1 - 20 of 168 Bookmarks by Hatmustache
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New York, 1993. Will Byers hits a rough patch in his relationship, and Mike Wheeler is forced to confront his emotions for once.
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Fuck Will's epilogue boyfriend and FUCK the duffers.
Basically just them being difficult and fucking out their feelings ayBookmarked by Hatmustache
09 Jan 2026
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Operation Byler. Max's Master Byler Plan. by heavenlyofficialsmut
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
09 Jan 2026
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It's the last summer for college after they spent their childhood quite literally saving the world. Nothing is really normal but it's close enough and the party are hunkered down in the Wheeler basement watching bad romance movies, a little bit buzzed on alcohol, discussing all their bad romance takes and choices.
It takes exactly one movie before they realise that Will can't join in because he doesn't have any romance stories to tell.
They decide right there that the end of summer is going to be spent helping their best friend become the very best he can be so that when he goes to college he can have as many romantic moments as he wants.
From there it's fashion shows, flirt training, practice dates and realising that he's already in a romance story and has been since he got off that swingset.
Hopefully this one has a happy ending.
---No actual willxothers happens in this fic it's purely hypothetical as a way to push their plans to get byler together!
Bookmarked by Hatmustache
09 Jan 2026
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Mike Wheeler can be a good boyfriend. He knows he can. All those hours watching those stupid cheesy romcom movies weren't for nothing, but when push comes to shove, he isn't good enough for Eleven as she spends each day stressed out of her mind about losing. About Vecna. They broke up, and while he isn't happy about it, he also isn't one to give up.
Then he gets the idea. To show Eleven how great of a boyfriend he is with no need to win her back right away.
If he just pretends to date someone else, then he could kill two birds with one stone. It couldn’t just be anyone though, not with the apocalypse and all the upside down shit they were dealing with.
That’s where Will came in.
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Will Byers is a dreamer. A stupid, love-struck dreamer who can't find it in himself to keep denying a chance to keep the boy of his dreams closer than ever.
He’d never get Mike really, so if he wanted to cling to the closest thing he could get — pretending to date — then who could really blame him?
(Takes place in the eighteen months between season 4 and season 5)
Bookmarked by Hatmustache
09 Jan 2026
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A few years after graduation, the party drive to New York City to visit Will. Will has been thriving in the big apple, he's even gotten himself a boyfriend (much to Mike's dismay). Mike has come to understand that his feelings for Will were never platonic, but it might be too late.
In the days leading up to New Year's Eve, Mike tries to keep his cool around Will. A little flirting couldn't hurt though, could it? Mike doesn't want to go into 1993 with any regrets, and he's ready to get what he wants.
Bookmarked by Hatmustache
09 Jan 2026
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Letters to Will (Live from New York) by sofishortcake
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
09 Jan 2026
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“Thanks for taking care of me, Mike. I didn’t mean to drink this much.” Mike locks the dorm door behind him with a quiet click. He turns to see Will swaying against the wall. “You know, I could’ve had Carlton walk me back. If you wanted to stay at the party.”
Mike laughs, low and sharp, taking a deliberate step closer. “Yeah, I bet he would've loved that. And, please... stop saying his fucking name, okay?” His voice rises, strained with a tension he can’t hide. Other names in Will’s mouth twist his stomach in ways he can’t explain.
Will swallows, gaze dropping. “Sorry, I just meant…I’m so happy you’re here, but I know you’re not just here to see me, and you probably want—”
Mike cuts him off without a second thought. He grabs Will’s arms, and shoves him lightly but firmly against the wall. Their chests collide, faces inches apart, the air between them charged and electric. Will freezes—but Mike doesn’t back down. “Will…you have no idea what I want,” he whispers, eyes dropping to Will’s lips. Every shred of control he’s ever clung to around him melting.
And there truly must be something in the NYC air, because Mike from Hawkins would have never dared to do what he does next.
Bookmarked by Hatmustache
09 Jan 2026
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Mike suddenly jolted in his chair, almost jumping up, staring back and forth between Will and Chance in disbelief.
“Wait—are you saying this Chance and Hawkins Chance are the same person?”
“You’re dating that Chance? The jock-popular-idiot Chance?”
“Will!”There was so much raw shock in Mike’s voice that Will flushed in confusion, his hand instinctively rising to the back of his neck.
How could he say something like that without knowing everything?
What Will and Chance shared was built on something heavy, something hard-earned.
Mike had no right—Bookmarked by Hatmustache
09 Jan 2026
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Pansy [pan-zee] / ˈpæn zi / adjective; slang.
Extremely disparaging and offensive. A contemptuous term used to refer to a gay man.-
Or: Set fifteen years after graduation. Will is a wildly successful artist, while Mike is a struggling author, divorced, and raising a son. Haunted by the thought of what could have been if he weren't so afraid.
Bookmarked by Hatmustache
07 Jan 2026
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An anonymous writer starts writing in to Will and Robin's queer gossip/advice podcast, 'Dear Dorothy', for help on confessing his love to his best friend. Will tries to offer advice on how best to go about it, aided by his own similar experience being in love with his best friend, who coincidentally is acting really strangely...
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OR: Five times that Will unknowingly helps Mike attempt to seduce him and the one time he knowingly does.
Bookmarked by Hatmustache
06 Jan 2026
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(SOCIAL MEDIA AU)
The party enter their senior year! Will Byers is coping with poor mental health, being queer in a small town, and being hopelessly in love with his best friend. He ends up meeting a friendly jock who may just be his key to moving on and finding happiness!
Twitter formatted comedy with a lot of romance and a bit of angst!
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 212
- Chapters:
- 11/?
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 106
- Kudos:
- 563
- Bookmarks:
- 79
- Hits:
- 4,377
Bookmarked by Hatmustache
06 Jan 2026
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Brand me with your hands so everyone can see. by sundollop
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
09 Jan 2026
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Max arches a brow. “Carlton, though? You two are dating and you don’t even kiss? Is it just a preference thing?”
Will sighs, resigned. He drops his hands. “Okay. Honestly?” He hesitates, then shrugs. “He was a bad kisser. And I just… couldn’t get excited around him. At all.”
The reaction is immediate and merciless. Dustin makes a dramatic gagging noise. El gasps like she’s been handed gossip gold. Lucas high-fives Max, shaking her hand in his.
Mike doesn’t say anything. He just watches Will, watches the way he shrugs it off, the way he laughs a little too loud, the way his ears go red.
Or, Will's new boyfriend is a bad kisser. Mike thinks it's a crime that no one has kissed Will properly. He's on a goal to change that, Carlton be damned.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 51,981
- Chapters:
- 10/?
- Comments:
- 1,423
- Kudos:
- 2,408
- Bookmarks:
- 772
- Hits:
- 45,126
Bookmarked by Hatmustache
06 Jan 2026
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Due to an unresolved, emotional bind between Mike and Will during their last summer together in Hawkins, Will cuts contact with Mike after he moves to New York. He lets go of his feelings for him, attends art school, and finds himself in an accepting community.
When Mike can no longer stand their separation, he books a flight to New York over his winter break. He begs Will to let him stay and try to fix things between them. Given the option, Will doesn't tell him to go home; it's all the permission Mike needs to stay in the city and fight for their reconciliation. Unfortunately, his big plans to revive their relationship are hindered by one small obstacle: Will's new boyfriend, Carlton.
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Mike pines pathetically after Will, who's already moved on (he hasn't).
(fic inspired by @sunnycring3's art on tiktok/twitter)
Bookmarked by Hatmustache
06 Jan 2026
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Will Byers and No good, Very Bad, Road Trip by living_phantom12
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
06 Jan 2026
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Will closed his eyes, prepping himself for social interactions of pain and agony, and blew his nose one more time so he wouldn’t sound too ill. Just as he was about to walk up to a smartly dressed business man who looked stressed enough to rent a car, an achingly familiar voice vibrated through the air.
“Will, is that you?” He turned around slowly, heart pounding just like it was when he was 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 years old.
Will wasn’t sure if the lump in his throat was from his impending flu, the chilling weather, or Mike Wheeler’s eyes looking directly into his.
It just keeps getting worse
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Road Trip Byler with sick Will Byers and a pining Mike Wheeler. A disaster waiting to happen.Bookmarked by Hatmustache
06 Jan 2026
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Mike and Will haven't talked much since graduation, giving Will time to reflect on how much of an asshole Mike was. He's relatively content with his college life without him (besides the fact that he kind of hates his boyfriend), but Mike is not, and hates said boyfriend significantly more when he comes to visit for fall break.
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Mike is an annoying jealous clingy asshole as expected
Bookmarked by Hatmustache
06 Jan 2026
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Will and Mike are childhood best friends whose already complicated and bizarre relationship evolves into something borderline insane once Will turns eighteen.
Bookmarked by Hatmustache
06 Jan 2026
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made you the villian, evil for just moving on. by n1ghtl1qht
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
06 Jan 2026
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the party meets Carlton (Will’s boyfriend) and things get out of hand.
Bookmarked by Hatmustache
06 Jan 2026
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“Maybe if they had talked about it, maybe if they'd tried it again, they would've realized it wasn't what they really wanted, that it really was just the alcohol, and they would be able to move on from it.
But they never did, and Mike never had.”
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It's been a year since Will moved halfway across the country for college, a long year, and Mike is coming out to visit him for the first time.
Everything Mike Wheeler had imagined about his reunion with Will Byers is flipped on its head when he discovers Will has a boyfriend.
He can't figure out why he hates that so much,
He kind of wants to make him disappear.
Bookmarked by Hatmustache
06 Jan 2026
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I wish he were you, you wish you were him by sangdo_the_mango
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
06 Jan 2026
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It's their junior year of college. Will has a new boyfriend. Neither he nor Mike can be normal about it.
Bookmarked by Hatmustache
06 Jan 2026
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Mike Wheeler has dedicated four years to writing a fantasy story that only revolves around one central theme: his late realization that he’s in love with Will Byers.
When Will returns to Hawkins for a reunion—bringing along a new boyfriend and a mountain of unresolved feelings—Mike's carefully built but very fragile walls start to fall apart. And when Will stumbles upon Mike's secret manuscript, all the truths Mike has been hiding come crashing down.Or: Mike Wheeler's journey from "definitely straight" to "catastrophically in love with my best friend"
Bookmarked by Hatmustache
06 Jan 2026
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In their freshman year of college, Will Byers and Mike Wheeler had shared a kiss in the dark of their room. And since then, Mike hasn't been able to forget that night. He hasn't been able to get over that one kiss shared between him and his best friend that he deems perfect.
It takes him a while and some jealousy to realize that he is in love with his best friend.Bookmarked by Hatmustache
06 Jan 2026
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Beyond the Last Sign by whiterabbithole
Fandoms: Taylor Swift (Musician), Glee (TV 2009), Sabrina Carpenter (Musician), Stranger Things (TV 2016)
03 Jan 2026
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What begins as an unassuming night among friends—games, laughter, and glasses of wine—turns into an irreversible mistake when Dianna and her group decide to play with a portal that should never have been opened. In an instant, reality fractures, and a bus full of people is dragged into a place that closely resembles the accounts of Setealém, a world on the fringes of the known, where the rules of time and space do not obey human logic.
Trapped in a city that watches, learns, and never forgets, they must face streets that shift their positions, silent presences, and choices that demand a steep price. Amid desperate escapes, unlikely alliances, and disturbing revelations, every step in that strange land becomes a fight to survive—and to hold on to who they are.
In the midst of terror and adventure, unexpected bonds are formed. Romantic discoveries bloom in the most unlikely place, proving that not even this inverted world can completely erase what is born of the heart.
(Alternate universe, with no connection whatsoever to reality. Characters based on real people due to physical appearance/personality.)
Bookmarked by Hatmustache
04 Jan 2026