in his throat. Will’s the first to pull away, but Mike wants to stay tucked into his warm, dry arms and neck and scent forever. “I missed you.”
“You — you missed me?”
Mike flushes crimson and tears his gaze away from Will — suddenly he’s feeling a little too seen, a little too looked through. “I — yeah.”
or, the four days in which mike runs away from hawkins and shows up on the doorstep of will's east village apartment without telling a soul he was coming - including will himself
Series
- Part 3 of post epilogue byler core
Bookmarked by BackwoodsJupiter
11 May 2026
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Summary
But it wasn’t a monster that came out of the trees. It was a person. A boy.
Mike froze.
Then he was spotted, and the boy stopped in his tracks; with skillful movements, he quickly slung the rifle off his shoulder and pointed it at Mike’s chest. Mike raised his hands while trying to keep most of his weight on his left leg.
“Whoa. Hey,” Mike said, his eyes wide as he stared at the tip of the rifle. “Just hold on. I’m not—I’m not going to hurt you.”
Or: A crawl gone wrong left Mike stranded in the Upside Down. Hurt and alone, Mike stumbles upon someone everyone told him was dead.
Will Byers was never found Au
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 154,503
- Chapters:
- 23/23
- Collections:
- 2
- Comments:
- 4,389
- Kudos:
- 12,097
- Bookmarks:
- 2,686
- Hits:
- 348,728
Bookmarked by BackwoodsJupiter
06 May 2026